TVSquad

(S32E07) I pretty much only know Matthew Fox as Jack from Lost, so I didn't really have any expectations going into the episode. As it turned out, Fox was an okay host. However, I thought the night's writing was fantastic. Even the worst sketch of the evening (usually one of those stragglers at the end of the episode) had its moments. I can't quite put my finger on what was done differently... All I know is that I was definitely laughing out loud more than usual.

Cold Open (Bush and Maliki): Jason Sudeikis was back as Bush, so I guess they're really done with Will Forte's impression of the president. Forte had some really great lines in this one. By the way, I kept expecting Fred Armisen and Forte to make out at any moment. It seems like there's always a high chance of sucking face whenever either one of them are in close proximity to a male co-star. Chances are doubled when Armisen and Forte are together. Anyway, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't expecting a little Maliki-on-interpreter action. I'm just putting that out there.

Monologue: Matthew Fox looked good and, faintly in the distance, I could hear multpile thuds as women across the country swooned and missed their fainting couches. I noticed that his speech was fairly natural and his eyes weren't blatantly tracing the cue cards, so I expected a decent show. Bill Hader's Kramer impression was pretty good, but his appearance didn't seem to weave in as seamlessly as they had probably hoped.

"Sale-Mart": Two handfuls of generic medicines for a dollar?! Awesome. I thought this sketch was funny/sad because, well, it's true.

"Nancy Grace": Good lord, I hate Nancy Grace. Amy Poehler started pissing me off, so she did a good job with the character. Matthew Fox's moustache was slightly off-center (?) and he wouldn't. Stop. Blinking. It was driving me crazy. I prayed that he wouldn't be doing that throughout the entire episode because, seriously, I would have been so distracted. Best line of the sketch: "The only N-word I would call you is 'nice'!"

"Deep House Dish": What I like about this sketch is, despite its tremendously formulaic approach, it's fresh every time. I always look forward to hearing the new songs because, in a scary sort of way, most of them would probably pass as dance hits in the real world. Honestly, I know at least a dozen people that would accept the "Tilt and Freak" as a genuine dance move. Amy's "... Four ounces is not enough, five... depends on the brand" and "Vogue-ing too big" almost made me shoot milk out of my nose... and I didn't even have milk today. I'm not sure how much I like T-Shane, though. Oh well. He's essential to the formula, so I guess I've got to get used to him.

"Lost in the Elevator": Now, I thought this was handled beautifully. It was the perfect way to address Lost without actually committing to a full-on parody, which would have been tremendously difficult to do. Working on TV Squad, I read a lot of Lost theories and complaints and everything, and this sketch definitely echoed the show's fanatics. From the anger about spoilers to the fangirls to the speculation that none of the writers have any idea what's going on... All spot-on. It was so good, I almost expected a line or two about Jack/Sawyer slash fan-fiction.

"Weekend Update": "Kramer, please!", iron-on condoms, Amy's rant about vag-flashing... Just about everything was hilarious. I even laughed at Maya Rudolph's Whitney Houston! I don't think I've done that in a long time.

"Crazy Mountainman/Fangirls": One of the big reasons why working on SNL has been a long-time dream of mine is the fact that the players get to write themselves into steamy sketches with hot hosts. So... yeah. Although I'm not particularly attracted to Fox, I really felt a connection with this sketch, haha. I pointed at the television at various points of this piece, as if to say, "Yeah. Yeah, I would have totally done that", because I can't very well say that aloud. Right? That'd be creepy.

"Math Wiz vs. History Buff": The night was winding down, so, of course, this was one of the weaker sketches. However, it still got a good chuckle out of me... mainly because of that TV line and Matthew Fox's ridiculously cliche professor costume (complete with pipe!).

"Mayan Chocolate": Again, one of the weaker sketches of the evening, but still kind of funny. Bill Hader's death mid-"brownie" was what sold it, for me.

Tenacious D: Since Jack Black and Kyle Gass are both comedic actors, I kind of expected them to do double-duty and host and perform. I guess having double-guests would have been too much trouble, though... And I suppose having Tenacious D play host and musical guest would have been too weird right after Ludacris did the same thing in the last new episode. Anyway, Black and Gass gave two solid performances. The last one was, um, pretty fucking crazy. It seems like SNL is letting itself have a bit more fun with musical guests this season (remember Beck's puppets and dish-banging on the Hugh Laurie episode?).

Next week: Annette Bening and Gwen Stefani. Has everyone heard Gwen's crazy Sound of Music-inspired single? It's -- I -- There's... yodeling.