I’m really trying to think if I’ve seen a Seth Rogen episode
of SNL before. Either I haven’t or
he didn’t make an impression.
Which is weird because I feel like he’s known for his comedy.
I will say that I enjoyed Rogen on Freaks & Geeks, but
there are times that I feel that his success is due mostly to who he knows
rather than his actual talent. Oh
well, it’s just Saturday Night Live; how bad can it be?
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
GOP at Coachella – This sketch seems to have the ingredients
of comedy. You have the un-hip Jeb
Bush and Paul Ryan at the uber-hip Coachella festival. And yet, this sketch doesn’t really
fire because honestly it’s difficult to lampoon how lame the GOP is. Yeah, hearing them butcher the use of
“ratchet” and “turn up” felt appropriate, but didn’t cause laughter. Also, Killam’s Ryan felt off.
Rating: David Spade
Monologue – A monologue that needs as much set up at this
one does (“I barely remember the first time I hosted”) isn’t a good sign. While it was nice to see Noel get some
screen time as Beth Rogen, having Zooey Deschanel and Taylor Swift show up felt
desperate, while James Franco’s appearance felt obligatory. There was really very little to laugh
at in the monologue.
Rating: David Spade
Shalen – This reoccurring sketch has been one of the
pleasant surprises of the season and this time is no exception. Having the classmates get involved
earlier was a smart addition to the sketch as was loosening up the format. Seth plays his role and everyone else
gets to be funny.
Rating: Norm MacDonald
CNN Pregnancy Test – This was a nice little shot at
CNN. While it ran a bit long, it’s
jokes were well timed and well placed.
Bayer’s frustration at the situation and Bennett’s apologizing for the test
was pretty perfect.
Rating: Darrell Hammond
Birthday Party – This was a weird sketch. Not “five to one” weird, but weird in
that it got on the show. I guess
it’s supposed to be funny with the physical comedy, but there’s not really that
much of it. And I also supposed
it’s funny that they’re all Southern, but, much like the rest of the sketch,
that never really connects. It’s
almost funny to see Seth almost lose it, but that’s the highlight of an
otherwise dreadful sketch. And of
course there’s zero ending.
Rating: Janeane Garofalo
Monster Pals – This another weird short, tonally. The beginning and the end play like
dramatic pieces set in a world where monsters just exist. But the middle is where the comedy
lies, as O’Brien’s monster scares random people on the street. Conceptually it’s a pretty solid
bit. But it might be a bit too try
for some people.
Rating: Tim Meadows
Blue Driver Dog Food – Watching Sidney and Pat’s
relationship crumble under the stress of having fed their dog inferior dog food
is pretty funny. It’s a pretty
bold sketch to do live and works because Strong and Meyers play their parts
well. Yes, it sort of boils down
to the trope of a woman who can’t let go of the past, but as a sketch it’s
pretty funny.
Rating: Chris Farley
Ed Sheeran Performance #1 – I’m happy that this dude has
gotten as far as he has. He’s
doing the whole “I’m an earnest guy with a guitar” bit that John Mayer did,
only this time it’s actually believable.
And you can clearly hear the influence of Hip-Hop in this song. But rather than being offensive, bit’s
flattering. He’s incorporating not
emulating.
Weekend Update – Allow me to start by giving Colin Jost his
props; that Katherine Heigl joke was great. He finally nailed one.
Beyond that, it’s another week when the guests outshined the jokes. Kenan’s Big Papi feels like the second
coming of Dominican Lou, which is a good thing. And it’s always great to see Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah
Boy. I like his new dynamic with
Cecily.
Engagement Party – Another sketch, another Seth Rogen
character who is basically the straight man. Unfortunately this sketch is completely ruined by Cecily
Strong’s brutally unintelligible accent.
She has all the funny lines, but no one can understand them. It’s sad and she doesn’t seem to do
anything to correct the course. So
painful. I don’t know why the
writers decided to be so accent heavy tonight, but this sketch suffers all the
more for it.
Rating: David Spade
Undercover Sharpton – This should be a homerun. Kenan’s Al Sharpton is usually good for
laughs. But it feels like the
writers tried too hard to set things up.
First there’s the scroll at the beginning of the sketch, then there’s
Sharpton getting the briefcase, talking to the bartender and finally talking to
the mobsters. There are maybe two
times when the audience laughs during this sketch. Maybe their still in shock from the previous sketch?
Rating: Robert Downey Jr
Ed Sheeran Performance #2 – Again, this dude is clearly a
guy who digs Hip-Hop and he’s allowed it to influence what he does. The songs that he’s known for are
nothing like this, but I like that he’s using his time in the spotlight to do
what he loves. I’m still probably
not going to buy his album.
420 Dude – Another week another Kyle Mooney character who
would benefit from being subtitled.
I like that his characters are so fully realized, I don’t like having to
focus at this hour. But Kyle does
a great job of being the stereotypical 420 enthusiast who is aware of rituals
and traditions that no one else knows about. Also, I want to know more about Bob Blinger.
Rating: Kristen Wiig
Herman & Sons – Yeah, this sketch is funny. A sperm bank is going out of business
and they’re loaded with hobo sperm.
And they’ve got to get rid of it all so they can switch over to be a
TCBY. What more could you ask
for?
Rating: Phil Hartman
Final Thoughts: I guess I’m surprised that someone known for
comedy like Seth Rogen is, would essentially relegated to straight man in every
sketch. It was an episode that
ranged from underwhelming to baffling.
There were missed opportunities and poor decisions. Hopefully the break will do everyone
well.
But on the horizon we’ve got Andrew Garfield and
Coldplay.
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