Lady Gaga didn't disappoint, bringing her crazy antics and costumes to "Saturday Night Live" last week. Too bad everything else about the show did disappoint.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I watched "Saturday Night Live" last week to see what kind of crazy Lady Gaga would bring as the musical guest (because she ALWAYS brings the crazy). I didn't expect her to be the only entertaining thing about the show.
I haven't watched "SNL" on any sort of regular basis in several years. Besides Kristen Wiig -- and occasionally Keenan Thompson -- I don't think the current cast is that great. Andy Samburg is overrated and on par with Jimmy Fallon in annoyance factor for me.
Anyway, as I watched Saturday, I was amazed at how completely unfunny and stupid most of the sketches were, from Fred Armisen's horrible opening as Obama to the god-awful "Porcelain Fountains" infomercial (again involving Armisen). A surprise appearance by Scarlett Johansson (host Ryan Reynolds' wife) is the only thing that made the latter even remotely funny -- and still not funny enough to save it from being anything but painful to watch.
The absolute worst was "So You Committed a Crime and You Think You Can Dance?" spoofing truTV and the Fox dance competition. The fact that someone not only came up with this but thought it was funny is mind-boggling. That others agreed and put it on the air is even more stupefying. I felt bad for all the performers involved.
I did kind of enjoy the club-music spoof Deep Dish House. Ryan Reynolds was great as a singer with the Facebook song "Status Update." And the catfight between Lady Gaga and Madonna (yes, the Madonna) was kind of funny, too, even if their dialogue was terrible. (Hey, guess what, Madonna? I'm totally hotter than you." "Hey, guess what? I'm totally taller than you.") As someone whose whole career is an elaborate act, Gaga definitely knows how to play to the camera.
Weekend Update was pretty good, too, but it usually is. Even if the "guests" are terrible (which, in this case, Darrell Hammond as Arnold Schwarzenegger was), the quips regarding the news stories are generally funny.
It's sad, though, that out of the whole hour and a half, those are the only two sketches I enjoyed. I remember when I used to love "SNL" and tune in religiously. Now, it's not even worth watching.
nn
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I watched "Saturday Night Live" last week to see what kind of crazy Lady Gaga would bring as the musical guest (because she ALWAYS brings the crazy). I didn't expect her to be the only entertaining thing about the show.
I haven't watched "SNL" on any sort of regular basis in several years. Besides Kristen Wiig -- and occasionally Keenan Thompson -- I don't think the current cast is that great. Andy Samburg is overrated and on par with Jimmy Fallon in annoyance factor for me.
Anyway, as I watched Saturday, I was amazed at how completely unfunny and stupid most of the sketches were, from Fred Armisen's horrible opening as Obama to the god-awful "Porcelain Fountains" infomercial (again involving Armisen). A surprise appearance by Scarlett Johansson (host Ryan Reynolds' wife) is the only thing that made the latter even remotely funny -- and still not funny enough to save it from being anything but painful to watch.
The absolute worst was "So You Committed a Crime and You Think You Can Dance?" spoofing truTV and the Fox dance competition. The fact that someone not only came up with this but thought it was funny is mind-boggling. That others agreed and put it on the air is even more stupefying. I felt bad for all the performers involved.
I did kind of enjoy the club-music spoof Deep Dish House. Ryan Reynolds was great as a singer with the Facebook song "Status Update." And the catfight between Lady Gaga and Madonna (yes, the Madonna) was kind of funny, too, even if their dialogue was terrible. (Hey, guess what, Madonna? I'm totally hotter than you." "Hey, guess what? I'm totally taller than you.") As someone whose whole career is an elaborate act, Gaga definitely knows how to play to the camera.
Weekend Update was pretty good, too, but it usually is. Even if the "guests" are terrible (which, in this case, Darrell Hammond as Arnold Schwarzenegger was), the quips regarding the news stories are generally funny.
It's sad, though, that out of the whole hour and a half, those are the only two sketches I enjoyed. I remember when I used to love "SNL" and tune in religiously. Now, it's not even worth watching.
nn
Speaking of unfunny, I also caught up on the pilots of ABC's "Hank" and "The Middle" this week. "The Middle" gets the slight edge (in part because it has Neil Flynn -- aka The Janitor from "Scrubs") but neither is worth watching.
The kids on both shows are painfully bad. I'm embarrassed for them. They all have reasonably strong resumes; I want to tell them to run away and find a better outlet for their talent.
nn
Season premieres: "Degrassi: The Next Generation," 8 p.m. Friday, TeenNick (doubles as a "very special episode" about drug use); "Sanctuary," 10 p.m. Friday, Syfy (part one of two); "Little People, Big World," 8 p.m. Monday, TLC (two episodes); "Nip/Tuck," 10 p.m. Wednesday, FX.
Season finales: "Army Wives," 10 p.m. Sunday, Lifetime; "Rachel Zoe Project," 10 p.m. Monday, Bravo; "Hell's Kitchen," 8 p.m. Tuesday, Fox.
Time change: "Community" moves to 8 p.m. starting Thursday, NBC.
Specials: "Penguins of Madagascar" marathon, 5 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nickelodeon; 2009 Hip-Hop Honors with performances by Eminem, Kid Rock, Mary J. Blige and more, 9 p.m. Tuesday, VH1; Joan Baez on "American Masters," 8 p.m. Wednesday, PBS.
Guest stars: Leonard Nimoy, "Fringe," 9 p.m. Thursday, Fox; Sonic Youth, "Gossip Girl," 9 p.m. Monday, CW.
Reach Amy Robinson at flips...@wvgazette.com.
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I rarely watch past the opening segment. Church comes early and if your late, the blue hairs take all the good parking spots....