Minding the P's & Q's of SNL

QUALITY: Stay in the conversation! Trivia Club would LOVE to hear feedback on Saturday Night Live Fantasy so far, either in the blogs comment section, on Trivia Club's facebook page or in our twitter feed. For now we'll be taking a week away to discuss, debate, and possibly trade amongst ourselves. 

QUALITY: “You’re now watching the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, thanks a bunch!”

PROBLEMATIC: All the material you have on Rob Ford, and all the footage of him and his dumb red face talking in that naisely voice… and you give me an entire sketch made up of shoddily practiced Newfy accents. Shall I have made fun of Anthony Weiner with a dopey Fargo accent? I am GOD-DAMNED disappointed. In all of you.

QUALITY: That stage dive. Bravo, Moynihan.

QUALITY: Also, I will always enjoy a prolonged dick joke. Always.

PROBLEMATIC: Seriously though, what the hell SNL writers? I want to love you, but when you portray Canada like that I remember just how lazy you can be with your comedy. “I’m from Canada, they think I’m slow, eh.”

PROBLEMATIC: Let me put it in a way that you can understand, since you’ve clearly never been to Canada, Saturday Night Live (Killam, what, you never visited your in-laws?!)… when it comes to Rob Ford commentary, you are Anthony Weiner in the New York City mayoral race to The Daily Show’s Bill De Blasio. You aren’t losing, you’ve lost and you’ve embarrassed yourself in the process. Also, Jon Stewart seems SO MUCH COOLER. But then, we already knew that part.

QUALITY/PROBLEMATIC: Yes, Toronto, Bobby Moynihan just “LIVE FROM NEW YORK”ed AS Rod Ford. Take pride in your shame, tonight!

QUALITY: Speaking of taking pride in your shame… cheap heat is just the kind of precedent you should be setting, Gaga! Well played.

QUALITY: Though her Monroe pastiche in the opening monologue is PROMLEMATIC, I have to say I haven’t seen I haven’t seen this level of showmanship since Joseph Gorden-Levitt’s “Make ‘Em Laugh”! Applause!

PROBELMATIC: When Pharoah and Nasim are doing out-sized versions of Kanye and Kim respectively, it’s your job to play the Apple Genius Bar employee straight, Lady Gaga. Too much weird doesn’t make things funnier, it distracts from the quality that’s already at present and steals focus.

QUALITY: I will say this though, Lady Gaga knows how to do a take to the camera a hell of a lot better then Miley Cyrus.

PROBLEMATIC: Yeah, when your first song starts and I think it’s another sketch, that may not be a good sign of your current trajectory, Gaga.

PROBLEMATIC: Anything that happens during the sketch, I mean song, doing nothing to defer my thinking it’s a joke.

QUALITY: R. Kelly appearance is always a plus for entertainment purposes!

QUALITY: Hurray for super hot crowd!

PROBLEMATIC: Nope, sorry Weekend Update. It might be that I was in fact spoiled by Colbert and Stewart this week but your Ford jokes were cutting room floor fodder.

PROBLEMATIC: Kenan Thompson as a grumpy old man named Mr. Senior is lazy shorthand for EVERY Kenan character. I swear, O’Brien must have learned his self-satisfied grin from Kenan… except Thompson is far too tenured to get benched and will INSTEAD just eat up 5-plus minutes of airtime.

QUALITY: “And don’t get me started on that beard… what was her name? Mary Todd?” Really all of Jebidiah Atkinson was gold.

PROBLEMATIC: Fun moments, and good character work didn’t make Spotlightz feel any less over long.

QUALITY: Points for the all-in on weirdness for the Death of Blockbuster digital short. All the way up to and including the hidden paradise/bum make-out.

PROBLEMATIC: You’re committing all night Lady Gaga, and then you botch the lip-synching? That’s just disappointing!

PROBLEMATIC: Oh, and dude, when the pearly ornamental collar is poking you in the face you should probably stand up.

PROBLEMATIC: Seriously though, something about these musical numbers came off as awkward and disjointed. What WAS it? Even the camera work and lighting seemed a bit off, no?

QUALITY: Admittedly I haven’t made a lot of positive comments about the sketches that I did enjoy so I wanted to balance out the problematic notes with a little bit of that, and a little bit of quality heads up to the 4^th Grade Talent Show sketch. Mihilsner finally gets more character word then simply the ass-end of Bruce Willis’ Centaur! I mean… WHAT A NUMBER!

QUALITY: Damn SNL, when you go all out with these final sketches of the night like with Edward Norton and with tonight’s Lady Gaga 2063, you go ALL OUT! Bravo to Gaga for being willing to take this much of the piss out of herself, up to and including the “because people couldn’t figure out if you were a lady or a dude” bit.

QUALITY: Points for decking out the future apartment with your Grammys and MTV VMA’s, but extra points for the roast beef chin strap. “Looks like you tripped and fell at a deli.”

QUALITY: “And I love The Smiths. Willow and Jaden.”

QUALITY: Okay, ending your turn on SNL with a sad and pathetic rendition of your current single will indeed get my applause, if anything because it’s ballsy.

PROBLEMATIC: You and I are at an impasse on tonight’s how, internet. Lady Gaga was an energetic, if grating host. Naturally an opinion of a pop star (especially a pop star going through a promotional cycle) will color any SNL appearance, let alone hosting appearance. But no, she was more Beiber then Timberlake. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if she hosted again. She's done better (though not as a host) before.

REPARATORY CAST

Bobby Moynihan, 85 points

Taran Killam, 63 points

Aidy Bryant, 59 points

Jay Pharoah, 50 points

Kenan Thompson, 44 points

Cecily Strong, 35 points

Kate McKinnon, 35 points

Nasim Pedrad, 25 points

Vanessa Bayer, 22 points

FEATURED CAST

Noel Wells, 40 points

John Milhiser, 22 points

Kyle Mooney, 20 points

Beck Bennett, 20 points

Brooks Wheelan, 15 points

Mike O'Brien, 15 points

HOST

Lady Gaga, 47 points

Even given my less then impressed view of the show overall, it can't be denied that Gaga's influence on the show meant a major uptick in points for most players. Which included Noel Wells having her biggest night to date. Moynihan, on the steam of the Rob Ford cold opener, was also off on the races having the kind of points night that has only been topped by Vanessa Bayer (quiet tonight) during the Miley Cyrus episode!

  

EBERSOL GROUP

RECLUSIVE PENINSULA - Rob

Taran Killam - 63

Aidy Bryant - 59

Mike O' Brien - 15

Kyle Mooney - 20

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Do What U Want & 2) Gypsy

5 points for first song

10 points for second song

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 172

DAN AYKROYD RAGE - Mark

Vanessa Bayer - 22

Bobby Moynihan - 85

Kyle Mooney - 20

Noel Wells - 40

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Applause & 2) Do What U Want

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 167

FIVE TIMERS CLUB - Leah

Kenan Thompson - 44

Nasim Pedrad - 25

Mike O'Brien - 15

Beck Bennet - 20

Lady Gaga - 47

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Venus & 2) Applause

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 151

THE IGNORANT SLUTS - Matt

Kate McKinnon - 35

Cecily Strong - 35

Beck Bennett - 20

John Mihiser - 22

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Do What U Want & 2) Gypsy

5 points for first song

10 points for second song

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 127

EXTREME CLOSE-UP! - Jack

Jay Pharoah  - 50

Brooks Wheelan - 15

Noel Wells  - 40

John Mihiser - 22

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: No song selected.

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 127

DOUMANIAN GROUP

MILLION DOLLAR BILL MURRAYS - Russel

Bobby Moynihan - 85

Jay Pharoah - 50

Kyle Mooney - 20

Beck Bennett - 20

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Applause & 2) Do What U Want

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 175

BILL BRASKY - Saad

Taran Killam - 63

Aidy Bryant - 59

Mike O'Brien - 15

John Mihiser - 22

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: No songs selected.

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 159

THE TEAM YOU WISH YOU HADN'T STARTED A CONVERSATION WITH AT A PARTY - Brian

Kate McKinnon - 35

Cecily Strong - 35

Mike O' Brien - 15

Noel Wells - 40

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Gypsy & 2) Do What U Want

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 125

SUCK IT TREBEK - Sarah

Kenan Thompson - 44

Brooks Wheelan - 15

Noel Wells - 40

Kyle Mooney - 20

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Applause & 2) Venus

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 119

YOU KNOW, IT'S THE TEAM THE HIGH-WASITED MIDGETS THAT HAVE, LIKE, THE RED PANTS AND THE BIG ASS - Kevin

Nasim Pedrad - 25

Vanessa Bayer - 22

Beck Bennett - 20

John Mihiser - 22

MUSICAL GUEST - Lady Gaga - SONGS: 1) Applause & 2) Do What U Want

EPISODE SIX TOTAL 89

Don't forget to all see how the teams fair versus one another, HEAD-TO-HEAD!

SEASON 39 OVERALL STANDINGS (after Episode 39x06)

The Million Dollar Bill Murrays seem to be opening a lead on the rest of the field, as Lady Gaga's hosting points proved to at most bring the Five Timers Club within a punchers chance of fifth place. The race could potentially be for second-place, depending on how the predictions for host shake out.

Either way, I will continue to follow the letter of the rules and prepare the trophy to be unveiled to the winner at the end of the season. And what will this trophy be balled, might you ask. After much mulling over in our Deep Thoughts message board, the SNL Fantasy League has decided to call our trophy...

THE PHIL HARTMAN TROPHY!

After it was brought to the fore, it made complete sense. It will stand as memorial to one of the strongest cast members to ever be a part of Saturday Night Live, and a Canadian at that! So to the pinical of enjoying SNL the geekiest way we know how, goes the Hartman Trophy! Look forward to the pictures.

Stay in the conversation! Trivia Club would LOVE to hear feedback on Saturday Night Live Fantasy so far, either in the blogs comment section, on Trivia Club's facebook page or in our twitter feed. For now we'll be taking a week away to discuss, debate, and possibly trade amongst ourselves.

Next week is the dude from The Hunger Games movies, the character named after bread! To that I say, good for him! I mean, if this was a fair and honest world I wouldn't have even asked for Jennifer Lawerence,  Jeffrey Wright would do just fine (yes, Jean Michel Basquiat is in the Hunger Games sequel), but I'll honestly stop ragging on Josh Hutcherson until he actually hosts. And his episode will also give us further oppurtunities to see how poorly we predicted Hosts this season! Huzzah?

So we'll see you in NEXT WEEK you SNL Fantasy Leaguers, but until then... see you at Trivia Club!