OK, I've calmed down a bit since yesterday's scorecard. Yes, I still thought Saturday night was a train wreck (literally! Boom!) but I've almost been waiting for a show to come along that was so bad it would completely upend the relevancy poll. That show was this week. No more, "well, Jay Pharoah was good but he's too underused to be number one." Poppycock! Pharoah's talent (and Taran Killam to a point) really shined this week when set against a backdrop that's mostly made of sorrow. Welcome your new SNL Overlord, Jay Pharoah.
On to the poll. The NRFPTP Relevancy Poll is driven by a proprietary algorithm involving such factors as quality airtime and blah, blah blah... let's be honest, this week's poll is pretty much determined by spite. If your results differ, let's hear about it.
Pharoah's Denzel Washington is the best, and that Unstoppable sketch may have been one of the best of the season. Why is this man not playing Obama? I'm a fan of Armisen, but it's time to hand off the reigns.
Why not Bayer? Of the SNL players not named Pharoah, she had the two funniest moments of the night between "Cribs" and "Stars of Tomorrow."
As the hours have gone by, Samberg's "What Was That?" has grown on me.
Even though there's another guy who will remain nameless who should be playing Obama, Armisen is still Obama. Also, as said, I have a soft spot for "The Manuel Ortiz Show."
It was good to see Sudeikis as Dubya once again. Yep, this week, that's pretty much all it takes to be ranked sixth.
Thank God, I was starting to feel really guilty ranking Elliott last week after week. I like Elliott, and when given a chance, she's always great. This appeared to be Elliott's episode considering she played a prominent role in the monologue as Ke$ha and an early sketch. Then, yes, she disappeared. Regardless!
Even when Hader's working with less than stellar material, he gives it his all. Case in point: "Hollywood Dish" is pretty terrible. The only thing that makes it watchable is Hader selling the hell out of it.
Nothing remarkably memorable, but -- all things considered -- she had a decent amount of airtime and some memorable lines in "16 and Pregnant Spinoffs"
Wiig was everywhere, but most of what she was in bombed. To be fair, a lot of her characters do seem to play well with the studio audience, but that was not the case Saturday Night.
Kenan gets credit for trying something different with "Middle School Kids," even though it really didn't resonate at all.
Coming off of a huge week for Moynihan, I feel like a ton of his stuff that was actually good was cut so that we could see the dreck that actually aired. That's just the way it goes, I guess.
Is Seth Myers irrelevant? He's the head writer of Saturday Night Live, so of course he isn't. And, honestly, I'm a fan. But when a night as bad as Saturday happens, coupled with a sub-par "Update," unfortunately, it's on him.