SNL: "Ed Helms/Paul Simon"

Season 36, Episode 21

Another host wasted, and in an even less funny episode to boot

The Situation Room (Cold Open): I think this sketch might have made a bit of a sucker out of me. First, it was a chance for Jason Sudeikis to have a larger role in a sketch fro once. Second, it was the first Obama bit in a long time that didn’t feel lifeless, if only because Armisen got to finally have some fun with the character. Obama himself is so straight-laced, that I’ve never felt as if he is good source of comedy for this show. But by using this one to comment on Obama’s apparent embrace of “I killed Osama” creedo, and having Armisen play it out to the humorous extreme, this political cold open actually managed to deliver some good laughs.

Monologue: Admittedly, I’m torn. On the one hand, Helm’s childhood story wasn’t that funny, and his baton-twirling performance was a bit too broad. On the other hand, he managed to make the story entertaining, and I kind of enjoyed how much he threw himself into that baton routine.

Corn Syrup PSA: Seen it.

What Up With That?: Man, as much as I enjoy WUWT sketches, they are so hard to write about, mostly because it’s the same joke each time, only with slightly different elements. (I’m still not sure why I find it so funny.)  I thought that tonight’s episode might go a completely different way, what with Paul Simon bringing up the fact that Lindsay Buckingham, never gets to speak, and the fact that they managed to bring out the actual Lindsay Buckingham. But there bit of deconstruction were only meant as this week’s random bit of ephemera to the sketch, and not and actual new direction. As such, it meant that the sketch proper, which was good by its own standard, actually ended up looking weak by comparison.

TV Funhouse: The Ambiguously Gay Duo: The last time that The Ambiguously Gay Duo made an appearance on the show was back in 2007, and that was after a five year hiatus. I feel like we are at a point in our society that we shouldn’t laugh at gay jokes like this. I don’t mean to get up on a soapbox here, but since I’ve moved past the homophobia I had in high school, I don’t find this kind of thing funny anymore. It’s just lazy and/or offensive. Nor did the switch to live action add anything here. It was  weird move for the sake of weirdness, and it was a jarring to see Stephen Colbert (who voices Ace) acts as one of the villains in the live action half.

Weekend Update: It was just a WU full of disappointment tonight. I have never been a fan of Anthony Crispino (who was admittedly a bit funnier here than usual), and Garth & Kath were as grating as always. Even Jay Pharoh’s Will Smith impression wasn’t as funny as it’s been in the past. Oh well, at least I had Seth Meyers’ one liners to keep me entertained, right?

Wild World: I liked the timing of this episode; something about having the jokes instated in between choruses of Cat Steven’s “Wild World” just felt right. However, the jokes themselves weren’t equally humorous, and they didn’t really congeal into any cohesive whole, which is perhaps best symbolized by the sketch ending on a Human Centipede joke.

One Take Tony: The name says it all, doesn’t it? Actually, this sketch was perhaps a bit more entertaining than the premise suggested, if only because it went to some weird places. Unfortunately, those places weren’t that funny, and much like the previous sketch, it lacked structure.

Ann Margaret Tries to Throw Away a Wad of Paper into a Trashcan: Maybe it because it was late. Maybe it’s because the rest of this episode has been pretty awful. But I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit, just because it was so random, and Kristen Wiig just makes dancing hilarious.

A Republican Candidate: I feel like there should have been more to this sketch; it’s as if the writers put this little monologue down and then decided it was good enough as is. The current republican field is a good source of humor right now – just tune into about any episode of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report – that I feel that SNL could have done better with this one.

Normally I would use this space to reflect on the episode. But….shit, apart from two or three sketches, this one was just awful. That’s all I can really say about it. That and Ed Helms was just so underutilized this episode. SNL, this is why people don’t like you anymore.

Best Sketch – Ann Margaret Tries to Throw Away a Wad of Paper into a Trashcan

Worst Sketch – TV Funhouse: The Ambiguously Gay Duo

Next Week: Justin Timberlake. Yay! Lady Gaga. Boo.

Quotes, Etc.:

“KIIIIILLLLLL BIN LADEN.”

“So it was down to me, Mike Tyson, and the baby.”

“What makes him even madder is that everybody thinks he’s that guy from Counting Crows.”

“Whereas most people will think that Newt Gingrich is a Harry Potter Character.”

“That’s why everybody got upset when he didn’t invite Fergie.”

“We finally killed Oxana Byule. Nancy Carrgian now got her revenge.”

“People don’t hang out at McDonald’s. They end up at McDonald’s.”

“That was just a regular trailer until I stepped into it. Then it doubled in size and became amazing.”

“I just gave away the whole movie, and you’re still going to see it. That’s the power of Will Smith.”

“And for convenience’s sake, the bag doubles as sweatpants.”

“Ha! What is that? It’s wearing a hat. That would never happen in nature.”

“So you gonna get the door? No, just more dancing?”