It’s always great when SNL has a former cast member as host because they seem to bring out the best in the writers, and they also bring along a few special guests. The biggest question this week concerned Maya Rudolph’s infamous Whitney Houston impersonation. As much as I love it, she thankfully didn’t do a “Whitney in Heaven” sketch (although I do wish she had gotten Donatella Versace out of mothballs). As for the musical guest … well, at least this was one of the funniest shows since Jimmy Fallon’s hosting gig. Here’s a look at the sketches (embedded clips will be available as soon as we get them), and don’t forget to take the poll below!
Cold Open: New York Sports Now — How many bad Jeremy Lin puns can they cram into one sketch? All of them. Although it was funny when the white guy got called out for black racial jokes. Well, at least it wasn’t another Romney sketch.
Monologue: Maya Rudolph — It’s great to have another SNL alum host the show and Maya takes a fun trip down memory lane as she recalls her years on SNL … and all the booty she got, as told through song (Sylvester’s “Do You Wanna Funk”). And Paul Simon is there too!
Bronx Beat — Amy Poehler returns! Betty and Jodi’s description of Hoarders is hilarious. This was a funny sketch made even funnier by the banter between the girls and two crew members … one of whom was Justin Timberlake in a surprise cameo.
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Laughs — Maya Angelou pranking her friends Morgan Freeman, Dr. Cornel West and Stephen King is a lot funnier than it sounds, especially with Angelou’s slow, sonorous tones.
At Home with Beyonce and Jay-Z — Famous friends like Prince, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Brangelina (they let themselves in) drop by to see the baby, capped off by JT as Bon Iver singing a lullaby. Best part was Beyonce and Jay-Z trying to figure out was he was saying. So I’m not the only one who’s confused by him! Another really funny sketch.
Musical Guest: Sleigh Bells — Oh my gosh … what is that noise?!? Makes me long for a Bon Iver/Lana Del Rey duet. I hope the second number is better. Oh, wait … WTF is she saying?!?! I’ve never heard of these people before tonight and it’s safe to say I will never hear them again.
Weekend Update — “Really!?! With Seth and Amy” pokes fun at the recent contraception debate, then Amy hung out and helped with the news. One of the funniest WUs in quite some time.
What Up With That? Presidents’ Day Special — It’s about time we saw this sketch again! With Bill O’Reilly and Kate Upton (who was just the object of a WU joke!). I love Jason Sudeikis’ dancing. O’Reilly is confused. I am amused.
Super Showcase — I don’t know what the point of this was but it was the funniest damned thing watching Hader, Wiig and Rudolph completely lose it. They should just end the show now, because that last 20 minutes will never top this insanity.
The Obama Show — Why is Armisen doing Cosby doing Obama? Good job recreating the Cosby Show opening titles, the sketch was so-so, but I did like Hillary’s cameo.
How’s He Doing? — This didn’t get much audience reaction, but it was a pretty funny sketch that asked two black panelists what it would take for them to not vote for Obama. My favorite part was the Dolemite line that got absolutely no audience reaction.
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Feb 19, 2012 @ 01:34 EST5EDT
Best episode I’ve seen in awhile. Justin Timberlake always cracks me up when he is on! Favorite line “Oh no…Bon Iver put himself to sleep”…
I preferred last week’s episode. There were better written sketches. Most of last night was just head-shaking bad. I’m astounded to hear anyone admit they liked that “Bronx Beat” sketch, which never seemed to have a comedic purpose. Good for Jay Pharaoh getting to appear in more sketches than usual, but I feel bad for Vanessa, Nasim and Bobby getting sidelined by all the unnecessary cameos.
*POST AUTHOR*
Last week was good … to a point. It all fell apart quickly after the Weekend Update. This week was consistently funny from the monologue to the last sketch (the opener was a little weak though). I don’t recall seeing Bobby at all, but the featured players were all accounted for. I did notice that Jay (and Keenan) was in a lot more sketches this week.
Here is a perfect example of how subjective comedy is. I personally found last weeks to be head-shaking bad, and I think Bronx Beat is very funny. Justin Timberlake sealed the deal with this Bronx Beat though, playing a perfect skeeve! I couldn’t even finish last weeks show and when I watched the sketches on-line sketches I just couldn’t believe anyone thought they were funny. It’s all a matter of opinion I guess!
Personally, I can’t stand the comedy stylings of Justin Timberlake. I guess he’s about as funny as Maya Rudolph, but I don’t mean that in the good way. Most episodes of SNL seem naturally fall apart after Update, but this week’s was doing fairly poor even before that. The cold opening was a step up from last week’s static camera-address, and I have to favor Zooey’s original song over Maya’s usual over-the-top, please-for-the-love-of-God-look-at-ME! cover performance. I will say this, though: Lindsey Lohan’s next performance will probably make this week look like a masterpiece by comparison.
*POST AUTHOR*
Like Bobby said above, comedy is subjective. You obviously don’t like either JT or Maya Rudolph so nothing they do would make you laugh (and keep in mind Justin has won two Emmys for his work on SNL). For me and many others I know, the show was consistently hilarious from beginning to end, as it should be. I think it’s a little sad that we’re expected to accept the show is going to fall apart after the Weekend Update. As Seth and Amy would say, “Really!?!”
You don’t know who Sleigh Bells are? Amazing alt-rock band. Wow… just wow.
The Obama Show skit was brilliant in that Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph had the mannerisms of the Cosbys down so perfectly. From the opening credits, to the way they spoke, it was amazing to watch. I haven’t laughed so hard at SNL in a long, long time.
*POST AUTHOR*
I still don’t know why he was doing Cosby doing Obama. He wasn’t playing Bill Cosby. It was just a little weird, but the opening titles were brilliant.
I’m quite sure that this was one of the best SNL episodes lately. I think that the Bronx Beat skit was the funniest out of them all. I was laughing so loud that I think my neighbors in the adjacent room probably thought I was crazy. I wasn’t able to see the show when it aired; I was on a plane headed to California. Unfortunately I miss many shows and then hear about how funny they were all over Facebook. I was able to catch SNL on DISH Online as soon as I got to my hotel, and it was just as good as my friends said. I like using DISH Online while I am away since I travel so much. Being able to watch many of the same shows that I can watch on TV is very convenient. Whether I am at DISH working or in another state, I am glad that I can watch almost wherever I want. I really hope that they keep the hilarity coming in future shows!