Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy

Last weekend Melissa McCarthy returned to host SNL , and although she did a good job (though not as great as her first time hosting), our favorite part of the show was the return of Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy!  While we don't always love Vanessa Bayer's characters, ,this one is one of our favorites currently on the show.  The accent is hilarious, but what really makes it great is the facial expressions.  Vanessa, a 31 year old woman, really becomes this 13 year old boy.  I love Jacob's goofy smile after he tells each corny joke, and how quickly he goes back to his serious speech.  He also has great chemistry with Seth, who really seems to be amused by Jacob.  So far, Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy has appeared twice at the Weekend Update desk.  Here's his appearance from last weekend's show talking about Passover, followed by his appearance last December talking about Chanukah:

While Seth always introduces Jacob as a "recent Bar Mitzvah Boy", did you know that we've actually seen Jacob's Bar Mitzvah?  Before Jacob became a recurring Weekend Update character, he starred in a sketch which featured many musical impressions of popular celebrities singing Jewish parodies at his Bar Mitzvah. The sketch aired back in 2011 and features host Gwyneth Paltrow as Taylor Swift and musical guest Cee Lo Green as himself:

Hopefully we'll see some more of Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy soon! Although there aren't really many Jewish holidays coming up.  Maybe Jacob can explain to everyone the story of Shavuot?

Watch What Happens Live with the Featured Ladies of SNL

Here at We Like TV, we're big fans of Saturday Night Live.  And while it's always fun to see the crazy characters and impressions that that the cast members portray on the show, one of my favorite things has always been seeing the cast members as themselves on various talk shows.  And while it's pretty common to see cast members such as Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Bill Hader on talk shows, it's pretty rare to see the featured cast, who only recently joined SNL.  Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which is executive produced by SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, and is hosted by a former SNL cast member) will often have SNL cast members of past and present on his show, but even he rarely has the featured cast come on.  (We even used to have a recurring post documenting the SNL cast members who have appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.)  

So when I read that featured SNL cast members Vanessa Bayer, Nasim Pedrad, and recently promoted to repertory cast member Abby Elliot (although she appears on SNL so infrequently, she seems like a featured cast member) would be appearing together on the talk show Watch What Happens Live, I was very excited.  I had never really watched Watch What Happens Live, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  The show is hosted by Andy Cohen (executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise and host of the Real Housewives Reunion Specials) and airs live (on the east coast) from Sunday through Thursday at 11:00pm on Bravo.  Andy Cohen also hosted the opening sketch of the "Women of  SNL" special that aired last season, a parody of the Real Housewives Reunion Specials, where SNL's most popular female cast members of past and present (including Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and many others) appeared as the housewives. (Note that Vanessa, Nasim, and Abby did not appear).

Watch What Happens Live is very different from most other talk shows.  There was no studio audience, no house band, no monologue, and the guests were there for the full length of the show.  Rather than allow the guests to tell long amusing stories (as is often done on talk shows), he engaged his guests in a series of little games, asking them questions about their time on SNL and having them reprise many of their most popular SNL impressions.  I was a little annoyed that Andy Cohen would sometimes shamelessly promote  his own shows by asking the guests about the Housewives or other Bravo shows, but overall it was a very fun show, and I enjoyed seeing Vanessa, Nasim, and Abby out of character (usually) and talking honestly as themselves.  Check out some clips of the show below:

And then as a bonus, check out these web-exclusive clips as part of the "After Show".  :