Seth Rogen has hosted “Saturday Night Live” a couple of times before, so maybe the novelty has worn off for him. He didn’t seem tense or nervous, or didn’t have that many standout moments in sketches either. But he tended to bring out the best in the cast members, including some who hadn’t had such moments for months.
it’s become common to devote the cold open to a political issue for whatever reason (political wonks go to bed early?). This one was different, and a concept so unusual it had to be explained — Republicans trying to court the youth vote by appearing at Coachella. Now, Coachella might be a big thing on the West Coast, but it doesn’t mean that much to the rest of the country. Suffice to say, it’s a big music festival that considers itself hip. Out on its stage came Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush and their pals.
Making it that much more confusing was that Taran Killam and Beck Bennett don’t necessarily look like Ryan and Bush (in fact they could have switched roles and maybe come closer since Jeb I think should be the taller of the two). Having Nasim Penrad play Bobby Jindal is amusing, but she doesn’t look (or sound) that much like him either. So gangly Brooks Wheelan (whose inside joke may be: I’m the new guy who STILL hasn’t been in any major skits yet this season) wasn’t much of a DJ Ron Paul either. The main point was: The kids didn’t respond to them or their politics. Unintended subtext: “SNL” tries to market to young people just like the GOPers are.
On to the monologue: Rogen read from his diary of the week, which served as a pretty reliable predictor of the rest of the show: A lot of pot jokes. He said he didn’t need a lot of cameo guests to support him, but he still got Zooey Deschanel, James Franco and Taylor Swift to join him.
Then came pot skit No. 1: a “Just Say No” classroom in which the students weren’t getting it. Not much of a bit, but Nasim got a nice role as a weird student. Similarly, Aidy Bryant got to shine in the next sketch, about a woman with two broken arms who needs her long-suffering boyfriend (Rogen) to help feed her at a restaurant. Cecily Strong had a big moment as well, as an outraged pet owner in a dog food commercial, at what her dog used to have to eat, alongside Rogen. (Less effective but as big a spotlight was her return as a loudmouth cousin of undetermined accent who keeps talking about a gay incident in the groom’s background).
Odd that Rogen was the straight man in all these sketches, but his presence seemed to make a difference.
Other highlights in the show was Vanessa Bayer’s Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy returning to read a passover story during “Weekend Update,” with Strong the new straight man instead of Seth Meyers. The other “Update” guest was Keenan Thompson as David Ortiz, whose main point went as far back as Garrett Morris: Foreign-born baseball players talk funny.
“Undercover Sharpton” was a timely, funny idea that wasn’t developed much at all in a Thompson sketch. Kyle Mooney did a spacey and barely discernable mumble history of “420” to continue the pot humor. And a very late sketch about a sperm bank turned yogurt shop came too late to wake anybody up.
As music guest, Ed Sheeran was tuneful and upbeat enough. The next “SNL” doesn’t come until May. They all need a rest.