Well I have to say that the time off may have been good for them this time. This was actually an enjoyable episode of Saturday Night Live. It wasn’t great but it was better than most of this season from start to almost finish. Antonio Banderas was pretty good as the host. So what about the show?
Anderson Cooper 360: The cold open was Seth Meyers doing his Anderson Cooper of CNN impersonation. Overall the sketch was pretty amusing. The best parts were that building a wall between the USA and Mexico would not be that expensive because the government has found a large cheap labor force ready to do the job. Also, Antonio Banderas as President Vicente Fox talking about American immigration to Mexico. His line about all the people going there for spring break and sucking up all there natural resources like Tequila was pretty funny. Good solid opening to the show.
Antonio Banderas Monologue: This was pretty funny also. Antonio talking about being apart of American pop culture and that he may not be able to find work after doing this show. Then he reveals that he is actually a woman named Guadalupe. It was short and funny.
Basic Instinct 2: Return of the Beaver: Mock advertisement for the Sharon Stone movie sequel and what made the first one infamous. It was quite amusing as Amy Poehler as Stone kept trying to distract the cop.
Deal or No Deal: Fred Armisen played Howie Mandel who hosts the show. It spoofed how nobody really understands how the game works. They took a funny premise did what they could with it and then got out. Again it was quite amusing. Watch for yourself and see.
Phone System Voice Girl at Party: This was another short and sweet sketch. Rachel Dratch plays a girl at a party that Antonio Banderas starts a conversation with. We find out that she works recording the voice you hear when using an automated phone system. The funny bit is that she talks in real life just like that. Fred Armisen comes in for a bit as the Spanish-speaking counterpart. They didn’t beat a dead horse the sketch may have lasted all of three or four minutes.
Besos Y Lagrimas: Spoof of Spanish Telenovelas. This too was pretty good. Everytime Antonio as Paolo came in the music kicked up and his shirt blew open. Each scene ended with people crying and muttering Paolo. The last scene where the woman is holding a baby and when Paolo’s shirt flies open so does the little shirt the baby is wearing. Once again they did like three short scenes and you got the joke and then they were done.
The 13th Annual Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Fashion Awards: The opening for this sketch was really funny. The event was being held at the Kotex Lightdays Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The first award for “Best Squat In An Above-The-Knee Skirt†was kind of funny when Rachel Dratch came up to accept and showed everybody how it is done. The sketch sort of petered out down the stretch with Antonio singing between each award with backup dancers.
Weekend Update: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler had some good jokes as usual. Finesse Mitchell talking about how not to piss off a black woman, in reference to Cynthia McKinney recently on Capitol Hill, wasn’t that funny. Well, except for the end when you see he has a pen stuck in the back of his head and says that Mary J. Blige doesn’t like to be bothered with signing autographs while she is preparing to sing.
Zorro Filming: Antonio doesn’t want to do a kissing scene with his co-star because of bird flu or herpes. So, he has hired a stand in for these scenes. Horatio Sanz plays the stand in. Seeing Horatio in a Zorro costume next to Antonio is the main joke here. A little amusing and once again they didn’t go overboard with it.
Karaoke Night: This was really funny. Rachel Dratch played a shy woman at a karaoke bar with a date played by Antonio. She goes up to sing him a special song. The host played by Amy Poehler says she will help her out if she gets stuck. As the song gets going Amy jumps in and practically takes over. She ends up dancing suggestively on and around Antonio. This upsets Rachel who starts to sing more and more suggestive songs trying to get the spotlight back on her to no avail. Then Amy as the host says that they are just there to have fun and asks her husband played by Chris Parnell to back her up. He doesn’t and is completely annoyed with his wife’s behavior as the host. It was short and hearing Rachel sing and watching her dance to some of the songs was great.
Backstage: The bit turns into a PSA with Antonio, Fred and Horatio talking about Hispanic immigrants and the plan they have grown up with. That being to come to the US and steal jobs, stab people and make babies. The best bit was how the sketch started off. Amy is talking with other backstage and Antonio walks by and says he is thinking of doing sketch comedy fulltime because he likes it and it is really easy, then he walks off camera. Amy gets mad and starts talking about how all the Mexicans do is come here and steal our jobs. Overall this was pretty funny and timely given the weekends planned events.
Wine Tasting: Antonio, Chris Parnell and Amy Poehler as characters sitting around a table tasting wines. They each remark about what they can taste in each. This was the worst sketch of the night but it was the last one. At least it was short.
The theme of the night was short and sweet. Each sketch had a good premise to work from. SNL this week was like bidding on The Price is Right, the sketches were mined for as much comedy as possible without going over.
The musical guest was Mary J. Blige. I watched Saturday Night Live on tape and just fast-forwarded through the musical numbers. When I watch the show live that is usually when I go get a snack or something anyway. What did fans out there think of Mary J. Blige?
What did you think of this week’s Saturday Night Live? What was your favorite sketch? Did you think Antonio Banderas did a good job?
Next week is new with host Lindsay Lohan and musical guest Pearl Jam. How many LiLo bare butt jokes do you think we are in for?
