SNL: Justin Timberlake Hosts 5-Timers Club

COMMENTS (19)

• Funniest thing they’ve done in 31 years. I miss the old guys.

  Comment by Charlie — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 6:49am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Ugh, this is the WORST, most meaningless kind of comment people make about SNL. You take the predictable, cliche stance that the show hasn’t been funny since its glory days while conveniently ignoring all the years you probably weren’t even watching. Tell us about those glory days, please. Your “31 years ago” brings us back to the 1981-82 season, considered by some to be SNL’s worst. You simply elide three decades of SNL’s output. The seasons in the late 80s/early 90s? The Tina Fey years? Those years all sucked? Beyond all that, you choose this awkward sketch as an exemplar of when the show was better? Ugh, ugh, ugh.

    Comment by Really?! — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 12:18pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • I love Tina, but the show has been awful since the early 90′s. Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon were great on Update, as was Norm. But the actual sketches have not been good in ages.

      Comment by jos — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 3:30pm PDT  Reply to this post

• What is going on at SNL? This is painful to watch. You have Justin Timberlake, Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin shuffling around like awkward, teleprompter-reading zombies, you have jokeless dialogue, ham-handed direction…

  If you’re going to rely on teleprompters, for god’s sake at least make the jokes good. It’s obvious that when Kristin Wiig and the Lonely Island Guys left, there’s been no one left on the creative side to fill the void. Seth Myers has made Weekend Update the one little quality corner of the show. But the rest of it has gone off the rails.

  I’ve been a huge fan of this show since I’d stay up past my bedroom to watch the Taste Buds and the Belushi’s samurai chef. But I can’t even get through half a sketch anymore. This might be the worst season ever.

  Comment by jdog — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 7:39am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Part of the joke of the FTC is those in the club can just phone it in.

    Comment by Anonymous — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 11:42am PDT  Reply to this post

• A bunch of white men and a token minority, Bergen, patting themselves on the back for their mediocre performances. WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD! I thought this was the Emmy’s for a second.

  Comment by WhyOhWhy — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 7:45am PDT  Reply to this post

• Bummer. With JT and so much talent, you’d think it could be funny. Wait, take that back. Chevy trying to be funny is funny.

  Comment by Jerry — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 8:32am PDT  Reply to this post

  • you didn’t think Chevy’s improvised I-Don’t-Know-How-To-Hang-up-a-Telephone-Bit was funny? I thought it was the best thing since Buster Keaton. He’s just reading his lines and then boom — comes up with that from outta nowhere. Genius. Too bad the new cast members can’t learn from a great comedian like Mr. Chevy Chase. I hear he’s a nice guy in person too.

    Comment by Ryan in L.A. — Monday March 11, 2013 @ 11:51am PDT  Reply to this post

• i just love candice bergen.

  Comment by terrence — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 9:36am PDT  Reply to this post

• Unlike the knee-jerk negative posters, I thought last night’s SNL was hilarious, with just a couple of misfires. The shame is that Kevin Hart obviously did not get the full attention of the writers for his episode as the SNL team was looking and likely writing ahead to this planned blockbuster episode. Kevin Hart deserved better.

  Comment by Chuck — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 10:03am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Agreed. The SNL writers couldn’t wait to try to write good material for JT. This guy only shines when the writing fits his persona- other than that, Timberlake is bland with no presence.

    Comment by ptp — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 1:05pm PDT  Reply to this post

• The monologue/skit was a great idea… when they did the exact same thing for Tom Hanks. For a couple minutes, I thought they were doing some kind of intentional homage to Hank’s 5-timer monologue, and would eventually acknowledge it, but they never did. Plus, the execution was pretty unfunny, with the only real enjoyment coming from “who is going to cameo next?”

  Comment by No One of Consequence — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 11:59am PDT  Reply to this post

• Justin Timberlake is funny, talented AND Classy! Would LOVE to seem him show up on a smartly written comedy show! He and Seth MacFarlane are who other young guns in H-Wood should be looking to for guidance on what the word “ENTERTAINER” means, and represents. …

  Comment by Anonymous — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 12:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

• What did Buck Henry do to Lorne that he’s banished from any sketch about 5 timers?

  Comment by frank — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 12:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Rumor is that Buck and Lorne had a falling out while working on “The New Show” (the unsuccessful prime-time series Michaels put together during his hiatus from SNL in the ’80s). No idea what the particular problem was.

    Comment by Bob Violence — Monday March 11, 2013 @ 12:58am PDT  Reply to this post

• It was an okay episode. Stunt casting.

  Comment by Buck — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 2:09pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Spot on!!! 100% accurate. It’s bizarre that people confuse “Oh look, it’s !!” for comedy.

    Timberlake is VERY famous but not inherently funny. His acting has never been memorable but his luck in being a memorable Samberg skit has given him the illusion he’s a great host/part of the SNL family.

    There was a time when the skits were great because of the comedy and not the celebrity.

    Comment by JJ — Monday March 11, 2013 @ 8:33am PDT  Reply to this post

• Buck Henry is 82, perhaps that kind of gig really isn’t his thing anymore

  Comment by Pete — Sunday March 10, 2013 @ 2:30pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Buck did a couple of episodes of 30 Rock as Liz Lemon’s father. Michaels is a producer on that show so maybe they’ve buried the hatchet.

    Comment by Henry Buck — Monday March 11, 2013 @ 9:09am PDT  Reply to this post