As usual, “Saturday Night Live” was a lesser entertainment option than going out, drinking too much, and having unprotected sex with a stranger. Drew Barrymore hosted the season’s third episode, and it boasted even fewer highlights than the first two (Megan Fox and Ryan Reynolds). My preferred talking points:
- The skit above was the most enjoyable for me, if only because (a) I can’t stand Guy Fieri, (b) it’s the only time I enjoy a character from Bobby Moynihan, and (c) I like the idea of Guy Fieri being torn to pieces and skeletonized by birds.
- The cold open wasn’t bad. Keeping skits under three minutes is a great way to make sure you don’t wear out a joke.
- The monologue proved that the cold open’s brevity was a fluke: using Barrymore’s lineage to poke fun at her acting style worked with Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, but as usual the writers failed by trying to get twice the mileage out of the joke.
- The episode took me slightly longer to watch than usual because I had to indulge my nerdy whiteboy crush on Regina Spektor.
- I’m the biggest Kristen Wiig fan around, but the Gilly sketches are BRUTAL. Painfully slow.
Eh, there’s other stuff I could go into from the second half of the episode (like the digital short that wasn’t half as good as anything on Everything is Terrible), but really, what’s the point? “SNL” remains watchable, with long dull stretches punctuated with moments of brilliance. A subpar episode isn’t worth bemoaning. Not unless you’re trying to kill time in the break room before getting back to that spreadsheet.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/226/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/tumblr_may1uv5Iva1qbhzp1_large-150x150.gif)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/bill-hader-puppet-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/Ben-Affleck-Hosts-SNL-11-01-2008-ben-affleck-5208440-500-2811-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/both-the-great-gatsby-movies-combined-nbcs-she-ra-other-mashups-150x150.jpg)
“Hank” > Kristen Wiig
Matt, did you follow me around Saturday night?
@Enrico – Give it up. You’re alone on the “Kristen Wiig sucks” front.
Oh, also: the Justin Long as McConaughey made this season three-for-three in famous significant other cameos (Brian Austin Green, ScarJo).
I loved the billiards sketch, if for nothing more than the line “Tampax, helping you relax when Mother Nature attacks your slacks.”
I really want to like Kristen Wiig. She’s been funny in guest spots on other shows and in movies, but her stuff on SNL is terrible. Is it the writing? Has to be the writing.
I imagine Wiig is getting pretty pissed. Seems like they’re hoping she can carry the show but then does stuff like Gilly that make me want to kill myself. Stick to speaking English like a Norwegian and I’ll tune in and watch the whole show every week. Guy Fieri being attacked by birds was awesome. Finally something watchable from Moynihan.
True story, I got ‘gun fingers’ from Guy Fieri once completely unprovoked in a hallway at Chelsea Market and I still feel violated.
Gun fingers…what are the symptoms of that?
My hatred of Drew Barrymore probably didn’t help but I agree this was the worst of the season. The low-lights had to have been.. well pretty much everything. My only laugh out loud moments were:
*The italian talk show. I know its coming, but the moment where the guest reveals they don’t speak italian gets me every time.
*James Carvell Especially the bit comparing carvell winning a beauty contest in monopoly to obama winning the nobel piece prize.
and i mean peace prize. Yeah its monday, whatever.
I actually enjoyed the Gilly sketch, mainly cause of Drew’s Italian counterpart of Gilly. However, it was hampered by Moynihan’s overacting. But he redeemed himself when he destroyed Guy Fieri.
@Michelle07: I think the colloquial term for that is “fingerbanged.”
That’s beyond upsetting Zack, considering the hot wing sauce and nacho cheese he’s got under his nails… shudder
The only skit that Bobby was in that I can stand: [www.ucbcomedy.com].
Also, Berrymore stopped being a good actress, and hot, after E.T…
It was a landmark episode because it was the first and probably only time Kenan Thompson has made me laugh. Yea, I snickered at the Ray Parker Jr. joke “On Second Though, I am Quite Afraid of Ghosts.”
I will continue to fight the good fight being that Wiig is less funny than Elaine Boosler.
I like Guy Fieri…
/upset face
/kicks a can in the street