TVSquad

(S34E04) This season so far has been more than a little iffy, but Anne Hathaway managed to make things slightly less painful. Even though the writing still wasn't quite spot-on, Hathaway's enthusiasm brought a light to the show that made even the most irritating sketches a bit more bearable. Honestly, I had my doubts about her hosting abilities, mainly because her good girl giddiness clashes heavily with my black-hearted bitchiness, but I didn't mind her. I'm sure she could even easily make the jump from "pretty good" to "absolutely spectacular," given the right material. Also, she managed to read the cue cards without looking like a complete idiot, which most other hosts have somehow turned into a massive ordeal lately. Mmm, literacy plus natural reading: a combination so deliciously rare, the writers don't even know what to do with it.Here are some video highlights from the episode:

Cold Open: "VP Debates": Ahh, the big news of the week! Once again, Tina Fey put on a half-Canadian accent to play Tina Fey and Jason Sudeikis stepped in as Joe Biden. I have decided either they have worked out a super-nice deal with Fey to keep her as Palin, or nobody expects John McCain to win and they're not worried about getting one of the cast members to play her in the long-term. Also, Queen Latifah's appearance was a pleasant surprise, even if it reminded us that the cast isn't particularly diverse at the moment.



"The Lawrence Welk Show": This unusually bizarre sketch set the tone for the rest of the episode. I could have sworn I've seen another SNL or YouTube'd sketch in which some guy freaks out over his baby hands. Yes? No? In any case, baby hands are inherently funny, so I laughed like an idiot all the way through.



"C-SPAN: Bailout": Another hot topic in the news was the bailout -- I mean, rescue. This was pretty straightforward. I liked Fred Armisen's take on Barney Frank, even though it got a little Ted Stevens-y.



"Digital Short: Extreme Challenge": This was hilarious and probably the best piece from the night. I laughed through the whole thing. It doesn't get much better than pinning chairs and screaming at self-loathing referees.



"Mary Poppins": Hilarious idea, but the execution fell a bit short. There was a lot of singing going on in this episode. At least Hathaway had the voice to pull it off, even if the singing wasn't always justified in the scene. I must also commend her for not forcing a song into her monologue like oh-so-many other stars.



"Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals": The very idea of this was brilliant and I started laughing as soon as the title came up. Despite the fact that Samberg's Wahlberg impression was fantastic, this could have been done so much better, perhaps with stuffed animals instead of real ones. I remember laughing until I cried back when Will Ferrell's Robert Goulet went absolutely mental on a stuffed goat. I guess taxidermy is inherently funny as well.