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whatevs.org presents... by Jason Nummer Episode 19: Molly Shannon / Linkin Park (5/12/07) | ||
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CONEY RATING SYSTEM |
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0-10 Coneys – Garbage OAD = Original Air Date* (*To be fair, coneys will be awarded the same as they were the first time they aired) |
| PRE-SHOW COMMENTS |
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In the fall of 2001, Entertainment Weekly’s annual “IT” issue praised SNL’s then crop of female cast members by writing, “Saturday Night Live’s mythic boys club is officially over thanks to this clan of X chromosomes: Dratch, Gasteyer, Rudolph, and Fey deliver trenchant comedy and flawless impressions on camera.” The accolade was dead on, but failed to point out one thing - the girl power revolution really started in 1995 when Molly Shannon got nervous and smelled her armpits for the first time.
Thankfully, the “Saturday Night Live in the 90’s: Pop Culture Nation” special NBC aired this past Sunday gave her a bit more credit. Within two years of Shannon’s debut, she established two definitive ’90s era SNL sketches: Mary Katherine Gallagher and, along with Gastayer, “The Delicious Dish”. One also can’t forget Molly’s half of “Leg Up”, “Goth Talk”, “Dog Show” or her unapologetic takes on female singers of the time (she tackled everyone from Bjork and Courtney Love to Gwen Stefani and Tori Amos).
Sure she was a little burnt out and less effective by her final season (‘00-’01), and her post-SNL film career can’t exactly be compared to Adam Sandler’s, but Molly’s mark on the show is undeniable. It has been nearly six years since Shannon was last spotted in Studio 8H and I, for one, welcome her back.
With their third studio album “Minutes to Midnight” due for release later this month, Linkin Park rounds out the schedule on the music side. Unlike Shannon, I say, no buzz. Nu-metal. Who cares? |
| THE GOOD | THE BAD |
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Molly Shannon may have just become my favorite host of the season. It truly has been awhile since a host came in and had this much of an impact on the show. Not only were most of her scenes getting the biggest laughs in the sketches, but the whole episode had a certain kind of playful energy to it. Surprisingly, most of this was accomplished through Shannon’s old recurring characters. Instead of just revisiting them dry like Will Ferrell’s return of James Lipton last Fall, Shannon successfully inserted her old bits into new situations to make them fresh all over again. Sally O’Malley auditioning to become a stripper in a Sopranos parody? Best sketch in months. Mary Katherine Gallagher as an American Idol wannabe? So much better than SNL’s last Idol parody back in February where all the contestants were animals. Seeing her Jeannie Darcy character back on Weekend Update was a blast too – if, according to Seth Meyers, you get female standup comedy.
The sketch of the night was without a doubt Sally O’Malley meeting The Sopranos. Armisen (as Paulie) and Suds (as Silvio) were dead on and more than enough made up for Hammond and Forte’s somewhat weaker takes on Tony and Uncle Junior respectively. As if watching the mob characters getting parodied wasn’t enough, in comes Shannon’s O’Malley character going on about her “five decade delight” and stressing she knows how to “kiiiiick, streeetch and KICK”. I must have watched this three times Sunday morning laughing harder each time. Truly a standout for the season.
Wiig and Forte also had big nights. Wiig got things going early with the return of her Penelope character. This time we learned she has an ocean in her bath tub, she’s given birth to a cat and she can turn invisible. I’ve read some reviews online from people not liking how she actually did turn invisible at the end of the sketch (meaning Penelope’s outrageous statements have more truth in them then the party goers typically believe), but I thought it was a great touch.
Part of what currently has Jeremy Piven’s January episode rated as the best of the season was Forte’s three MacGruber segments. I never thought we’d see them again since they stood so well on their own, but the new batch he offered up tonight was best. It appears MacGruber has developed somewhat of a drinking problem (ala the recently leaked Hasselhoff video) and it’s getting in the way of him saving the world with everyday household objects. Where he could once save a building from exploding by employing a cup of bum sperm, he now lays shirtless on the floor struggling to eat a sandwich. Forte was also amazingly creepy as a NAMBLA representative running for President in the “Decision ’08: The Fringe Candidates Debate” sketch. |
Linkin Park, while not as bad as this season’s worst musical guest (that nod still goes to Akon’s December visit), were extremely generic. Having never paid much attention to the band prior to the show, I was surprised to learn they had six members. Does it really take that many people to sound that run of the mill? As far as their genre is concerned, I guess they are good at what they do, but to me it was nothing more than average.
Maya and Hammond fired off a few duds tonight as well with the unnecessary returns of both Charli Coffe and Donald Trump. Maya’s latest go around as the drunken lounge singer Coffe was thankfully less Versache-like than the last time we saw her back in April of 2005, but if it wasn’t for Shannon’s equally washed up Toni Caryle character, this sketch would have been a total waste. During Gyllenhaal’s January episode, Hammond used a segment to, as Trump, complain about Rosie O’Donnell. Tonight Trump was back pitching his new line of “black anus beef” steaks for $999. Sound funny? I didn’t think so. These sexual innuendo and word play sketches have really been beaten to death over the past few years. Considering Hammond is a 12-season SNL veteran, I expect more from him.
Finally, enough with the Urigro commercial parody! This is the third time we’ve seen it since its January debut. It was a great bit the first time, no need to turn it into this season’s “Gaystrogen” – a parody that aired numerous times during the 2003-2004 season. |
| THE BOTTOM LINE! |
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Shannon’s first stab at hosting after being a cast member for six years was a total success. Her 1990’s flashback monologue with Lorne was a stitch, she made old characters new again and never once did she have problems holding her own with SNL’s latest generation. Showing up in three sketches, Hammond also seemed to benefit from having his old pal back and it really looked like he was having fun on the show again (despite the poor Trump sketch). Since the last few live episodes hovered around the average to slightly above-average scoring range, tonight was a sigh of relief and a reminder of how the right person can really get the show back on track. |
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CONEY COUNT |
| SKETCH | RATING |
1. Cold Opening: American Idol |  |
2. Monologue: Shannon |  |
3. Commercial Parody: Urigro | |
4. Sketch: Penelope | |
5. Sketch: Decision ’08: The Fringe Candidates Debate | |
6. Sketch: Sally O’ Malley meets The Sopranos | |
7. Music: Linkin Park “What I’ve Done” |  |
8. Music: Weekend Update | |
9. Sketch: Caitlin | |
10. Filmed Segment: MacGruber #1 | |
11. Cartoon by Robert Smigel: Big Boobed Einstein | |
12. The Oak Room | |
13. Filmed Segment: MacGruber #2 | |
14. Linkin Park “Bleed it Out” | |
15. Sketch: Trump’s Steaks |  |
16. Filmed Segment: MacGruber #3 | |
TOTALS | 44 /64 Coneys |
= John Belushi
= Amy Poehler
= Tim Meadows
= Melanie Hutzel
= Charles Rocket
= Self-Explanatory