Saturday Night Live Season 37 Reviews - Best Ofs / Worst Ofs

Season 37

The Best and the Worst

Best Cold Open

Well I’ll be.  I actually enjoyed some political cold opens this year, and debate sketches no less.  This was an era when debate cold opens weren’t 20 minutes long and filled with cameos though.  The season premiere had Alec Baldwin playing Rick Perry in Either The 7th Or 8th GOP Debate before Bill took over for The Republican Presidential Debate in the Emma Stone episode.  Outside of those, there were a lot of opening duds with just one person talking straight to camera so it was so refreshing to get a politics free New York Sports Now in the Maya Rudolph episode where they goof on the racist rhetoric surrounding Justin Lin.  For the last two spots in the top 5 I’ll throw in Fox Report with Bill’s Shepherd Smith interviewing the Romney sons and The Rush Limbaugh Show where Taran as Rush introduces his new d-level sponsors.

Worst Cold Open

Remember just a second ago when I mentioned the duds with one person talking straight to camera?  Let’s start with A Message From The Mayor with Fred as Michael Bloomberg and The Ghost Of Kaddafi with Fred as the recently deceased dictator.  Then move over to Obama In One where Fred tries to stall momentum of the Steve Buscemi episode before it starts, thankfully this is the last season of Fredbama.  I could lump all the Romney cold opens in one but some were better than others and Jason’s impression is always at least amusing but Romney: Believe In America from the Daniel Radcliffe episode had little to nothing going for it.  And Darrell Hammond returned to play Donald Trump on On The Record.

Best Monologue

Alec Baldwin got his urine tested for PEDs by Steve Martin before he officially broke the hosting record.  The alumni hosts Jimmy Fallon and Maya Rudolph both started their episodes off right with energy boosting song and dance numbers.  Jason Segel got some help from The Muppets and Charlie Day got a little help from Danny DeVito.

Worst Monologue

The only one that filled me with dread this season was Eli Manning.  He turned out to be one of my favorite hosts of the year but his monologue where he shows how little he knows about New York didn’t instill confidence early on.  It’s also the same monologue Marisa Tomei did back in Season 20.

Best Commercial

I could have done a top 15 for this as there were a lot of contenders.  Almost Pizza is my favorite, Top Gun 25th Anniversary DVD from the season premiere gave us a lot of fun impressions like Al Pacino, Alan Alda, Harvey Fierstein, Crispin Glover, and Sinbad.  The Original Kings Of Catchphrase Comedy Vol. 2 was just as good as the first as was “Sex” Ed Vincent’s Couples Workshop Sex Intensive mostly due to the inclusion of Steve Buscemi as the erotic chef.  Finally we got Maya Angelou’s: I Know Why The Caged Bird Laughs! where the poet laureate plays respectful pranks.

Worst Commercial

As I said, there were a lot of contenders for best and there wasn’t anything I would call bad.  I didn’t hate Charles Barkley Post Game Translator App but it was the most forgettable.

Best Sketch

Coach Bert from the Steve Buscemi episode was so good it got me back into watching SNL regularly.  I haven’t missed an episode since.  The season premiere asked the eternal question Who’s On Top?.  Emma Stone and the cast sang a Sad Song.  Jimmy Fallon played a War Horse.  Josh Brolin studied a mysterious hallway at Woodridge High.  Two sketches from the Eli Manning episode make the list with Text Message Evidence and Motion Capture.  After 4 years of Fred as Obama it finally gets a laugh in The Obama Show I guess the secret is to merge it with a Cosby impression and throw in Joe Jamal-Biden.  And let’s not forget that Season 37 did the unthinkable it made an awards show sketch funny, not just once, but twice with The 17th Annual Adult Video Awards and 2012 Psychic Awards.  The trick all along was to focus on the death montage.

Worst Sketch

Greek Gods was a long and punny sketch from the Charlie Day episode.  Retirement Party saw Jason Segel and Kristen repeating the same gag over and over again.  Speaking of the same gag over and over again, Patio Party had Kristen and Zooey Deschanel repeatedly hyping their guests up for crab.  Super Showcase didn’t really have a gag and just became a bunch of giggling.  Fred can’t look into a camera is the joke for News Team Promo and that joke will get played out ad nauseam through the course of the sketch.  Fred also ruins comedy in Delinquent Girl Teen Gang where he keeps getting hit by cars and that sketch was followed by House Sitting which was even worse.  A one-two punch of suck in the Lindsay Lohan episode.  America’s Next Top Empire State Of Mind Parody Artist has the cast spoofing the then-recent Jay-Z song in increasingly unfunny ways.  The Eli Manning episode was going great until the thud of Miss Drag World and Will Ferrell lead us in The 2012 Funkytown Debate.

Best Recurring Sketch

We may never know what happened to Paul Brittain but how do you fire Lord Wyndemere?  Especially before we’ve heard his riddle.  Season 37 brought us the final Dateline with Keith Morrison and the last Shana, Kristen’s hot girl who does disgusting things (possibly a guilty pleasure on my part).  Les Jeunes Des Paris is always a welcome presence and we got the debut of J Pop America Fun Time Now! which is the sweetest form of racism.

Worst Recurring Sketch

Thanks for sticking around, Fred.  I’m so glad we can look forward to more The Manuel Ortiz Show and The Californians.  At least Kristen’s leaving so we can say goodbye to stuff like Secret Word and Gilly as well as stuff that should never have come back like 1920’s Holiday Party.  Don’t make me write about this stuff anymore.

Best Digital Short

You know how I know the Digital Shorts were weak this year?  Stomp made my top 5 and I only liked half of it.  Best Friends with Katy Perry and cameos from Matt Damon and Val Kilmer was a classic but the rest were pretty lame until we got to the series of Andy goodbyes with Laser Cats 7, The 100th Digital Short and Lazy Sunday 2.

Worst Digital Short

I had a theory this season that they were just doing Digital Shorts with the goal to get to 100.  How else could you explain stuff that should have been cut from dress rehearsal like I Wish It Would Rain where Andy wishes for rain but gets distracted by Emma Stone’s big butt?  There’s also skippable stuff like Afros (they have big afros), Convoluted Jerry (he speaks in double negatives), V-Necks (they’re v-necks get deeper and deeper), and Seducing Women Through Chess (whatever the hell was going on with this one).

Best Musical Guest

Hands down Rihanna was the best.  Most of the musical guests this season were forgettable so I’ll use this time to once again defend Lana Del Rey who wasn’t as bad as advertised and neither were Karmin.  The idea of having Michael Buble singing Christmas songs was kind of hokey but it turned out good.  The one time this season I really got excited about a musical performance was when Kenny G randomly popped up during Foster The People’s second song.

Worst Musical Guest

As I said, most of the musical guests were forgettable but only two stood out.  The Channing Tatum episode wasn’t great and Bon Iver didn’t do anything to boost the energy.  The Maya Rudolph episode was good but then Sleigh Bells warbled some songs in the middle.

Best Weekend Update Segment

I always enjoy a Stefon and we saw him 4 times this season.  Nicolas Cage got in the cage with Nicolas Cage.  The Devil can’t believe the scandal at Penn State.  This season brought us the debut of Drunk Uncle but my favorite Bobby character was his Guy Fieri.

Worst Weekend Update Segment

I hate when SNL shamelessly plugs a movie like how they did when Admiral General Aladeen showed up to remind us that The Dictator is coming to theaters.  At least Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian unlike that laugh riot Jon Huntsman.  We can leave the unfunny business to the cast as we get Nicholas Fehn and Nan Washington.  And if you want bad Fred and bad Kristen together you can have some Garth And Kat.

Best 10-1 Sketch

The season premiere gave us Angels In The Trenches where soldiers give their dying wishes.  Jason and Charlie Day investigate a Crime Scene that resembles the Seinfeld apartment.  Steve Buscemi explains his collection of Ornaments.  Fred sings about a Massachusetts afternoon with The Blue Jean Committee.  Honorable mentions to Locker Room with Jesus and Tim Tebow, One Magical Night from Katy Perry, How’s He Doing?, and She’s A Rainbow but I’ll go with Jonah Hill’s Coolio inspired Anniversary Song.

Worst 10-1 Sketch

Kristen and Zooey Deschanel play two Victorian Ladies corresponding about their suitors.  Kristen and Anna Faris gush over the men in the new Ferrari Calendar.  Ben Stiller helps a baseball team win with steroids in Tinyballs.  Charles Barkley is quizzical about The First Mayan Calendar.  Eli Manning plays Cheech & Chong’s square friend in The Essentials.

Best Host

Alec Baldwin broke the record for most times hosting and had the best episode of the season. Maya Rudolph and Jimmy Fallon were both cast members I didn’t miss seeing every week but as soon as they came back to host I wanted them to come back the next episode.  Eli Manning was used just right in his episode, mostly playing dumb guys, and Steve Buscemi brought us some excellent creeps.

Worst Host

The only two that let me down were Lindsay Lohan who felt more like stunt casting than someone's fourth time out and Sofia Vergara who seemed to just scream all her lines.

Best Sketch Averages

4.2 Stars - Alec Baldwin / Radiohead

3.6 Stars - Jimmy Fallon / Michael Buble

3.6 Stars - Maya Rudolph / Sleigh Bells

3.5 Stars - Steve Buscemi / The Black Keys

3.4 Stars - Jason Segel / Florence + The Machines

3.4 Stars - Eli Manning / Rihanna

Worst Sketch Averages

2.5 Stars - Lindsay Lohan / Jack White

2.6 Stars - Anna Faris / Drake

2.6 Stars - Channing Tatum / Bon Iver

2.6 Stars - Sofia Vergara / One Direction

2.6 Stars - Josh Brolin / Gotye

Season Sketch Average

3.1 Stars