37x02: zac’s thoughts

SNL 37x02 - Melissa McCarthy/Lady Antebellum
October 1, 2011

Pre-Show Thoughts:
Melissa McCarthy has had an incredible year, and the SNL hosting spot is well deserved. She was a Groundling too, so I know she’ll mesh well with the cast. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of Kristen Wiig tonight too. I also hope the writing is just as strong as last week.

Sketch Predictions:
-A sketch (or at least an Update commentary) about Glenn Beck wanting to do a children’s show. That seems right in the SNL strike zone.

COLD OPEN: Lawrence Welk
-UGH. Well, so much for the open.
-Melissa and Kristen anchoring this sketch. They should’ve just worn t-shirts that say “Bridesmaids: Out on BluRay and DVD now!”
-This is a tired, played out recurring character that I get no joy out of seeing anymore. LOVED it the first time, but hated it every other time (with the exception of the Betty White episode.
-The only positive thing I can say about this sketch is that it’s NOT a carbon copy. If you look at some of the others, they’re almost beat-by-beat identical. It looks like they tried to make a couple structural changes. Unfortunately, it was still terrible.

MELISSA MCCARTHY’S MONOLOGUE
-She seems very nervous.
-Oh yay, Kristen Wiig again. eyeroll
-Ah, I get it! They’re going to keep stalling the dance. Definitely worth the 3 or 4 minutes of execution. (This comment was ALSO sarcastic.)
-Did something go wrong? It seemed like towards the end Wiig and McCarthy were just trying to get through it.
-This wasn’t funny either. Maybe I was wrong about this show.

COMMERCIAL PARODY: Lil Poundcake
-I tried to guess where the joke was going to come in this. I knew the doll was going to do something, but I didn’t expect the needles from the arms.
-It was a little one-note, but it was still hilarious. And creepy.
-Once again, props to the SNL prop department.

OFFICE FLIRT
-McCarthy sounds a lot like her character from Bridesmaids in this.
-Whoops, I think the camera forgot which sketch it was shooting for a second.
-Love the entrance woo Jay Pharaoh got.
-Man, Melissa is really taking command of this sketch. It’s rare to see a host take charge like that.
-She’s breaking Sudeikis up too, which is pretty rare.
-There was a ton of energy in this sketch! I loved it!
-This ran a lot longer than it was supposed to though. Hopefully it doesn’t mean good stuff will be cut out.

SNL DIGITAL SHORT: Stomp
-Oh good! The Digital Shorts aren’t dead!!
-Ah. This is… not all that funny. Not a terrific payoff either. It’s a shame.
-It looks like some of the blood spatter was removed from the beginning of the Blue Man Group shooting. I can see that being a note from Standards and Practices people.

THE COMMENTS SECTION
-I like smarmy Jason Sudeikis hosting sketches. It channels the best parts of Phil Hartman.
-There was a sketch with a similar premise in the Jim Carrey show last season. I like the concept, but it doesn’t seem to ever play well.
-I did love Nasim’s line “So you think I’m a dumbass?” line.

ROCK’S WAY
-YES!!!! Jay Pharaoh sketch!
-Another dead-on Pharaoh impression. Loved the premise, loved the execution.
-They really need to give Jay more to do on the show.

MUSICAL GUEST #1: Lady Antebellum
-If it’s a band I don’t like, I tend to use this time to take my dogs out.

WEEKEND UPDATE w/ Seth Meyers
-Joke highlights: Nancy Grace’s nipple, Coffee/Depression, Kindle Fire.
-Seth’s crack-up during the France Unprotected Sketch joke was rare. He seemed irritated.
-The Gaddafi Friends sketch was the exact same thing as last time, but I liked it. Okay fine, do it twice, but PLEASE don’t make this something that comes on the update desk over and over.
-I find the Tyler Perry commentaries more accurate than I really do funny.

HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH
-Okay. I have a feeling this sketch will end w/ McCarthy eating an entire bottle of ranch dressing.
-This isn’t the most elaborate setup, but I absolutely love McCarthy’s character in this. It was an emotional roller-coaster: she was excited, desperate, angry, jealous. It was a fun performance to watch. She reminded me of a female Ricky Gervais.
-If you google the word “commitment” there will be a clip of Melissa McCarthy squeezing that entire bottle of ranch dressing into her face.
-I think the dressing shot out quicker than she anticipated. But, again, she absolutely committed to it, and took control. As weird as it sounds, the only person I can see making this sketch work is Cheri Oteri.
-By the way, I died laughing at every line given to Abby Elliott. “We all hate you. We hate your guts! She has got to go.”

THE ESSENTIALS
-I chuckled through this, but I don’t think I would watch it again.
-I thought the fall was funny, but it would’ve been funnier with a harder or further fall. I did think she was going to go over that railing at the end.
-Jason’s bit at the end was funny, but I’m guessing was added to fill time. All of the sketches this evening feel like they’re running long.

MUSICAL GUEST #2: Lady and the Antebellums
-Watched this one. I don’t know a lot about this band, but I thought the two singers were brother and sister, which made the duet very, very uncomfortable.

COMPLAINTS
-Another sketch with a simple premise and decent execution.
-Andy does well with sketches like this.
-Funny, but not memorable. I’d still take it over any recurring character sketch.
-Paul Brittain’s appearance wasn’t terrible. What. Is. Happening?

GOODNIGHTS
-It seems like Melissa really enjoyed herself, and that’s always fun to see.
-I also noticed in the credits that John Mullaney is a producer now? Interesting.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This show would’ve died with any other host. The writing was certainly not as strong as last week, but Melissa brought a TON of energy. It was really like having a new cast member. We did have to endure some recurring characters, but for the most part, they were trying new things. I would rather have a season of shows like that than a season of decent writing and terrible January Jones/Blake Lively-esque hosts.

Best Sketch: Hidden Valley Ranch
Worst Sketch: Lawrence Welk
Best Performer: Melissa McCarthy (honorable mention: Jason Sudeikis)
Worst Performer: Abby Elliott

Next week, a host booking I thought we’d never see again, Ben Stiller, and a band with a hit song that I thought would never be a hit, Foster the People. More on all of that next week. Goodnight!