SNL Scorecard: Was Tina Fey Overshadowed by Captain Jack Sparrow?

The Bad

"Bedelia: Sleepover" (Pedrad, Fey, Elliott, Bayer, Brittain, Samberg, Moynihan, Killam) I generally like the Bedelia sketches. And there was nothing particularly wrong with this one, but there wasn't anything particularly memorable, either. Bedelia thinks that her mom is cool -- which is the gist for all of these, I suppose. I dunno, if there were some sort of purgatory category that I could put this one in, well, I would. But taking into account that it's been awhile since we've seen Bedelia, there was plenty of time to bring something a little more fresh to the idea.

Score: 5.5

"Birthing Class" (Fey, Rudolph, Elliott, Sudeikis, Hader, Moynihan, Thompson, Wiig): I'm going to have to plead a little bit of ignorance with this one. I can only imagine that those of you readers who have gone through the process of bringing new life to our planet may have some sort of personal anecdote which makes this sketch hilarious. And keeping in mind that Fey and Maya Rudolph are very much pregnant, it seems likely that one of them had a recent experience with a video like the one portrayed. For us here on the outside looking in, it was just kind of disturbing.

Score: 5.0

"Discount Prom Wear" (Thompson, Fey, Wiig, Samberg, Rudolph): The Googie Rene saga has been an (at best) OK, near-the-end-of-the-show recurring sketch since its inception two-and-a-half years ago. The "slightly stained wedding dress" was a fun idea. "Partially damaged Halloween costumes" from earlier this season turned into a funny concept when the focus shifted from the clothes to the items that come with the costumes as a way to cover up the damage. This time, with damaged prom wear, it's just an autographed picture of Julie Chen that's used to cover the damage. Hopefully Googie Rene ends, right here, as a trilogy.

Score: 4.0

"Tina Fey Monologue" (Fey, Rudolph): I like Tina Fey. I like Maya Rudolph. And I'm not sure what happened here, but this went nowhere. I get that it's Mother's Day, but the song, coupled with their unborn babies singing, was a tad hokey. The best part was when Fey hinted at a famous impression that she wanted to just get out of the way, then burst into a fairly great Karl Childers from Sling Blade. Unfortunately, this joke was negated when Fey (again, I can only imagine, against her better instinct), went ahead and performed Palin.

Score: 4.0

The Ugly

"Osama Cold Open" (Armisen): I know that there was nobody at SNL actively asking each week for the last decade, "Hey, so what do we have for a Bin Laden-is-dead sketch this week? You know... just in case." Nevertheless: The staff had 10 years to conceive a great Osama bin Laden sketch for when we finally caught/killed this asshole, and this is the best they could do?

Score: 1.5

Average Score For This Show: 5.82

Weekly Host Scorecard:

· Russell Brand 6.35

· Jeff Bridges 6.21

· Amy Poehler 6.04

· Anne Hathaway 6.00

· Emma Stone 5.88

· Gwyneth Paltrow 5.88

· Zach Galifianakis 5.86

· Jon Hamm 5.86

· Paul Rudd 5.83

· Robert De Niro 5.83

· Tina Fey 5.82

· Jim Carrey 5.80

· Jesse Eisenberg 5.79

· Bryan Cranston 5.79

· Elton John 5.77

· Dana Carvey 5.75

· Miley Cyrus 5.54

· Jane Lynch 5.31

· Hellen Mirren 5.21

· Scarlett Johansson 4.69

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Comments

  • Al says:

    I would swap "Birthing Class", which was hilarious in its freaky-bizarrity, with "Mermaid", which seemed like it needed one more rehearsal to learn the timing and camera cues.
    Bedelia and Googie both dragged on a bit.
    Maya Rudolph singing is a recipe for success; the monologue song worked until the awkward sonogram duets.
    The cold open had...2 good jokes. The "fear of being eaten by fish" & "bullet-proof vest" things were funny. The Dakota Fanning thing was weird, since they dated the video as being made in at least 2008, so Fanning was already over 12.
    But yeah, without a doubt the stars of last night's show were Stefon and Bolton.

  • Mike Ryan says:

    Like I was kind of saying, I could probably be talked into "Birthing Class." Seems like a "had to experience it" type of situation.

  • Nerd says:

    Birthing Class and Hallmark Mother's Day were the best sketches I've seen on SNL in a long ass time. Did anyone else notice that someone in the audience said "Fuck your yurt!"??? Maya and Bobby almost lost it.

  • Scraps says:

    The only thing unrealistic about the birthing class sketch was the fact they were able to crack wise while the video was being played. No self respecting maternity nurse who shows a video like that to a Lamaze class would stand for that sort of tomfoolery. The video, by the way, DEAD ON!!
    And didn't Myers mention Palin at the White House thingy when saying that out of all the great accomplishments in journalism Katie Couric has achieved, she'll be most remembered for a question, name a newspaper, that could double as a 'Family Feud' question.

  • Brian Van says:

    On one hand, if Will Ferrell was involved in it somehow, I bet you
    would have thought it was a lot funnier.
    On the other hand, if Will Ferrell was involved in it somehow, I bet
    it would have actually been a lot funnier without analysis.
    It was bizarre, absurd, and lousy with sight gags and one-liners -
    like the massive vagina 'fro, the huge "VHM" tape, the face-licking,
    Hader's makeup transformation, the sight of Rudolph and Wiig doing
    some sort of 69-birth thing and making faces at the camera, and
    Sudekis' reactions to everything. (I see that putting Sudekis into a
    "commentary" role is maybe the best way to revive a skit that isn't
    already being completely owned by someone else) This is not meant as a
    knock on the skit, but it probably goes over much better if you're
    stoned. But all the pieces were there. At least for me.
    I'd have rated it a 6. It's much better than "Bedelia", which was a
    bomb this time. That's sad because it's won me over before.

  • josh says:

    Actually Seth mentioned Palin, he had a funny joke about not having a president that get stumped by questions from the Family Feud. "NAME A NEWSPAPER"

  • Mike Ryan says:

    (And for Scraps, too) Fair enough, but I don't think he mentioned her name, right?

  • Kristen says:

    Overall I was pretty let down with this episode. It's a shame because I adore Tina Fey. It wasn't necessarily a horrible episode, though. Some things really made me laugh while others left me grimacing. Not to mention I was surprised by Tina's absence from Weekend Update but I quickly forgot about it when Stefon popped up.

  • lord-z says:

    Even if the episode was rather bland overall, there was a few good sketches. The Birth-training sketch was great, I might have said the Hallmark sketch was the best of the evening, but it was a good update. Much like the Elton John show, and the Mirren show to a degree, the worst thing you can accuse it of is probably of missing a lot of great potential. Even in the bad sketches, it seems like there is potential for a good, if not great sketch, but somehow it never came to be. Huge wastes of great ideas. The Osama sketch, I think that if Fred had been allowed to do his thing, instead of being stuck looking at a piece of paper, I think it could have been good. The mermaid sketch, few sketches can get away with no one moving from their spot. It just looks dull on camera.
    On another note, congratulations to the featureds, for a good night. Even Pharoah got a nice role as, dare I say it, an original character. Though I don't watch these sort of shows, so for all I know, it could have been a spot-on impression of someone.

  • Dan says:

    It's disturbing how much Michael Bolton as Erin Brocovich resembles Sarah Jessica Parker...

  • Anonymous says:

    I apologize Tina Fey...I tried SO HARD to stay awake and watch but I was dead tired. I'll have to catch it on Hulu...

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  • lord-z says:

    Never mind. I just learned that "Pregnant in heels" is, to my horror, a real show, and Pharoah was imitating a guy on that.

  • john says:

    I read a good comment from someone on the Palin impression that it missed an opportunity. Fey played the naive Palin of 2008 that she was so good at, but since then Palin has morphed into an angry and mean-spirited figure. Fey's take on that Palin would have been interesting.

  • Mike Ryan says:

    Yep. I had to look that up, too. But, yes, he was, unfortunately.

  • I knew it! The opening monologue and the birthing class were two of my favorite sketches, so I knew Mike wouldn't like them very much. Why are we so different??
    I was flabbergasted by Maya Rudolph's, um, afro in the birthing sketch. You don't usually see that much pubic hair -- even obviously fake pubic hair -- on network TV.

  • Mike Ryan says:

    We're not that different! We did seem to have a few similar opinions at Tribeca, if I remember correctly.
    And, to be fair, I openly admit that I can be talked into liking the birthing sketch.

  • Mike Ryan says:

    This is a really good point.

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    The moment they to begin with sign-up, this genuinely is, clearly.

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