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Dumb, Meet Dumber, Date, Repeat

Before I even start the pre-viewing legwork, I am already extremely disappointed by this show segment count alone because I was expecting to love this episode hosted by Anna Faris because she’s managed to crack me up in everything that I’ve seen her in. Keep in mind, I’m openly a stoner, and I feel Smiley Face is one of the most underrated stoner films.

Greetings From The Future

I’m back and was dead on that this episode was going to let me down, mainly for the reason mentioned above. Not only were there the fewest segments to make up a night in quite some time but Anna Faris wasn’t a part of over fifty percent of the night. Even less if you consider that two of the political sketches that she wasn’t featured in took up almost a quarter of the night with the news taking what seemed to take up another quarter. Add the two musical performances and the fact that I count the goodnights as a segment, it almost felt like a hostless episode.

If that wasn’t disappointing enough, the sketches that Anna Faris did take part in all had the same overall concept giving us very little range. Where I love our host’s dumb girl character in her films where there’s an entire world for her to get confused by as she explores, I found myself getting bored by the formula of; Anna out on a date with some dumb guy who’s not quite as dumb as her, talking through a static scene with the two out dumbing one another.

Though all of the sketches that featured our host were fun, with so few segments to review the similarities stood out even more. This sucks because there were also a couple of sketches where our host showcased that she was capable of way more than just being a dumb girl out on a date. Keep in mind that, in general, I’m not a huge fan of most of the dating based comedy of this show whether it’s a connected couple or just people trying to hook up.

As disappointed as I might sound, I really hope that the show has Anna back before the end of the challenge because I’m willing to bet, just like with most host who I really look forward to, I will like round two ten times better than this first visit. With all of that said, I’m going to wrap this one up and shift gears in order to give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with a parody of CBS Evening News which made fun of part four a series of interviews between Amy Poehler as Katie Couric and Tina Fey as Sarah Palin where the governor’s folksy responses drove Couric out of her mind since nothing was actually being said. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it ultimately led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Anna Faris then officially opened the show with a monolog about her new movie House Bunny and how like most of her other roles she plays another dumb blond. She doesn’t say this as a complaint but as a fact before she turned to address the audience to let them in on a secret that deep down, she’s actually a dumb blonde in real life.
Making New Friends started with Anna Faris and Jason Sudeikis dropping off their new double-date buddies Bobby Moynihan and Casey Wilson and then went on to contemplate whether or not they managed to offend their new friends while at dinner as the two continued on toward their home. As one would expect, the scenarios they explained sounded so extreme that it would be impossible to enjoy spending any time with this couple in real life.
This was followed by parody coverage of The Presidential Debate where Chris Parnell had a cameo as Jim Lehrer who moderated the event. This sketch made fun of the first round of debates between Fred Armisen as Barack Obama and Darrell Hammond as John McCain. The main topics of concern were where they stood on the banking bailout plan, the war, and the nuclear arms issues in North Korea and Iran. Armisen was pretty spot on with repeating Obama’s promises up hope, up to the nuclear arms issue which was actually treated as a joke. Meanwhile, Hammond’s McCain sold how often he opposed the policies of George W. Bush to distance himself from King Dummy. Of course, Amy Poehler also had to chime in as Hillary to continue to keep her name in the spotlight in case either candidate might have to back out, proving once again that it wasn’t just the conservative who found joy in dragging Hillary’s name through the mud.
Rowboat Date was as the title suggests a date between a dimwitted Anna Faris and her beloved boyfriend, Kenan Thompson. During their midnight/romantic boat ride our host realized that this wasn’t a date at all and that Kenan was a hit man who was out to kill her, but then realized that these thoughts could all just be in her head. In the reality of the sketch, it was clear that Kenan was there to kill her based on their conversation where Faris shared how she was to blame for a recent major drug bust that ended with the drug lord swearing that he’d seek revenge.
Duffy then took to the stage to perform Mercy.
Once again, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers gave us the news. This week, Darrell Hammond dropped by as Bill Clinton to admit that he can’t quite bring himself to endorse Barack Obama. Kristen Wiig also returned as her travel writing character to once again, make nervous jokes throughout her entire appearance because she didn’t have the confidence to be herself. (Clip 2)
We then went to the strip club Scores where Anna Faris, Kristen Wiig, and Casey Wilson played a trio of strippers who were opposed to closing off the infamous champagne room simply because the Wall Street bailout meant that their regular Wall Street clientele would no longer be able to afford their services.
Deep House Dish then returned after a much-needed break so that Kenan Thompson and Andy Samberg could revise their MTV-4 V.J. characters in order to introduce their fans to the latest house and hip-hop groups. This was the same sketch it always is complete with our host as the lead singer of one of the music groups.
Googie Rene's Slightly Stained Wedding Dress Basement had Kenan Thompson as the titular pitchman in order to promote a collection of bridal gowns available at a discount because his entire inventory comes complete with horrible stains.
Duffy then returned to the stage to perform Standing Stone.
My Ex-Boyfriend had Bill Hader as a guy who was overly excited to show off his new girlfriend, Anna Faris, to his friends, only she won’t shut up about her ex-boyfriend.
Finally, Anna Faris closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

Though I was disappointed with this episode, I’m still in love with the host and didn’t really mind watching thanks to sketches like these that contained my three favorite moments of the night. First, I loved the Scores Wall Street Relief sketch because, even though it was nowhere near as brilliant, it brought to mind John Belushi’s classic Pearl Harbor speech from Animal House in the way that it was a misguided call to action. Next, I really liked the Rowboat Date sketch because this was Anna at her best at playing the absent-minded character that I love. Finally, I was a fan of Making New Friends because as a person with an offensive past, I really related to having to instantly reflex on a night in an effort to recall if I may have pissed off any new friends who might not have been ready for my antics on an introductory night.