Full disclosure: I thought Morgan Freeman was hosting this week’s Saturday Night Live. I kept seeing the notices during the previous week’s commercial breaks, and thought to myself, “He doesn’t have a movie coming out…oh well!” It turns out The Hobbit star Martin Freeman was taking on hosting duties, and while he may not have the same Hollywood stature of recent hosts Cameron Diaz of Chris Rock, he definitely provided a lot of charm. His opening monologue even revealed to us that we’ve seen him in a lot more things than we might realize (the monologue also playfully jokes that all British people hang out together).
Charlie Rose
Normally, I hate the opening sketch. Saturday Night live has been doing a lot of Obama political stuff, and it’s usually a dull way to begin the show. This week, the show opened with Charlie Rose speaking with James Mitchell and Bruce Jensen about methods of torture. It turns out that Mitchell and Jensen are not just responsible for creating extreme ways of torture detailed in the 600 page report (which “reads like the menu of a Cheesecake Factory”), but they take credit for self-checkout at grocery stores and auto-correct.
Everybody’s Gettin’ Sump’n
If you listened to the inaugural Water Cooler Podcast (and if you haven’t subscribe now!), I put SNL’s digital short on my top ten list. Perhaps I spoke too soon, because Kenan Thompson’s Sump’n Claus is not in the same league as Lil Baby Aidy. Pete Davidson tells Jay Pharoah that he doesn’t think that he will be getting anything from Santa this year, but Pharoah reassures him that Sump’n Claus always delivers for those who behave badly. It doesn’t matter if you slash your boyfriend’s tires or assault your boss (which Freeman does with aplomb and an adorable smile), because Sump’n Claus will deliver you cash. While the song is kind of catchy (why is it in my head?!), it goes on too long, and the lyrics are sometimes very warbled and unintelligible.
Line of Objections
I liked this skit from the beginning, because it allowed fan favorite Leslie Jones to do something different. ADTV contributor Megan has always said she wanted to object at a wedding, so maybe she should have attended the one between Jones and Freeman. They are a mismatched couple, yes, and the entire church lines up to say why they object to this union. The details of their meeting (“you met him five days ago at a combination Taco Bell-Pizza Hut”) are funny and even Freeman’s wife (played by a recently underused Vanessa Bayer) steps in to state her piece. The writing isn’t as good as the concept, but Kate McKinnon’s appearance as a good Samaritan is the best part. Jones has a hard time keeping it together, and keep an eye out for the female extra nodding in agreement in the back of the church. She’s almost worth the entire skit.
The Office: Middle Earth
This sketch isn’t for me. I don’t like The Lord of the Rings, and I could never get into The Office. Surely, this sketch will amuse a lot of people, but it’s one that made me walk out of the room and get a snack. After Bilbo Baggins saves the day (spoiler alert!), he resigns himself to work at a paper company that is quite similar to that on the droll office sitcom. Office politics can be funny, especially with puns that I shouldn’t find so funny (Gandalf: “I’m Lord of the Reams”).
Right Side of the Bed
Has anyone ever watched that can’t-tear-your-eyes-away-from-that-train-wreck Chrisley Knows Best? I didn’t think so. I’ve never seen it either, but the commercials are enough to make me think that the patriarch is not very hetero. Taran Killam and Cecily Strong play a married couple who host a local morning talk show, and she’s pretty blind to how flaming he is. I wish this would have been directed by the Coen brothers. The personalities of Strong and Killam are so bubbly and inappropriate and Freeman’s awkward handyman doesn’t know what he’s doing on the channel.
St. Joseph’s Christmas Mass Spectacular
Why is SNL lately obsessed with how MTV filmed things in the 90’s? For the odd Mass Spectacular sketch, the camera whirls around and comes tight into churchgoers’ faces, but the character is kind of funny. Bobby Moynihan’s preacher that makes groan-worthy jokes is pretty spot on, but did anyone else think that Cecily Strong was channeling Annette Bening as a woman who cares too much about her congregation?
Weekend Update
I wasn’t going to write about anything about this week’s Weekend Update, because it’s just a list of zingers. When head writer Colin Jost introduces a segment about female characters in film not getting enough recognition, he introduces us to Cecily Strong (who is in EVERYTHING) as Heather, a One Dimensional Female Character in a Male Driven Comedy. It reminded me of the Cool Girl speech from Gone Girl. Also, is Jacob the bar mitzvah boy the only character in recent SNL history that just does the same thing over and over again? It’s almost never different…
Heinz Ketchup
Taran Killam (who is also in EVERYTHING)plays a nervous new employee at a Heinz Ketchup factory (shout out to Pittsburgh!) who can’t seem to wrap his head around one single task. Freeman plays his boss, and it’s funny watching him get frustrated trying to teach Killam how to work a lever. The short sketch’s funniest moment is the very end.
Band
The most half-baked sketch of the night has to be this weird holiday band featuring a reliable Kenan Thompson as a nosy lead singer. Freeman sports a horrible wig as a saxophone player, and apparently he recently got into some trouble with a guy named Roman. Thompson keeps asking him questions, and the audience starts to get curious about Freeman’s secrets. Then…it gets weird. You’ll see. I will say that I could listen to Thompson say “red boots” all day, though.
Waterbed Warehouse
The final sketches are quickly becoming my favorite. Freeman does his best William H. Macy impression (seriously, it’s eerie how much he sounds like him) as a waterbed salesman who is very supportive of his performer wife, Janine, played by Aidy Bryant. Not only is Janine the Waterbed Warehouse spokeswoman, but she writes all the jingles for the commercials. It’s kind of cute how supportive Freeman is, and this could have gotten completely out of hand (in a good way) if this skit was handed to Melissa McCarthy. If anyone knows where I can find a Janine comforter, let me know. Christmas is coming.
How was Martin Freeman? It started off strong, but he kind of disappeared halfway through the show. The best hosts are the ones that are completely game and throw themselves into the material. The writers were kind of conservative with him since he’s not known for being a very physical comedian. Even though the writing was off and bland in some acts (the norm as of late), Freeman was charming and likable. Now when is Morgan Freeman hosting?
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