Saturday Night Live – Charlie Day / Maroon 5

After a couple of weeks off, SNL returned with host Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and musical guest Maroon 5. This was a funny but uneven episode, but even the not-so-funny sketches had at least one good laugh. Here’s a quick recap of the show, and be sure to come back Sunday morning for the embedded video clips as they become available. And don’t forget to set your clocks back!

Cold Open: A Message from the Ghost of Muammar Gaddafi — Fred Armisen always does a great job with his ethnic portrayals and this was no exception. The sketch made light of Gaddafi’s death — “The elevator from The Shining called. It wants its blood back.” — and offered some tips on what not to say to a mob. A pretty solid opening to the show.

Monologue: Charlie Day — Clearly thrilled to be there, Day reminisced about his life in New York, when he was two and people were much taller, but felt relaxed hosting the show. Sunny co-star Danny DeVito showed up and told him he had no right to be relaxed (“You’re not Timberlake.”), and told him to “put out” for the audience. So Day sang a song:

I believe in who I am
I believe in Charlie Day
Now I got the spotlight, baby
So I’d like to say
You may not know it
But I’m gonna show it
I got some tricks up my sleeve
I play piano, mediocre piano
Check it out if you don’t believe
That’s called a key change
Was that impressive
Well maybe not, but that’s okay
I’m feelin’ alright
Because it’s show night
But it’s Charlie Day day

Kim’s Fairytale Divorce — A case of biting the hand now that Comcast owns NBC … and E! This promo for the new E! channel special was by far the funniest bit of the night, with Kristin Wiig doing a spot-on Kris Jenner and Taran Killam appropriately frightening with Bruce Jenner’s pulled back face. Andy Samberg’s Chris Humphries was a scream. This was my favorite piece of the night.

The Dr. Oz Show — Day plays a guy with what Bill Hader’s Dr. Oz diagnoses as a “dead rectum,” and uses various methods to demonstrate how the poop goes through, ending with an explanation that was just gibberish. Not quite gross or funny enough.

Saving Greece — As a Greek mythology nerd, I enjoyed the collection of gods as Zeus tried to figure out which one was in charge of overseeing the finances of Greece (turns out there are a lot of war gods and only one god of spending). Great cameo from Adam Levine as the Greek god of music, Yanni. I enjoyed this sketch too.

It’s Getting Freaky with Cee Lo Green — Keenan Thompson tackles another talk show sketch, this time as Cee Lo as host. In this one, he’s a self-help guru and his specialty is helping people get freaky with the assistance of the Freakasaurus and a pile of ladies. When he can’t help a couple come to terms with their freakiness — “Much like my arms and legs, this is a stumper.” — he calls in Col. Nasty. This one had some funny lines, but it was no What Up With That?

The Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy Vol. 2 — Yes, they’re back with their wacky catch phrases in this new “video” promo for their comedy act. Charlie Day is a new addition to the group as Dirk “Jack-Knife” Cane. If you’ve ever seen one of these promos for a Kings of Comedy show, it’s pretty spot-on.

Musical Guest: Maroon 5 — Okay, I am so over that Jagger song. The radio station in my area plays it just about every 7 minutes. The only thing that would have made it interesting would have been Christina Aguilara showing up (but I think Adam really hates her). Travie McCoy did show up for the second number … and that’s a song I hear about every 12 minutes. They sounded fine though.

Weekend Update — Herman Cain’s sexual harassment charges, the homeless moving in on Occupy Wall Street, the Kardashian divorce and the alleged Bieber baby are all targets this week. Bill Hader makes a very funny appearance as Rick Perry trying to explain his odd behavior in New Hampshire this week, claiming Herman Cain gave him a drug-laced pizza. Both Hader and Meyers cracked up a couple of times. Seth also took “A Closer Look at Europe” to explain the economic crisis there, and Judy Grimes returned to talk about finding holiday travel bargains. That bit may be getting old, but Kristin Wiig never ceases to amaze as she goes through a three-minute run-on sentence without tripping over a word.

Because of One Dolphin — Day plays an actor trying to do a very emotional scene with a dolphin while the trainer gives very loud commands from off camera. Not a great sketch, but Thompson as the sound guy — “I do my job.” — was the funniest part of it.

Scene of the Crime — Day plays a Columbo-like detective who never watches TV or has any pop culture or historical references. The fact that the apartment the murder occurred in looks like Jerry Seinfeld’s place is lost on him … but his re-enactment of the crime has him enter the apartment like Kramer and references the Soup Nazi. This one started slow, but — for Seinfeld fans — it finished with a few good laughs.

Lil Poundcake — This doll commercial made a comeback to fill the short time left between commercials and the good nights.

So what was your favorite part of the episode? Take the poll below. You can pick your two favorites!

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Nov 06, 2011 @ 01:41 EST5EDT