‘Saturday Night Live’ review: Peter Dinklage, ‘Outside the Lines,’ ‘The Voice,’ Melissa McCarthy shine
If you wanted great comedy to sink your teeth into this weekend, there’s really no question that “Saturday Night Live” delivered. Not only was this show even better than Justin Timberlake’s hosting gig, it was the best of the season. Almost every sketch was funny, and the best thing about it was that the majority of the characters and sketches were new creations rather than the writers and actors just resting on their laurels (which is something we saw at times during the “Suit & Tie” singer’s show).
To us, this episode really cemented that there is no better comedic actor in the business right now than Melissa McCarthy. She was sharp, funny, and creative every step of the way this week, and she acted with her entire body rather than just her face.
Want video content from the episode? Be sure to check back in the morning, as we will have some embedded into the article.
What worked
Melissa McCarthy monologue – This is probably going to be polarizing, but we like how willing she was to actually embrace physical comedy in a live TV format. The entire bit was all about her heels being impossible to walk in, and she sold every joke / movement of her body perfectly.
“Outside the Lines” – We don’t know if we have laughed this hard at a “SNL” sketch in recent history. This complete decimation of the Rutgers basketball program was a thrill to watch from start to finish, with McCarthy dominating it as a female version of Mike Rice who was a million times worse. Everything was so biting and spot-on that there was literally not a dull moment in the entire sketch.
“The Voice” spoof – It’s amazing that “SNL” has not really spoofed this show funny before, mostly because it is their highest-rated program and has fans around the globe. The selling point mostly came via the Usher and Shakira impersonations, and they were enough to make up for Kenan Thompson’s terrible Cee Lo Green and Jason Sudeikis’ barely-better Blake Shelton.
Bathroom Businessman – This is the sort of sketch that you knew that this should would do eventually, as it revolved solely around the idea of getting a product for someone to create their own portable office on the commode. It was funny, but we almost wish they didn’t make it into a fake PSA at the end. If you’re going to embrace the crazy, really embrace the crazy.
The ham sketch – This was completely absurd, but also completely funny: a woman, desperate to prove herself in a ham-making competition, danced around with two guys in big costumes. If it wasn’t for McCarthy’s commitment to it, this could have been pretty lame. However, she made it roll-on-the-floor funny.
“Weekend Update” – This was just utter brilliance through and through. Vanessa Bayer’s Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy is turning out to be a pretty great character, and Kenan Thompson’s Charles Barkley was at least pretty competent. Nothing defeats, though, the absolutely gut-busting appearance of Peter Dinklage as Peter Drunklage, the new partner-in-crime to Bobby Moynihan’s drunk uncle. It was offensive, obnoxious, and pretty much every “Game of Thrones” fan’s lifelong dream come true.
The “Wheel of Fortune” spoof – What a great post-“Weekend Update” sketch this was, as we ended up seeing McCarthy draw big laughs as a Vanna White replacement who was terrible at her job.
What was less successful
Kim Jong Un – Admittedly, we were worried about this week’s show after watching the cold open, which was basically Bobby Moynihan speaking various Japanese words as the Korean dictator, while some marginally funny jokes about the NCAA bracket and same-sex marriage were said by an interpreter. Just because it’s relevant does not make it funny.
The TD bank sketch – This sketch actually would have been the highlight of the Justin Bieber or Kevin Hart show, but it was on the lower end of the spectrum this week as we saw McCarthy’s character try to get a loan to eat pizza. It was very funny at the end, but took a while to get going.
What did you think about this episode? If you want to see some more highlights from “Saturday Night Live” this season, you can do so over at the link here.
Photo: NBC