SNL Featured Player Update: Paul Brittain pushes Taran Killam into 5th place

It's the fourth episode of the season, and Paul Brittain finally gets to lead a skit... he leads two skits and he gets to say the coveted, "Live from New York..." bit. I think it took Andy Samberg a few seasons to get in on that, and often it takes over 1 season to do that solo. So this is quite an accomplishment.

First, Paul was in the Cold Open, playing Harry Reid:

Fred Armisen ... Barack Obama
Vanessa Bayer ... supporter
Paul Brittain ... Harry Reid
Jim Downey ... announcer (voice)
Jay Pharoah ... supporter



Jim writes most of these political cold opens (makes sense that he's the announcer). I found it smile-worthy, but the joke didn't go anywhere, and the impressions weren't very funny on their own.

Near the end of the episode, Paul got to lead with his first original character:


Commercial - "Sex" Ed Vincent's Sex Symposium

Emma Stone ... girl
Paul Brittain ... Ed Vincent
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)

Sign up for the three day Sex Symposium to broaden your sexual horizon.



Wow. I think he finally had me near the end with Emma Stone's bit. This actually reminds me of the kind of stuff that Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey used to do.

It's hard to compete against the other SNL Featured Players, but here's how I think they're stacking up...

1. Nasim Pedrad... In this 4th episode, she follows up her Bedilia character (and great impressions like Kim Kardashian) with her Morgan and Erik characters in "My Brother Knows Everything" (teaming with Andy Samberg... any excuse to see more Andy is a great one). I think Nasim is going to graduate as a regular next season.

2. Jay Pharoah... Jay hit hard his very first episode this season with his amazing Will Smith impression. He followed it up in the third episode with his Denzel Washington. We need to see an original character, and I'm waiting for his Eddie Murphy (and he's being primed to take over Obama). If Jay can continue to lead a skit every two episodes, there's a good chance that he'll graduate as a regular next season. That would be only one season as a featured player, a trick that was last done in the 05-06 season by Kristen Wiig (less than a full season), Andy Samberg, and Bill Hader.

3. Vanessa Bayer... Vanessa strikes in her second episode with an amazing Miley Cyrus impression. Let's see what else she's got coming. Vanessa is definitely coming back next season, but at this rate she'll probably have two years as a featured player.

4. Paul Brittain... Paul finally strikes with a good impression, but it's not funny. Similarly, Paul had a good impression of Johnny Depp in the Miley Cyrus bit during the second season, but it also wasn't funny. Paul needs to up his game and make his impressions funny. The clencher that got Paul in the #4 spot is his Sex Ed original character. Not hilarious, but it's funny and original enough to bump him up. He still hasn't proven that he'll be back next season.

5. Taran Killam... Taran has lost no time in filling Will Forte's shoes and becoming a normal face in many skits. However, he has yet to headline a skit, and he isn't living up to his potential of his Scrub work. That said, his Michael Cera impression was spot on. He should lead a skit with that impression or one of his many other impressions and characters. Time is ticking, Taran. He still hasn't proven that he'll be back next season.


Based on this episode alone, I would stack it like this...

1. Nasim Pedrad (loved My Brother Knows Everything)

2. Paul Brittain (got to give him props for Sex Ed)

3. Taran Killam (great Michael Cera impression)

4. Tie to Vanessa Bayer and Jay Pharoah (5 appearances by Vanessa and 4 by Jay, but nothing noteworthy)


Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Les Jeunes de Paris (SNL)

Show - Les Jeunes de Paris

Emma Stone ... girl
Vanessa Bayer ... waitress
Paul Brittain ... Marius
Abby Elliott ... girl
Taran Killam ... guy
Bobby Moynihan ... guy
Nasim Pedrad ... girl
Jason Sudeikis ... man
Kristen Wiig ... announcer (voice)

From 10/23/10.

This skit isn't posted online.

Taran Killam - Wrangler Jeans Commercial (SNL)

Commercial - Wrangler Open Fly Jeans

Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... guy
Bobby Moynihan ... guy
Jay Pharoah ... guy
Jason Sudeikis ... Brett Favre

Brett Favre tells us about the new Wrangler jean: the open fly.



Enjoy!

Taran Killam is Michael Cera in Emma Stone's SNL Monologue

Monologue - Emma Stone

Bill Hader ... audience member
Taran Killam ... Michael Cera
Bobby Moynihan ... Jonah Hill
Andy Samberg ... audience member
Kenan Thompson ... audience member

Roles in 'Superbad' and 'Zombieland' have nerds gravitating towards Emma.



Taran sounded exactly like Michael!

Finally, Taran gets to whip out an impression! This is a good one, but it didn't headline this monologue. I think it took the cake over Bobby's Jonah, but it's hard to compete against Bill, Andy, and Kenan getting their nerds on.

Taran is the first cast member to do a Michael Cera impression on SNL.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Grape Jelly (SNL Digital Short)

Film - SNL Digital Short

Emma Stone ... student
Vanessa Bayer ... student
Paul Brittain ... student
Abby Elliott ... student
Taran Killam ... student
Bobby Moynihan ... student
Jay Pharoah ... student
Andy Samberg ... jelly

The cool girl in school is having a run of bad luck in the cafeteria.



It's also Andy's voice singing the chorus before he comes on as Jelly! I loved it!

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in My Mom is On Facebook (SNL commercial)

Another Andy heavy epiosode!

New SNL commercial parody - Screwed because your mom joined Facebook? Just install the 'D** it, my mom is on Facebook' filter.



Commercial = my mom is on facebook filter

Jane Lynch ... Susan Miller
Bill Hader ... spokesperson
Taran Killam ... friend
Andy Samberg ... Tom Miller



Andy's naked again! The ladies rejoice!

What's your favorite joke in this one?

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Tax Masters (SNL)

Sketch - Tax Masters

Jane Lynch ... director
Fred Armisen ... Daniel Cox
Vanessa Bayer ... makeup artist
Taran Killam ... technician
Bobby Moynihan ... marker
Jason Sudeikis ... Patrick R. Cox
Kenan Thompson ... technician

There's a reason the guy from the Tax Masters commercial is always standing sideways.



Wow, this is pretty gross! The dead fetus joke is horrible on South Park, and this kind of thing is even grosser in live action!

Enjoy?

Taran Killam does well in the SNL Power Charts this week

5. Taran Killam (16 points): Killam benefitted from ubiquity in this week’s episode, as he played supporting roles in the monologue, Shanna and “What Up With That?” Regarding the latter, we were hoping he was going to bring something new to the announcer character that Will Forte pioneered, but sadly, it was just more of the same.


SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE POWER RANKINGS: SEASON 36 TOTALS
1. ⇑ Andy Samberg (74 points; Last Week: #4)
2. ⇓ Fred Armisen (64 points; Last Week: #1)
3. ⇑ Kenan Thompson (53 points; Last Week: #10)
4. ⇓ Bill Hader (50 points; Last Week: #1)
5 (tie). ⇑ Bobby Moynihan (42 points; Last Week: #9)
⇓ Kristin Wiig (42 points; Last Week: #3)
7. ⇓ Jason Sudeikis (35 points; Last Week: #4)
8. ⇓ Abby Elliott (33 points; Last Week: #6)
9. ⇓ Vanessa Bayer (31 points; Last Week: #8)
10. ⇓ Jay Pharoah (30 points; Last Week: #7)
11. Taran Killam (29 points; Last Week: #11)
12. Nasim Pedrad (28 points; Last Week: #12)
13. Paul Brittain (20 points; Last Week: #13)


From:
http://www.bestweekever.tv/2010-10-04/saturday-night-live-power-rankings-vanessa-bayer-makes-her-mark/

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I would have given him 10th place (it was all supporting roles without many of his own jokes), but I agree that I love how he's filling in on Will Forte's roles (and did even better with the Shana role, I think).

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Pepto Bismo Ice (SNL)

Don't let stomach issues get in the way of the party.

Commercial - Pepto-Bismol Ice

Bill Hader ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... waiter
Nasim Pedrad ... girl
Andy Samberg ... guy



Keep the party out of your pants!

The biggest laugh is when Andy makes out with Nasim! Go Andy!

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in in Bryan Cranston's monologue (SNL)

Bryan Cranston breaks into song so you'll remember his name.

Monologue

Bryan Cranston
Abby Elliott ... model
Bill Hader ... singer
Taran Killam ... singer
Bobby Moynihan ... singer
Nasim Pedrad ... model
Kenan Thompson ... singer




Cute. Enjoy!

Taran Killam in What's Up With That? (SNL)

So Taran was in this episode 4 times, but he didn't headline any of them. Taran takes over another Will Forte role... the announcer

Show - what up with that?

Bryan Cranston ... Doo Doo Man
Ernest Borgnine
Morgan Freeman
Fred Armisen ... saxophonist
Vanessa Bayer ... singer
Paul Brittain ... Vili Fualaau
Abby Elliott ... Mary Kay Letourneau
Bill Hader ... Lindsey Buckingham
Taran Killam ... announcer
Michael Patrick O'Brien ... graduate
Nasim Pedrad ... singer
Jay Pharoah ... Squiggy
Jason Sudeikis ... dancer
Kenan Thompson ... Diondre Cole

Morgan Freeman and Ernest Borgnine drop by for the back to school edition.



Enjoy!

Taran Killam doesn't find Shana sexy (SNL)

Okay, so Taran is replacing Will Forte in this role. Honestly, he does better than Will. When is Taran going to lead something and show off his skills?

Sketch - Basketball Game

Bryan Cranston ... Mr. Kearns
Abby Elliott ... Beth
Taran Killam ... player
Andy Samberg ... player
Kenan Thompson ... player
Kristen Wiig ... Shana



The new girl has the basketball coach very excited.

Hahahaha. Kristen Wiig busts out Shana, the character who is almost sexy. The whistle bit had me in stitches.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Boogerman (SNL Digital Short)

The theme from "Boogerman" is performed at the Emmys. Shy Ronnie was nominated for an Emmy. The theme from "Boogerman" is outlandish, and Bill Hader assumes that it's a pile of dog [doodoo]. Many Emmy voters probably made similar assumptions about Shy Ronnie. Randy Newman beats the theme from "Boogerman." Randy Newman beat the Lonely Island at the Emmys.

I don't think Bill called it dog feces because the Emmy voters assumed it was dog feces when it was truly amazing. I think Andy and the dudes were calling it bad because they have no idea how it got nominated for an Emmy in the first place. So I think this was more their way of laughing at themselves than complaining against the Emmy voters.

A musical tribute to one of the year's most talked about films.



SNL Digital Short: Boogerman

Katy Perry
Fred Armisen ... villain
Paul Brittain ... guy
Bill Hader ... presenter
Taran Killam ... guy
Bobby Moynihan ... scientist
Jay Pharoah ... Jamaican
Amy Poehler ... girlfriend
Andy Samberg ... dancer
Jason Sudeikis ... general
Kenan Thompson ... guy
Kristen Wiig ... girl



Booo! What a waste of Katy Perry and Amy Poehler! This is the kind of idea that sounds amusing until you do it. =^)

Andy's promos were funnier than this. Just this title alone could have inspired a funnier skit.

Enjoy!