When all’s said and done — meaning, on our final days of Earth, pondering what it all meant and ranking the best episodes of sketch comedy shows — last night’s Melissa McCarthy-hosted episode of SNL will go down as one of the season’s best. McCarthy has a way of making it seem like the only thing that matters is fitting in as many jokes into a five-minute sketch as possible, be it through impressive physical comedy or squeezing in a short ad-lib to accentuate the oddity. That may sound like an obvious point, but considering all the dud hosts we’ve squirmed through this season, who were there only because their manager told them it’d be a good publicity move, McCarthy seemed genuinely excited to be on the show and thoroughly involved with bringing Barb Kellner to life.
Also, Peter Dinklage showed up as Peter Drunklage, so even if had McCarthy (forever Sookie St. James) had sh*t the bed, I would have loved this episode. Her being excellent was a bonus.
Dennis Rodman, who appeared to be dressed for an aquatic BDSM party, has now said, “LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT” more times than his Double Team counterpart, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
That’s a shame.
SNL‘s all-time greatest physical comedian, Chris Farley, would have been proud of the monologue, in which McCarthy gingerly makes her way across the stage while wearing the highest of heels. Curly-haired Jeff Garlin in the band looked so happy to be a part of the bit. Does that make him her David Spade? I now hate curly-haired Jeff Garlin.
Not sure what was going on in the live portion of this sketch (Hader and McCarthy had some weird pauses), but that’s a minor criticism, considering how good all the pre-taped stuff was. Look, an adult — an adult who looks like the love child of Pat Summitt and Jim Harbaugh at that — throwing a toaster at another adult is never NOT going to be funny. Same with this sight gag.
“I live in a basement, except there’s no roof.”
Did anyone else really like McCarthy’s “Toot Toot” song? No? Just me? Screw you guys. SNL can’t really make fun of The Voice, it being on the same doomed network and all, so I guess staging this sketch around the judges enjoying a terrible (note: good) song is as clever as it’s going to get. And it was fine: Kate McKinnon’s Shakira impression was spot-on, as was Bill Hader’s muted Adam Levine. Not as good as “Toot Toot,” but still good.
What is it about Melissa McCarthy that makes people want to sh*t their pants?
Get Bar Mitzvah Boy to host Late Night. That homework bit would kill.
A thing of beauty.
Many of the season’s best sketches in which the host is involved have had a simple premise: two people, sitting down, talking. I’m thinking back to Kate and Louis CK’s hookup during his episode last season. “Pizza Eater Loan Application” follows that simple formula, with McCarthy trying to convince Jason Sudeikis to give her a loan — and it’s hilarious. Barb Kellner is just the right amount of endearing to offset the weird, and the sketch never felt like it was telling a mere fat joke. Though I haven’t read Rex Reed’s take yet.
It’s become apparent that every 10-to-1 should involve a vaguely intoxicated Cecily Strong.
Phoenix: live > Phoenix: not live.
