'Saturday Night Live' Recap - Seth Rogen & Ed Sheeran (video)

Last week we had a bubbly, musical (and often uneven) episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by the wonderful and music-filled Anna Kendrick. Saturday night, we had Seth Rogen, so I expected about 90 percent less Broadway and 50 percent more weed jokes. But that’s not a bad thing in the SNL universe since each host should shape the show. And Rogen is a wildly funny comedian who’s also no stranger to writing his own material.

While this is his third SNL gig, it’s his first since ’09. While I wasn’t able to find the earlier shows online, the list of sketches from Show 1 in ’07 includes such instant classics as a Kevin Federline sketch and one called the “National Douchebag Championships.” I’m sure it was five star material. His ’09 show faired a bit better, it was the show that aired Lonely Island’s Like A Boss music video after all, although it does include a skit called The Fast & The Bi-Curious, which, you know, just sounds awful. Actually, the one sketch I remember from either show is one involving the Muppets and vehicular manslaughter and is actually pretty damn funny. But anyway, enough about the past, let’s get to tonight’s SNL!

Each segment is rated 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.

GOP at Coachella: * *
It seems Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush are crashing Coachella to talk about the New Republican Party. The idea showed promise but resulted in a sketch where old white politicians tried to appeal to young people by using words like “rachet” and “basic b*tch.” The energy was there, the laughs were not but least it didn’t drag on to long.

Opening Monologue: * * * ½
…and we’ve already gotten to the pot jokes. The point here is that Rogen decided to read from his diary about the week he’s had at SNL (accompanied by Jimmy Fallon Thank You Note-like music). Most of the jokes were mostly dull, well except for one about the James Franco Instagram scandal. And, hey, speaking of Franco, there he is at Studio 8H along with Zooey Deschanel and Taylor Swift (who appears “whenever a man shows emotion”). While there were a few funny moments (and a lot of famous faces), the monologue never felt more than the sum of its parts. If the writing was tighter and the cameos had more of a purpose, we could have had a winner. As it is, we’re off to a shaky start.

Shallon – Drug Safety: * * * ½
Although I’m not the biggest fan of the first few Shallon sketches, it’s nice to see Pedrad back in the post-monologue spot since she was all but MIA last week. This time instead of strangers with candy, Shallon is trying to persuade her classmates about the pleasures of crack cocaine much to the chagrin of Rogen’s visiting Officer Kellogg. There’s not much to write about these sketches once you get the initial joke (and by Shallon number three, there’s no surprises) but it was executed well and had tons of oomph behind it.

CNN Take Home Pregnancy Test: * * * ½
In this faux commercial, Bayer and Bennett play a couple who are using the new CNN Pregnancy Tests which alerts you every ten minutes with useless “breaking news” on the status of the pregnancy. While this seems somewhat directed at CNN’s coverage of the missing Malaysian airplane story, it’s thankfully never addressed outright and is produced in a fluffy, light manner which is both nice to watch but ultimately forgettable. It had something to say, and said it well. But, in a show known for great commercial parodies, this one just left me wanting a bit more.

Allen & Helen: * * *
The good news is that this sketch, about a woman with two broken arms, features great chemistry between Bryant and Rogen and a few truly funny lines from the former. The bad news is its content to stick with lazy, tired jokes instead of pushing the envelope to see what they could do with this funny set-up. I’m sure they could come up with something better than fart jokes.

Monster Pals : * * * * *
I’m just gonna call it now: Monster Pals is probably my favorite thing SNL has produced all year and will surely be on my Best Of list come May. Following in the (big) footsteps of Sad Mouse (and succeeding with flying colors), Monster Pals is another inventive, visually arresting and bittersweet short film about the outskirts of society and what it really means to fit in. Following the trials and tribulations of two monster friends in a human world, this short sets a great tone and builds into a wonderful, hilarious and heartfelt climax. Bravo Mike O’Brien and company, this is excellent, excellent work.

Blue River Dog Food: * * * * ½
Do you ever wonder what it would be like if George and Martha hosted a dog food commercial? I was unsure of this sketch when it started, but then I was won over by Strong’s great comedic commitment and the skit’s ability to push the anger to dangerous levels without it ever feeling annoying or yell-y (“Glice” anyone?). Besides, Strong and Rogen have great rapport, which makes this odd sketch just work fantastically well.

Weekend Update: * * * * ½
Let’s skip over Thompson’s abysmal David Ortiz (funny accent does not a funny character make, Kenan!) and get to the good stuff: the return of Jacob The Bar Mitzvah Boy. Readers of my recaps will know by now that I just adore Jacob and, no matter if the quality has slipped a little since his premiere, he just makes me happy. But Jacob’s time off resulted in some killer material and a fresh new feel to the bit due to Jacob’s interactions with Strong. The whole WU should probably be given three and a half stars or so, but I laughed out loud, really loud in fact, at Jacob’s tears and his tuna casserole jokes. So, yeah, four and a half it is.

Brian Is Not Gay: *
Wow, what a buzzkill this skit is. I was feeling good: Monster Pal, Dog Food and Jacob, oh my! And then here comes a sketch built around an obnoxious Strong yelling at Rogen during his engagement dinner about the time he gave his sleeping friend a blowjob. It was loud, it was dumb, it was unfunny. Moving on.

Undercover Sharpton: * ½
The crowd did not like this one. Not one bit. I’ve heard more laughs at a funeral. It’s not a bad idea for sketch, but something about it is fundamentally off. Do me a favor and just re-watch Dyke & Fats again instead.

420 Holiday: *
What fresh hell is this? Why is this so unfunny? Why is this the best pot-themed humor they could come up with? Thank the marijuana gods SNL is going on a hiatus. We could both use a break.

Herman & Sons Sperm Bank: * * *
Mr. Herman and Mr. Sons own a sperm bank that is having a going out of business sale before becoming a frozen yogurt place. Some of the jokes are actually pretty funny but I’m tired and cranky from the past few clunkers, so forgive me for not going into the usual level of detail. Peace out, SNL.

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Best Sketch: Monster Pals by a country mile.

Worst Sketch: There’s a lot to choose from, I’m going to go with the marriage engagement dinner one with 420 as a close second.

Musical Guest: Ed Sheeran
I’m a fan of Sheeran’s, although sometimes he’s lyrics can come off a little…high school poetry class. But I often prefer music like his – simple, acoustic and raw – to the overproduced stuff you mostly hear on the radio. Both songs, “Sing” and “Don’t,” are Jason Mraz-like ditties with warp-speed, patter-song deliveries and punchy instrumentation. They were enjoyable, if not forgettable, perhaps I’m just sure I’m digging the direction Sheeran’s going in.

Overall Thoughts: The first half of SNL was really, really strong and contained what was maybe the best digital short since Sad Mouse. But once Jacob left the bema, the show went downhill in a big way. Oh well, at least we’ll always have Monster Pals.

Next Time: Andrew Garfield will take the role of host when SNL comes back in May.