When you think of Josh Brolin, what do you think of? The Goonies? No Country for Old Men? Maybe W? He doesn’t have a definitive role, and while he is a good actor, he’s not someone you’d ever say, “I want to see this movie because of Josh Brolin!” about. That’s why I was surprised “SNL” asked him to host (again), though I imagine the conversation went like: “Hey, Will Smith, want to host ‘SNL’? No? OK. What about you, Josh Brolin?”
That’s why he was one of the more anonymous hosts of the season. He wasn’t bad in any of his sketches — and in fact, was quite funny in “Slow-Motion Hallway” and “Principal Frye Prom” — but also he wasn’t given much to do it. Even his opening monologue was one of the shortest of the season. Both Brolin and the episode as a whole were consistently good — never awful, never amazing. (It’s also worth noting that for the rest of the season, including the Eli Manning-hosted show on May 5, we should expect a Greatest Hits collection of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg characters, hence Gilly last week and Garth and Kat and Laser Cats this one.)
One more thing: NBC didn’t upload as many videos to their website as usual, so you won’t see the “Time of Your Life” cold open, “America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist,” or, most importantly, the “Game of Thrones” sketch in the slideshow. Stupid copyright issues.
Right off the bat, Brolin shared the spotlight with Jay Pharoah, the joke being that his straight man character in Men in Black 3 basically exists to respond to Will Smith’s AWW HELL NAW.
Had it stopped after the first mirror glance: solid sketch with a clever premise. But then it went on for five minutes. (It was a really California-heavy episode for some reason, from this to the song in “Slow-Motion Hallway” that’s still squeezing my mind grapes.)
I respect Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig’s Garth and Kat more than I actually like them. Kind of like their vests.
Steven Spielberg’s cameo was fun (I WANT HIS HAT/SWEATSHIRT COMBINATION), but this wasn’t one of the better “Laser Cats.” So much time was spent on the plot that the jokes weren’t as rapid-fire as usual. Plus, it did that thing where we’re tricked into laughing at references, not because they’re funny but because we got what’s being referred to. (I did giggle at Tyrannosaurus Cat, though.)
And I just spent way too much time dissecting f*cking Laser Cats.
Two things:
1) Taran Killam’s Piers Morgan sounds like a British Michael Cera.
2) Nasim Pedrad is a very pretty lady.
Hey, Jay Pharoah can play a character who isn’t based on a celebrity! This wasn’t Principal Frye’s first appearance on “SNL,” but it WAS the first time he mentioned a stuck up iguana.
Still bitter Taran’s version of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” never made it on the show.
