All in all, a weak show

This was quite a weak show.  I can honestly say, though, that Bruno Mars wasn't terrible.  True he sang a lot and he appeared slightly nervous at the start of the show, but his overall stage presence wasn't bad.

The opening debate sketch featured good performances from Jason Sudeikis, Jay Pharoah, Aidy Bryant, and the rest of the actresses and actors, but the writing wasn't very stellar.  Jason Sideikis and Jay Pharoah had good chemistry and I liked seeing how their protrayals of Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama respectfully grew incresingly angered as the sketch progressed.  Aidy Bryant did very well portraying the moderator and I'm glad to see the featured performer get good screentime.  I really wish that Tom Hanks had a much larger part; rather than just a quick cameo.  But his performance made me laugh.  Finally, it was nice to see Aidy Bryant open the show.  I'm hoping she gets more screentime as the season continues.

Bruno Mars' monologue was alright. Despite appearing nervous, Bruno Mars performed alright; though the self-deprecating comments and lyrics weren't very funny.  He did have a keen amount of energy, however, and his lyric about Justin Timberlake made me chuckle.  I also liked how he mentioned that he was aware of everyone judging him to see how good he would be as an actor; and that is basically a true fact-- seeing as he is not a professional actor.  All in all, Bruno Mars' performance, while not entirely amazing, was slightly better than I thought it would be.

The "Haters" talk show seemed to have no purpose; rather than just providing Bruno Mars the opportunity to dress up as a woman.  There wasn't any truly amazing performances in this sketch and it ended too quickly.  No one was hilarious in this sketch and it was basically a waste of time.

The Pandora sketch featured a simple premise as well as the opportunity for Bruno Mars to emulate the musical stylings of other recording artists.  I thought he did alright copying Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong's manner of singing and I will commend Mars on his decent impression of Michael Jackson.  Though the format of the sketch was very simple, Bruno Mars actually did okay as a whole.  The ending of the sketch, however, wasn't funny and appeared tacked on.

"Weekend Update" wasn't terrible.  Seth Meyers did the best he could with the weak material and he did have at least one or two slightly-amusing jokes.  I liked seeing Bill Hader play Stefon once again; though the writing wasn't very funny; causing him to not have a lot to work with.  Nevertheless, Hader gave a good performance as usual and he did make me laugh; thanks in large part to his enthusiastic delivery.

I liked seeing the Merryville animatronic characters again; and the Halloween spin on the reoccurring sketch was quite creative.  Taran Killam once again gave a good performance and I have to admit that Bruno Mars did an alright job with the body movements.  Jay Pharoah was very good as well as the excited passenger and Vanessa Bayer was funny as his terrified companion.  I also enjoyed seeing Tom Hanks make a surprise appearance as another animatronic character.  His body movements were very good and his brief dialogue with Vanessa Bayer was funny as well.  The sketch as a whole was quite creative and ended up being one of the episode's few bright spots.

The Yeti sketch started out good; with Bruno Mars showcasing some very funny facial reactions.  The sight of him wearing an eye patch was humorous and I liked how he interacted with Jason Sudeikis and Vanessa Bayer; both of whom were quite humorous as the skeptical visitors.  Bill Hader made me laugh as the old man; up until he brought up the cheap and crude sexual content.  What's more, though the yeti at the end was a creative inclusion, the over-the-top sexual humor wasn't  very funny at all.  Though I did like the image of Bill Hader's character walking off with the yeti as romantic music played.  If this sketch didn't have such inappropriate content, this could have been my favorite sketch of the night.  All the performances were good but I do not approve of the writers resorting to inappropriate humor to get laughs from the audience.

I don't have anything to say about the Underground Rock festival as towards the end of the show.  Though Jason Sudeikis and Nasim Padrad's performances were humorous, the foul language and shock humor left a bad taste in my mouth.  These sketches usually follow the same pattern; right up with Bobby Moynihan's character dying every time he appears in the sketch.  In addition, I don't feel that Bruno Mars contributed anything noteworthy to the sketch.  He didn't make me laugh at all and his presentation came off one-dimensional and forced.  A weak way of ending the night.

In all honesty, Bruno Mars wasn't terrible; though he wasn't great.  He interacted alright with the members of the cast; but I feel that he could have done a little bit better; particularly in any scenes where he interacted with Jason Sudeikis-- who always manages to make me laugh.  Bruno Mars did what he could with the material he was given; but unfortunately, he only made me laugh a couple times. 

I do have to commend Castmembers Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Jay Pharoah, and Kate McKinnon on their performances tonight.  They all got great opportunities to showcase their comedic skills and they are very great performers.  Taran Killam was also good tonight; especially during the Merryvill Ride sketch.  I did like his Brad Pitt impression during the commercial parodies; but the sheer abundance of the segments caused them to lose their overall punch.  There only should have been two spoofs and we would have gotten the joke without the bits going into overkill.

So is Bruno Mars a gifted actor?   The answer is:  no.  But he did what he could; though he was mostly saddled with weak premises for most of the show; save for the yeti and Marryville sketches.  He came off as being wooden during most of the show; with his performance in the yeti sketch as possibly being his best.  I'm not sure if I would venture out to theaters to see Bruno Mars act in a movie.  He's just alright; not amazing.

As for his musical performances, Bruno Mars' songs don't have any unique sound.  Both of his songs weren't great and the music wasn't at all catchy.  His singing sounds the same whenever he croons a melody; causing his musical performances to be forgettable.  Simply put, I'm not a big fan of Bruno Mars.

And that concludes my live-blogging coverage.  Thank you all for following me and I look forward to posting my next big writing.  Good night everybody!