Tag: Saturday Night Live

Must Watch SNL Skit: Pete Davidson Raps a “Stan” Remix for Santa Clause

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It’s rare that I deem an SNL skit as must watch these days, but thats exactly what Pete Davidson’s “Stu” sketch is: must watch.

Jason Bateman was a pretty good host because nobody plays the straight man in a skit better than him. So as this Santa and the elves sketch kicked off, you’re sitting there wondering what the hell is going on, then the Stan beat kicks in and it’s a wrap. I figured like most skits this would fizzle out in the first 30 seconds. Nope, it seems like Lorne Michaels and company let Pete Davidson just do his thing and we got three legitimately impressive and original verses in the Santa/Stan remix. As Papa Giorgio said, it’s the best musical sketch they’ve had since Lonely Island. The Eminem clip at the end was a nice nod to the original song. Also, shout out to Bowen Yang for his dead on Elton John.

Pete Davidson is such an interesting cast member on SNL because I feel like he rarely gets used in big time spots. He is often relegated to background characters, even if they are laugh out loud funny like his Count Chocula when Dave Chappelle was hosting. He might just be a hard person to write for, which reminds me of an old quote that stuck with me by Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks):

“When I was like 21 years old and we had just finished a show called Freaks and Geeks, Judd Apatow, who made that show and a bunch of our movies took a bunch of us aside. What he said to me, actually, is, ‘You’re kind of a weird guy. The only way you are going to make it is if you write.”

A lot of these cast members probably just don’t get the prime sketches because it’s hard to write for them, which makes sense when the most famous SNL alum usually either flame out or were outright fired (Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, Sarah Silverman, Robert Downey Jr etc). Davidson seems to have one foot out the door anyways as he dabbles more with movies written by, ironically enough, the comedy godfather himself Judd Apatow.

A+ sketch by SNL.

Dave Chappelle Delivers an A+, Raw, Uncomfortable, and Blistering 16 Minute Saturday Night Live Monologue

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“Did I trigger you?”

Dave Chappelle returned to SNL for the first time in four years, when he again was given the duties of being the first host following a presidential election. In 2016 Chappelle called for people to give the newly elected President Trump a chance during uncertainty. This time around though he wasted no time laying into EVERYONE.

A few weeks ago we all applauded Bill Burr for going on SNL and not changing a thing about his defiant brand of stand up, regardless of the audience. Well Chappelle walked out smoking a cigarette and proceeded to absolutely bulldoze the SNL audience with a raw, uncomfortable, and blistering 16 minute monologue.

“I’m sorry Lorne, I thought we were doing a comedy show,” Chappelle laughed to himself as the crowd fell uncomfortably quiet.

Chappelle joked about COVID, slavery, racism, sexism, classism and more as he dropped way more n-bombs than the typical Saturday Night Live crowd is used to hearing. If you’re a devout Chappelle fan like me then it was a classic takedown of the country as it currently stands. But you can hear a lot of hurt in his voice as he reveals the only way to make people listen to the issues he sees in our country today is by making them laugh about it.

“I can’t even tell something true unless it has a punchline behind it. You guys aren’t ready. You’re not ready for this. You don’t know how to survive yourselves.”

I applaud SNL for recognizing the moment and bringing in a first ballot Hall of Fame standup comedian to host at a point in time where it would have rang hollow to have anyone else sticking their head in the sand. Sure, SNL has always been pretty liberal in its skewering of some and lionizing of others, but Chappelle has always been able to just speak the truth regardless of politics.

As uncomfortable as he made that audience at 30 Rock, this was comedy at its absolute best: painfully honest.

Bill Burr Crushed It In This Sam Adams Skit On SNL

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It’s hard to believe last weekend was Bill Burr’s first time ever hosting Saturday Night Live considering the man has been an A-list comedian for years. He had Comedy Central specials back when those were a thing and obviously was a key guy off the bench on Chapelle’s Show back in the early 2000s.

So I was pretty jazzed to see old Billy Red Face take the stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. His monologue got the most attention because it did what Burr does best, it pissed off a ton of people, it made others uncomfortable, but it was all genuinely hilarious. But the best part of his episode had to be the Sam Adams commercial.

“Yea it’s kinda sweet and shit, but there’s nothing else to drink” had me howling. That and when Burr chugs the entire glass, then looks on in disgust only to say “I don’t like that.”

It’s nice to see SNL playing to the strengths of the actors and their backgrounds for a change rather than forcing everyone into quirky situations or another hamfisted political skit. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s just me being provincial, but SNL always seems to kill it with the Boston skits. I mean how can we forget Casey Affleck’s Dunkin Donuts commercial?

I fuckin love Dunkin, guy.

SNL Returns Tomorrow Night

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In welcome news, Saturday Night Live will make its return tomorrow night with its first live broadcast from Studio 8H since March 7. The return of SNL will hopefully give at least a small sense of normalcy back to the country tomorrow night, and help lift the spirits of a beleaguered city.

Even before the pandemic and the shutdown, it wasn’t too often that I found myself out past midnight on a Saturday night (though, unlike Red, I refuse to use the term “washed”). Speaking for myself, I need this and am ready for this. Considering that in many parts of the country you still need to order a full meal of food in order to drink in public, there should be lots of people home tomorrow night and this episode should do monster ratings.

While I don’t like to make any comparisons to 9/11, this episode could have a similar vibe to the show’s first episode back after the terrorist attacks in 2001. With all that has happened over the last seven months, over the last week, and in the last 24 hours, I’m sure the cast and writers are still trying to figure out what to lead with and what tone to strike. But I’m certain that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will still be front and center…

It doesn’t hurt to have a former cast member, and one of the best stand-up comics of all time, Chris Rock as host this week. Whatever tone the episode strikes, I’m confident that Chris Rock will hit it out of the park. It also looks like the show will have at least a limited studio audience based on tickets being made available. Free tickets AND a COVID test? If I lived in New York City I would sign up for that deal in a second. Probably still easier than getting a test at CVS.

Based on tickets possibly being made available, it looks like there could be episodes each of the five Saturdays this month, leading up the election the first Tuesday of November. While SNL usually doesn’t do that many new episodes in a row, and the fact that no other hosts or musical guests have been named for this month, it could be a chance to strike while the iron is hot. Maybe they’ll see how things go this week?

The path to reopening the country, getting back to work, and regaining some sense of normalcy is going to be long and challenging. We could all use a few laughs to relieve some anxiety along the way. So practice social distancing, wear a mask, and stay home and tune in Saturday night. That’s what I’ll be doing, and rooting for SNL to help bring back even just a little bit of normalcy to my weekend routine.

A List of the Top Tom Brady Documentaries, Cameos, and Skits to Watch While Self Quarantining

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Tom Brady will soon be holding up the jersey of another team and I fully expect that sight to make me weep and/or vomit. So in the meantime while we’re all self quarantining anyways, lets break open the Disney Vault and go through all of the best Tom Brady documentaries, cameos, and skits from over the years.

The Brady 6
If you’ve never seen this NFL Films doc, it is pure Tom Brady porn so make sure you do it alone. It details all the bums drafted ahead of Brady and how all their careers played out. “He has four goats” is still the greatest ether these ears have ever heard.

The Great Brady Heist
A relatively recent addition to the Brady archives, I just caught this one on FOX Sports 1 last night and it was *electric.* If you’re a fan of true crime docs then this one is for you because it details how TB12 had his Super Bowl LI jersey stolen right out of his locker after completing the greatest comeback in sports history and how the authorities got it back.

Tom vs Time
This is a quick watch as most episodes are only 10-15 minutes long, but this Facebook Watch exclusive was a fascinating look behind the curtain into Tom Brady’s every day life. His family at home, his relationship with Alex Guerrero, post game phone calls with Josh McDaniels etc. It also offered a now prophetic glimpse into Brady’s future plans as the shine wore off with Belichick.

Three Games to Glory (Take your pick)
These were difficult to find on the interwebs aside from a few clips here and there as they are the DVDs produced and sold directly by the Patriots. So you may need to pony up to see them all, but it never hurts to build out the collection.

Peyton’s Places with Tom Brady
The full 30 minute episode is available only on ESPN+ so you might not be able to watch it for free, but this was a great piece of content. If you still blindly hate Peyton Manning and can’t get past that to watch these two legends chop it up, you’re missing out.

America’s Game: New England Patriots
These are the NFL Network documentaries of the Super Bowl champs they do every year. I’m sure you’ve seen some or all of these, but holy hell are there a lot of episodes on the Patriots! Take your pick: 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018. My personal favorite is the 2001 episode, solely because it features a *young* Tom Brady sharing what Drew Bledsoe told him on the sidelines during the game.

Do Your Job Bill Belichick and the 2014 New England Patriots
Another masterfully produced documentary from NFL Films, this one breaks down the 2014 Patriots season. It’s definitely more of a focus on Bill, but you get some great Tom Brady highlights in there.

A Football Life: Bill Belichick
Again this is another NFL Films doc that focuses primarily on Belichick, but you get some delicious interviews and mic’d up clips of Tom Brady. Released in 2011, you get never before seen footage, most notably after the 2009 beatdown from the Saints on MNF, Brady is shown venting to Bill how he “can’t get these guys to play the way I need them to play.” It’s actually two parts, both of which you can watch below.

Detail: Peyton Manning on Tom Brady
This is another ESPN+ exclusive and is one I haven’t checked out yet, but Detail is an excellent watch if you’re into the X’s and O’s.

Entourage – “Fore!”
One of the best cameos on a show that had multiple per episode so thats saying something. Brady dominates in all facets of life including on the links and even befriending dick head New Yorkers. Check this Season 6 episode out on HBO Go.

Ted 2
Two words. Golden. Balls.

Jimmy Kimmel Skit
Matt Damon just can’t catch a break.

Saturday Night Live
Tom Brady hosted SNL once and only once, back in 2005 and he absolutely killed. Probably because of the times we live in now and the #MeToo movement, but the laugh out loud funny Sexual Harassment PSA skit has all been scrubbed from the internet. But I still found it.

Who Should Host SNL?

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As much as college football and pumpkin spice lattes, the Saturday Night Live season premiere is a sure sign that summer is over and fall has arrived. SNL’s 44th season will kick off less than a month from now on September 29. No hosts or musical guests for the upcoming season have been announced yet but since they asked, here are the three guys I’d most like to see host SNL.

  1. Bill Burr A comedian’s comedian and a regular on the late night talk show circuit, Burr would kill on SNL. Burr did some work on Chappelle’s Show back in the day and would bring an edge to Saturday night that SNL hasn’t had in quite a while.
  2. Bob Odenkirk Well before he took on the role of Saul Goodman, Odenkirk wrote for SNL back in the late 80s and early 90s. While he didn’t find the success at SNL that other writers did, he did find sketch comedy success on HBO in the mid-90s with Tobia Funke David Cross on Mr. Show. Currently on one of the best shows on television, Odenkirk going back to 30 Rock to host SNL would be a great story of comedic redemption.
  3. John Krasinski He interned on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in the same building back in 2000 and was a key player on The Office, one of the most important shows on NBC for nearly a decade. It’s hard to believe that this guy has never been invited to host in Studio 8H. With Jack Ryan dropping on Amazon Prime today, now seems like the perfect time for Krasinski to head back to 30 Rock.

And special mention goes to Christopher Walken, who tops my returning hosts list. Walken was a mainstay during my prime SNL viewing years, hosting seven times in the 90s and 2000s. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t appeared on SNL in more than a decade. Definitely need to see him walken through the doors at 8H this fall.

 

Who’d I miss? Let me know on Twitter @The300sBigZ

Dunkin’ Donuts Rebranding as Dunkin’ is Just Factually Inaccurate

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Boston Magazine – Dunkin’ Donuts is launching an “unprecedented” overhaul of its Boston locations, rebranding dozens of them as “Dunkin,‘” and there is absolutely nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it.

The coffee chain, which got its start in Massachusetts, is announcing the spread of its new modern concept at a Dunkin’-themed extravaganza today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the newly remodeled Dunkin’ near City Hall…According to a release ahead of the celebration, Dunkin’ Donuts will be bringing its modern new design and truncated logo to 30 of its Boston locations. It says it’s re-imagining its coffee shops with “a modern in-store experience and new technology to make running on Dunkin’ faster and more convenient than ever before.”

I don’t know one single fucking person that calls Dunkin Donuts “Dunkin” and neither do you. If you tell me that you call this beacon of Boston by the nickname “Dunkin” then you are lying. It’s “Dunkies.” Always has been always will be, regardless of what the silly orange and pink sign says. Dunkies corporate offices really missed the mark on this one.

You want proof you say? Look no further than this Casey Affleck SNL skit. Hilarious, but inaccurate. “I love Dunkin, guy” is a line only a shoobie would write.

I rest my case.