SNL: 38.6- Anne Hathaway/Rihanna

I feel as if I should disclose something before I begin. I adore Anne Hathaway. She can do no wrong in my eyes. However, I was pretty certain that after the crushing defeat Alabama suffered yesterday, I was never going to laugh again. If there was anyone that could bring a smile back to my life, surely it was Anne Hathaway. Thankfully, she came through for me.

Thankfully the cold open didn’t dictate how the show would end up because it was just bad. Okay, maybe it wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t as[pullquote_right]Paul Ryan is doing feats of strength.[/pullquote_right] good as it could have been. I was really hoping they’d do a Fox and Friends with Karl Rove as their guest. Then again there’s the logistics of who Bobby Moynihan would play (he was Karl Rove in the open) but surely they could have figured something out. Oh well, I suppose it was nice to send off Jason Sudekis’ Mitt Romney impression with one last cold open.

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1423640

All was forgiven when the monologue got under way. Usually when they do a musical monologue I roll my eyes because it seems like an easy cop-out but this was Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables, the entire cast, and the Mexican flag. There was no way this wasn’t going to be awesome.

Best part was Tim Robinson and Aidy Bryant singing that they aren’t in many sketches because they are new. Of course Cecily Strong is new and we’ve seen plenty (too much at times) of her. There was one person a bit out of tune there on the last held note but sometimes even ex-choir directors are able to look past that and enjoy it anyway.

The “Girlfriends Talk Show” was a throwaway. Not much to write home about except it was nice to see Aidy as a main character of a sketch.

[pullquote_left]He’s most likely carrying diseases[/pullquote_left] The last two digital shorts might have been more of a dark humor but “Mokiki” was just straight up funny. Odd, very odd, but still funny. Perhaps it was simply due to it being Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway, two people I adore, but I loved it. The best part has to be the random people’s reactions. I suppose if you don’t watch the show and don’t have the “where is Taran Killam located right this moment” app on your phone then it’s a good chance you’d really think this dude was a bit off. Of course you’d also maybe wonder as to why there was a camera following this fool around but some people are just that oblivious.

When it comes to sketches that are parodies of shows, especially shows on premium channels, I feel badly for the viewing public that has not seen said show. Same goes for last night because if you don’t watch Homeland, then you probably have no clue as to how on spot and perfect the Homeland sketch was. Well I do watch Homeland so let me assure you, it was the best sketch of the night.

I don’t know that I’ve seen Bill Hader do Mandy Patinkin before, but it was uncanny. Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway’s Brody and Carrie, respectively, were hysterical. It was one of those sketches that you watch it and realize that the show you love and that is so well done, really is ridiculous when looked at in a different light. I imagine if Clare Danes and Damian Lewis were to watch the sketch, they’d agree that SNL’s interpretation was well done.

The McDonald’s sketch was both predictable but funny at the same time. My only beef (ha!) is with Cecily Strong. I get that there was a lot of dialogue to remember in that one but perhaps try to not be so obvious about reading off the cards. That and the writing could have been a little better.

Bobby Moynihan is stellar with sketches like this one and last night was no different. If Taran Killam were no longer on the show, Bobby Moynihan would easily be my favorite cast member. Second best sketch of the night.

Usually the musical guests are an amusing, sometimes entertaining, break from the show. When Rihanna’s first number started, I thought I had accidentally ingested some mushrooms. What the hell was that? Seriously. I know I’m dating myself but it looked like she had gone to Bush Gardens and made a music video at the green screen booth. I fully expected her and her band to come out in the Old West costumes under a sepia light for the second number. The band was just a bunch of floating heads as what looked awfully like a Windows 98 screen saver. Not sure whose idea that was, but they need to perhaps find a new line of work because that was just horrendous. It did however, show exactly what I love about the internet today. Even 10 years ago you’d have to wait until Monday to have that “did you see Rihanna’s first performance on SNL?” conversation. In today’s world you can jump on tumblr, go to the SNL tag and immediately there are a ton of people asking the same thing. We live in great times friends, great times indeed.

Drunk Uncle is quickly becoming one of my favorite Weekend Update guests. I’m sure there are people who will hunt me down like a dog when I saw this but I actually hated Kristin Wiig’s “Aunt Linda” character. Sure she had her moments but overall, not fun. Drunk Uncle? Love him. I nearly choked on my coffee (had to watch SNL this morning due to the aforementioned depression over a football game) when he did the Windows 8 bit. Here’s hoping there more of Drunk Uncle in the future.

Another thing I hope sticks around for awhile- Kate McKinnon’s Ellen. Everything about it is so well done that I couldn’t believe this sketch was actually in the last part of the hour. It could have easily switched spots with the “Girlfriends Talk Show” and I’m wondering if time was the only reason it wasn’t. The way she jumps up and down in the chair and their shout out to the YouTube kids, great sketch all the way around.

The rest of the episode was a sketch about “American Gothic” that was mildly entertaining, Rihanna minus the hallucinogenics, and a fauxmercial. They were all right. Most notable thing was people’s reaction to the fauxmercial. Apparently you can’t poke fun at people with fake  allergies. I was unaware of this and will readjust my life accordingly. Thank you internet for showing me the error of my ways.

Overall? A solid episode. When I watched it the first time, there wasn’t anything that stood out as “best sketch ever!” nor any that just sucked ass. Second time watching it, I realized that was because the episode was good in its entirety. Sadly, that is not the norm so it was a pleasant realization.

Next week will bring out the fanboy in all of us as Jeremy Renner will be hosting. You best believe there will be at least one Avengers reference, if not many. I can’t wait!

Until then!