James Franco dropped by 30 Rock's Studio 8H for the first time since 2009, but based on his distracted three-peat turn as Saturday Night Live's
host, it's entirely possible he didn't realize he was back in the
building—or on national television for that matter. It would have been
one thing if the professional oddball had just gone out there and been
really, really strange all night. What proved so surprising (and
disappointing) is how…well, normal he seemed, even in the
strangest of sketches. At one point, for instance, the writers had him
dressed up as a troll who gets in touch with his bisexuality, and Franco
couldn't have seemed more bored or been more boring. Where's the weirdo
who played the beer-swilling, Britney Spears-loving Alien from Spring Breakers? Or the dude who uploads crazy selfies to Instagram? That's the guy we wanted hosting SNL, not the Franco-sized pod person who showed up.
Granted, the entire cast and crew seemed to be experiencing an off-night; you know you're in for a rough show when the Star Wars parody trailer these paid professionals came up with is considerably less funny than the amateur spoofs flooding YouTube. (Luke using a walker? As Seth and Amy would say…really?) Read on for a quick scorecard of the various lows and highs.
Best Sketch: "Jeremy's Brain"
Sure it was basically a rip-off of that vintage Woody Allen inside-the-body sketch from Everything You Want to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)—not to mention the late, not-so-great Fox sitcom Herman's Head—but this peek inside one dude's overly cluttered brain yielded lots of amusing characters ("Rhombus") and familiar and deep-cut pop culture references. (Holla back if you, too, rocked out to Savage Garden's "I Want You" back in the '90s.) We've been meaning to dump O-Town's Ashley Parker Angel from our brains for years, too.
Worst Sketch: "Peter Pan Live!"
You knew this was coming…and not just because Franco and musical guest Nicki Minaj already spoofed NBC's latest live musical event in this week's promo trailers. That teaser, thankfully, were much shorter than this protracted skit, which felt seemed to never-never end. Also, Hook's Dustin Hoffman could probably do a better Christopher Walken impression than our host.
Best Use of Franco: "Grow a Guy"
Episode MVP: Nicki Minaj
Minaj popped up in so many sketches, she seemed like more of a host than the actual host. (Come to think of it, that must have been how Anne Hathaway when sharing the stage with Franco during those disastrous Oscars a few years back.) The singer channeled both Beyonce and Kim Kardashian effectively—though she's clearly no replacement for Maya Rudolph in the former role and Nasim Pedrad in the latter—and overall seemed much more engaged, not to mention awake, than sleepy James.
On the downside, having to keep track of all those lines might have been the reason why she visibly flubbed a line during her first song, "Bed of Lies." Maybe next time make Franco the musical guest (surely he'll record an album at some point?) and let Minaj focus solely on the comedy.
Source: Yahoo
Granted, the entire cast and crew seemed to be experiencing an off-night; you know you're in for a rough show when the Star Wars parody trailer these paid professionals came up with is considerably less funny than the amateur spoofs flooding YouTube. (Luke using a walker? As Seth and Amy would say…really?) Read on for a quick scorecard of the various lows and highs.
Best Sketch: "Jeremy's Brain"
Sure it was basically a rip-off of that vintage Woody Allen inside-the-body sketch from Everything You Want to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)—not to mention the late, not-so-great Fox sitcom Herman's Head—but this peek inside one dude's overly cluttered brain yielded lots of amusing characters ("Rhombus") and familiar and deep-cut pop culture references. (Holla back if you, too, rocked out to Savage Garden's "I Want You" back in the '90s.) We've been meaning to dump O-Town's Ashley Parker Angel from our brains for years, too.
Worst Sketch: "Peter Pan Live!"
You knew this was coming…and not just because Franco and musical guest Nicki Minaj already spoofed NBC's latest live musical event in this week's promo trailers. That teaser, thankfully, were much shorter than this protracted skit, which felt seemed to never-never end. Also, Hook's Dustin Hoffman could probably do a better Christopher Walken impression than our host.
Best Use of Franco: "Grow a Guy"
Be honest…didn't you always kind
of assume that Franco was a human Sea Monkey? It explains so much—that
thousand yard stare, that disturbing smirk-grin, that hyper-insane work
ethic, as though he's got the lifespan of a brine shrimp. He's also got
the complexion of a dude with orange goo coursing through his veins.
Episode MVP: Nicki Minaj
Minaj popped up in so many sketches, she seemed like more of a host than the actual host. (Come to think of it, that must have been how Anne Hathaway when sharing the stage with Franco during those disastrous Oscars a few years back.) The singer channeled both Beyonce and Kim Kardashian effectively—though she's clearly no replacement for Maya Rudolph in the former role and Nasim Pedrad in the latter—and overall seemed much more engaged, not to mention awake, than sleepy James.
On the downside, having to keep track of all those lines might have been the reason why she visibly flubbed a line during her first song, "Bed of Lies." Maybe next time make Franco the musical guest (surely he'll record an album at some point?) and let Minaj focus solely on the comedy.
Source: Yahoo
