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Another So-So Show In A Row

Tonight’s episode is another case where I probably would have liked the episode more if it wasn’t for the fact that this season as a whole has been so hit and miss due to their lineup of non-comedic hosts. Sure, many hosts so far, including Salma Hayek have had funny roles and/or have worked on funny projects, but I don’t think that I single host up to this point in the year has been strictly known for their ability to induce big laughs.

With that said, I’ve been very impressed by how many of these non-comedic hosts have been putting on the high quality shows that they have but at the same time the less successful attempts have been a bit of a bore to watch. Unfortunately, tonight’s episode fell into the latter category. Part of the problem was that there were a lot of hot host elements to this episode, where there was a lot of making out with the host or jokes focused only on how good she looks.

Hell, even the TV Funhouse sketch was a parody of Am I Hot? where they broke down classic cartoon character based on their appearances. Not that this was a bad parody, in fact, I found it to be one of the funnier moments of the night but at the same time, it also added to the feeling that the entire night was made up of the same one-note joke.

Just like with yesterday’s negative review of Queen Latifah, I feel if this were any other season with a better blend of comedic to non-comedic hosts, I might have been more impressed because other than the repetitiveness of the content, Salma Hayek did a pretty good job with both her acting and ability to play along with the rest of the cast.

As of right now, I haven’t been all that impressed with the last five shows in a row so it’s going to take more than just a so-so episode like this one to get me out of this rut. Thankfully, Bernie Mac is tomorrow’s host and considering how well the cast has been doing while working with these non-comedic hosts, I have full faith that he will be able to turn this mediocre second half of the season around. Then again, you never know.

Oh well, we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, it’s time for me to wrap this thing up by moving on to share what I saw during the viewing, and with that I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with parody coverage of a Bush Press Conference where Chris Parnell as George W. Bush took questions from magazines in an effort to address the claims that the questions from his last press conference were too soft. Being that a bulk of attendees worked for online sources, the questions ended up being even softer than anything that would ever come out of the real press corps. Of course, with this being the opening sketch it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Salma Hayek then officially opened the show with a monolog about being very nervous to do live comedy and how accommodating the male members of the cast have been before Chris Kattan interrupted with an ‘80s backup band in order to sing We Belong to our host. The segment then ended with a special surprise visit from Ed Norton who was disguised as a member of the ‘80s band since he was our host's real-life boyfriend at the time.
Seth Meyers and Will Forte then revised their pub drinking talk show host characters for another installment of Top O' The Morning. This time, the two had on Salma Hayek as Seth Meyers’ girlfriend who creates a conflict between the two hosts because of the fact that she’s Mexican and not Irish which was extra rough considering they were there to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. After a bit of bickering back and forth, Jimmy discovered that the two cultures had a lot more in common than he thought.
TV Funhouse then gave us another animated segment this time as a parody of the one season and done game show Are You Hot? only in this version, the contestants are made up of classic cartoon girls who are being judged on the looks.
Versace Oscar Special brought back Maya Rudolph as Donatella Versace where she and her assistant, Salma Hayek, discussed dress designs for the upcoming Academy Awards with Donatella being so jaded and bored that she made it seem effortless. Eventually, musical guest, Christina Aguilera joined the scene to ask for a dress to wear to an upcoming industry party and Donatella gave Christina the dress right off her back.
The Box was a sketch where Will Forte hid inside a box in an effort to catch his wife, Salma Hayek and Jimmy Fallon who he thought were having an affair. Though the plan worked in that Forte confirmed the affair, it failed in that he was stuck in the box after hearing the damning evidence and was unable to fight for his woman.
Frida I had Salma Hayek lambasting the movie Chicago for plagiarizing the Broadway musical version in an effort to boost her own chances at winning an Oscar for her work in Frida.
Christina Aguilera then took to the stage to perform Beautiful.
Once again, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey gave us the news. This week, Fred Armisen returned as Ferecito along with his wife, Salma Hayek in order to practice their new routine as a team which still mainly consisted of Ferecito saying a lame joke and tagging it with the catchphrase “Ay, dios mio,” only now Hayek followed this up by proclaiming “Ay, pope.” Amy Poehler also got a segment as Avril Lavigne mainly to let her punk presence be known during her visit. Chris Kattan snuck in as Gollum to make his own unique Oscar picks and Jimmy Fallon wrapped things up by singing the top forty St. Patrick’s Day inspired parody songs.
Seduction Class had Salma Hayek as a teacher who taught adults losers to be bolder with their presence in order to win over the guys and girls of their dreams. Being that most of the class was made up of men, a nerdy Rachel Dratch was the only female in the class so by default she became the example woman for all of the men to hit on with their very pathetic moves and she loved all of the positive attention even if the pick-up lines were a little off.
Frida II brought Salma Hayek back to continue with her efforts to bash the play Chicago, this time by claiming that they supported terrorist organizations.
The Channel 5 Late Night Movie is another favorite sketch where Tracy Morgan and Salma Hayek play a married couple who lived in The Empire State Building and got a surprise visit from King Kong’s unit when it got stuck in their window during his climb. The two then had to tug on the member thinking it was a rug until the giant ape was done and had to climb down for a nap.
Christian Aguilera then returned to the stage to perform Fighter.
Frida III gave the play Chicago a chance to rebut all of Salma Hayek’s claims from throughout the night but then our host just slandered them even further.
Finally, Salma Hayek closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

As I said up above, this makes six shows in a row that were all not my favorite but was still at list a little fun thanks to sketches like these that contained my three favorite moments of the night. First, I loved The Channel 5 Late Night Movie: King Kong because this sketch cracked me up from the moment I first saw it because the main joke is that Tracy Morgan and Salma Hayek teamed up to masturbate King Kong and they weren’t subtle about it one bit. Next, I really liked The Box sketch because I was cracking up when Will Forte’s plan to catch his cheating wife backfired when he couldn’t get out of the box. Finally, I was a fan of this week’s TV Funhouse because I remember the train wreck of a makeover show that was the butt of the joke.