A good host frequently seems to bring out the best in Saturday Night Live, and this was true of Jon Hamm… at least in the sketches and taped pieces in which he was involved. (Even his SNL logo bridges coming out of the commercials were funny.) He got the obligatory Mad Men material out of the way in the opening segment, coming up with “spontaneous” ad campaigns in the manner of Don Draper. The joke was that Hamm’s were dreadful ideas, and he sold the desperation with verve. His self-congratulatory cry — “Wham, bam, thank you, Hamm!” — aptly described our gratitude for his performances this week.
A “Digital Short” followed Hamm’s opening, a sign of confidence that proved well-placed. It was a music video starring Rihanna and Andy Samberg as bank robbers “Ronnie and Clyde”; the music was a sleek piece of hip-hop sung by Rihanna with as much confidence as Samberg’s Shy Ronnie character lacked it. The video kept topping itself, especially when Rihanna returned to the bank after taking the cash to kidnap Hamm (“We’re gonna have sex”).
As many of you predicted in the Comments section, SNL did another “Vincent Price’s Halloween Special,” always welcome. Bill Hader as Price, Fred Armisen as Liberace, Hamm as Senator John F. Kennedy (the special was set in 1960) — all delivered the sketch’s non-stop double-entendres with black-humored historical memory. Hamm’s JFK asking Kristen Wiig’s Judy Garland for some of her copious heaps of pills for his “back pain” was a nice touch.
Another stand-out were a pair of Back to the Future 25th anniversary-DVD audition segments.
Some of the impersonations here were striking, particularly Bill Hader’s Alan Alda — I can’t remember seeing Hader do Alda before; it was uncanny. Hamm’s excessively effusive Robin Williams as Doc Brown was a delight, and Taran Killam’s Pee-wee Herman as Marty McFly was funny in its quick precision.
Hamm and Jason Sudeikis sold an otherwise-lame CHiPs-like parody, “Highway Cops,” by stepping up the silly homoerotic subtext with a full-on smooch that elicited yelps of delight from the studio audience. (“That felt good as hell — I can’t wait to tell my wife!”)
Paired with Wiig in a misbegotten sort of Kiki and Herb imitation, Hamm acted exasperation and horn-rimmed asperity with amusing vigor. Hamm even came close to saving an otherwise mediocre sketch, “I Didn’t Ask For This,” about a TV show that broadcasts embarrassing viral videos, on the strength of his howling sobs.
A flame-haired Rihanna gave a couple of raise-the-room-temperature performances (the first, “What’s My Name,” being the better of the two), in addition to her fine work in that “Digital Short.” (“Use your outside voice!”)
Hamm is more than just a handsome star willing to make fun of himself — he’s got real comic timing, and a knack for knowing how broadly to play a sketch.
Agree? Disagree?
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You wrote ‘Sandler’ instead of ‘Samberg’ in the second paragraph.
Thanks; late night-writing, early morning goof. Fixed; much appreciated.
Pffft. Rhianna’s voice was so auto tuned she sounded like an old Cylon. Horrible.
Al Pacino, not Alan Alda.
Whoops! Alda came later. Sorry! (Ken Tucker rocks.)
“Sandler’s Shy Ronnie character”
Wow, I didn’t realize Adam Sandler was still in the cast! And he’s barely recognizeable in that clip. In fact, I don’t even think that’s him!
In all seriousness, Samberg is not hard to get wrong. You fail.
Grumpy needs more sleep.
Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler kinda sound alike.
That’s ralley thinking out of the box. Thanks!
Lighten up Ellie…sheesh
It’s “not hard to get wrong?” Looks like you fail, too. Congrats!
Hamm 4 Superman
That episode was SO funny! Jon Hamm is hilarious!
TYVM you’ve soledv all my problems
one question…Is Kristen Wiig to only female cast member in the show?
I wondered that too last night! Did they fire all the other ladies?
Is it in Wiig’s contract to be the only female in the sketch? Even ‘Candy’ was shuffled off during the Vincent Price sketch. She needs to step aside, her time is up.
I’m critical of some of Wiig’s characters too, but last night she brought her A game and all her characters were different. My favorite from last night was her Judy Garland impression and the actress audtioning character.
“All of Wiig’s characters were different”?? Are you kidding? She’s a one trick pony, that just plays an hysterical, goofy woman in every act. I loved Jon Hamm’s first two stints on SNL, but this one was by far the weakest. Not his fault, but rather the weak material he was given. This whole episode felt phoned in by everyone by everyone from actors, writers, and producers. Were they forced to make a Halloween ep, and they really wanted the week off?
I hope not. She ruined last night’s episode for me. Was it just me or was she in every single skit. All of her characters blend together and I ended up putting the end of Weekend Update on mute because of her. A couple of skits with her in them is fine but every skit is ridiculous.
KRISTEN WIIG IS NOT FUNNY. I will keep saying it until she goes away. She kills skit after skit with her over-the-top, self-indulgent shtick. It’s old, it’s crusty, it’s unnecessary. As soon as I spot her being included in a skit, I cringe.
SHE IS NOT FUNNY.
Agreed. Kristen Wiig is my least-favorite cast member in the history of the show. Any time she shows up, I cringe. She is absolutely TERRIBLE. I have no idea why people simply adore her. SHE IS NOT FUNNY.
Kristen Wiig is one the best cast members SNL, you do not know what funny is you obviously do not watch Saturday Night Live to often, and you DO NOT have a sense of humour.
To ComedyExpert…I’ve been watching SNL since I was 6. And yes, I do have a sense of humor, which is why I cannot stand Kristen Wiig.
To Melinda…
Why does it matter if you’ve been watching SNL since you were 6? That shouldn’t indicate whether you have a good sense of humor or not.
That being said, you can’t blame Wiig for being in every sketch.
a) That’s the writers’ business
b) All the other female cast members left to pursue other TV shows
c) The new interns will have their time. They’ve already proven themselves to be funny.
@Stephanie: What do you mean all the other female cast members left? There are currently three others.
Kristen Wiig pisses on the legacy of great female SNL cast members. What happened to the girl who did that incredible Miley Cyrus impression? Can’t they put her I. Some skits instead of the awful Kristen Wiig?
I agree. Although I absolutely adore Kristen Wiig, I feel so bad for the other female cast members. If they were given the chance to do more, Wiig wouldn’t be getting such a backlash from people. (I personally think she’s hilarious.)
Agreed!
Agreed! She IS GOOD!
I totally agree. She was in EVERY SINGLE skit as the main girl — I mean even the “I don’t deserve this” skit with Bobby? They couldn’t put that new Vanessa girl in there? I mean seriously is she trying to make a Kristen Wiig SNL DVD in one season or what.. get outta there, your 2 accents are not funny anymore.
if i never see target lady, gilly, that password actress again, sorry Lorne she isn’t that good and I don’t think she can compare with the other ladies of snl past….and maybe even snl future, if only some other woman could get a chance of some air time
The writers need to do better by Kristen Wiig, her one note characters are slowly becoming skit killers.
That said, Hamm brought it anytime he was on, especially with his Robin Williams!
You’re right: Wiig’s auditioning actress sounded like her Judy Garland which sounds like the actress in “Secret Word.” They should let the other female cast members get in the game.
Absolutely correct. Abby Elliot had one line last night.
Yes, and Abby Elliot has been added as a full-time cast member, so why isn’t she getting any screen time? Kristen Wiig’s stuff has become old and stale. And the writers are not helping when they provide garbage.
All of the impersonations were GREAT. Bill Hadar was ON and remarkable. Jon . . .Jon . . . Jon . . . I love you man . . . xoxox. Love that you’re so talented and don’t take yourself so seriously. GREAT show!
The taped stuff was funny, most of the rest (except the Vincent Price bit) was horrible last night. SNL needs to give political openers a rest, bench Kristen Wiig (who does the same character in every sketch), and put a bullet through any sketch involving two people who sing (there were two last night, neither funny).
I agree with everything you said Crutnacker. I mean EVERY single thing.
Ditto that. I don’t think Kristen Wiig needs to be benched completely, but cutting her over-and-over same characters down to once a show might actually make them feel like they’re funny again.
Every SNL that Jon Hamm hosts is great! He is a rare commodity in Hollywood these days. Old Hollywood good looks, unbelievably talented and an actual grown-up. I love him.
Really? I thought last night’s episode was terrible, punctuated by that lame Highway Cops sketch.
I did not find the show funny at all. I didn’t find the host interesting. I watch it almost every week and this was one of the worst. (The girl from Precious was awful.)
Also, I like Kristin Wiig but I agree with most here… She needs to stay off screen once in a while.
Hader was great.
The show was going great until the Garth & Kat derailed it. I liked that they used the 25th Anniv of Back to the Future (way to be topical….finally)…they got to use everyones impersonations to good use, that was the highlight of the night for me. Even though Hamm was great….I did not want to see Wiig sing again in the last sketch….they use her toooooo much. I would have been very happy with a What Up With That to see Jon Hamm dance instead of the last sketch…and considering it was Halloween, a good time to wacky up the costumes. Hamm gets an A+…the writers get a B.
Please please PLEASE use the new guy (Jay Pharoahe) more. Seeing his spot-on Eddie Murphy back-to-back with Keenan’s tired, obvious, unfunny (to everyone but Keenan) Bill Cosby just highlighted the talent gap.
Lorne, you’ve got some talented newcomers in the cast. Use them already!!
You nailed it, Rich – he’s the best newcomer they’ve added in ages, and they are completely under-utilizing him!
Garth and Kat was a buzz kill. The show went downhill from there. Hader’s Alan Alda was the highlight of the night.
I have no idea what you were watching; last night’s SNL sucked. The fact that a digital short followed right after the opeing monologue pretty much set the tone that the rest of the show was going to be weak. And John Hamm is just creepy looking. He kinda looks like a a Pep Boy with that giant head resting on his disproportioned body of his.
Giant head? “Disproportioned” (I think you meant “disproportionate”)?? Jealous…
The show was terrible, and I really like Jon Hamm. The monologue was so stupid and unfunny I felt bad for him. The only good parts were a couple of auditions/impersonations for Back to the Future. Pee-Wee, Alan Alda I think, Bill Cosby….the rest of the show was unbearable.
I meant to hit reply to your comment but hit TV troz instead (sorry tv troz) but yeah I was really disappointed. Why is everyone including Ken Tucker kissing a**? It SUCKED!
I’m not an SNL hater and I loved Hamm’s enthusiasm but I really thought the episode was terrible. I’m also upset that they seem to put all of the other female cast members, besides Wiig, on the sidelines.
So true. We were looking for a lot of hilarious Halloween-themed material and basically got duds. That singing couple on the news made us turn the channel. It was one of THE worst sketches they’ve done in a while. Even the Vincent Price bit felt like the writers rushed to finish it. Some of the taped pieces were funny. Overall just a C though
I thought the singing couple was hilarious. That and the Back to the Future skit was about all I laughed at last night.
Totally agree… we had high expectiations based on his last appearance and were hoping for a Vincent Price sketch. Everything seemed slightly off last night. Hamm was working really hard and it just wasn’t working… the funniest thing was the digital short… and Bill Hader as always. Too much Kristen Wiig. Toooooo much.
Ken – I love all of your recaps. I always read yours first. Bravo for great work always.
Jon Hamm is really the personafication of the old hollywood star (think Cary Grant). Old hollywood good looks, a sense of humor and doesn’t take himself too seriously. The only real star I can think of is George clooney.
I loved the last skit with the lounge singers; I thought Jon Hamm was fantastic in that. And, yes, even though Kristin is talented, she’s over used. They need to mix that part of it up a bit. But Jon was a great host!