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Video: Louis C.K. Navigates An Enjoyably Weird <em>Saturday Night Live</em>

Ben Yakas

Published Mar 30, 2014

Modified Mar 31, 2014

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Ben Yakas

Published Mar 30, 2014

Modified Mar 31, 2014

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Louis C.K. returned to Studio 8H last night to host Saturday Night Live for the second consecutive season. The episode around him was about equal in quality to his last appearance—meaning it was an above-average episode of current day SNL, not quite an out-and-out classic but filled with a couple killer sketches. Also a big positive: this was one of the weirdest episodes of SNL of the season.

Not since the Edward Norton episode have the sketches in the second half of the show completely embraced their surreal tendencies; almost every sketch after Weekend Update would have been a prime contender for the anything goes 10-to-1 slot. That included episode highlight Dyke & Fats, a perfect minute-long sketch that seemed to come from a very personal place; Chris For President, Kyle Mooney's latest digital short which was one of his best sketches yet, despite the fact that it was incredibly similar in tone to all his other ones this season (it would be good for him to try something a little different in the coming weeks, but he definitely nailed it this time); and Mr Big Stuff, in which a confused (but impressed!) C.K. is accosted by a group of singing women.

For every one of those hits, there were also several sketches that just...didn't quite work. Doctor Appointment, in which everyone may or may not have a Darth Vader stuck up their butt, was a great premise that didn't really take off like it could have (it was also another sketch that seemed to be taken directly from Mike O'Brien's brain—O'Brien was a writer on the show before becoming a featured player this season, and his style is VERY apparent and very welcome). We still have no idea what Private Eyes sketch was trying to do, and C.K. seemed distracted in episode-closing Romantic Speech.

Having said that, it's still a huge relief to see the writers pushing themselves and trying some strange stuff on air, instead of settling for game show parodies and White House cold opens. There have been a couple terrible episodes lately devoid of that spirit of experimentation, so it's nice to see a confusing sketch not quite reach what it's going for than something like Cowboys.

Oh, but right, this episode had both a White House cold open AND a game show parody. The cold open was the usual mix of celebrity impressions and ripped-from-the-headlines parody, and it was unmemorable besides Kate McKinnon's wonderful Justin Bieber impression. The Black Jeopardy parody however was fantastic, possibly one of the best sketches of the season, and a great use of C.K.'s befuddled face.

This episode had one true ugly spot though: this was the worst Weekend Update of the season, with only one guest (the forgettable Stephen A. Smith) and zero chemistry between new host Colin Jost and Cecily Strong. It's only Jost's third episode behind the desk, and it's clearly going to take him some time to find his persona, but this definitely isn't working right now.

Click through for all those sketches, plus the return of Boss Baby, the best use for Joseph A. Bank suits, music from Sam Smith, and a web exclusive sketch with C.K. as a Klingon-like alien. Ann Kendrick will host next week with musical guest Pharrell Williams, and Seth Rogen will host the week after with musical guest Ed Sheeran.

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louis c.k.

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Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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