'Saturday Night Live' Recap - James Franco & Nicki Minaj

James Franco is an anomaly in Hollywood. He’s an actor, writer, director, poet, filmmaker and perpetual grad student. He stars in incredibly small, indie films and Seth Rogen stoner comedies. His Saturday Night Live career has been filled with some similar ups and downs. He’s hosted twice before and, while the episodes aren’t remembered as Bieber-esque train wrecks, they were definitely not the highlight of their respective seasons. That being said, he starred in
Monster Pals, arguably the best thing to come out of SNL in the last few years. So who knows which Franco we’ll get tonight.

Like I always do, I’ll be writing the recaps “live,” meaning I’ll watch a 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.

--

Politics Nation: *
You ask what is wrong with SNL’s treatment of politics and current events? This sketch says it all. With so much going on in the news (and with so much anger that could get funneled into amazing, biting comedy), SNL chose to go with the idea that Al Sharpton can’t pronounce common words. The one-star rating here is less about how unfunny it was (and besides the Pharrell line, there wasn’t much humor to be found) but in how much of a missed opportunity it was. Couldn’t Che do a rewrite? I’m sure he has plenty to say.

Opening Monologue: * * ½
This was a slight, anemic monologue that coasted on having Seth Rogen come by 8H. That being said, I’m really glad to know we can reach James at CuterThanDaveFranco@aol.com. And that John/Yoko photo? Well that was pretty hilarious.

Peter Pan Live: * * * ½
Last year, SNL blundered their Sound of Music Live sketch by making it about Dooneesse instead of the awkwardly produced musical. Their take on the Peter Pan live show was better but still missed the mark. When they focused on the show itself, the sketch was really fun. Strong’s Pan commenting on her girlish look was really funny as was Franco’s take on Christopher Walken’s lackluster performance (all great, despite the fact that his Walken impression sounded a bit too much like an Eastern European accent). But the skit spent way too much time on Tonkerbell, Bryant’s one-note character.

Star Wars Trailer: * ½
What if we reenact the Star Wars trailer as if all the actors were really old? That would be funny, right? Right?!

Jingle Ballers: * * ½
Killam’s Eminem is just amazing, as is McKinnon’s Bieber and Pharaoh’s Kanye. But something about this sketch – in which hip-hops stars perform a nativity pageant – felt so flat. I get it was a new way to do a impression-o-rama sketch without the typical “Best Of” album approach, but it just didn’t come together despite the talented cast.

#GrowAGuy: * * * *
I love Mike O’Brien. He’s one of the most original writers to be featured on the show in a long, long time with a style that’s totally, unabashedly himself. I’m so glad SNL is letting his unique voice be heard even though he’s no longer a cast member. This was another strange, bittersweet vignette from Mr. O’Brien. Although it didn’t have the same heart or artistry as Sad Mouse or Monster Pals, this was a solid exercise of SNL skit as short film.

Troll & Kathy Anne: ½
Oof. I can hardly remember a sketch that was so humorless. OK, the Melissa McCarthy art gallery sketch and that was my worst skit of the entire last season. This might be headed in the same direction. Besides, it’s almost 2015, I think we can all agree two guys making out isn’t funny.

Weekend Update: * * * * ½
There were four segments of Weekend Update. Parts one and three were phenomenal. Parts two and four were lackluster. I’ll explain. Update started with an extended riff on the Staten Island verdict and it was the closet thing to biting satirical humor I’ve seen on SNL in a really long time. Sure the live audience had no clue what to make of it, but I thought it was smart and just a bit dangerous. The way Che and Jost broke out of the unusual back-and-forth rhythm was really refreshing too. Also great was Leslie Jones, who is just such a pleasure every time she’s on screen. With a great, manic energy and a flair for weirding-out Jost, I could watch her all day. What wasn’t so great was Anthony Crispino, an annoying, tired character that really only got funny when talking about Bill Cosby (and OK, that was really quite good but negated by those stupid high-pitched voice gags). Last and least was Nicki Minaj playing Kim Kardashian in her second in-sketch appearance. The idea was flat and fairly unfunny, especially given some of Update’s previous firecracker moments, but it definitely showed that Minaj has a knack for comedy. She should host the next time she’s on SNL.

Jeremy’s Brain: * * *
In a pretty creative way to do more celebrity impressions, this sketch went directly into Pete Davidson’s brain which was chock full of ‘90s references. I mean, really, when’s the last time you heard O-Town mentioned? There were some funny moments (the Titanic bit being the best) and the energy was the highest I’ve seen all night. So I enjoyed it, even if I won’t remember it in the morning.

Kid Mayor Ad * * * *
Franco’s getting in the swing of things and is even going himself finally. This monologue, in which a local political ad finds a grown man campaigning agents a toddler, has great energy and some killer jokes. It was strange, a bit sloppy and a bit too one-note too, but the good outweighed the bad. It was unique and memorable, two things I haven’t found much of tonight.

Sunseeker Yachts: * * ½
The Ex-Porn Stars sketches were a favorite of mine when they first started. Funny, weird, subversive and delightfully naughty, they were the perfect ten-to-one sketch. But the joke’s gotten thin and Bayer/Strong haven’t done anything new to keep Brookie and Non-Brookie fresh. This wasn’t the worst version of the sketch (lines like “We’re gonna need a bigger throat”) but these sketches have lost their edge and the weird bittersweet vibe that used to make them standout.

--

Best Sketch: Weekend Update took the most risks and had the most reward

Worst Sketch: The troll one

Musical Guest: Nicki Minaj
At first I thought Minaj used her power of transformation to become a skinny blonde white lady. Whoops, that was Skylar Grey. I’m not Minaj’s biggest fan (although her odd rambling on American Idol was wildly entertaining) but Minaj’s two songs were surprisingly interesting and mature.

Overall Thoughts:
This was a weird show with a mostly forgettable roster of sketches but occasional moments of real brilliance shined through.