Woody Harrelson is a great actor whether you know him from Cheers or True Detective. While he hasn’t hosted Saturday Night Live for nearly 25 years and, well, his performance in True Detective was stellar but less than hilarious, I was optimistic for his return to SNL and I am glad to see I was right. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Because I was able to watch last night’s SNL but was unable to write about it until this moment, the proceeding will be a bit different this time. Unlike usual, where I watch a sketch and immediately write a short blurb reviewing and recapping it, each sketch will be reviewed about after seeing it both night and once right before writing this. Because of this each entry will probably be a bit shorter than normal. 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.
A Drink At The White House: * * *
First of all, it’s fun to see Pharaoh take his Obama impression in a different direction and the idea of the POTUS and Mitch McConnell getting drunk together is a pretty great set-up for a political sketch. While I kept wanting the writers to push the sketch even further, there were enough moments to make it the best cold open of the season so far (although that’s not saying much given how tepid the cold opens usually are). When the sketch decided to go somewhere close to controversial (when McConnell turned to Obama and said, “You’re black!”) it went from good to great. If only they kept going in that vain, we could have actually gotten a truly memorable cold open.
Opening Monologue: * * * ½
This was one of those monologues that was not as much funny as fun to watch. It was fun to watch Harrelson try and sing a Taylor Swift song (‘try’ being the operative word). It was fun to see his Hunger Games co-stars join him on stage. It was fun to see Harrelson bite Jennifer Lawrence’s leg and proclaim (in the show’s best line reading) “the real Taylor Swift!” and it was fun to see JLaw flub her lines. While I generally don’t like when SNL is messy, this was just infectious. Could it actually have been funnier? Do I care?
The Dudleys: * * * * ½
The joke here is simple, wonderfully executed and didn’t go on too long. There’s not a huge amount of analyze – this is clearly SNL response to how fickle the internet can be and how bowing to everyone’s opinions creates complete chaos – but it’s a real pleasure to watch.
Match’d: * * * * ½
What starts as a typical game show parody (this one a send-up of a sleazy MTV dating show) turned into one of the best sketches of the season when it’s revealed that the horny contestant looking for a date among three horny dudes is the intimidating host’s daughter. With a terrific premise and some surprisingly risqué humor, this is just a great example of top-notch sketch writing.
New Marijuana Policy: * *
OK, I get it. There’s a lot of stoners at SNL who want to celebrate being able to leave the house with small doses of the drug in their possession. But this seemed like a very long and very elaborate sketch for a very simple and straightforward joke. Besides the Funyuns flag (which was genuinely funny), this was a sketch I admired for it’s audacity more than actually enjoyed.
Football Halftime Speech: *
Head injuries are funny, right? Coaches acting semi-inappropriately with student athletes is funny, right? Thompson saying ‘Football’ in a weird accent is funny, right? No. No. Nope.
Young Tarts & Old Farts: * * ½
While a few of the impressions were fantastic (Thompson’s BB King and Killam’s Barry Mannilow both deserve their own sketch), this version of the impression-o-rama style skit SNL likes to trot out every now and then had more misses than hits. Christmas Duets with Jimmy Fallon this was not.
Weekend Update: * * * *
Easy Kim Kardashian jokes aside, the WU hosts had some pretty good zingers. But this Update segment belonged to Leslie Jones who delivered a searing stand-up (sit down?) routine about being called a “crazy bitch.” Her energy and performance style is just off the charts and her material is really funny and original. The bit with Woody Harrelson and Taran Killam’s Matthew McConaughey talking about True Detective was really well-performed (and will probably be a fan favorite from the episode) but I found it just a touch too similar to last week’s McConaughey car ad sketches.
Old New York: * * *
Four buddies sit around at a bar and discuss things they used to miss about New York like street hotdogs and pizza and crack cocaine. Once the joke is revealed, it doesn’t go further than “hey, Harrelson’s character loves crack!” and perhaps could have been cut down by a minute or so, but at least Old New York had good energy to it and a good turn from Harrelson.
Campfire Song: * * * *
I saw this sketch for the first time approximately 24 hours ago and I haven’t stopped singing “apple, apples” since. I didn’t quite know what to make of this when it first aired but really warmed up to it on a second go around. I mean, it’s strange and didn’t feature any jokes per-se, but there was something so original in its style and ideas. It felt like a Fred Armison sketch in the best possible way. “In the usual way, in the usual way…”
Last Call: * * * *
I generally like the grungy Last Call sketches featuring Kate McKinnon’s desperate bar-goer Sheila SoVage and Harrelson seemed like a perfect foil for her. While this installment didn’t live up to the manic intensity and glorious skeeziness of the versions with John Goodman and Louis CK, the Harrelson version did featur some very funny moments (with SoVage’s, ehem, unusual employment being the best) and a great bit of plastic wrap physical comedy.
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Best Sketch: Match’d
Worst Sketch: Football Halftime Speech
Musical Guest: Kendrick Lamarr
While it’s a shame Lamarr ran out of time to fix his hair before he had to take the stage, he was on fire throughout both numbers. This is not just generally the kind of music I listen to, but he’s a magnetic, energetic performer with rapid-fire rhymes and a great backing band.
Overall Thoughts:
Harrelson hosted a surprisingly strong show with some great writing and a willingness to push the boundaries even just a little. Cameron Diaz is on next week. Cheers!