'SNL' Recap: Scarlett Johansson Tries for a TKO

You can’t say that Saturday Night Live didn’t know what they were up against. Returning to the air after three weeks off, SNL went head-to-head against the blockbuster boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, a match-up that couldn’t help but favor the big fight. The show addressed its underdog status right off the top, with a cold open that found Jay Pharoah and Aidy Bryant pretending to duke it out as Mayweather and Pacquiao respectively. Then they brought out their own welterweight champ — Scarlett Johansson, current star of The Avengers: Age of Ultron and past SNL favorite, making her fourth appearance on the late night staple.

ScarJo gamely tried to give viewers a reason not to switch over to pay-per-view (or Twitter), crooning a sexed-up lullaby — actually a cover version of “Love to Love You Baby,” by Donna Summer — while back-up dancers writhed behind her and Kenan Thompson and Taran Killam watched, alternately horrified and turned on. That’s the kind of commitment the actress has brought to all of her SNL appearances, and she threw herself into the rest of the night’s mild-to-middling sketches as well. But her efforts weren’t enough to knock #MayPac off the top perch of any and all social media sites. On the other hand, based on the vitriolic Twittersphere response to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, a bunch of those viewers probably wish that they had tuned into SNL instead…

Best Sketch: Baltimore Special Report

Commenting on the troubled situation in Baltimore through the lens of two Orioles announcers commenting on a game taking place in an empty stadium was probably the safest choice for the SNL writers to take, but they still landed some potent jabs. (That’s more than we can say for the boxing match.) The skit specifically wins points for the way it takes the television news media to task, not just for always managing to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, but also for fleeing town when the situation gets hairy.

Worst Sketch: Girlfriends Talk Show

Just like “The Californians,” they keep trying to make this recurring sketch happen, but it’s only gotten less and less funny with each go-around — despite Bryant and Cecily Strong’s commitment to the vapid-teen-girl cause. Just like Bethenny, this is a talk show that deserves to be canceled.

Best Use of Scarlett Johansson: Black Widow: Age of Me

ScarJo expertly channeled her own rom-com past — remember The Nanny Diaries (also starring Chris “Captain America” Evans!) and He’s Just Not That Into You? Of course you do! — for this 27 Dresses-style take on her kick-ass Avengers heroine. Now we want to see the indie drama version of a day in the life on Hawkeye’s farm.

Episode MVP: Taran Killam

For gamely playing the “clueless white guy” not just once, but twice — first in the Baltimore Orioles sketch and then as rebel racist cop Don Blazer in a bit that started out as a spoof of ‘80s cop shows, before going all meta in very funny ways. Here’s the replacement for MacGruber you’ve been waiting for, everyone.

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.