On Thursday night, America launched its latest British adaptation on NBC with Red Nose Day (through the charity organization Comic Relief) which has been running in Britain for over 30 years. The three-hour live telecast from New York proved pretty successful, both in the caliber of talent it had on display, and in funds raised. As one of the night’s hosts, Seth Myers, told the crowd, “you know that everyone in the U.K. will be sitting there in their castles, drinking tea, saying ‘It’ll be rubbish in America’s hands,’” and that viewers needed to “raise a pile of cash to shove in England’s stuck-up face.”
Reportedly, the program — which featured an overwhelming number of British actors — raised $10 million (with $4 million donated by Bill and Melinda Gates). It also gave us a number of pretty good segments, the best of which (aside from that that awesome Game of Thrones sketch, which we covered here) are featured below:
Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant Have Terrible Voices
Some of the biggest celebrities of the night showed up for a segment called “Hollywood Secrets,” which revealed the “shocking truth” that Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, and other superstars actually have terrible voices, and must be redubbed in every movie they are in. Two of the best appearances in the clip, though, were actually Daniel Craig and Liam Neeson, whose “real” voices were hilarious (augmented by how they really played up the joke).
Bad Lip Reading Reality Shows
The “Hollywood Secrets” clip reminded me how much I love Bad Lip Reading, and then lo, there was a Bad Lip Reading segment. Here, reality TV “stars” were dubbed with silly and nonsensical statements that, frankly, aren’t really all that different from what they usually say. Of course, there were many obligatory Kardashian appearances, but I love Bad Lip Reading so much I would seriously watch an entire episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians if it was all done in that style. (Well, maybe).
Anna Kendrick as Indiana Jones
A series of short segments focused on the fanfare over the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, asking the question, why not reboot lots of classic movies with female leads? This included “Three Women and a Baby” (starring January Jones, Bianca Kajlich, and Anna Camp who just, y’know, deal with the baby), as well as “12 Hangry Women” (in which an all-female jury, led by Laura Linney, agree on a verdict quickly, but take forever to decide what to have for lunch).
The clip NBC provided with Anna Kendrick as Indiana Jones is all fine and well, but it seems like a missed opportunity for a “Cups” reference. Still, it was a lot better than watching Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Kermit and Ed Sheeran Sing "The Rainbow Connection"
The Muppets have really returned to prominence recently (huzzah!), and NBC was smart to include our old pal Kermit in the proceedings for the night, which included a singalong with Ed Sheeran to the lovely and famous “Rainbow Connection.”
Did you watch the Red Nose Day telecast? What were your favorite segments, and did you donate? If you missed out, you can visit Red Nose Day online to learn more.