It was a packed and satisfying “Saturday Night Live” this week and not just because of the usual pre-holiday boost. James Franco has done this job before and, after kind of a down year, may have not been the No. 1 choice to host. But the guy can act and is game, so was a useful asset to nearly every skit he was in.
And even when he’s called upon to do an impersonation — he did Christopher Walken in the inevitable “Peter Pan” poke — he could do it (or is Walken the kind of person anybody can do?).
But the key to the show’s success was the terrific Nicki Minaj, who not just captivated in her musical segments, but popped up in nearly as many skits with her own funny impersonations — one of Kim Kardashian in “Weekend Update” that was OK (though not as good as Nasin Pedrad’s) and another as Beyonce in a BET version of the nativity that was pretty good (“SNL” couldn’t even hope to stage such a thing a season or two back with its lack of diversity).
The writers were in top form, possibly because of having a week off. They handled the Eric Garner story through a perfectly suitable Al Sharpton impersonation (“The Daily Show” for its part couldn’t come up with any angle the night the decision not to indict his murder came down). Michael Che and Colin Jost spent more time on the issue in “Weekend Update.”
Just as topical for its audience was a take off for the new “Star Wars” featuring too-old cast members. But there were a lot of strong sketches including one that included clearing 90s clutter from a guy’s brain to a super filmed bit about “Grow a Guy” written and starring Mike O’Brien, who moved from cast to writers’ room this season.
That Seth Rogen popped in during the monologue and in the porn stars bit late in the show wasn’t the big news because Minaj had already taken up so much of the Franco show, and good for her.