Sometimes I wish I was born ten years earlier. A lot of my interests are focused on relics from the 80’s, when I wasn’t even conceived yet, or the early 90’s, when I was but a wee little lad (also, my parents were leprechauns, apparently). A good example would be that the late 80’s-mid 90’s SNL is my favorite time series of the show, despite that I never watched those episodes when they aired (I have since been able to thanks to Netflix). My SNL days didn’t come until early the early Naughties (2000’s), when the likes of Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon were top players. Even so, the likes of Adam Sandler, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Mike Meyers, Chris Farley, Norm MacDonald, David Spade, Phil Hartman, Al Franken, Jan Hooks, Chris Rock, Michael McKean, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon and Tim Meadows (though the last two stayed on for awhile, giving me a chance to see them in my time) are amongst my favorites.
Oh, and Dana Carvey, of course. The man who was once labeled as the future of comedy, who has unfortunately since floundered since his departure. Not that he crashed and burned, as he had quite a few string of films in the 90’s, as well as his own show. The Naughties, however, haven’t seen much activity out of the once-revered SNL cast member, outside of “The Master of Disguise”. The less said about that film the better.
Just act like it never happened, Mr. Carvey.
This was most likely due to raising a family, which is admirable. He came out of the woodwork every now and then to host “Saturday Night Live”, including last night. February is starting off with a bang with the return of one of SNL’s most coveted cast members. He’s brought along a few friends for the ride.
Let’s start with the cold opening. I’m guessing it’ll be either a political jab or a Super Bowl skit. Normally, I’d lean towards the former, since SNL loves it’s political humor (more so now than ever). With the Super Bowl being the next night, I’m sticking with the latter. Here’s hoping it’ll be…
HOLY SHIT!!! WAYNE’S WORLD!!!
That’s right, folks! Dana Carvey brought along his good pal, Mike Myers, to reprise their roles as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar. I still have both VHS copies of the two films, with the first one being played heavily throughout the years. Needless to say, seeing them opening an SNL episode in 2011 is surreal. With that being said, my prediction of a Super Bowl cold opening can still be accurate.
Nope! Wayne and Garth focus their attention on the upcoming Oscar Ceremony, which is right up my alley. They tear through the likes of “127 Hours”, “The King’s Speech”, “Toy Story 3” and “Black Swan”. Garth makes a remark about Natalie Portman, stating he’d like to “Mila her Kunis.” When did my friends start writing this show? The two also make cracks at hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway, with another boner joke regarding the latter (I’m not criticizing, by the way). They also have a running gag surrounding a lesser known nominee.
You can guess where this is going.
More boner jokes, more laughs from me. Screw you, I like toilet humor and juvenile jokes, when done right. This is one of those times. All the guys had to do to make me laugh was look into the camera and, with a deadpan expression, say, “Winter’s Bone”. It helped that they kept giving their predictions to the movie, despite not seeing it.
They eventually close the segment by predicting that “The Social Network” will win the Oscar for best picture. NOT! Their actual prediction is, “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night!” Wait a minute! That’s not even a candidate. Are you telling me this catchphrase is so damn good that it’s going to sweep the Oscars, despite not being nominated?
You sly dog, you!
Ignoring my lame attempt at comedy, the show officially opens with Dana Carvey’s monologue. He mentions that his two teenage sons are in the audience, doing an impression of the two on their reaction to him hosting. It’s basically the average ‘teens are embarrassed by their parents’ spiel, which isn’t going to help him win them over. He then proceeds to declare his tenure, cast and crew as the best of “Saturday Night Live”, breaking into song. When Andy Samberg comes out to challenge him on the accusation, an old friend comes to the rescue.
JON MOTHERFUCKIN’ LOVITZ!
First Mike Myers, now Jon Lovitz. Oh, Dana Carvey, you spoil us! The two finish the song and dance number, introduce Linkin Park as the musical guest and begin the show. The first sketch doesn’t involve Carvey, so I’ll skip it (sorry, Kenan Thompson).
What does Dana Carvey have in store for us? Will Wayne’s World be the only revived skit tonight, or will Carvey dust off another relic. Here’s hoping it’s not a Ross Perot or George Bush impression. Those were great, but are outdated now. Not that this would prevent Carvey from doing them. Did he or didn’t he? That is the question.
She kind of looks like Ross Perot.
Church Chat returns, with Church Lady lambasting today’s deviants! MTV takes a beating, with shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Skins” being rightfully trashed. I got a kick out of “Skins” being referred to as ‘Sportscenter for Pedophiles’. Her first guests are The Kardashians, with Kim’s ass being the subject of ridicule (go figure). Out next is Snooki, with Bobby Moynihan once again portraying the Rat Queen to perfection. The third and final guest is…
I can hear you screaming in anger.
I’ve got nothing against Justin Bieber. His music isn’t my taste, but he hasn’t done anything to offend me. The closest was a news story of him snubbing his fans, but I believe that was proven to be false (that’s the paparazzi for you, folks). I may make jokes about him, but I hold nothing against the kid. He’s taken his love of music and became successful off of it. He’s living the American Dream, which, of course, leads to bashing and unfortunate threats. As for me, I say congratulations! Just don’t screw it up!
Here, however, I had a problem. Not so much with him (he did fine for what he was given), but the joke itself. Church Lady praises Justin for his clean-cut image, only to begin getting the hots for him. That’s right, Church Lady has a crush on Justin Bieber. If that wasn’t creepy enough, she talks to God, who claims that Bieber is his perfect creation. Thankfully, he talks her out of her urges and the two dance. At least it ended well.
Moving on, we get a spoof of all of the reality celebrity rehab shows. This one is of celebrities operating a hotline for teenagers, helping them with their problems. Dana Carvey reprised his Mickey Rooney impression and confuses the hell out of a caller.
Simple, but effective.
He’s outdone by Fred Armisen as Ice-T…
Who’s outdone by Abby Elliot as Anna Farris…
Who’s outdone by Jay Pharaoh as Eddie Murphy…
Who’s not outdone by anybody, because Jay Pharaoh is the best new cast member on SNL! I’d go so far as to claim him as the best current member overall, but Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg all give him a run for his money (though I do feel he’s eclipsed Samberg). I feel this man will be the future of SNL, as well as comedy. His impressions are fantastic, demeanor excellent and humor superb! He’s a lot like Dana Carvey, actually. Here’s hoping his post-SNL success is much better.
I’ll ignore Dana Carvey a little bit more, as Weekend Update is up next. I’d skip it, since Carvey isn’t featured (he’s the reason I’m writing this article, nothing against SNL). But, it is a focal point of the show, so a quick rundown is necessary. Seth Meyers makes a few jokes about Egypt and Charlie Sheen, with them being middling at best. Meyers can be funny, but his material (which he wrote) isn’t always the best. When it is, though, he can be hysterical!
His first guest is James Franco, performed by Paul Brittain. The impression is spot-on, with the joke being that Franco will do anything. Drive a cab, be a greeter, be a janitor, etc. He even tries to read the news, until Seth Meyers intervenes. It may sound dull, but I found it to be quite clever. Franco seems to never stop working, which is admirable but also questionable. I myself have made jokes on the topic.
The next guest is Angelo Dixon, a disco-star turned meteorologist. The joke goes over as well as Roseanne Barr singing the National Anthem. Maybe it sounded good on paper (I highly doubt that), but it doesn’t work in reality. Kristen Wiig tries her best, but it simply doesn’t work. It also seems to drag on. Thankfully, Seth Meyers shortly wraps up Weekend Update. Not before we get his nightmare fuel…
Even in context, that’s frightening!
Now back to Dana Carvey! Wait, there’s one more skit not involving him. I’d skip over it, but it has a special guest from earlier. Justin Bieber! Were you expecting Jon Lovitz and/or Mike Myers? It’s a digital short spoofing the new movie, “The Roommate”, with Justin Bieber going to college and getting a new roommate. That roommate:
Good luck sleeping tonight.
I’ll give Justin Bieber credit. I may not have been fond of him on Church Chat (thought that wasn’t his fault), but he was aces here. He plays off Samberg’s wacky antics well, even delivering a few funny lines. My favorite is when his mother calls and asks him about his roommate. “I think he’s going to murder me.” I’m not saying he’s a terrific actor, but he played his part well last night.
Finally, we get back to Dana Carvey. After all this wait, we should be getting something good. Maybe another character revival. Even better, a new skit that delivers laughs. Maybe throw him into one of the current member’s running skits. I’d love to see the return of Vinny Vedecci, with Dana Carvey as his guest. What treat do we receive?
Dana Carvey and Kenan Thompson as 11-Year-Old Beauty Pageant hosts.
That could be pulled off. It may not sound great, but it’s got enough fuel to ignite a fire. Given that both Carvey and Thompson are involved, we can possibly get something special. What’s that, it’s just a stupid sketch that goes nowhere? Ah, crap! Too bad that the writers felt that dressing up the women as 11-Year-Old’s was going to be funny. Since that didn’t work, maybe Andy Samberg will.
Damn it, SNL! Why don’t you want me to sleep?
Dana Carvey gets back on the right track with his next, and final, skit. He, along with Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Paul Brittain, are an alternative band performing at a bar before the Super Bowl. This may sound even worse than the above sketch, but it’s actually funny. The band is out of place, only getting the gig because of Dana’s brother-in-law (who’s the bartender). They also pick the worst time to perform, right as the Super Bowl is starting off. Also, they look like this:
The Black Eyed Peas have some stiff competition.
Thus ends Dana Carvey hosting Saturday Night Live. It was a mix of nostalgia, current trends and Justin Bieber. Sounds like your average Youtube video. It may not have been the greatest (the Jeff Bridges episode was superior), but I had a lot of fun. I was ecstatic to see Wayne’s World return and was surprised that Justin Bieber made me laugh, on purpose no less. Maybe Mike Myers and Jon Lovitz will get hosting duties in the near future. Here’s hoping so!
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