This season some of the highlights from Saturday Night Live have come from returning show alum, like when Jimmy Fallon hosted the show. This week, the show had several highlights thanks to the return of former cast member Maya Rudolph as host. Although producers recognized it would be inappropriate for Rudolph to reprise her Whitney Houston impression, she did pull out her Beyoncé.
In the skit, Jay-Z and Beyoncé welcomed several celebrity guests, including “Prince,” stopping by to give their respects to their new baby, Blue Ivy. Other guests stopping by include LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and Brangelina.
One of the highlights of the segment is Justin Timberlake’s cameo as Bon Iver. His imitation is so good, one suspects that he must be a Bon Iver fan, which was confirmed by Timberlake’s appearance at the show’s closing with a sign, “I Heart Bon Iver.”
What was your favorite part of the skit? Leave your two cents in the comments.
For our funny video of the week, check out the highlight from this week’s Saturday Night Live where the real Nicolas Cage appeared with Andy Samberg’s version of the actor. In several past episodes, Samberg has appeared on his “Get in the Cage” segment during Weekend Update with other actors as a running joke about Cage’s acting style, poor choice of movies, and legendary craziness.
Sure, Cage is promotingGhost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012), where like all classic Nicolas Cage action movies: (1) “all the dialogue is either whispered or screamed;” and (2) “everything in the movie is on fire.” But he was a good sport for going along with the funny segment, which was one of the best parts of Saturday Night Live this week. [2024 Update: Unfortunately, the video of the segment is currently not available.]
Does Cage seem a little subdued about the bit? What is your favorite Nicolas Cage film? Leave your two cents in the comments.
When Jimmy Fallon hosted Saturday Night Live in 2011, he got together his old gang of Horatio Sanz, Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan to reprise their classic funny performance of their song, “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.” They have made a few versions of the song through the years.
Here is the original, which I think is from December 2000. From Sanz’s travel guitar, to Fallon’s screw-ups on the organ, to the look on Morgan’s face, it captures four guys having fun and thinking, “I can’t believe we’re doing this on TV.” [December 2013 Update: The original video is no longer available for embedding, but you may watch it here on YouTube.]
The song has reappeared in several forms through the years since 2000. Sanz again performed the song on Saturday Night Live in 2004 with the Muppets. Another Fallon-Sanz version appeared December 2009 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The performance with the Roots featured a surprise guest appearance by Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas, who had covered the song. [December 2013 Update: That video is no longer available, so below is a video of Casablancas playing “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” live at one of his concerts.]
Finally, the new December 2011 version is below. This version is nostalgic instead of adding much new, but it is fun to see the four reprising their roles. The funniest part may be that Morgan and Kattan came back to visit the show for this performance where they do not say a word.
If you made it through all three versions, good luck in getting the song out of your head now. Happy holidays!
What’s the funniest part of the performances? Which is your favorite version? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In case you have been too busy this week angrily Tweeting about American Airlines because a flight attendant interrupted a game you were playing on your phone, here are some of the pop culture stories you might have missed this week. FYI, see below for a funny video relating to the American Airlines incident. Three of the big stories that were already covered this week in Chimesfreedom were the passings of actor Harry Morgan, singer Dobie Gray, and blues man Hubert Sumlin, so check out those stories too. But here are some of the lesser known reviews and stories from the fields of movies, music, and popular culture.
—— Movies —–
Filmmakers are clashing with each other over access to West Memphis 3 witnesses.
The Hangover III may be set in Los Angeles and may try a new formula.
Billboard named Adele the top artist of 2011 as she makes history.
—– Television —–
In Wookie news, Chewbacca is going to guest star on Glee.
The Mythbusters guys apologized after they accidentally fired a cannonball into a residential area earlier this week.
“Very funny.” — Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks on the Roots’ controversial entrance song for Michele Bachmann.
Laugh-In star Alan Sues, who also was in the Twilight Zone Episode “The Masks,” passed away this week.
Was it too soon for Saturday Night Live to spoof the Penn State scandal? Colin Quinn thinks so. In other SNL news, Alec Baldwin appeared on the show last night to apologize about the American Airlines incident to . . . Alec Baldwin, “an American treasure.”
—– Other Pop Culture News —–
Manny Ramirez un-retired from baseball. That’s Manny being . . . Brett.
Jerry Robinson, the comic book artist who created Batmans’s The Joker, passed away yesterday. RIP.
In the way that all sci-fi alien horror movies begin. . . NASA just discovered an earth-like planet. Assuming the aliens do not attack us, we will see you with more pop culture stories soon. . .
One of the main purposes of Chimesfreedom is to write about things we enjoy and to spread the word about good movies and music and their connections to our history. I do not want to waste time writing about things that are not enjoyable. But because Black Swan is getting such raves from most critics, it seems worthwhile to sound a brief dissent. Yes, there are positive aspects of the film, such as that Natalie Portman does an excellent job in the ballet scenes. And maybe we are not the target audience for this film or maybe our expectations were too high because of the positive reviews. You may love the film . . . but how do we keep our general positive spin while still sounding a warning that some may not enjoy Black Swan ? Here’s our attempt.
Review of Black Swan: If you: (1) like movies with cutting, blood, and disturbing scenes; (2) think that a one-note performance of looking confused all of the time is great acting; and (3) enjoy predictable stories that feature caricatures instead of portrayals of real human beings. . . you will love Black Swan.
