Customer Reviews

Saturday Night Live - The Best of Alec Baldwin [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alec Baldwin has always been the best host of SNL (along with Walken and Spacey) and this makes a pretty good case why.

The opening sketch with the press conference about Prince Charles is priceless. And what could be more demented than "Canteen Boy." Baldwin is so over-the-top in that that what is a really, really sick joke is actually funny.

But the home runs come with three of the funniest sketches of all time: The Tony Bennet Show (I was seizing during this one), The Joe Pesci Show (with Baldwin doing DeNiro) and the "Zinger" sketch, which just got funnier as it went along. Even better was the voicemail sketch where he keep re-recording his greeting, only to listen back to it and hear a gay man.

There are a couple of clunkers: "Planet Truth" was just not that funny and maybe two others didn't need to be here. Including one so-so opening monologue that probably was only included because it included Paul McCartney.

The bonus features include one great sketch that never made it on-air, and a great audio track by Baldwin and the Producer of SNL which provides lots of really, really entertaining stories about the cast and the sketches themselves.

Absolutely hilarious.

There is no more manly man, chiseled of jaw and steely of glance, than Alec Baldwin at his peak. This DVD is thus a double delight: we see him act well and handsomely in these sketches, and we get to watch him, time and again, play against type. There is a fair amount of homo-humor (Alec as the British prince's press secretary using every possible elaborate metaphor for buggery in a skit that Baldwin co-wrote; Alec as a predator to Adam Sandler's Canteen Boy), and a fair amount of silliness (Alec as an exacting high school french teacher, a PG-rated skit, has been a favorite of my family's since it aired). Alec hawking Pete Schwette's Balls on NPR is probably the best known skit ever to challenge the SNL actors to maintain their composure, and he pulls it off. The only Baldwin masterpiece not on the DVD is Alec as "The Mimic," another utterly silly piece that should not have been omitted. The DVD follows the typical format of others in this series and indeed of the show itself, beginning with a vintage monologue before moving into skits. Baldwin's excellent preparation (you never see him glance at cue cards), his swooning masculinity, and his penchant for the goofiest material that never causes him to break character make this DVD special in the Saturday Night Live retro series.

Considering that the SNL 'Best of' DVD's can often be very hit or miss with their selections, the majority of the selected sketches on the Baldwin DVD are indeed very funny. As someone who has hosted the show so many times over the years, there is a lot of solid material to choose from. Some highlights include one where he gets a promotion at his job, but is unable to record a voicemail without it sounding less than manly when he does the playback. A zinger vs. burn skit between him and Seth Meyers is a riot, and it ends with a 'Bill Braksy' bar scene that also features Will Farrell and John Goodman that is absolutely hysterical. While there are a few sketches that are not quite as good and you'll probably want to skip over once you've seen them, the majority of the material on this DVD makes it well worth buying for any SNL fan.

Underneath the cool, handsome leading man exterior of Alec Baldwin lies a true comedy performer. It should be no surprise that Baldwin is one of the most talented & longest-running hosts of SNL (tied with Steve Martin for the number of times hosted). He's practically an additional cast member, because he can do so many things & be genuinely funny at them.
This collection is packed with great Baldwin moments: The hysterical cold opening of marathon gay jokes about Prince Charles; "Green Hilly", a hokey sendup of high-class drama & romance; his off-color impersonation of Tony Bennett; his wacky impersonation of the late Charles Nelson Reilly (Baldwin gets a run for his money here against Will Ferrell's weirdly funny James Lipton); the bully of a diet motivational guru; and the scandalous Canteen Boy sketch, with Baldwin as a randy scoutmaster.
The moment that I felt was so-so was the opening monologue with Baldwin tossing money to everyone backstage (THIS deserves to be in the collection?? Probably because it features Lorne Michaels & Paul McCartney at the end).
Definitely one of the best from the SNL collections!

At last, SNL's most consistently funny performer, Alec Baldwin, has a DVD of his past performances. Most of his best skits are here: the prissy French teacher, the soap opera star, the hapless gubernatorial candidate, and many others. There's less filler here than on other SNL collections. My only complaint is that his silliest skit - "The Mimic - is missing. Nevertheless, I think that this DVD is worth watching.

4.5 stars

This is worth it just to watch Baldwin as Tony Bennett singing I Like Things That Are Great. I've seen it a dozen times and it just keeps getting better. Baldwin gets deeper into his characters than most hosts (he is indeed a good actor), and tends to rely less on cue cards than even much of the cast, which lets him really be the character (hello, cast of snl: learn a line or two; you've only got a few dozen a week!). Best of all, Baldwin is always willing to laugh at himself and his public personas, and goes the extra mile to get the laugh most every time.

Schwetty Balls is still funny, as is Greenhilly (Jan Hooks shines here, as does Hartman, as always), and the Pesci skit has some nice bits. Not all of this dvd is great, but most of it is. Interesting that Baldwin did so many poofy characters, and they're all pretty funny. Canteen Boy is almost too much, but Sandler somehow keeps it light.

I hope Baldwin rolls with the answering machine scandal; still waiting for it to come up next time he hosts. That would be ballsy.

I remember Alec Baldwin's first SNL show very fondly, which included Greenhilly. Easily one of his funniest skits ever, I was extremely pleased when I saw it was the first skit on his best of DVD. Alec needs at least 2 DVDs of his own to really capture it all, but Greenhilly, the skit where he's a stranger blowing through a diner and it's almost all in innuendo, Schwetty Balls and one of the priceless Bill Brasky skits makes it more than worth the money right there. His impersonations are great. The writers love playing with his leading-man good looks to comedic advantage. And while I'm a fan of Fallon and Ferrell (and the Carol Burnett show) when they break character to laugh, I laugh just as hard because Baldwin *never* breaks character when he's got every right to.

I've only seen about 7-8 of the SNL best of's, but Alec's is by far the best of them all. There's a good reason that this is the hardest SNL DVD to find.

I have been showing "The French Teacher" to my high school classes for over a decade. They LOVE it! So, when I saw this was the only way to get the DVD copy I purchased it. He has totally captured Robert de Niro's essence. Other gems include the candidate for governor, the gay phone message maker, and the marine captured in China. Seeing the old gang makes this DVD fun to watch.

Alec Baldwin is a great actor and comedian. These skit on SNL really demonstrate his comedic talent. A wonderful collection, and watch it for some good laughs.

Great DVD to add to your probably growing collection of SNL "Best of...". Baldwin is one of the best and funniest guest hosts they ever had - nearly every sketch is a "classic" and as funny as you remember it (think "Pete Schweady").