Fey, presidential race help re-energize 'SNL'
To paraphrase Chico Escuela, the presidential campaign was very, very good for NBC's "Saturday Night Live" this fall. Tina Fey's spot-on take on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin almost single-handedly revived interest in the long-running weekend variety show.
Yet that's just the thing: It was almost single-handed. Aside from Fey's Palin and the abundance of political satire the campaign afforded "Weekend Update" anchors Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, there wasn't much to like in "SNL's" 34th revue. Fred Armisen's Barack Obama was tepid and unfunny, and Darrell Hammond's John McCain wasn't much better - certainly not in the same league with his Bill Clinton.
When the show strayed from politics, however, things got even worse. The supporting cast lacked spark, and the skits tended to be aimless and unfocused at best, simply moronic at worst. That was true right from the beginning of the season, with Michael Phelps' stint as host bottoming out with a locker-room sketch marked mainly by Will Forte doing a goofy dance. As the season progressed, better hosts, such as Anne Hathaway, produced marginally better results, but the offhand humor rarely matched the inspirational level of the political satire.
After the campaign ended, with Fey heading back to her own sitcom, "30 Rock," and Poehler preparing to leave for her own new show as well, I fully expected "SNL" to sink back into a morass of inconsequence and scatological humor.
Yet, as Your Friendly Neighborhood TV Critic should well know by now, "SNL" is never so dangerous as when it's being written off. The immense attention and revived ratings seemed to reinspire the rest of the cast. It was as if a grafted limb infected an entire tree with renewed health. Even when the show was merely stupid, it was sometimes brilliantly stoopid, as in the Beyoncé "Single Ladies" video parody with Justin Timberlake the week Paul Rudd was host.
Last week's episode with John Malkovich was downright respectable from start to finish - although it helped to be attuned to Malkovich's uniquely skewed acting persona. While there still wasn't a whole lot to like in the supporting cast - Kenan Thompson is particularly brutal, never having outgrown his Nickelodeon hambone origins - there were undeniable signs of life. Freed from skits where he never seemed comfortable, and given time to concentrate on the writing for "Weekend Update," Meyers looked ready to go it alone when Poehler departs, and Armisen did his best Obama routine in a political ad making fun of his "cool" style. Best of all, Kristen Wiig stepped forward to do a brilliant lampoon of sexpots. Presenting herself as a fantasy object at an office party, she found a way to undercut every fantasy with borderline-gross physical humor. It showed there may yet be life for "SNL" after Fey and Poehler.
"SNL" will conclude its calendar year at 10:35 p.m. Saturday on WMAQ Channel 5 with a promising show featuring host Hugh Laurie and Chicago's own Kanye West as the musical guest. Viewers can also probably expect a reprise of Timberlake and Andy Samberg's festive seasonal "(Gift) in a Box" video, but for once it may not overwhelm the rest of the show as the only genuinely funny segment.
The fresh blood brought on in the form of new cast mates Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins hasn't yet paid noticeable dividends, but at least it shows producer Lorne Michaels is, as ever, on the alert to improve the show. With Fox's "MadTV" ending production, "SNL" is once again the only weekend comedy variety show standing, and revived by the fall political race it's showing signs of perhaps outlasting yet another presidential administration.