11.04.2007

Barack, Brian & Feist on SNL!

... So Kates and I just finished watching tonight's SNL ...

Nice.

I'd heard a few weeks ago that tonight's episode was featuring Brian Williams as host and Feist as the musical guest. Considering I'm a media guy who's a big fan of Brian Williams and the NBC News, and Feist has been a fixture in my iPod playing as of late, I was pretty giddy about this episode ...

Williams' best skit, by far, was his first one, playing a New York City firefighter on the "Bronx Beat," a talk show featuring Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph as two Bronx housewives, Betty and Jodi. (Bronx Beat also is one of the few recurring SNL skits I look for each week ... ). For the skit, Williams donned a mustache and played a dashing, but slow fireman giving safety tips, complete with a pretty decent Bronx accent ...

I also really enjoyed the "Riley's Way" sketch featuring Williams as the high school principal of a CW teen soap ("You can go to Hell, you can lose ten pounds, and you're gay," he told the three actors playing the teens. To see and hear those lines spoken straight-faced out of Williams' mouth made it 10 times funnier.) And Kristin Wiig's antics saved the otherwise dull Publishers Clearing House skit ...

Williams' opening monologue also had us laughing out loud, especially when he started it by asking the question all of us had been wondering since it was announced the network news anchor would be hosting SNL: "Now, is this really a good idea?" ... Williams answered the question by admitting he's often seen as a stiff (I've never viewed him that way, but whatever ...) who's always in anchorman mode. And then Williams really did switch into anchorman mode, doing the rest of the monologue in a news format, reading bullet points as arguments that he really could be spontaneous and loose, complete with graphics over his left shoulder. HA-larious!

If you've followed Williams, it's no secret the guy's got a great sense of humor. He was hilarious in his stint on SNL's Weekend Update last season and I think he's made good showings on his late night TV tours, most notably The Daily Show ... Sure, tonight's Saturday Night Live wasn't the best ever -- I blame it on the writing -- but it was entertaining enough. If Williams wanted to prove to America he's not just a rigid news anchor, he's accomplished that ...

As for Feist's performance, she showed up well, too. To no one's surprise, she played 1-2-3-4 for her first number (though it wasn't near as good as the Letterman performance ...). For her second number, she and the band did a pretty good "I Feel It All." (Earlier this week, MSN broadcast a Feist concert. Good stuff. Check it out here.)

Really though, I gotta say my favorite part/skit of tonight's SNL just might have been Barack Obama's surprise appearance at Hillary Clinton's Halloween costume party. Very funny! ...

Good reads ... (updated 11/05)
a Live From New York, It’s Not Quite the News!
a Laughs for Brian Williams Hosting 'SNL'
a Brian Williams, Showing That An Anchor Can Be Light
a Nightly News Meets Saturday Night
a Obama takes the stage on 'Saturday Night Live'
a Obama's shots go on, a surprise for Clinton on 'SNL'
a Brian Williams' post at The Daily Nightly ( ... and his pre-show post)

ALSO: 'SNL': The 15 Best Music Skits

No comments: