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A Season Of Slipping Hope

Keep in mind as you read this that my back has been killing me for the past couple weeks making it hard for me to sit long enough to make it through an episode without continually shifting in my seat in an effort to find a comfortable enough position to be able to focus. Add to this the facts that last night show hosted by Halle Berry was so terrible and the mixed feeling I have toward Kelly Ripa meant that I had very low expectations going into the viewing.

It’s not that I don’t like Kelly Ripa, in fact, I think she a perfect host for Live! With Regis & Kelly, at least from what little I know of the show. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen of full episode of Regis or Kelly and any of their rotating cohost but as a huge Howard Stern fan, I have a really good idea of what I would have seen if I were to have tuned in since he was obsessed due to his feud with Kathy Lee.

I felt that there was a good chance that her high energy and enthusiasm might be enough to make for a really fun show but then seeing that there were only thirteen segments to the night had me skeptical again. Though the night was much more entertaining than last night’s show, once again, the extra-long sketches made the entire night feel like it was dragging on.

It didn’t help that a lot of the humor came from putting Kelly Ripa in extra-boring roles as an attempt at humor of juxtaposing her real self with this boing character. I don’t know why they ever feel it’s a good idea to have such bland characters. Granted, there are a few hosts who can pull this off, but those hosts use that brand of humor in their own careers, so they know how to pull it off. Kelly definitely isn’t this type of host, and I feel that it’s unfortunate that they went this route because I think if they did actually take advantage of her energy I’d be praising the show instead of just giving it a “pretty good.”

So far, three out of the four episodes from the season have been average at best and looking at the lineup of upcoming hosts I fear this will not be the end to this trend. Of course, we’ll have to wait to see how it all plays out because I still have faith in the current cast. Until then, it’s time for me to wrap this thing up by shifting my gears to share what I saw, as I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with A Message From The President of The United States where Darrell Hammond took over for Chris Parnell in portraying George W. Bush who addressed the nation and share lies about the success in the war in Iraq and the War On Terror in general. Of Course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Kelly Ripa then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she was afraid to host a live show by herself because she’s so used to working with Regis before opting resort to her comfort zone by taking questions from the audience. The first question was a group of old men who left when they learned Regis wouldn’t be there at all. The next question was from writer, J.B. Smoove who had questions about how she stayed so fit after having so many kids and then was disappointed at his wife for not caring as much about her figure. Rachel Dratch played an old lady who confused our host with Kathy Lee, and then we met a stocker, and a wannabe actor who got J.B. Smoove worked up when he found out Kelly was working three jobs at the time and wanted the same effort from his wife. That was the final joke before Ripa threw to the first non-opening sketch of the night.
This was followed by a fake ad for Tressant Supreme where Kelly Ripa pitched a new hair care product that kept her hair shiny thanks to the secret ingredient that turned out to be crack cocaine.
We then got a parody of Live! With Regis & Kelly where Kelly Ripa played a very smug Angelina Jolie who found Amy Poehler as Kelly Ripa to be super annoying because of her childlike excitement.
This was followed by a parody of Access Hollywood where Jimmy Fallon as Pat O’Brien interviewed Kelly Ripa and Horatio Sanz as Renee Zellweger and her professional weight gaining trainer so that the two could discuss Zellweger’s weight gain plan for an upcoming project.
Outkast then took to the stage to perform Hey Ya!
Once again, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey gave us the news. This week, Jeff Richards dropped in as Drunk Girl to flirt with Jimmy while she shared a drunken story about her Halloween. Horatio Sanz also stopped by as Jimmy Buffet to crack Jimmy Fallon up while singing slight parodies of Jimmy Buffet songs.
Center For Cow Fart Study had Will Forte as the scientist who studied cow fart to discover how harmful they are to the ozone layer, while Kelly Ripa played his wife who didn’t have time for his nonsense.
Leilani Burke: Pet Psychic had Maya Rudolph as the titular pet psychic who was more interested in winning the approval of her guest’s pets than trying to get to the root of said pets issues.
Outkast then returned to the stage to perform The Way You Move.
Spy Glass had Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler as host of this British version of Access Hollywood where they shared gossip about the Royal Family and other famous U.K. celebs.
Greenbriar County Animal Rescue Shelter had Chris Parnell and Kelly Ripa as two veterinarians who viciously insults one of the dogs they were offering up for adoption as they claimed there is always at least one in the patch the just can’t help but be a douchebag. Meanwhile, it was the most adorable pup of the batch.
Finally, Kelly Ripa closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

As usual when it comes to average shows, average still means the baseline for good, so I was still entertained, especially by these three sketches that contained my favorite moment of the night. First, I loved the Center For Cow Fart Study sketch because I always felt like cow fart being the cause of pollution to be the perfect fodder for jokes. Next, I really liked the Live! With Regis & Kelly sketch, not because it was all that hilarious but because it’s always fun when a host as to act against a cast member who is doing an impersonation of said host. Finally, I was a fan of the Greenbriar County Animal Rescue Shelter because it was pretty funny to see two people insult an adorable dog that has no idea what’s going on.