Saturday Night Live has always been very kind to returning cast members hosting the show once they have left. Honestly, these episodes are often the most memorable, a great chance to revisit Chris Farley's Matt Foley inspirational sketches and Will Ferrell's Celebrity Jeopardy. So Maya Rudolph's first hosting gig after leaving the show was a great callback to the old days before that movie she made with Kristen Wiig got nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Ah, when days were simpler.
What Worked
Maya Revisited
Seeing Maya as Michelle Obama or one of the Bronx Beat girls is always a welcome treat, especially when it is broadcasted live on television and not on one of those Best-Of SNL DVDs. It may be easy to just write the same old sketches she had a few years ago, but honestly, who is complaining? Seeing Maya and Kristen Wiig back on stage together is a beautiful thing to experience.
Guest Stars
First, Amy Poehler popped up in the hysterical Bronx Beat sketch, which was somewhat expected -- but then freaking Bill O'Reilly himself? What happened? Did Lorne Michaels just have money to blow this week? Regardless, all the cameos were amazing, from Amy Poehler back on Weekend Update, to Justin Timberlake playing Bon Iver (singing a lullaby to Beyonce's baby that rivals Kurt Cobain's unintelligible lyrics), to "Papa Bear" himself. Just...how?
LINSANITY
After the week we had, SNL would just be foolish to not chase the Jeremy Lin train, utterly mocking the ineffable ESPN headline that drew a less than enthusiastic reaction from, well, pretty much everyone. I misspelled Will Ferrell's name last week, and I can only thank my lucky stars my error didn't include a horrible racial slur like the aforementioned sketch.
What Didn't Work
Here's the deal: when I was 16, I went to Target and bought Poison The Well's You Come Before You because Guitar World magazine told me it was the most important record of 2003. That record stands the test of time as one of the most important genre-defining underground albums of the last 10 years and was incredibly influential to me as both a musician and a music consumer.
Then last year, this ridiculous thing happened where Poison the Well broke up and everything utterly fell apart, and now we have Sleigh Bells, featuring Derek Miller, one of many former Poison The Well guitarists, with some girl (Alexis Krauss) who was in a Nickelodeon Magazine commercial back in the day. The thing is that they pretty much just stand in front of $10,000 worth of amplifiers and dance around like fools, except every hip shake and eye flutter deposits more money into their accounts than anything I could ever hope to get in my own creative life. Ugh...
Favorite Moments
Bill O'Reilly
I can't say this enough. Bill O'freaking Reilly appeared on the show, and he was awesome. Granted, he kind of just sat there and pitched his new book, but somehow it was great.
Amy Poehler
Maya Rudolph was so wonderful reprising her classic roles, but whoever decided to track down Amy Poehler to back her up needs a raise. Maya and Amy were always the dream team of the late 2000s-era SNL, and it's only fitting that the two of them semi-hosted tonight's episode.
Last Thoughts
I'm a little worried about next week, especially after how great these past two weeks have been. But with the presidential primaries heating up, I'm sure we have some classic moments to experience. That, or just more Rick Santorum jokes, which are always hilarious.
