Saturday Night Live Episode Recap

Saturday Night Live returned after a three-week break with cult comedy star Charlie Day (of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and this summer's Horrible Bosses), who hosted for the first time. Like Melissa McCarthy earlier this season, Day fit in very nicely -- he was confident, energetic and totally at ease in the sketch comedy format (and could rarely be spotted reading the cue cards, even when cast members blatantly did so).

While this wasn't the best episode of the still-young season, but it definitely wasn't the worst, either. I know I've been trying to be more positive than in years past, but I also genuinely believe this is one of the stronger and more consistent seasons in recent memory. Again, it's early (only five episodes in), but if the show can keep up its current pace, I'll be pretty happy next spring. I like that the show is taking some chances and booking some less-obvious choices as hosts, and I like that those choices are paying off so far. Day came away from his first hosting gig looking great, and I'm confident he'll be back before we know it.

Sketch Highlights

"Cold Open: Ghost of Gaddafi" - This is what happens when you take a month off, SNL. The world changes, and you're left trying to comment on it weeks after the fact. That's what this cold open felt like -- an obligation to chime in, whether or not the show's take still mattered. Turns out it didn't. (Watch the "Cold Open: Ghost of Gaddafi" video)

"Charlie Day Monologue" - For it being his first time as host, Charlie Day was awfully confident and relaxed as host this week, and it was evident right from his opening monologue. It was interesting that his It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-star Danny DeVito was brought out as backup, as though no one thought Day would be recognized without associating him with DeVito, because based on the applause at the start of the show, Day was one of the more popular hosts in recent memory. His song didn't really play the way I hoped (and I'm pretty burned out on the musical opening), but it was cool to see him show off some impressive musical chops. I knew he had it in him, because I've seen "The Nightman Cometh." (Watch the "Charlie Day Monologue" video)
"Kardashian Divorce Special" - As inevitable as this was, it made for one of the better sketches of the night. I like when Nasim Pedrad (as Kim), Abby Elliott and Vanessa Bayer play the Kardashian sisters, and this sketch added extra new goodness by including Kristen Wiig (doing a very funny Kris Jenner) and, of course, Taran Killam as Bruce Jenner, he of the freaky paralyzed face. None of the jokes were less than obvious and the whole thing was never quite as funny as Pedrad's initial "Whoopsie, I got divorced!," but enough good jokes and the law of averages kept this in the 'plus' column for the night. (Watch the "Kardashian Divorce Special" video)
"Ask Dr. Oz" - Ugh. This was one of the weakest sketches of the night, done no favors by the fact that it was very early in the show and set a negative tone that didn't really match what followed. Bill Hader had some of the Dr. Oz speech patterns down, but the piece sidelined Charlie Day and just kept making the same poop jokes over and over. When SNL really embraces the juvenility of this kind of sketch, it can work, but this one was more about embarrassing Day. That's less funny. Luckily, things did improve from here. (Watch the "Ask Dr. Oz" video)
"Getting Freaky with Cee Lo Green" - I'm pretty burned out on Saturday Night Live's talk show sketches, and I'm even more burned out on talk show sketches hosted by some new Kenan Thompson character (see also: "What's Up With That?," "Deep House Dish"). The songs weren't very funny, Charlie Day was pretty much wasted and while Bill Hader's creep character was probably the best thing about this, it seems like a character we've seen him do a couple of times before. Still, at least it was a new sketch, even if it didn't exactly feel like one. Expect to see it again in the future, I'm sure. (Watch the "Getting Freaky with Cee Lo Green" video)
"Greek Gods" - I don't want to give too much credit to this sketch for at least being something original, but I was happy to see SNL hold back on the repeats this week. There were a few funny moments, and the overall concept was silly enough (Greek gods attempting to solve Greece's financial woes), plus Charlie Day was good as Dionysus. Nothing great, but not terrible, either, and sometimes it's enough for SNL to get by. (Watch the "Greek Gods" video)
"Comedy Tour 2" - I can't say I was surprised to this one come back, because any time SNL does a sketch that creates any kind of favorable buzz, they repeat it. I wasn't that upset about it, though, because there are enough jokes and observations about stand-up to make it worthwhile. I liked Charlie Day's version of Dane Cook (notice, too, that Kristen Wiig was dressed as Whitney Cummings and Nasim Pedrad as Janeane Garofalo). I liked Bill Hader's catchphrase (and the fact that he did a really sincere sign-off at what I can only assume was the end of his set). I like Boston Powers. I liked Bobby Moynihan doing the little turns and speaking into each microphone. Most of all, though, I liked Adam "Hawk Attack" Levine, which was a funny musical guest cameo without being cutesy or obnoxious. (Watch the "Comedy Tour 2" video)
"Crime Scene" - This was one of the few pieces of the night that put host Day front and center and gave him an actual character to play. It had several funny ideas -- like how similar the apartment was to the Seinfeld apartment (which I thought was funny even before it got into all the "I don't own a TV" stuff) -- but seemed content to set up a premise in which the detective had no awareness of basic cultural things, but then it turns out he does. It was another sketch that was at least halfway there (this one was a little more than halfway, I would say), but never quite came together in a satisfying way. (Watch the "Crime Scene" video)
"Dolphin Movie" - Another middle-of-the-road late-show sketch, saved by three things: Charlie Day's comic performance when trying to play the scene and direct the dolphin (I wish the sketch would have taken this further, because it was funnier than a lot of other stuff during the night), Taran Killam's costume as the dolphin trainer and the moment when Kenan Thompson removes his clothes to act in the scene. It's not often that SNL is willing to take sketches down absurd rabbit holes, but they've been doing it more and more this season and it's working for them. Ultimately, the moment didn't quite pay off because the sketch stopped almost right after, but I'll take a few good moments. (Watch the "Dolphin Movie" video)