Amy Schumer is on top of the world. She’s probably the biggest female star
in comedy at the moment and coming off a win at the Emmys for her Comedy
Central show. She also starred in
a movie this summer. Naturally she’s
going to host Saturday Night Live.
Will Schumer live up to the hype? Will The Weeknd have any surprise guests? Will Sasheer Zamata show up before the
final sketch of the night?
As usual, our trusty 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 the host rating scale;
Drake – Outstanding
Edward Norton – Impressive
Josh Hutcherson – Fine Enough
Charlize Theron – Essentially an Extra
Seth Rogen – Expectation, Unmet
Jim Parsons - Awful
Fox & Friends – This felt so slapdash as a cold
open. It tried to address the
topic of open Speaker of the House position, but didn’t really have anything to
say about it. The same with the
whole Planned Parenthood controversy, but again with very little to say. It’s disappointing that this is the
best they could come up with. I
have no idea what Davison’s impression was supposed to be and McKinnon’s got
over on her typical antic energy.
Rating: David Spade
Monologue – I’m happy that Amy Schumer’s in the position
that she is. She definitely earned
her spot in the pop culture consciousness. And I’m glad she went with actual stand up as her monologue. That said, I didn’t really laugh at
it. I appreciated it more than I
enjoyed it.
Rating: Tim Meadows
Cruising Altitude – I love the silliness of this sketch; how
it defies physics. I loved the
build up to actual joke. Granted,
there wasn’t much to the premise or for the characters to do, particularly for
Killam, but it tickled me. Bayer’s
trying to keep her composure and carry on was so perfectly done.
Rating: Kristen Wiig
Hot for Teacher 8 – I loved this sketch. I loved how Mooney and Schumer were
clearly porn actors, but Bryant was also clearly a student. I’d have been totally fine with zero
explaination at all, but I wasn’t mad at Bayer as Bryant’s mom. The fact that everyone was true to
their reality just worked really well for me.
Rating: Norm Macdonald
Guns – This was perfect. What I loved most about it was that it was almost “too soon”
which a) shows an edge SNL usually shies away from and b) is right in my
wheelhouse. It was a solid send up
of Apple’s watch campaign, but the added content of firearms just felt like a
great fit. It was like a
two-fer.
Rating: Norm Macdonald
The Weeknd First Performance – Let’s be real; Nicki Minaj
stole the show. An actual convo I
had during this performance.
So yeah, the song was fine, but Nicki was fine.
Weekend Update – Things started off rocky, with Jost getting
a smattering of applause for his Frankenspeaker joke, but things built nicely
from there. The riff on gun
control was really well done. Say
what you will about the Che/Jost pairing, but tonight the looseness gave Update
an air of fluidity that reminded me I was watching live television. Glad to see Pharoah doing some
characters work as opposed to just impressions, and his Solomon was pretty
funny. Mrs. Santini is always welcome. And Jost calling back to Speaker of the
House bit was a great touch.
Ford’s Theater – This was just fine. On the plus side it gave Schumer a
character to play. She wasn’t just
an extra in the sketch. But there
wasn’t really all that much to this sketch. It’s pretty one-note.
Rating: Tim Meadows
Hands-Free Selfie-Stick – Here’s a sketch that just sort of
lingered longer than it needed to.
The joke was established and then it just lay there. Bryant initial discomfort was a pretty
great moment, but beyond that it just sort of “eh.”
Rating: Darrell Hammond
Bakersfield Citizen’s Forum – This felt like an attempt to
create a reoccurring bit and to capitalize on some of Parks & Recreation’s
funnier moments. Some people would
call it a blatant bite, but I think of it more as a homage. I for one would love to see Mooney’s MC
from Holland and Scary Gary Loomis again.
But beyond that, this sketch wasn’t all that memorable.
Rating: Tim Meadows
The Weeknd Second Performance – What a great pop song. I’m really glad he performed this one
on SNL. I do wish that he had more
of a stage presence. Great song,
but boring performance. And that’s
not even comparing it to the one with Nicki.
Baby Shower – This is an odd sketch, because apart from
Strong and Schumer, everyone else in this sketch is pretty much just sitting
there with nothing to do. This is
very apparent the couple of times they cut to Bayer, for no discernable
reason. But Strong nailed her
sobbing recounting of the contents of her purse, which in turn made Schumer’s
obnoxious yelling a degree funnier.
Rating: Kristen Wiig
Final Thoughts – This week didn’t blow me away, which is odd
considering how high Schumer is placed on the comedy pedestal. I was expecting to have my socks
knocked off, but instead I just found it to satisfyingly funny.
More troubling is how few cast members showed up this
week. Bennett, Strong and Zamata
were arguably underused. It makes
sense that Jones wouldn’t get much play, because nearly every character Schumer
played was loud and obnoxious.
But Schumer did a decent job. She performed with the material she was given. She didn’t really stretch, but she did
fine.
Host Rating: Josh Hutcherson
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