Saturday Night Live – Episode 37-14 Review – “Zooey Deschanel”

Reviews

I
am not a huge fan of Zooey. Its not because she isn’t talented, I just am not a
fan of this obviously beautiful girl always presenting herself as, “so awkward.”
I could go on but I believe this article from Cracked.com
really sums up my feelings.

Now,
back to me being open minded. Zooey’s new show, New Girl is doing pretty well an a lot of my friends stress to me I
need to watch the show because the boys are so funny. So maybe I will check it
out.
Last
week’s episode gave me a bummed out feeling so I am really hoping the show gets
out of their weird slump.
Opening – Talking
with Mitt
Back
to the regular opening where a politician addresses America. Today Mitt Romney reminds
the public how much better he is doing than Newt. Those two really do hate each
other. Then Mitt tries to show how much he is an average Joe by introducing us
to his dog who really doesn’t like him. Anytime I see a real animal on this
show it gets me excited to see if it will misbehave on live TV. The dog kept
barking through the “Live from New
York…” line so I couldn’t tell if it was an accident
or not.
Monologue
Here
comes Zooey in a standard adorable sundress with hearts. She then addresses the
fact that she is wearing an adorable dress. I give her points for being
self-aware. Zooey then sings a cute little song about when men forget
Valentine’s on her ukulele. Yes, it’s all very cute.
Clint Eastwood
Chrysler Commercials
Clint’s
superbowl commercial caused some backlash from politicians believing Clint was
being too political. These parodies (which aired at three different times) were
amazing. Clint is still reminding America that the game isn’t over,
and China
and Mexico
are beating us. I love the way they portray Clint as a cranky old man. (Reminds
me of my old man). And the gag with the pants was priceless. I’m tempted not to
provide a screen shot because I think you should see it. Oh what they hell.
“These Mexicans are like my pants.”

 

“I’ve
had ‘em up to here.”
Piers Morgan
On
the show Piers (Taran Killam) interviews all the colourful characters involved
in last week’s fingergate. Can I call it fingergate? Well, you know MIA got in
trouble for showing the middle finger during the Superbowl. Piers interviews
MIA who is not going to apologize, LMFAO who just look weird and a concerned
mother from Minnesota.
The concerned mother describes how awkward it was when her children asked
“Where are the rest of her fingers?” I thought that line really stuck it to all
those “concerned parents” out there. Later Madonna is interviewed and Kristen
does a good job with her weird faux British accent. I enjoyed Taran’s befuddled
impression of Piers Morgan who isn’t sure what question he is going to ask. He
also interviewed the tightrope guy from the half time show.

I
am one of the few people who didn’t watch the Superbowl or the halftime show
but out of context this character still seemed funny.
Fast talking
Newspaper
I
love fast talking in old timey movies. I always wonder, why do people talk like
this in movies? Then I wonder who was the genius who thought, ‘maybe we should
slow down this dialogue?’ Zooey plays the new “ace” reporter who is having
difficulty listening to her new co-workers. I do appreciate Zooey in this skit
as she attempts some witty dialogue. And then I love Bobbi’s cutaway face.


Les Jeunes de Paris
It
makes total sense that Zooey is in this sketch because they only use the “cute”
hosts to participate. As usual some Parisian youth are experiencing a dramatic
moment and can only solve it with dancing. This time, Jean Dujardin the star of
this year’s multi-nominated Oscar picture, The
Artist
, shows up to dance. I did not laugh during this sketch but I was
100% delighted throughout it. It inspired me to go see the movie. 

Bein’ Quirky with
Zooey

This
was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Everyone was perfection in this sketch
about famous people who are just so gosh darn quirky. Host Zooey (Abbey Elliot)
and her sidekick Micheal Cera (Taran Killim) welcome guests Mary Kate Olsen
(Zooey Deschenel) and Bjork (Kristen Wiig) and discuss bein’ quirky. Here are
some quirky examples: knitting while listening to Hawaiian music, finding
clothes from garbage cans, and pretending to fall. I was losing it during this
whole sketch. Every time Micheal Cera spoke I was in tears. Zooey, you are now
OK in my books for going with this. I appreciate her humour and her excellent
Mary Kate impression.
Crab Legs
Some
writer must have overheard some ladies with thick Maryland accents talk about crab legs and
wrote this sketch. I was getting annoyed with this sketch because I started
craving crab legs. And that’s pretty funny because I have never eaten crab
legs. SNL, has the crab board got to you too? I hope they gave you some money
for this?
Weekend Update
Seth’s
first guest was Arianna Huffington. You know her? She is in charge of the
Huffington Post. She comes by to comment on all the recent stories relating
women’s rights in the news. I didn’t find this very funny but I felt the accent
was dead on. I watched this on Sunday with my dad who under his breath said,
“She’s terrible and has too much money.” Tell me how you really feel, Pop.
Next
was the Nicolas Cage’s In the Cage
segment where Nicolas Cage’s guest was Nicolas Cage. (Who would have ever
thought I would have to write that man’s name so many times.) The Cages explain
to Seth that they are clones. While one clone is calm and Zen-like the other is
an exaggerated screaming psychopath. Apparently Cage’s catchphrase is, “that’s
high praise.” Does he really say that a lot? I laughed at the two things that
are in every Nicolas Cage movie.
1)   
All
the dialogue is whispered or screamed
2)   
Everything
in the movie is on fire.
Kudos
to Nic Cage for participating in this sketch and an even bigger kudos to him
for not laughing.
The
week’s update went really fast again but here is Seth’s joke of the night.
A
man was sentenced by a judge to take his wife to Red Lobster: “Red Lobster,
where people are sentenced to dinner.”
Verizon Ad
We
don’t have Verizon here in Canada
but I feel the same way talking to any cell phone company. The tag line to the
ad was great but I just realized my three-year contract is almost up and I
don’t look forward to this conversation. Sigh.
Letter Writing
This
sketch was hilarious, especially for being the last sketch of the night. All
the “prospective men” were great visual gags and I think the cast enjoyed doing
it. I have a feeling whoever wrote this sketch was a single woman. Why? Because
this sketch was a wonderful reminder to every single lady on Valentine’s Day:
Would you rather be single in this age or be single in 1860 where you HAD to
pick a man no matter who it was. Even this guy:
(Insert
photo)
Also
I would like to note how Zooey was wearing some super sparkly eye shadow in
this sketch. Wow! Way to make this whole sketch less authentic.
Final Thoughts
I
was thoroughly impressed with this whole episode. I feel the writers were very
inspired by Zooey so I guess there is a good reason she is quirky. I may not be
a complete convert to Zooey fan but I applaud your work and an excellent show.
Here here!
Next
week’s SNL host is alum Maya Rudolph. In other words how many SNL former cast
mates will be showing up?


You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.