Anna Faris hosted "Saturday Night Live" for the second time this past weekend, and you'll be shocked to learn that the show was just as uneven as it is every week. It had all the usual hallmarks: the too-long cold open, lousy skits I instinctively fast-forwarded through (the Manuel Ortiz show and Bobby Moynihan's Jimmy Crispino character), a too-long Republican presidential debate, and a sketch or two that you watch because you think something funny might happen, but nothing does. Also, Drake was terrible as the musical guest, but at least Nicki Minaj showed up for part of a song to demonstrate what it sounds like when a rapper has flow.
However, none of this is to say that it was all bad. There was plenty to like, and I'm not just talking about the announcement that the fantastic CHARLIE DAY will host on November 5th. I mean actual skits. I've got video of the worthwhile stuff on the following pages.
This is just well-written comedy smartly executed. It's easy enough to poke fun at Lifetime's "TV for white women" with a game show ("You win a Volvo filled with groceries!"), but layering in Bill Hader as both the show's host and a stereotypical Lifetime villain is a nice touch and allows Hader to generate more laughs from the scene. Nicely done.
These are hit-and-miss, but it's rapid-fire so the stuff that falls flat isn't memorable or a waste of time. I really wish "SNL" would take that lesson to heart.
People are talking about this like it's good, but Drake's in it so I have to disagree. Drake rapping = it's bad. The math checks out, man.
I typically can't stand the opening monologue, but this one's relatively short, and worth it for Abby Elliott's impersonation of Anna Faris, which I find a lot sharper now that Anna Faris has bangs that I don't like.
I can't help it: I really enjoy cheap Asian stereotypes.
I didn't laugh much at this skit, but it's so silly and fun that I can't help but like it. It almost has a Monty Python feel to it; I'd love it if the show did more of this and a lot less satire of American politics. GRRRRR WHY DOESN'T THIS TV INSTITUTION LISTEN TO MY IDEAS????
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I just realized that Drake looks like a “kind of black, but REALLY gay” version of Zachary Quinto.
I loved the Wyndmere skit for the pure silliness of it.
Is it just me, or is the supporting casting (Killam, Brayer, and Brittain) outperforming the main cast every week?
Jason Sudekis as the poor Japanese professor was the best part of the J-pop skit, although the whole thing was pretty solid.
Oh, and Lord Wyndemere was great, but I hope they don’t try to make him a recurring character.
Jay Pharoah rapped better than Drake in the Weekend Update song. Can someone explain to me how Drake is famous again?
I keep torturing myself watching this show every week, hoping for just one great skit – and then the Wyndemere and Lifetime sketches both happened on the same show! Whoa. The way the writers slacked off when Melissa McCarthy hosted, having her mostly improv every single sketch, was shameful. Who greenlights the lame sketches?
Also, if they make Charlie Day look bad, I will never forgive them.
Seems like Drake is just a really shitty version of Childish Gambino (Donald Glover from “Community,” for the three of you who don’t know that yet). Really really shitty.
It should be illegal for a dude named “Aubrey” to rap for a living.
So she didn’t show her tits?
PASS
I absolutely loved the J-Pop sketch. The botched japanese accents killed me.
Daytona Beach-edu!
Drake is living proof that Jews really do run Hollywood.
Well, at least half Jews.
It was a pretty decent show. J Pop was funny on so many levels that it was my favorite sketch. A close second (which didn’t even get mentioned in your summary) was the all girl skit singing advice about how to keep a man with a 1950′s style song. It was catchy and funny. I’d like to see more of that and a lot less of Amrison’s Dominican Republic TV talk show crap.
Drake would only be interesting if he was actually a robot like in that Sprite commercial.
I’ve watched Hader scream, “Who’s gonna believe you?” more times than I care to admit.
“at least Nicki Minaj showed up for part of a song to demonstrate what it sounds like when a rapper has flow”
I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm of just mean.
/assumes “Monster” is how all her verses go.
UGH I don’t like the bangs either!!!