p When it comes to i Saturday Night Live /i , the comments from Blogcritics readers are following a certain formula. There s at least one negative comment towards i SNL /i in general every week I review the show, usually words to the effect of Why is this show still on the air? or Where s the edge?

/p p Many of the same commenters appear with varying frequency - Lono, Al Barger, Baronius. Some people think I m being too hard on i SNL. /i Others wonder why anyone would still bother with the show.

/p p i b Hardball with Chris Matthews /b /i - Different than the standard i Hardball /i three-guests-and-Matthews-takes-the-piss-out-of- em format as he and Hillary Clinton engage in mutual ass-kissing (not that kind, you sick freaks.) Better than usual for a cold opening and for i Hardball /i , as it s about time this long-running sketch embraced a different format. Features censored swearing, which makes one wonder why i Saturday Night Live /i doesn t hightail it to one of NBC s cable channels if it plans to rely more heavily on profanity.

/p p b Monologue /b - Jeremy Piven chats with a random audience member, talks about sexual relations with dolphins and cribs lines from the Alec Baldwin playbook. Good monologue, and I don t think the audience member was a plant from i SNL /i s staff. i SNL /i should really do this more.

I wonder if the audience member got to keep the puppy and iPod Piven gave her. /p p i b TV Funhouse /b /i b : /b i b Fun with Real Audio and Stuff /b /i - President Bush appears in the form of a cartoon chipmunk to bolster his sagging approval ratings, with imitators following suit (Tony Danza, i The Sopranos /i etc.) Not that bad for a Fun with Real Audio and Stuff (how long has the term and Stuff been appended to the title?

) segment, making a point about how lame trends and memes can get. /p p At the same time, this could have been better - Dubya farting in a shallow pool? Couldn t the i TV Funhouse /i animators have just digitally placed a Christmas box near Bush s groin and killed two birds with one stone?

I m just saying, is all. /p p i b The First Person in the History of the World to Dance /b /i - Caveman hears a techno song, starts dancing and whips out glow sticks at one point. Pure surrealism, but much better than some of the sketches that followed it.

/p p i b Two A-Holes at an Adoption Agency /b /i - Finally, the A-Holes are recognized by the audience. Not the worst A-Holes sketch, not the best. The running joke of one of the A-Holes pointing out that something looks like a rabbit was recognized by Wiig s character pointing to a picture of a i rabbit /i .

Finally, that running joke can be put to bed. /p p b AFI Perform Love Like Winter /b - I should point out that I don t hate AFI for their music - it s all right, but I m not crazy about their brand of punk. Their fanbase and look, though?

Could it be any more obvious that they re milking this dark phase for all it s worth? I remember when AFI stood for Asking For It and they were on Nitro Records playing hardcore, for chrissake! /p p i b Weekend Update /b /i - Highlights here were Darrell Hammond s turn as Rich Little being critical of George W.

Bush through Johnny Carson, Pee-Wee Herman, and Dan Rather impersonations and the first appearance of Really!?!

With Seth and Amy. This week they pick apart Michael Vick s trying to bring marijuana onto a plane. Typical of this season s i Weekend Update /i s, like I haven t been saying this for weeks.

/p p b Common feat. The Blizzard Man /b - Yes, Common did appear in this sketch. I m honestly surprised The Blizzard Man was made a recurring character - it s just Samberg doing dorky versions of gangsta rap lyrics.

Sadly, this sketch didn t stray from the Blizzard Man formula established in the Ludacris episode and was rather predictable. Sketches like this only work once, since all follow-ups are going to be rehashes by design. i SNL /i is starting to rely i way /i too heavily on Samberg.

/p p The sketch was still lame, though. What s so amazing about a rhinoceros mutant, even if it is magic? /p p i b SNL /b /i b Digital Short: /b i b Nurse Nancy /b /i - Scott Garbaciak seemingly plays every character in the film.

Not bad, not good. Some people have already taken this as a slam on Eddie Murphy, but this seemed broader in scope. It reminded me of a running joke from a i South Park /i episode, although Rob Schneider is The Stapler/A Carrot was a much better execution of said joke.

/p p b Goodnights /b - Piven shills i Smokin Aces /i , thanks AFI Common and talks about da Bears as the closing credits fail to appear. That must be an attempt by i SNL /i to sabotage Piven! Damn them!

/p Cameron Archer p One of my funny quirks (well, it s funny to STRONG EM me /EM /STRONG ) is that I tend to sleep through EM Saturday Night Live /EM episodes at times. That s why you didn t see an Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera review from me last week. I did manage to catch everything from EM Weekend Update /EM on, and it seemed more of the same from Lorne and the gang.

/p p That might sound ludicrous considering Baldwin hosting and EM six cameos /EM . I ve been accused of rehashing the past too much with earlier EM SNL /EM reviews, but how else can you explain cameos from Steve Martin, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, and EM Paul McCartney /EM ? The only cameo appearance that didn t tie in with EM SNL /EM s past was Tony Bennett s, and that only came about due to Alec Baldwin playing him as a recurring character.

/p p I will review the Baldwin episode when it is rerun, since EM SNL /EM is improving. It s obvious Baldwin is being groomed for Most Frequent EM SNL /EM Host in History status. I have the feeling he ll host fifteen more times before the show gets sick of him twenty-five years from now.

/p p Oh, this week we had cast members in turkey suits introducing Ludacris as musical guest. So EM SNL /EM isn t thoroughly obsessive about its past, then? EM Huh?

/EM /p p Ludacris was a pretty damn entertaining host. I wasn t expecting much from the man -- combination hosts/musical guests are a mixed bag and there s a tendency for a general-interest sketch comedy show to go black whenever there s a black host. Ludacris EM SNL /EM episode is no exception, but he carried the show.

While not a classic, none of the sketches were of Big Wigs quality -- well, aside from a sketch about a lesbian cruise, and even that wasn t too offensive. EM SNL /EM wasn t trying to top the orgiastic self-love of last week and it would seem churlish if it did. /p p A few years into his EM Saturday Night Live /EM 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- EM SNL /EM sketch comedy experience, but he seems a bit faceless as an EM SNL /EM cast member. It seems a bit rote for EM SNL /EM 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.

/p p 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.

/p p 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. EM Saturday Night Live /EM can be predictable at times, but no one saw EM this /EM coming!

The cold openings are improving after a slow start this season. /p p 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 EM SNL /EM 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 EM hell /EM has the last name Bitchslap?

Please don t follow my question up with Dave Chappelle. I m on to you. /p p Where was Fred Armisen this week?

The interminable A HREF= http://www.prevent-it.ca/ prevent-it.

ca /A commercials that currently air on Canadian television were given more screen time than Armisen. That s just not right. /p p As for Ludacris music, I can take it or leave it.

I m not a rap music fan, but he s more popular at the moment than musicians I like, such as A HREF= http://www.candiehank.com/ Candie Hank /A or A HREF= http://www.

ottovonschirach.com/ Otto Von Schirach /A (yes, I m aware they re also influenced by rap, please send no money). Tenacious D does musical guest duty in two weeks.

I wonder if this makes Jack Black the first host to EM then /EM become a musical guest. I know he first appeared on the show as part of Tenacious D before his first hosting gig, but come on. Special guest status doesn t count.

/p p Finally, the Blizzard Man sketch (Andy Samberg doing bad white-boy raps -- white-boy rapping is a thing he does from time to time) was decent, but not as good as the fake Least Bought Albums Billboard chart that followed it. DJ Rumple Sxillsxio with Rap Scratch Fever? Jermaine with My Name Ain t Jermaine (Yeah It Is)?

The writer gave more attention to detail with the chart than with the actual sketch! What the hell, at least EM someone s /EM working for more than a paycheck on EM SNL /EM ! That s never a bad sign.

/p p I doubt anything by Ludacris would reach #1 on a Least Bought Albums Billboard chart, though. I d make a BulletBoys joke at this point, but that d be too obvious and I d have at most five hair metal fans on my ass. Thank you!

I ll be here all night! Enjoy the veal! /p div id= authorbio Cameron Archer doesn t know how people look.

If http://www.sweetposer.tk/ is any indication, he never will.