Larry David hosts SNL, guys! How cool is this? Pretty, pretty, pretty cool, I'd say. Still, it is SNL, so the skits were hit and miss as always, but there were some definite real hits, and for some reason just seeing him there doing it was fun and exciting in a way most hosts aren't.
COLD OPEN: It opens with Taran as Ted Cruz, delivering a message to us following his Iowa caucus victory. It's a pretty savage slam on the rat-faced senator everyone hates, even his own daughter according to the video that went viral this week. It's not hilarious though, even though I agree with the jabs at Cruz in general.
MONOLOGUE: Larry's here! And we are treated to some old school Larry David stand-up, which is funnier than 90% of what they do on SNL every season. He's pure Larry David all the way, from the constant self-deprecating to the promising of an "okay" show at best.
KEVIN ROGERS: A weird skit with FBI trainees being taught to shoot and getting confused at whether they should target Larry's "Kevin Rogers," an 80's dressed cliche with a portable phone in his hand. This is a very random skit that gets slightly more amusing as it goes on, with the inexplicable joke becoming kinda funny just for that reason due to Larry's efforts. But it's mostly a dud.
BERN YOUR ENTHUSIASM: Okay, here's the one everyone will be talking about. Yep, it's a spoof of Curb with Larry as Bernie Sanders trying and failing to procure enough votes in Iowa. It's awesome, and of course it's a dead on parody of Curb, as it should be, considering Larry's involvement. A+ for this one.
SINKING SHIP: Some kind of Titanic-esque sinking in the 1900's is happening, with Larry mocking the "women and children first" requirement and yelling at the people in the boats. It's kinda ok, but then the real Bernie Sanders cameos to lecture about not just saving the 1% and it's what everyone's been waiting for, of course. People just like Bernie, but I think I prefer Larry's version of him, to be honest.
PIZZA ROLLS: Vanessa's Super Bowl housewife is back to talk about making food for her "hungry guys" watching the game again, but then they become like alien pod people and it turns into some kind of X-Files ad. Um, ok? Weird. At least it was short.
UPDATE: For the first time in a long time, I feel like Update more or less works tonight, but mostly thanks to the can't-make-this-up comic fodder provided once more by Republican candidates in their last debate. Seriously, all Colin has to do is show the real life footage to get laughs here. Then Kate comes on as her new character of "Barb," the butch Barbie not put on the shelf this week, while new guy John comes out to do a Dirty Dancing spoof of Patrick Swayze (not that funny but he does seriously commit to a lengthy dance/mime number). Finally, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson show up as Derek Zoolander and Hansel to talk politics, and pretty much nail the whole thing, because those guys were always basically an SNL skit unto themselves. Love it.
SONGWRITING: This one's a flop, with Pete trying to teach songwriting lessons to a class and Larry keeps screwing up the words- not funny, but Larry gives it his all anyway. I love him, you guys.
SUPER BOWL GREETING: Kenan and Taran play "Ebony & Ivory" on the piano together as quarterbacks Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, while they mock the media's very different coverage of the two of them and wonder what the reasons could be. Premise is solid and the skit is short, so I'd say it works.
SHEILA: Kate's late night bar sketch is back, with her this time trying to hook up with Larry as they gross out Kenan the ever present bartender trying to kick them out. These have gotten progressively less funny the more they do them, until it gets to the makeout portion, which is always amusing as Kate goes for it with each and every guy who's willing. But my favorite of these remains the Louis CK one.
So that was it, guys- we got Larry, Bernie Sanders, and at least a couple good skits, so I give this one a B. I don't know what made Larry David have this sudden turnaround on the idea of doing SNL after thirty years, but I'm sure glad he's had this change of heart. It was very cool to see him here. Next week we got Melissa McCarthy for what I think is her third hosting stint (or maybe fourth?), so we'll see how that goes. Until then, go Broncos!
