Perhaps I’m in the holiday spirit (maybe), perhaps it’s the amount of wine consumed from back-to-back holiday parties (more likely), but last night’s Jeff Bridges-hosted installment of Saturday Night Live was, well, quite great. Not the laugh-out-loud funniest show of the season, but, from top to bottom, there wasn’t a whole lot of “bad.” I mean, it was so good that the best sketch of the night was the third to last of the show. Bridges, who last co-hosted in 1983 with his brother Beau, did an admirable job as host but, more importantly, did an admirable job of not getting in the way of a cast that was obviously on a mission before they took a break for the holidays.
Also, a side note, for anyone out there who wants to take 20 years off his appearance: Seriously, just shave your beard. Bridges went from “grizzled coot” to “Hey, isn’t that the guy from Starman?” with one shave. Honestly, Tron: Legacy, you could have saved a lot of money on that young, CGI enhanced Jeff Bridges if you would have just given the guy a razor and a can of Gillette Foamy. Having said that, on to the scorecard!
Sketch of the Night
“Jeff’s Prank Show” (Bridges): Jeff Bridges, as he admits, loves pranks! So he stars in a new show where he pranks the likes of Sam Elliott, Billy Bob Thornton, Forest Whitaker and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Sample prank: Gyllenhall is expecting a telegram, roses show up instead. You’ve been Jeff’d! The only thing that I don’t understand, how could this sketch air so late in the show?
Score: 9.0
The Good
“Underground Holiday Event” (Sudeikis, Pedrad, Moynihan): We finally get our sequel to Kickspit. This time featuring more bands with those crazy names, like Scrotum Fire and Third Eye Blind. Also, finally, the return of Ass Dan!
Score: 8.0
“Digital Short: I Just Had Sex” (Samberg, Taccone, Akon): Two solid weeks in a row for the crew from The Lonely Island. Jorma Taccone returns to the screen, along with Samberg and Akon, for this ode to having sex. Samberg has been a quite a run recently with his Digital Shorts; it seems the holidays always do bring out the best in this series, for whatever reason. In tone, this was more, “I’m on a Boat,” though, than “D*ck in a box.”
Score: 8.0
“Message from Mark Zuckerbeg” (Hader, Samberg): Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Magazine’s person of the year, and now he has some things to say about that. Well, that is if Julian Assange didn’t, for the third week in a row, hack the transmission to deliver another message. And the sketch has a good point: Why, in 2010, is Zuckerberg the person of the year? If _The Social Network _ was never released, would this have happened? Love him or hate him, at least Assange is currently making his mark. I mean, seriously, three sketches in three weeks based on Assange!
Score: 7.0
“Weekend Update” (Meyers, Killam, Thompson, Hader, Armisen, Moynihan): “Weekend Update” has hired a new weatherman and his name is Brad Pitt. Honestly, I can’t tell is this is an accurate Brad Pitt impression or not, but, for some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing. Also, even in a limited role, no “Update” is complete without Stefon. Kenan’s Michael Steele, unfortunately, fell flat but… did I mention Killam’s strange but funny Brad Pitt impression?
Score: 7.0
“Jeff Bridges Monologue” (Bridges): Played surprisingly straight, yes, Jeff Bridges sang a duet of “Silver Bells” with Cookie Monster. And surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. Again, it may have been the lasting effects of last night’s wine, but the fact that Bridges looked like he was having the time of his life won me over. I mean, seriously, did you see that charming, unbearded fellow?
Score: 6.5
“White House Christmas Cold Open” (Armisen, Sudeikis, Wiig, Samberg, Bayer) When did it become a prerequisite that every single cold open has to be political? Regardless, this week’s installment of “Fred Armisen’s serviceable-at-best impression of Obama” was a fairly funny installment. Obama, Clinton, Emanuel, Pelosi and Biden all stare out of the window, imagining the the headlines they would like to see in the upcoming year. It’s funny because — including Biden’s “Live Gorilla Runs on Basketball Court, Dunks” — they are all pretty much true.
Score: 6.5
“General Store” (Bridges, Hader, Moynihan, Wiig, Sudeikis): I am an absolute sucker for the weirder last sketches of the night. And the weird has unfortunately been missing since, it seems, Will Forte’s departure. I mean, when was the last time we saw something like Forte’s showdown with Sudeikis over a potato chip during an interview for NASA? Regardless, this come really close: An Old West general store with a gift-wrapping department. I loved Moynihan’s honest, ” I do not know what that means.”
Score: 6.0
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