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Videos: JK Simmons Brings His Tempo To <em>Saturday Night Live</em>

Ben Yakas

Published Feb 1, 2015

Modified Feb 1, 2015

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Ben Yakas

Published Feb 1, 2015

Modified Feb 1, 2015

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After walking in Blake Shelton's wishing boots last week, JK Simmons was the host of last night's Saturday Night Live. Despite some great stuff from the always-game Simmons, it was a hit-and-miss episode from the get-go. It was certainly better than last week, with at least one or two standout sketches (and no low points as lame as Celebrity Family Feud). Let's give out some awards.

Best Sketch Of The Night: As has been previously noted, I think Mike O'Brien has been the brilliant mind behind the best sketches over the last three seasons. Despite having his "featured player" moniker switched to "writer" this year, he's still been able to get several excellent sketches on air under the "Mike O'Brien Picture" imprint. His sketch this week, The Jay Z Story, eased up on the melancholy for a supremely silly bit that wonders, "what if Jay Z was as goofy as O'Brien?" And Simmons as Nas—and especially Jason Sudekis as Kanye West—were both brilliant.

The Movie Star Plugging His Oscar-Nominated Film: Simmons was good—even great in the Casablanca sketch—but things started off a little rough with his monologue, which was essentially Whiplash: Let Fred Armisen Live. If you've already seen the film, Simmons was just playing his character in a far less compelling scenario; if you haven't seen the film...I'm not sure this sketch was going to convince you to do so. In the end, Fred Armisen stole the bit with a long, utterly competent drum solo.

The Whiplash Award For Cognitive Dissonance Between Consecutive Sketches: There was another sort of whiplash after the monologue: two consecutive sketches about women with very different messages. The first, an advertisement for Totinos Super Bowl Activity Pack For Women, was a hilarious send-up of male-centric sports commercials; the second, Miss Trash 2015, was just garbage, both in its lowest common denominator depiction of "trashy" women, a limp premise, and no rhythm.

The Recurring Sketch That Usually Doesn't Work But Somehow Did This Time Comeback Award: Cinema Classics has never gotten much attention compared to other recurring sketches. I've never been much of a fan of these sketches, but something has changed: part of it is that the intros from Kenan Thompson's Reese De'What have gotten more long-winded and surreal. Part of it is the premise (Casablanca) works best when it's incredibly specific. Part of it is that the production values were superb (it looked like it could have been on SNL 30 years ago, in a good way). But most of it was Simmons and Kate McKinnon completely owning it. It was Simmons best moment of the night, and yet another reminder that McKinnon is going to be a huge star (and probably will steal Ghostbusters).

Hey, What About That Super Bowl Cold Open? Do You Happen To Have Any Thoughts On That?Read all about it here!

The Viral Video That Won't Go Viral Award: Snow Day didn't quite work, but it should have: almost the whole cast was involved in it, and you got a clear sense of character from each one. It was a Lonely Island-esque rap with excellent production values and pantsless Simmons was hilarious. And yet...it just felt like something was lacking, or that it was trying too hard. Either way, I've seen more written about D'Angelo's (INCREDIBLE) performances than this sketch.

The Three Questions Of The Week: Did Beck Bennett piss off Lorne Michaels? Does anyone under the age of 25 know about Microsoft Office's Clippy/get the Pushie sketch? Why haven't we had a good 10-to-1 sketch in months?

The Honorary Really? What The Hell Is Going On With Weekend Update? Award: Bad news first: as much as we love Cecily Strong, she has zero chemistry with Colin Jost, which brought down The One-Dimensional Female Character From A Male Driven Comedy (she should try it with Michael Che next time). Really bad news: the normally-reliable Jebediah Atkinson returned, only this time we really felt the diminishing returns. We have previously loved the character, one of the only breakout ones from the last two seasons, but Killam has honed his Atkinson mannerisms to the point that it all is starting to feel way too mannered. The good news: Che has really gotten good at his mid-Update monologues!

Click through for all those sketches plus a disappointing 10-to-1 sketch, two fantastic soulful performances from D'Angelo, and more. Next week is a repeat, and then on Sunday February 15th, we get a three-hour prime-time special from 8:00-11:00 p.m. for the SNL 40th Anniversary (featuring Eddie Murphy).

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JK Simmons

saturday night live

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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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