'SNL' drops a new anchor
Twitter
Seth Meyers did a perfectly fine job as the new co-anchor of "Weekend Update" on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live last night. But he was upstaged by NBC's serious-news anchor, Brian Williams.
In one of the best bits of the night, the show came back from commercial with Amy Poehler sitting at the "Update" desk, preparing for the fake newscast. In walks Williams, gushing about how excited he was to be taking the seat next to Poehler and the "ton of material" he had prepared for his debut broadcast.
"Did you get my messages?" Poehler asked. "Oh, Brian, um, we decided to go in another direction."
Of the current network-news anchors, Williams seems to have the best sense of humor about himself, and he sold his disappointment at the "Update" rejection quite well: "I'm gonna head home. I've got a wife and two kids, and someone has to tell them that Daddy's not gonna be on TV tonight."
As for the newscast itself, Meyers and Poehler seemed comfortable together, though they didn't interact a whole lot. Meyers a couple of times was on the verge of breaking up at his own joke; he might want to work on that a little. The rhythm of both anchors' delivery was pretty much unchanged from the Poehler-Tina Fey regime of the past few seasons.
Overall, it was a typical SNL mixed bag. The "Chavez Political Roundup" was pretty funny, as was "Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance." The Homeland Security sketch with host Dane Cook and six cast members and the show-opening piece with President Bush, not so much.
And you? What'd you think of the season premiere?
Post a comment
- Most Liked
- Most Commented
i initially started to watch weekend update because of tina fey, now that she is gone, there is no reason to watch. I still watched the show, but was very dissatisfied with weekend update, both "anchors" are bad, maybe not their delivery but the writing is really bad. i dont know, but I dont like this change. Dane cook was horrible, it was funny how at the same time on Mad TV they were making fun of Dane...lol.
Not funny. SNL is one of my favorite things to watch, but they are in dire need of finding the next "cannot take my eyes off" star for that show. It's quite sad what mediocrity the show is bringing to the table. As for Dane Cook? Funny as a stand-up (especially in person), but 0-2 on being funny on SNL. I had high hopes for this season on SNL with all the changes, but once again, it looks as if we're in for another poor one instead. It really saddens me.
That Poland Spring water sketch may be the worst thing ever on SNL. Unfunny, uninspired....and when did they start trying to see "just how long" they could stretch a sketch out. Drop a few more water bottles through the door.... And I can't even imagine what got cut in dress rehearsal if this time-filler made it on the air.
Why does Dane Cook believe perversion=funny? The water bottle skit would have had potential, execept for the "boning a lady"...I mean seriously?!?! He is not funny, and this weeks SNL was not funny either. THey need Parnell, Fey, Finesse, and Sanz (sans the Carol bit- pun intended)!!!
I thought the bar scene was funny at the end...closing the place down...lots of eye candy in there!
I actually liked the Poland Springs bit. The bouncing water bottles worked because they held it so long and the jab at their long running problem of letting a skit run too long was a great close to it.
But Weekend Update was kind of lackluster. For the last few years I've thought they bring in too many "guests" to the news segment. The news has plenty of absurdity in it that the anchor(s) should be able to point out without help.
the homeland security sketch was possibly the funniest sketch of the evening. the al pacino thing was impressive only for the dead on impersonation. and the news wasted WAY too much time with the ridiculous mess of the clinton/rice bit. no doubt it seemed a good nugget of an idea on monday, but then no one bothered to write it by week's end. and honestly, was THAT the best they could do with clinton's performance on fox news?
they would've been better off giving the entire show over to dane cook's stand up.
won't watch this garbage anymore
I enjoyed the show. SNL isn't for everyone, apparently. But I've always enjoyed it, through thick and thin. I've seen far worse episodes of SNL than their opener this year. I thought they did very well adjusting to the four cut regulars. I'm especially enjoying the newest cast members. Kristen Whig (sp?) in particular.
My only dissapointment was they didn't do the "Two A-holes Shop for a Christmas Tree" characters this time around. That's my favorite new recurring sketch. "You look like a rabbit" might be a new catch phrase. There weren't a lot of fake ads - I counted one toward the end of the show. And no Smigel cartoon, either. Still, it was a good show. Kept me laughing.
I'll miss Debbie Downer and Chris Parnell rapping - but we'll see Tina Fey soon enough in prime time. I'll miss Horatio the most. They really needed him for that Saddam Hussein bit.
Zap 2 It criticized Seth Meyers for nearly laughing at his own joke during the newscast? Come on. That's one of the best parts of SNL - when they break up. My complaint about the news segment was that Seth and Amy weren't having enough fun with it. Hopefully they'll loosen up soon.
The Brian Williams cameo was funny but it would have been funnier if Dan Rather had shown up looking for new work. Brian already has a gig.
I'll miss Amy's nutball "Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick" character. But I guess she can't do that with Horatio gone.
Dane Cook hosting the show reminds me sometimes of when Steve Martin hosted in the 70's. He brings an extra energy to the show that most performers can't. He could easily be a regular cast member and I predict he'll host many, many more times in the future and join Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin and Tom Hanks in setting records.
I'm not a huge Killers fan but their performances were excellent. They may have won me over.
I'd give the show 8 out of 10 stars. Docking two points only because Seth and Amy were too stiff during the news.
I can't believe no one mentioned the Whitney Houston Geico commercial at the end. I busted a gut laughing so hard: "Catching Bobby Brown with 3 hooopty hoops from a Jay-Z vidja". Fantastic!