SNL - "Anna Faris/Drake"

Season 37, Episode 4

Will anybody ever learn how to use Anna Farris?

Cold Open – Bloomberg Address: Usually, I feel a disconnect when SNL decides to use the political cold open to comment on the local events in New York City. While I can understand the show’s desire to tackle issues from its own backyard, but not being a citizen of the city, I don’t always get/aren’t affected by the events going on in NYC. To the show’s credit, it doesn’t comment on New York news all that often, so this isn’t a complaint so much as way to tell you how strong this open was that I actually enjoyed it. While I haven’t found Armisen’s Bloomberg all that funny in the past, here he found the right degree of “shit eating grin” voice to make most of what he said pretty funny. At one point, SNL was a really subversive show, and this sketch, which using sarcasm to make fun of the establishment, feels similarly subversive, and the sketch it stronger for it.

Monologue: Ah yes, the questions monologue, that old reliable and not-funny setup for when the host doesn’t have anything actual to say, and given that Faris’ latest movie is What’s Your Number?, I don’t exactly blame her. But what’s worse is that the questions this time were of the “high minded” type, and that’s perhaps the oldest version of the bit. I liked the idea of Faris meeting Hannah Garis, but after a bunch of unfunny jokes, it just felt like an out to a nonworking sketch, and not a surreal bit of comedy that the monologue should have played towards.

The Manuel Ortiz Show: Geez, what a quick turnaround; Armisen, who did the cold open and Hader, who was part of the monologue both were in this one, and they both had makeup/wigs in those previous bits. And that’s really I have to say about this sketch; I don’t think the Manuel Ortiz sketches are funny, and I never have. It’s just one joke, repeated over and over again, with absolutely no build. It’s one of those recurring sketches that just needs to die already.

What’s Wrong With Tanya?: Well, that was a quick commercial break. Apparently we’re watching SNL on speed tonight. Anyways…Man, SNL has been on fire lately with its game show sketches. Lifetime as a network in a fairly easy network, as are its in-house movies, but by having the contestants act out those tropes, as opposed to commenting on those tropes directly led to a really strong string of jokes. It’s all a bit silly to be sure, but silliness is what tends to make the game show sketches work.

Digital Short –Interviews with Drake: My first thought was “oh, great, not another one”. While the idea of “brief interviews” is a funny one, it’s also one that’s been run into the ground by repeated use. But by adding extra and increasingly weird layers to the mix – the close/sarcastic/dubbed/racist/dark interviews, plus the really funny word from the sponsor – the short managed to be weird and funny throughout. (Points off for the “Happy Halloween” ending; I’m generally not a fan of out-of-left-field-endings, especially those that shoehorn a nod to the latest holiday.)

Yet Another GOP Debate: I liked the idea of a debate where the candidates are segregated by their current standing, especially Rick Santorum in a gay club and Ron Paul in the parking lot. I’m also growing fond of Sudeikis’ Romney impression. But unfortunately, the things I liked were tied together by a whole lot of tired political jokes. SNL, I thought the unspoken agreement was that you would limit yourself to one political sketch a week, and you already got a solid one in the cold open.

Weekend Update: Man, that was rough. Not only did we have to sit through my least favorite recurring WU contributor, Anthony Crispino, but there were also Two Teenagers Dressed as Werewolves (Pharaoh and Drake, whose fake chest hair fell off during the number) with a song that’s clearly meant to appeal to the “White Girls Who Don’t Have Discerning Taste in Rap” demographic. Just, ugh.

Tell Him: A cynical and stereotypical look at gender relationships set to jaunty, 50s-style music. Who thought this was a good idea?

J Pop America Fun Time Now: After that last sketch, I was really worried that SNL had gone to 80’s-era level of offensive stereotypes, and with that in mind, I was really worried by the first 30 seconds of this sketch, where I thought the joke was the offensive Japanese stereotypes. Luckily, it turns out that the real jokes was that the students were being offensive, if perhaps inadvertently. It’s not the best or most original joke, but it had some build to it and provided some good laughs. Also, after that last sketch, it served as a good palate cleanser, so it’s quite possible that it looks much better in context than it really was.

Lord Windermere: This one was all in the performances. While the idea of a daughter daring a Lord has a surreal logic to it that could – and did – make for a good sketch, a lot of the jokes were couched in Brittan’s performance as a dandy and Sudeikis’ performance as a loud mouth father who takes a shine to him requires some strong comedic chops, and the two of them were able to pull it off. It had all the makings of a great 12:55 sketch, so why did it air at 12:48? Either way, it was still fantastic.

Ferrari Calendar: A second sketch after the second musical performance? There was a joke buried in this sketch, and no doubt you caught it at the end: That the guys in the calendar that the women were fawning over were freakishly ulgy. It’s an old hats kind of joke, but it could have worked were it not for two things. First, the joke started off way too late into the sketch and was too slow to start off – as far as I can tell, the only bad thing about the first guy they described was only a douche – and by the time I caught the joke, I just wasn’t into the sketch. Second, television is a visual medium, and the sketch didn’t make use of that fact. The only funny Ferrari guy was Hader’s Mr. December, and that’s only because we saw his freakish features.

This was the fourth show in a row, a supposedly holiday-themed episode, with a host who’s hilarious but can rarely find work to fit her comedic style. Is it any wonder that there were so many stinkers? Or alternatively, isn’t it surprising that there were actually a few quality sketches amongst the bunch. Too bad that this episode relegated Faris to the sideline and gave Drake way too much screen time.

Best Sketch – What’s Wrong With Tanya?

Worst Sketch – Tell Him

In Three Weeks: Charlie Day will have to done town his manic and sick personality to fit into SNL’s more mainstream humor. Maroon 5 will be just fine.

Quotes, Etc.:

“But since you were such bitches about the snow storm last week, you’ve left me no choice.”

“Proving once again that New York sets the trend, and the rest of the world follows.”

“Technically I might be richer than A-Rod, but I think we can all agree that he has done less to earn it.”

“What’s more fun than discussing the collapse of the Euro zone?”

“THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH HER!” “Yes, yes there is…”

“And now a quick word from our sponsor.” “HI!”

“I believe I can be that salad. No croutons, no dressing, just lettuce in a bowl.”

“And then they immediately arrest anyone who answers ‘To be with Allah, for all eternity’.”

“And that’s just one of the many reasons to never get into an argument when your scrotum is out.”

“The Hot Dog Council, incidentally, is made up of the most disgusting parts of other councils.”

“Nope, no one says that. Those aren’t even words.”

“Also, you’re riding a fine line between homage and racism.”

“Somebody catch that little son of a bitch with a secret!”