Ever since Kenan Thompson pointed out that the number 39 looks like a foam finger poking a butt, Ive had high hopes for this 39th season. Yes, Saturday Night Live lost no fewer than three of its best players this year. But each of those guys had a good run eight years for Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis, eleven for Fred Armisen and their recurring characters were starting to feel a little self-congratulatory. Its time for a shake-up. Sometimes, SNL just needs to be poked in the butt.
Cold Open: Obamacare. Not surprisingly, we open with a political sketch. Maybe its just absence making the heart grow fonder, but Jay Pharaohs Obama impression seems to have gotten funnier. Those clipped sentences are taking on their own sort of comic rhythm. Jordan Peele is still the Obama to beat, but Pharaoh is gaining ground. In this sketch, Obama brings ordinary Americans to the podium to testify as to how the Affordable Care Act will improve their lives. Instead, each of them successively blames it for everything thats wrong in their lives. As a disgruntled iPhone5 user and a jittery doctor, Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon get the biggest laughs. I suspect Ill be writing that last thing again before too long. Taran Killam pops up as a Dr. Seuss-reciting Ted Cruz. (Horton may hear a who, but the only thing Im hearing is socialism!) This sketch is reminding me of the one advantage SNL has over topical humor shows like Colbert and The Daily Show: an endless supply of characters. Speaking of characters, heres a surprise cameo from Breaking Bads Aaron Paul, testifying as Jesse from New Mexico. His chemistry teacher, he says, wouldnt have turned to cooking meth if hed had Obamacare. Fair.
The 50 Funniest People Now: Tina Fey
Monologue: Unless Im on TV once every three weeks, a little part of me dies, says Tina Fey. US TO TINA: BE ON TV MORE. Fey makes some jokes about reprising her popular characters from her SNL days, like Salvador Dali Parton and The Lady with No Theme Song (and shes a vampire!). The joke being that Fey never did characters until her post-SNL days, when she became the living embodiment of Sarah Palin. She does not pull out that impression, thank goodness. But she does go all Dance Moms on the featured players, whom she orders to do an embarrassing routine while she says things like, Remember it was your dream to work here.
Girls: Tina Fey has always been aces at commercial parodies, and we wouldnt be surprised if this was her idea. Its a promo for HBOs Girls, with an all-new girl from Albania (played by Fey) who gives Hannahs life some unwelcome perspective. Marnie: My ex-boyfriend is an internet millionaire! Blerta from Albana: My ex-boyfriend is buried in shallow grave. Judging from these 45 seconds, the women of SNL are coming out as the stronger impressionists this season. New girl Noel Wells does a decent Lena Dunham, while Vanessa Bayer and Kate McKinnon do flawless impressions of Zosia Mamet and Jemima Kirke, respectively.
Now Boarding: Its the Flight Attendant Sketch 2.0! Tina Fey and Taran Killam are doing the boarding announcements for a flight at OHare, which get increasingly ridiculous. Fey announces that the flight is overbooked, saying, If anyone is willing to give up their seat for the first available flight tomorrow, please approach the desk and explain why your lifestyle permits this. Kenan Thompson pulls off the funniest visual gag of the episode, responding to the boarding call for people whose carry-ons have no chance of fitting in the overhead compartment while dragging a ten-foot-long piece of luggage. Its a great sketch that would have tanked if it were even one minute longer.
New Cast Member or Arcade Fire: Man, they are really trying to sell us on these six new cast members. Usually, the featured players are lucky if they get a line on this first episode. In fact, thats the joke of this sketch, a game show in which Tina Fey tries to tell the new players from members of the guest band, Arcade Fire. Its all pretty self-congratulatory, though its good to know that Win Butler does De Niro impressions. The best moment is the Lorne Michaels cameo; when asked to name the new cast member onstage, he turns to Kenan (playing the host) and says, Is it the black one?
eMeth: Commercial parody #2. Aaron Paul cameo #2. Kate McKinnons grocery shopping on meth bit is laugh out loud funny. Shes shaping up to be the new Kristin Wiig: a good impressionist whose characters are unabashedly weird.
Weekend Update: Everybody welcome Cecily Strong! She looks nervous and her blazer doesnt fit well. We have faith, Cecily. She gives a nice hat-tip to the original female Weekend Update anchor, Jane Curtin. Right now, theres a Stefon-shaped hole in the Weekend Update guest spot. The first candidate to fill it is Veteran Stand-Up Comic Bruce Chandling (new guy Kyle Mooney), who responds to every question with the same one-liners hes been doing since the 90s (Everyone these days is so obsessed with CDs, right?). Its kinda funny, in an awkward Comedy-Central-Roast sort of way. Turns out hes just the opening act for Bobby Moynihans Drunk Uncle character. This one hasnt gotten old, and the more absurdist Drunk Uncle gets (Nowadays, its just, can I get some chard on my Roku?), the better he is. At the end, he introduces his Meth Nephew, played by you guessed it! Aaron Paul.
Ricks Model Ts: Its the first-ever used car dealer commercial! New guy Mike OBrien plays Crazy Eddys turn-of-the-century predecessor, Rick. Sad to say his timing is a little off. Tina Fey walks on as Ricks wife Daisy, and gets horrified guffaws from her first joke: Were so crazy, not only did we slash prices, but I gave all my babies to the well. Even if I had no clock, Id know it was 12:40. The sketch in this time slot is always the one they came thisclose to cutting.
Manolo Blahnik: Here are two more characters were happy to see again: the ditzy ex-porn stars (one is Brookie, the other always forgets to say her name) who promote luxury brands. This time around, its Manolo Blahniks, which they pronounce Manual Blonde Dicks. Other shoes are flat and for nurses, says Vanessa Bayer. Youll feel like youre drinking lobster straight out of the sink, promises Cecily Strong. This sketch is all about Bayer and Strongs delivery, and the guest stars are never quite on par not even Fey, whose dead-eyed lesbian porn star is DOA.
As the episode closes, Arcade Fire plays us out and head right into their special, Here Comes the Night Time. Before this episode started, I made a list of topics I expected them to cover. I guessed correctly on Obamacare, Breaking Badand twerking (which was only mentioned once, presumably because theyre hoarding those jokes for Miley Cyrus next week). Things they didnt mention: Tina Feys Emmy nipple slip, and Seth Meyers upcoming gig replacing Jimmy Fallon. For this episodes MVP, Im naming Aaron Paul, who worked those three cameos like he was Justin Timberlake. Good night, everybody, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment