Taylor Lautner pads onto Saturday Night Live

     As with any show that has been on a long time, NBC's Saturday Night Live has its ups and downs.  I can think of no other show like it that has been on for thirty-five years, and its ups are good enough to keep watching through its downs.  Unfortunately, after last year's very big up, this year has been mostly down.  The one exception that leaps to mind is the Taylor Swift-hosted fantastic episode more than a month ago, and possibly some of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's.  Another Taylor, Lautner, (Jacob in the Twilight series) stepped up this week, and sadly did not do as well.

     The opening monologue was amusing enough, with Taylor reliving the Kanye VMA moment, and somehow keeping it from being stale, though the event itself is by this point.  It will only fuel more rumors on if the two Taylors are in fact dating (Swift dropped a more obvious hint in her opening).  The best skit he was in by far was the Team Jacob vs. Team Edward skit, where he was the girl defending the Edward side, of course.  It was a play off of the commercials.  He also performed admirably in the football interview skit, and was the only (slight) redeeming part of the middle school choir piece.  His love connection segment was terrible, one of the worst in recent memory, but was unable to salvage "Surprise!"  As much as Kristen Wiig is the star of the show now, if she never revives Aunt Sue, many will give thanks.

     The rest of the show without Lautner fumbled, mostly.  Seth Meyers is trying, and sometimes succeeding, hosting Weekend Update alone, but Amy Poehler is certainly missed in that spot.  Nasid Pedrad delivered a very funny take as Mistress #15 during Update, and Jason Sudeikis tried very hard to make the Tiger Woods scandal shine during his PGA announcements, with mixed results.  The rest of the episode, as has too often been the case this season, was forgettable.  Even musical guest Bon Jovi was dull, his tunes more mellow than in years past.

     Can SNL revive itself again?  Surely so.  Andy Samberg has given us many a gut-splitting Digital Short.  Wiig, Sudeikis, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson, and Meyers are far from past their prime, and the new additions of Pedrad, Bobby Moynihan, and Abby Elliott were very helpful.  And the rest of the cast isn't half bad.  Hopefully the writer's will find another dash of genius soon.  They have one more chance in 2009.  Come on guys!  Sarah Palin is back in the headlines.  Take a cue!

     Saturday Night Live will present a two hour primetime Christmas special this Thursday (unfortunately hosted by Wiig's most uber-annoying character, Gilly), and will conclude their fall batch of episodes this Saturday with host James Franco and musical guest Muse.

If a Tiger cheated in the Woods...

     Everyone in America is obsessed with Tiger Woods right now.  He's been all over the news, talk radio, late night chat shows since his car accident and subsequent adultery revelations.  There are articles about him in every newspaper and on every online site.  Examiner.com already has plenty, and they top the popularity list.  Though I thought I was about to enjoy my weekend, I guess I am jumping into the fray and joining the band wagon before I relax.

     I am the Lexington TV Examiner, and as such I feel I need to tie this story into my topic.  That's easy.  The one place Tiger Woods is not right now is on television commercials.  While sponsors have just begun to drop Woods, many are still sticking behind him, but none are running ads featuring the golfer.  According to CNN, there has not been a single commercial aired this month yet with Tiger Woods in it.  I, for one, am equal parts relieved and disappointed.  Relieved, because Tiger is not totally dominating my world.  Disappointed because commercials are the one thing on TV I pay very little attention to.  That's why I have two TiVos.

     It bothers me quite a bit that everyone is talking non-stop about Tiger.  I couldn't care less that he had an affair, or many.  I don't follow sports, so maybe I just don't understand the need to keep up with athletes.  However, I really don't care when any famous personality has an affair.  It's not that I support going outside the marriage.  Quite the opposite.  I just don't understand how this is news.  How does this story affect you in any way, except that you don't get to see Tiger pop up in between scenes of your favorite television show?

     I realize I have no hope of changing the culture.  Throughout human history, the masses have always been obsessed with the well known personalities.  In the internet age, where information is instant and constant, it's only gotten worse.  And if you are reading my article, it's probably because you were searching out the topic, and may have already clicked away, frustrated at my condemnations.  Let me say, I do not think ill of you if you have been one of the many thus far.  However, I beg of you, reconsider how you spend your time.  I think it likely I may regret the few minutes it took me to type this up.  I could have been watching Bones instead.