Sharpton hosts Saturday Night Live

[aeon flux]

He's on tonight!

[dobak]

1. sucks

Nothing funny. Don't waste your time

[WillyBrandt]

2. I was disappointed too

A really weak episode. A waste of the Reverend's talents.

[dobak]

3. I think the RNC probably had a talk with NBC execs

I really expected something good tonight

[elperromagico]

9. What about the "other Democratic candidates" sketch?

That thing died. Very unfunny. Seth Meyers made a good Kerry (had the voice down pat), Darrell Hammond was a pretty good Gephardt, and Chris Parnell does a decent Joe Lieberman. But Jimmy Fallon as Wes Clark was just Jimmy Fallon in a grey wig (Why do I get the feeling he doesn't know shit about Clark?), and their Dean was awful.

It was, generally, a lousy episode.

[JI7]

17. how about edwards impression?

the edwards impression, what was that all about ? i agree, the john kerry impression was probably the best one. some of these people are either not paying attention to who they are impersonating or just suck at it.

[elperromagico]

18. I don't know what the deal was with the Edwards impression...

The idea with an impersonation is to capture the essence of the person being impersonated. Apparently Edwards' essence is that of a kiss-ass. I must have missed that about him in the debates and in interviews.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. Think I remember reading Jimmy Fallon...

quoted as saying that the only news he sees is his script for SNL's Weekend Update. Jon Stewart, in contrast, is smart, knows what he's talking about, and is doing four nights a week what SNL should be doing on Saturday night.

[elperromagico]

21. I'm hardly surprised.

Fallon doesn't seem terribly bright. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he didn't have much time to work on the imitation (they do that whole show in a week). After all, Will Ferrel's imitation of Bush was pretty shitty at first, but it blossomed into a very accurate impression.

Then again, Clark seems like he'd be a hard one to mimic. The natural temptation upon hearing that he's from Arkansas would be to give him a Southern accent, but his accent sounds more Midwestern. I'm the same way; although I've lived in Arkansas for nineteen years now, my accent has been described as "Californian." I get a lot of people who say, "Yer not from 'round here, are ya?"

[chookie]

26. The guy who played Gephardt was GREAT!

One would think that Rep Gephardt would not be easy to portray, but Hammond was startlingly accurate. That was some pretty shrewd acting.

Parnell is always amusing as Lieberman, and Seth Meyer's portrayal of Kerry is fun, even if its not all that accurate.

I thought the Edwards stuff was pretty funny and a fun poke at his recent behavior.

But if Wes Clark or Howard Dean become Pres (which is likely), they better hire some other actors to portray them, because those two guys were totally awful. Wes Clark as some kind of loud barking military thug is WAY off and a pathetic stereotype, and the Howard Dean portrayal was totally null, just plain bad bad bad; the actor didn't get at him at ALL.

[Closer]

4. sucked

[Walt Starr]

5. I thought it was the best SNL this season

Sharpton is a great singer. Never knew it.

I actually liked this episode, but that could be because every episode so far this season was so lame it made this one seem good.

[dobak]

7. I thought it was going to be a great night after the opening piece

Sharpton can sing and dance!

Then it went down hill fast...

What the fuck was that Michael Jackson on a roller coaster bit?

[elperromagico]

10. Sharpton looked bored

and the slightest bit irritated in that sketch... in most of the sketches, in fact.

[Pastiche423]

15. I loved his...

"I feel good!"

He can certainly shake a leg!

[chookie]

27. Strong opening

I thought Rev AL was a hell of a good singer, and loved the James Brown jive he did.

I liked the opening piece, where he meets Al Sharpton of The Past. "I was NEVER that fat!" "Yeah! You were wearing this suit when you met with Yasser Arafat!"

I also like Sharpton's concluding comments: "We learn to laugh at ourselves, so we can take *you* more seriously."

I only watched it because Rev AL was on. I tried it once before this season, and was stunned at how very bad it has become. Who writes this crap?

Oh oh -- Elijah Wood is going to be on, so I guess I'll have to check it out again next week, though.

[Bozita]

6. His only political barb was directed at the Medicare Bill

Maybe I was just hoping for too much.

on edit: changed "expecting" to "hoping for"

[aeon flux]

8. Can it be that bad?

Hard to imagine Sharpton not being at least enjoyable to watch. Should at least get a couple good shots in at Bush.

[elperromagico]

11. He's best when he isn't reading someone else's lines.

No one writes Sharpton material better than Sharpton.

[OneBlueSky]

12. really bad . . .

no laughs, and very few chuckles . . . Al should stick to zinging the other candidates and George Bush during the debates . . .

[eileen_d]

13. i agree

Al Sharpton does not have a future in sketch comedy. He was very obvious about reading off the cue cards -- not that I blame him, it's not his milieu, but that is annoying to watch.

I imagine he will continue to have a present and future in zingers though!

[Faygo Kid]

25. Blame the writers. The show stunk.

Except for the opening James Brown piece, the show was awful. The actors knew it. Sharpton wasn't as good as I had hoped, but the fault lies primarily with the other elements of the show. Who would have thought Al Gore would be more fun than Al Sharpton?

[tlb]

14. Good or bad, I don't forget Tawana

and his role in that debacle.

That this demogogue is one of the more interesting candidates this year is a disgrace to the party.

[minkyboodle]

16. I love Al BUT

I think any demo candidate would be wise to stay away from the piss poor writing that is SNL in the last few years. This weeks ep had some highlights (Rev singing) but unfortunately it was the same ol same ol from a show that had really hit a low point IMO.
Scott

[Bushknew]

19. SNL is lame lame lame

Are they only allowed to make fun of Democrats and Michael Jackson.

Most SNL sketches are pointless anyway.

If you want to hear some real wit, insight and comedy, see Wanda Sykes Tongue Untied. ItÕs the best bits on Bush I have seen yet.

Our president is a comedians dream, too bad comedians donÕt capitalize on it.

[aeon flux]

22. A little lame, but to be fair,

Al has no acting background as far as I know.
He did ok for a non-actor.

SNL bashed Bush mercilessly in at least 2 or 3 skits on previous episodes, including ridiculing Dubya's handling of defense. I've never seen SNL bash a sitting President so hard as they did Dubya. These weren't the usual light-hearted impressions like they normally do of Reagan, Clinton, and Bush Sr., but a mocking of the Shrub that borders on contempt. Scratch that, the skit with Will Farrell as a moronic Dubya on one episode where he addresses the nation from the oval office, seemed more of a thinly veiled anti-Bush statement than a comedy sketch. Will Farrell does a killer impression of the smirking one.

The skit poking fun of the Democratic candidates is really mild in comparison. Lighten up guys.

[elperromagico]

23. I'm very lightened up, thank you.

I don't object to the sketch because it poked fun at the Dem candidates. I objected to it because it was a shitty sketch.

I can almost picture a Democratic debate parody:

DEAN: I was the first person on this stage to oppose the war in Iraq.
KUCINICH: No, I was the first. I opposed it two hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-five seconds before you did.
DEAN: Oh yeah? Well, I'll have you know that I invented a time machine, went back to the year 1903, and opposed the war in Iraq. In fact, I have a photo to prove it. (Photo of Dean with T. Roosevelt. Dean is holding a sign that says, "No To War In Iraq")
MODERATOR: Senator Lieberman? Your thoughts?
LIEBERMAN: I'd just like to say that if Howard Dean is elected President, the United States will be invaded by monsters from the planet Mars. And your children won't love you anymore.

So on and so forth... Hell, why don't we write our own Democratic debate sketch? :P

[Bushknew]

29. Since Will Farrell left SNL, SNL has turned to pointless shit.

[uncle ray]

24. not only was it not funny

i turned ot off during the "other candidates" sketch...but it seemed every sketch up to that point somehow related to race. generally Al surrounded by a number of other "token" blacks.

[MrPrax]

28. It was bad as usual...'casa di sushi'?

SNL has serious problems, only magnified by the fact they play old ones right afterwards...
Even 'bad' SNL from 1989 (goatboy!) looks like genius compared to what the show has become...notice they had to run a few 'fake' commercial repeats--makes you wonder that skits must have been cut at the last minute, or they don't have enough material for 90 minutes...amazingly bad.
What the hell was that embarassment 'Casa di Sushi' or the Johnny Cash thing?