Saturday Night Live kicked off its 34th season on Saturday night, with eight time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps as host. The cast remained pretty much the same as last year. In fact they have been using the same opening credits sequence for the past three seasons. The only significant change is the addition of Bobby Moynihan as a featured player. Casey Wilson, who was added (presumably as a replacement for the departed Maya Rudolph) when the show returned after the writers' strike last season, is also back as a featured player.
I have to wonder — is there no female talent out there? Surely there must be funny women out there. Currently the cast is comprised of nine guys and three women. Amy Poehler, who has already been on the show for seven seasons, is pregnant and will presumably be gone sometime in the near (very near from the looks of things) future. Fortunately Kristen Wiig, who joined the cast in 2005, has been a breath of fresh air. She is funny and has brought several good characters to the show, most notably the one-upping Penelope.
Sports figures who have hosted have always been a mixed bag for the show. Unfamiliar with the format they often come across as a bit stiff (though well-respected actors like Robert De Niro have come across the same way). Michael Phelps is no exception, though I would not say he was terrible. Phelps mostly stuck to lower-key parts, even playing himself in more than one sketch. Overall the episode was okay, but not great. I will give them some bonus points for not getting too political. Aside from the cold open and a few jokes during "Weekend Update" the show stayed away from the political scene. I'm fine with them covering politics. It wouldn't be SNL without some political commentary, but for a while the show seemed to revolve around it, and that was tiring.
The Cold Open - "A Non-Partisan Message From Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton" (Grade: A-)
As soon as Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, I wondered if Tina Fey would be back. She was, and she turned out to be very good as Palin. She nailed the voice, the look, and Palin's facial expression. Amy Poehler has never gotten Hillary Clinton's voice quite right, but in this sketch she does convincingly convey Clinton's persona. The non-partisan message is about sexism towards female politicians by the media. The sketch is clever and funny, with the two ladies trading opposite takes on sexist comments. Palin complains that she is called beautiful, while Clinton doesn't want to called a wombat. This was definitely a high point of the show.
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Article comments
1 - Jayne
Other than the opening Sarah Palin skit, this was one of the worst SNLs EVER! The writing was just awful, and god love him, Michael Phelps is a nice guy but totally out of his element (water). I've been a fan of SNL since the very first show -- through good times and bad -- and I really believe this one was the worst.
2 - Jake
I agree, the show was very predictable and almost boring. I would score some of the scenes a little differently. For example the Space Olympics short was awful, in my opinion, where as the Gloves scene was far fetched but much more funny. SNL really has fallen from grace, its sad.
3 - LaurenF
Bobby did great on Saturday. It's tough to make repertory but he's well on his way.
On another funny note, National Talk Like A Pirate Day is tomorrow, 9/19.