One New York Life

Host: Alec Baldwin (15). Alec Baldwin pulls in to the tie with Steve Martin for most hosting gigs and, since he just gave the commencement address at NYU, the monologue is the SNL 2010 commencement address.

Musical Guest: Tom Petty (8) & The Heartbreakers (5). Is it just me, or is Tom Petty morphing further in to Neil Young as the years pass? I’ll take this moment to make an aside. Green Day and their pandering anti-Bush album has been converted in to a Broadway Musical and they’re now nominated for a Tony Award. Unreal.

Guest Stars: Steve Martin (via satellite).

Best Sketch: Some Big Shot: Returning to a “classic movie” in progress with a big shot executive and a hooker with a heart of gold. It took a bit to get to the punchline, but it caught me off guard and made me laugh. Great stuff for a last half-hour sketch.

Honorable Mention: Snipers. Keenan and Sudekis can’t quite figure out what their sniper commander is ordering them to do. For whatever reason, the straight-man/crazy-man interplay made me laugh more than usual.

Line of the Week: “It won’t solve all your problems, you’ll still be a woman.” In a pretty good parody of a pharmaceutical commercial. Very narrowly defeated “He’s got two things in common with Greg Lougainis… he hit his head on the diving board and I’ll let you figure out the second thing” from Hudson Valley Swim Team.

Worst Skit: Starfish. Couldn’t end the season without another bizarrely unfunny Kristin Wiig character. Seriously, I really hope they promote Abbey, Nasim, and Jenny from “featured” next season because Kristin has become WAY overexposed on SNL. The Target Lady was kinda funny — they don’t need 146 versions of the Target Lady.

Should Have Been Funnier: Timecrowave. Liked the concept, it just didn’t do it for me.

Digital Short: Great Day. Andy is a coked up stockbroker(?) who has a song about how this day is going to be a great day. I can’t decide if the tune of this song is more Mountain Town or It’s Easy, M’Kay from the South Park Movie. By the by, those links are to the Berklee College Of Music’s full orchestral tribute to South Park. I’m not kidding… here is Up There (Satan’s Song), too.

Weekend Update

• Snooki (Moynihan): A (probably) final visit from Snooki to the update desk. She talks about Miami and the difficulties she faces looking too much like oranges and Cheetos. “Summer is like the spring break of the seasons.”
• Stefon (Hader): I was worried this would be too close to the last appearance to fit Stefon in for one more appearance this year. Stefon gives us a few more suggestions about Manhattan’s hottest clubs. Stefon is running neck and neck with Larry The Goose for my favorite update character of the season.
• Garth (Armisen) and Kat (Wiig): One more appearance for the woefully unprepared singers. Armisen and Wiig couldn’t quite make it through the bit without laughing again. I feel like only Fred memorizes lines for this bit and Wiig just tries to imitate him, which leads to the giggles. I could obviously be wrong.
• “I gotta say when rich dudes come up with golf balls as a solution, they’re just looking around the room and naming things Usual Suspects-style. I know what we’ll try next… uhhhh… cufflinks.”
• “A man and a woman in Russia are getting married after meeting on a bridge that they both separately went to commit suicide on — so good luck with that wedding toast, Best Man.

Final Thoughts: Very up and down show for me. I thought the Oil Spill Cold Open was really good, then Starfish killed me until Update. Even another appearance of Grady Wilson Sex Tapes couldn’t perk me up. Also, I was wrong about Bedelia being a one and done character. This week, we get to meet her dad. They figured out the formula a little better.

All told, an OK show, but seemed dead after the Betty White episode which really should have been the finale. All the guest stars last week made it seem like a more special episode than the 15th Alec Baldwin. Not to say I didn’t enjoy Baldwin, but the White episode was really well done.