'Saturday Night Live' Recap - Josh Hutcherson and HAIM

Last week’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by Lady Gaga, was the best episode of the season so far. Part of that was due to some hilarious sketches (Blockbuster, Jebidiah Atkinson and the old Lady Gaga sketch all killed while 4th Grade Talent Show and Waking Up With Kimye scored some big laughs too) and part of that was also due to the hosts’ great comedic energy. It was the exact opposite of the Bieber episode, for instead, where the host seemed uncomfortable and controlling of the material. If you doubt Gaga’s readiness to jump into anything, look no further than the killer old Gaga sketch that (according to Bobby Moynihan on Jimmy Fallon ) was her idea! What a strange, fantastic piece of bittersweet theater that was.

Tonight’s episode is hosted by Josh Hutcherson known to millions for his portrayal of Jess in Bridge To Terabithia. Just kidding, he’s Peeta in The Hunger Games. I must admit, I don’t have much background in Josh’s work. I was dragged to The Hunger Games last year but I couldn’t tell you the difference between a Peeta and a Gale to save my life. I actually mostly associate Hutcherson with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island a bizarre little piece of family-friendly filmmaking I saw during a nine-month stint as an internet (film critic. Maybe he’ll be a great SNL host. But his ultra-talented Games co-star floundered during her SNL outing a few seasons back.

Like always, I’ll be writing the recaps “live,” meaning I’ll watch the sketch and immediately write a short blurb reviewing and recapping it. For each segment, I’ll rate it on a scale of 0-5 stars. At the end of the piece, I’ll share some quick overall thoughts and the best/worst sketch of the night.

Piers Morgan Live: *
Boy, this was a dire cold open. We’re back at the Piers Morgan show, this time with guest George Zimmerman’s girlfriend Samantha. But where are the jokes? George Zimmerman is crazy! Ha Ha. He likes guns! Ha Ha. Florida is crazy! Ha Ha. This man’s name sounds like George Zimmerman’s (although he looks more like Wolf Blitzer)! Ha Ha. It was thankfully short, but I’m worried about the next 90 minutes since “George wants to have a shotgun wedding…he wants to marry his shotgun!” was the closest thing to an actual joke in the entire sketch. Oof.

Opening Monologue: * *
Good Lord, we’re less than 10 minutes into the show and already we’ve got Hunger Games jokes. The monologue is pretty simple; the cast (lead by Kate McKinnon in a fantastic Effie get-up) is planning their own hunger games between Cecily Strong and Kennan Thompson. It wasn’t bad, but there was just a lack of actual jokes beyond the fact that Peeta is sort of a dull, feeble character. OK, his quizzical line “It’s a book?” made me laugh, but mostly it felt like the sketch needed another few rewrites before airtime.

Girlfriends Talk Show: * * *
I didn’t expect to see the Girlfriends Talk Show come back so soon. There’s been great Girlfriends sketches, but the last one (from the Miley Cyrus episode) was mediocre. This one was pretty darn funny between high school heartthrob Trevor’s (Hutcherson) solo a capella performance to “the most Morgan I can be right now’s” awkward flirting. But even when the material fell a little flat, Aidy Bryant’s high energy and surprisingly grounded portrayal made it work. Maybe it was the fact that the first two sketches of the night were pretty dull, but this was a fairly solid opening sketch. Two quick notes: This is the first week Nasim Pedrad didn’t have a leading role in the post-monologue skit, I hope she’s OK. And is it just me or does Kiera (Strong) sound exactly like The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started A Conversation With At A Party and her Ex-Porn Star character. I really enjoys Strong’s work, but do all her characters have the exact same voice?

Mr. Patterson: * * * ½
There’s a brilliant SNL skit from the mid ‘90s where Will Ferrell, as a suited businessman, plays with
cat toys. The premise was so simple, but Farrell, an amazing physical comedian, executed such a hilarious and spot-on cat impression that the whole thing worked beautifully. Brooks Wheelan’s Mr. Patterson skit reminded me of that. Both centered on an unusual physical comedy bit and both were performed flawlessly. Here, Wheelan is a financial wiz with the mind of a genius but the body (and physicality) of a baby. I know much of this was sophomoric and that the sketch ran about 30 seconds too long, but Wheelen made me laugh quite a lot, so I’ll give it a pass.

Matchbox 3: * * ½
SNL has had a great slew of prerecorded sketches from Blockbuster to Autumn’s Eve to My Girl to Wes Anderson’s Horror Movie to Beer Pong. This one, about three subway dancers who perform small-scale B-boy moves, isn’t bad but it’s not great either. Any of the other taped pieces I’ve mentioned are far better, funnier and more inventive.

Weekend Update: * * *
So far, this episode has been pretty middle of the road and the Weekend Update segment followed suit. Myers’ and Strong’s jokes were pretty good but none really stood out. There was only one guest, The Worst Lady On An Airplane, who offered tips on how to be the most annoying travel companion ever (“Rule number one, luggage is for losers. I carry everything in loose plastic bags!”). I adore Bryant, she’s incapable of being unfunny, but the Worst Lady was an under baked character with material that seemed right out of a mid-level ‘80s stand-up routine.

”Your Love”: * * *
First of all, I wasn’t alive in the ‘80s nor do I know The Outfield’s “Your Love” (in fact, I only knew what song it was thanks to Google). The idea of this sketch was actually quite funny (and It was executed flawlessly from Hutcherson’s lip-synching to the ‘80s-tastic costumes) but I couldn’t help but think I’d be laughing a lot harder if I knew the song or really understood the lyrics. I’m guessing some (older) viewers will love this one, though.

Best Buy Firing: * ½
I sort of enjoyed Bobby Moynihan and Cecily Strong’s Dana and Niff characters the first time they appeared. Now they have done them three times and each time the sketches get duller, the jokes get more stupid and the characters get more annoying. Strong and Moynihan are great performers, but I think I’m done with Dana and Niff.

Dancing: * * ½
Ben Moody has made his mark on SNL producing some great videos already in his short career on the show. This one, where he plays a wannabe dancer whose rise to fame (and subsequent fall from grace) is amazingly fast, has some funny moments but is neither as that inventive or goes any place particularly funny or interesting. Also, I’m slightly confused why tonight’s episode is very ‘80s themed.

Animal Hospital: ½
Life is too short to write about Animal Hospital. Besides, you might see it come back in my Worst Sketch Of The Year top 10 list six months from now. This was anti-comedy, pure and simple.

Winston Sam Bass Investigative Report: * ½
It seemed like they had 90 seconds of free time to fill so some genius said, “Hey, let’s send Mike O’Brien out onto the street to talk to bugs.” The idea is so surreal that it could only work in the hands of really talented comedians. And, although O’Brien is funny, I’m not sure he yet has the chops to pull something like this off. This sketch seems hit or miss. For me, (despite a fine performance by Hutcherson and some slick sound effects), it was a miss.

Thanksgiving Dinner: *
I don’t know what was in the water this week at SNL. The last few sketches have been so misguided, unfunny and bizarre it’s almost impossible they were written by the same folks who brought us last week’s stellar show. I didn’t understand this sketch or why it was funny or what reason they had for Vanessa Bayer’s anthropomorphic, slightly cannibalistic turkey coming to a random family’s thanksgiving. I’d usually write about this for a while – why it didn’t work and blah, blah, blah but what’s the point?

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Best Sketch: Mr. Patterson, but only because 85% of the material was weaker than Hutcherson’s Hunger Games character.

Worst Sketch: Animal Hospital, the worst of the worst.

Musical Guest: HAIM
Some facts: Haim is a band consisting of three California sisters. Their name comes from the Hebrew word that means life as in the toast L’Chaim. I also didn’t understand a single word sung in both their songs, “The Wire” and “Don’t Save Me.” They’re not bad pop rock tunes, but, although it’s only been about a half hour and 60 seconds respectively between listening to them and writing this sentence, I couldn’t hum a single note.

Overall Thoughts:
Tonight’s episode was pretty darn bad, especially after last week’s hilarious offering (well, hilarious minus that Co-Op train wreck). Maybe Paul Rudd will help bring things back on track in a few weeks. Until then, we get an SNL break. That’s what I’m thankful for.

Image Courtesy of NBC Universal