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Saturday Night Live (May 8th) with guest host Betty White

W

WMC2006

The show is ongoing as I type and I can't live-blog it but let me just say that SNL has brought back a lot of former female castmembers for tonight's show. Just in the opening sketch alone, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Tina Fey, and Rachel Dratch all showed up. So far, several sketches in, all but Rachel have appeared in another sketch.

AND, Ana and Molly reprised their NPR Delicious Dish segment. Along the lines of Alec Baldwin's Schweddy Balls segment a few years ago, Betty White comes in as Florence Dusty with her muffins ("Bakers from my era might have dry or crusty muffins" "My muffin hasn't had a cherry since 1939").

Betty has been very funny. I'll update once the show is over here on the east coast.
 
Betty was very funny tonight and the show itself was almost as good as that. This episode ranks right up there with Taylor Swift's great hosting job although this show was much more raunchy. Great job, Betty.

As I mentioned earlier, several former castmembers came back for the night and all appeared in sketches.

Here's the rundown:

-Opening sketch: Lawrence Welk-inspired with Betty playing a mom to her daughters played by the women already mentioned and Kristin Wiig as the homely one with no hands and a high forehead. It was ok.

-Betty's monologue: Very funny!

-MacGruber #1 with Betty as Mac's Nana. Fair.

Continued in a second.
 
-NPR's Delicious Dish with Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon and Betty as Florence Dusty with her Dusty Muffins. Pretty funny with the risque lines about muffins. Goes back to Alec Baldwin's 'Schweddy Balls' DD skit a few years ago. Good to see this skit back for one night. See post #1 for the funny lines.

And, by the way, Alec Baldwin returns to host next week.

-Snickers ad parody with Betty and Abe Vigoda. Not bad.

-Real ad promo for MacGruber the movie. I plan to miss it.

-Manuel Ortiz show with Armisen, Maya, Ana, Betty, and Bobby. Not great.

-MacGruber #2. This sketch has been beaten to death.

-
 
-A sketch about several sisters including Rachel, Tina, Amy, Ana, Kristin, Betty and one of the featured players whose name I cant remember. Lots of lesbian jokes.

-MacGruber #3 and the only one I smiled at. Mac proposes to Nana, she accepts, and they are about to kiss when the place explodes.

-Jay Z was the musical guest. I'm not a fan, he was ok I guess.

-Weekend Update: Seth, by himself, wasn't all that funny. Maya as Whitney Houston wasn't all that amusing. Molly Shannon reprising her Sally O'Malley role was brief and boring. Last two skits were the best: 'Really! with Seth and Amy' and 'Really! with Seth, Amy, and Tina'.

-The MacIntosh sketch with whatshisname as the con trying to rehabilitate the three juvies played by Hader, Bobby, and Samberg who makes his first appearance of the night. Betty plays MacIntosh's mother. As usual, Hader can't keep his composure which is the funniest thing about the sketch.

-CSI:Sarasota with Betty and Rachel Dratch playing senior citizen old folks home geezer detectives. Fair.

-
 
-SNL Digital Short with the cast singing the Golden Girls Theme Song to Betty for Mother's Day. Until Betty puts on a mask and becomes a killing ninja or something and scares the cast silly.

-Final sketch was Tina as a census taker talking to Betty who played an old confused resident.

Betty mentioned and thanked everyone at the end and they gave her a couple of bouquets of flowers. Betty did very well and had great comic timing. There were a couple of weak spots but, overall,very good and fairly raunchy which was fine. Ranks right up there with Taylor Swift's hosting job and I'd have to give Taylor and Betty a tie for different reasons.

I was hoping for a Mary Tyler Moore sketch or a Golden Girls sketch but none showed. And with Rachel Dratch back, I was hoping for a Debbie Downer sketch. Oh well.

Sorry for all the seperate posts but the puter was acting up as I was typing. Later time zones, you'll enjoy the show. Happy Mother's Day!!
 
I realized at the end of the show that every one of the SNL women alum were pregnant at the time they were on the show.

A great tribute to not only the women of SNL, Betty White but to mothers.

Great show and I will dare say the best show in 3 years.
 
I enjoyed it for the most part, although I've never liked the MacGruber sketches. Betty's top in the monologue was screwing with my HDTV. One moment it appeared blackish, then it looked silver. I tuned out during the Jay-Z segments and I missed the first half of Weekend Update. Why was I not surprised that the Snicker's commercial from Super Bowl XLIV would air? :)
 
A few things about the Betty White episode:

(1) It showed how weak the current cast is, especially when it comes to women. Kristin Wiig alone is not enough to carry the entire show, and both of the repertory women they have now are just not of the same caliber as the women who came back.

(2) It also showed how weak the writing staff is today. You could tell which of the sketches were written by Tina, Amy, and Molly, and they were the ones that stood out the most.

(3) One of Saturday Night Live's greatest weaknesses in recent years has been that they don't write to the guest host's strengths. Again, some of this can be attributed to having Tina, Amy, and Molly in the mix this week, but they knew how to use Betty White. They wrote sketches that were perfect for her delivery and her personality. It also probably helped that Betty's such an open book with everyone and has never been afraid of mocking herself. If only they could use every guest host that way.

(4) If you haven't seen "Life With Elizabeth" (which did NOT go out live, by the way, but was one of the first completely recorded sitcoms - shortly after "Lucy" pioneered the format, and one of the first that was syndicated instead of on a network) go to the Internet Archive and download a few episodes. I was so glad that they worked in a reference to that show in the monologue because it really is underappreciated today and shows that Betty White has always been as funny as she is today.

(5) MacGruber needs to die permanently. Even Betty couldn't save that tired schtick.

(6) Least funny sketch? "Scared straight." Also (apart from "MacGruber," I believe) the only one that didn't include one of the returning women. Shows the weakness of the current crop of men.

(7) Most cringeworthy joke of the night for me? Lawrence Welk bit about isn't it funny that he can say the 'th' in 'mother' but not in 'think?' Anyone who knows anything about language and phonetics, or can do a Brooklyn accent as a bunch of New York based comedians should do as second nature, knows that there are two distinct sounds for the 'th' combination. It's not funny, it's a clueless comedian grasping at straws. And the deformed sister isn't really needed, anyhow, since the Welk show was so high camp that it became self mocking. For evidence, go to YouTube and look for the clip of Lawrence Welk backselling "that great modern spiritual..." "One Toke Over The Line."

This was "Saturday Night Live's" best outing in years. Very little padding, very little cringeworthy crap. Looking at this show should give Lorne pause, because it shows how much potential is still there in the format, and that maybe he ought to do what the network has done so many times in the past: blow it all up and start fresh. The reason the show has lasted as long as it has is because when things get bad it can become an entirely new show. They did it in 1981, 1986, and 1995. They're long overdue for another overhaul.
 
Based on the consensus above regarding the awful MacGruber sketches, I can assume that none of us will be going to the theater to see the MacGruber movie.
 
Ana and Molly returned for one night only, but Lorne may have tried to call up Cheri Oteri and even Sarah Michelle Gellar for a reprise of the "Tiger Beat's Ultra Super Duper Dreamy Love Show" skits they did a decade ago. That would've also been SMG's first television appearance since giving birth to Charlotte last fall!

Too bad a golden opportunity was wasted, but what can you do?
 
Reading this thread it sounds NBC did something right for a change.I totally missed SNL but sounds like this one is going in the classic books.
Betty still has it going on comicly.
;D
 
Overall, it was one of the funniest shows in a while. However, I too feel that they missed opportunities with a parody of Mary Tyler Moore or The Golden Girls. Also, a tribute to Password or Match Game would have been appropriate, since White was often on these game shows. They did a Match Game parody recently (within the past couple of years) so I thought they would do it on this show.
 
formeraa said:
Overall, it was one of the funniest shows in a while. However, I too feel that they missed opportunities with a parody of Mary Tyler Moore or The Golden Girls. Also, a tribute to Password or Match Game would have been appropriate, since White was often on these game shows. They did a Match Game parody recently (within the past couple of years) so I thought they would do it on this show.
Click to expand...

Though Betty always seems happy and upbeat (possibly the secret of her longevity), parodying those shows might be hard for her - Password was hosted by her late husband Alan Ludden, and they began their romance when she appeared as a panelist on the show. Two of her Golden Girls co-stars have passed, as have a number of the stars on Match Game. Most of the MTM cast are still with us, thankfully.
 
Betty's monolog was great; especially her comments about Facebook and "poking."

The ending of the show was really emotional especially when the cast and crew presented Betty with flowers.
And, according to Matt Lauer, it was the first time in SNL's history that the cast and crew gave a host (Betty White) a standing ovation.
 
Just watched the show on-line. One of the best in years, IMO. I disagree about the writing, it was sharp, topical, and edgy. Betty couldn't have been better. Great timing, delivery, and she brought us a little Sue Ann Nivens with some salty language here and there. I doubt many performers could be as good as her at age 88.
 
Well, what do ya know. I mentioned in my review I had hoped for a Debbie Downer sketch when I saw Rachel Dratch was back for the night. Turns out, they DID do a Debbie Downer sketch.....at rehearsal....but it got cut for time.

Gee, ya think they could have cut 1 or 2 MacGrubers (Yes, I know the movie is coming out...we'll all be missing it) or the MacIntosh/Scared Straight sketch that has been beaten to death or maybe the CSI:Sarasota sketch???

They also cut two other sketches but here's Debbie Downer:

http://www.popeater.com/2010/05/10/betty-white-snl-debbie-downer/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2010%2F05%2F10%2Fbetty-white-snl-debbie-downer%2F
 
As others have already said, Betty was fantastic. I actually thought her sketches were much better than her monologue She is just so good when it comes to acting and delivering some of those lines. The "lesbian" and "census" sketches were probably my favorite. But as previously stated, it just goes to show how bad the quality of the current cast is when an 88-year-old can come in there and blow them all away. She was absolutely head-and-shoulders above everyone on that show. I'll be anxious to see her TV Land series this summer.
 
The current cast is always maligned, that is nothing new. Of course, somehow stars seem to breakthrough with most casts.

Betty compared to the current staff is one of those most "mutually exchangable" situations. I sensed most of the currect cast totally were in awe of her and probably held back in respect to her. I would go so far as saying the current cast made Betty even better. Watch Tina Fey, in the role of census door-to-door worker let Betty get 100% of the laughs.

Yet, Betty delivered. Yes, she is 88, but she also has been doing this thing called TV for over 50+ years. There should be little criticism of this show based on many paramenters. First, the audience (atleast on Facebook) demanded her. Second, she still has the goods, even at 88. Third, the writing was decent. And fourthly, and most importantly, Betty proved she is a top television performer after all these years. Who could not love that?

EDIT: Debbie Downer is one of my favorite SNL bits, sorry to see it cut, but my guess is Betty overpowered Rachel, and when another star overpowers Rachel in these, then they probably don't work.
 
I thought this was one of the best SNL in a long time, Betty White was excellent, I also agree that there were to many MacGruber segments, they should have done an MTM segment though, great bringing back the former cast members also, I agree with WMC they should have also done the Debbie Downer skit, I thought weekend Update was great, along with the Delicious Dish, and the "lesbian" skit.
 
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