Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2011-2012 Season thread

Glad I saw this thread, thanks for the heads-up! I just set my DVR. I guess that I can just fastforward through the Alec Baldwin parts.

 

Enjoy the commercials.

 

Radiohead.....that was a comedy bit, right??

 

Yeah, as the host, I can't think of a skit he wasn't in.

 

I thought it was a really good episode! Radiohead's set was weird. I don't have their new album yet. I guess I don't need to rush out and get it still. I loved In Rainbows though.

 

I wasn't expecting Staircase. I thought they would perform either Magpie or even Jigsaw or something older as their second performance. I thought they picked two lousy sketches to open the season (All My Children wrap party and oblivious remote news anchor) but rebounded nicely with Who's On Top? and Pedrad's needy child.

 

I like her, too, but my favorite is Nasim Pedrad. She finally moved up to a star in the opening credits!

 

Long overdue. I was very surprised last year when Abby Elliot moved into the starring cast and Nasim Pedrad remained a featured player.

Did Jay Pharaoh even appear in the episode? He seems really talented, but I felt like he barely got any skit time last year, and that pattern might be repeating.

 

That was Bill Hader as Harvey Fierstein, right? Man, between that and Alan Alda he can really nail an impersonation. Baldwin's Pacino was great, too.

 

On Jimmy Fallon, Friday night, Alec demonstrated how back in the start of Al's career, he spoke with his teeth clenched, in a higher, nasal tone...then progressed to the lower-registered maniac we all love in Scent Of A Woman. As a huge Pacino fan, I think Alec does the best impersonation I've seen.

 

I liked Radiohead's set. IMO they're back at it where they left off before Rainbows, pushing their artist boundaries. I liked what I heard in both tunes. Great performance as well.

I enjoyed this season opener, especially the opening monologue/skit.

Red Flag

 

It's not like SNL to take a pass on skewering someone in the news, but they sure ignored Tony Bennett's recent 9/11 comments when Alex Baldwin did him during Weekend Update...

I liked the Top Gun screen test the best...

 

Great season kick off last night. Radiohead looked and sounded good.

 

Don Pardo is an Icon & I really look forward to his hearing his voice..makes me smile. In the early days he did a few walk-on bits, I belive.

 

I wish that it was! They used to be my favorite band for years - now it is sad and painful for me to watch.

 

Only found the Top Gun skit funny.

And the Radiohead tunes... what's the opposite of catchy?

 

For me the highlight was Seth Meyer's mock confusion of Perry's words as his campaign slogan.

 

I can't believe Vanessa Bayer is still a "featured" player. She's gold.

 

I really enjoyed the show. Very silly and very funny. Alec's Tony Bennett grin was ridiculously wonderful.

 

The rule for the last few years has been that new cast members are featured players for two seasons before being promoted to the main cast. The new season is Vanessa Bayer's second, Nasim Pedrad's third, and Abby Elliott's fourth.

 

It was alright. A bit flat, takes a week or two to get their mojos back, but some funny isolated bits here and there. Normally I am not a hater, I watch every weekend when it's new, and have for most of their 40 year run...but I can tell a good show form one that is spotty. Which is simply part of the genre's charm. N
ever knowing what will work or when.

 

I thought it was very good except for the Radiohead skits and the army one at the end. The Top Gun auditions were great. Really liked the "Red Flag" commercial too.

Every now and then I think maybe I've been missing something with Radiohead. Some people talk about them as if they are one of the greatest bands ever. Then I listen to them or watch them and I'm reassured. I'm not missing anything.

 

Kristin Wiig is the Queen of SNL. Easy to tell by her prominence.

Alec Baldwin is always reliably funny, and the opening bit with Steve Martin and Seth Rogan was great.

Radiohead is very overrated as a band, though.

Evan

 

Watched it on DVR last night, very good show.

I think most of the bits went well, with some minor flops but none of them brutally horrible. The 'Red Flag' ad might be one for the ages. So good!

Hader continues to impress me, and I agree that Bayer should be a full-time cast member.

One of the sleepers on the cast IMHO is Bobby Moynihan. I just look at him and start laughing. He has some brilliant facial expressions going on, I'm looking forward to watching him develop as time goes on.

I'm into music, lots of indie music too...I can never 'get' Radiohead and on SNL I found them absolutely insufferable. To each his own.

dan c