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Buck-O-Nine Said It Best…

Though I haven’t been thoroughly won over by the last night’s show hosted by Seth Rogen, thanks to the writer’s strike, at least I know that I don’t remember a few of the sketches because I was watching while high. That’s not the case tonight. I’m sober as a gopher and can barely remember this episode, and Bon Jovi JUST said his good nights.

The problem is, the entire time that my taste in music has evolved, Bon Jovi and his band had always been on the opposite side of the spectrum so I never even became an ironic fan. In the early days, it was New Wave, but that was kind of by default because I had an older sister who wanted more control of the radio, and I liked whatever since I was too young to develop a taste of my own. This might have been a window when I could have liked our host because my mother did like them as a band and just loved Jon in general.

I think my stepdad really liked them to, which might be the actual reason they never won me over, because I couldn’t stand anything about that man. That aside, continue on my first line of thinking, the first music genre that I found on my own was hardcore gangster rap. Up until I was a senior in high school, I was against anything with guitars. In high school, I also stopped hanging out with the junior high friends that got me into the genre when we hit that age when, sadly, everyone started to self-segregate.

In high school, I started hanging out with punks and skaters, but I was still committed to hip-hop, I just like the more artistic alt-rap groups over the ones filled with anger and violence. Don’t get me wrong, this was just a small break from anger filled music because the entire time the punk music my friends were listened to broke through the cracks, but it was still an anti Jovi crowd.

I think, aside from the step dad thing, Bon Jovi always felt like the best at being mainstream, in that, I see why there is interest because the band has some catchy tunes where it’s hard not to sing along even when your not a fan. He also just always seemed like a mom singer, which was a vibe that was solidified when he started to act.

I’m also sure that there’s the whole thing where I’m an ugly guy who partially thinks that he had unjustified success handed to him because of his looks. Then again, all this could be why everyone else I seem to know, who seemed very picky about their music didn’t like Bon Jovi, the person or the band. Having your band named after you might be another piece of evidence. All that I know is that I was never a fan.

So, that’s what our host was up against going into this viewing, and he didn’t let me down in that he did actually let me down, playing himself in almost every single sketch, and when he wasn’t playing himself, he was playing a version of himself is he wasn’t a success. I found the night to be like his music, safe and clean but bored me right to sleep. It didn’t help that he also played two of said boring songs while the Foo Fighters only got one.

Oh well, that’s all that I’ve got to say about this one, making it time to switch gear to wrap it all up, and in order to do so, I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with a sketch that took place at Amy Poehler's House circa 1986 to the night where Jon Bin Jovi jumped out from one of her posters to offer words of condolence to the future SNL star who was moping around about life the way one might expect from a grounded teen. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Jon Bon Jovi then officially opened the show with a monolog about his history with the show as the musical guest which led him to get interrupted by a couple audience members who were like me and shared their less-than-enthusiastic reaction to finding out that Bon Jovi was this week’s host. Unlike me, they weren’t disappointed because of his hosting role but because they were hoping to hear him play a few hits as the night’s musical guest. I would prefer neither, but this was when Richie Sambora joined our host on the stage to coax him into performing Lost Highway with him and the rest of his band.
Ohhhhh! Was a game show sketch that was promoted as a show hosted by guys from New Jersey for guys from New Jersey where contestants were quizzed on New Jersey’s most current trends that mainly consisted of stereotypical Jersey/Italian interests like Italian food and verbally abusing their wives and children (the show’s choice in humor not mine.)
A Visit With Former Vice-President Al Gore had Darrell Hammond as our former VP who recently won a Nobel Prize and was there to show off his medal along with other awards and trophies he recently earned.
This was followed by another SNL Digital Short called People Getting Punched Just Before Eating which played out exactly as the title suggests.
Postseason '07 had Jason Sudeikis as Dane Cook to announce that he was the unlikely new spokesperson for the MLB.
La Revista Della Televisione then returned with Bill Hader as the fast-talking Italian who interviews the hosts as themselves even though they don’t speak Italian leading them to never know what’s being said. Tonight was more of the same only with Jon Bon Jovi as himself trying to navigate the Italian’s questions.
Once again, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers gave us the news. This week, Maya Rudolph dropped by as an NBC employee to practice a few news jokes after sharing the fact that there may be a writers strike that might lead her to need to step in as a scab during the upcoming year. Andy Samberg also wandered in a naked guy who wasn’t the Naked Cowboy from a recent incident in Time Square. Fred Armisen then wrapped thing up as a political comedian who scoured the newspaper headlines in an effort to come up with a few jokes on the spot. (Clip 2) (Clip 3)
Foo Fighters then took to the stage to perform The Pretender.
Where's My Purse? had Kristen Wiig as a space captain who was ready to sacrifice the entire space mission after discovering that her purse somehow up and disappeared.
Postseason '07 returned for round two where this time Jason Sudeikis as Dane Cook continued to announce that he was still the unlikely new spokesman for the Major League Baseball.
What To Call The Band took us back to Sayreville, New Jersey in 1984 where we got to see how Jon and the band settled into naming the group Bon Jovi instead of something more unique like Natural Disaster which was the top of the rest of the band’s list.
Iconoclasts brought Kristen Wiig and Kenan Thompson together as Bjork and Charles Barkley so that they could spend the afternoon together at the local Cheesecake Factory.
Bon Jovi then took to the stage to perform Who Says You Can't Go Home?
Finally, Bon Jovi closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

I don’t think I would have liked this one, whether or not there was a writer’s strike but at least these three sketches that contained my three favorite moments at least made the night tolerable. First, I loved the SNL Digital Short: People Getting Punched Just Before Eating because even though it was scripted there was a Jackass vibe to the short that hit that nostalgic area of my heart considering I was just watching Jackass the other day. Next, I really liked Iconoclasts because fictional or not, I love the idea of Charles Barkley and Bjork hanging out at a Cheesecake Factory. Finally, I was a fan of Where's My Purse? because I zoned out a little during the Foo Fighters performance and this sketch got me laughing when my attention returned to the screen thanks to the cheesy sci-fi motif mixed with Kristen Wiig’s singular focus that kind of reminded me of dealing with my mom.