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The Return Of The Hot Host Show

I don’t really mind Bradley Cooper, but I just don’t buy the idea that’s been crammed down our throats that he’s actually a funny guy. Like with most of these other hot hosts, at best, he’s good at reacting to the funny people who are sharing the scene while rarely being the inspiration for an actual laugh. This ability may add an extra level to his more serious roles because he is funny enough to lighten up a dramatic scene when needed. I just wasn’t looking forward to watching him host this episode, especially when I was doing the pre-viewing legwork and saw nothing but signs that this was going to be a hot host show.

As much as I tried to be open because I do like the guy for his bad guy roles in his early efforts at comedy, but I just can’t stand nights where everything is about sex and the host’s good looks. Yeah, there was the obligatory scene from this time where he portrayed a gay guy and one or two funny non-sexualized sketches but for the most part, the night was made up of nothing but groping and flirting from both the host and the cast.

That’s all I’ve got for my intro, now let me share more details about how I felt from sketch to sketch. Once again, the opening sketch was a bummer because it highlighted how the Democrats had the same exact arrogance for taking control with the election of Barack Obama. I know this was just a sketch but I voted for Barack, and I totally remember this arrogant sentiment that is very similar to what I see complaints about when it comes to the Republicans and Trump. Meanwhile, both sides stand around like idiots throwing names while neither side accepts any of the blame.

Cooper’s monolog then sent the show deeper into a hole when the first words out of our host mouth was a plug for his latest movie. Yes, I get that people host the show to promote, but there are ways that they can ease into the advertising to make it seem organic and not so blatant. I don’t think I’ll ever care about any Today show parodies because I never watched the real show and each installment so far have seemed to be extremely repetitive.

I hated the I’m Going To Have Sex With Your Wife more than any sketch than I’ve seen in a while since there was no joke other than all women are objects for the good looking to have whenever they please. I also hated just how meaningless they made marriage to be with these women running off with so much ease which I find no humor in especially since I’ve been cheated on plenty of time in the past after developing a pattern from being raised in a broken home.

The group singing sketch that followed was so-so as usual, but apparently, I didn’t like this one as much because in the past I usually sing along. I really enjoyed the band TV On The Radio, especially since I’ve heard the name for quite some time and was really expecting more of an indie rock sound minus the jazz/funk fusion that I heard. The news was the news, and the hockey sketch that followed was pretty good but many because I loved how Bobby Moynihan’s character sounded like his Fourvel character that he introduced much later on Comedy Bang Bang.

It was fun to see all of the impersonations in the Bad Guys, Good Conversations sketch but other than that, the segment felt a little flat. The intervention sketch kept cracking me up, but that might just be because in my alcoholic days I used to always joke about interventions and how mine would end up playing out. Of course, I never had one since all that I knew were other drunks who were as high functioning as me which is probably how we lasted as long as we did. I liked TV On The Radio’s song better than the first because it had a bit of a punk edge, which is my genre of choice. The Christian Bale breakdown parody was sort of fun, but it’s hard to make fun of something when the thing being parodied can’t be outdone, like how the Trump debate parodies were sort of lame because they couldn’t touch to cuckoo levels of the real events.

After this sketch, we got our good nights, and I was just happy that the show was done. Though I was disappointed, I wasn’t frustrated like I was with Hugh Laurie because at least I could point a finger on why I hated this one and that this hate was mainly based on personal taste as opposed to the Laurie show where he was a perfectly fine host, and it was the writers who dropped the ball.

Alright, there’s another one for the books, or should I say internets. With that it’s now time for me to shift gears and share what I saw and to do so, I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with parody C-SPAN coverage of a sketch called Bipartisanship where Kristen Wiig as Nancy Pelosi kept rubbing the recent Democratic successes in Fred Armisen as Harry Reid’s face during what’s supposed to be a joint bipartisan statement. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Bradley Cooper then officially opened the show with a monolog where our host started by showing us a real clip of him, as a student, in the audience of a taping of Inside The Actor’s Studio to prove that he knows how to act. He then went on to demonstrate how to play a bully in a cheesy teen-targeted romantic comedy in an effort to provide more evidence, mainly since this was from a time just prior The Hangover where he is primarily cast as the comedic bully and not one of the actual funny guys. The real James Lipton finish the segment by standing from the audience to share that he was proud of his former student.
This was followed by another parody of Today where Kristen Wiig and Michaela Watkin revised their impersonations of Kathy Lee and Hoda to get into their antics while attempting to interview Bradley Cooper as an effeminate runway fashion expert who was there to teach the girls how to walk the runway.
I'm Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife was a game show hosted by a smug Bradley Cooper who as the title suggests has sex with the contestant's wives, and that’s all.
This was followed by the classic SNL Digital Short: I’m On A Boat which I don’t think I have to explain.
Song Memories returned for another installment of the host as a few male members of the cast as best friends at a bar who all share increasingly crazy stories about their friendship in between singing the chorus to the song, To Be With You by Mr. Big. As with last time, this time they managed to escape the bar but was pulling the same routine while attending a mutual friends funeral.
TV On The Radio then took to the stage to perform Golden Age.
Once again, Seth Meyers gave us the news. This week, Andy Samberg started things off when he dropped by as Mark Spitz to comment on Michael Phelps’s recent marijuana controversy. Kenan Thompson then showed up as Super Bowl star, James Harrison who was still out of breath from the big game. Seth Meyers then played a game of Really!?! by himself about Kellogg’s termination of Michael Phelps for the same controversy that was brought up by Spitz. Kristen Wiig finally finished things off as Bjork to ramble a bit about the economy of Iceland. (Clip 2) (Clip 3)
Admirals Locker Room had Bobby Moynihan as an eager little boy who was excited to meet the hockey team The Admirals in the locker following a big game. Though he could barely contain himself which new team member he met, he couldn’t seem to care less about meeting Bradley Cooper who played the lowest man on the team’s totem pole.
Bad Guys, Good Conversation featured a bunch of “actors/actresses” best known for portraying bad guys/girls in motion pictures who try to prove that they can make interesting conversations while trying to hold up the appearance of a nice guy/girl.
We then went to Intervention for Andy Samberg who played a young alcoholic and nephew to Kristen Wiig and Bradley Cooper who helped put this little gathering together. Things started out pretty standard until Wiig and Cooper kept causing distractions with a noisy hand sanitizer pump and various other noisy items that he kept fidgeting with throughout even the most serious of moments being had with Will Forte and Casey Wilson who played Andy’s dad and mom.
TV On The Radio then returned to the stage to perform Dancing Choose.
No Bruce! Let Me Finish! The Best Of Celebrity Tirades had Bradley Cooper as Christian Bale who was pitching a new DVD compilation filled with celebrity rants like his, “Oh, good for you…” rant while on the set of his installment of The Terminator.
Finally, Bradley Cooper closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

This was another night that I didn’t like, but at least that makes it super easy for me to narrow down these three sketches that contained my favorite moments from the night. First, I loved this week’s SNL Digital Short: I’m On A Boat because it was the only truly funny segment from the entire night. Next, I really liked Bad Guys, Good Conversation because at least it was fun to see all the impersonations of movie bullies from the late ‘80/early ‘90s. Finally, I was a fan of the Admirals Locker Room sketch but not for the content but for what I said up top about Bobby Moynihan’s character reminding me of his future Fourvel character from the Comedy Bang Bang podcast.