A better episode than the last couple, I'll give it that. It was nice to see former perennial host John Goodman back in action- so much so that it saved some fairly mediocre stuff tonight, but there were some laughs as well.
COLD OPEN: Jay opens the show as Obama for the first time in a while, explaining the various mishaps at Nelson Mandela's funeral, including the phony sign language interpreter. Then Kenan shows up as the interpreter to make gestures behind him while Kate's Angela Merkel accosts him for another selfie. It's pretty funny.
MONOLOGUE: The show welcomes back John Goodman for the 13th time, and his first hosting stint since 2001. It's very cool to have him back and he sings a great Christmas duet with Kenan for a fun musical moment.
FOOD NETWORK AD: Bobby's great Guy Fieri impression is kinda wasted here, as he shows up in a commercial for his Christmas dinner with as many reality stars as they can stuff the cast into. Missed opportunity, I think. They should do more with Guy Fieri himself- he's a perfect target.
DEARBORN COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE: John, Vanessa, Aidy and Kenan are dancing snowflakes in a community Christmas pageant whose inner thoughts relay their humiliation. It's kinda funny at first, but it goes on way too long. Still, some credit for a more original idea here.
THREE WISE GUYS: John, Robert DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone drive the audience wild as the "three wise guys" from New Jersey traveling on camels to see the baby Jesus. It's mostly just amusing to see them together (even though it's a plug for their movie Grudge Match), even if the jokes are fairly stale. But hey, the crowd seemed to love it.
WEEKEND UPDATE: Finally, some better barbs this week from Seth and Cecily, and then Kenan (who's been all over this episode) comes on as Black Santa, finally revealing himself in response to Fox News' Megyn Kelly's insistence that he's white. That's pretty good, but an appearance from fan fave Drunk Uncle overshadows it, and he brings on his own drunk uncle, John of course. It's also sad because it's Drunk Uncle's last Update with Seth, whose final episode is next week I think.
TOO HOT: My favorite sketch of the night, with John as a woman (looking remarkably like his old Linda Tripp) suing for being fired because of her "hotness." Taran's really good as the incredulous defense attorney and Kenan again brings the funny as the judge who's into her. Good one.
FIRE SAFETY: Ugh! And the worst one of the night. Why do they keep doing this? To give Nasim some guaranteed screen time on the show? Her annoying rebel student character defies John's fire safety lesson and it's boring, too long and not funny in the slightest. This one just doesn't do it for me.
HALLMARK COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: A short spoof of the Hallmark Channel's movies with former and current TV actors in them. Meh.
THE CHRISTMAS WHISTLE: A spoof of a classic Christmas movie with John as a guy who's tormented by the constant whistle sound from his guardian angel. It's ok, but not hilarious. John gives it his all though, along with Kate as his wife.
H&M: They still keep trying to do the Samberg-esque digital shorts, don't they? Jay raps about the experience of shopping at H&M while John desperately tries to fit into their tight pants. It's another middling one.
LAST CALL: Last sketch of the night is Kate's, with her drunk and horny woman at a bar hitting on the only guy there, in this case John as a hobo. What sells this one every time is Kate's total commitment, which is especially there tonight as she makes out with John Goodman with whip cream flying everywhere. But I still think the funniest one of these was that first one with her and Louis CK.
A harmless episode overall, and it was great to have John back, but the writing this season is really suffering big time. I'll give this one a B. Let's hope things don't take a turn for the even worse when they lose their Weekend Update anchor next year. Next week it's Jimmy Fallon (and Justin Timberlake, who I'm sure will nearly be co-hosting) for the official Christmas episode and the last of 2013. See you then everyone!
