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SNL #35.8 with Blake Lively, Rihanna

I had my hopes up this weekend, not because Saturday Night Live featured two of the hottest young talents around (normally, that spells a formula for disaster rather than high comedy), but because, well, I don't know. That's not true. We saw such crazy real-life antics play out over the Thanksgiving break, plus the cast & crew that I know publicly acknowledged anticipating the broadcast, so perhaps they were ready to deliver a winner?

Of course, SNL opened with politics and before you get your panties up in a bunch about Fred Armisen's impersonation of President Barack Obama, know that this cold open wasn't even about him. It was about the Salahis, the D.C.-area White House party crashers who we all know we'll have to deal with on our TVs in 2010 as part of Bravo's "Real Housewives of D.C." SNL's take wisely played out mostly silently behind Obama as he tried to deliver a speech with the couple (Bobby Moynihan and Kristen Wiig, weirdly using some of her mannerisms for Kathie Lee Gifford in her miming to a Secret Service agent) conning the Secret Service (Bill Hader, Will Forte, Nasim Pedrad) and Vice President Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) into posing for snapshots. It helps if you focus as little as possible on whatever Armisen's Obama is saying. BTW, they had a couple of live ones in the audience tonight, didn't they? You can hear some big laughers on the microphones. Hot mics!

Now, don't feel bad if you don't know who guest host Blake Lively is because if you're not in her sisterhood of traveling blue jeans, nor watch "Gossip Girl," then you wouldn't know her. But as she walks out for her monologue, you get caught up pretty quickly. She's young, blonde and has a magically gravity-defying chest. Now. OK. The cast appears as the Muppets. Some think this is playing off of a recent new video of the Muppets singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." And while that is brilliant, I'm reminded more of John Denver and the Muppets, who created one of the best Christmas specials ever. Still. Ever! With Andy Samberg as the Swedish chef, Sudeikis as Fozzie Bear, Moynihan as Gonzo, Hader as Animal, Wiig as Beaker, and Jenny Slate as Janice and Fred Armisen as Zoot, they kick off the holiday season with a carol. Maybe won't get circulated as much as the actual Muppet video, but a worthy effort.

They replayed last month's "Carters N Sons BBQ" fake ad that poked fun at a "swine fever" ad campaign. Eh. I'm not usually a fan of when the show repeats fake ads, but I see why they do it sometimes. Swine fever is still timely. Plus, who knows. Maybe they had a new video air during dress rehearsal that didn't quite make the cut, and they needed to sub this in. Why am I making excuses for you kids?!

SNL #35.7 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, DMB, Al Gore and a Mindy Kaling cameo

And we're back. When you have a show that most everyone agrees is a bit of a bummer, it's good to have another crack at it right away. So let's get to it, SNL! But first. Let's play a game. Here's a sketch from dress rehearsal that didn't make it into the actual broadcast -- watch host Joseph Gordon-Levitt with country music legends Clancy T. Bachleratt (Will Forte) and Jackie Snad (Kristen Wiig), then try to figure out where and when this should've aired instead of something that did. Spaceships, toddler, model T cars and jars of beer! Ready, set, watch!

I would've cut it by a minute and found room for it. How about you?

We open cold with a C-SPAN broadcast from China of President Barack Obama (Fred Armisen) with Chinese President Hu Jintao (Will Forte?!?), and Nasim Pedrad is standing by as the translator. OK, this is weird. Did you know that we owe China $800 billion? Suddenly I feel less worrisome about being in debt myself. This is more funny scary than funny funny. Look at us, we're learning about the world through comedy! Plus, if you thought SNL liked to use gay sex as an easy joke, this at least gave it a bit of a twist. Right? Don't worry. I'm told the show gets much better after this.

And now a word from our host, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who started out in TV comedy as a kid on 3rd Rock From The Sun. I'm not sure why he's hosting now, but you and I might expect he'll be up to the task tonight. He sings "Make 'Em Laugh" for his monologue, and gets a slapstick assist from Bobby Moynihan. He's working hard early for you people! If nothing else, he and the show are out to prove that they mean business this week. Sorry about last week. We're back, people! We'll flip over backward for you.

SNL gets into the parody movie trailer mashup business with Palin 2012. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Palin/Beck 2012!?

Recapping SNL #35.5 with Taylor Swift

Whenever someone young hosts Saturday Night Live, I wonder if the show's sense of humor is going to get shaken up to appeal to the host's demographic. Of course, every host has an influence on what sketches make it to air. And 19-year-old Taylor Swift is a hard person to dislike -- has been ever since she serenaded Tim McGraw at an awards show with the song she named for him. Swift is talented and endearing. What would she do with her turn as both SNL's host and musical guest? Let's get to recapping!

Our COLD OPEN goes to FOX News Channel's Election Night coverage, with Kristen Wiig anchoring the anchor desk as the Botoxed Greta slurring words out of the corner of her mouth, Bill Hader as Shep Smith, Will Forte as Brit Hume, Kenan Thompson as Juan Williams, and Bobby Moynihan as Karl Rove. With Fred Armisen as the overlooked Democrat, Joe Trippi. Hader gave Shep some sass. But Jason Sudeikis as Glenn Beck is sublime and ridiculous. And Wiig may not be a ventriloquist, but did you see how her lips moved? Nice. Ended the sketch just in time.

TAYLOR SWIFT'S MONOLOGUE: Swift jokes about being just a kid, and how when she gets emotional, she writes a song. Would you like to hear it? La. La. La. Hahaha, Joe Jonas. "We have a great show. Kanye West is not here." Did you see what I meant about Swift being talented and endearing?

FAKE AD: Carter 'N Sons just wanted to get people excited about their pulled pork BBQ, so why not tell your customers they're going to come down with a severe case of "Swine Fever!" Oh, right. Did I mention that the introduction to our fake ad, and ensuing credits, note that this ad was produced in 2002 before the swine flu outbreak. So no worries when Moynihan's BBQ pitmaster sells Armisen on it, same with Nasim Pedrad, and Andy Samberg, and even Sudeikis in an Elvis impersonator get-up. Why 2002, you ask? Probably because Moynihan also was pushing the Sausage and Ribs Sampler. SARS!

SNL #35.4 with Gerard Butler, Shakira

Who's ready for a two-week vacation? Raise your hands, everybody! Some critics expect the SNL staff to have all of their funny material ready to go after a vacation because they've rested up, but that's not how it works in real life. You get back from vacation and the first day you're loaded up with junk, emails, phone calls and just getting your bearings, and before you know it, you're behind the rest of the week, playing catch up. Whereas the week heading into a vacation, you're looking forward to it and sometimes you do things you wouldn't normally do, just because, well, vacation is coming!

The Rock Obama. Whomever had the bright idea to bring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson back for a cameo to enliven SNL's Barack Obama sketches, thank you. Fred Armisen is immensely talented and funny, but his Obama sketches have mostly fallen flat (generating news is not the same as generating actual laughs). And when you have someone who, like Obama, actually is half-black and spent part of his childhood in Hawaii, along with ability to make Obama campy (thank his background from pro rassling for that). Nasim Pedrad played the president's assistant. Bill Hader, Will Forte and Jenny Slate played his Senate foils, while Jason Sudeikis as VP Joe Biden arrived just in time to save Slate's Olympia Snowe from The Rock's Hulk tantrum.

Gerard Butler is the host? Oh, right. Butler began with a nod to last week's monologue from Drew Barrymore, saying that he's the first Scotsman to host SNL, then reminded us that he sang in the film version of Phantom of the Opera -- all the while fighting off ancient attackers, a la 300. The studio audience seemed to enjoy it more when Kristen Wiig showed up at the end to sing with Butler.

Fake ad! Kenan Thompson plays Fuquay Satin, maker of fine urban champagnes, such as his newest creation, Grand Hoochie Skank Rose, especially designed to pour down a woman's ass. Because that's what hip-hoppers do, and they must be mocked for it.

Budweiser paid to be the sole sponsor, as Sudeikis tells us to open the first commercial break, but on the upside, he says we'll also get to see rare footage from dress rehearsals past, such as "Riding My Donkey Political Talk Show" from Feb. 14, 1998 -- with Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Darrell Hammond and Tim Meadows cracking up on donkeys.

SNL #35.3 with Drew Barrymore, Regina Spektor

How can a comedy show manage to be intriguing and also vaguely disappointing? Let's find out, shall we? Drew Barrymore celebrated her sixth time hosting Saturday Night Live, more than any other woman, as she told the audience last night. And yet, or perhaps, because of that fact, we had ourselves a more indulgent show -- for it has been said that the guest hosts can have enough influence to shape what gets in and stays off the air, and Barrymore certainly felt like she knew what she wanted to do this time around. Would it be funny?

Well. Can we just pretend the cold open didn't happen? When President Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize on a Friday, SNL had a day and a half to slap something together. Which they did. They slapped something together. It will not win a Nobel, nor an Emmy. Nor more commentary from me. Congrats:

Drew Barrymore's monologue, however, deserves a few words. Still difficult to comprehend that SNL (not the Lorne Michaels edition) actually invited Barrymore to host the show in 1982 when she was only 7! But, still, also, props to her for doing this six times. Furthermore, nice of her to include most of the cast in a bit about her ancestors and their rich tradition of stage acting. The bit -- having them mimic Drew's mannerisms -- is cute, but not quite as over-the-top as the sketch that sent Christopher Walken to his family reunion. Didn't Abby Elliott already have a Barrymore impersonation in her arsenal? Yes. Yes, she did. Also: Kristen Wiig as Ethel, Bill Hader as cousin Vincent Price Malkovich Barrymore, Andy Samberg, Kenan Thompson. Present but not mimicking: Bobby Moynihan, Nasim Pedrad and Jenny Slate.

OK. Now what? Gilly. Wait. Who asked for Gilly?

SNL #35.2 with Ryan Reynolds, Lady Gaga and more!

How would Saturday Night Live deal with the hubbub and extra attention over the ending of last week's debut? Did you guess ignoring it completely? Did you also guess not letting Jenny Slate say a single word? Slate did appear in one live sketch and one SNL Digital Short, but otherwise, it was full speed ahead. In fact, this week's show offered plenty of its own pleasant surprises. Yes, much better! How much? Well...

Kristen Wiig showed she could be funny without being cliche crazy. Ryan Reynolds showed he could be funny as a supporting player. Lady Gaga proved herself a trooper in two live sketches, one of them also featuring another lady who makes people go ga-ga for her. Now that would have been an afterparty!

By the way, Weekend Update Thursday was much shrewder this past week -- decided to stick to the desk and not completely cannibalize the main Saturday edition by doing too much. Although plenty of opportunities for the cast to shine in celebrity impersonations. Among them: Whoopi Goldberg (Kenan Thompson) and Joy Behar (Fred Armisen) to expand upon Whoopi's awkward defense of Roman Polanski; Jason Sudeikis as a pilot colleague of Capt. "Sully." Suze Orman (Kristen Wiig); John Malkovich (Bill Hader) and Dennis Franz (Darrell Hammond), with Maya Rudolph also returning to appear as Oprah, talking up Chicago's Olympic bid and down on Rio; and Hall and Oates (Will Forte and Armisen) to sing about health care. Now, as for Saturday...

For our cold open, Fred Armisen's diminishing returns on President Barack Obama resulted in a speech about Obama's work performance that managed to echo his impersonation: "almost a year and not much to show for it." It was a sketch that played well to politicos and cable news folk, and proved that SNL is willing to make fun of Obama. But the show got much better from here. How much? Well...

Ryan Reynolds hosted. He's got comedy chops and we know he knows how to use them. The monologue compared his two summer movies (Wolverine and The Proposal), mining the comparisons for laughs. "If there's one thing that kids love, it's lanterns," he said, and after a pause, pointed into the audience. "That guy knows what I'm talking about."

SNL's 35th F-ing season debut with Megan Fox, U2

Sometimes, you see a date on the calendar and get excited about it. For me, on a personal note, Saturday night was my birthday. For Jenny Slate, it was her debut on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Neither of us ended up with the night we quite expected or dreamed it would be, but we both had a night to remember; Slate, a little more so.

For the record: I counted 61 mentions of frickin', frick, frig, friggin, freaking and f*ck in the sketch "Biker Chick Chat" that aired live at 12:42 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. Jenny Slate wrote the sketch herself. It went completely fine during the dress rehearsal earlier Saturday night. There was no conspiracy. It was a slip of the tongue, pure and simple. Well, in as much as saying f*ck on live TV can be considered pure. Slate misfired on the 12th utterance of the profanity (so for you numbers fans, it wasn't unlucky number 13, but the dirty dozen that did her in), and after visibly catching her breath, she, Kristen Wiig and host Megan Fox continued with the talk-show sketch through its conclusion. SNL's head writer, Seth Meyers, also hugged Slate right behind Fox during the good-night thanks segment, and that pic is shown on NBC's own site so we can see the public sign of solidarity.

Within minutes (nay seconds, thanks to Twitter), the Internet was abuzz about Slate's slip, and multiple videos of the sketch appeared on the YouTubes. Rachel Sklar at Mediaite compiled more than a few of them and also noted the coincidence that U2's Bono was on the show (he had faced FCC complaints after he had dropped an F-bomb during a live awards show years ago). And in NYC, it was only just a few days ago it seems (because it was) that local FOX anchor Ernie Anastos misspoke during a live TV promo telling his co-worker to "Keep f*cking that chicken." He apologized and the world moved on. Slate should be fine, too.

Of course, the fact that that's what we're talking about and not Megan Fox or the show itself means that Slate's accident makes her debut a truly breakout performance. Because, let's face facts. The 35th season premiere of SNL otherwise was not going down in the record books as one of its best. But let's rewind back to 11:30 p.m. and get to a recap!

A word or two or more about SNL's Weekend Update Thursday #2.2

Everyone is gearing up for the official 35th season of Saturday Night Live, so let's use last night's Weekend Update Thursday as a chance to warm-up with a mini-recap.

Instead of a full-bore critique, just some initial thoughts. It's still beyond weird to hear anyone say "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" when it's clearly Thursday. This must be so they can use the cold opens in repeats? Or merely stuck on tradition? Regardless, Fred Armisen's Barack Obama is starting to slip into original SNL territory, you know, back when Chevy Chase played Gerald Ford as someone who looked remarkably like Chevy Chase, or Dan Aykroyd's mustachioed Jimmy Carter. Their take on Obama's Sunday press run was funny enough, heightening the scene by expanding out to a full press junket for cable channels -- Kenan Thompson as ESPN's Stuart Scott (got the inane product-placement and patter down pat), newcomer Nasim Pedrad checked in as Kathy Griffin (kudos on nailing her debut, although odd that the hair people didn't go for a bolder red?), Jason Sudeikis as Glenn Beck was devastatingly hilarious, Kristin Cavallari is probably thrilled to be portrayed by Abby Elliott, as is Guy Fieri by Bobby Moynihan. Andy Samberg still plays young enough to be a teen-aged vampire. And Bill Hader's Keith Morrison makes me laugh every time. As for the Update desk, Seth Meyers tripped over one line, but completely sold the punch on a burrito joke with his shy downward look. Amy Poehler played Rosie Perez as a 911 dispatcher? Sure, why not. What else?

Armisen is much more effective and edgy playing embattled (and legally blind) New York Gov. David Paterson, who still loves to put down New Jersey. Darrell Hammond is back as Bill Clinton! And as you can see below, Megan Fox made a cameo, too! You can watch the whole thing right here, right now...

SNL #34 season finale with Will Ferrell, Green Day

The 34th season of Saturday Night Live certainly brought a lot of buzz and attention back to the show, and Lorne Michaels and company celebrated the end of that year with a bang that included plenty of starpower and nostalgia, plus a heavily implied farewell to Darrell Hammond, who completed his record thirteenth season as a cast member by returning for multiple sketches. We got to see Hammond reprise Dick Cheney and Sean Connery one last time on the show, and it's only surprising that we didn't get to also see him pull out his Donald Trump as well -- considering how much Trump was in the news with a certain Miss California (who could have been played by newbie Abby Elliott). But with star and SNL veteran Will Ferrell hosting, we saw just how much Ferrell mattered to the show earlier this decade, as he dominated the finale's proceedings from beginning to end. Even with all of the celebrity cameos and returning SNLers. Did I mention them yet? OK. We saw (take a deep breath now): Tom Hanks, Norm MacDonald, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Elisabeth Moss and Artie Lange. With all of this happening, the current cast had much less on their plates to worry about. Good? Bad? It'll almost all make sense soon enough.

But first, a cold open from an NBC studio, and in the makeup chair getting ready for Meet the Press is one disgraced newly former VP Dick Cheney (Hammond), with Abby Elliott playing the makeup specialist. Ferrell shows up as his now Tony-nominated caricature of George W. Bush, trying to surprise Cheney and confront him about his newfound desire for media attention. Surprise fails because W. whispers too loudly: "That is one of the many reason I am no friend to libraries." Zing. We get it. They also poke fun at the current administration when W. asks why Cheney couldn't have been more like VP Joe Biden, going out for burgers and saying dumb things in public to make him look smarter. W. implies he has been watching a lot of Dr. Phil with his free time this spring. An OK, utterly predictable sketch, held together by the performances of the leads.

Ferrell's monologue attempts to re-establish his cred as a dramatic actor with roots in the theater, also with predictably disastrous results. Again, it's only Ferrell's sheer persistence that sells it. "Line?"

Talk about nostalgia. Our ad spoof for the night goes deep into the vault (Season/episode #26.11) for an oldie in which Ferrell sells his services as Wade Blasingame, Esq., attorney at law. Blasingame has sued more than 2,000 dogs. Because would you let a human do the things dogs get away with every day? Chris Parnell simulates the dog in scenes with Hammond, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Tracy Morgan and Horatio Sanz. If you want to look for such things, you might even notice that the way Ferrell, in particular, delivers his lines can suggest that SNL knew how to deliver lines awkwardly before a certain Tim & Eric came along (instead of the other way around). Anyhow.

SNL #34.22 with Justin Timberlake, Ciara

Or should I say, SNL #34.22 with Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Susan Sarandon, Patricia Clarkson, Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, Leonard Nimoy and Ciara? After some time away, Saturday Night Live returned with a flurry of celebrity cameos, as if to remind us that to be culturally relevant, you need to not only watch this show, but also appear upon it.

But first. We opened cold with politics (and considering everyone in politics and the press was in D.C. celebrating at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it may be a day or two before they pick up on any of this). Will Forte as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces the feds decided to issue a written test to banks in addition to the "stress test," but had difficulties coming up with a fair grading system. The result may be obvious, but the writers had more fun with the false answers some of the banks penciled in for the 50-question test. Watch:

Now then...onto the show. Justin Timberlake took his third turn as SNL host, but if you think he has been on much more than that, well, you're right, because Timberlake has made multiple cameos in the past year. He is so, so comfortable there. So comfortable, in fact, that as he sang his opening monologue, he had a quick comeback for a fan's shout-out, and hopped into the lap of...who was that, again? Guy looked liked a cross between George Clooney and Jon Hamm, without being either of them. Weird. Moving on. I think the cast of SNL gets as excited for writing for and performing with Timberlake as he does for joining them. How does this excitement translate into comedy?

SNL #34.21 with Zac Efron, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

So Zac Efron hosted this week's edition of Saturday Night Live, and we knew there would be at least one if not more High School Musical references to be satirized, but what else could we look forward to? And yes, I ended my first question with a preposition. What of it? Let's get to the recap. By the way, if you're expecting Efron to distinguish himself or extinguish himself, then please do not place your bets. That's not to say all will be lost. Alrighty then!

We opened with Vice President Biden (Jason Sudeikis) acting all too comfy in the oval office. Sure, of course. Biden has been in the news. Why not give Biden an open. President Obama (Fred Armisen) returns from his European trip, but no gifts for Biden. I get what they're going for here, but, well, whatevs.

The monologue poked fun at Zac Efron's limited demographic appeal. First, his tween fangirls wouldn't be up this late. Second, a couple of his fans (Abby Elliott, Kristen Wiig) are in the crowd, along with a non-tween (Armisen), and they all want to show how much they lurve him. OK. Well. Yeah.

No fake ad. But there is a fake ad. P.J. Bland's is really Ch-ch-ch-chili's. Yes. I noticed. So did many, I believe. (P.J. Blands has set up a fake site and Twitter, really).

We get another look at the fourth hour of The Today Show on NBC, aka the crazy hour with Hoda Kotb (Michaela Watkins) and Kathie Lee Gifford (Wiig). Gifford had her first anniversary on the show this past week, so SNL skewers that, with Gifford and Kotb drinking (again), and a musical performance by Gifford's son, Cody (Efron). If you have watched this in real life, then you know that almost every segment is worth mocking. This effort is not quite as crazy, although it does give SNL a chance to offer up impersonations of celebs sending well-wishes to Gifford, including Penny Marshall (Armisen). OK. Just Marshall.

SNL #34.20 with Seth Rogen, Phoenix

Please forgive me if my excitement was neither fast nor furious over the prospect of a second hosting gig for Seth Rogen at the helm of Saturday Night Live. I simply have not jumped on the bandwagon that everything Rogen (or, for that matter, the Judd Apatow crew) touches turns to comedy gold. And if, as you recall, Rogen/Apatow films don't exactly give women much of a role to play other than furthering the bromances, this might help guide you. So with expectations sufficiently diminished, perhaps I would be in for a treat this weekend...

And yet, the cold open did not start things on the right foot. We began with a message from President Barack Obama (Fred Armisen), and from the get-go, Armisen's vocal impersonation was not up to par. Not sure why. But it just wasn't there. The premise, that Obama taking a break from the European lovefest had to prove that the hands-on approach to the auto industry was not a fluke by announcing he'd make rulings on individual companies in every other industry, had merit. But what followed just seemed so random. Like a series of non sequiturs, with Armisen's Obama weighing in on major American companies in riding lawnmowers, air conditioners, blue jeans, coffee makers, light bulbs (GE alert!), reclining chairs, baseball gloves, toothpastes, frozen shrimp, ballpoint pens, trench coats, plastic vomit, window shades, mens underwear, colleges, NFL teams, stroke magazines, and soft drinks. A couple of chuckles, but just due to the randomness of it all.

The monologue gave Seth Rogen a chance to acknowledge his weight loss -- "For one thing, I lost about one million pounds" -- and also other things that had changed since the first time he hosted SNL. Rogen learned how to pronounce Lorne's name. The writers have stopped helping him write the monologue, which he used as the excuse to take questions from "the audience": Kristen Wiig mocked him for doing a mall cop movie right after Paul Blart, while Jason Sudeikis took the cue-card material to a higher level by outright mocking him, Bill Hader appeared as Rogen's angry pizza delivery guy (read: weed delivery guy), and Bobby Moynihan appeared as a guy angry because Rogen's weight loss ruined his game as a guy who impersonated Rogen to pick up the ladies (he had to switch it up to Jonah Hill to hit on Abby Elliott's audience member character).

Instead of a fake ad in this slot, we got a fake movie ad, and, hello, if you know anything about the movie canon of Seth Rogen, you know it's full of bromantic gayish without being gay comedies. So why not have Rogen and Andy Samberg act as if they're going to make out in a trailer for The Fast and The Bi-Curious, with Elliott on the sidelines as the hottie they're nottie interested in. Knowing these guys makes it less of a surprising choice, but does it lessen the comedic impact? I don't know.

SNL #34.19 with Tracy Morgan, Kelly Clarkson

We could call this the week that everything old is new again. Because it is! In a good way? Let's see in the SNL recap...(videos added when available)

COLD OPEN: Tracy Morgan on video describing the energy from being in Rockefeller Plaza on a Saturday night. He came in 12 years ago as a puppy and left as a man! "This is my building! This is my home!" Cue the problems getting into back into his home. As someone who recently watched Morgan host a TV special, I can see why they didn't even attempt to do this live -- for one thing, the building has so much activity going on during the day that'd it be tough to shoot; and for another, Morgan's opening speech probably took a couple of takes. That said, it's not a political sketch! We already have established an early victory tonight, and this is before anyone has said, "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" OK. Where were we? In the NBC lobby/foyer/security area. Berserker! Tracy starts clobbering his way into the building, past security, past fans in the elevator, past the NBC page who's really SNL writer and humorous book author Simon Rich! But can he get past pro rassler John Cena? And...now we're live. Tina Fey cameo!?

Let's get this party started!

THE MONOLOGUE: "Thank you, white people!" Right off the bat, Morgan makes a so funny because it's true statement that reflects the surreality of the situation. In tonight's show, he'll likely appear in more sketches than he did during his seven-year run in the SNL cast! He clarifies his fish tank apartment fire, making fun of how the mainstream press portrayed his accident. Does this slideshow look ghetto? Morgan calls Lorne Michaels "my Obi-Wan Kenobi." Interesting to see both Michaels and Seth Meyers holding glasses of wine, because, well, isn't the show on the air right now? They just couldn't wait until 1 a.m., I suppose.

AD SPOOF -- CHEWABLE PAMPERS: They've recycled ads in past years, so it's not as if I can fault them for it now. Or can I? (No, I cannot) Stars Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis.

BRIAN FELLOW'S SAFARI PLANET: And one of Morgan's SNL characters gets first dibs tonight, with voiceover introduction from Darrell Hammond. Fellow's first guest is a baby cow (with Sudeikis as the calf's owner). Something about having live farm animals on live TV (and not on a talk-show with professional handlers) tends to led to unexpected funnies. A red-tailed halk (on Andy Samberg's arm) makes Fellow say his catchphrase: "That's crazy!" And some silly questions. Fellow gets distracted by imaginary conversations with animals. It all plays perhaps a bit funnier than before simply because Morgan has established such a reputation for crazy during his 30 Rock phase that we hear his line readings differently now. At least that's my first impression of it.

"Sit Down, Shut Up" Promo Battle Comparison

FOX has launched a new series of promotions for the upcoming animated comedy, Sit Down, Shut Up, which debuts April 19 in the network's Sunday animation block. The promos play up the reunion of Arrested Development cast members Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, which is good for all of the people who loved that sitcom but also odd because FOX didn't really stand by that award-winning show, did it now? Also odd, the promos don't even really talk about what Sit Down, Shut Up is about. Does it matter?

Answer: Of course it does...The comedy revolves around the teachers at a Florida high school. Here is a promotional video from a table read in 2008 that spells it all out, with a look at the cast that includes Henry Winkler, Cheri Oteri, Nick Kroll, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson and Tom Kenny. You'll note that during this clip, Maria Bamford plays the science teacher that Bateman's character has a crush on -- since then, Bamford informed us in a previous Comic's Comic interview that she had been fired (though still retained for some minor voice parts), and we see she has been subsequently replaced by Kristen Chenowith. Coincidentally, Bamford shows up right at the midway point of the promo clip, thereby securing screengrab status for eternity on the YouTube. Would you have known it was Bamford if they didn't show her speaking?

Want to see another promo that adds about another minute of background exposition? Your wish shall be granted after the jump!

SNL #34.18 with Dwayne Johnson, Ray LaMontagne, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel

Saturday Night Live returned last night after two weeks off with a fresh case of spring fever and a ham sandwich of a host, and although I cannot say that any of the sketches are instant classics, I can say that the entire show was at least fairly funny from start to finish, and that is quite commendable. This also marks the first time that almost the entire show is available for viewing online. Wow. Let's get to recapping!

COLD OPEN: We start with politics, as usual. I'm beginning to wonder when was the last time SNL opened the show without something political. It is possible, right??? Meanwhile, back in parody reality, Will Forte as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blamed it all on the Bush administration and offered a $420 billion reward to anyone with a plan to solve America's banking crisis, broken down by what would happen if more than one person had the plan. But what if six people had the idea? Still working on the numbers for that. Geithner takes callers, who disagree with one another. Caller three asks for the money first, then the idea. He scams a third of the money out of Geithner. Caller four gets Geithner to joke about how "everyone" has to pay taxes (he didn't). Caller five is a Nigerian prince scammer. Of course he gets some money from the government.

MONOLOGUE: The Rock's third time hosting, notes he has beaten Tony Danza, now tied with Rob Lowe. Jokes his nine-year transformation has gone so well, he didn't get cast in "The Wrestler." He breaks into song, singing how he's still tough. Flanked by Abby Elliott and Kristen Wiig in black lingerie. Kenan Thompson "hits" him with a chair, for a seductive chair dance. Fred Armisen plays his effiminate trainer/choreographer/roommate.

MACGRUBER: With MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson)! Wiig plays the assistant Vicky as always. Wait a second. Isn't this what they did in that Pepsi Super Bowl ad that got everyone riled up? Not quite. This time, it's an actual MacGruber sketch, as MacGyver as "new guy" waxes nostalgic in a flashback (10 seconds?!) to when he and his missus (Elliott) give birth to a boy in an abandoned hospital in December 1972. Jason Sudeikis plays the doc. And MacGyver names him MacGruber. MacGruber MacGyver. Plot twist! But wait, there's more. Michaela Watkins plays the assistant to MacGyver and...

Here comes easily the best scene that you knew was coming, almost.

SNL #34.17 with Alec Baldwin, Dan Aykroyd, Cameron Diaz, Jonas Brothers

If I had a time machine, I would go back a week to give the Saturday Night Live staff a head's up that they could really just go ahead and start their two-week vacation a week early. Because, really. We did not need to see that. Twas Valentine's Day, and any lovebirds would not be tuned to their TVs, and any singletons would need an escape, and where was SNL to be found? I think they took a page from the Lost plotbook, and not a wild and wacky page, either. The show seemed lost, flashing forward and backward through time -- even the Hulu.com page has fallen victim to this, adding old Alec Baldwin sketches and claiming they were part of the Feb. 14, 2009 show. Sir Mix-A-Lot, a female Perez Hilton, Vincent Price (I usually like the Vincent Price sketches, but still). What year are we? Help me, Doc Faraday! That's not even counting the bizarre ending to the show. Right from the cold open, we knew we were in for trouble, though...

SNL #34.16 with Bradley Cooper, TV on the Radio

Listen up, Saturday Night Live. You know, I know, we all know that the media and mainstream America began paying more attention to you this season because of how you handled the presidential election. We get it. That doesn't mean you need to try to play politics every week. It just doesn't. Which brings me to the cold open...(Note: I shall update with video clips once they become available either on Hulu.com or NBC.com)

Cold Open: Fred Armisen (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) and Kristen Wiig (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) give a statement to the press about bipartisanship (or lack thereof) in the new Obama Administration concerning Congressional votes on the new stimulus package. If you haven't been paying attention, barely any Republicans have supported this. Three things. 1) You don't need to open with a political sketch if there's nothing funny to say. 2) If you're going to try, please have them do something other than standing and talking. Action, please! And 3) At least it was mercifully not horribly long.

 

Monologue: Host Bradley Cooper shows footage from when he was on Inside the Actor's Studio...in the audience. As a student. Sitting up front. Sad but true, which makes it the sad kind of funny. Then he shows off what he learned in his "classical training" to be the bully, based upon his role in the film Wedding Crashers. Of course, this meant we were also forced to see an unfortunate cameo from James Lipton, still only too happy to embarrass himself as he takes another step toward becoming our new Richard Simmons. In fact, he may be there already.

The Today Show's fourth hour with Hoda Kotb (Michaela Watkins) and Kathie Lee Gifford (Wiig). Funny the first time, so not surprised to see them back so soon. "What are we, Benjamin Button and Yoda over here, Yoda Kotb?" The actual show and its producers seem to revel in being a hot mess, so it's only too easy to mock. An audience member yells out in glee when Michaela/Hoda pulls out a Snuggie -- "Snuggie!" -- and Michaela rolls with it. Kristen/Kathie Lee makes a racist joke. Bradley Cooper is their guest as Mr./Ms. B, who trains women how to walk the runway for all sorts of reality programs (a play off of an actual cross-dressing man from America's Next Top Model and other shows). Runway antics ensue. The lighting crew tries to take out Kathie Lee, to no avail.

 
The first ad break includes a commercial for The Lonely Island's new CD, Incredibad, which is out Tuesday and includes a DVD of SNL Digital Shorts. I smell foreshadowing.

 

Time for a "game" show, "I'm Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife." Cooper plays host Danny Lane. Our contestants: Will Forte, Armisen, Bill Hader. Hader frowns as he's the returning "champ." Forte's wife played by Watkins. "I'd like to see you try!" Forte says. Cooper and Watkins disappear...and as the music plays, Forte emits a look of silent despair. 50 points! Armisen's wife played by Casey Wilson. 100 points. "Honey, you're winning!" "Who's winning here?" Hader says he and his wife are now separated after last week's "win." But she (Wiig) surprised him by showing up again. The consolation for the other guys? The "home game." Sad, cruel, twisted, funny.

 

An SNL Digital Short: It's the Lonely Island boys. Andy Samberg wins a boat ride for three. And he picks Akiva and...T-Pain?! Sorry, Jorma. Music video time. "I'm on a Boat!" Akiva gets him some camera time! But T-Pain steals all of the laughs when he sings, "I never thought I'd be on a boat."

SNL #34.13 with Rosario Dawson, Fleet Foxes

Don't know about you, but after Thursday's amazing "Miracle on the Hudson" plane crash and seeing several of the SNL crew in jovial spirits on Wednesday night, perhaps my expectations for this week's edition of Saturday Night Live were too high. Because I certainly expected more. That's not to say it was a complete dud, but compared to last week's show with NPH, well, it had a difficult time measuring up. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we? As I always let you know, if you cannot watch videos on Hulu, try NBC's online home for SNL. OK? OK!

The cold open -- ABC's Diane Sawyer (Kristen Wiig) gets the final interview with retiring Vice President Dick Cheney (Darrell Hammond) -- is a great sketch idea for two solid reasons: 1) It runs counter to all of the final days of Bush and his antics we've seen in the past week, which would be both too easy to duplicate and too difficult to top, and 2) We haven't seen hardly any of Darrell Hammond in recent SNL weeks, so hooray for that reminder. Although, checking my notes, this is also the only sketch for Hammond tonight.  If this is not Lorne Michaels telling us to prepare to finally say goodbye to Hammond, I'm not sure what this is. Any regrets?

In Rosario Dawson's monologue, she tells us she grew up right here in the Lower East Side when it wasn't the trendy place to make your home, and that she also helped register Latinos to vote -- which gives SNL a reason to trot out Fericito, Fred Armisen's Venezuelan drummer and nightclub comedian character.

We then get a fake ad for North American Savings Bank, which, get this, puts your money under a mattress, and doesn't approve loans. Pretty safe, huh? Plenty of cast members get to take part in it, at least.

After the first break, it's an episode of Discovery Kids show, "Da Learnin' Train," hosted by Dawson, with Riznatch the Rabies Raccoon (Kenan Thompson) as her rapping sidekick, Bill Hader as the DJ, and Andy Samberg, Bobby Moynihan and Abby Elliott playing the kids. Forget RIF, kids. "You can dance on top of a book!" Thompson raps. Harry Connick Jr. (Jason Sudeikis) appears, why, I'm not sure, except to point out that these hip-hoppers are all quite dumb and illiterate. Fred Armisen appears as a mailman with a delivery from Alphabet City. It's the letter K (Will Forte), who also raps. It's a big, colorful set. But what's the joke, again? Hip-hoppers are dumb. Oh. I'd never be accused of being politically correct, so I'll refrain from typing what comes to my mind watching this.

A second fake ad, but this one is much better than the first. Jason Sudeikis plays a CIA agent overseeing the Camp Gitmo going out of business sale! This should have played earlier, maybe? "Git'Mo of everything you need!"

SNL #34.12 with Neil Patrick Harris, Taylor Swift, and Liza

Nothing like a holiday break to get everyone back on the same page and ready with some funny sketches to open 2009's Saturday Night Live. Right? For the most part: Yes. What better way to start a new year, then, than by letting the new young kid in the cast, Abby Elliott, open the proceedings with a portrayal of MSNBC's fresh, new thing, Rachel Maddow. Although the sketch really isn't poking fun at Maddow so much as it's aiming squarely at the Blago scandal and his would-be, could-he-be U.S. Sen. Harold Burris (Kenan Thompson), with Blago (Jason Sudeikis) sporting even sillier hair than he had in his previous appearance. (Note to readers: If you cannot see the videos on Hulu, try going to NBC's SNL page.)

Your host this evening, Neil Patrick Harris, has proven himself quite the comic actor in recent years with his turns in Harold & Kumar and How I Met Your Mother. His monologue begins with a nice nod to his Doogie Howser child-actor years, revealing he almost hosted SNL in 1990 but got passed over for fellow child actor Fred Savage. But then his monologue gets hijacked by cast members making How I Met Your Mother jokes, which then itself gets hijacked by Andy Samberg's Mark Wahlberg impersonation...so he can say "Say hi to How I Met Your Mother for me?" OK. Trying too hard here. Let's get on with the show.

Is there a mandate from NBC Universal that SNL must help all of its network properties break out this year, or is just easier to poke fun at your own targets? Could be a bit of both. We opened with MSNBC, and here, we're on the set of NBC's fourth hour of Today, aka the crazed cacophony of comedy concoctions brought to you by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. If you haven't had the opportunity to bear witness to this hour, then perhaps you lead a stable, normal life. For you, I'd try to explain it simply as, anything The View can do, they can do crazier, upping the ante on the chit-chat, dancing, drinking and just plain weirdness from 10-11 a.m. weekdays. That said, SNL goes straight for Gifford (Kristen Wiig) and her camera-mugging tendencies, with Kotb (Michaela Watkins) forced to play off whatever Gifford says and does, with NPH appearing as a personal trainer for the F-list. Real-life Kotb must be pleased to see how this sketch ends, and I'm sure NBC viewers will hear all about this several times on Monday.

SNL #34.10 with John Malkovich, T.I.

You ever go on vacation and think, when I get back to work, I'm going to be relaxed, refreshed, ready and rarin' to go with even more gusto then before, but then you get back to work and find a week's worth of emails and junk mail and meetings to plow through, and by Monday afternoon, you think, well, maybe I'll just try to endure? Do you suppose the folks at Saturday Night Live felt that way this post-Thanksgiving week? The most prevailing news of the week was, if you read the media, about media layoffs and unemployment generally and the financial markets still in crisis, and the Big Three automaking CEOs trying again in asking for billions in bailout money. That's not the recap for this week's SNL, mind you. In fact, I got the sense watching the show that this was the week for pitching all of the oddball ideas that couldn't make the cut earlier in the year -- and having John Malkovich host only gave the performers and writers a wider berth for pitching. That said...

Amy Poehler's back! "You thought I was gone, didn't you!" Poehler swiveled around her chair for the cold open, as potential Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and reminded us that "just like the South, vampires, and Britney Spears, we will rise again." Her jokes were about the Clintons. But twas nice seeing Poehler back, too, all the same. She never really did say goodbye, did she? No, alas, she did not. Although press reports said she had left for good, we've already witnessed plenty of episodes this season in which past cast members (Tina Fey, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph) came back home to roost when called upon. And, after giving birth to little Archie, Amy Poehler's next gig doesn't appear to be filming anytime soon. NBC announced its midseason schedule earlier in the week, and not only was The Office spinoff not given a debut date, but it also had a new name as The Untitled Amy Poehler Project. Shows you how important Poehler is, doesn't it? Darrell Hammond, meanwhile, made his first and only brief appearance of the night in the open as Bill Clinton. And away we go!

The writers gave John Malkovich a lengthier than usual monologue, welcoming some kids onstage for a special reading of Twas The Night Before Christmas. What an interesting outfit?! Malkovich has gotten old! But nonetheless still creepy in a funny way.

Ad spoof alert. Fred Armisen pretends to be the guy who invented Breathe Right strips to prevent snoring, adapting his invention for sleeping farts with larger Gas Right strips! Ah, fart jokes. The kids (and kids in all of us) still like fart jokes, right? That must be the thinking here.

Casey Wilson opens an office birthday sketch, in which the guys in the office (Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Kenan Thompson and Malkovich) just hope the sexy new gal shows up. She's played by...wait for it...Kristen Wiig. So not one of the actual sexy new gals in the cast. Instead, Wiig vamps it up in her best Marilyn Monroe voice and miracle bra (just saying Wiig hasn't shown that much cleavage in a sketch that I can recall), but the joke is in how unsexy Wiig's character is whenever attempting sexy things, such as blowing out candles, bending over to pick something up, singing, etc., etc., etc.

First of a few videos in this evening's production presents a jazzy cool riff of a message from President-elect Barack Obama (Armisen). His impersonation is getting there, but neither he nor the writers have figured out how to make any of it particularly funny. Which makes me wonder. As I mentioned to a friend earlier today, does SNL need to make fun of the president to remain relevant? You can be a funny, buzzworthy sketch comedy show without mocking the leader, or at least you'd think. I don't say this as a Democrat (always registered outside of the party system). I think it's just something we have become accustomed to seeing as viewers, because our recent presidents have provided us with so many follies to make funny about. If Obama isn't putting himself in awkward positions, must we find a reason in comedy for a pre-emptive strike? Just throwing the idea out there.