SNL Recap October 1, 2011: Melissa McCarthy/Lady Antebellum

October 2, 2011

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Cold Opening – The Lawrence Welk Show
Lawrence Welk Show sketches have held up remarkably well considering that the only thing different about them is a new person’s reaction to Dooneese.  So the logical next idea was to have another weird sister.  Melissa’s buck teeth (and other beaver-esque qualities) were sort of amusing, but they also made it difficult to understand anything that she was saying.  The most notably unique aspect of this sketch was actually Lawrence himself, who was more animated than usual, as his comments showed a greater awareness of what was going on. B

Melissa McCarthy’s Monologue
This monologue went on forever – not in the sense of, “this is so boring, please kill me now,” but rather, in the What Up With That sense of “I can’t believe this is happening … I can’t believe this is still happening.”  Post-Bridesmaids, the Melissa McCarthy-Kristen Wiig partnership felt quite natural. B

Lil’ Poundcake
The shockingly sensible shock value of the revelation of Lil’ Poundcake as an HPV vaccine was sufficiently shocking.  But then not much else happened. B

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SNL Season Premiere Recap September 24, 2011: Alec Baldwin/Radiohead

September 26, 2011

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SNL returns for Season 37.  No cast changes, with the exception of Nasim Pedrad being promoted to repertory player.  Alec Baldwin hosts for a 16th time, breaking the record for most all-time he had shared with Steve Martin.

Cold Opening – Either the 7th or 8th GOP Debate
With the number of candidates present, this was at its core a showcase of impressions, and as that, it was hit-or-miss.  Jason’s Romney was as bland as Romney, Paul’s Paul was mostly accurate but a bit too Dennis Kucinich-esque, Andy’s Santorum was confused, Kristen’s Bachmann was at her absurd best, and Taran’s Huntsman started speaking English like a Chinese person apparently because they didn’t know what else to do with him.  I haven’t watched any of the GOP debates, but from what I’ve heard, it seemed like SNL painted an accurate picture – in fact, it may have been too accurate.  There were some gags in the sketch – Perry getting confused while tired, Paul getting pushed into a corner due to his ideological purity – that seemed to be based on very specific moments from the actual debates that most viewers probably were not familiar with. So, this sketch was clever … I think. B

Alec Baldwin’s Monologue
No surprise that Steve Martin showed up.  You had to figure he would be there at some point during the night, and the monologue would be the most likely place for that.  At first, this monologue was in danger of being one big shameless plug … for an ice cream flavor.  The steroid angle was indeed a clever way to address the record-breaking.  And Seth Rogen’s cameo was ultimately beside the point. B+

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