‘Saturday Night Live’ review: ‘Star Wars’ trailer, ‘Peter Pan Live’ spoofs; James Franco, Seth Rogen
Tonight, James Franco is coming aboard “Saturday Night Live,” and that leaves us with one major question: Are you ready for (hopefully) some laughs?
Our pre-show impression was that this was a show with the potential to be very funny, but also to be a dud. We never quite know what we’re going to get from this guy. Nicki Minaj is at least energetic, so we were hoping that she may show up in a sketch or two as the night goes on.
Now, let’s turn to our take on the show itself. We’re going to have further updates on this as the episode progresses, so be sure to refresh the page and keep coming back!
Al Sharpton cold open – This felt like “SNL” knowing that they had to address Ferguson and the police brutality headlines, but they really didn’t want to present too hard of an opinion. Kenan Thompson is a funny Al Sharpton, but the supporting cast in this one was kind of weak.
James Franco monologue – We liked the premise: James, realizing that Sony had been hacked, decided to share his secrets before the hackers could. Then, we had the obligatory Seth Rogen cameo to promote his upcoming movie “The Interview” with James, and the rest of the bit felt a little overdone. The photos were a fun tough, but not hilarious.
Peter Pan Live! sketch – It’s the return of Tonker Bell! Interestingly, we would have preferred just more jokes about Allison Williams as Pan over Aidy Bryant’s returning character, but this was very funny regardless. Franco was surprisingly good as a deadpan version of Captain Hook.
“Star Wars” trailer – We understand if someone feels that this entire sketch was too predictable, that the show would mock the movie based on the age of its stars. Still, we laughed early and often at all of the jokes in here. Maybe we just wanted to see this so bad that we had fun with it regardless.
Hip-hop nativity – Really funny from start to finish, especially the return of Jay Pharoah as Kanye West. Also, a surprising great appearance from Nicki Minaj as Beyonce. At first she didn’t seem to be that comfortable, but she got slowly and surely more comfortable.
Grow a Guy – Nothing was hilarious, but it was a charming, odd, and moderately-funny ditty that featured Mike O’Brien first and foremost. We like these little pre-tapes, even if they do not go for the belly laughs so much as just originality.
Troll bridge – Basically, an excuse to watch Kyle Mooney and James Franco kiss each other for a few seconds. Probably the first real miss of the night, mostly because we never got why it was supposed to be funny.
Musical performance – Head over here to read our take on Nicki performing “Bed of Lies” and more.
Weekend Update – The show took on the issues involving police brutality much more head-on here, in addition to also taking on Bill Cosby in a much more direct way than they did previously (at least via Anthony Crispino). We laughed a few times at Leslie Jones, though she may need a couple of weeks off. Distance makes the heart grow fonder! Also, Nicki as Kim Kardashian was sort-of funny, at least in a “she tried” sort of way.
Memory Sketch – Hilarious. Maybe our favorite live sketch of the season. The writing here, complete with 90’s references and a great use for James and Nicki, was hysterical. Also, the costume changes, the dancing, and the alternating cast members. So great.
Sunseeker Yachts – We still love these two adult-oriented stars who hawk products. Great use of Seth Rogen and Franco, and really awesome dialogue again.
Overall, this was a really solid episode of the show. While there were weak points, this was one of those rare shows where we actually laughed more and more as the night went on. That is a rare achievement! Grade: B+.
If you want to read some other reviews for “Saturday Night Live” this season, you can do so over at the link here! Also, sign up now to get some other TV updates worth reading and laughing over via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)