Paul Rudd

Sort of a weaker episode this week coming off the holiday. A lot of recycled material. The "Politics Nation" sketch didn't seem to have one written joke. Vanessa Bayer is always endearing as Jacob the Bar Mitzvah boy but the routine is over-familiar now. And why Jedediah Atkinson completely removed form his logical historical context? Wasn't as funny as the first time. And the cherry on top was a teen boy band as the musical guest. eek.

Still there were some redeeming highlights. Here's what I liked.



Smart, broad, historical.


Very funny. This season has had a lot of smart skits about race (see 12 days not a slave).

Josh Hutcherson

Not sure if i like this song or not. But their faces make this maybe the funniest thing on the air all night.


Familiar to all who endure public transit on a daily basis.


Hilarious Hunger Games slapstick.

Lady Gaga

Bizarre, surreal, sublime. This is the best example to date of a new genre in snl sketches, the trippy, bizarre digital short with no big jokey premises or punch lines (like the ice cream shop skit).


Vanessa Bayer's child actor voice kills every time. Silly broad character work.



One of Jay Pharaoh's unfathomably accurate impressions. But mostly I just found Gaga extremely cute as the nerdy Apple employee.


Hilarious concept plucked from the news. Funny ad-lib moments.

Kerry Washington

Aidy Bryant has a knack for these sad desperate characters.



I watched hours of MTV just like this. Also, shows like Elimidate. This is no exaggeration. Every detail from the put-off slightly dumb guy to the 2 Brittneys to the talking to the camera is accurate and brutally funny.

Edward Norton

Hilarious premise. I imagine the writer met someone who described their sexual prowess with this weird non-sequitur format (they're gonna have to call me ___ because I'm gonna be like___). Cecily's timing is incredible this entire sketch ("and don't leave anything out, even if it seems obvious"). And it's about time someone drew attention to the pandemic of white guys saying "son."


Kate McKinnon gutting a pumpkin between her legs.


I would go see this movie.

Bruce Willis

Hilarious, insightful. Makes Willis look good to be this self-deprecating about his movies.


Look, I hateloved this song for a good fortnight. There's no denying how this performance is with an animal costumed backup band and a not terrible looking Katy Perry.


I went to school with about 20,000 guys exactly like this.


So fun.

Miley Cyrus

I love these little set pieces where the cast does silly impersonations.


Cecily is a personal favorite and--along with Kate McKinnon--was last year's standout performer. She gets stronger at the Update desk every week. And I'm glad she's still doing a heavy sketch load (ew).


Really funny dumb sketch. It pains me to say anything favorable about Miley, but her experience doing hokey Disney comedy really comes through nicely in a lot of her sketches.