‘SNL’ Recap: The Few Highs And Many Lows Of Seth Rogen

Previously: Seth Rogen Monologue and “Monster Pals”

Do yourself a favor, people who haven’t seen last night’s Seth Rogen-hosted SNL yet: stop watching after Weekend Update. I probably say this every year, but it seems like this season, more than any other in recent memory, has been a tale of two halves, with everything pre-Weekend Update falling somewhere between OK and Very Good, and everything after, give or take a bizarrely great 10-to-1, sinking to Meh or WHAT IS HAPPENING. Here, let Zooey show you what that looks like.

There was a lot of WHAT IS HAPPENING last night, but I’m a big Rogen fan, so let’s talk about the good stuff. Let’s see, there was: Peanut, the writers not leaning TOO heavily on weed jokes, Peanut, “Monster Pals,” Peanut, a shaggy looseness that was endearing when used correctly, and of course, Peanut. Sorry, Seth (and James Franco and Ed Sheeran), but it was Peanut’s night.

Cold Open

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I actually missed the first 30 seconds of the cold open, and had no idea which stuffy Republicans Beck Bennett and Taran Killam were supposed to be. My guess of some…guy… and Paul Ryan wasn’t that far off (some…guy… turned out to be Jeb Bush), but that doesn’t say much about their impression abilities here, or why I felt OK about not rewinding to see what I missed.

Drug Safety

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When Nasim Pedrad wraps up her run on SNL, her best-of collection is going to be 5% Arianna Huffington and 95% young boys and girls. Shallon might be the best of the pubescent bunch. When a D.A.R.E. officer drops by to tell Shallon’s class to say no to drugs, all she hears is, say yes to crack. She makes a good point, as does Bobby Moynihan, who demands that Rogen PUT A RING ON IT.

CNN Pregnancy Test

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The crowd was weirdly silent during “CNN Pregnancy Test,” but I enjoyed it. It’s a clever idea, and one that mocks CNN’s obsession with Flight 370 without ever explicitly addressing it. Subtlety isn’t usually SNL‘s strong suit, so take what you can get.

Steakhouse

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I kind of wish Rogen had actually farted. Thus ends my review of the disappointing “Steakhouse.”

Blue River Dog Food

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Peanut should be doing Weekend Update with Cecily Strong. He’s much more charismatic than her marshmallow vampire co-host. Anyway, this was my favorite sketch of the episode. Like so many of SNL‘s finest moments, it started small, with Strong and Rogen talking about dog food before exploding into an argument…about dog food, but also about marriage, life, and OMG LOOK AT PEANUT’S FACE. I love that dog as much as Strong hates BIG DOG FOOD skimping on the real chicken.


Weekend Update: David Ortiz

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Not really doing Colin Jost any I’m-not-the-mayonnaise-version-of-Seth-Meyers favors by having him interview a Boston Red Sox. To paraphrase the late Boston Powers, NO, BABY, though I did enjoy Kenan’s exuberance as David Ortiz and “Do you suffer from depression? Don’t!”

Weekend Update: Jacob The Bar-Mitzvah Boy

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Imagine how amazing it would have been if Peanut was on the Weekend Update desk and he started licking Jacob’s Derek Jeter-inspired tears. Just saying.

Engagement Party

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Every Sunday morning after a new SNL episode, recappers are emailed the embed codes for all the sketches. Usually, while I’m copying and pasting them into WordPress, I can remember what they were just by the slugs provided: “Shallon: Drug Safety,” “Steakhouse,” etc. When I got to “Engagement Party,” however, total blank. Did I fall asleep for five minutes? The hell is this? OHHHH that’s right, it’s about Rogen doing “gay stuff” with a man once, because jokes?

Undercover Sharpton

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Has Undercover Sharpton been cancelled and replaced with Dyke & Fats yet?

A Very Smokey 420 Time

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Kyle Mooney? More like Kyle Mumbley…or something. “A Very Smokey 420 Time” is likely as divisive as any of Mooney’s weird-ass sketches, with half the audience thinking it’s nonsensical nothing and the other half *takes a massive bong rip*. What were we talking about again?

Herman & Sons

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It’s like the ex-porn stars sketch, except about sperm and half as funny.

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