SNL - "Emma Stone/Coldplay"

Season 37, Episode 6

It’s hard to believe, but Emma Stone was on SNL just a little over a year ago, and it was one of the stronger episodes of the season, though the extent to which that quality belonged to her and not the sketches is hard to gauge. So this will be an interesting experiment tonight, seeing if Stone can recapture the magic of her first appearance.

 

Cold Open – Presidential Debate: It was the brain fart heard around the internet. Rick Perry’s fuckup at the presidential debate earlier this week has been covered by some many other sources that once again SNL is behind the curve, and they didn’t help themselves by making half the sketch a straight-up recreation of the actual event. Eventually this transformed into more, as we began to see the other candidates crack under the awkwardness of it all, and it ended with Romney and Perry recreating the closing dialogue from Of Mice and Men, but it simultaneously failed from and lack of buildup and didn’t go on for long enough.

Monologue: Right, Stone’s going to be starring as Gwen Stacey in the way-too-early reboot of Spiderman. She brought that up last time. Now, in her defense, it’s not like she has any other projects to pimp out. As while this monologue wasn’t quite as good as her first one (which, I must admit, I probably only really like for Taran Killam’s Michael Cera impression), I still enjoyed the fact that Andy Samberg got to play upside down Spiderman again. (However, I don’t think Andrew Garfield’s cameo added all that much to the proceedings.

Secret Word: This was also something that Stone did in her last appearance, and I’m pretty sure it’s in the same position too. (Although, as far as I can remember, all “Secret Word” sketches have followed the monologue.) Obviously, this sketch suffers the problems that it always suffers – that Wiig’s character just isn’t all that funny. And thus the comedy in these are often left up to whoever the host it acting like. And I enjoyed Stone’s character here, but there wasn’t enough of it to save this sketch.

WXPD News New York: Okay, so Emma Stone did do a segment last time that was presented as a new report, but at least it wasn’t the same type of sketch. Unfortunately, it’s another Herb Welch sketch, a character that has never made me laugh. Don’t get me wrong, I like Hader’s performance, as it’s especially dry, but it doesn’t cover for the fact that it’s just a string of unfunny “an old man says/does inappropriate things” jokes.

Digital Short – Rain on Me: Wow. That was just awful. For starters, the central joke of ill-timed weather just isn’t that funny, but it just gets worse. After a certain point, the short just sort of dropped the conceit and went on some weird, tangential riffs. It still has me scratching my head.

 (And here comes Coldplay. Was it just me, or do they seem to be performing a bit early? Maybe it just seems that way because we haven’t had a good, solid sketch yet.)

Weekend Update: In addition to Seth Meyers doing his thing, we got….A welcome return from The Devil as he comments on the Penn State Scandal. I’ve liked Sudeikis’ Devil in the past, and he was just as delightful here, even if some of the jokes were the same…A unwelcome return of Garth and Kath (with Chris Martin as their backup singer, “Jan”), which just went on for way too long.

Les Juenes Des Paris: Jeez, is anything in this episode original?  Okay, this sketch wasn’t in Stone’s first episode, but it has been done before, and if suffers from Recurring Sketch Fatigue. That being said, I still enjoyed the weird energy on display here, and I think this one bested its predecessors by having something of a story to all the dancing going on.

Bridal Shower: I suppose I shouldn’t enjoy a sketch that essentially a series of escalating scatological gags, and maybe in a better episode, this wouldn’t have seemed like much. But by this episode’s standards, it was pretty good, and Stone actually sold the idea of being a man at a party full of women. (However, that wig did not. If stone was supposed to be a guy, couldn’t that wig have been less feminine?)

“Someone Like You”: There was something troubling about the gendered action on display in this sketch, but it was still a funny one, both for the exaggerated place where is started off at and its willingness to go even farther from there.

We’re Gonna Make Technology Hump: Disturbingly funny and oddly specific, this is the perfect encapsulation of the last sketch formula. A simple, yet surreal setup that makes you say “What the fuck?” while simultaneously making you laugh quite hard.  

I don’t know what’s worse – that there were so many bad sketches on display here tonight, or that the only four good ones where placed all at the end. But we can be certain of one thing – Stone certainly can elevate sketches, but only if there’s some semblance of quality in the sketch to begin with.

Best Sketch – We’re Gonna Make Technology Hump

Worst Sketch – Rain on Me

Next Week: Jason Segel becomes the second host whose skills are going to be diluted for the show, and Florence + The Machine will make us wish that we had Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. (There will however be a 70% chance of a Muppet appearance.)

Quotes, Etc.:

“Maria, can we just move on? I want to be president, but not like this.”

“No he can’t. You’re definitely thinking of Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell.”

“Wait, Green Goblin just cancelled. We can bone now.”

“Garfield? I’m sorry, does Spiderman hate Mondays now?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the state bird, but that doesn’t matter because you’re adorable.”

“Though in an ironic twist, he did remember the Department of Education.”

“This a pretty big story. Where do you get your news.” “Well, I follow Kutcher on Twitter…”

“This is college football, not the Catholic Church….What, that it happened, or that I reminded you of it?”

“It’s the easy way to make those lean, sexy monkeys we’ve all been clamoring for.”

“Frankly, unless they text it, we’re all gonna die.”

“SANCTUARY!”

“Who wrote ‘Michael Vick’?”

“Hey maybe we should pace that lube around again.”

“All week, my parakeets have been fighting, and I gotten caught in the middle of it.”