Remember when...? SNL edition

Hey remember when Saturday Night Live was edgy and funny?

It was not a good start to the new season this weekend. Mind you, I had no problem with Michael Phelps hosting. He wasn't good, but he's an athlete-- not an actor, comedian, noted author, newsman... really nothing that would prepare him to host a nationally broadcast live sketch comedy show. It was part of the "Michael Phelps media blitz" that he earned himself and I don't begrudge his hosting. They made every effort to make it easy for him, limiting his lines and screentime and going to old sketches that worked before. Note that they pulled out the locker-room Will Forte pep-talk/dance to a goofy song skit that they first did (to great effect) when Peyton Manning hosted (which was a damn funny show, so not all athletes are duds hosting). His other 'parts' were him playing a home-schooled inbred country boy on a quiz show (so if he was stiff or awkward, well that was the part he played), himself as a guest on a fictional Charles Barkley talk show, a son on a fake T Mobile Fave Fives commercial, the son on the 'ugly kids' sketch opposite Kristen "I said WE!" Wiig (another retread sketch that I first saw when Seth Rogan hosted), and himself (again) on a commercial for the Michael Phelps diet. The Michael Phelps diet commercial was the funniest sketch that he was in and it seemed to have that absurdist nature that SNL likes (or used to) so I was puzzled as to why they made that they last sketch of the night. I would have put that up front in the first 1/2 hour.

So anyway, my criticism of the show has to do with all of the redone sketches and jokes and the ones that weren't redone had no bite or payoff. I mentioned the locker room and ugly kids sketches-- both were done before. Plus they pulled out Fred Armisen's "Nicholas Fehn, political comedian who can't put together a coherent thought" for a bit on Weekend Update. Now, I don't have a problem with recurring characters on SNL-- that's how they get a following, after all (and I loved Hans and Franz back in the day. Even the MacGruber bit is funny when they choose to do it). I DO have a huge problem with REDONE SKETCHES. The ugly kids sketch was THE EXACT SAME as when Seth Rogan did it. The locker room sketch was THE EXACT SAME as when Peyton Manning did it (except with a different song and not nearly as funny). Nicholas Fehn was amusing the first time I saw it, but Fred Armisen did THE EXACT SAME thing as last time. It's a one-note-joke that he can't put together a coherent thought. It gets a laugh the first time as it keeps going, but you can't go to that well again. I mean, what was the point? I can tell when they're just killing time and the first episode of this season was 60-75% filler. You could pull this off when you had Will Ferrel and Adam Sandler as they would spin their WU bits a little differently. Maybe they could do the Nicholas Fehn thing similarly. This time they didn't.

As for the other sketches:

Seeing Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (Emphasized Fargo accent and all) was a great start. That, unfortunately, was the high water mark.

The quiz show sketch seemed like a hastily thrown together commentary on the state of education in America (public school sucks, home schooling sucks-- haha). It could have been funny with some bite but felt like it needed a few more rewrites. As it was, it didn't hold together and in the end wasn't funny.

The Chalres Barkley Show was pointless filler. Was there even one laugh in there?

The restaurant sketch.... I don't even know what to say. Maybe they were showcasing the new guy (I don't remember his name. The one who looks like Jonah Hill in 10 years) but it was so unfunny and pointless that I didn't even pay attention to it. Was Phelps in that one? He might have been.

The T Mobile Fave Fives commercial was good. Not a home run, but a solid double. Not enough to save the show, unfortunately.

I just hope next week is better. DO YOU HEAR ME JAMES FRANCO????