The show was a mixed bag I thought. Not as bad as Phelps; there were some ok pieces, but overall it wasn't that great.
That said, and I readily admit that I have resented Darrell Hammond's seemingly eternal presence on the show for years now, the Bill Clinton WU piece was the best thing to come out of this show since "Lazy Sunday."
I agree, we rewatched selected skits this morning, that and the couple who went to dinner, "do you think they liked us" skit was the two funniest of the night. Hammond's delivery of Clinton wasn't his best but I thought the line " and I would especially like to thank Duffy" was classic Clinton/Hammond, on that note, I had never heard of Duffy before last night and its not my type of music but for some reason i couldn't turn away from her performance.
I don't think last night was a terrible show at all (ala Phelps). Maybe not great, but I thought the 1st 1/2 hour was actually funny -- Fey's opening was hysterical, I liked WU and especially the Bill Clinton, the takeoff on the Debate with Hillary in the wings as the 'backup' was funny. Hammond's "some women need a little encouragement to do some things they don't think they'll like, but ...." was just classic. The Wiig "Nervous" segment was more amazing than amusing, but still the whole WU was superb.
The Dinner party while predictable after is got started was at least humorous until the pat Toonces ending they seem to use when they can never figure out how to end a skit.
1st Date in the boat 'pseudo-musical' was amusing. I'm assuming as Faris was doing some some of Britney with the dark hair.
I thought the Strip Club takeoff of the Bailout was a nice idea and at least smiled, but never got a real foothold.
Faris plays the Dumb Blonde well enough and her timing is usually so good that even mediocre material has a chance.
Last half of the show is as depressing as usual:
Wedding Dress stunk it up.
My feelings about Restaurant skits aren't improving.
Ex BoyFriend -- well I had to look up the show index since I don't even remember this one at all.
Duffy -- well what can you say other than decent eye candy. I haven't understood the entertainment guest in over a decade anyway.
Mostly mediocre show, I thought. The debate spoof was the cream of a weak crop. The strip club bit was OK. The "I don't think they liked us" was IMO a prime example of "hey, here's a simple concept we can milk for five minutes." Ugh. Sadly, I missed the Clinton bit on Weekend Update.
I agree that Anna Faris looks much better with dark hair (and the running "dumb blonde" theme got old very quickly).
It was the first time since Feist that I actually watched the musical guest, and the first time since I don't know when since I watched the musical guest not knowing the song.
Are they Swedish? The lyrics were gibberish, but the song was catchy.
The debate sketch wasn't as vicious as the previous ones (Pailn is becoming the lovable idiot that Ferrell's Bush became), but it was still good. Lots of strong sketches -- the Lawrence Welk Show sketch was less about the script than about makeup/props/costume, but is was lizard brain funny -- my wife and I were in total hysterics.
Lost of strong sketches and consistently funny throughout (as already mentioned, the monolog and the first sketch were funny, and those are typically weak). Even the Mary Poppins sketch was really funny, and that style of sketch usually thuds.
You've never seen The Killers before? This is their third SNL appearance IIRC. They've been around for a few years and did that "Somebody Told Me" song ("...that you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year...")
It was definitely the best show of the season and Anne is by far the best host they've had in a long time. I really hope they bring her back.
Anne must be able to quickly scan cue cards and then deliver her lines with good inflection to elevate the material written for the skits because I watched how she'd sneak peeks at the cue cards, but then deliver the lines as naturally as possible. It was appreciated since many other guests would just stare at the cue cards with nary any connection to their character was saying. Sudekis was also doing a good job on his lines in the "Not-so-gay roommate" sketch.
Tina Fey said she doesn't want to do Palin much longer, and suggested that perhaps some people might help her stop by November 5th (day after election).