Saturday Night Live

Could Andy Samberg look and sound less like Nic Cage?

I'm sure Andy Samberg would be upset to learn that he doesn't look or sound like Nicholas Cage, seeing as how doing a note-perfect Nicholas Cage impression is the entire point of Get In The Cage. Rich Little is spinning in his grave.

That's not what I meant. I mean they keep bringing on celebrity guests, so it would be funny if they at least acknowledged his not at all Cage-ness. But even as an exaggerated cartoon version of an exaggerated cartoon person, it's never really worked for me. Doesn't help to have a sleepy, mumbling Liam Neeson on to make Samberg look extra tiny and non-Cage. Like, Bill Hader's Lindsey Buckingham is funny, because it's close enough, and ... anyway, I'm babbling a little. I just thought it was really shitty, boring, not funny, poorly performed, etc., this week.

But yeah, Funkytown. Why no robot voice joke?

Was Jay Pharoah's only appearance this week as a guy in a glittery diaper?

Yeah, it was a very 'blink and you'll miss'em!' episode for about half of the cast this week. I think Nasim and Taran were the only featured players with speaking parts. But they can at least look forward to their extensive guest appearances when Kristen Wiig hosts in 2020.

so is jon hamm just on this show now

i wish

wd watch the cast of mad men perform snl

armisen has some balls

is Mick Jagger channeling Richard Ayoade?

Not watching, but I just heard about Arcade Fire sporting the red squares. Nice gesture.

Mick sang "Last Time" backed by Arcade Fire and now he's backed by the Foo Fighters for a medley. His Steven Tyler impersonation on the last skit was funnier in theory than in practice.

mick swore.

Ayup.

In other news: ugh, this fucking "song".

That blues one about Romney with Jeff Beck was terrible. But now Arcade fire doing She's a Rainbow and Ruby Tuesday for Kristen Wiig's farewell. There's Jon Hamm and Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels

Kristen Wiig's not dying, right?

She was kind of a big deal though

In even more news: aww, that was really sweet. Assuming there aren't other cast members on the way out, in which case they got SHAFTED.

I thought Sudeikis and Samberg were gone as well.

xp Was she though? I mean clearly Lorne always thought so, but

Sudeikis looked fucking pissed. Can't say I blame him, but Lorne got to give his golden girl a hell of a send-off.

No Sueikis and Samberg are definitely gone. This was standard Lorne, its why Wiig has been allowed to run every half-assed character she's done into the ground. So glad she's gone now.

I thought Sudeikis and Samberg were gone as well.

Maybe their particular decisions haven't been finalized? The last two digital shorts sure had a feeling of finality about them. But it was weird how absent Sudeikis was if it was his last episode.

Yeah, Samberg kinda got his send-off with those 2 shorts

I mean I like Kristen Wiig, but it's just weird is all. When that started I figured like "oh, this will be a nice send-off for Samberg and Sudeikis and Wiig...."

Sudeikis got nothing though, and if you go back and watch his face as Lorne comes out, he looks super pissed. I wonder if something else happened, since he was hardly in the episode.

Whaddayamean Sudeikis got nothing?! He got to be a worker at a fish packing plant! Come on! What a send-off!

I figured that's why Wiig was whispering something to him during that final number. Pretty shitty way to go for such a great member of the cast. Wiig definitely responsible for a lot of the show's popularity over the last half-decade or so, even if I didn't like most of her recurring characters. She's hella talented though, and I've got a lot of love for "Liza Minelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp".

Cosign pretty much all of your post, Gubke. I seriously think Wiig's gonna shine now.

sudekis was emo not mad. that was pretty over the top for being all about wiig though.

The Hulu edit of this episode will be pretty tiny, given how much too-expensive-to-license music was used in the skits.

Are formal send offs a regular thing for the bigger names? The last one I remember happening was Phil Hartman's.

Though, tbf, when we look back on the show in time, she'll be regarded on Hartman's level easily.

"Liza Minelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp".

This was all-time.

anytime I'm with friends and we're running late, "Liza...we're gonna be late for the SHOW" comes up

xp iirc, some of the celebrities he did impressions of showed up for Will Ferrell's last show: Neil Diamond, Alex Trebek, Robert Goulet, possibly others.

Just realized that, if all of the rumors are true (including Abby Elliott's potential departure), Bobby Moynihan and Nasim Pedrad would be the fifth and sixth most senior cast members (or you can bump 'em each up a notch if you're only counting people who regularly appear in sketches). That doesn't seem right, somehow. In a "holy fuck, does time ever fly" kinda way.

Yeah, it's somewhat understandable that people like Hartman, Ferrell, and Wiig would get bigger send-offs, but it's kind of a slap in the face when other people's departures don't even get acknowledged onscreen.

Also, I think Chris Kattan may have put in more appearances this season than Abby Elliott did.

Naw, Abby Elliott was in the show plenty this season (and I've come around to where I actually like her now...used to wonder why she was even there).

I think Armisen is, at this point, gunning for longest tenure ever.

He'll have to stick around half as long again to beat Hammond. No one is ever going to beat Hammond. This is a good thing.

Good to see Paula Poundstone sitting in on accordion with Mick Jagger and the Arcade Fire.

Nice try. Paula Poundstone has never worn a dress in her life.

#verizondoesSNL because they're going to end unlimited data plans soon, duh

My prediction, which apparently did not bear out, was that Keef would make an appearance, thus making a public proclamation of reconciliation which would precede a Stones reunion/tour.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/363337/saturday-night-live-comedy-tour-3

Keef "probably" watched Mick on SNL.

Christgau:

I thought Jagger was just great on SNL last night. He was in almost every skit, and always good. The one [commenter] cited was the deepest, but my favorite was the gay Charles Bronson early on. All his music was fine, too, although I much preferred Arcade Fire to the Foo Fighters as a backing band (and have never liked Jeff Beck more in my life, though the song was a mite off-the-cuff). Jagger is so at home on a stage it's mind-boggling. But I gotta say, the finale in which the SNL gang took farewell dances with Kristen Wiig trumped it all. She was so much the best thing on that not-bad-at-all show that I find it hard to imagine it being that good again for years. She made me laugh every time she came onscreen all year.

That Catchphrase bit wasn't actually on last night's show, was it? If so, I missed it. Those things keep being funny.

and have never liked Jeff Beck more in my life

Beck was great last night, but man, wait until Christgau hears the Yardbirds...

catchphrase was dumped after dress rehearsal.