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Sometimes The Terrible Are Better Than The Best

After two terrible shows from hosts who I actually love, I was a bit concerned about how this night would turn out with Paris Hilton, considering I never was a fan and could see her being anything other than her vapid self. About halfway through the opening sketch when I found myself cracking up, probably because it was the first non-political opening that the show’s had in quite a while, I started to think about how often talentless tabloid celebrities often bring about some of the funnier episodes.

I think this might be due to the fact that the writers and cast don’t have to worry about offending huge names in the biz who they look up to. Not only that but hosts like this don’t seem to have the dignity to turn anything down and are up for any attention. I know that sounds like a bad thing to say, and maybe it is, but it still often leads to episodes with more laughs at the host’s expense. That said, I do feel that they are in on the joke or else I’d probably find this phenomenon to be rather sad.

Since that wasn’t the case with this episode, I was surprised to find that it was pretty fun, especially now that some time has passed to where Paris is no longer dominating the headlines of the pop culture world. Not that I’ve ever been a huge Paris hater. In fact, I thought she was funny on her show, The Simple Life with Nicole Richie, the few times I got stuck in a situation when I had to watch it, I just wasn’t a fan of the idea that she seemed to be seen by some as a role model. I mean, as a fan of punk, I’m a huge fan of idiots doing dumb things, but that mentality was never meant to be picked up by the mainstream. Not that Paris is punk, but after writing this sentence, I do see a few similarities.

Maybe that’s why I ended up liking this episode so much… well… so much might be going a little far, but I would say this was my third favorite episode of the shows that I’ve seen up to this part of the season. Thankfully, the rest of the year is made up with way more comedic actors than the first half which I hope will finally ramp up the fun.

We’ll see what happens, but until then, it’s now time for me to wrap this thing up by sharing what I saw, as I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with a parody of American Idol where a throng of untalented singers gave the worst audition in an effort to be the next William Hung who hand recently become a viral hit after his She Bangs audition. After turning down several hacks and freaks Chris Parnell as Simon Cowell went gaga over Rachel Dratch’s burlap-clad child character who drooled as she sang and turned out to be the winner who got to announce, “Live from New York…”
Paris Hilton then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she was excited to be hosting a live show because of her bad experience with end up on recorded videos. Kenan Thompson then joined out host on the stage and attempted to use his apartment’s super’s tiny dog to communicate with our Paris’s tiny pooch in an effort to win her over. Though the two dogs hit it off, Kenan’s efforts were a complete failure.
This was followed by a fake ad for Cheapkids.net which had Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler as selfish millionaire wanna-be parents who were encouraged by pitchman Chris Parnell to cut corners where ever they could with the help of the Cheapkids.net website that sold goods on the cheap that were recalled for safety issues.
Versace Skiing had Maya Rudolph as Donatella Versace once again, this time to call Paris Hilton a bitch while the two were ski down a hill alongside Donatella’s entourage of speedo wearing gay companions.
The Expensive Purse had Finesse Mitchell’s Starkisha character fight with our host over an overpriced purse that they both had their eyes on.
This was followed by the second installment of Cheapkids.net where this time Seth and Amy were on the beach with their sunburnt kids while Chris Parnell played a stingy CEO who tried to pawn off children’s books with incorrect spelling in order to earn an extra eight cents.
Exclusive Connections had Paris Hilton as a sexy pitchwoman a phone sex service where the women of the cast dressed as Trekkies and D&D nerds fulfilled the sci-fi fantasies of nerds around the world.
The Trumps was a sketch where Darrell Hammond as Donald Trump brought home Paris Hilton as Melania to introduce her to Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen and Amy Poehler who played Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. The scene then played out like they were in the boardroom of The Apprentice, in the way that they talk, that is, since there were no threats of firing anyone in the room.
Keane then took to the stage to perform Somewhere Only We Know.
Once again, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler gave us the news. This week, Finesse Michell dropped by as Donavan McNabb along with Kenan Thompson as his mom to comment on the Super Bowl while pitching her new line of soup that was a thing around that time. Fred Armisen and Rachel Dratch also dropped by as “The Tiny People From Elliot Gould’s Moustache” that took a turn for the worst when ***. Tina and Amy then wrapped things up with a point/counterpoint about the Super Bowl.
One of my least favorite characters, Merv the Perv then returned to be creepy in modern times at a 20-year high school reunion then be creepy in the past when we got a flashback, and he was creepy to Paris Hilton when they were young.
This was followed by a third installment of Cheapkids.net where this time Chris Parnell hawked ridiculously cheap children’s medicine that he sells at a discount because it is expired.
This was followed by a fake ad for Rafael Alonzo's I.T.F. Technical Computer Institute had Fred Armisen as the titular school owner who teaches the simplest of computer tasks at this rip off of a technical training institute.
Inside Barbie's Dreamhouse had Will Forte and Ken who ended up in a fight with Amy Poehler as Barbie because he had an affair with Paris Hilton who was a Barbie as well.
Keane then returned to the stage to perform Everybody's Changing.
The Bar had Seth Meyer’s as a Philadelphian who failed miserably in his attempts to pick up on Paris Hilton by rambling on about his love of the show Lost and how he likes to party with his idiot friends.
Bear City then returned for another installment where frustration culminated when a bear tried to get cigarettes from a gas station, and the panda cashier kept struggling to find the right brand in the cigarette case behind the counter.
Finally, Paris Hilton closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

As I said up above, I think this is my third favorite episode so far this year with the help of sketches like these that contained my three favorite moments of the night. First, I loved the opening American Idol: The Effort To Be The Next William Hung because it reminded me of the golden days of the singing contest when I used to check in just for the audition because it used to be such a freak show. Next, I really liked this week’s Bear City because I’ve worked at establishments that sold cigarettes and could fully relate to the panda who was trying to find the main bear’s brand. Finally, I was a fan of Inside Barbie's Dreamhouse because of the audible “Ew” from a woman in the audience when Paris’s version of Barbie twisted her head around to give the Amy Poehler version of Barbie some privacy to talk to Will Forte as Ken.