Sunday, May 5, 2013

Zach Galifinakis/Of Monsters And Men - 5.4.2013


Okay, here’s my review. This show was a very refreshing change of pace from last month’s underwhelming outings. I forgot how good of a host Zach Galifinakis could be until tonight.This was probably the best episode he’s hosted because the writing was good enough that saving certain sketches came naturally to Zach and he didn’t have to work or try too hard. Good to see the featured players steadily getting more airtime as the season progresses. Anyway, here are the sketches.

FOX and Friends VII – Although I think this has been run into the ground by now, I think the latest installment was better than the previous two. I liked the gay athlete and "hero" jokes at the beginning as well as Bobby's bit with the soda at the end. B-

Monologue - Zach's stand up was great as usual. It wasn't as good as his 2011 one, but he had some great lines nonetheless. I particularly liked the charades/beet salad/amish/braille jokes. A-

Game Of Game Of Thrones – This felt like it was following a tired SNL game show trope of a the third contestant getting asked totally different questions than the previous two (see "What Is This?") but Zach sold it with his absurdist energy. He made some mediocre lines great with it and had a good back and forth with Hader. C+

Match.com ad – This was just okay. McKinnon's Martha Stewart certainly didn't make anyone forget about Gasteyer, Dratch or even Poehler but again, her delivery made some mediocre lines funny. C+

Jennifer Aniston Look-A-Like Contest - This was one of the better lines of the season. I liked the building absurdity of it (especially with Bobby and Kenan's cameos) and Zach's over the top delivery of absurd lines was a highlight. Cooper and Helms' cameos didn't add anything, but maybe they're both due for another hosting gig soon. B-

Update wasn’t anything to write home about. Seth's Dzhokar Tsarnaev joke was alright, by his standards. I don't think we needed to see Hader's Carville again, but I did like his bullet and ghost bits. Armisen's Google glass commentary is too repetitive and too cheesily underplayed for me to like. This and his Bloomberg from the cold open make me realize how much Armisen resembles my roommate. Yeah, and Seth is the absolute last person I'd expect to find a clitoris anywhere. I did like seeing Cecily's party girl again. She had some funny lines. C+

Racist Jim – This was funny mostly because of Zach. He had great back-and-forths with Kenan and Vanessa. Racial humor isn't quite my bag and not many other hosts could've made this sketch that much better, so I gotta give Zach some credit here. B-

Darrell’s House - This was possibly the best sketch of the night. I liked the sheer absurdity of it (even though public access is another tired SNL trope). It got a little slow toward the end with his interaction with Kenan, but I liked the silly theme song, the ridiculous premise and the bit with Vanessa at the beginning. B+

Michael Jordan Wedding - This sketch was oddly placed in the show for something vaguely topical, but it's good seeing Kenan's Charles Barkley again and Jay's Dikembe Mutombo was pretty funny. Jason and Zach had some good bits with the "once you go black" jokes and the excessive cocaine use. B+

New Balance – This was okay for banal observational humor. Zach as the ridiculously out of shape guy was funny. C+

Darrell’s House (Director’s Cut) - I definitely liked how the Darrell's house continued on later in the show and I loved the (somewhat expected) Jon Hamm cameo! It's a nice coincidence to have seen two wraparound sketches with two standup hosts in the same season (as well as the second one involving Jon Hamm). Hamm is another multiple host who is due for another one. B+

Well, that was a much needed shot in the arm for SNL. Kristen Wiig inexplicably returns right now. I’d like to imagine Abby Eliiott will flip past this in her home one week from tonight and shoot out her TV with a pistol in a drunken haze ala Elvis. See you soon.

Now, I’d like to do a little “ranking the night” of my own…

1. Monologue
2. Darrell’s House
3. Aniston Look-a-likes
4. Michael Jordan Wedding
5. Racist Jim
6. New Balance
7. FOX and Friends
8. Game of Game of Thrones
9. Match.com
10. Update



Here are my Updated rankings of the season…

1. Justin Timberlake
2. Martin Short/Paul McCartney
3. Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean
4. Louis CK/fun.
5. Zach Galifinakis/Of Monsters And Men
6. Anne Hathaway/Rhianna
7. Christina Applegate/Passion Pit
8. Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes
9. Kevin Hart/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
10. Bruno Mars
11. Daniel Craig/Muse
12. Jaime Foxx/Ne-Yo
13. Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers
14. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Mumford and Sons
15. Vince Vaughn/Miguel
16. Justin Bieber
17. Adam Levine/Kendrick Lamar
18. Melissa McCarthy/Phoenix
19. Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5

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