A few years into his Saturday Night Live tenure, it's obvious Kenan Thompson isn't that good a cast member. Thompson is leaning towards a Tracy Morgan acting style, charming if not overly versatile. The man has a lot of pre-SNL sketch comedy experience, but he seems a bit faceless as an SNL cast member. It seems a bit rote for SNL to include him in a lot of sketches due to there being a black host, but it's expected and Thompson is at least credible enough an actor to hold his own against Ludacris.
I also don't confuse Thompson with another cast member like I do with Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis. Is it wrong of me to confuse the two? Either they look similar or I'm just an idiot.
Jason Sudeikis is the new George W. Bush. His Bush impression isn't great, but it's an improvement over Will Forte's. Since Will Ferrell left, the Dubya role has been filled by Chris Parnell, Darrell Hammond, Forte, and now Sudeikis. The new version of Bush isn't great — Sudeikis is a bit too intense in his delivery and he always looks stern for some reason — but Forte always came across as too whiny a Dubya. Saturday Night Live can be predictable at times, but no one saw this coming! The cold openings are improving after a slow start this season.
I feel the need to mention "The Bitchslap Method," a fake infomercial for — well, you can spot the one-joke premise already. As much as I'm not a fan of Maya Rudolph and her sometime habit of overacting, she and Ludacris helped sell this sketch. I like current SNL for being direct with its premises and for trying new things even if they are often stupid. Does Ludacris' character need such an obvious last name, though? Who in the hell has the last name Bitchslap? Please don't follow my question up with "Dave Chappelle." I'm on to you.
Article comments
1 - Al Barger
Cameron, it seems like you're just looking for excuses to carp on SNL. Particularly, it seems like YOU'RE the one obsessing on past SNL glory much more than the current cast and writers. You're reaching back to last week to bitch about a couple of cameos, but the continuing prospect of cool cameos is a commercial selling point for the show. Plus, the rivalry between repeat hosts is a perfectly good avenue for satirizing star egos. Plus, you're REALLY reaching to complain about them dressing people up in turkey outfits at Thanksgiving.
Tony Bennett's presence was not just because of the Alec Baldwin sketch- though that would be a perfectly good reason. Bennett also has a big network special coming up, which includes a duet with Christina Aguilera. Thus, he was there to sing with Christina- which worked out better than I might have guessed.
You seemed to miss out with the Blizzard Man sketch, in that the point was not so much the bad rapper but watching the real rapper totally getting into something so actively awful.
Also, Maya Rudolph ROCKS. It seems particularly silly to complain about "overacting" in a sketch comedy show. Such a thing is much more about caricature and parody than about "realistic" acting.
SNL RULEZ!
2 - Cameron A.
So what do you want in the Matthew Fox/Tenacious D review, then? You don't like something in my writing style or review of the show. What don't you like?
3 - jose
and will forte was way funnier as bush - the new guy was flat. yes forte played it whiney, cuz he was playing a whimpy whiner.
4 - Me
Your comments, "A few years into his Saturday Night Live tenure, it's obvious Kenan Thompson isn't that good a cast member." is wrong. Sorry to have to tell you this. Please contact anyone who studies the art of acting to understand further. Thanks.