MacGruber – Pound Some...

MacGruber, which is a riff on the old jack-of-all trades television character MacGyver, is one of the more perplexing Saturday Night Live adaptations. I don't say that in a bad way.

It's more because it takes a truncated skit (generally 30 seconds) and turns it into an unabashed, hard R, gross out gag, lowbrow yuck fest. That conceit can be a lot when stretched over 90 minutes.

If that sounds terrible, and some may certainly find it to be, we don't blame you; but it's actually a lot of fun.

And, honestly, if you have seen the skit, its decision to pull no punches makes a lot of sense. At his core, MacGruber—the character—is meant to be unlikeable. He has no self-awareness; is actually bad at the things he's supposed to excel at; and he has a negative growth arc—he becomes more of an asshole, despite the lessons he's supposed to have learned.

Thus, a movie that is lewd, crude, and strikingly obscene is perfect for him. We responded in kind. This episode honors the raunchiness of its subject. You have been forewarned.

With that out of the way, MacGruber is more than just potty humor. Not much more, but enough to warrant a watch.

So sit back, rewire your tastebuds with a Worst Case Scenario Double IPA from Masthead Brewing Co., and track down KFBR392! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Capt. Cash, Chumpzilla, and Mayor McCheese are jamming to Yacht Rock and practicing our throat rips!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – As we mentioned, this movie makes abundant use of its R rating. But does it work? (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – As a movie full of offensive gags, would any of us recommend it to our friends? (53:24)
• The MacGruber Trivia Challenge – Mayor McCheese challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:16:00)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week, and next up in "Hops and Saturday Night Flops," the reason Al Franken went into politics, Stuart Saves His Family! (1:24:06)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the Super Bowl Pepsi ad and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music!

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