Saturday Night Live January 9th, 2010

Saturday Night Live
January 09th 2009
Host: Charles Barkley
Musical Guest: Alicia Keys

Cold Open.
Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
Like so many politically-themed cold opens: Sad but probably true. But this one also had some actual laughs. Fred Armisen was great as the Yemeni President.

Monologue.
My wife commented that Charles Barkley was like an awkward middle school student on stage. I doubt that’s what he was going for, but it worked for us.

Commercial Parody: Thomas Peepers Insurance.
Bill Hader’s facial expressions made this a good sketch. His pervy reactions very similar to his raised eyebrow Chris Hansen impression.

Game Show: Reel Quotes.
Considering how many game shows they’ve done where the only joke that is the contestants are idiots, I was surprised how often this sketch cracked me up. There was a surprising logic to it, and both Charles Barkley and Kristen Wiig had tons of great material to work. They both sold the gags with conviction and perfect comic timing.
Great quotes: “Shark BAG!” “You shouldn’t be looking at kids, Rege.”

Sexy Woman.
This sketch was close to brilliance. Kristen Wiig as a Marilyn Monroe-style sexpot who turns out to be more awkward than seductive. Lots of great moments like the way she giggles when she gets over excited and the stilted pole dance moves. Jenny Slate was also good as the contrasting “straight woman.” As was Charles Barkley as the one person turned on by Kristen Wiig’s antics. It’s a shame that he tripped up some of his lines, because they were funny! “That was superior.”

MacGruber.
I surprisingly enjoyed the first two installments. Maybe they’re growing on me just because they are so short.

NBA Booth.
Eh. I’m not a fan of sketches where someone keeps saying the same thing over and over. Except when it was Fred Armisen saying “I’m YOUR mother!” Seems like the fumbling likes were contagious.

Alicia Keys.
Obviously talented, but her songs do nothing for me.

Weekend Update.
Bill Hader still does a good James Carville, but this appearance wasn’t as funny as the first time.
Considering how in his first episode they made fun of Andy Samberg not being good with impressions, I’ve been surprised at how good he’s been at it lately. His Nicholas Cage is dead on.

The Haney Project.
A little too predictable. Just having Charles Barkley fumble at everyday things wasn’t funny enough.

Booty Call.
Alicia did a good job with her half, but the Andy Samberg bits just seemed too over the top to be funny.

Alicia Keys.
I didn’t realize there was a full song to go with the “New York” chorus from the Jay Z rap anthem. Does that make it a sample? Or did Alicia Keys flesh out the rest of the song AFTER the Jay Z bits were recorded? I guess that’s what Wikipedia is for…

Scared Straight.
I really wish they’d stop doing this. The first 5 times were sporadically amusing, but they’ve pretty much run it into the ground. The only redeeming quality is watching people try to keep a straight face.

Barkley’s Banks.
Did they cut to the title card screen too soon? The sketch ended abruptly but I thought I heard mumbling.