Monday, March 11, 2013

Saturday Right Live


  I'm probably the most critical person of "Saturday Night Live" that I know -- hey, I was a Gilda Radner kid -- but even I have to admit this Saturday's was pretty damn good. I've always thought Justin Timberlake was a bit overrated for what he's done so far -- one decent acting job, and two solo albums and Madonna was turning to him to jumpstart her career????? -- but he did impress me last night. 


He handled a potentially uncomfortable sketch with fellow five-time hosts -- and some oversized egos -- deftly, and his rapping "sandwich board" was startlingly good (vegan-inspired parodies of Chic's "Le Freak," Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby," Rihanna's "We Found Love," Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself," and Trinidad Jame$' "All Gold Everything" all while dressed as a giant piece of tofu!). I'm still scratching my head about "Maine Justice" -- and I'm sure some will take issue with his un-PC but spot-on romcom parody -- but that second song he sang was fantastic (Chart Rigger declared "Mirrors" the best song of 2013 so far). Not since Debbie Harry hosted in 1981 have I seen a host/musical guest appeared in as many sketches at JT did -- he even introduced himself as the musical act on song one! -- although the evening's two finest moments were mostly Timberlake-free. Seth Meyers' "Weekend Update" made me laugh on every joke, and the women who starred in this "Moet & Chandon" promo were so brilliant, I'm pretty sure I heard Gilda herself laughing from above!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

SNL's quality always seems dependent on the talent of the host and how inspiring and flexible they can be. I, like you. don't get the love JT lovefest. Did you see them at the Grammy's falling all over him???

I do think he has enough talent and personality that SNL is a perfect vehicle for him and both he and the show benefit from it.

If you look back, I think this has always been the case. Why is the writing so much better for JT then for whoever hosted last week? If it wasn't dependent on the host then the writing would always be at the same level. Some of the best hosts have had outstanding talent but most have been less so.

Anonymous said...

Timberlake is the best host of SNL right now. And he's better looking than ever.