Saturday Night Live Episode Recaps

Former NBA star Charles Barkley returned to host the very first Saturday Night Live of 2012, and the results were better than the last time he hosted. Maybe it's just a result of my new outlook on the show -- I'm more willing to accept it for what it is than rage against some notion of what I wish it would be -- or maybe it really is, as I've been saying for much of this season, that the show is embracing some things that work and trying to do less of what it has relied on in the past.

Either way, this wasn't the best episode of the season -- and definitely a come down from the excellent, pre-break Jimmy Fallon show -- but I was expecting a train wreck and I didn't get it.

The last time he was on, I wondered why the heck SNL wanted Barkley to host in the first place. And, to be honest, I think it was an experiment that backfired. But it appears that the show has learned from the mistakes of the past, and brought Barkley back specifically to do a certain kind of thing that he wasn't able to successfully pull off before. He's a pretty silly guy, and one who's game for whatever (as evidenced by this week's Charles-Barkley-in-drag sketch, which exists solely to prove to us that he is game for anything). But his looseness carried over to the entire episode, which relied a lot on silliness for laughs. I'm totally ok with that; I'd rather the show play to the host's strengths than try to jam a square peg in a round hole, and the results were more enjoyable than I expected. Now that they've figured out how to best use Barkley, I'd be ok with him coming back to host more often.

We would know what to expect, and it could be like a little one-off of goofiness once a season. Or whatever. I'm just spitballing here.

Sketch Highlights

"Rick Santorum Cold Open - It's always kind of strange when something happens in American politics that is inherently very funny, but SNL is unable to capitalize on it in any meaningful way. SNL was doing a good job of making fun of Rick Santorum's perpetual flop sweat back when he was in dead last. Now he's surged to...what, first? Second? And the show isn't sure what jokes they should be making. Part of the problem is Andy Samberg's impression, which hasn't really figured out what's funny about Santorum (if he actually gets the nomination -- and he won't -- it's going to be a long road to November). The bigger issue, though, is the writing; the opener feels almost like an actual Santorum speech, only slightly funnier. That's not great. Plus, it was really, really long. (Watch the "Rick Santorum Cold Open" video)
Charles Barkley Monologue" - Things did not start off great for Charles Barkley, and I was reminded of what I didn't like about the last time he hosted; he tends to just throw everything away. He's not a professional actor or comedian, ok, I get it, but that's no reason to just give up. Luckily, things got better once he was in sketches and the show was better able to play to his particular strengths. (Watch the "Charles Barkley Monologue" video)
"Chantix" - A fairly disappointing commercial parody, I'd say. The show has done the "couple on a couch" routine several times already (my favorite was with Alec Baldwin and Amy Poehler), and this one was telegraphed too early. After that, it just became about Kristen Wiig making faces and gesturing crazily. I'm on record as rarely finding that very funny, so maybe this one just wasn't for me. (Watch the "Chantix" video)
"The NBA on TNT" - I really didn't want this week's episode to just be a bunch of sports-themed sketches, and, luckily, it wasn't, but it did kick off that way. Sports weren't really the joke here; instead, the joke seemed to be that even though Charles Barkley was on the show, someone else (Kenan Thompson) was playing Charles Barkley! And he was playing Shaquille O'Neal! Get it? Some of their jabs at one another were kind of funny (I like anything with a Kazaam reference), but this wasn't one of the best pieces of the night. The show started kind of wobbly and ended that way too (that Mayan sketch?), but the middle was actually kind of enjoyable. We just had to get past this NBA sketch.
"White People Problems" - Probably my favorite sketch of the night, even though it felt only about three quarters of the way finished. There's nothing all that subtle about the conceit of the sketch, but I thought Charles Barkley was pretty funny here, and the reactions of cast members Kenan Thompson and (especially) Jay Pharoah in their little reenactments are what really made it work. Sure, it was a painful reminder that SNL is a very, very white show, but even the way the sketch openly acknowledged that fact gave it a little bump. It was ultimately more of a concept than an actual sketch (with a beginning, middle and end), but there was enough to like that I'd still consider it a success. It's the kind of thing that could conceivably be brought back in the future; I just hope they don't choose to do that every time the host is black. Because, come on. (Watch the "White People Problems" video)
"Joann's Announcement" - Yikes. This was two sketches in one: a sketch about putting Charles Barkley in a dress, and a much funnier, strange sketch about movement and blocking. All the "drag" stuff was pretty horrible (they pulled the same thing with Robert De Niro last season; the whole thing feels like a desperate "hail Mary" pass of comedy), but the other stuff was pretty interesting. I liked how Paul Brittain appeared from nowhere and said he wasn't listening because no one had said his name. I liked the way the "friends" had to stand just off camera and turn their backs. None of it really developed into anything or came together in a satisfying way, but I'm happy that Saturday Night Live is taking more chances this year in terms of what it hopes we'll find funny. Without this stuff, the entire sketch would have been about seeing an NBA star dressed up as a woman. Let that sink in.
"Digital Short: Convoluted Jerry" - My patience for Andy Samberg continues to wear thin (although, did anyone see him on Portlandia this week? He was funny!) largely thanks to sketches like this one. It was an obvious joke -- one that was announced by its very title -- and failed to every be surprising. Or very funny. I know that Samberg's sensibilities really appeal to some people, and they probably really liked this one. I just felt like it needed more of Charles Barkley in a dress. Or Spud Webb. Or Dominique Wilkins. Hell, even Danny Ainge. What I'm saying is I'm not picky. (Watch the "Convoluted Jerry" video)
"Charles Barkley App" - This was one of those good "joke carrier" sketches, right in Barkley's wheelhouse, and targeting a phenomenon that has always bothered me but which is rarely the source of much comedy -- the fact that coaches and athletes talk a lot and rarely say anything. Not every punchline was a home run, but enough of them were amusing and made this a passable sketch. Not much more to say than that.
"Adult Video Awards in Memoriam" - Again, was this the funniest thing I've ever seen on Saturday Night Live? No. It wasn't even the funniest thing on this week's episode. But it was very silly, and the more I think back on the show, the more I appreciate how silly they were willing to be. Some amusing jokes, it got goofier as it went along and the whole thing moved quickly. (Watch the "Adult Video Awards" video)
"Wyndemere" - I told you this would be back. I don't typically care for repeat sketches, but since this is only the second time we've seen it and because it gave Paul Brittain another showcase, I enjoyed it. This episode was all about embracing the show's silly side, and I don't think any other sketch was sillier than this one. Watching Charles Barkley try desperately not to laugh actually endeared him to me more as a host, because he didn't try and make the moment all about breaking. The silliness just finally overcame him. I don't really blame the guy. (Watch the "Wyndemere" video)