The Final Grade: SNL: 1-15-11 - The Cultute of Pop, DVD, Movie, TV, Pop Culture Review

The Final Grade: SNL: 1-15-11

Posted: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 2:34:09 PST

Your Host: Gwyneth Paltrow

Musical Guest: Cee Lo Green

After a week that saw SNL deliver its best outing of semester 36 semester thus far (not to mention killer ratings thanks to host Jim Carey), hope reined that they could make it two in a row with returning host Gwyneth Paltrow. In previous outings, the Oscar winner displayed a terrific knack for comedy reminiscent of classic female hosts like Candice Bergen (particularly in a red carpet themed sketch delivering a dead on Sharon Stone so perfect, it reportedly agitated the Basic Instinct star).

While this third go round for Paltrow didn't reach the quality of her previous appearances, she did make the most of a fairly spotty episode, particularly after a pretty rocky first act

FOX News Goes Nice?-It's tough when both the opening sketch and monologue go down flat like last night. Although Jason and Bill were terrific in their roles of Glenn Beck and James Carville respectively, Wiig not only overdid it with the mannerisms, but she also failed to pull off Greta Van Susteren in my eyes. Bobby and Nasim were adequate as Hannity and Malkin, but Abby was spot on again with her brilliant Rachel Maddow for a grand total of 10 seconds....For the love of God, how do you waste one of the show's best impressions in recent years with what amounted to a cameo? And it was the funniest bit in the sketch to boot: C+

Gwyneth's (Not So) Country Strong: Okay, this is a bit schoolboy crush-y, but I don't think I've seen fair Gwyneth looking this....okay, hot before...something about blondes in black dresses, kids.

Anyway, another monologue playing off the host's current project...and not a very good one, I'm afraid. For one, I just can't picture someone as well read and intelligent as Paltrow being clueless about country music after hanging out in Nashville for a few months. Sudeikis did a fair job as Kenny Rogers and Cee-Lo Green came close to saving it in the end, but ultimately, this was a weak monologue...and wasted moment numero two of the evening had Kristen doing nothing more than a walk on as Dolly Parton: C-

Following “The Cape”-One of the show's worst ever TV parodies with The Cape leading into promos for future NBC action series like The Scarf, etc.: D

Secret Word: Hope for the rest of tonight rose anew with one of my favorite recurring sketches. Game show fanatic/historian that I am, Hader nails the mid-60's style of host repartee very well and Wiig has one of her best characters as the egotistical ack-tress (sic) who always manages to give the Secret Word away no matter how hard she tries...and Paltrow matched her step by step via her characterization of a stuffy socialite equally un-adept at keeping the word a private one. B+

SNL Digital Short-Pee Wee and Andy's Intervention-What a thrill to see Paul Reubens re-embracing his beloved character again and even more funny to see him having a wild night out with Samberg, downing shots, bar stepping to Tequila by The Champs (ah, a Yesterday Once More moment) , beating the crap out of Anderson Cooper and a NYPD member, only to be met by three of Andy's co-workers...and surprise, surprise, some of Pee Wee's old Playhouse buddies, Yaay! Not the most creative or technically brilliant short, but in terms of enjoyability, it scored: B

Musical Bar Mitzvah-Although this skit didn't really go anywhere story wise, that was okay because it gave a chance for some impressive musical impressions from host and cast: Pharoah did a fairly impressive Jay-Z, Abby scored with a fine Katy Perry, Cee-Lo hit it out of the park as....Cee-Lo, but the spot on award goest to Gwyneth for an absolutely perfect Taylor Swift (now do you see what I mean about Paltrow's experience in Nashville? She shouldn't have been forced to play dumb in the monologue...I rest my case: B

 Cissy Cussing Record Executive-A funny idea inspired by the forced censorship of musical guest Cee Lo Green's  F*** You ....for about a couple of minutes...but it did lead into an impressive seque to.. 

Cee-Lo Green: Eff You-Disconnected as I am from the music of today, I have to say I was impressed by this guy...not to mention his all girl band which I'd like to take to dinner should I score in the next big lotto drawing. His vocal style is somewhere between two of my fave blues artists (B.B. King and Bobby Bland), but in an atmosphere caught between vintage/modern soul. Color me converted (and I can't wait to hear the uncensored version of this song; I'd given anything if Lo pulled a Mick Jagger and rolled his eyes upward when The Rolling Stones were forced to change the lyrics of Let's Spend The Night Together to Let's Spend SOME TIME Together. Wussies never change.

Sketch: C

Song: A

 Weekend Update: You know how David Letterman picks on bad audiences the day after they've gone? I felt the same way about most of Seth's material tonight...He was just knocking many out of the park to a “meh” reception.

My top three WU jokes for this week (paraphrased due to my still MIA hard drive recorder):

-Being offended by Sarah Palin actually catching the meaning of “blood libel.”

-Chit Chat, a forthcoming spinoff series from EXTRA focusing on the Latino community with an end result being what the inside of a headache feels like.

-Founding Fathers: More of a Dennis Miller type rant than an actual joke, Seth was brilliant as he pondered our founding fathers being freaked out by the guns of today...a notion to make them wonder if they should repeal the right to bear arms, especially since they served the government during a period when bullets emerging from guns were slightly faster than somebody throwing one. Superbly funny and perfect.

Keenan Thompson reprised his uproariously funny Jimmy”The Rent Is Too Damn High” McMillan bit (his costume alone is gut busting),Vanessa Bayer had a Larraine Newman-esque moment on the old chroma-key wall subbing for a Golden Globes Red Carpet scenario featuring Nasim and Hader doing a nice take on Christina Aguilera and Cher (hmmm, just doesn't have the same ring as Sonny and Cher) with Bobby having fun as Chaz Bono, and then things went thud (!) as the singing duo of Kat and Garth came aboard to do some of their new compositions. Let's just say I don't they'll be hitting I-Tunes anytimes oon. Even a very game Paltrow tried her best to salvage it, but it was hopeless....but her get up resulted in an uncanny resemblance to Jane Lynch in Glee (see, you always gotta look for the good in bad, no matter what).

Overall WU Grade: B

Shakespeare's Sneak Previews-Like last week's carnival ride bit with Jim Carey which I loved, this sketch was tight, fastly paced, well performed and didn't wear out its welcome, which has been my major beef with SNL in recent decades. A funny look at how audiences back in the day might have reacted to an endless sea of coming attractions before the main feature..and even worse when the sneak previews are live....and the concluding voice over from the legendary Don Pardo was a nice retro touch/tip of the hat to the show's initial glory days: A-

Fresh Prince/Lost Episodes-An inconsistent bit story wise, Jason Pharoah's spot on Will Smith made this a keeper; like alum Phil Hartman and Joe Piscopo, this featured player is quickly becoming a go-to guy for impressions. Keenan was fine as Alphonso (and got a great line talking about learning his craft on Silver Spoons), but this was Pharoah's showcase all the way: B

ESPN Deportes-For starters, Gwyneth makes a fetching brunette, here (yeah, fan crush time again) and yet another showcase for her to demonstrate amazing versatility with accents along with the underrated Paul Brittain, But like the language censorship sketch earlier in the show, it was funny for about a couple of minutes. Not a complete loss, but a bit I would've lost in rehearsal: C

Cee Lo Green: Yet another impressive performance (Bright Lights, Bigger City) from this up and coming star whose work I will definitely be checking out in days ahead: A

Elliott Spitzer Co-Host Auditions-Last sketches of the night are either hit or miss...this fell into the latter. For one thing, Hader's take on Parker kinda' creeped me out in a Tony Perkins' kind of way. Nasim and Gwyneth were fine as Christine Amanpour and Heidi Klum respectively (Paltrow scoring yet again on the impersonation front), but this bit failed to gain liftoff...on the positive side, it was mercifully short: C

Overall Episode Grade: B-

Since next week's show is repeat material (the so-so Robert DeNiro/Diddy Dirty Money episode), I'm going to try and locate a vintage SNL to grade next week, so look out for that...it could be a fun thing to keep SNL activity going on here even during the summer hiatus.

-J.R.

Jeffrey Rosado is a performer, pop culture historian, writer and all around nice guy.

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