Saturday Night Live -- September 26, 2009 -- Megan Fox and U2 -- Review

Fred Armisen plays Colonel Gadhafi, explaining why he went nutty at the UN, with reasons including jet lag and the computer containing his speech crashing. This sketch could have been funny had it either gone goofier or had Gadhafi turning from gracious to nuts as it went on. The decision to have it translated also seems to have killed the humor. Bad start to a new season.

Monologue -- Megan Fox -- 5

Megan reviews a series of naked pictures of herself that she found on the Internet, advising that they're all obviously real because they're on the Internet. Bobby "How the Hell Did I Stay Employed" Moynihan shows up to have her sign another picture of herself, with her body grafted onto a horse's body. Mildly amusing, but like many of the monologues last year, seems merely filler and not meant to set a tone for the host.

Commerical -- Bladdivan -- 7

Less than 10 minutes in and SNL airs its first toilet humor fake ad of the season with this medication for shy bladder syndrome. Sadly, the side effects of the drug include peeing yourself and not caring that you peed yourself. Silly, but funny.

Airplane -- 6

Two stewardesses (played by Kristen Wiig and Megan Fox) remain calm while telling passengers that the plane is essentially ready to go down, each message getting worse and worse, at least until the stewardesses get into an argument about Monk. Funny premise, but the sketch never seems to get going.

Selecting a Russian Bride -- 7

A man in Russia is looking at his final two selections for a bride to take home. One is Megan Fox, the other is an ugly woman (played by Fred Armisen) with no redeeming features, except being $10 cheaper. Fred is funnier here than before, but Megan Fox is given little to do beyond looking pretty. Funny premise, executed better than the last sketch. Sadly they don't know how to end it.

Digital Short -- 2

Will Forte plays a SWAT commander with a child's voice out on a date with Megan Fox. The only humor from the sketch comes from the voice and the few odd things that come out of Will's mouth, and that ain't much. Once again, Megan Fox is given little to do but look good, which she does well. Ultimately this is well shot crap.

Grady Wilson's Burnin Up the Bedsheets -- 2

Keenan "What I lack in talent I make up for in volume" Thompson promotes his sexual position video, which features him in boxers and a t-shirt demonstrating his techniques. Of course, he brings in Megan Fox to help him demonstrate. Probably funny if you're a drunk college student. Then again, maybe not. Isn't it time for Keenan to move onto playing the third banana in a TBS sitcom?

U2 -- Breathe -- 5

Odd directorial choices here, at least compared to most musical guests. Typically the show uses longer shots for its musical guests, making me wonder if perhaps U2 isn't performing on a smaller stage or there is some other issue. I like U2, but Bono's constant attention to the camera has always driven me nuts. The song itself is a bit of a snooze, with the vocals buried too far in the mix.

Weekend Update -- 3

Seth Myers continues to step on his punchlines, which really isn't a shame when your second joke is about the G20 summit having something to do with Gatorade. And the first "commentary" of the season comes from the spectacularly unfunny recurring character, Jean K Jean, the French Def Jam Comedian. Really Lorne, you kick off Michaela Watkins and you keep Keenan Thompson? REALLY? That's okay, because we get Kristen Wiig doing Judy Grimes, her "just kidding" character, who was funny the first 70 times she appeared. Now, not so much.

Seth Myers REALLY needs to learn how to tell a joke. He plows through each one as though he's trying to get to the afterparty, with no concept of timing, inflection, or humor. If he had any of these, he could wring some laughs out of the generally subpar material he has each week. Instead, nothing. It is sad when I long for Jimmy Fallon to come back.

Funny line -- About Michael Moore on the Larry King Show, "Michael Moore said that capitalism has proven that it has failed. King nodded and then asked him if he still keeps in touch with the rest of the cast of Roseanne."

Live Lounge Chat Line -- 9

A spoof of those late night phone chat line commercials with Megan Fox telling you all about the friendly singles you'll meet, plus the various freaks who also will be dialing in. Each of the freaks is represented by cast members in funny clothes and poses, and the list ends with a very funny surprise.

This bit is short but very funny, and represents something that SNL could easily do but stubbornly refuses to do, parody. Best sketch so far this evening by a mile.

U2 -- Moment of Surrender -- 7

What's up with having them starting the song before even being introduced? And the sound mix has been horrible tonight. A better song, but I think U2 peaked at Achtung Baby. You guys are famous enough, why not do an old song for us?

Biker Chick Chat -- 10

Finally, an original sketch, a talk show featuring female cast members dressed up in funny outfits and talking funny. They've not done that yet..... this season. Of course, they didn't have newcomer Jenny Slate, who wastes no time making a name for herself by dropping the F-bomb on live TV. The funniest bit here is watching her face as she realizes what she's done. Way to go Lorne, you dumped the best female you had last year for a girl who can't even get through her first sketch. The only joke here appears to be each person saying friggin', which of course gets killed when someone actually uses the word. This sketch gets a 10 because it will hopefully bring Lorne the negative attention he needs. I blame Bono. Lorne Michaels, the FCC is on line one. Charles Rocket is looking down from heaven and laughing.

SNL Digital Short -- Optimus and Andy -- 9

Megan Fox brings Andy Samberg into her apartment and her roommate, Optimus Prime, wants him to leave. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize its simply a guy in an Optimus helmet, whose Transformer moves are decidedly X-rated. This digital short is actually funny and they bury it at the end.

Your Mom Talks To Megan Fox While You Finish Getting Ready -- 5

Kristen Wiig plays a mom who is talking to Megan Fox while her friend is getting ready. This is a variation on the mom celebrity translator from last season. The humor is low key, as Wiig talks about the industry. Mildly amusing.

Cast Goodbyes and U2 -- 5

Poor Jenny Slate looks like she wants to run away. U2 bores with another song.

Overall -- 4

Do people care about F-bombs anymore? It doesn't really matter because Jenny Slate saying the F-word will probably make the headlines tomorrow. Its kind of ridiculous for Lorne to throw the girl into a sketch like that her first night, but I also almost wonder if he didn't want that result to drum up some free publicity. Without that, the show had little of interest tonight. Megan Fox was given nothing to do, the writing was mostly horrid, and the cast almost seemed bored. A horrible start to this season.