SNL Scorecard: Did Scarlett Johansson Host the Worst Show of the Season?
Of all my years of die-hard Saturday Night Live devotion, I honestly can't remember another time when I would recommend to just skip all the sketches in a given episode and, instead, just watch the musical act. If I were ever to do that, last night's episode would have been the one. Apart from Arcade Fire, though, the rest of the Scarlett Johansson-hosted episode fell flat on its face -- by far the worst show of the season. The blame doesn't rest with Johansson, who was decent enough with what she had to work with (save her pretty terrible monologue). But considering how strong the previous, Jon Hamm-hosted episode was, this was startling. To the Scorecard!
Sketch of the Night
"Unstoppable Trailer" (Pharoah, Killam, Johansson, Brittain): Admittedly, I have no idea if this parody of Denzel Washington's new runaway train movie is as funny to those who haven't seen the film. But yes: This is pretty much how the movie plays out. The first exchange between Pharoah and Killam about the nursing home and the daycare center is taken straight from the film. And the Rosario Dawson character played by Johansson is just as obsessed with the Chrysler Building. Honestly, they should have just used the entire 90 minutes to recreate the move rather than subject us to the rest of the sketches. (I'm sure Arcade Fire could have been worked in somehow.)
Score: 9.0
The Good
"Stars of Tomorrow" (Bayer, Johansson): This one just hit a personal chord. I remember the "actors" in my Midwestern high school who would be lauded as brilliant despite speaking the kind of dialogue Bayer absolutely nails in this sketch. Keep in mind, any other night this would be at the bottom of the "Good" list.
Score: 7.0
"16 and Pregnant Spinoffs" (Ensemble): Funny premise of combining 16 and Pregnant with every other MTV show. My favorite laugh: The new spinoff of MTV's Cribs features actual baby cribs; a less-than-excited Bayer tells the camera, "So, here it is," as she stands in front of her run-of-the-mill baby crib.
Score: 6.5
"Digital Short: What Was That?" (Samberg, Arcade Fire): Seriously, what is this? It gets credit for just being so weird. Samberg is a student who gets the chance to speak to the UN General Assembly and goes on a rant asking the purpose of the greatest atrocities of the last 200 years. To be fair to the U.N., a lot of the events Samberg listed occurred before the U.N.'s creation in 1945. I feel I'm being kind to a few sketches that normally wouldn't have been labeled as "good."
Score: 6.5
"Manuel Ortiz Show" (Armisen, Ensemble): OK, yes, I'm definitely being kind. I feel I'm classifying this sketch as good as some sort of legacy situation considering how much I've enjoyed these in the past. Granted, I still find delight at the sight of everyone dancing every time a new guest is brought out. Nevertheless, of all the Manuel Ortiz installments, this was the worst.
Score: 6.0
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Comments
I would imagine the monologue isn't on Hulu because NBC doesn't want to pay the royalties to Kander & Ebb for their song "Class" from Chicago (cut from the film). ScarJo was dressed (and styled) like the stage version of Roxie Hart -- was this an audition we witnessed?
Actually, yes, I would bet that you are correct.
I agree the episode sucked.
Another Sat night I wished so hard for MadTV to be uncancelled.
For Unstobbable, are they making fun of Denzel's smile?
Honestly, if the episode was just bland I would have been disappointed that I'd wasted an hour, yet remained hopeful for the next week's episode. However, this episode seemed to go beyond just bad... it was actually quite painful to watch and never hear the studio audience laugh. I was left wondering if something didn't seriously go wrong this week at the Studio that left the writers with less time to write the show. Several times during the episode (particularly with "Middle School Kids" and "Millionaire Matchmaker") I would wait for a climax that I felt attainable for the sketch; nevertheless was disappointed and tremendously confused at the absence of comedy or even a point. In all, SNL is a truly great show that sometimes produces below the line episodes as every show on television does. But this episode was an outlier, so much so that I'm not even sure if comedy was the goal of the writing.
"But this episode was an outlier, so much so that I'm not even sure if comedy was the goal of the writing."
Ouch.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why Scarlett Johansson felt the need to do a bad NY accent in nearly every sketch she was in. Except for the Stars of Tomorrow and MTV sketches, I was pretty disappointed with this whole episode.
And the Paula Deen impression was an impression of Paula Deen of the Food Network, not a Kristen Wiig character. And while it was pointless as a sketch, I thought it was a fun impression.
If you want honest and dead bang on reviews of each SNL broadcast check this out...
http://snlsaturdaynightlive.com/
I aggree completely about how bad last nights show was and disagree completely about "Jon Hamm"...that episode was maybe the 2nd worst episode in the past 36 years along with this one, being the first.
They also had an extra week to work on this one because last weeks episode was a repeat. There was NO ECUSE for what Lorne Michaels did last night. he is losing his touch and that's 5 now out of the 7 episidoes so far that have completely sucked this year! Forthermore, Scarlett Johansson was pretentious and phoney and was the last [person whom ever should have been selected to host this show!
http://snlsaturdaynightlive.com/
Yes! Argh, I meant to comment on her NY accent. What was that all about? It was quite distracting.
You were too generous with your scores this week, this episode was terrible! You gave “Darlique & Barney” a 3 last week and that sketch was funnier than anything in tonight's episode.
Also, they really need to drop the political openers. SNL is not The Daily Show and I don't think outside of election season there is a reason to have political humor outside of Weekend Update.
I actually loved the Middle School Kids sketch. It was a pretty effing brilliant sendup of the kind of mind-numbingly sappy shows that have taken over Disney & Nickelodeon since Kenan's days on Nick.