Well, this was a disappointment. As I enjoyed Melissa McCarthy's first hosting stint on “Saturday Night Live” last season, I was dismayed to see, for the most part, a very mediocre show. While I enjoyed seeing McCarthy play a variety of different character this past season, it was disappointing to see her portray variations of the same character in almost every sketch. What's more, almost every sketch was poorly written and dragged on and on. It seemed as if the writers simply came up with the simplest premises and just relied on Melissa McCarthy's performances to improve the quality of the show. Unfortunately, McCarthy ended up taking the spotlight away from most of the show's castmembers; causing them to be relegated to simply reacting to the antics of her various characters. In other words, last night's show was hard to watch:
Cold Opening: Kim Jong Un's C-Span Address
This was a bad way to start off the show. I've never been a fan of these C-Span cold openings that features a voice-over translation. I'm also not finding Bobby Moynihan's portrayal of Kim Jong Un. There wasn't anything funny about this opening, and the voice-over translation wasn't funny at all. All of the sexual “jokes” weren't funny at all and the poor writing caused this opening to drag on. In addition, Dennis Rodman's surprise appearance felt tacked on and wasn't funny at all. Though I will say I liked his enthusiastic delivery of the iconic phrase “Live from New York...”. However, in all honesty, this was one of the worst cold openings of the season.
Melissa McCarthy's “Monologue”
This was just all over the place. All this consisted of was McCarthy just rambling inconsistantly and performing some ridiculous acts of physical comedy. It seemed as if the writers couldn't come up with much material at all and simply told her to ab-lib. I will say Taran Killam's brief dance numbers were an interesting addition, but sadly, McCarthy's “performance” just dragged on. Overall, a very weak “monologue.”
Sketch: ESPN Basketball Report
This was hardly funny at all either. Despite Bill Hader's performance as the show's host, this wasn't very funny. All this sketch basically consisted of was Melissa McCarthy portraying an abrasive coach that spent all her time cursing at the college basketball players. I did get a slight chuckle out of Jay Pharoah's facial reactions as his characterwho became terrified of McCarthy's coach character following a confrontation that had got out of hand. This was a very weak sketch and, like the first parts of the show, it just wasn't very humorous at all.
Sketch: “The Voice”
Now this wasn't bad. It's nice to see “Saturday Night Live” do a spoof of the high-rated NBC reality competition. Taran Killam's Carson Daly impression was alright; though he didn't get a lot of great lines. Melissa McCarthy gave a decent performance as her character; though the joke of her being not that great of a singer was a tad predictable. I did like the castmembers' impressions of the judges; particularly Kate McKinnon's humorous portrayal of Shakira-- complete with an over-the-top Spanish accent-- as well as Jay Pharoah's Usher amusing depiction of Usher. The comedian even managed to perfectly mimic the musician's manner of singing his words. In addition, Jason Sudeikis was very funny as Blake Shelton; right down to humorously imitating the singer's country accent. Bill Hader was quite amusing with his soft-voiced portrayal of Adam Levine as well. Kenan Thompson's impression of Cee-Lo Green was also funny, though I felt the sketch ended a tad too abruptly. Overall, this was a decent sketch and probably one of the better ones to be featured in this week's episode.
Sketch: Ham Cook-Off 2013
Now here is one of my least favorite sketches of the episode. Though the idea of a cook-off presentation was an interesting idea for a sketch, the entire execution could have been better. The concept of Melissa McCarthy's character wanting to do a musical introduction to her ham entry was creative. And while I will say that McCarthy gave a decent performance though her dancing, I will say that the sketch went on a bit too long. And, while I did get a chuckle out of Kenan Thompson's judge simply saying that McCarthy's character placed seventh in cook-off all the way after her big introduction, I did feel that the overall ending was tacked on. In all honesty, the entire sketch seemed like the writers giving McCarthy a free pass to do whatever she wanted for the entire duration. And thus, while she did alright overall, I feel that there could have been more of a story structure. In other words, this sketch could have been much better.
Weekend Update
Remember just how short Weekend Update was during Justin Timberlake's show last month. And because it was brief and only featured one update segment, which happened to be a visit from Bill Hader's popular reoccurring character Stefon, it probably ended up being the best edition of the season. Well, this week's edition of Update was just the opposite: a never-ending string of no-so-great segments. First of all, only a couple of Seth Meyers' jokes were funny; particularly his quips about Tax Day and Sesame Street's Ernie and Bert. Then we had the a total of THREE featured segments. First, Vanessa Bayer brought back her reoccurring character “Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy”; which she previously portrayed this past December during Martin Short's show. The writing for the segment wasn't great; though I did get one or two chuckles out of the family roast jokes of Bayer's character. The next segment was the return of Kenan Thompson's Charles Barkley impression. The writing for the segment wasn't great at all; though I do still find Thompson's upbeat delivery as Barkley to be slightly humorous. However, it was the return of Bobby Moynihan's somehow popular reoccurring character “Drunk Uncle” that really annoyed me. This character has been run into the ground so much, that I just about pray for the segment to conclude. The only laugh I got from Moynihan's character was how arrived to the desk sing a Tax Day variant of the theme song for the television series “The Facts of Life”-- “The Tax of Life.” After that, I didn't get any laughs from Moynihan's character at all; as his rambling wasn't funny at all and just dragged the segment along. Though I will say that the surprise appearance of Peter Dinklage from HBO's “Game of Thrones” as the equally-drunk brother-in-law of Moynihan's “Drunk Uncle” (“Peter Drunklage”). Dinklage's mimicking of “Drunk Uncle”'s slurred speech was humorous; and the actor's appearance improved the quality of the segment to rise just a bit. Nevertheless, this was one edition of “Weekend Update” that went on Way Too Long.
Sketch: Million Dollar Wheel
And... this was another one of my least favorite sketches of the night. Usually, when “Saturday Night Live” spoofs well-known game shows, ion this case... “Wheel of Fortune,” the result is usually quite humorous. This wasn't the case. The basic joke of Melissa McCarthy's “Vanna White”-esque character revealing the hidden letters of a certain phrase, wasn't funny at all. McCarthy's performance was a tad-over-the-top-- though I did slightly grin when hearing her high-pitched voice for the first time when she first spoke. I also didn't find McCarthy running back-and-forth revealing the rest of the letters to be funny at all. The only things I chuckled at were Bill Hader's straightman performance as the game show host as well as Fred Armisen's contestant character guessing the wrong answer when the phrase was revealed. This was just a poor sketch,
Sketch: Pizza Loan
I have very mixed feelings about this sketch. First of all, I just want to say that McCarthy's character in this seemed to blend together with her persona during the ham cook-off sketch from earlier in the show. I think she even used the same voice. That being said, McCarthy gave a decent performance as an applicant who wanted money for starting a business where she rides around town while eating pizzas; while getting paid to do so, Unfortunately, the writing for her character was completely ridiculous. However, I did enjoy Jason Sudeikis' performance as the designated straightman of the sketch-- being the bank worker faced with McCarthy's character. I will also say that McCarthy and Sudeikis played off each other very well; right down to the part where his character had an outburst when her character kept handing him a pen to sign for the loan. Their pairing up was amusing; so much so, that I wish that the writers had created a better sketch for them to partake in. In fact, I really wish the writers had come up with better opportunities for McCarthy and the cast to play off each other. Most of the sketches this past Saturday primarily reduced the castmembers to simply reacting to McCarthy; who got to do all the comedy. Part of what made her first hosting stint so great was that the cast and McCarthy each got the chance to do very funny things. This time, however, it was only McCarthy who got opportunities to be funny. And because of this, the show suffered significantly this past Saturday. I was hoping for a great showcase of McCarthy and the cast. Boy, was I disappointed by this show.
Sketch: The Art of the Encounter
This wasn't too bad for a closing sketch, though it wasn't very funny. Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were alright as the the hosts of this self-help commercial parody and they both got a some good lines. Taran Killam and McCarthy worked very well together during their conversation segments; and I liked how awkward their conversations became. I did like the cereal interplay and their final conversation wasn't bad at all. I did get a brief laugh out of Bobby Moynihan's and Tim Robinson's appearances at the end of the segment as the dates of Strong's and McKinnon's characters. Overall, not a bad closing sketch, but it wasn't that memorable.
All in all, I am disappointed how this past episode went. I feel that, while Melissa McCarthy is funny, she needs good writing to strengthen her performances. If given an interesting character with a well-developed personality, like her character “Megan” in “Bridesmaids,” Melissa McCarthy can be very funny. However, if given a character like any of those she was given this past Saturday, then her performance can appear one-dimensional and only be improved through her performances. But no matter how hard she tries, her overall performance relies on the writing. And this most recent episode of “Saturday Night Live” featured hardly any creative or genuinely laugh-out-loud writing. If this is the type of writing that we'll be seeing for the remainder of the season, then I feel bad for whoever is going to be hosting these final shows. And you can bet that worry for Vince Vaughn; who's returning to host for a second time this weekend, his first time being in 1998-- back when a certain someone named Will Ferrell was a castmember. Seeing as I'm a big fan of Vaughn's performances in comedies like “Old School” and “Wedding Crashers,” I pray for good sketches this weekend.
As for Phoenix, I enjoyed their performances this past weekend. Both their songs had good melodies and the lead singer has a good voice. I enjoyed their performances so much, that I would like to hear all the other songs on their new album.
And that's my review. Thank you so much for your patience and following my blog. Have a great night and stay tuned for more Nater-Tainment!
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