SNL - "Charlie Day/Maroon 5"

Season 37, Episode 5

“You gotta put out for these people.”

I like Charlie Day; I really do. Not only is he my favorite cast member from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but he has more charisma than many other, more mainstream comedians today, and I like that he’s finally gotten more lead roles in the past few months in productions that he doesn’t produce. Still, it feels weird for Day to be appearing on SNL, for obvious reasons. Day’s humor isn’t exactly in line with SNL’s more mainstream sensibilities, and  it’s hard to be cynical that the show is going to water down his manic energy instead of playing up to it. (Also supporting this theory: tonight’s musical guest is Maroon 5, the lowest common denominator of bands.) So how did Day and SNL do? Click through to find out….

Cold Open - Ghadaffi Monologue: Of course this was going to be the cold open. Ghadaffi’s death is the biggest political story since the show took three weeks off. I’m not surprised, but I do wish that the show would trot somebody else besides Fred Armisen to do these sketches. I liked the attitude he gave to Ghadaffi’s, but as always, the jokes here weren’t all that fresh.

Monologue: Here’s another non-shocking surprise: Danny Devito turns up for a cameo, of course. I could be cynical about this – and wonder why none of the other Sunny cast member are good enough to show up – but I liked the chemistry that these two displayed here, which is not surprising, given how often these two are stuck together on Sunny. Unfortunately, Devito’s appearance disrupted  Day’s charismatic ramblings, which I quite enjoyed, and lead into a only fitfully funny song.

Kim’s Fairtytale Divorce: Okay, here we go. Sure, the Kardashian’s are an easy target, but the show has spend a couple of years perfecting the sister’s reactions and dynamic, and they put it to good use here. Ever better, the sketch also threw in some spot on impressions of Bruce Jenner, The Kardashian’s mom, and whoever that ex-husband is. (Clearly, I’ve been lucky enough to not become too familiar with this family.)

Dr. Oz Show: Ugh. Look I know that the Dr. Oz Show Q&A Sessions are pretty funny events that one could mine comedy from – just ask The Soup – but this sketch was based solely on gross-out gags, and it just didn’t work. There’s a bit of a science (or, if you prefer, ‘an art’) to doing scatological humor, and this sketch didn’t have the proper build to those jokes. It just dropped us in the middle of them and left us to drown.

The Greek God of Finance: As a current events sketch, this one failed, since it’s joked about the Greek financial crisis were both unfunny and rare. However, on a purely comedy level, it was flat-out hilarious, as it asked us to take hard look at the ridiculous nature of Greek myths, and just kept building on each joke before it. The ending joke – that Dionysus’ unchecked hedonism caused the crash – wasn’t as clever as the show clearly thinks it is, but the ride until then was pretty great. (I liked the joke of Yanni as the Greek god of jazz, but did Adam Levine really need to show up?)

It’s Getting Freaky with Cee-Lo Green: This was as ketch with a lot of good jokes, but it unfortunately just didn’t come together as a whole. The problem is that the joke at the center – Cee-Lo helping people “get freaky” by doling out weird sex advice – just wasn’t that funny. But the jokes about Cee-Lo’s appearance were good.  Day‘s appearance was as Freakosaraus was funny in its absurdity, even if it was obviously an attempt for the show to play off the Green Man character.  In fact, all the random bits gathered together to form a very anarchist sketch, even including the not that funny Colonel Funky, and I just wished that the sketch has embraced this more. Say, where’s our “What’s Up With That?” sketch?

The Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy, Vol. 2: Apparently, yes, Adam Levine does need to show up in sketches. The show did this sketch last season, and as I said then, it was only fitfully funny, and that humor was directly proportional to the weirdness of the catchphrase being used. Tonight, the only two funny ones were Black Stewie Griffin, and Adam “Hawk Attack” Levine, and the latter was only funny because I frequently wonder what it be like if Adam Levine got attacked by a hawk. (It also doesn’t help that most of these catchphrase comedians were recycled from the first iteration of this sketch.)

Weekend Update: In addition to Seth Meyer’s usual string of jokes, we go….Rick Perry, proving that Bill Hader still needs to find the nuances of the character….”A close look at Europe”, which was essentially just an excuse for Meyers to make a string of tired “Isn’t Europe weird?” jokes….and Judy Grimes, Travel Guru, which is apparently a recurring character that I’m not familiar with, and would prefer to never see again. I get that her lines take a lot of skill, and I am impressed in that department, but the central one-note joke just wasn’t funny. (Also, Adam Levin didn’t appear, but we got a third joke at his expense.)

Because of One Dolphin: Okay this? This is what I was afraid of when I learned that Day was coming on the show. Not only did he have to play an entirely milquetoast character, but it was that it was a one-note sketch that really didn’t vary up anything between iterations. Also, the idea of a dolphin trainer being distracting also was both illogical and unfunny. Finally, the sketch didn’t end so much as it went in a different direction with the sound guy taking over Terry’s role as the star.

Seinfeld Crime Scene: The idea of a cop who’s so focused on the job and doesn’t own a TV, to the end that he doesn’t get references about Seinfeld, baseball or World War II was a good one, and Day sold it. However, I think I much would have preferred that the sketch had only focused on the Seinfeld references, as they made for the best laughs. (Also, thanks to my NBC affiliate cut out the early part of this sketch, so I’ll watch it again tomorrow and update my review as necessary.)

Lil’ Poundcake: Saw it already.

Overall, this wasn't a very good episode of SNL, and it's worth noting that the show was at it's funniest when the show played to Day's talents, just like I predicted. Heck, just having Day in a sketch made it better. (Note on Day didn't appear in this week's Weekend Update.) Frankly, you're better off just going back and watching the promos for tonight's episode.


Best Sketch – The Greek God of Finance

Worst Sketch – Dr. Oz Show

Next Week: Emma Stone returns and hopefully will give as good of a performance as she did last year. We all know the level of quality that Coldplay will deliver.

Quotes, Etc.:

“I know, right? Seven seasons???”

“You know, it’s called a monologue because one person does it.”

“What do I have to do for attention…Kill somebody?”

“All three, huh? Great range.”

“I am Demetor, Goddess of the Harvest, and I am not a virgin.”

“I turn into a dolphin…hear me  out….I have sex with a woman…hear me out….it’s not consensual…hear me out….she’s my daughter.”

“Also, I need to go to the doctor because I got actual crabs.”

“Sorry I’m late. You know, orgy stuff.”

“My Name is Cee-Lo, and I am a big ol’ sexy hairless Ewok.”

“Girl, I would lay you down and plank on your belly for five hour straight.”

“Well, much like my arms and my legs, this is a stumper.”

“It could just be a mistake though; most babies just look like Justin Bieber.”

“Just before that, Herman Cain leaned in and whispered ‘I touched all those ladies’ boobies…and I liked it.’”

“Apparently the worst part is the tense 20 minutes in which the doctor rubs a balloon on your sweater.”

“Because it’s hard to get comfortable with all those cats in your bed.”

“I do my job.”