SNL 40

[Deleted]

Anyone watch the 3.5 hour SNL40 last night?

I found it fairly enjoyable...the Jeopardy sketch was funny as always, and I had a huge geek-out moment when Steve Martin came out as King Tut during the music performance section.

I will never get Myley Cyrus...and why did she sing "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover?". Just have Paul Simon do it...
I mean, she didn't do a bad job really but I just don't get it. Fast-forwarded through Kanye, but I did get a kick out of Wayne's World continually making fun of him.

It was also fun during Seinfeld's sketch looking at who all was sitting in the audience. I spotted Spielberg among tons of others.

[R&ROVER]

Wasn't impressed.

[Justlee]

LAME

[Deleted]

You guys are a tough group...as always.

I enjoyed it for what it was...a celebration of the last 40 years. It was pretty much like every other episode, 30% really funny, 20% meh, and 50% unfunny.

[Deleted]

Feb 16, 2015 19:31:31 GMT -5 @landsenddrums said:

Feb 16, 2015 18:48:53 GMT -5 @bearfan said:

FF through the crap parts

So the entire thing then...

You didn't fine one single thing funny? At all? Any of you? Nothing that made you say "cool"?

I enjoyed it. Yeah, parts of it stunk, but some of it was pretty decent.

[Deleted]

Feb 17, 2015 8:29:51 GMT -5 @bearfan said:

We watched it last night, for the most part I thought it was pretty good.

Eddie Murphy was just weird, such a big deal about him coming back and he did nothing.

Yeah, it was decent for what it was, just a throwback to the last 40 years.

That Eddie Murphy thing was weird. A huge build up by Chris Rock and then Eddie comes out and looks very uncomfortable and really does nothing. I did some research afterward and found that Eddie has had nothing to do with the show ever since David Spade made a comment about him during the Weekend News segment back in the 1990s. I think Eddie felt that SNL should take care of "their own" and he was truly hurt and insulted that they (Lorne Michaels) kicked him when he was down. So that was probably the reason Eddie only made a half-ass appearance.

And how about Chevy Chase? Talk about an awkward moment. I don't know if he was in some sort of character, or if he is having issues? I saw the red carpet segment before the show started and they interviewed Chevy and it was even more awkward.

[lugnut]

I thought it was fine, if a bit train-wrecky. I'm not too sure what people expected other than this really.

As for Eddie, I think his issues with the show run deeper than just the Spade segment. Like Chris Rock pointed out in his introduction, Eddie truly did save the show from cancellation, but Lorne has long refused to give any acknowledgment of that. The story under Lorne changed from "Eddie saved the show in 1982" to "I saved the show in 1986." (Nevermind that Lorne's first season back was the disastrous '85-86 season that was considered even worse than the Ebersol era.) Lorne's gone far out of his way to make the 1980-1984 years all but invisible, and even in the SNL40 show there was hardly any clips from that era and no verbal acknowledgment of it at all other than in Rock's speech. I think he felt Lorne should have at least shared a little credit but he never has, and then the Spade joke just compounded it even further.

As for Chevy, I've seen lots of speculation that he may have had a stroke or something. Won't be surprised if he's the next to go.

[lugnut]

Feb 16, 2015 18:39:50 GMT -5 @landsenddrums said:

Wife put it on for a tiny bit before she went to work. Painfully unfunny as ever. Sad seeing Paul Simon so fucking old and in such poor voice but eh.

If you thought Simon was bad, be glad you missed McCartney croaking his way through "Maybe I'm Amazed" early in the show. Yikes.

[Hey Man]

Is Eddie Murphy just not funny anymore at all or will he not spend a second entertaining people unless a dump truck of money is driven to his house first?

[lugnut]

Feb 17, 2015 20:06:26 GMT -5 Hey Man said:

Is Eddie Murphy just not funny anymore at all or will he not spend a second entertaining people unless a dump truck of money is driven to his house first?

I suspect he's probably scared shitless to try stand-up or even something resembling it, like in this case, again. Too much to live up to that he'll never be able to accomplish no matter how good he is. The whole thing was definitely weird, though. I'm sure if he'd wanted to do anything they'd have found the time for it.

[lugnut]

Norm says he tried to get Eddie to do Cosby for Celebrity Jeopardy:

Comedian Norm Macdonald took to Twitter Wednesday evening to share a long but fascinating account about the behind-the-scenes drama that preceded “Saturday Night Live’s” 40th anniversary extravaganza.

Eddie Murphy, who made a brief cameo on the NBC special, was approached to impersonate Bill Cosby in “Celebrity Jeopardy,” a skit Macdonald wrote and originally created for the show, but Murphy turned down the offer the night before the telecast.

Kenan Thompson eventually played Cosby in the revived sketch, which also featured Will Ferrell (Alex Trebek), Macdonald (Burt Reynolds), Darrell Hammond (Sean Connery) and Kate McKinnon (Justin Bieber).

“Among many other things, this show was to be the return of Eddie Murphy,” Macdonald wrote.

Macdonald went on to shower the “rock star” actor-comedian, now 53, with praise on Twitter for his immeasurable contribution to the NBC series in the early ’80s, when the lowly-rated “SNL” was nearly canceled.

“Eddie, the man who, in Lorne’s absence, kept the show alive. Singlehandedly…Every Saturday Night at 11:30 Eddie Murphy, a kid, would fill 90 minutes with comedy. Impossible.”

But his affiliation with the show would come to a standstill in the early ’90s when David Spade, during a segment on “Weekend Update” quipped, “Look children, a falling star,” as Murphy’s image was displayed in the background.

The actor-comedian was so upset by the joke, according to Macdonald, that he refused to attend the “SNL’s” 25th anniversary in 1999. He also turned down several hosting gigs.

“David is a very kind man,” said Macdonald, “but his remark was not.”

After more than 30 years, Murphy returned to the legendary halls of Studio 8H on Saturday night for rehearsal, to the surprise of “SNL” vets like Macdonald and Chris Rock.

“Rock says, ‘There he is. Like Ali in Zaire,'” Macdonald wrote.

As the A-list cast began to prep for Sunday’s primetime event, which drew over 23 million viewers, Macdonald pulled Murphy aside in a dressing room for an hour and tried to persuade him to do the “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch.

“When it’s over, I’m convinced he’ll do it,” thought the comedian.

Adding to the “SNL 40″ drama over the weekend was the fact that Bill Murray was golfing across the country.

“With Bill Murray, golf always comes first,” Macdonald said.

To the relief of “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels, Murray eventually flew to New York to participate in sketches like his hilarious ode to “Jaws.”

Murphy, however, opted against the laughs.

According to Macdonald, he didn’t want to further shame Cosby–public enemy No. 1 on the Internet–who already faces a litany of sexual assault allegations for drugging and raping dozens of women.

“He knew the laughs would bring the house down,” Macdonald said of his decision. “(But) Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down.”

Wearing a blue suit, Murphy entertained the audience ever-so briefly after a warm introduction from Chris Rock, saying his “SNL” return was like “going back to my old high school, kind of.”

[Justlee]

Good for Murphy