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The most recent SNL Digital Short was an excellent Twilight parody.  Along with their FOX News skit, Penelope returned! and Taylor Swift’s security-aided (to keep Kanye out) musical (lalala) monologue, it was actually a decent SNL last night.

Andy Samberg fights the system by throwing shit on the ground in the latest SNL Digital Short, guest starring “Hollywood phonies” Ryan Reynolds and Elijah Wood.  It’s, um, amusing.  Certainly not The Lonely Island crew’s best effort.

From the NY Daily News:

Comedian Jenny Slate let slip the mother of all swear words in a biker chic talk show skit that was already generously laced with “freakin’s” and “frickin’s.”

“You know what? You freakin’ just threw an ashtray full of butts at my head,” said Slate, before she got a little too carried away with her tough-girl character. “You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I f—– love you for that.”

Slate puffed her cheeks and puckered her lips in horror after the slip, but co-star Kristen Wiig didn’t miss a beat.

The incident overshadows an SNL that featured musical guest U2 and host Megan Fox.  But the “controversy” of her using a word like Fuck seems somehow antiquated, especially given SNL’s targeted audience — one that I’m guessing uses the word fuck all the time and it airs at 12:40 a.m.  It’s really only a matter of time before the word fuck is allowed on television — like shit before it and many other utterances.

I couldn’t agree more with the argument laid out by The Daily What:

Here are the facts:

1. The minced oath “frickin” was being tossed around so frequently during the infamous skit that the cast members might as well have been saying “fuckin,” and certainly could not be faulted for slipping up.
2. The skit aired at 12:40AM. Any “impressionable kid” still awake to watch it is most likely the progeny of parents who couldn’t care less if he/she hears swear words on TV.
3. Canada, where the word “fuck”is permitted on airbetween the hours of 9PM and 6AM, is justone of the many countriespresently laughing their free-speechin’ head off at this total non-issue.
4. The single, unintentional utterance of the holiest of curses, in between a minefield of euphemisms, followsa monologue with shopped porn, a skitwith a buck-naked Transformer, and the noun adjunct “penis slot.” C’MON!

So, really, surprising but certainly nothing to get our panties bunched up about.

For the 34th season finale, Will Ferrell reprises his role as flustered Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.

Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond), Kathie Lee-Gifford (Kristen Wiig), along with special guest star Tom Hanks (Tom Hanks) terrorize Trebek.  Norm MacDonald appears as Burt Reynolds.

Hanks proves once again why the man needs to do more screwball comedies.  It’s something he’s clearly gifted at and we’ll never be sure why he just stopped making them.

Here’s a video of the late, great Phil Hartman auditioning for Saturday Night Live back in 1985/1986. Jon Lovitz makes an appearance at the end of the video.

[via The Sound of Young America]

As expected Alec Baldwin was pretty funny on SNL last night.

What I don’t understand is why neither Hulu or NBC make it easy to watch a full episode of SNL. If they are going to chunk up the show, shouldn’t they at least put all the videos clips under an episode umbrella page so that people could watch from opening monologue, skits, commercials, music performances, etc.? Seems like that’s the obvious thing to do, but everything is hunt and peck, hunt and peck.

Let’s be honest, we can all admit that Steve Martin just about killed it last night on SNL, hosting for the 15th time.  Which really means that Alec Baldwin is going to host sometime by the end of the year, right?

Anyway, there was lots to love about the episode.  Some of our favorites.

The Laser Cats skit was pretty good, but especially for the punchline at the end.

The David Patterson bit was the funniest thing of the night and I can’t find it anywhere. A few more highlights below the fold. MORE »

A few highlights from last night’s SNL. The opener had me chuckling when Malkovich attempts to read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to a group of kids and drops such deadpan lines as “True or false: the suicide rate goes up in December?” and something about Santa and the reindeer burning up and dying like a meteorite entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

And below the fold, Malkovich gets a dose of Italian talk show host Vinny Vedecci, proving once again that Bill Hader needs more to do on SNL. MORE »

God I hope not.  That thought would ruin election night for me, the two of them together last Saturday at SNL’s wrap party.

“Joe [the Plumber] got buttonholed by Ben Affleck’s agent (Patrick-something from Endeavor, I think?) There was some serious talk about Joe appearing as the star on the next season of The Bachelor. Whether McCain wins or loses, believe me, Joe Wurzelbacher has already come out a winner.

“But as night wore on to early morning, Joe finally got some “quality” alone time with a certain female cast member. I’m not that familiar with the show, but I know it wasn’t Tina Fey or Amy Poehler. The skinny brunette, I think it was. Kirsten, maybe? Joe’s got good taste: she’s definitely hotter in person. And judging by her taste in plumbers, maybe a closet Republican. … Politics sure makes strange bedfellows! (I ran into Joe this morning at the hotel – see picture – and ever the gentleman, he refused to reveal more than his mile-wide grin.)”

Joe the Plumber is the worst, Kristen Wiig is slowly going there with the nose job and now this.  She used to be the best.  [Politico]

But still made me chuckle.  From last night’s John Hamm-hosted episode.

Me thinks the ratings-resurgence of SNL this political season will swiftly fall by the wayside once Tina Fey returns to 30 Rock and audiences are left with Andy Samburg, Kristen Wiig (gosh I wish she didn’t get the nose job), Darryl Hammond and the fat dude from Fat Burger who does the awful Bill Cosby impersonation, and the like.  Oh well.

I won’t argue whether or not SNL is relevant or funny or what not.� I’m guessing there will be more dead silence this year than the last, but what a spot on way to kick off the season.� Tina Fey came back, like everyone hoped once Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain’s running mate, to team up with Amy Poehler.

SNL hasn’t been this spot on it quite a bit.� Maybe the election will bring something good out of the venerable NBC sketch show.

If you live outside the US, then you’ll want to swing on over to NBC to watch the clips.

Those condom loving kids from New York took to the stage for SNL and renditions of “A Punk” and “M79″ this past Saturday, in what may have been the worst episode of Saturday Night Live … ever? Seriously, it was a pretty bad episode. Not even the digital short was mildly amusing.

So much for paying those writers what they’re worth. But the band looks lovely, which is key, because they were just featured in a NY Times Sunday profile. Aren’t those sweaters groovy. All very fashionable.

But back to the music. Can’t say these performances really knocked my socks off. What’s the word I’m thinking of? Oh yeah. Meh.

“M79″ after the jump. MORE »

Had a reader pass this along. SNL returned last night with Tina Fey returning to host. And if this sketch is any indication it didn’t return with a bang.

Here we have Daniel Plainview hosting his own Food Network Show, I Drink Your Milkshake, wherein he travels around the country visiting different ice cream parlors and drinking people’s milkshakes. Sounds like a pretty obvious set up. You know, if you’re going to lampoon something that has become lampoonable, then why go for obvious?

But we take offense to this not funny sketch for several reasons. One, it’s just not funny. Using Daniel Plainview in a sketch has the potential to be incredibly funny and full of biting social commentary. Two, the guy playing Daniel Plainview does a pretty awful impersonation. It’s um, okay. Midling at best. Three, and this is hee-yuge, anyone who’s ever lived in Maine or visited Maine knows that there are no black people in the state. Next to Salt Lake City, it’s probably the white-est place on the Earth. Just saying.

Only moment of inspiration is when Tina Fey shows up as Juno. Even an appearance by Anton Chigurh can’t liven things up.