SNL premiere (1 Viewer)

[teapot2001]

It wasn't that good of a show.

The opening with Ben Affleck and Alec Baldwin was good They should've mentioned that Alec voiced Ben in Final Fantasy.

All throughout Debbie Downer I was waiting for someone to mess up.

I didn't like Weekend Update with Amy Poeler. I think Seth Green would do a good job at it, or Tina Fey should just do it alone.

~T

 

[GuruAskew]

The show has been awful since Tina Fey became head writer. They need to fire her and about half the cast. We need another '96-style revamp.

 

[Van Patton]

Yea I agree another awful show

The Cast is good but the writing is horrendous. I thought I was going to go crazy if the guy doign Bush in the opening skit said "its hard work" one more time. Just so not funny.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I loved, particularly Ben Affleck as James Carville, but you may have to follow politics closely to appreciate that. Also, the whole stuck between floors on an escalator premise was pretty good, as was Horatio Sanz's Elton John impression.

Debbie Downer, like so much SNL material, was a solid premise that went on about twice as long as it should have.

Maybe as I'm 23 and started watching in the early 1990s I just have lower expectations than the rest of you.

Also, I find Tina Fey super-hot in that smart chick way, so I hope she sticks around.

Another Ben/Alec connection: They played essentially the same character in Boiler Room and Glengarry Glen Ross.

 

[GuruAskew]

I'm not yet 23 (less than two weeks away) and I started watching in the early 90's as well, yet I still find the current quality level unacceptable.

 

[Citizen87645]

The opening sketch was WAY too long.

Debbie Downer was lackluster. I think the debut of the character/sketch set it up for failure. I was hoping for the cast to start cracking up so I could actually laugh.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Oh c'mon, no one else enjoyed the surprise appearance by Tony Soprano?

quote:Maybe as I'm 23 and started watching in the early 1990s I just have lower expectations than the rest of you.

I'm a little older and started watching when the show first appeared. By the early 90s, its best days were already past. But every so often, there's a moment worth seeing. TiVo makes it really easy to find those moments and skip the rest.

M.

 

[teapot2001]

I had no idea that was Ben as James Carville.



~T

 

[Dan Rudolph]

SNL tends to be pretty good in the syndication versions, where they cut them down to an hour by removing stuff that didn't work. TO watch it straight, you need patience.

 

[LanieParker]

I started watching SNL in 90. I stopped watching on a regular basis after Mike Meyers left. I have many of the original shows on tape (70's) and I have the best of Steve Martin on tape. I think the show has just really gone down hill.



It had some good characters/cast members (Cheri o'Teri, Will Ferrell), but I think on a whole, the show stinks now. I honestly cannot remember the last time I really watched it.



I think I watched if there was a special musical guest I liked or maybe a certain actor, but it's been a loooong time.

 

[chuck_b]

SNL used to be good for it's topical humor - especially this year with politics. But, with the advent of cable shows like The Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Mahr, SNL is beaten to the punch by these show which react faster (and many times better). The opening debate sketch was okay, but seemed focrced and too long. Following the opening with Debbie Downer lost me and I moved on.

 

[ThomasC]

The escalator skit was the only good one out of the bunch. The material for Bush in the debate sketch was so, so bad. "It's hard work..." x 100. The pandering speech Kerry made was the best part of the sketch.

I miss Jimmy on Weekend Update. It was Amy's first time, so maybe she just needs to find her groove. If that doesn't work out, just have Tina do it on her own.

 

[Kwang Suh]

Hey, at least the "Sponsored by Adobe Photoshop" was funny...

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I thought the overall show was pretty good. Although the opening debate sketch drug on a little to long.

Alec Baldwin and Ben in the monolouge was really funny and then followed by the Boner juice commercial, also funny.



The Debbie Downer sketch was way to long and if you missed the first airing of this sketch which most of you didnt, it was funny only because the cast could not keep a straight face through an otherwise mediocre skit.



Weekend update I thought was very good even minus Jimmy who I loved. Tony Soprano appearance was great. Amy Poehler is one of my favorites on the show and I thought she did pretty good and will definitely come into her own.



I liked the escalator skit when Chris Parnell jumped over because he couldnt take it any longer.

Ben as James Carville was hilarious.



The short movie about the Bush's at the end was pretty stupid.



Give it a few shows if you didnt like it, every one is extra cautious when they watch after a good cast member leaves the show.



Since everyone else is chiming in with there watching record Ill throw in mine, Ive been watching since 85 or 86 and even during the bad years (94ish to 96ish) untill the new cast with Ferrel, Oteri, Kattan started to come into their comfort zone.

 

[Van Patton]

I gotta admit Affleck doing James Carville was hilarious.

 

[josh4040]

quote:TiVo makes it really easy to find those moments and skip the rest.

amen brother

 

[RyanAn]

Age really has nothing to do with it. I am 18, but have been watching reruns of classic episodes for as long as I remember. I used to watch the 10:30 debut and stay up for the classic ep at 3:30... So, my expectations are set for all of SNL. There were some really good skits last night.



The opening monologe
"Goodman and I circle the building every five minutes."
Escalator

The Boner commerical

Horatio asking "Where's my Jimmy-Boy?"

The wedding skit.



I thought Seth Meyers was supposed to take over, I like Amy, but I guess they wanted to have the first ever women team.



Ryan

 

[Tom Keels]

My Tivo/Local Schedule screwed me. I have a season pass to SNL on NBC and CSI on CBS, of which CSI has higher priority. But since CSI aired on CBS on Saturday at 11:30 I completely missed the show. I leave out the obligatory asking for a copy as I know that is a no no. 'wink' 'wink'

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I thought Affleck's rant on Damon during Weekend Update was kind of funny; kind of a sequel to the one in J&SBSB.

The escalator sketch was pretty decent.

I agree that the debate sketch felt exteremely forced and it went on way too long. I think the main problem was that the actual debate was pretty decent, unlike the first one in 2000, which was almost a spoof itself.

I dunno; I actually really like Tina Fey, and the Weekend Update is usually pretty funny. The quality of the rest of the show does seem to be a bit spotty at times, though.

 

[Hanson]

C'mon now -- I'm not about to say that this ep was stellar (although I thought it was pretty good), but I think too many people are looking back at past episodes with rose colored glasses. SNL has always and consistently been uneven, no matter what cast or what year. The best you can hope for is 1 great skit, a couple of solid skits, and a surprisingly funny skit in the last half hour. The first sketch after the host intro is almost always bad. That's just the way it is, the way it was, and the way it will always be.



That said, I like this cast, and I would put up the Nick and Jessica and the Lindsey Lohan eps from last season against any show from any other time.



As far as this week ep, I liked the debate skit, although it was a bit long, and while it ended abruptly, Affleck as Carville killed. I also liked Baldwin -- I think he's the best host ever on SNL, and the fact he played it so straight and desperate made it all the more funny.