The Weather Channel

I frequently find myself watching the Weather Channel.  I come for the updates on current and upcoming conditions, but I stay for the music.  Typically, it is just that elevator music-style jazz, but occasionally I am treated to something like the Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” or “Theme from Shaft.”  But even when one of those rarities is not playing, the light jazz is enough to keep me around in a soothing, meditative daze.  There is a slightly melancholy feel to it – a sense that this is Life, this is Truth.  At that moment, it feels like the 3-hour Doppler loop is all that needs to be known.  Everything for those 5 to 10 minutes is simple and comforting.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 11/27/10

The Perry(i) sisters are 1-2!

Original Version
1. Katy Perry – Firework
2. Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts
3. Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are
4. Rihanna – Only Girl (in the World)
5. P!nk – Raise Your Glass
6. Mike Posner – Please Don’t Go
7. Nicki Minaj – Right Thru Me
8. Michael Bublé – Hollywood
9. Linkin Park – Waiting for the End
10. Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj – Bottoms Up
11. Kings of Leon – Radioactive
12. Kid Rock – Born Free
13. Bruno Mars – Grenade
14. Sugarland – Stuck Like Glue
15. Maroon 5 – Give a Little More
16. The Script – For the First Time
17. Keri Hilson – Pretty Girl Rock
18. Nelly – Just a Dream
19. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – Paris (Ooh La La)
20. Kanye West ft. Pusha T – Runaway

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Only Girl (in the World)
2. Radioactive
3. Runaway
4. Paris (Ooh La La)
5. Firework
6. Jar of Hearts
7. Waiting for the End
8. Just the Way You Are
9. Grenade
10. Please Don’t Go
11. Right Thru Me
12. For the First Time
13. Pretty Girl Rock
14. Born Free
15. Give a Little More
16. Just a Dream
17. Hollywood
18. Stuck Like Glue
19. Bottoms Up
20. Raise Your Glass

SNL Recap November 20, 2010: Anne Hathaway/Florence + the Machine

As y’all probably heard, I’m sexy now.

Cold Opening – The Rachel Maddow Show
This is a step in the right direction for political cold openings. A parody of a cable news talk show is always an apt setup for a forum of craziness, although this time around the craziness was a little jumbled, with the Charlie Rangel parts not really having much to do with Boehner/Pelosi. B-

Anne Hathaway’s Monologue
Another monologue premised on the physical attractiveness of a female host and the possibility of nudity? It would have been funnier if Anne had not admitted to K-Wiig that she was not being serious with the guys. B-

TSA
This commercial parody worked thanks to its recreation of elements of actual phone-sex line ads: the purring voiceover, the foggy shots, the cheesy jazz, etc. The guys, Bill and Bobby especially, did a good job of playing mostly straight/slightly “sexy.” If only we had seen one of the agents interacting with a customer. B+

The Miley Cyrus Show
This was significantly worse than the first Miley Cyrus Show sketch for three reasons:
1. No Bryan Cranston. I was not expecting Cranston to be around to reprise his pitch-perfect Billy Ray, but of all the choices they had to replace him, Sudeikis was the worst. His comedy style (excited and obnoxious) is the opposite of Billy Ray (laid-back in a silly way).
2. The guest did not provide a counterpoint. Anne’s Katie Holmes was dead-on, but it didn’t work the way Paul’s Johnny Depp did, with his confusion of what was going on around him providing a counterbalance. Katie just added to the parade of idiocy.
3. It was the same sketch all over again. Certain sketches can get away with doing the same thing over and over again, but not when the parts are substandard.
Luckily, Vanessa’s Miley is as great as ever, and bonus points go to Bobby as the drummer in the background. B

Penelope at the Lutheran Church Thanksgiving
Judging by the way the stage was set up, I could tell that this was a Penelope sketch right away, but it also felt a little different. The background characters were oddly well-developed, and everyone was so earnest that I almost couldn’t believe that they would end up being upset by Penelope (“Don’t be so hard on her, she means well”). Too many of these gags were retreads of past Penelope’s, but there were enough new ones, the most creative being the one-upping of a priest by bringing in a microphone to tell better jokes. B+

Kate Middleton Meeting the Royal Family
Fred and Bill were appropriately game as the Queen and Prince Philip, but the joke of the royal family as another type of family was not particularly fresh. B-

Florence + the Machine perform “Dog Days Are Over”
This performance unfortunately was not as colorful and adventurous as the music video or F + the M’s VMA performance, but it’s still a great song. B+

Weekend Update
-The Jokes: Hey, look at that, a few funny jokes. “Impersonating a lorax” was stupid in a good way. B
-The Segments: -Guy Fieri: It was not until about halfway through this routine that I realized that the main joke was that everything was being soaked in alcohol, which is a good thing, because it means there was so much going on. Guy’s made-up words (“splorp,” “Lanbsury for cranberry,” “numbrero,” “full throbble”) had me in hysterics. B+
-Come on, Dictionary: A poor man’s Really!?! B-
-Chris Hunter on Four Loco: That sounds about right. B-
-Jay Pharaoh performs Thanksgiving raps: All the impressions were tight (gotta give Jay props especially for his handling of Drake’s unusual delivery) and Thanksgiving songs are always funny. It is a little jarring, though, that Jay generally looks nothing like the people he does impressions of. B+

The Essentials: The Wizard of Oz
When you have a character like Lon Donsen who is supposed to be so out of place from the rest of the scene, it is best if the other characters do not realize how out of place he is or just ignore his strangeness and plow through, which is why this sketch worked as well as it did. B+

WXPD News
This was just as funny as Harrison Ford in Morning Glory. B+

Mega-Mart
This started to resemble the Kickspit Underground Rock Festival bit from last year, particularly with the inclusion of DJ Thunderthrust, who sounded like a combination of DJ Deuce Groan and Thurdersex from Kickspit’s lineup. Enjoyably crazy, but not quite classic, as Black Friday parodies have been done before. B

Camel Tame
So, what was that bulge supposed to be? B-

Florence + the Machine perform “You’ve Got the Love”
As the a capella opening made clear, the focus tonight was on Florence Welch’s voice rather than the band’s theatrics, which is fine enough, because at just 24, she already has one of the best voices in rock. B+

Horse Play
This was just as funny as Bunny Business, and the fake movie premise was even goofier. (Horse Play is hardly even a pun – it’s an actual word!) But Bunny Business was a little longer. Horse Play ended just as it was getting started. B

Overall
There were plenty of recurring elements, some new, some in unusal places, and some that had not been seen in a while. I did not fall in love with anything, but I feel that this is one of those episodes that I will enjoy more on repeat viewings.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 11/20/10

Songs that have appeared on both Top 20 Countdown and Cinema Sounds (the music that plays between movies at the theatre) this year: “Tighten Up,” “Mine,” and now, “Paris.”

Orignial Version
1. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
2. Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
3. Rihanna – “Only Girl (in the World)”
4. Katy Perry – “Firework”
5. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
6. P!nk – “Raise Your Glass”
7. Mike Posner – “Please Don’t Go”
8. Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
9. Michael Bublé – “Hollywood”
10. Nicki Minaj – “Right Thru Me”
11. Kid Rock – “Born Free”
12. Kanye West – “Runaway”
13. Sugarland – “Stuck Like Glue”
14. Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj – “Bottoms Up”
15. The Script – “For the First Time”
16. Travie McCoy – “Need You”
17. Bret Michaels – “Riding Against the Wind”
18. Keri Hilson – “Pretty Girl Rock”
19. Plain White T’s – “Rhythm of Love”
20. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Only Girl (in the World)
2. Radioactive
3. Runaway
4. Paris (Ooh La La)
5. Firework
6. Jar of Hearts
7. Waiting for the End
8. Just the Way You Are
9. For the First Time
10. Pretty Girl Rock
11. Please Don’t Go
12. Need You
13. Born Free
14. Right Thru Me
15. Hollywood
16. Stuck Like Glue
17. Bottoms Up
18. Raise Your Glass
19. Rhythm of Love
20. Riding Against the Wind

SNL Recap November 13, 2010: Scarlett Johansson/Arcade Fire

Middle East: quit goofing around!

Cold Opening – G20 Press Conference
This was so identical to last year’s Obama/Hu Jintao press conference sketch that I almost thought I was watching a rerun. Logically, I knew that that could not be true. I knew that I was watching a new episode and that Bill Hader had not played Hu in the last sketch, but perception is not always completely rational. Anyway, last year’s sketch was strongly decent; this one suffered from being exactly the same. B-

Scarlett Johansson’s Monologue
The premise of ScarJo keeping it classy was promising enough.  I guess.  Maybe.  Abby’s Ke$ha was right on, but I don’t think she really fit in this bit, because I don’t think Ke$ha particularly cares if she appears classy or not. B-

MTV: Maternity Television
The titles and introduction of each of the pregnancy-centric shows, along with Bill’s ever-reliable voice-over, were all entertaining, but the clips mostly fell flat, with the exception of Snooki, of course. B

Millionaire Matchmaker
This was the lead sketch after the monologue? A parody of a show that most people have never seen, let alone heard of, that lasts only three minutes?  It was far from the worst sketch ever, but who decided that it belonged in the first half of the show?  ScarJo’s impression may or may not have been accurate; either way, it was kind of stupid.  At least Vanessa was able to do her thing as the dowdy lawyer, and Taran was a great match. C+

The Manuel Ortiz Show
This is the epitome of a one-joke sketch, but it is a one-joke sketch that I do not mind SNL getting away with, because Fred is just so great at playing ethnic people.  But seriously, what is it doing this early in the show? C+

Unstoppable Trailer
Jay’s Denzel is pitch-perfect, especially in this case considering how Denzel was given free rein to be as crazy as possible in Unstoppable. This was also a sharp breakdown of the old fart/rookie teamup premise. However, when I watched this sketch a second time, after seeing the actual Unstoppable, ScarJo as Rosario Dawson’s fixation on the Chrysler Building was annoying, considering that she only mentions it once in the actual movie. B

Hollywood Dish
The Hollywood Dish sketches usually have a slapdash feel, this time especially so.  I think that it is usually on purpose, but a slapdash representation of slapdashery generally does not work.  The misleading editing job at the end was disappointing this time around. C+

Arcade Fire performs “We Used to Wait”
Where the hell was Win going?  Wandering offstage that early in a performance rarely happens, and nobody seemed quite sure what to make of it.  At least the song was great. Three violins, eh? B+

Weekend Update
-The Jokes: I can’t remember one memorable joke, and I don’t feel that there is a need to check to make sure whether or not I am forgetting one. C-
-The Segments: -George W. Bush and Kanye West: This was just a little slice of Americana. Do I smell a sitcom? B
-Gladys and Frank Madden discuss the cruise ship fire: My focus was fixed on Fred for most of this bit.  He owned that crossword.  Vanessa deserved better material. B-

St. Katherine’s Middle School
This was nothing more than a virtuoso showcase for Kenan.  The decision each time to cut to a close-up as soon as he was on the floor was undeniably perfect.  His cries against the idiocy of his friends were filled with emotions that not every man can summon. B+

Digital Short: What Was That
This sketch caught our attention by breaking down the problems of the world and making them appear so simple, thus stoking our hope that entertainment can indeed change the world for good.  But in making everything seem so simple and not suggesting any concrete solutions, it may have been problematic itself.  Either way, there is meaning to be found here, and that is art. A-

Paula Deen’s Big Ol’ Soakems
Her dishes are almost entirely butter and oil.  Ha-ha. C

Arcade Fire performs “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
What Régine Chassagne does on the stage while taking the lead on vocals does not appear to be too difficult, but how many singers are there out there who put their faces right up to the microphone, throw their arms about, and appear cute and badass at the same time?  Everybody seemed to be having a grand old time, and that little synth riff captured that feeling perfectly. A-

Stars of Tomorrow
Vanessa’s voice as Laura sounded just like some voice I have heard before, possibly multiple times, from where I am not sure. Anyway, it sounded like the perfect voice for a precocious child actor. If Laura Parsons were real, she would undoubtedly be entertaining while performing Forrest Gump, A Raisin in the Sun, and Brokeback Mountain, even though she clearly has no idea how the roles were originally meant to be played.  ScarJo really was no match at first, but she caught up somewhat by the end. B+

Mike’s Busteria
Finally, Mike and Lexie show up.  Fred is just as great as he has been with telling people how to make their homes more fancy, but sadly, Lexie’s “dis one, or dat one” shtick felt tired. B

Overall
This episode appeared to be going nowhere at first, and then there was a massive turnaround after Update, with an unbroken string of great sketches (save for Paula Deen) to finish things off.  Arcade Fire were thrilling, naturally.  How has Scarlett Johansson hosted three times?  She is not the sort of host who should be on when she has nothing to promote. Mike and Lexie are memorable recurring characters, but they do not justify having Scarlett on for the rest of the show.

Ethnic cleansing: talk to the hand!

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 11/13/10

Taylor and Daughtry finally fall off the list, and with Rihanna at the top, my number 1 matches up with the original number 1 for the first time since I have been making my revisions (though it should have also matched up when “Teenage Dream” took the lead).

Original Version
1. Rihanna – “Only Girl (in the World)”
2. Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
3. Usher ft. Pitbull – “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love”
4. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
5. Flo Rida ft. David Guetta – “Club Can’t Handle Me”
6. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
7. Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
8. Katy Perry – “Firework”
9. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”
10. P!nk – “Raise Your Glass”
11. Mike Posner – “Please Don’t Go”
12. Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj – “Bottoms Up”
13. Michael Bublé – “Hollywood”
14. Kanye West – “Runaway”
15. Plain White T’s – “Rhythm of Love”
16. Kid Rock – “Born Free”
17. Sugarland – “Stuck Like Glue”
18. Nicki Minaj – “Right Thru Me”
19. Bret Michaels – “Riding Against the Wind”
20. Travie McCoy – “Need You”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Only Girl (in the World)
2. Radioactive
3. Runaway
4. Firework
5. Closer to the Edge
6. Jar of Hearts
7. Waiting for the End
8. Just the Way You Are
9. Please Don’t Go
10. Need You
11. Club Can’t Handle Me
12. Born Free
13. DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love
14. Hollywood
15. Stuck Like Glue
16. Right Thru Me
17. Bottoms Up
18. Raise Your Glass
19. Rhythm of Love
20. Riding Against the Wind

The Current State of Politics on Saturday Night Live

A few weeks ago I was watching an episode of SNL from the year 200o on VH1.  That one episode featured all of the  following sketches: the Presidential Couple (the cold opening in which Bush and Gore declare that they are both going to be president, in an Odd Couple-type scenario), Al Gore’s discussion of the Florida ballot (“the single most confusing … document ever produced”), and the CBS Sports update from Dan Rather  (in which NBA game winners were projected in the style of election coverage).  These were three of the most classic sketches inspired by the 2000 election.  And they all originally appeared on the same episode!

When I consider the state of politics on SNL in 2010, my conclusion is that that would never happen now.  To be fair, 2000 may have been the most fruitful and serendipitous year for American political comedy ever.  SNL benefited from having all-time classic impressions of two perpetually memorable candidates, and the recount ensured that election-themed sketches could last for nearly forever.

2010 only featured a midterm election, so I have not expected anything near the level of 2000.  But this year has not been lacking for characters.  Christine O’Donnell was a bit of a fringe candidate, but that hardly meant that she did not provide ample material for parody.  Unfortunately, SNL simply went through the motions and only took on the “I’m not a witch” angle.  O’Donnell’s botched understanding of the Constitution could very well have led to something in the vein of Katie Couric interviewing Sarah Palin.  The only truly memorable election-centric moment this year was Kenan’s gonzo take on “The Rent is Too Damn High” candidate Jimmy McMillan (and that was only an Update bit).

This post is not meant to bemoan the current state of SNL in its entirety.  This is a diversely enjoyable cast with some promising newcomers.  The relative lack of political edginess is most likely due to a (not necessarily bad) change of styles.  The buzz about SNL is dominated by the digital shorts, often rightfully so.  Accordingly, the show has taken on a more surreal, rather than satirical, bent.  Both of these styles are enjoyed by me, and many others, and SNL has been adept at both for most of the show’s history.  But SNL has also always seemed to have a naturalness when it comes to political humor- more character than idea-driven, and thus, more parodic than satirical.  Nonetheless, it is a good niche that SNL has filled well, but that naturalness seems to be lacking today.  I do not demand that SNL be dominated by p0litics, nor do I even demand that each episode features at least one political sketch (and if it  is not working, don’t force a message from the president cold opening).  I merely expect that the writers and cast know how to handle an opportunity like Christine O’Donnell when it is placed squarely in their laps.

The Best Television Episode Synopsis Ever

The following is a synopsis of the Hannah Montana episode “It’s a Mannequin’s World,” which originally aired May 12, 2006.  I love its description of classically silly sitcom situations.

“Miley hatches a really kooky and elaborate scheme that involves her posing as a clothing store’s Hannah Montana mannequin in an effort to obtain a hopefully un-lame birthday gift from her father.”

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 11/6/10

Fireworks are popping out of everyone’s chest.

Original Version
1. Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
2. Flo Rida ft. David Guetta – “Club Can’t Handle Me”
3. Taylor Swift – “Mine”
4. Usher ft. Pitbull – “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love”
5. Rihanna – “Only Girl (in the World)”
6. Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
7. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”
8. Daughtry – “September”
9. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
10. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
11. P!nk – “Raise Your Glass”
12. Plain White T’s – “Rhythm of Love”
13. Mike Posner – “Please Don’t Go”
14. Katy Perry – “Firework”
15. Bret Michaels – “Riding Against the Wind”
16. Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj – “Bottoms Up”
17. Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
18. Michale Bublé – “Hollywood”
19. Jack Johnson – “At or With Me”
20. Sugarland – “Stuck Like Glue”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Only Girl (in the World)
2. Radioactive
3. Firework
4. Closer to the Edge
5. Jar of Hearts
6. Waiting for the End
7. Little Lion Man
8. Just the Way You Are
9. Club Can’t Handle Me
10. Hollywood
11. Please Don’t Go
12. DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love
13. Stuck Like Glue
14. At or With Me
15. Bottoms Up
16. Mine
17. Raise Your Glass
18. Rhythm of Love
19. Riding Against the Wind
20. September

The Women of SNL Recap

For last night’s primetime special, The Women of SNL, I will not be doing my usual lengthy, in-depth episode recap.  Instead, all I have to say is, Nora Dunn is 58 and she looks great – better than she has ever looked.