the comic's comic

Introducing Michaela Watkins

Want to see and hear a little more from one of the new Saturday Night Live cast members, Michaela Watkins? Sure you do! Here is Watkins, backstage with Fred Armisen after last weekend's show. If you cannot see Hulu (you foreigners, you), then try NBC's SNL site.

SNL #34.9 with Tim McGraw, Ludacris and T-Pain

While I was off in Las Vegas for a comedy fest, staying at the Monte Carlo resort and casino, the kids at Saturday Night Live put on a James Bond sketch in a casino in Monte Carlo. Coincidence? So nice to see The Comic's Comic is still in your hearts and minds, SNL. But are you in ours? Let's get to recapping to find out if SNL still has the buzz come Monday morning...(videos available for viewing either on Hulu or the SNL NBC site)...

Our cold open is definitely most cold, as C-SPAN is covering the Congressional hearing on bailing out the auto industry. More wonky than funny. Unless you're one of the reps (Barney Frank, Carolyn Maloney, Walter Jones, Gregory Meeks, Peter King) or one of the Big Three auto CEOS, because you got to see yourselves portrayed by Fred Armisen, Casey Wilson, Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, Bobby Moynihan, Will Forte, Darrell Hammond and Jason Sudeikis, respectively. No video up on Hulu, because really, they're doing you a favor. Detroit needs to make "gayer cars"? Roll the credits, already!

Country music star Tim McGraw is our host, and sporting his black cowboy hat, he says that in this era of change, "anything is possible," including putting him on the same show with Ludacris and T-Pain. So McGraw has a message for the hip-hop fans tuning in, explaining how country music isn't all that different, after all, and singing a verse or two.

Instead of an ad spoof, we get a spoof of an ad spoof, as Kristen Wiig attempts to become the spokeswoman for her new product, Clear-Rite. It's a clear retainer that's better than clear braces. Just ask Armisen's character. Or her good friend, played by newbie Michaela Watkins. Or her boyfriend, played by McGraw. Lots of lip action from Wiig. Not quite as twitchy as some of her other "crazy" character roles, but certainly funny in an awkward way. Watch it:

Bill Hader nails Dateline NBC's creepy anchor/reporter Keith Morrison in a preview for a potential episode, with victims played by Wiig, Sudeikis and Wilson, and McGraw. Watch it:

It's Thanksgiving week, so time to talk turkeys. Or rather, time for the turkeys to speak for themselves and run for cover! Armisen, Samberg, McGraw, Sudeikis, Wiig, Thompson and Watkins get dressed up for dinner. Sure, funny to look at. But they play it a bit too straight. Needs more gobble gobble! Watch it:

SNL #34.8 with Paul Rudd, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and introducing Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins

With all of the hoopla this week about Saturday Night Live adding two new cast members in Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, and the comedic prowess of Paul Rudd hosting, who would figure that the most memorable parts of this episode featured surprise performances by Justin Timberlake? Timberlake's vision of his Thanksgiving SNL that could have been turns out to be hilarious enough that you suspect Lorne Michaels is figuring out how to make that happen, and then there was the outrageously funny music video choreography scene with Timberlake, Bobby Moynihan and Andy Samberg backing Beyonce. The latter featured our first live looks, albeit briefly, at the newbies Elliott and Watkins. But we like to read our recaps in the order of appearance, so rewind!

Our cold open is brief for a change, with a message from Vice President-Elect Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) in which he describes his "Biden Blunder Scale." Biden is the one politician we haven't been talking about since Election Day, so he vows he'll be as entertaining as Sarah Palin. And roll the credits...

Two thoughts before we move on. Amy Poehler still gets listed in the opening credits (and also as part of Weekend Update later) even though she has left the show. This is not an oversight. Perhaps a tribute to her, or some way to make sure she gets paid? Anyhow. I thought I heard Don Pardo call Andy Samberg "Andy Sandler" but definitely heard Pardo call Michaela Watkins "Watson." Oy.

Paul Rudd's monologue: Rudd joked about getting picked to host after the election, after the buzz and heat on the show has passed. "It's like being in Times Square on New Year's...Day." Rudd also said, "if you love Tina Fey as Sarah Palin," introducing Kristen Wiig as Arizona governor and potential attorney general Janet Napolitano. Just to drill home the point.

Our ad spoof is for "Sproingo," the only erectile dysfunction pill that announces it's working with sound effects. Wiig and Sudeikis play the happy couple. A topic more than ripe for parody.

Now it's time to meet the Vogelcheks. Am I spelling that right? You tell me. The important thing for Samberg's character to remember is that the Vogelcheks like to show their affection for one another. Rudd is Samberg's college roommate, and Wiig and Fred Armisen play the parents, with Bill Hader as the older brother. And by affection, did I mention that they kiss each other. A lot. It freaks Samberg out. It even freaks Wiig's character a little bit when Armisen smooches her eyeball for what seems like forever. But. Happy ending! (So to speak)

After the first ad break, we get the return of the "Scared Straight" sketch idea with Sudeikis as the cop, Kenan Thompson as the prisoner scaring the juvenile delinquents, or trying to scare them with the plots of popular movies. Hader, Samberg and Rudd play the teens. I'm not sure why we're seeing this sketch again, but we just did.

An SNL Digital Short! Deliciously absurd. Samberg approaches Rudd in his dressing room, asks: "May I paint you?." Nekkid, obviously. Rudd returns the favor, then they decide to auction off this masterpiece. And everything goes horribly awry. Abby Elliott makes her first appearance by vomiting, while Michaela Watkins is an old lady praying, Moynihan is poking his eye out with a pencil, and Hader and Wiig are re-enacting the penultimate scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. "Cover your eyes!" But that's all a set up to the film "Everyone's a Critic," and when Casey Wilson interviews them, well, there's your ending.

Two more reasons to turn on SNL: Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins join the cast!

The Comic's Comic has learned that Lorne Michaels didn't wait too long to figure out how to replace Amy Poehler's presence in the cast of Saturday Night Live, hiring not one but two new female cast members: Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins. They should make their debuts this Saturday night, a show already begging to be an awesome blossom of funny and fierce thanks to host Paul Rudd and musical guest Beyonce.

About our newbies!

Abby Elliott (pictured at left) is 21, and if the Internets are to be believed, the daughter of the illustriously eccentric comedic actor Chris Elliott (and granddaughter of the Bob in Bob & Ray), so that already makes her a welcome addition to SNL. She has voiced "hipster girl" on a couple of episodes of King of the Hill. She also was among the sketch comedy players of The Midnight Show at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, and has a couple of 2006 videos on the YouTube displaying her abilities to channel Kirsten Dunst and Angelina Jolie. I'm sensing some youthful exuberance...

Michaela Watkins already has been appearing on your TV set this fall in primetime as "Lucy" on The New Adventures of Old Christine (more credits at IMDB). Watkins also comes from the main company of The Groundlings in Los Angeles, which has sent many past alums on to stardom at SNL. Here are a couple of videos of Watkins in action...this is from a recent episode of Old Christine:

This is Watkins from 2007 as Arianna Huffington (notably titled SNL audition!), with some risque sexy talk:

By the way, Paul Rudd hosts this weekend, and if this is what they could produce by Tuesday, I'm very optimistic about what they'll have for us by Saturday night. Can you believe they didn't ask him to host sooner???