MvRojo

Hmm...that Kanye sketch was funnier than any of the Lebron ones.

DeadLamb

yeah I got to admit the Kanye skit was sort of funny.. Rest of the show, not so much but having him going "They csi'd me!" after he snatched the award from the kid, pretty funny..

mdc3000

Lebron was awful and I'm willing to bet the reason he played himself or a basketball player in damn near every sketch is because after they signed him to do this, brought him in, they realized he couldn't act his way out of a McDonald's drive-thru. A few laughs here and there (I have to admit, the start of the Lyle Cane sketch was funny...then they ruined it by having everyone talk like him and it went nowhere...but a white dude hosting on 'black E.T.' was a funny idea) but overall, disappointing.

Jimmy James

You know SNL feels they have a quota to fill of one sports star a season. I'm personally glad to have it out of the way this year.

I think the show probably needed to get rid of a couple of folks and bring new folks in. This felt more like a continuation of last season than a new year.

Charlie Goose

This gets a C+. It started off with some promise, but ended up not so good. LB was an awful host. The worst in recent memory and one of the worst I’ve ever seen. When someone plays themselves in 3 sketches, you know they have NOTHING. He gets a D-.

Hilary Clinto
Already crowing about being elected for two terms. Pretty funny the way she went through the other candidates. B+

Monologue
A film about LB’s family watching at home. WTF. Terrible. The audience barely reacted. D-

Angry Dog
Dog food to turn your dog angry, with a picture of Michael Vick on the bag of course. Probably the funniest bit of the night. I laughed watching Fred Armisen as a blind man trying to control an insane seeing eye dog. A

Penelope
Charity auction with LB and crazy Penelope one-upping everyone. I’m in the minority thinking this character is amusing, and Wiig is excellent at it. B

High School Musical 3
Biggest joke was showing Rudolph as a naked Vanessa Hutchens. Other than that, this was ripe for satire and nothing was done. C+

Digital Short
Samberg doing an LL Cool J-style rap about being in love with Iran president Mahmoud. Ok. B-

PSA
Belligerent stagehand Sudeikis getting in LB’s face during filming. Sudeikis is good. B

The Lyle Kane Show
Horrible. I hope we never see this annoying character again. F

Weekend Update
Thompson as OJ. Meh. Armisen returns as Ahmoud, and his facial reactions make the bit. Myers had a good line about the inventor of Benadryl dying, and the family’s request to send anything but flowers. B

Solid Gold
Spoofing a dance show that’s been off the air for 20 years? The host’s name was C. Micah Kring. Get it? I wish I didn’t. D

TV Funhouse
The villains teams up to reveal Ace & Gary’s homosexuality. Mildly amusing. B

106 & Park
Interviewing Kanye West and his tantrums at awards shows. Funnier than anything LB did tonight by a mile. B+

Guidance counselor
LB in high school wanting to go to college (ya rite) but Sudeikis convinces him to go to the NBA instead. No jokes here. C

Patrick G

You think this show was better than average!?!

TGM

looks like we are in for another year of the same old unfunny shit.

Although the digital short was pretty good.

MechanicalMan

I thought it was slightly better than the average show last season and a definite improvement over last year's premier.

It seems strange to have the entire cast back after such a bad season last year.

lotsofdvds

And that's a major problem. Lorne doesn't look at ratings or listen to feedback. Although I probably wouldn't either since every year since 1985 they've told him it was the worst season ever.

Rogue588

Pretty bad way to begin the season. And since I don't worship at the altar of Rogen, next week's doesn't look too promising either. Then again, at least he might actually play different characters other than himself for the length of the show..

Daytripper

Who told him that? Sure, 1985 was the worst cast and year ever. But after that, they rebounded beautifully. Many consider the Phil Hartman years to be the best SNL seasons ever. And I would agree. But these past few years have been just awful. They seriously need some new blood. First, get some new writers. And second, they need a complete cast overhaul.

Patrick_N

Well, it's todays SNL. It's not as bad as some say I think but it could be a lot better. Certainly, the cue card reading is awful, learn your lines please.

Cast shakeups, I don't know how many comedians these days want to join the cast anymore, it's not the breeding ground for talent it used to be, is it?

Will Ferrell may disagree.

The host for the first episode of the season was weak, odd choice... couldn't they get Alec or Steve?? ;-)

Jimmy James

I don't think it's as much the cast as the writing. Armisen, Forte, Wiig (I like pretty much all her characters), Hader, Samberg (in a toned down role), and Sudeikis are all welcome parts of the cast if you ask me. I could stand keeping Meyers and Poehler if necessary. Hammond just doesn't bring much enthusiasm, so he should be replaced. Rudolph and particularly Thompson have outstayed their welcome.

On the other hand, the writing just plain blows much of the time.

Patman

Is it me, or did Kristin Wiig get some work done on her chin (you can actually see a chin now on her head, previously, it would sort of merge with her neck).

slop101

Bite your tongue! It'll be worth it for Spoon, alone.

joefrog91

I must be slow. What's the joke? I remember Solid Gold though.

TGM

See My Cock Ring

movieking

That's just stupid.

Piss poor episode. I caught the MadTV Best Of as well, and I still like their High School Musical and I-Rack skits. Much funnier than anything on SNL this week, although I did chuckle at the Jumble divorce line on WU.

Goldberg74

I need to finish watching it. I fell asleep during the WU.

But my friend sent me the iRack skit:

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Ayre

Couldn't agree more. I think its a great cast with very crappy material.

It would help if they would only let comedy actors/actresses/standup host.

beesonosu

The show was pretty lame for me but I loved the Digital Short. I really don't have a problem with Andy but maybe because I've seen SNL a few times since he joined.

Big Boy Laroux

the best part of the show was the Kanye sketch... maybe he was right in ranting that they should have given a short black man a chance.

Shipwreck

It was not a good omen that the announcer, Don Pardo, missed is queue and didn't start announcing until halfway through the credits.

Also, the cold opening with Hillary and Bill, is this what passes for political satire these days? Was Darrel Hammond in any other part of the show? They had three months to write the season opener and they go with the solid gold dancers? I don't blame Keenan Thompson for that, though. And I don't blame him for his OJ thing on Weekend Update. He was clearly there for filler while Fred Armisen got into makeup for the bit that followed.

Jadzia

It's no Colonel Angus.

Giantrobo

I agree. ALL the actors on SNL are talented but you can only do so much with crap writing.