Okay, here’s my review. This was consistently weaker than all the previous shows from this season, but there was still some fun to be had here and there. Sadly, they bought back the trend of repetitive recurring sketches that plagued the last three seasons. Hopefully, the featured players get more chances to shine in the future. Applegate once again proved to be another competent if not forgettable host. Anyway, let’s just get on with it.
Vice Presidential Debate - They did pretty well with this one. It’s nice to see them do an actual “debate” sketch as opposed to last week’s narration-fest that presided over the first Romney-Obama debate. I especially liked the line about Jim Lerher, Ryan looking directly into the camera and Biden’s “workout” and Catholicism as well as the Goat Boy water dispenser that Ryan drank from. Usain Bolt's cameo was funny too (partly because of how unexpected it was) Also, it seems like Jason is getting more accurate with Biden's voice and he played him like less of a silly caricature. B+
Monologue - This had a really lame premise (and the Matt Foley reference felt really lazy and forced) but Christina isn't a bad singer plus the fake knock off Muppets were funny. Seeing Jason's Dane Cook again made me chuckle. C-
Gillette Ad – This shock value commercial made no goddamn sense. Jason’s buck teeth and Pharroh’s Andre 3000 were funny but the less said about it the better. I’m actually surprised this got fewer comments than the debate sketch on nbc.com considering how dense and high strung their commenters are. D-
Californians III - I'm a little annoyed that they found a way to still do this without Wiig, but at least they had the good sense to try to bring something different to it with Christina, Bobby, Taran and Jason's characters though. Applegate, particularly played a role that seemed to suit her. It's not like they saved this sketch or anything, but at least just seeing them here made this sketch less irritating than the first two. Still, we could've done without this Usain Bolt cameo. He added nothing. I could definitely see this sketch being the next "Debbie Downer" if they keep bringing it back like this (considering how the first one was famous for just corpsing). C-
Tech Talk - When I saw the next sketch being set up, I thought they were going to bring back "Kalle" until I realized that Wiig is still gone. Still, this "Tech Talk" sketch has a decent premise even if it feels quite derivative of last year's "Comment Section" and got a little predictable toward the end. I think it would've been better if Strong had more lines than Armisen and Pedrad. I did like her "handbag" line and the violin/sarcastic dance/bug gag. C+
Give Us All Back Our Daughters - This trailer was also very funny. I especially liked Taran's Liam Neeson, Bill's Schwarzenegger, Christina's Uma Thurman and Bobby's Steven Segal (even though I totally thought it was Tim Robinson at first glance). Seeing Jason's Mel Gibson was also nice even if they just recycled a bunch of tired jokes about his anti-Semitism. C+
Update was pretty forgettable, but I did like Seth's very last joke at the end. Nassim's Huffington commentary was actually pretty funny because of all the birth control jokes, the lines at the end about Biden and Ryan's qualities and the way she pronounced "penis" (especially "my penis is shinier"). I'm sure none of us missed Jean K. Jean but at least it meant Kenan got Seth to shut the fuck up for a while. C-
Sirens - This sketch wasn't funny, but at least it was interesting for a couple of good reasons. First, I can't really remember the last time they did a faux historical sketch like this. I'm sure there was something like this done in the last couple of years, but for some reason I'm thinking back to when Franken and Davis were still there because they speciali-oh, wait...I just remembered that royal taster sketch with Hader and Russell Brand from two seasons ago. Also, it makes me wonder how this sketch would be different if they used songs from this decade instead of ones from the late '90s. Oh, wait...that would probably be worse somehow. Never mind. How does it make sense that they would know those songs in Ancient Greece anyway? Ah, well it's still nice to see Sudekis getting as many lead roles as he did tonight. Huh, this sketch kind of reminds me of something that Fallon would do with the song covers and all. B-
Hell-oween Ball - I enjoyed seeing Pharroh's principal again. Christina's nerdy librarian character was funny and I liked her donation box bit. For some reason, she kind of reminded me of a cross between two Ana Gasteyer characters: Bobbi Mohan-Culp and the “Delicious Dish” host. Pharroh had some funny lines about baboon and Lion King Costumes. Kenan's gym teacher is also usually funny, but didn't have any good lines here. C+
Dance Studio - This sketch was pretty frightening. It reminds me far too much of something Wiig would do. Seriously, Christina's voice in this makes it sound almost exactly like Wiig's "Secret Word" character if she were a Broadway dance teacher. It's already going on way too long but at least Kenan's character was mildly funny in this. D-
Well, that show certainly fell apart quickly, didn’t it? Bruno Mars will be pulling double duty next week and I’m already not looking forward to it. See you then?
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