BLOGS

Saturday Night Live: The 'Jimmy Fallon' Sketches Worth Watching

As predicted, Jimmy Fallon was back to host Saturday Night Llive this week, bringing with him a few beloved alumni and a handful of rebooted classic sketches. There were only so many "Kristen Wiig plays a crazy woman" sketches that I was able to tolerate (though those little raccoons at the end of "1920's Holiday Party" were adorable), but all in all, "Jimmy Fallon/Michael Bublé" was a harmless trip down memory lane with a few notable highlights.

"Cold Opening: Sully and Denise"
These wicked smart Bostonians were always a favorite of mine, and I, for one, was glad to see that after 14 years, Sully and Denise are as in love as ever. Fallon failed to land a handful of punchlines, but whatever he was lacking was evened out by Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler. The opening monologue was also pretty great, but the video is unfortunately unavailable at this writing.




"Bublé Duets"
Who would say no to the cast doing dumb impressions to popular musicians? The highlights for me were Fallon's Justin Bieber, Taran Killam's Scott McCreery and Abby Elliott's Ke$ha. One thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb here (and in the lackluster "Today Show" sketch) was the complete absence of women of color on the cast. Nasim Pedrad can pull off playing Hoda or MIA once in a while, but mostly the inclusion of these ladies just reflects really poorly on the cast -- especially since they're usually just played by Kenan Thompson in drag.




"One Man Show"
One of the best sketches of the night, and it didn't rely solely on nostalgia. Half Jewish, Half Italian, Completely Neurotic! nailed the spirit of the more terrible off-off-Broadway productions that I've been subjected to -- especially the part where Tony Palmese can't get the video to work, and where, for the first few minutes of the show, he pretends to be the venue's janitor.




"Christmas Treat"
I'd take the return of weird little number over anything "Dick in a Box" related. Tracy Morgan remained impressively stoic and Horatio Sanz looks great (!), but I was slightly peeved that SNL brought back Chris Kattan without giving us one freaking Mango sketch. Lame!




"Weekend Update: Joke Off"
Three funny people and Seth Meyers (see what I did there?) making pun-heavy jokes about strippers at Christmastime? Why not. I could probably listen to Tina Fey make up wacky buzz in noises all day.




"Beethoven"
I really loved the concept of this joke -- Beethoven introducing each member of his orchestra like an early 1800's jam band -- but it went on for way too long. Still, it was worth sitting through the whole thing, considering how dumb it got at the end.




"Tim Tebow"
This sketch included some of the best cultural commentary SNL has had in years. Jesus (played pitch-perfectly by Jason Sudekis in athletic socks) coming down from the clouds to help Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos -- as well as the Country Music Awards and any black event where food is served -- was not only a great idea, but the bit's writing was refreshingly tight, too.




Bonus Moment
When Fallon and the cast were saying their goodbyes on the ice rink, did anyone else notice Will Arnett (Mr. Amy Poehler) skating around behind them? Any positivity I had toward this episode was magnified after seeing that.

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7 Comments

December 19, 2011 11:00 AM
John
Reply

This was one of the best SNL episodes in a while. The writing was uncharacteristically strong for the show, and Jimmy Fallon was a very charismatic lead--especially compared to last week's dreadful outing by Katy Perry.

And Amy Poehler and Tina Fey! Anyone else going through 30 Rock and Parks&Rec remission?

December 19, 2011 5:03 PM
Fi
Reply

YES Will Arnett. Totally the best part.

December 20, 2011 2:52 PM
Googuse
Reply

Jimmy in the Bee Suit!

December 20, 2011 6:05 PM
Deanna
Reply

As a Christian I and my family and friends DID NOT appreciate Saturday Night Live sketch mockery of our Saviour Jesus Christ. If it was Mohammed your studio would of been burned down. Believe me if I have my way NONE of your sponsers will have any of my business.

December 20, 2011 8:57 PM
Len
Reply

Deanna, it was not making a mockery of Jesus at all. Why are you even watching SNL when you are so sensitive? Practically everything is poked fun at. The skit was poking fun at Tebow and everyone else always praying for Jesus/God for this and that....God has better things to do don't you agree? Like He cares. I am not Christian or even religious but even I know that God is not Santa Claus.

December 28, 2011 9:16 PM
Riley
Reply

I agree with Len, I don’t think the Tebow skit should have been taken that seriously. I mean, isn’t that what Saturday Night Live does? They poke fun at different trending topics. I thought it was hilarious, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more parodies of Tebow in the future. I watched it on DISH Online with my family and they thought it was just as funny. Even if I didn’t work for DISH, I would still use DISH Online all the time because it has many shows like Saturday Night Live that are available even if you don’t subscribe. If you do, there are many other shows you can see if you don’t agree with SNL. I thought this was one of the funniest episodes in a long time and I’m looking forward to more hilarious skits involving Tebow. For all we know, he could be showing up on SNL soon.

January 20, 2012 4:56 AM
Maribeth
Reply

That's cleared my thoughts. Thanks for contribtunig.

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