Who Scored Big in Week Ten of SNL's Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-Player Relevancy Poll?
So... is it safe to talk about SNL again? While I was trying to get as much sleep as possible in the foxhole that I embedded myself in last night, I got the feeling that a few of you were not quite as happy with Saturday night's show as I seemed to be. But here's the thing: In the scorecard I did mention that (the now polarizing) Jeff Bridges was far from the best host of the season and that Saturday was also not the laugh-out-loud funniest show of the season. I'll admit, perhaps this is a flaw with the scoring system used, but what the Bridges installment had was a plethora of sketches that received a score between six and seven. Bridges had eight "good" sketches and only four "bad." Put it this way: if every sketch had been given a score of 6.5, it would be the top rated show of the season. Having said all of that, I still very much liked Saturday's installment. OK, let's get to the poll.
The NRFPTP Relevancy Poll is driven by a proprietary algorithm involving such factors as quality airtime. If your results differ, let's hear about it nicely discuss this in the comments.
Yep, the 36th season of Saturday Night live, so far, belongs to Bill Hader. Again, certainly no complaints about this. Hader is a fine choice to lead the cast as his characters are always funny and avoid the annoyance factor that some of his colleagues' recurring characters possess. I'm curious if we will see Mr. Assange make it four in a row when the show returns next year with Jim Carrey as host. Also, Stefon.
2. Jason Sudeikis (Last Week: 10)
I'm very happy to see Sudeikis bounce back after what appeared to be a few frustrating weeks for him. Of course, the return of "Kickspit" is going to help, but he also had "It's a Wonderful Life," "Jeff'd," Joe Biden and a very touched outlaw to hang his hat on this week.
3. Andy Samberg (Last Week: 1)
And, like Hader, Samberg continues his dance with the top of the list. Coming in third with another strong Digital Short and the return, briefly, of his Mark Zuckerberg character.
4. Vanessa Bayer (Last Week: 9)
Last week I mentioned that I thought it was odd that they didn't do a "Miley Cyrus Show," considering the attention the real life Cyrus had received based on the released photos of her taking a hit off of a bong. Well, it came a week too late. Regardless, with this third installment, Bayer has her self a bona fide recurring sketch.
5. Taran Killam (Last Week: 14) This week's wildcard is Taran Killam. As a new featured player you have to break in wherever you can and "Update" is usually the key for these guys. Say what you will about his Brad Pitt impression, but people are talking about it and that's what matters.
6. Fred Armisen (Last Week: 6)
I'll admit, Armisen finally starred in an Obama sketch that was pretty funny. Then again, he didn't have any dialogue. Also, it's fairly sad that this was most likely the last we will ever see Larry King lampooned on SNL. Sure, Norm MacDonald's take was better, but, in the past, Armisen did a pretty serviceable job. (As evidenced in the Conan-Leno sketch from earlier this year.)
Meyers will always be in the top half of this list as long as Stefon makes an appearance on "Update."
8. Abby Elliott (Last Week: 7)
Good news for Abby Elliott: Two fairly strong weeks in a row for her. Yes, I hate the Kardashian sketches, but they do get her airtime. And for the purposes of this poll, that's what matters.
9. Nasim Pedrad (Last Week: 11) I really think Pedrad is great on SNL, but something's been missing the last few weeks. She had a terrific start to the season, but the last few weeks she's gone MIA. "Kickspit" was a welcome return. The Kardashians were not.
10. Kenan Thompson (Last Week: 8)
His Michael Steele was fine. It's just that the general notion of Steele becoming a Tea Party member based upon is reelection campaign was, as I mentioned yesterday, not the best of concepts. Good supporting roles in sketches like "Jeff'd." I know, they've been done to death, but I was kind of hoping for a holiday blowout "What's Up With That?"
11. Jay Pharoah (Last Week: 4)
Had a mid-"Kickspit" rap session, and then really wasn't heard from again. Still, it was a good sign that he got a new character on the air last week, he just needs to develop more of them.
12. Bobby Moynihan (Last Week: 3)
Ass Dan! And that's about it. Though, he was funny as a man who knew that he would be shot in the "General Store" sketch.
13. Paul Brittain (Last Week: 5)
A couple of bit roles, but Brittain was really no where to be seen. My advise: Just jump on stage during the monologue every week and yell, "Yo, Yo, featured player Paul Brittain in the mother freakin' house!"
14. Kristen Wiig (Last Week: 12)
I'm not sure what's going on here. Look, I'm not a huge fan of Wiig's more known recurring characters, but I do think that Wiig is very funny. (She's an honest to God scene stealer in movies.) Am I happy that the last few weeks have been Gilly-free? Well, yeah. But I still think there's a great way to utilize Wiig without regulating her to a couple of bit roles.
Comments
I think that Wiig is doing a movie, so she has been cutting down her SNL workload the last few weeks, to work on it.
Ummm, Paul Brittain was in almost every sketch, how could you score him so low? Sure, they were supporting roles and he didn't have many lines, but he still had some funny moments. I don't see how you could score him so low, yet score Taran Killam so high for one of the worst impressions in the history of impressions.
Seriously, I cant figure out why Meyers/Lorne let him do that awful Brad Pitt. Nor can I figure out why you insist on mentioning how bad you think Armisen's Obama is every week, yet you didn't have any problems Killam's impression.
I know you took a bunch of shots for you review yesterday, so I feel bad writing another negative comment, but not bad enough I guess, sorry buddy. Oh, and for the record, I thought the episode was one of the seasons bestestes.
No, that's a really good point about Brittain. Also, I liked the Pitt impression! (Though, it probably went on too long.)
I wasn't feeling the Pitt impression, either. I'm not really into Killam - he has a self-awareness in everything he does that doesn't work for me.
Brittain seems like he's where Moynihan was a couple years ago - putting in some supporting work while he figures out his role on the show. I hope it works out for him. I also loved "Sex Ed" Vincent.
The best part of the Brad Pitt thing was Jolie showing up with his Christmas present, another baby. Blahhh!
unfortunately if you want SNL to be funny you DON'T want abby elliott to get more airtime