It was a good week.  Josh Brolin was good without especially adding anything, except maybe his awesome rapping skills which he showed off while expressing his excitement about being an uncle.

 The writers showed off how awesome they are, the performers outdid themselves, and while it was hilariously funny, it felt a little sad… like a goodbye.

During the Cold Open -  a GOP sketch, they literally sang Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), Laser Cats had a series end, Garth and Kat came back to Weekend Update for the Songs of Spring.  I didn’t think much of Gilly’s return last week, but in the context of this week’s sketches, the addition of Kate McKinnon last week, and the frequent appearences of Taran Killam and Jay Pharaoh this week… it’s seeming like the rumors of a cast change might just be true.

I liked or loved every sketch except for the monologue, which just wasn’t very funny and  Principal Frye at the Prom.  I like Jay Pharaoh, the sketch just felt like it didn’t really have  a focus.

From the Cold Open to Weekend Update everything was just great.  The Californians, my favorite sketch of the week still makes me laugh so hard I cry… and I’ve watched it probably 7 times.  The Empire State of Mind Parody Competition was great, I give it “infinity”.  I always love Laser Cats, Piers Morgan Tonight was such an awesomely random collection of characters… I love when I can’t predict the joke of a sketch… and with the return of the Super Bowl Half-Time tightrope guy came out of left field.  If you’ve seen Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know video or just love Andy Samberg and Taran Killam then you will love the second Digital Short of the night, Gotye Backstage.

There should be 3 more live episodes this season, starting with Eli Manning and Rihanna May 5th.  I hope we see the return of Kristen’s Penelope, Judy Grimes, and Aunt Linda; Andy’s Shy Ronnie, Nicholas Cage, Mark Wahlberg, and as many Digital Shorts as they can fit into an episode; and Jason as the Devil, the red tracksuit wearing dancer in What’s Up With That, and Jeff the terrible boom operator.   (Also, if they wanted to throw in a Two A-Holes, The Muppets, and a Song Memories I would love that.)

Welcome to the first installment of Bethany’s Favorite Things Ever For Right Now.  Today I take a trip down memory lane to Bret’s Angry Dance, one of the sure fire ways to make any day better.

It’s tomorrow… hurrah for Bon Iver!

Finally, SNL is back!  Oh, and you are going to be great on SNL, man.  Sorry, I was talking to Fred.

reallyfoxnews:

The Muppets v. Fox News

Maybe they shouldn’t have called them communists.

Is anyone still wondering why I love The Muppets so much?

mulaney:

My Comedy Central Special “NEW IN TOWN” premiers tonight at 10/9C!!

I hope you watch it. I hope you enjoy it. 

Love,

John Mulaney

If you’re going through SNL withdrawal, I have the perfect solution for you!  Watch John Mulaney’s brand new special… trust me, it’ll be awesome.

As any film major can attest, this is practically perfect.

Last night was a fine night for SNL.  It wasn’t great, it wasn’t the worst.  There were some highish highs and some lowish lows, but nothing fantastic and nothing horrible.

The in context highs were the monologue (Daniel Radcliffe made fun of the adult fans of Harry Potter and included visits from such characters as Dumbledore working at Harry Pottery Barn and Harry Pothead), a talk show featuring untalented people from the internet “You Can Do Anything”, Ricky Gervais hosts every award show ever, and the Jay Pharaoh show.

The lows were a series of promos for a fake mayoral candidate, a production set in 2112 about what life was like in 2012, (and I hate to say anything negative about Jason Sudeikis, but…) the Mitt Romney cold open.

The rest of it just kinda faded away… in fact I had to look it up to see what sketches even aired just 12 hours ago.

Weekend Update wasn’t at the same amazing level as it was last week, but it still managed some laughs.  It does feel hard for me to even compare last week which featured Kristen Wiig as Michelle Bachman (who has been holding her eyes open during her entire campaign), Nicholas Fehn the political comedian, and Drunk Uncle… who are some of the best guest on Update, while this week we got Kim Jong Un’s best friends and Casey Anthony’s dog.  No contest.

Also, I had never heard of Lana Del Ray until I heard she was the musical guest on SNL… and after I heard sing I understood why.  She was terrible.

My favorite sketch of the night was The Jay Pharaoh Show… which was not only funny standing alone, but was an amazing commentary on Jay Pharaoh’s season on SNL thus far.  Basically the only times he’s gotten screen time is doing these impressions.  If NBC was to make this into a real 30 minute show I would watch it for sure.

There are a couple weeks off (at least they’re re-airing two good ones… Emma Stone/Coldplay on the 21st and Jimmy Fallon/Michael Buble on the 28th), and then February 4th we suffer through Channing Tatum but at least it’ll be punctuated with some of the most beautiful music ever made… Bon Iver.