Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga

Ok, here is my sketch-by-sketch review and analysis of the Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga episode:

Cold Opening – Fred’s Obama is not good. Yeah, this time he didn’t even try to sound or act like him, and it showed. However, the premise of the sketch is very good, and somehow managed to overshadow Fred’s lagging impression. Obama says not to blame him because he hasn’t done anything yet as President. The punchlines work, and I thought it was a decent opening if you could look past Fred’s faults.

Monologue – This was good. Rarely is the host’s monologue a true “monologue” but this actually was. I liked the simplicity of it; he didn’t try to make it into a spectacle. The whole romantic comedy/superhero bit worked well, and it was a pleasant introduction to our guest host.

“Mostly Garbage” – This was ok, it was a blatant premise that seemed to be mildly funny. I liked that Jason was in it, as I would have guessed him for that role. The best and most under-appreciated part of this commercial is the length. It was short, and when you have a short piece of comedy you can get away with almost any concept. If this had gone long, I’d have been complaining about it being a poor idea. However, because it was short it was somewhat enjoyable.

Celebrity Family Feud – I liked Jason again, because of his uncanny impression of the old host of Family Feud. The two families were fun to watch. I liked the Osmond/Phillips thing, and they definitely played up the McKenzie Phillips/Dad thing. It was ok, a bit over-done, but still not bad.

SNL Digital Short – “Threw it on the ground!” I loved this short! It was direct, and had a clear and funny concept. Andy threw stuff on the ground, and felt the need to create a song about it. I always enjoy the “singing” Digital Shorts. It was one of my favorite bits of the night, and the start of a rather impressive night for Andy.

Porcelain Fountains – Ah, yes. It lives! Bringing back the old sketch after a long wait, with Scarlet there to reprise her role. Ryan was good in this too, although we didn’t see him on the “front lines” much tonight. Basically this was just Fred ranting about buying porcelain fountains, but I still liked it because of the “throwback” to an earlier sketch that many people, myself included, had forgotten about.

Deep House Dish – And now the institution that is: Deep House Dish. I really enjoyed this sketch as well. Kenan and Andy were back as their regular roles. Kristen played a funny character that I found entertaining, although the clear headline of the sketch was the fight between Madonna and Lady Gaga. Yes, the real Madonna. I thought it was funny, and amusing to see them fighting, while Kenan tried to keep it together. The interrupted kiss at the end was great too. :)

Lady Gaga 1 – Not too crazy about this performance. Although it should be said: Lady Gaga is nothing if not interesting.

Weekend Update – Another wonderful performance from our head anchor. Seth shines again, and delivers several great lines that have the crowd laughing. You always know what you’re getting with him. The guests: Darrell Hammond returns to play Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s good to see him back, but maybe not so soon. After all, he officially is NOT a castmember anymore. Kenan does Charles Barkley. This wasn’t very good, at least to me. He’s done better with the impression in past sketches. However, I really liked Fred & Nasim as Iranian president Ahmadinejad and his wife. Nasim gets her first chance to shine, and she does. The best part is Fred keeping the same face through the whole thing. Priceless.

So You Committed a Crime & You Think You Can Dance – I really liked this. Andy does a great job returning as a much fatter Kevin Federline. Appearances by most every castmember—that’s always a big deal to me. Some of my favorites were: Fred as the guy who always tried to escape, and Kenan as the crazy guy who bites people. A very good concept for a sketch, and good job to the entire cast for executing this one very well.

International Masterworks – This was ok. A bit too redundant, but I’ll deal with it. Norwegians playing the roles of Americans in a show. Ok, yeah we get it. However this wasn’t too bad, especially for a late 2nd half sketch. Forgettable, but still average.

Lady Gaga 2 – This was quite interesting. First of all, something was orbiting Lady Gaga. I don’t know what it was, but it got in her way several times! When she went to the piano and sort of “free styled” the 2nd half of her performance, I thought it was very good. She actually has a pretty good voice and its shown best when she’s not doing a gimmicky dance. As a whole, this performance was excellent.

Dress – The last sketch of the night didn’t disappoint. Andy and Lady Gaga wearing the same dress—and a Lorne cameo. My favorite line was when Lady Gaga said her outfit cost a lot of money, and Andy said he made his dress out of garbage. :) A good way to end a very impressive episode.

Overall, I really liked this episode a lot. It was consistent, funny, and every castmember seemed to be in many sketches. Lady Gaga did her fair share of work, including 2 sketches. The host, Ryan Reynolds, stayed in the background a lot and didn’t have a whole lot to do with the success of this show. I do applaud some of his smaller roles. He wasn’t bad, just not the center of attention as many hosts are. This episode was very entertaining, clearly better than last week’s premiere, and I’m definitely looking forward to Drew Barrymore/Regina Spektor next week.

That’s my review of the show. Feel free to post any thoughts below! Thanks for reading,

LiveFromNY