BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Benedict hosting Saturday Night Live November 5th!

**Posted by tonnaree** November 6, 2016 2:33 pm

Like SNL always is, it was a mixed bag. You can have the best host in the world but he can only be as good as the material he's given. At least you could tell Benedict gave his all. Office hours was good but I have to admit I laughed the loudest at the fake toilet commercial.

**Posted by Ivy** November 6, 2016 4:13 pm

Fortunaly a lot of uploads out there of the whole episode, so I'll watch it tonight then.

**Posted by Vhanja** November 6, 2016 6:16 pm

I have now seen the whole show. And I will have to say that the sketches really were of mixed variety. Particularly the Granny Bacholerette thing, I found that to be in horrible bad taste (and now I feel like a prude for saying that).

Having that said, I love that Ben is such a good sport and doesn't take himself too seriously so that he willingy joins in that kind of silliness. My favorite sketch was the double date - mostly because the character he plays is so far from both himself and any character I've ever seen him do. I'm amazed to see the variety he has as an actor. And I also loved how he sort of imitated Jeremy Irons from Die Hard 3 in the English Villain type sketch. I also liked the Chad one and Mr. Shaw. .

**Posted by SusiGo** November 6, 2016 6:24 pm

Some possible Sherlock nods:

http://gosherlocked.tumblr.com/post/152818750156/221bgay-some-visual-parallels-between-sherlock

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** November 6, 2016 7:28 pm

Oooh, interesting!

**Posted by Yitzock** November 6, 2016 7:37 pm

I watched part of it on YouTube. I like the Kohler ad and Office Hours. Some of the opening monologue/number were kind of funny. Didn't like the game show. I mean, I thought the intro was somewhat funny but the rest of it wasn't.

**Posted by Ivy** November 6, 2016 7:45 pm

OMG the stripper scene! He looks so horrible I can't stop laughing

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** November 6, 2016 7:51 pm

Another thing about the stripper scene... he reminded me of The Fifth Estate with the blonde hair...

**Posted by Yitzock** November 6, 2016 8:09 pm

I can see what you mean! But the look kind of made me think of All, too.

EDIT: That was in response to Phantom's post, in case it's not clear.

Last edited by Yitzock (November 6, 2016 8:13 pm)

**Posted by ukaunz** November 6, 2016 10:39 pm

Last night I found an upload of the show on YouTube (that had all the ad breaks in it shown as a blank screen for five mins each time, so that was tedious). But thanks to those who gave me some hints on watching SNL from Australia, I'm glad I didn't miss out

Anyhow, I'm in agreement with everyone who has already commented. A lot of the show was cringeworthy and icky, but also crudely funny. The intro, or the Bragging song, was so out of character for Benedict, but I guess that's why it was meant to be funny. I'm not sure what to think of the fanfic references. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Khool toilet ad, omg. I'll never get the image of Benedict straddling a toilet out of my head, I didn't need that. The game show Why is B.C. Hot? was just awkward. I loved Office Hours, Benedict shined in that one. The Bachelorette Party made me feel sick. The date night one was very funny, Benedict was on point as the rock star illusionist. The riddling bomber bit was brilliant, and the one with Mr Shaw was bizarre but hilarious.

I don't think I've ever watched a full SNL before, I didn't realise it was just sketch after sketch. I thought we'd get more hosting from Benedict like a talk show, so I was a bit disappointed by that. Anyway, I hope he had loads of fun, that he doesn't cop too much shit for it, and that more people see how broad his acting range is, he's a marvel

Someone mentioned seeing a Stuart A Life Backwards reference, I missed that?

**Posted by Vhanja** November 7, 2016 5:33 am

He had the same glasses as in Stuart, in the Chad sketch.

**Posted by Vhanja** November 8, 2016 6:13 pm

You know... I can't get over that Bobby Flay Steak House sketch. It was the most awesome of them all to me, because he was so different. And that small thing made me realise... he should branch out more.

He is getting typecast as playing various types of arrogant geniuses. And, of course, he's done an amazing job on every one of those movies/series, but of all odd things, that sketch showed me that he has the potential of doing so much more.

I know that he has done different characters - Little Charles comes to mind. But it seems to me that after his breakthrough with Sherlock, he has played various types of geniuses whenever he was cast as the main character/villain (Sherlock, The Imitation Game, The Fifth Estate, The Hobbit, Star Trek, Dr. Strange), and he only plays different types when he's in a supporting role (August. Osage County, Black Mass)..

I'm not tired of his genius roles, he does them all greatly. But I would just love to see him do something very different - because I know he can do it. And I want him to show it, show that he can do more than what he has been typecast to do.