Kristen Wiig does a really good Drew Barrymore, yikes.

Also, I can't believe they couldn't get Prince to appear in the skit (he's *there*, what's the problem?).

The show has kind of gone downhill since WU.

They totally fucked up the ending. They cut away too soon, and never even did the credits.

It seems like her and Andy Samburg could be the big big two a few years from now. She especially is really really good, I get a Jane Curtin vibe from her.

Yeah I like Kristen too. She did a good Megan Mullaly a few weeks back.

The Quick Zoom sketch was probably the funniest sketch I've seen since Dane Cook hosted

I'd throw Bill Hader into that mix as well. As I mentioned before, he reminds me a lot of Dan Aykroyd back when he was on the show. Hopefully for Hader he will go onto have the same success.

I found the second digital short cleverer and more fun than the first one. The close-talker bit was amusing for a few seconds and I kept waiting for them to do something clever with it but they didn't have any ideas, and it just died, still not bad though.

Overall one of the best episodes of the show this decade, especially the credit card commercial, the opening monologue, the zoom camera soap thing, weekend update and the digital shorts. The superbowl singers sketch was pretty boring. The surfer sketch wasn't that good but it was typical winding down late-show stuff, no worse than late episode sketch's in the show's hay day.

The cameos were great, and was really surprised to see Scarlet Johanson, if that was her. Baldwin was a good sport.

The show was great, if only Steve didn't play himself in almost every sketch. I like how the show doesn't mind doing non-live openers like that (cartoon a few weeks ago, as well). I think the SNL Digital Shorts could be great, but I hope they don't get worn out. It still is Saturday Night LIVE, not Saturday Night Taped-A-While-Ago.

One of the rumored hosts coming up is Lindsay Lohan again. I don't know, I'm kinda sick of her seemingly hosting every ten minutes. I wish it was someone else who hosted every year. In fact, this latest episode made me remember how great Kelly Ripa was. This was her third appearance on the show (two cameos and one hosting gig), so why not get her to host again soon?

Is there anyone you really want to see host? I would have liked to see Rachel McAdams host, but she's got nothing to promote now. I could see Rob Schneider hosting in April (to promote "The Benchwarmers"), but I doubt it. If anyone from the film got to host, it'd be Jon Lovitz or David Spade.

So... Did anyone watch the singing of the Star Spangled Banner before the Super Bowl??

If so... could you also not stop laughing because you were picturing Horatio and Kenan singing? Because I couldn't

I think it's been an upseason for SNL this year. I must say I was really liking the whole song thing they had going where every host was singing a song at the beginning very catchcy. I still have Steve Carrells stuck in my head.

I think the cast members are much better this season, save for a few veterans who should move on. The writing is still down for me, but this latest episode was really a lot of fun. Maybe it was due to Steve Martin, but it was still really great.

Nice recap, looks like the old pro Steve Martin came through > so was it him / good writing or a combination of both.

**************************

Also as NO ONE has said how Prince was > I will ask everyone who watched, How was Prince?

I think it was a combination of both. The writing has gotten more inventive as the weeks have gone on. With the addition of Martin has host, I think he just enhanced it.

As for Prince, I'm not a big Prince fan so I can't say much about him.

This doesn't have anything to do with this season, but last night before bed I watched some of a rerun of SNL on E! that Christina Aguilera hosted. I got to see the SEX & THE CITY spoof I remember hearing a bit about before and HOLY SHIT! Christina was fucking brilliant and dead-on as Samantha! She was amazing! I was blown away. She was very funny and easily stole the show. The other actresses weren't very good or funny.

FRED ARMISEN - His Prince is funny, and he has his moments. But he needs to take more chances. B-

RACHEL DRATCH - She's one of my favorites. Only she could pull off Debbie Downer, and her Wake Up Wakefield as Sheldon is amusing (not the Horatio part). A-

TINA FEY - She has her moments. She's best at the update. A-

WILL FORTE - I never really found him all that funny. The falconer is only tolerable because of the falcon. C+

BILL HADER - Still to new to the group, but is improving. Tentative grade: B

DARRELL HAMMOND - He's kept the show together for quite a long time. If it weren't for him, after Ferrell left, it would have been even worse. His impressions are great. A

SETH MEYERS - He has his moments, but he's not that funny to me. B

FINESSE MITCHELL - He had a strong first season, but then it went downhill. He needs to get back to how he started. It's getting stale. B-

CHRIS PARNELL - I enjoy his Simon Cowell. He's all around one of their best cast members. A-

AMY POEHLER A-
She has some great moments. I don't like her "Caitlin,” where she just yells, Rick Rick, I like “Amber” the one-legged reality show contestant. Her Avril Lavigne, Sharon Osbourne, Paula Abdul, Sharon Stone impressions are great.

MAYA RUDOLPH - She's my favorite cast member. She just has "it." A

ANDY SAMBERG - Young, but quite a bit of potential. B+

HORATIO SANZ - He's well intentioned, but just not funny. His "Carole" skit is one of the show's lowpoints of this decade. D

JASON SUDEIKIS - Talented, but needs to take more changes. B

KENAN THOMPSON - His Cosby and Star Jones are funny, but he's very on and off. C+
Repertory Player

KRISTEN WIIG - I think she has the most potential of the cast right now. She is an excellent impressionist. What I've seen so far: A.

I always thought Christina did a decent enough job as a host that time.

Using Jmart's template:

STEVE MARTIN

Opener -- A: Very funny.

Monologue -- D: The viagra clock was one hell of an anti-climax... and the monologue itself wasn't actually that funny.

A Teddy Bear Holding a Heart -- B: I chuckled at this a fair bit.

Oprah -- F: Terribly written. The concept had potential for humour, but they managed to avoid it completely. Maya Rudolph was awful.

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford -- C+: A great sketch, unfortunately drawn out well past being funny.

Hamas -- C: Funny in parts... but not great. And a teeny, tiny bit racist.

A SNL Digital Short -- C+: Interesting and funny concept, badly executed.

Quick Zoom Theater (The Checkup) -- B-: Once again, funny. But drawn out way too long.

Weekend Update -- B: The abortion line had me chuckling.

National Anthem Practice -- F: Just awful.

Steve Negotiating -- C+: Quite funny, right up until Alec Baldwin asked for pie. The recurring problem I'm spotting is SNL's seeming inability to know when to end a sketch.

The Prince Show -- C: Wiig's Barrymore impression was spot on. The prince impersonator was quite good also. Shame there weren't actually any jokes.

State of the Galaxy 2145 -- F: Once again, just awful...

An SNL Digital Short (The Tangent) -- B- Better than the first.

Ted -- F: Embarrassingly awful. Almost like they came up with it on the spot. It would've been funnier if after the build up, Ted wasn't the one who didn't belong.

Naturally Crafting -- F: Awful.

The cast seem quite talented, it's the writers they need to fire. So many of the sketches had comic potential, but they were ruined by the constant need to pad out each one to 2 or 3 minutes.

On the plus side, Prince was awesome.

Good recap and glad to hear your thoughts except I don't get why the second one gets a lower grade if it's better.

Don't try to figure me out, Archie. I'm an enigma.

An enigma who forgot to change Jmart's grade after stealing his recap template.

"Lady Smith Black Mambazo... in OUTER SPACE!"



Awesome to see Dennis Haysbert saying "elephant piss" on his extended cameo during TV Funhouse.

WTF? That Natalie Portman digital short has got to be one of the most disturbingly funny ones I've seen from the show.

I need that short for my Vidpod. I NEED IT NOW!!!!!

SNL sucked last night. MadTV was absolutely hilarious.

http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_143 ... raps.shtml