Quick programming note: I am currently fulfilling my civic responsibilities and am on jury duty. Depending on how things go I might have to put off posting the regular Friday newsletter until Saturday morning. Stay tuned.
SNL Recap
To get the immediate question out of the way: Did Benson Boone do a backflip? Yes, he did. More than 1, in fact. Next question: Did Quinta Brunson knock it out of the park? Silly question. Of course she did. If a host returning for a second time is evidence that everything clicked the first time, then a successful return places the host on the fast track to eventually earning the coveted Five-Timer jacket. Brunson is on that track.
She accomplished everything one would wish for in a host. She appeared in sketches perfectly tailor made for her, she meshed well with the cast, and she left breathing room for her co-stars to shine. I generally wait until the end of the post to award Employee Of the Week, but there is no debate this time. Kenan was all over this episode, whether co-starring with Brunson or flying solo, and he was never less than brilliant. Look, I’m realistic. There will eventually come a day when Kenan moves on. I doubt it will be this year. (If/when he does leave I’m confident that he will announce before the season’s last set of shows so that NBC can run a Watch Kenan’s Final 3 Episodes promotion.) There are some weeks when he almost seems like a cast member emeritus and pops in for a moment or two. Not this week; he was the star.
There was lots to choose from, but my pick for Top Sketch Of the Week is the Bill & Ted parody, or to be more precise Will & Todd. As they send Queen Elizabeth I, Julius Caesar, and Leonardo Da Vinci (or Leonardo DiCaprio as Marcello accidentally started to say before catching himself. He did a good job of making it sound like that’s a mistake his character would have made) into the phone booth/time machine, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass (Brunson & Kenan) inform the rest that they like it much better in 2025. What’s not to like, there were no roller coasters in the 1800’s.
The cold open/monologue combo was fairly forgettable. In the cold open Trump signed a flurry of executive orders - such as an order to make the Daily Connections puzzle easier. It suffers from the standard problem; if reality itself is so absurd how can the show mine comedy out of that? The monologue included a pair of cameos. Brunson burst into a musical number which was predicated on her diminutive height & the power of short people. She was joined by the similarly tiny Sabrina Carpenter, Marcello then came in to take advantage of the rarity of being able to be the tallest person in a sketch, and finally Dwyane Wade joined in. He may be 6’4”, but that’s short for an NBA player.
There were 2 pre-taped commercial parodies this week. In the first Brunson & Kenan portrayed a senior couple telling their adult children (Ego & Devon) that they were finally able to obtain life insurance - from OnlySeniors. Yep, it’s an OnlyFans for older people in which they are paid to perform sexual acts on camera. Later on there was an ad for Forever 31, a clothing line for women too old for Coachella. The clothing is shapeless and blandly colored and the piece was filled with some terrific lines. “I make Diane Keaton look like a prostitute.”
Another good sketch was the Leadership Summit. In this one a corporate team was instructed on how to use the compliment sandwich; say two positive things around the one negative. Needless to say, things quickly degenerate. What I liked about it is that the HR reps (Chloe & Emil) remained calm rather than using the SNL sketch template of loudly stating and restating the premise throughout.
It was inevitable that Brunson’s return would also include a new edition of the best known sketch from her first gig: the road rage pantomime. It was probably unnecessary because it was in the Martin Short episode from a few months ago, but I’ll allow. Once again the highlights came when Chloe’s teen daughter horrified Mikey. Her miming of the word “nuts” was something to see.
Neither of the Update desk pieces impressed me all that much, but they are worth noting. Michael did another of his standup-esque segments, in this one stating why he does not intend to get the Real ID. He mentioned in passing how little he has to do on the show, which by my count is the third time in recent weeks that a cast member has pleaded for more airtime. We shall soon see if it works. (Pity poor Jane, who only had 1 line in the 12:50 sketch. Not a good sign.) Bowen & Sarah appeared as a couple of self-described Applebees Barflies who came on to bemoan the decline of casual dining restaurant chains. It was only OK, but it is always a delight to see the 2 of them work together. The clear affection and rapport they have with each other is reminiscent of the glory days of watching Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon together. Take a look at each week’s closing goodbyes. Bowen & Sarah are usually seen on the side of the stage in a warm embrace.
Even the post Update sketches were keepers. The first took place at an Addicts Anonymous meeting, with Kenan as a cocaine addict attending his first meeting since moving into a new town. It soon becomes clear that he has no interest in beating his addiction, he is instead using this as a way to scope out where he can score. The final sketch was a sports documentary on a boxer (Brunson) who had mastered the art of trash talk. Let’s just say that the sub-5 foot Brunson does not make for a viable heavyweight contender.
Well done episode from all sides. Quinta Brunson can come back to host any time. Next week: Walton Goggins!
Looking Ahead To The Ceremony
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony is 6 months away, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t speculate on what the evening might look like. There is one easy call to make this year - it is a virtual certainty that David Letterman will make the presentation speech for Warren Zevon. Beyond that one can count on the traditional mix of presenters and performers coming from a combination of contemporary colleagues and current artists who have been inspired by the honorees.
I usually first try to figure out who are the most likely to open and close the show. Ideally the opener should be somehow who can start off the festivities with a feel-good vibe and the closer someone who awakens the crowd after what has been a long evening and gets them pumping their collective fists on their way out of the arena. The fly in the ointment this year is the Meg White question. The White Stripes are theoretically the ideal band to bring the evening to a roaring conclusion, but since there is little chance that she would show up, let alone agree to perform, show producers will need to look elsewhere.
So, assuming no White Stripes, I believe Cyndi Lauper will be the show closer. A multi artist rendition of Girls Just Want To Have Fun sounds like a great way to close the night out, especially considering that there will be multiple female artists in the house ready and willing to join her. If the Stripes somehow wind up performing, then I think the Lauper segment would kick off the ceremony. If Lauper is in fact the closer, then Chubby Checker is the likely opening performer. Under normal circumstances an all-star rendition of The Twist would close the night, but keep in mind that the ceremony runs 3-4 hours. The show producers try to avoid making the older inductees wait around too long, so Checker will be slotted in early.
Other than the White Stripes, Outkast figures to be the biggest question. If I would hazard a guess I would say that a reunion is unlikely, but Andre 3000 has that Neil Young type of “I can change my mind at a moment’s notice” vibe about him. Same thing with the possibility of a full blown Salt-N-Pepa reunion. At the moment the legal issues with Spinderella are settled, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she would perform with S-N-P. It would be a nice bonus to see the full trio together; my early guess is that it’s a slighter better than 50-50 chance.
I believe there will be performances in honor of all of the deceased inductees. I only hope that whoever performs in honor of Joe Cocker does a straight performance and does not attempt to mimic his stage mannerisms. There should be no shortage of singers eager to step in for Chris Cornell, and I can image an LA contemporary such as Jackson Browne or perhaps even Don Henley performing for Warren Zevon.
Paul Rodgers has already confirmed that Mick Ralphs - who suffered a debilitating stroke almost a decade ago - will be unable to travel, but Rodgers & Simon Kirke intend to perform. The Musical Excellence inductees will be limited to film clips; in addition I saw a snippet of a recent interview with Carol Kaye in which she indicated that traveling to Los Angeles might be too much for her, so if she is seen at all it will be via a pre-filmed acceptance speech. One slight possibility: in the unlikely event that too many of the inductees decline to perform, the producers might carve out time to invite someone to perform a medley of soul classics to honor Thom Bell.
It’s never too early to look ahead to next year. Next time I’ll attempt to consider which artists, both holdovers and newcomers alike, might be strong candidates for the 2026 ballot based on what this year’s results tell us.
TV Of the 21st Century - Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is a show that had an all-time great pilot episode, one which loomed so large that it almost overshadowed the remainder of the series. Almost, but not quite. It had a magnificent 3 season run (followed several years later by both a movie and a 4th season) and it introduced several future stars, not just Kristen Bell.
The pilot, narrated by Bell as an homage to the sort of noir detectives that her character was a modern update of, establishes the setting and premise. Set in the fictional California beach community of Neptune, it was one of those locales with a clear demarcation separating the haves from the have nots. The flashback heavy pilot informed the audience how the title character wound up in her current situation. The daughter of the former local sheriff, she ran in the social circle of the one percenters. Until, that is, her best friend and queen bee Lily Kane (Amanda Seyfried!) had been murdered and the evidence had erroneously pointed to Lily’s father as the chief suspect. In quick succession Sheriff Mars was removed from his post and Veronica was ostracized from the cool crowd.
Around the same time Veronica had her drink spiked at a party and while unconscious was the victim of a date rape. The 2 main plotlines throughout season 1 were: who killed Lily Kane, and who had drugged and violated Veronica? Veronica investigated both while working part time for the private detective agency that her father had established. She was assisted by a group of people from the other side of the tracks: among them a new student in town who had trouble fitting in, a socially awkward computer girl, and the leader of the local Latino biker gang.
Like any high school set series there was also the necessary love triangle; I always found this the less involving part of the show. I suppose it hooked the younger target audience, but I was most interested in the central mysteries. Overall the show did a great job of mixing standalone episodes with ones that drove the central plot forward. They kept that going in seasons 2 & 3, once again with one main plotline running throughout the year, and by season 3 Veronica was now a college student. Mystery still followed her wherever she was.
The cast was simply outstanding, both with several younger then unknowns who would soon go on to bigger and better things along with a number of TV veterans - Harry Hamlin! Charisma Carpenter! Kyle Secor! Guttenberg! Special mention should go to Enrico Colantoni. Keith Mars deserves to ranked near the top of any list of the greatest TV dads and that is due to Colantoni’s multi-layered performance.
But it is the younger actors who really stood out. In addition to Seyfried, the show at one time or another included such soon to be familiar names such as Tessa Thompson and Krysten Ritter. Ryan Hansen already mastered his himbo persona here, as did Max Greenfield as an amiable d-bag. And anyone who remembers Francis Capra as the young version of the lead from A Bronx Tale would have been surprised to see him as a grownup here.
And then there is Kristen Bell. When the show premiered in 2004, she was probably best known for a brief but memorable arc on Deadwood, but was largely a blank slate. She turned out to be a revelation; so perfectly cast. As a petite blonde with a doe-eyed look, Veronica could be very easily underestimated, but she was much tougher than she appeared to be and was more than capable of taking care of herself. In her own way she was a lot like Columbo. Any potential adversary had no idea what they were in for.
Veronica Mars had a long and torturous history. It aired around the time when the UPN Network was on the verge of merging with the CW to form the WB, and as a result it was caught up in the shuffle. Never much of a ratings hit even by UPN standards it had a devoted cult audience, and there was a clamor for its revival for years. Around a decade later crowdsourcing funded a theatrical movie, which in turn led to a full blown 4th season a few years after that. Unfortunately it is only that 4th season which is currently available on streaming services. Hopefully someone will grab the rights to the first 3; it is well worth watching.
Originally aired on: UPN (seasons 1 & 2,) The CW (season 3,) Hulu (season 4)
Currently streaming on: Hulu (season 4 only)
Closing Laughs
Real I.D. is not required to gain admittance to Tending The Herd, all are welcome here. Be sure to tell all your friends. Thanks for tuning in and I will see you all again on Friday or Saturday. Enjoy your day!
