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Saturday Night Live returned this weekend, beginning its 38th season with noted voice actor Teeth MacFarlane at the helm. “Giggity-giggity!” Something that served to distract viewers from how just so upset they were to have to watch MacFarlane’s big smug face with Family Guy voices coming out of it for 1.5 hours was the news, which “broke” a few days before the premiere, that Jay Pharoah would be taking over the role of President Obama. A change! Ah! Who doesn’t love a change. And the cold open featured just that, as well as Taran Killam’s (surprisingly lackluster) debut as Paul Ryan. Pharoah’s Obama impression is pretty great — an improvement on Fred Armisen’s for sure — but it’s obvious that SNL still hasn’t really found a way to turn Obama into a satirical caricature of Obama. (And maybe there isn’t a way to do it?) (I certainly can’t think of a way to do it.) (#Romney2012) (#4THASKETCHEZ) The cold open was still fairly strong, I thought, apart from how it left you wishing for a more clearly defined political message than just the idea that Romney is out of touch. Say something, guys! Anything! TAKE A STAND! And then there was the obnoxious, but expected, monologue where Seth MacFarlane did voices and sang a song. And now we can talk about some of the sketches!
There were a few good political sketches this week! I didn’t actually think I was going to like the Clint Eastwood/Chair premise because SNORE BOO ZZZ, but it still felt fresh enough! Probably because Bill Hader is just so good. “Let people eat soda.” Haha.
And the exaggerated Bain attack ad was surprisingly well done.
The “Puppet Class” sketch was very good. Very good premise. Very good execution. Felt timeless. Honestly, I watched SNL on Sunday and saw the TERRIBLE “Gangnam Style” sketch before anything else, and was under the impression that there were going to be a lot of “Here’s a pop culture thing and I guess the ‘joke’ is that we know about it?” type sketches (see also: Honey Boo Boo), so everything else was a pleasant surprise. Especially this one, though!
Oh, speaking of how bad the “Honey Boo Boo” bit during Weekend Update was, Seth MacFarlane’s Ryan Lochte bit was — again, even though it was BOO ZZZZ OLD SNOOZE — very good! Good job, Seth MacFarlane. You weren’t the worst, actually.
I really liked the “First Date” sketch. It was a classic one-joke SNL sketch that just goes on forever, BUT I thought this one was funny and I didn’t really think it went on for too long. SO THERE! The Family Guy joke at the end kind of killed it for me, though. ONE “GIGGITY-GIGGITY” PER SNL PLZ.
The Wooden Spoons commercial was perfect.
And, finally, Frank Ocean played and John Mayer was there and the first song was beautiful and the second song was good until he started playing a video game, at which point I was too upset to listen.
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If you watched it on Sunday, can you REALLY say you watched Saturday Night Live? At LEAST two of those words no longer apply.
On tape, from my laptop in my bed, it’s Sunday Afternoon!
I laughed really hard at the puppet sketch. And Ryan Lochte.
oh yeah and Frank Ocean was really good and very handsome I thought.
Hader’s puppet taking a drag of the cigarette, and Hader changing up the voice were two huge highlights of the episode.
The puppet sketch was so perfect. Wish they had led with that instead of the disgruntled sex therapist.
The “Goon”/”go-od” joke in the Ryan Lochte monologue… oh my god. Oh my go-od.
Not a Macfarlane fan but he sort of nailed it?
me either, but I agree.
Appropriate, Kelly. Your description of the Wooden Spoons sketch as “perfect” is spot on.
I really wanted to hate MacFarlane in this episode, but really…other than the monologue he wsa really great. He did all the things us monsters say we want from an SNL host. The Lochte bit was awesome.
Anything related to Vandessa Bayer, however, was terrible. She’s the worst. Sorry folks, that’s life. Win some, Bayer-some. She’s not good on that show. In fact, she’s distracting-ly not-good.
Yeah, MacFarlane did not Bayer this episode.
Bayer’s should-have-been-can’t-miss Honey Boo Boo impression left me thinking one thing – it took 45 minutes into this year to really, really miss Kristin Wiig.
SHE’S THE WORST. It’s embarrassing how bad she is at telling jokes. She only has one “joke” voice and uses it for everything.
Yes.
I looked up New York flight times and prices when her Honey Boo Boo (ugh) Weekend Update sketch came on. None of them would get me to New York in time to tell her to stop it though, so I didn’t book any flights.
(also, can we agree to stop talking about honey boo boo as a whole? i feel like people don’t realize that saying ‘wow these people are awful’ is just as much publicity as saying ‘wow this show is great’)
Holy jeez, rough crowd. Is it OK that I kind of like Vanessa Bayer and don’t think she’s terrible? Is it also OK that I’m excited for an SNL that won’t be dominated by Kristen Wiig?
Yes!
Yes, it’s ok to be excited for new, Wiig-less territory. No, it’s not ok to think Bayer’s not terrible.
That is totally a good thing to be excited for! I am also excited to see the female cast members play roles other than “back up singer.”
I think I have a little crush on Vanessa Bayer and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the gigantic teeth. Also, she totally goes for it each time and I respect that. And, I think Fred Armisen is going to be this year’s Kristin Wiig as far as dominating the show goes.
The only Bayer things I like are the J=Pop America sketch (which is really more about Taran and JSuds and the guest) and her Miley Cyrus talk show which I think she is pretty good at. Otherwise, most of her characters kinda suck.
Tim Robinson (spoon sketch) made a pilot for Comedy Central that was passed on DESPITE HAVING ODENKIRK IN IT but anyway it’s great and you should see it! http://vimeo.com/38078102
thanks. that was hilarious!
Bill Hader is great
also, sky is blue and water is wet
“It feels weird to not be wet” was the line of the night
How do you guys feel about the new players? Cecily Strong did a really good job on Weekend Update, even if the sketch wasn’t that funny. Tim Robinson was pretty great in the sketches he was in too. Aidy Bryant did like, a two-second walk on joke that felt like SNL’s attempt to say “hey look, new person, now go away.”
I hated Cecily Strong’s bit, but maybe just because I’m tired of the hilarious premise that Latinas are oversexed ninnies with hopelessly out-of-date gender roles who aren’t smart enough to take anything seriously. I can’t believe she allowed that to be her introduction to a national audience.
I thought Tim Robinson was funny. I thought Aidy Bryant nailed her two-second walk-on.
Yeah, Cecily’s sketch was like some MADTV in ’98 business. What the hell was that? I needed more Aidy Bryant. Tell me more about this gal, SNL.
I think Cecily Strong the jury’s out. Didn’t give her much to go w/during the Weekend Updat sketch, though I thought Pharoah’s faces were hysterical. I like Tim Robinson so far, too. I don’t say this to be mean, just honest, but Aidy Bryant can bring a Farley-esque quality to the show from a female standpoint. Meaning, she can use the fact she’s bigger than the other women to play off that and use it to her advantage.
(that’s not to say that she’s only funny because she’s “fat” or anything like that, or that she’s a slob like Farley, just tha ther bodytype is different than the other women of that show allowing her to open up a number of new characters should she have the confidence to do so is whatImsaying nowhatimean?)
Aside – to keep things subjective, Cecily Strong makes up for the loss Abby Elliott and Kristin Wiig from an eyes-standpoint.
I can’t wait to see what these new folks do on the show. They’re all Chicago folks and all three of them are remarkably talented. Aidy and Tim are both brilliant performers and Cecily has a great range of characters, which makes her a pretty obvious pull in lieu of Wiig. Her audition kind of reminded me of Mya Rudolph. It’s exciting to see what happens when you remove a fixture like Kristin Wiig because she was so prominent in every sketch, it leaves a lot of room for new talent to emerge.
I also thought Cecily Strong did well, even if her sketch did make me feel a bit weird. She nailed the character assigned…that counts for something, right?
Also, I miss Abby Elliott already. Didn’t realize she had left until I started watching this episode.
WHY IS TARAN KILLAM PAUL RYAN WHEN BILL HADER IS PRETTY MUCH PAUL RYAN’S TWIN
THIS IS ALSO SOMETHING I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT. I mean, he was funny, but seriously…the only thing I can think of is that Hader has given the heads up about leaving next year and they think that, win or lose, they can get some good TinaPalin-esque skits out of Paul Ryan’s future career.
*TinaPalin-esque sketches
I loved the Amish spoon sketch. It kind of felt like a sketch that would have gone on way longer but they were running long and they just said, “Just do the funny part,” which is what they SHOULD do always but whatever.
I felt like the sketches were a lot shorter than usual this week, which is a nice change from the seemingly-interminable-but-actually-five-or-six-minute sketches they were doing last season.
Yes, like the cold open was like 5 minutes and last year they were running into the 11 and 12 territory.
For the first time in my life, I will say these words: John Mayer actually added something to a song.
You left out the best skit of the night, the stuttering drill sergeant. Man, that cracked me up. And, I don’t know the new people’s names, yet, but whoever that guy is up there in the wooden spoon sketch, he’s hilarious. He had like 2 lines in the whole show and they both made me chortle enthusiastically.
*You left out the best sketch of the night
I used “sketch” later in my comment, but I prefer “skit” because it sounds dismissive.
That is absolutely fair enough.
Everybody saw that background actor in the restaurant sketch, right? The one who was WAAAAAY too animated in eating his food, silently conversating with his date, and like, laughing at himself a whole bunch? That was weird. When Keenan showed up and stood between him and the camera, I was very relieved.
Other than that, goddamn I miss Wiig and Samberg already, and yeah, that came right around the time Weekend Update started.
To make up for it I watched the dress rehearsal sketch of Californians from lat year when Josh Brolin hosted, because Hader and Armisen totally breaking character in crack-ups made me laugh more, and with repeat viewings, than all of the sketches last night.
Not to be all boo-hooey about graduated cast members, of course. I’m looking forward to seeing the new blood stretch their wings and such, and I felt this episode was fine overall, with a nice amount of funny bits and a GGG host in Seth McFarlane.
YES! God bless you for bringing that up, he was seriously wanting to get discovered.
Bill Hader is probably the best cast member, his skits are consistently funny, and he is just awesome. Nailed the Clint impression again.
I can’t stand Seth MacFarlane’s shows, but he was excellent hosting. I am still laughing about the Puppet Class sketch (freakin’ Bill Hader is so good) and his Ryan Lochte was spot-on. His terrible animated shows force me to forget that he is actually a competent comedic actor.
Great recap. I thought this was a fairly strong opening episode for SNL. I definitely laughed more than I felt awkward, so that’s good. The puppet sketch was probably my favorite one, though I adored Jay’s Obama impression. I’m glad they finally gave it to him. I work late on Saturday nights at my job at DISH, so I’m relieved I can count on my Hopper to record this show for me every week to watch as soon as I get home. SNL is a show I will always be loyal to, no matter what.
Definitely surprised by Seth’s performance. I’m not really a fan of Family Guy, but I’m not sure why people hate it so much. It’s not the most clever comedy on tv, but it serves it’s purpose. I think American Dad gets unfairly lumped in with Family Guy and The Cleveland Show. Again, not the best but you have to admit that the jokes are funnier. Plus, Roger is one of the funniest cartoon characters on tv. With regards to SNL, you can definitely see the potential with some of the new cast and writers. I LOVE Kristin Wiig, but her time was up. The show was beginning to feel stale and it needed some new faces and writers to liven things up. Overall, good job first episode!