Poor Paul Rudd. Last time he hosted SNL, his performance was overshadowed by musical guest Beyoncé (and her "Single Ladies" sketch with Justin Timberlake). This time Rudd had to compete with a Beatle. After a very slow start, the Paul Rudd-hosted edition of SNL recovered into one of the most memorable but wildly unbalanced episodes of the season. Let's be clear: Rudd did a fine job, but this was Paul McCartney's episode. Not only did McCartney appear in three different sketches, the former Beatle got four -- four! -- musical segments: Performing "Jet," "Band on the Run," a "Day in the Life"/"Give Peace a Chance" hybrid and "Get Back." So, how was the rest of the show that didn't involve McCartney singing? On to the scorecard!
Sketch of the Night
"Digital Short: Stumblin'!" (Samberg, Rudd, McCartney): Not on Hulu for probably about 50 different reasons -- using the "9 to 5" theme, Paul McCartney singing to the music of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" -- so hopefully this YouTube clip stays up at least for awhile. I am 100 percent on board with "Stumblin'!" The premise starts with the first lyrics from Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" -- "Tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen," changing them to "Stumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen..." then putting the word stumble in every lyric following while Samberg stumbles around the streets of New York. Then, inexplicably, McCartney shows up and repeatedly sings "walking in slow motion" before jumping into a tiny harmonica solo. Look, I have no idea what any of this means, I just know that I like it. "Stumblin'!" earns the first score of 10 for this season. Seriously, put this one up there with "Lazy Sunday" and "Jizz in My Pants."
Score: 10
The Good
"Weekend Update" (Meyers, McCartney, Hader): "Update" lives and dies on its guest segments. Honestly, just use Stefon every single time. I have no idea what it is about Stefon that makes Hader giggle, because Hader is so good about not breaking character, but he can never make it though a Stefon bit without laughing. It's not annoying like Fallon used to be, considering Fallon laughed at everything; Hader rarely breaks, which is why this is just so damn entertaining. Also, I've noticed, Meyers' version of "Update" has some of the most awkward endings. He never ends on the best joke, just a joke. And when that joke doesn't work, it's a strange way to sign off. Look, it's not like I know what I'm talking about compared to Meyers, but his "but I reckon it could be" line -- based on the penis size of men who grow up on the country versus the city -- would have been a great end joke as opposed to the joke about a baby stuck in a toy crane vending machine.
Score: 7.5
"A Message from Mastercard" (Hader): Wow, back-to-back weeks with a Julian Assange sketch. No longer hosting his TMZ style show, Assange is now behind bars and he's not happy about it -- unleashing threats to the American public that include forcing everyone to watch the fourth season of Hanging with Mr. Cooper and taking away your one profile picture on Facebook that makes you look thin.
Score: 7.5
"What's That Name?" (Hader, Rudd, Bayer, Thompson): A new game show that gives out astonishingly low dollar prizes for being able to correctly identify the name of a celebrity based on a photo. The prize amounts go astronomically high once the game shifts to guessing the names of people the contestants know in real life -- like Rudd's doorman. I would be terrible at the "people I've met" portion of this game and it made me queasy even thinking about possibly being a contestant. Thompson as the doorman, Norman, is the reason this sketch works.
Score: 6.5
"Meryl Streep on Ice" (Elliott, Sudeikis): Typical Meryl Streep, annoyingly humble right after she gives a breathtaking performance, this time as an ice skater. True, Elliott's Streep impression isn't the best, but the general idea of what's going on here is a pretty great idea. Also, I'd probably buy tickets to this show if it actually existed.
Score: 6.5
"Paul Rudd Monologue" (Rudd, McCartney, Brittain): Not a lot going on here, but Rudd is just so damn charming it's hard not to enjoy his bit about the droves of fans waiting outside chanting "Paul!" And I did laugh out loud when Paul Brittain rushed on stage to announce that, "Yo, yo yo, featured player Paul Brittain is in the mother freaking house!" I have a feeling that a picture of him standing on stage with the other two Pauls is currently framed above Brittain's bed.
Score: 6.5
"Spotlight" (Sudeikis, Rudd, Hader) Rudd is practicing a scene from Cabaret and has some issues with the spotlight operator. Actually, I was just happy to see Jason Sudeikis who was all but forgotten during this show. The premise is not great, but listening to Sudeikis explain why Tangled is the Inception of animated films is enough to (barely) push this into the "good" category.
Score: 6.0
The Bad
"Cat Cuisine" (Elliott, Pedrad): This is the kind of bit that I wish there was a category called "It's fine." If there were, "Cat Cuisine" would be included. There's nothing bad about the sketch, but there's nothing particularly good about it either. Chefs spend a lot of time making gourmet cat foot that still looks like cat food. The End.
Score: 5.5
"Field Day" (Pharoah, Rudd): The good news: Jay Pharoah finally got a non-impression character onto the air and, from his Twitter account, I know he was quite excited about this fact. The bad news: It wasn't particularly great. I mean, his heavy breathing quite religious principal was, well, odd? Is that the word? I don't know. I'm a Pharoah fan, but I have to admit, I didn't particularly get this one. Though, again, it's good to see Pharoah do something other than in impression.
Score: 5.0
"Sexually Speaking" (Armisen, Rudd, Hader): There's always something missing with these Roger Brush sketches, yet they continue to air. Honestly, it doesn't even matter what I say here, I could be describing any of the installments. Watch any one of them, they are all exactly the same. Why not just show a previously aired version if nothing new is going to be done with the premise?
Score: 4.5
"Kissing Family" (Rudd, Wiig, Hader, Armisen, Bayer): I realize that there are fans of "The Kissing Family," and I think it worked well the first time it aired because of shock value. As a recurring sketch, it's honestly one of the most lazy, one-note recurring sketches in the history of Saturday Night Live. Son brings friend/girlfriend home from college, the family kisses a lot. That's it, every time. I mean, how can the writers think there's any shock value to this sketch any longer now that we've all seen it multiple times?
Score: 3.5
The Ugly
"Barack Obama Address Cold Open" (Armisen): Because he agreed to the Republican tax plan, Obama is now a Republican. Could have been a funny premise, but, honestly, is Armisen even attempting to do an Obama impression any longer? Armisen's Obama impression during this sketch sounded like Fred Armisen. Part of me thinks he's phoning it in on purpose because he doesn't want to play Obama any longer.
Score: 1.5
Average Score For This Show: 5.83
Weekly Host Scorecard:
· Amy Poehler 6.04
· Anne Hathaway 6.00
· Emma Stone 5.88
· Jon Hamm 5.86
· Paul Rudd 5.83
· Robert De Niro 5.83
· Bryan Cranston 5.79
· Jane Lynch 5.31
· Scarlett Johansson 4.69