SNL: Amy Poehler Kicks the Season Off Right!

As an avid SNL watcher for many years I can say with truth that the show hasn't been that good the last few seasons.  Tonight was the 36th season premiere with host, former cast member, Amy Poehler and musical guest Katy Perry.  Tonight was really funny but can the season keep up the stamina without the genius comedy of former cast members as hosts?  I guess we shall see next week when Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad has his run at hosting.

Here's a little recap of the awesomeness that was tonight's SNL.  Amy's opening monologue was pretty awesome, she did a little dream sequence bit which featured the one person who can show up on any episode and make it better, Justin Timberlake, former cast member Rachel Dratch and a great bit with Seth Meyers and Amy talking about weekend update but Seth says they aren't doing it tonight because "they're back" they being Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon! too funny.

I think the best sketch of the night was the return of Bronx Beat which also brought another alum back in the form of Mya Rudolph!  In case you don't remember the bit it's a talk show-esque bit and they chat at the beginning and bring on a guest, well the guest was played by none other than musical guest Katy Perry sporting a cleavage cut Elmo shirt! (In case you live in a cave this is hilarious because Katy Perry recently shot a segment on Sesame Street with Elmo that Sesame Street has now said they will not air because Katy was showing too much cleavage!) as Sheldon Cooper would say, Bazinga!



Amy got herself back behind the Weekend Update desk with Seth Meyer during the "Reallly, with Seth and Amy!" segment where they talked about Iran and then turned to DADT and really had some great pokes at the government for not repealing this ridiculous law! it's worth a watch.  Also during the Weekend Update sketch we got our first peak at one of the new cast members who did a really spot on impersonation of Will Smith (I think this guy is gonna be a great new addition), he also does an impersonation of Chris Tucker in a later sketch that is also really good.  And of course what's better than a bit with Governor Patterson, only this time they got the ACTUAL Governor to come on the show!  And he poked fun of SNL a little but also joked about himself and was very comical.



Katy Perry's performances were just OK, she sounded a little off, especially singing acapella at the start of Teenage Dream.  I feel that way about a lot of performers nowadays.  Their voices are altered so much in the studio that when they sing live it just doesn't sound right (the biggest example of this is The Black Eyed Peas, they sound TERRIBLE live!).

It was obvious the cold open would have to be about the Republican candidate for Senate Christine O'Donnell, who recently stated on Bill Mahr that she "dabbled in witchcraft".   You can't have that be in the headlines and not make fun of her on SNL!  And there was a really funny little sketch towards the end with Andy Samburg and Justin Timberlake that was really short but really fun!

All in all I think Amy was an excellent host (but who thought otherwise?  I mean she came from the all star casts of SNL, I expected nothing less from her.  I just wish they could have brought back Horatio Sanz so they could do the Katlin/Rick sketch).  The real test is going to be next week and the coming weeks to see if the show can live up to the awesomeness that was tonight's episode.  I'm looking forward to Jane Lynch in a few weeks and can't wait to see who else will get a chance hosting this season!