SNL: Russell Brand Is British, Get It?

Accent seems to be only joke of the evening
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2011 11:43 AM CST

Russell Brand bounded across the Atlantic to host Saturday Night Live last night, and not everyone is glad he made the trip. Some reactions from around the blogosphere:

  • Brand's presence "(begat) a gaggle of English-themed content, and not one but two period sketches. (Sort of.) We just can't get past the accents, I guess," writes Peter Finocchiaro on Salon. Hilarity did not ensue.

  • "Straining for more Brit-inflected material that could accommodate Brand, there was 'A Spot of Tea,' with Brand, Hader, and Andy Samberg all in drag, using falsetto voices stolen from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, screeching to poor effect," complains Ken Tucker on EW. "Hoo boy, was this a pretty bad week for Saturday Night Live."
  • One highlight was Fred Armisen as Hosni Mubarak, notes the Huffington Post: "We tend to expect that kind of pointed satire from "The Daily Show" or Bill Maher, but it's always a nice surprise to see "SNL" remember that it's at its best when it has an edge."
  • As for musical guest Chris Brown, "my, he dances energetically, doesn’t he?" writes Tucker.
Check out clips in the gallery.
(More Saturday Night Live stories.)

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