Cold Open: The Lawrence Welk Show — I was surprised there was no “Badass Obama” open. I never get tired of this bit, and Melissa McCarthy as another weird sister just added to the hilarity. Loved the wood chips flying as she gnawed on the tree.
Monologue: Melissa McCarthy — I loved Melissa McCarthy on Samantha Who? and she stole the show in Bridesmaids, so I was really looking forward to her hosting gig (she did not disappoint). After some hellos and good nights to her kids, Melissa teased us with her love of dance and invited Kristin Wiig to partner with her. The highlight was the shadow dance they “performed.” (And some nice assist from Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan.)
Lil Poundcake — “The only thing you’ll get infected with … is fun!” Funny, creepy and topical commercial about a doll that administers the HPV vaccine. Reminded me of any number of Saturday morning doll commercials … minus the needles.
Inappropriate Office Behavior — Melissa plays a very hands-on office worker. “I’m workin’ on the lady boner this one just put in my pants.” Sudeikis seemed to have almost lost it a couple of times.
SNL Digital Short: Stomp — A police precinct becomes the setting for a Stomp-like number … until Blue Man Group shows up.
The Comments Section — A talk show that features the anonymous commentors on any number of internet sites (like this one!). One guy meets the object of his unwarranted ridicule, another guy is questioned about his inappropriate use of the word “boobs” (“Puppet Boooooobz!!!”), and another is questioned about leaving political statements on decidedly non-political posts. Some of our Clackers may have relished this skit.
Chris Rock in Rock’s Way — Jay Pharao as Rock doing his act in all of your Broadway favorites like Oliver! and Annie. Best part of the skit was Vanessa Bayer‘s audience member who had no idea what was going on but laughed anyway. Unfortunately, Pharao’s Chris Rock looked and sounded more like Eddie Murphy.
Musical Guest: Lady Antebellum — Not really my cup of tea, but they looked and sounded pretty good. But not enough to make me a fan.
Weekend Update — WU seemed rather short and to the point this week with some pretty funny news items. Another visit from Gaddafi’s Two Best Friends Growing Up (with a nice twist as Seth Meyers was dragged into the bit while addressing the new head of NBC), and Tyler Perry (Keenan Thompson), who says his films cost $400 each and every black person in America sees them, and then takes a nice dig at The Help.
Focus Group — McCarthy plays Linda, who really loves Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (except she thinks Bacon Ranch tastes like strawberries). A $50 prize for a good comment sends her into competition mode. You’ll never look at Ranch dressing the same ever again.
TCM Presents The Essentials with Robert Osborne — A look at the career of Lulu Diamond, a Mae West knockoff, whose catch phrase was “Why don’t you come upstairs and see me up there sometime?” Except she has a major problem going up stairs. McCarthy really threw herself into this one … literally. But poor Robert Osborne. What has he ever done to the SNL folks?
Bar Pick-up — Andy Samberg plays Don, a guy who claims to have no complaints in bed, as a string of women line up to complain about his lack of skills. But he seems to have found a match in Lana.
Here’s an extra sketch that didn’t air, called “Netflix’s Apology.”:
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Oct 02, 2011 @ 01:51 EST5EDT
Oh, I don’t have a girlfriend.
I know, I was just kidding.
The focus group sketch was just awesome. I’ve been in focus groups before and, sadly, that’s not all that far from the truth.
I like how they used the SVU set for the digital short.
As an actress who has recently earned her more-than-deserved share of clout in the entertainment industry, I would have expected Ms. McCarthy to take a stand against performing what was essentially the same fat joke over and over again. Would it have been so wrong for an equal amount of the show’s skits to not have anything to do with girth or an over-hungry attitude?
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t think they ever once alluded to her characters’ weight in any of the sketches. They could have been played by anyone of any size (I could see someone like Anna Faris playing any of those roles). I think the fact that all you saw was a fat actress “who has recently earned her more-than-deserved share of clout in the entertainment industry” says more about how you see her than how the writers saw her (and how she sees herself). I’m sure if Melissa had been offended by any of the material, she would have said something.
I appreciate your thoughts, but must respectfully disagree. To assume I saw Ms. McCarthy as a ‘fat actress’ (your words, never mine) was totally off the mark. Although the SNL writers clearly did see her that way. From Ms. McCarthy’s first appearance as a clumsy bumpkin to her opening monologue, during which the audience was encouraged to laugh at the overweight actress announcing that her true passion has always been dance, the so-called jokes were all size related. The dance sequence continued to make a joke of Ms. McCarthy, given that she never actually started to dance, as if her girth prevented her from doing so (or so the “joke” would lead us to believe). Anna Faris saying her biggest passion was dance would not have had the same impact. I thought the very backward fat jokes might stop after the monologue. But they continued throughout most of the 90-minute program – from the overweight office belle who wanted to have sex with her thin coworker to an overzealous product tester that loved salad dressing and downed what seemed like gallons of ranch dressing to prove it.
*POST AUTHOR*
We can certainly agree to disagree. I’m pretty sure Melissa is aware of her size, but perhaps other than the monologue, those characters could have been played by anyone. Kristin Wiig could have very easily played the manic focus group woman who would do anything for $50. But there were no overt fat jokes in the skits. You immediately seized on her size and commented that she has gotten her “more-than-deserved” recognition … so you don’t think she deserves the praise she’s gotten for Bridesmaids and the Emmy for Mike and Molly, a show that was initially built around the fact that the two main characters are overweight? In the opening sketch, she had huge, muscular arms and beaver teeth. Kristin Wiig had a giant forehead and baby hands. They didn’t poke fun at Melissa’s character for being fat (or Kristin’s for being skinny), they poked fun at the freakishness of the character. Me, I see a comedian willing to do anything for a laugh. To me, it just seems that you only see an overweight actress being victimized by the writers of SNL. Like I said, I’m sure that if she wasn’t comfortable with the material, she would have said something. But that’s just my opinion.
I’m not getting into the middle of this dispute, but I’d like to point out that whereas Just Stop Eating So Much originally wrote “her more-than-deserved” [share of clout], you reacted as if he or she had written “more than her deserved” instead. It was a compliment rather than a slight, owing to the subtleties of grammar.
Thank you so much for this comment. I think we need to get away from focusing on weight or appearance and focusing on talent.
I appreciate your opinion and appreciate you allowing me to share mine, Mr. Duncan. Thank you.
*POST AUTHOR*
Anytime! We always welcome the dialog with our readers (as long as things remain civil) and we know that not everyone will have the same opinion. Thanks for sharing yours.