Saturday Night Live James Franco / Nicki Minaj Episode Discussion

learned:

* Peter Pan Live: YES YES YES. ever since Walken's legendary performance, i was hoping they'd skewer it this week and they did. the one perk of having a live show, you can do stuff like this spur-of-the-moment when events dictate that you couldn't do with a show taped three months before. long live live South Park! Hader connection, see what i did there? no i won't go home, i'm not drunk, but they should have had Drunk Uncle play Captain Hook, that would have been the tastiest skewer.

* Star Wars: all SNL skits from now on should be filmed in this filmic quality. they have the budget for it, right? just clean house with the cast members again, everyone wants that anyway. have only Wiig and Sudeikis do all the skits, that would save money. no guest hosts, no music, if you want music, listen to the phonograph in the attic. still one more year to go, huh? don't know if my lightsaber can stay erect for that long, it's already skinny to begin with...in mirroring the original '70s lightsabers. a flaccid lightsaber might as well be a slingshot.

* Grow a Guy: YES YES YES. thank you, Show, you finally actually aired one of your good indie-comedy segments that you usually surprise us with dumping it in the cut-for-time section of hulu a week later. liked this one, very sci-fi, existential, slimy, like a Nickelodeon/Sarah Jane Adventures after-school special on how to deal with bullies.

* Pete Davidson's head: a very good place to be. this skit was great because it was what we call in the business "high concept". i love high concept, always do high concept, never do cheap, low-concept skits, Show, always strive for grandeur and complication. the cast members acting as thoughts, memories, feelings of Pete inside his brain was very esoteric, learned, and yes, sci-fi. this is smart comedy at its finest. the skit itself was run-of-the-mill but the concept of it was fantastic, a fantastic voyage.

* Nicki Minaj: like Beyonce at the Super Bowl, this was my first exposure to this artist's actual music instead of knowing her only for "being a celebrity." i have to say, i liked her. there will not be an Iggy butt comparison here, it's about the music after all. her first song was beautifully accompanied by a beautiful woman with beautiful tats who stroked those ivories beautifully. the second song took me back and aback. it was rap at its basic talky roots. it was rather more like Beat poetry than traditional hip-hop with a metered, continuous electronic beat background. it was confessional and raw and didn't seem rehearsed, it seemed organic about her life, i appreciated that.

* Kyle Mooney: so it says here i am to kiss the guest this week. yes! pucker up, Nicki!
Lorne: it's actually gonna be James Franco. host, not musical guest.
Kyle: oh.
Lorne: it's still gonna be fun.
Kyle: yeah, i guess...actually, yeah, the more i think about it, it will be fun...a different kind of fun, but fun.

* who knew depositing soiled trunks in the woods was so hilarious?