I finally winced my way through a DVR-d version of last week's Saturday Night Live last night, and frankly, didn't even make it through the whole show before I just switched over to something else. I had a bad feeling about Zac Efron from the start; my theory about "teen idol" types doing promotion for movies is that they are usually very bad when you take them out of the genre or venue for which they are famous and make them stretch beyond their comfort zones, and I was not wrong about this in the case of Zac Efron. This category of host makes me nervous because you know they're hosting because they bring in a huge built-in crossover audience, which is going to make the writers dumb down the material and/ or not try as hard because they have the "Zac Efron can do no wrong" factor on their side. Plus, this was the last week before their weekend off, so you know they were tired and didn't have the energy for the kind of coaching Zac Efron would have needed to be really good. Finally, I had the general feeling from the promos that Zac Efron was going to try his best to be "funny" rather than going the smart route of playing it straight and letting the cast make you more funny. Zac Efron is apparently really good in those High School Musical movies and he is very handsome, but I just don't think he's had enough variety in his career to know to go on that show and not try to be funny.
I'm not even trying to snark on SNL– I still tune in, wanting it to be funny, and sometimes it really is. But most of this episode at least, it really wasn't. Here are some reasons why (all my opinion, of course– take it or leave it).
–Cold open: I'm sorry, but they need to hire someone else to do that Barack Obama impersonation. Fred Armison is good at alot of things, but this is not one of them. Seriously, is The Rock available? I don't believe this Barach Obama stuff is Peabody-award worthy satire.
–Monolog: As I suspected, Zac Efron tries to make a couple of jokes, instead falling back on the softball "Q & A" or "SNL cast does all the heavy lifting" format. The "tween" stuff was funny, but I started to really get the feeling that Zac Efron is just a sweet kid who is talented at singing and dancing, and doesn't really have the funny. And this conclusion, during the monolog, is definitely not a good one.
–Only good commercial: the "identity theft" satire about the junk mail and the selling of your address and personal information. So true it was funny, so funny it was true, etc.
–Weekend Update: Funny material by Seth Myers, and then…..wow, ALL of the skits I don't like– that "Bitch Please" blogger character– is she supposed to be mentally retarded? Gay New Jersey couple– "Ooohhh, Aaaahh, Oohhhh, we only have one joke! Ohhhh!" Backward cover band Jon Bovi, just makes me wish they would find something good for those two to do, because they're actually pretty good singers.
–High School Musical Sketch: Funny material, delivered unfunnily by Zac Efron. At least they let him sing a little bit though.
–Today Show Fourth Hour: Kristen Wiig's Kathie Lee impression is amusing and biting, if a little one-note and drawn out. However, when Zac Efron came on and tried to do the same character (in the form of Cody Gifford), I died a little inside and had to fast-forward. Not…..funny! Funny roadkill!
–Gilly Sketch: Can't watch it. Won't watch it. Complete waste of Kristen Wiig's talent in a character completely dedicated to mugging. Lowbrow. Silly. Lazy. Look for this sketch only on the episode right before the break.
–Finally, some funny. See, here's what they should have had Zac Efron do the whole time, and what Jon Hamm and Michael Phelps did so well: straight man. It is so much funnier when the guest just plays it super-straight and lets the cast do their thing. This makes everyone look good.