Recap, Review and sketch ratings for the Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode on May 3, 2014 featuring host Andrew Garfield and musical guest Coldplay.
If someone was like, “Hey, come live in this house, there’s only nine of us,” I would say, “You got it dude!”
Donald Sterling Press Conference
A typical run-through-the-people-in-a-current-event cold opening, but with a little more relevance and finesse than usual. Still, this was mostly filled with obvious gags. Confusing Roots the miniseries with the Roots that have Questlove did get me to laugh, though. B-
Andrew Garfield’s Monologue
At least this wasn’t a tired monologue format, but on the other hand, I had no idea what it was. Apparently the joke was, the audience is overly antagonistic to Andrew Garfield. What up with that? Andy got a lot of applause. She deserves it; she’s been having a great season. B-
Stanx
Beck’s fart inflating him on the chair was a great sight gag. This whole bit relied on the visuals. They really committed to the destruction of the city by the released gas. B
Family Feud Celebrity Edition
So, last time, JT played his frequent partner, Jimmy Fallon, while this time, Andrew Garfield plays JT, his former costar: he had the voice down but distractingly looked nothing like him. I wish more answers had been revealed, because this type of sketch is an awkward format to be just an impression showcase. Luckily, Kenan was on fire as Steve Harvey, thanks to the mustache fluffer, “Skrickets,” and thinking that Canada is “just French for Chicago.” And the other impressions were also generally solid. Kate’s Shakira was essentially her Penelope Cruz, but I’m not complaining. Aidy was playing herself more than she was playing Adele. Kyle didn’t really get a chance to do an impression of Skrillex, but it was worth it for the sight gag. B+
Oliver Twist
I feel like the character of Deirdre should have been introduced in some other context before being placed into the world of Oliver Twist. Oliver calling himself a pussy was certainly interesting. C+
The Beygency (BEST SKETCH OF THE NIGHT)
Beyoncé inspires such strangely intense devotion in her fans that this sketch was just begging to be made. I thought the agents were going to be members of the Illuminati, but I guess that reference would have gone over too many viewers’ heads. With this and The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders, SNL is excelling at comic horror this season. B+
Coldplay perform “Magic”
“About as good as Coldplay can be” – my sister. (I agree with the tone, but Coldplay can be slightly better.) B
Weekend Update
-The Jokes: Cecily has just about fully come into her own by now. She’s really figured out how to make her punchlines sting with a little extra, particularly with the “You’re welcome” after the loaded potato joke. Too bad Colin is still a robot. B-
-The Segments: -Olya Povlatsky: How to expand a character to make sure she doesn’t get run into the ground: make her a fan of Full House! B+
-Leslie Jones: Can’t go wrong with a reference to Sinbad. LeBron announcing which plantation was a great burn, good job keeping fresh material that’s a few years old. And also, hey, it’s always cool to give a writer an Update segment. B-
-Jebediah Atkinson: Was Jebediah’s “Make- it- stop” supposed to call to mind Olya’s “Cut- it- out”? The callback at the end to Leslie’s bit was clearly intentional, and the best part. B
Spider-Man Kiss
If the purpose of this sketch was to make me wonder if I, a straight man, would be willing to kiss Andrew Garfield, then it was successful. B-
Wedding
This was a perfect example of how to gradually build the intensity in a comedy sketch. Each aspect of the wedding guest who declared his love for the bride was revealed in the ideal order. And even though it was a rather straitlaced role, Kyle killed it as the DJ – it may have been his best performance yet in a live sketch. B+
Coldplay perform “A Sky Full of Stars”
This felt too unpolished, which is really unbecoming of a band like Coldplay that always goes the extra step to put on a show. That’s not to say they didn’t attempt to do that, just that it wasn’t as tight as it should have been. C+
The Bird Bible
Probably Mike O’Brien’s fourth best performance of the season. ORIGINAL GRADE: B+
Overall
This is one of those episodes in which I can’t find a clear thread, good or bad, running through the whole episode. Andrew Garfield was fine, without a clearly consistent acting style or character type, which can be good, as it indicates range. Generally, I was quietly impressed with him, as his performances mostly weren’t too showy (with the exception of his JT impression). I would call this the “plain” version of SNL – not normal, necessarily, but plain.
Jeff Malone is a voracious entertainment consumer and entertainment creator. He currently resides in New York City, where he is working on a Master’s in Media Studies at The New School. In addition to his pieces on TMRzoo.com, you can check out his blog (jmunney.wordpress.com), where he provides regular coverage of Community and Saturday Night Live, as well as other television, film, music, and the rest of pop culture.
