Louis C.K. episodes of SNL are always worth watching, if
only for the monologue. Plus
Rihanna as the musical guest? This
show has the potential to be a phenomenal finale.
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
Hillary Clinton Cold Open – The cold open gets props for
incorporating the entire cast into the sketch, but those points are deducted
because there are so few jokes and the writing isn’t there. Yes, McKinnon’s Hillary is full of
antic energy and can’t connect with voters, but beyond that it’s not all that
funny.
Rating: Jim Breuer
Monologue – C.K. is fearless. He’s not fearless enough to address the allegations made
against him, but he does makes jokes about racism, the Middle East and child
molesters. I always dig when a
comedian hosts because their monologues are generally funny. C.K.’s is no different. I applaud him for having the balls for
trying (and succeeding) in making the topics funny.
Rating: Norm MacDonald
The Shoemaker & The Elves – A sketch with elves that
into sexual kinks? Sign me up! Bayer and Thompson’s enthusiastic
hinting is great, but C.K.’s monologue about wanting to indulge really puts
things over the top. And the
voting via 1-800 number was an excellent capper to the bit.
Rating: Norm MacDonald
Sprint Store – I truly enjoyed this bit. Yes, Jones nearly ruined another
sketch, but C.K saved it with his
accent. Normally I find a blaccent
offensive (see Timberlake, Tarantino) but C.K.’s was funny. It wasn’t from trying to be down or
mocking, it was a panic move. And
the time jumps were equally dope.
The ending was predictable, but in fairness, at least it had an
ending.
Rating: Kristen Wiig
Buy Wood Products – The jump from declining a toothpick to
destroying the livlihood of a lumberjack is huge, which is what made this
tickle me so much. From
C.K.’s clearly fake tear, to his
somber visage, everything about this was perfect.
Rating: Phil Hartman
Rihanna First Performance – Confession time; this is my
first time hearing this song. I’m
a huge fan of Rihanna’s “don’t give a f*ck” persona, so this song is right up
my alley. Normally I’d ding for
lip-syncing, but it’s completely in line with her established “not giving a
f*ck” so I’m ok with it. I also really dug the various moving elements in this
performance.
Weekend Update – Not really much to discuss about Update
this week. Thankfully we don’t
have to sit through any more Davidson (or Jones) desk pieces for a few
months. This one was barely
humorous. They tried vailiantly
with Killam’s Tom Brady, but the most memorably part was his flub and
recovery. Glad we got one final
Katt Williams joke in for the season.
Sad that Riblet didn’t bring up his day job.
Beach Resort – What an odd sketch to bring back. It’s odd because the host of the star
of the sketch, but the other three are the characters who are coming back. It doesn’t work as well this time
around as it did with The Rock.
Ironically enough C.K. just isn’t douche-y enough.
Rating: Robert Downey Jr.
Police Lineup – This sketch has such a funny premise and
everyone in it brought their A game.
Seeing the various directions C.K., Bennett, Mooney and Killam took with
their single line was hilarious.
They each worked various actor stereotypes and hit a home run.
Rating: Phil Hartman
Buy Wood Products – Yeah, books are also made from
wood. Very happy to see this
callback.
Rating: Phil Hartman
Rihanna Second Performance – I’m not a fan of singing over
the backing track. The stacked
vocals were something I didn’t really care for. Another thing I don’t care for; political Rihanna. Political Rihanna ranks somewhere
between New Vegan Rihanna and Gluten Free Rihanna in terms of how annoying I
find her. I pretty much tuned this
song out.
Whoops I Married A Lesbian – Glad to see Reese De’What hosting
another show and that he’s still horrible at guessing. Loved the cadence of the characters on
the show, which really fits the era.
C.K. plays Tom Randolph perfectly.
Loved the relationship between Frank and Madge. And the hamming up during the kissing
scene was so period. I would
totally watch either Forgotten TV Gems or Whoops I Married A Lesbian. But why was that camera so bumpy in
that last shot of Reese.
Rating: Phil Hartman
Final Thoughts: Glad to see that the writers did indeed
reserve the nutty stuff for C.K.’s hosting gig. It gave the finale some flair and energy, that it might not
have had with a more cautious host.
And C.K. did a find job. He performed well in the sketches and only had a fews
stumbles. But he gave his all to
his characters and really sold the work.
Host Rating: Drake
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