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730 Days… 730 Episodes… 730 Reviews… HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!!!

Bruno Mars is one of the few male pop-stars that I became a fan of back when I went through a pop-music phase to take a break from the music that I actually like when it was getting me too depressed. Based on the video with him and the group of monkeys where he sings about not wanting to do anything I felt that he had it in him to be a good host when I first saw his man. Then, the pre-viewing legwork led me to second guess this belief.

Based on the rough draft descriptions of each sketch alone, there are only two segments that I’m looking forward to. There are a couple that might have potential but, I really doubt the rest. To add to my concern, when I went to NBC.com to check out the sketches that are available to add links to only to find that there were only six sketches available. Though that meant nothing in the past, where the NBC site is inconsistent in how many sketches they make available, for these newer episodes, it’s rare that they don’t post, damn near, the entire show, minus the musical performances.

Hopefully, I’m wrong but, I’m already dreading the four segment series of fake Brad Pitt ads because they sound lame, and don’t stick to comedy’s rule of three. Oh well, we’ll see how things turn out since now it the time for me to hit play and document how this real-time viewing plays out. See any of my recent posts to read how I feel about this recent run of politically themed openings.

To add to the fun, Aidy Bryant’s character straight up announced that this sketch was going to rely on accent-based humor of the idiots of the debate audience, again blaming the voter for being stuck with a shitty choice, and not really willing to commit to either one. It also didn’t help that the opening sketch droned on for a full ten minutes. Even Sudeikis was boring as Mitt, and I loved his impersonation just last year. They tried to catch my attention by throwing in Tom Hanks, but I was far too gone into the land of the zoned out by the time he got his screen time.

If the accent-based humor didn’t tap deep enough into one of my pet peeves, Bruno Mars’s monolog where they set up expectations for this episode to be a flop, is the biggest sin that can be done by the host to me. Even though the joke was that our host eventually found his nerve, he did so while singing and not stepping out of his comfort zone, leading me to fear even more for tonight’s showing. Keep in mind, no matter how it sounds, I’m actually rooting for the guy.

The Brad Pitt sketch bored me as much as I thought because it was another moment where they were making fun of the real ads slow pace, making the sketch slow as well. That, and by this time, I was getting my entertainment from the internet, so I have never seen the ad that they’re making fun of even though it’s now hard to imagine the real one.

The Haters Talk Show sketch was sort of fun, but the aggressive daytime talk show guest was played out decades ago when they used to parody Maury and Jerry Springer. Plus, the whole, “I do what I want,” character no longer needs to be done after Cartman from covered this trope well enough. We then went back to another Brad Pitt ad that once again left more bored by the tone they were trying to mock.

The sketch that took place at the Pandora Headquarters was great because it was terrific to see Bruno Mars playfully cover so many great songs from this time while playing up the typical issues people have with the bands being impersonated. The Sad Mouse sketch was one of the two that I mentioned that I wanted to see based on the previewing leg work because I related to Bruno as the sad mouse. I think this is because he was as Eeyorish as I’ve been for the past couple years, so it was funny to see these pathetic actions being played out by a mouse. Plus, I actually saw this sketch way back when it originally aired because someone shared it with me because the felt it was something that I would probably write. In fact, I do have a similar scene in one of my scripts, only with an astronaut.

I think Locked Out Of Heaven was the first song that I’ve actually known in quite a while, so it was nice to see a musical performance that didn’t lead me to zone out. I wish I could say the same for the news but this was another night with no other guests but Stefon, who, again, I love when I get week-long breaks but can’t take when he’s on also every other day. To make things worse, even with just one guest the segment was still over ten minutes long, leaving me feeling really bored.

Keep in mind, I’m also exhausted because I was up all night last night working, in order to take this evening off to celebrate my accomplishments. Thankfully, the next sketch was another fun one but not one of the two I was looking forward to. This was another installment of the Merryville Haunted Castle series that’s pretty much the same thing every time. For some reason, however, it’s another one of those repetitive segments that I don’t mind. Maybe this is because they’ve done it three times over the past five or six seasons and not every single week. For this sketch, I was actually excited when Tom Hanks returned to join the scene.

I wasn’t excited to see that the next sketch was another in the series of Brad Pitt ads because they’re just not funny to me. Now the sketch that followed with the Yeti, that was the second sketch that I couldn’t wait to see. I wish I had the memory that I used to, but I swear this sketch is a reboot from a sketch that aired decades before, but I think it was a Bigfoot instead?

After doing a quick search, I think this sketch from when Steven Martin was the host back in 1978 is the sketch that I have in mind…

“Belushi and Gilda then play cabin dwellers that just moved into a spot in Big Foot country. They think the locals are crazy for believing in a fictional character. Their conversation is interrupted by Steve Martin who is playing a ranger that's evacuating the area due to a blizzard. He tells the couple that they have to go and warns them to watch out for Big Foot. The couple refuses to leave, opting to ride out the storm despite the warning. This is when it is revealed that the couple has gigantic shoes and Belushi leaves to get wood in his fur jacket. Seconds late Steve Martin looks out the window and spots what he thinks is a Big Foot and shoots what he sees with a tranquilizer dart. Then it's revealed he shot Belushi.”

More Pitt equals more boredom, but I am glad that this was the last Chanel No. 5 parody of the night. I wasn’t as into the second song from Bruno Mars, but mainly because I didn’t know the words. Plus I still just can’t wait for this viewing to be over so that I can start my celebration. Thankfully, DJ Supersoak and Lil’ Blaster because I love these two characters from Jason Sudeikis and Nasim Pedrad.

And with that, Bruno then returned to the stage to say his good nights, and the show was over. This turned out to be another case like with Christina Applegate where I saw the potential in the host, the performances were all excellent, but the content itself just didn’t age well, if it was ever all that good in the first place. That said, it’s also another case where I wouldn’t complain if I were just watching without having to write a review.

Alright, that’s all that I got. I can’t believe this makes two full years of this challenge with five or six months left to go. I hope you’re having fun if you’re playing along at home. With that, I’m just going to jump right in and dig deeper into the details of each sketch as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with parody coverage of The Second Presidential Debate where this time Aidy Bryant moderated a debate between Jay Pharoah and Jason Sudeikis as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney that quickly devolves into nothing more than a pissing match. Of course, with it being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York...”
Bruno Mars then officially opened the show with a monolog where he attempted to quell the concerns of his hosting abilities being that he doesn’t act, or have anything to do with comedy. He then sang a song where he questioned why he was asked to host in the first place.
We then got a fake ad for Chanel No. 5 where Taran Killam played Brad Pitt to parody his real rambling ads for the perfume company.
Haters was a talk show sketch hosted by Cecily Strong who introduced her panel of deadbeat guest who the audience loved to hate no matter what.
Taran Killam then returned as Brad Pitt, only this time to promote Taco Bell in the same style as the Chanel No. 5 fake ad.
Pandora Internet Radio took us to the online music provider where the system went down leading Bruno Mars’s character to have to perform live imitations of various singers in an effort to fool their listeners into thinking that there was no outage at all.
Sad Mouse sent Bruno Mars in a sad mouse mascot costume out to the streets of New York to interact with the locals who have no idea how close they are to this major celebrity as he mopes around.
Bruno Mars then took to the stage to perform Locked Out Of Heaven.
Once again, Seth Meyers gave us the news. This week, Stefon returned once again for New York travel trips for Halloween.
Merryville Haunted Castle for another installment of the sketch that takes place in a carnival ride that breaks down and the passengers stuck in the ride’s cars then get threatened by the animatronic barbershop quartet they’re stuck in front of.
Franklin's Dog Condoms brought back Taran Killam as Brad Pitt this time to promote dog condoms so they can keep their balls in the same Chanel No. 5 Style.
Yeti Point had Bruno Mars as a lodge clerk who warned Jason Sudeikis and Vanessa Bayer of a Yeti in the area while showing them their honeymoon sweat. Of course, the couple doesn’t believe in such things while the white hairy man keeps cause problems just outside of their field of view.
Jonathan Zizmor M.D. was another one from the series of fake Brad Pitt ads.
Bruno Mars then returned to the stage to perform Young Girls.
Donkey Punch The Ballot! brought back Jason Sudeikis and Nasim Pedrad as DJ Supersoak and Lil’ Blaster who this time promoted an under-underground festival set up to celebrate Election Day.
Finally, Bruno Mars closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

Though tonight’s episode was far from a favorite, at least these three sketches that contained my favorite moments, kept it, at least a little fun. First, I loved Sad Mouse because as I often say, I love mascot humor, and I fell in love with Bruno as that sad little man of a mouse. Next, I really liked Pandora Internet Radio because it was awesome to see Bruno Mars perform playful covers of hit songs. Finally, I was a fan of Yeti Point because it reminded me of the Big Foot sketch from the golden days of SNL.