Despite all of his monotone reading of cue cards on "Saturday Night Live," you have to give NBA star Charles Barkley credit for gamely taking part in a weird array of sketches, including one that had him playing a lesbian. While this wasn't the funniest "SNL" we've seen, it had its moments, one of which was the miracle of Paul Brittain's character freaky Wyndemere actually generating laughs. I know, I didn't believe it either. In more believable news, Kelly Clarkson proved that the first "American Idol" winner is still the best.
Best of the Night
"Inside the NBA" of course had the guest host behind the desk, but in the best "Saturday Night Live" style, he was playing Shaq instead of himself. Kenan Thompson gets huge credit here for a hilarious smack-talking Barkley, especially his stunned/bemused expressions as Shaq stared blankly and told riveting stories like "I ate ribs." The best, possibly unscripted moment came when Bill Hader interrupted the melee to shout, "We're all black friends!" causing Jay Phraoah, Thompson, Barkley and Hader himself to nearly lose it on stage.
I confess, Wyndemere made my "Worst of the Night" rating when Paul Brittain first debuted the foppish, twee character on the Anna Faris episode of "Saturday Night Live." It's still really weird and kind of creepy, but this time it pushed over the edge far enough to actually be funny. When you've got a macho, mustached, modern Jason Sudeikis chasing a medieval dandy around the room, threatening to "pinch his bum," you've descended into entertaining madness. The funniest, laugh-out-loud moment of the night came when Barkley begged, "I want to hold him!" and then spent the next two minutes suppressing the giggles as the diminutive Brittain clung to him like a 6 year old child, baby blue tights-covered legs wrapped tightly around his ribcage.
The Chantix commercial could probably have been a bit shorter, but just the initial laughs made this "Saturday Night Live" video worth making. Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader advertised for Chantix, the quit-smoking drug, looking calm and happy until the side effects voice-over began. Wiig and Hader had perfect confused-to-horrified expressions as the voice-over cheerfully explained that Wiig might suddenly have the "urge to kill the person next to" her. The long stare from both at Wiig's coffee cup once it was discovered caffeine could make symptoms worse was priceless. And of course, there were those nasty side effects like "jazz hands" and "Robert De Niro face."
Worst of the Night
The "Saturday Night Live Digital Short" was another flop this week. Samberg played "Convoluted Jerry," a dopey singer with oxymoronic lyrics. Barkley appeared as "Marvin 'Gay' Jackson," whose name probably elicited the only laugh of the video. This was one of those digital shorts that appeared to have been made up in five minutes, on the spot.
It was worth a laugh or two to have the uber tall guest star dress up in drag, playing a lesbian coming out to her friends. But this bizarre sketch seemed to have no other point besides that, with the one-note joke of "but you're a girly girl!" wearing thin fast. The other joke seemed to be that everyone, including the boyfriend, seemed to take the news really well. And that was it. This gets the WTF? award of the night.
You know when Bobby Moynihan's "Drunk Uncle" is the highlight of the "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update, you're in trouble. Seth Meyers brought out some decently funny jokes for the news portion, but cut it short in order to have three guests. Wiig's Michele Bachmann got a laugh from "I haven't blinked since the campaign started," but then that was her entire act. Next was Fred Armisen's "political comedian" Nicholas Fehn, who's supposed to be funny because he's not funny. Oddly, the studio audience seemed to find his rambling, nonsensical fragments of sentences hilarious. Maybe it's a matter of taste, since I do find Drunk Uncle's rambling, old-guy-conservative non sequiturs amusing: "Girl with a dragon tattoo? Not in my house!" Whichever you prefer, neither one comes near the joyously wacky humor of Bill Hader's character, Stefon.
The Rest
Barkley definitely got some laughs with the "Investigation Discovery" program called "White People Problems." These included not getting seats together on a plane, wanting organic chicken from a fast food joint, and "awkward" disputes over five-bedroom summer homes. The best parts were Barkley commiserating with eye-rolling employees played by Thompson and Pharoah, with exchanges like:
"You weren't listening, were you?"
"No. That's why they call it white noise!" (High five!)
Along with the drag act, Barkley also took part in an ensemble sketch for "Saturday Night Live" that was an "In Memorium" for porn stars who'd passed on. You can guess what the "best clips" montage looked like, with a few funny surprises like nods to the "clean-up guy" and the set decorator.
Samberg's cold open as Rick Santorum had a few amusing moments as he talked about visiting all 3000 counties in the country to sway voters, including those remote areas with grizzly bears and residents that inspired the movie "Deliverance." The sketch went on too long, but managed some chuckles for lines like "If the lesbians don't get me, the Mormon death squads will!"
"Saturday Night Live" musical guest Kelly Clarkson performed "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" and "Mr. Know It All." She rocked straight hair, bangs and curve-hugging outfits while belting out the vocals to these two infectious pop songs. Clarkson still has one of the best voices live of all the "American Idol" winners. She also seems to really enjoy performing, and that perky good cheer translates into plenty of good will and enthusiasm from the audience.
All in all, this episode of "Saturday Night Live" falls into the middle of the pack somewhere this season. How high or low probably depends on how much you watch sports and enjoy sports-related humor. Something has to be said for a show, though, that includes Barkley announcing he wants "to cover [Kelly Clarkson] in butter and gobble her up" on the same episode that Hader says, "His footman gives me the creeps." That's sketch comedy for you.
What did you think, "Saturday Night Live" fans? Did you enjoy the digs at Michael Jordan and Shaq, or were you too distracted by all the cue card reading?
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