'SNL' Recap: Julia to the Rescue
Help us, Julia Louis-Dreyfus… you’re our only hope. After a pair of subpar hosts — Peter Dinklage and his Space Pants were only mildly entertaining, while Russell Crowe’s crash and burn was actively painful to behold — Saturday Night Live turned to a famous alum to end its three-week run on a high (and hi-larious) note. It’s only the third time that the former Seinfeld and current Veep star has hosted the series since her three-season stint as a cast member in the early ‘80s, and her first trip back to Studio 8H in almost a decade. (Her previous hosting gigs were in 2006 and 2007 respectively.)
“If we’re really being honest, that number feels a little low,” she told the crowd at the top of her monologue. Her Veep costar, Tony Hale, agreed. Popping up in a surprise cameo holding Louis-Dreyfus’s cue cards, he channeled his onscreen sycophant — Selina Meyer’s personal assistant/punching bag Gary Walsh —telling his “boss” that she should host the show every week. Based on her lively presence tonight, when she appeared in virtually every sketch as opposed to Crowe’s measly four skit appearance, we’d be perfectly OK with that… unless it means less Veep, of course.
Louis-Dreyfus wasn’t the only dual SNL/Seinfeld veteran in the house. During the Democratic Debate-themed cold open, Larry David reprised his Bernie Sanders impression for the latest and last time before New Yorkers go to the polls on Tuesday. And he and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton wasted little time getting into it, at one point waving their fingers in each other’s faces, until the former Secretary of State put her rival in a headlock and gave him an epic noogie, saying “D’ya feel that burn?!”
And since the faux-candidates were debating on a New York stage, it only made sense that they’d interact with a classic New York character. Enter Elaine Benes, still spiky and big haired after all these years. Pressing Sanders on how exactly he plans to break up the big banks, Elaine refused to let the Vermont senator “Yada, yada” his way out of an actual explanation. “You can’t ‘yada, yada’ at a debate!” Turning to Hillary next, she asked knowingly, “Doesn’t it suck to be the only girl in a group of guys?” She continued to give Clinton the Benes Bump, pointedly telling David that if Sanders’s economic plans went into effect, he’d owe a lot of the money he made off of Seinfeld. “You should vote for her!” Larry’s Bernie shouted in horror. We’d totally support an Elaine Benes presidency.
Best Sketch: “Who Works Here?”
We’re pretty sure we’ve visited the CVS that serves as the setting for this guessing game, where weirdos, wackos, and even ghosts wander the aisles deliberately not helping the customers. They should do a spinoff version set at our local Taco Bell.
Worst Sketch: “Meet ‘n Match”
Could this skit about two alien gals looking for men to knock them up have been SNL’s super-subtle shout-out to recently deceased comic Garry Shandling? After all, Shandling headlined the big-screen comedy, What Planet Are You From? where he also played an extraterrestrial looking for a human mate. And just like that mostly forgotten movie, this forgettable sketch was kind of a flop.
Best Use of Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Cinema Classics”
Playing a black-and-white movie star who hid her lines all over the set — and even on her co-star’s chest — Louis-Dreyfus got to indulge her always-fun flair for physical comedy. Remember the Elaine Dance? Sure you do.
Episode MVP: Vanessa Bayer
Bayer provided this above average episode with perfect bookends, reprising her spot-on Rachel Green impression in the cold open, and getting her faith on in the last skit of the night, a timely spoof of self-righteous Christian movies —not to mention certain states that have passed misguided anti-gay laws — sacrilegiously called God Is a Boob Man.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturday nights at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
