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A Surprising Slip Into Hot Host Land

I hate to admit that I was surprisingly disappointed in this episode considering how Cameron Diaz did so well during her first visit. For that first show, Cameron Diaz seemed a bit more humble and there were actually sketches that didn’t just reference her looks. This visit, however, was a total hot host episode where literally every sketch she was involved with she played a dingy girl, with a different dingy way of speaking and a different colored wig.

Right out the gate, the entire monolog was just her wiggling her butt. This was followed by a sketch where she played a vapid spokes model receiving an award, then a college party girl on spring break, which led to her becoming a big boobed alien to be hit on my Astronaut Jones. She wasn’t involved in the sketch after that but when she returned she was a ditsy British girl. After this she played a monkey in order to be Mr. Peepers’ mate, so even as a monkey, she was there for her looks. For the last sketch of the night, she played a J-Pop type musician who was quirky and cute even if her looks weren’t the main focus.

Though none of these sketches really bothered me individually, no matter what the theme a show will get slow rather quickly when all of their jokes play off the same note. This might be why this season feel awkwardly good but not great where I’ve felt many of the show have been lacking a standout moment. Maybe the episodes have been more themed than usual so they seem a just a tad bit slower due to the lack of variation, and I’m just now noticing it here because the theme was blatantly obvious.

As usual, I wouldn’t say that this episode was terrible but I was disappointed because there was a long time where I felt Cameron Diaz was funny the way Anna Faris is, where there’s no arguing she’s cute but that doesn’t seem to be the main focus. This episode might be the turning point to where I started to see her more as a Pam Anderson type from her prime where she can be funny but her gauge might be a little off due to all of the courtesy laughs from being both famous and super good looking.

Again, this isn’t a “females aren’t funny” thing, considering I have many female hosts very high on my list and have the same complaints when it comes to the hot male host as well. Just look at my review of Josh Hartnett is you don’t believe me. No, this is more of a good looking people with power thing where it’s rare that a person with these qualities can get me to laugh out loud. I do feel Diaz was one of these rare cases back in her Something About Mary days, and though she can still get me to laugh, this seems to be around the time that I found her humor to be more hit or miss.

Oh well, comedy’s a subjective thing and I’m glad we’re not all on the same page because, without the misses, the hits wouldn’t be any good. Though this review has been nothing but complaints, this was another case where the episode was entertaining to watch but this it was it inspired me to write and now it time to move on.

With all of that said, I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with The Culps where this time Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer sand a medley of pop hits from the time in the quirky singing instructor-style tones as a way to introduce themselves to a Lamaze class they were taking following an accidental pregnancy. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement or, “Live from New York…”
Cameron Diaz then officially opened the show with a monolog where she introduced the world to her new brand of butt choreographer who was played by Will Ferrell after joking about growing to be known for her famous butt wiggle from the commercial for Charlie’s Angels. After the introduction, the two went on to have a butt off
The 17th Annual Auto Show Spokeswoman Awards was a special event that honored auto show spokeswomen for their ability to point at cars. As with most sketches that parody Award shows this sketch was more of an excuse for the cast member to perform random celebrity impersonations.
This was followed by a parody of MTV Spring Break where Cameron Diaz and Maya Rudolph and every other party goer kept requesting the song, That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain to dance to, even though the MTV VJ kept trying to talk them into picking a more current hit that might be more spring break appropriate. The sketch ended with a bizarre outro where Horatio Sanz ran across the studio audience while Chris Kattan as a goat-legged man played the pan flute while skipping close behind. They ran past what looked like a VIP area where Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer played two stuffy rich white people who complimented the sketch.
We then got another installment of Astronaut Jones where this time Tracy Morgan, as the titular Jones, sang his theme song, as usual, ran into a group of big boobed Jupiterians only to quickly hit on all three of the aliens, including our host, before jumping into the closing theme song.
This was followed by a fake ad for a Celine Dion Special where Ana Gasteyer as Celine showcased her attempted to become normal, in order to promote her new comeback tour only to come across even crazier by taking some much pride in the brief moments where her life got a little mundane.
Gorgeous Living With Prunella Watson was a parody Style Channel show that had Amy Poehler as Prunella who gave eccentric tips on how to prepare your place for a last minute party. Cameron Diaz played an interior designer who eventually joined the show to share a few tips of her own. Jimmy Fallon also dropped by as the Naked Chef in order to share a recipe for a treat. I’ve never seen the show being referenced but it apparently involved a bunch of British drunks who barely stayed on topic.
Once again, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey gave us the news. This week, Dean Edwards and Maya Rudolph dropped by as Denzel Washington and Halle Berry in order to share that they were both still ecstatic following their wins at the Academy Awards. Darrell Hammond as Geraldo Rivera also checked in once again from the war via satellite to brag about his own efforts as if he were actually changing the world with his coverage. The news then ended with Horatio Sanz as his illustrator character who usually draws pictures that start out looking pornographic only to end up being super clean. This time he introduced his sidekick who was played by Cameron Diaz and the two promoted their new fuzzy friends show that featured puppets of a bearded clam, a wet “pussy” cat who was left out in the rain, and a big fat “cock” rooster.
Jimmy Eat World then took to the stage to perform The Middle.
Mr. Peepers then returned after a long time off in order to be introduced to Cameron Diaz as Mrs. Peepers which went rather well.
We then got introduced to MTV 4 which was an MTV channel that was sold at the only music video service hip and underground enough to introduce a new band called Crash Papayas which was kind of a female J-Pop punk band if that is a real thing.
Jimmy Eat World then returned to the stage to perform Sweetness.
Jack Handy then shared another chapter of My Big Thick Novel where the main character spied through his binoculars as the sun glistened off of a woman named Lalani’s breasts.
Finally, Cameron Diaz closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

As I said up above, even though I have my complaints this was still an entertaining episode to watch with the help of these sketches that contained my three favorite moments of the night. First, I loved The Dirty Puppet Show On The News because I was kind of impressed by what they were able to get away with, I mean, a puppet named the bearded clam? Next, I really liked Astronaut Jones Meets The Jupiterians because this whole series of sketches is the perfect blend of quirkiness and camp that will always crack me up, plus, as I said last time, it always reminds me of Amazon Women On The Moon. Finally, I was a fan of Cameron Diaz as Mrs. Peepers because she did a good job at keeping up with Kattan and his monkey antics.