Of course last week’s episode of Saturday Night Live was a
genuine triumph. Did it set the
bar unreasonably high?
Our Rating system
Phil Hartman – Comedic gold
Chris Farley – Definitely funny, but
kinda messy
Norm MacDonald – Funny, but not for
everyone
Kristen Wiig – So-so premise saved by
performer.
Tim Meadows – Didn’t hate it, didn’t love
it, dripping with adequatulence
Darrell Hammond – Funny, but overstayed
it’s welcome
Jim Breuer- Crowd pleaser, but a bit
obvious
Robert Downey Jr – Brilliant performer,
not a lot to work with
David Spade – Trying too hard
Janeane Garofalo – Weird weird, not weird
funny
And introducing our new Host Rating Scale;
Drake – Outstanding
Edward Norton – Impressive
Josh Hutcherson – Fine Enough
Charlize Theron – Essentially an Extra
Seth Rogen – Expectation, Unmet
Jim Parsons - Awful
School House Rock Cold Open – As a longtime fan of School
House Rock, I dug the premise of the bit.
This sketch didn’t have a ton of jokes and relied a bit too heavily on
Obama tossing Bill down the stairs, but I liked it. I liked Executive Order’s tagline “I’m an Executive Order
and I pretty much just happen.” I
liked how even Executive Order wasn’t completely sure what the deal was. I probably enjoyed this more than I
should have.
Rating: Kristen Wiig
Monologue – Oh the trusty “questions from the audience”
monologue. Generally I like this
type of monologue, but this one felt a bit off. At the very least it felt under cooked. And seeing Leslie Jones in the audience
when Kyle Mooney asked his question really undercut her popping up.
Rating: Jim Breuer
Back Home Ballers – I can completely understand why SNL
would want to capitalize on “(Do It On My) Twin Size Bed”; the song was a viral
success and at least 50% of the time SNL is creatively bankrupt. But where as the previous outing was
about the awkwardness of crashing with your parents for the holidays, this time
around it’s about horrible people taking advantage of their parents. The only good parts were Aidy Bryant’s
awkward conversation with her neighbor and oddly enough Leslie Jones. Jones’ bars about the variety of bowls
at her parent’s house was funny and felt real.
Rating: Darrell Hammond
HBO First Look: Anne – Ugh. I really feel like I’m done with sketches where the joke is
about the physical appearance of the performer. Or maybe I’m just over Leslie Jones basically playing the
same type of character in everything she’s in. Either way this sketch was horrible and Cameron Diaz, the
host, wasn’t anywhere near a focal point of it. I will say that Jay Pharoah’s Jamie Foxx was pretty
awesome.
Rating: Jim Breuer
Nest-Spresso – I feel like maybe I missed something, but
this one did not connect with me.
I felt like it just missed the mark. If they were going for hipsters, it wasn’t sharp
enough. If they were aiming for
consumer culture, they were off the mark.
I missed the point. This
one was definitely too weird to be on before Update.
Rating: Janeane Garofalo
Woodbridge Theater Showcase – This was such a well written
sketch. It actually might have
been overwritten. I really think
it would have worked just as well if we saw the reactions on Bayer and Thompson’s
faces between set ups, though Bayer’s refusing to identify her daughter was a
great.
Rating: Norm MacDonald
Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars First Performance – I really
like that both Ronson and Mars continue their unabashed love affair with Black
music. And that’s a genuine
statement. I also dig that Mars
brought he crew along, because he really does know how to put together stage
choreography. This song was such a
throwback, but a great one. Ronson
and Mars know how to capture the essence of a sound or era and replicate
it. I really dig how Ronson has
evolved from someone who was completely behind the scenes to someone who is now
onstage.
Weekend Update – Loved the shot at Bill Cosby, which was a
shot that only Che could make.
Imagine how different that line would have landed if delivered by Seth
Meyers, Conan O’Brien or Jon Stewart?
I also dug Jost’s bit on the immigration situation. But the Update joke that I loved the
most was about never being able to find out who on Franklin & Bash was
Rizzoli and who was Isles. I loved
that joke.
While it’s always pretty fun to see Angel Merkel, I didn’t
care for Jost’s abortive German kiss.
Speaking of things I didn’t care for, Killam’s Charles Mason felt
incredibly tame. I prefer my Mason
to be of the Bob Odenkirk variety.
Dinner with Mr. Patterson – First off, nice of Sasheer to
show up in a sketch. Beyond that
it’s a typical Patterson sketch.
Bennett knows the character and performs it well.
Rating: Tim Meadows
Dr. Dave and Buggle’s Animal Hour – This sketch is so
one-note it’s a wonder it made it into the actual show. It you don’t find a monkey tearing
someone’s genitals off to be funny, you won’t dig this sketch. Let’s put it this way; this sketch was
so underwritten that not even Kenan Thompson could save it.
Rating: Robert Downey Jr.
Chris Fitzpatrick Video – I’ll go ahead and say it; I like
this character. I liked him last year
when he was running for student council and I was happy to see him pop up
again. His beef with Andy Rydell
was pretty sweet, especially the back story. Strangely enough the weakest part of this sketch was trying
to give it a beginning middle and end.
The attempted ending really didn’t fit for me.
Rating: Norm MacDonald
Mrs Meadows – Yet another reoccurring sketch and yet another
sketch where the host is an afterthought.
I haven’t really enjoyed her previous two appearances, but this time her
more pronounced accent gave the character a bit more meat than before. But really this sketch could have been
tighter and funnier.
Rating: Darrell Hammond
Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars Second Performance: Look at SNL
being all unintentionally topical by having Mystikal perform. You know Mystikal, the convicted sex
offender. So SNL, I’m assuming,
forces the audience to decide if they can still find entertainment in someone
who did an unspeakable thing.
While I could totally appreciate the niche that Mystikal was attempting
to fill, as the sort of James Brown-esque bandleader, I couldn’t get past the
fact that he’s a sex offender. It
was crazy distracting. It was
distracting enough that I couldn’t focus on the song. The song was aesthetically pleasing, my objection was to the
inclusion of Mystikal.
Night Murmurs – This a great five-to-one sketch. It’s weird enough and has the right
number of components to keep things interesting. The poses and scenarios were hilarious. My favorite was McKinnon’s Latouch,
mainly because of the insane stakes of her bet. I would totally call (212) 555-0199 to talk to her.
Final Thoughts: It’d be hard for any episode following last
week’s to not disappoint. And this
one didn’t disappoint in terms of disappointing. Up to this point, I was at least giving the writers credit
for not falling back on reoccurring characters, this one episode had a ton of
them. And the writers clearly
didn’t know what to do Cameron Diaz and possibly didn’t trust her to do any
heavy lifting.
Host Rating: Charlize Theron
Next Time: James Franco and Nicki Minaj. There will obviously be guest stars
popping and Nicki Minaj will certainly be a filmed sketch if not a live one as
well.
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