SNL: Martin Short/Paul McCartney(12/15)

Well, that was a thing.  An amazing start lead quickly to a guest filled monologue that really didn’t deserve all the cameos it had.  I’ve never really found Martin Short all that funny, his shtick seems to be real life, but at 100 decibels.  If a line is funny, yelling it does not make it funnier.  If a line ISN’T funny, yelling it will only make me want to punch you in the face. Anyway, on with…

The Good

Cold Open:Children’s Choir(10)-I don’t think I’m ever going to give a ten again, and even though this wasn’t comedy, it was the perfect open to a show that had the unfortunate circumstance to originally air one day after the senseless events in Connecticut.

OB/GYN for Kate Middleton(7)-Other reviewers found this sketch to be hilarious, and while I did find it funny, and laughed out loud at a few of the nicknames, overall, there was something just a bit off for me.

Weekend Updates:Segments(7)-The Hanukkah kid was amusing but not really memorable, but the girl you wish you didn’t start a convo with kills me dead every time.  The new girls are really rocking this season, and are more than making up for the loss of K.Wiig.

The Meh

A Tony Bennett Christmas(4)-So Alec Baldwin was here for this sketch?  No Schweddy Balls, no Glenberry Glenn, just Tony Bennett?  This was basically a sketch around so Martin Short could be loud and hang off of Alec Baldwin.  Not very funny at all.

Charlie Brown(6)-I really wanted this to be funny, but it just missed for me.  It was kind of mean-spirited for no reason.

Weekend Update:Headlines(6)-Not much to say here, I don’t even remember any of the jokes only three days later.

What Up With That(6)-Notable only due to the fact that Samuel L. Jackson dropped an F-bomb, which Keanan had a quick retort for “Hey, that costs us money, man!”  Other than that, standard of this sketch.

Old Friends(4)-The concept was these two old friends meet up, and have done some crazily outrageous things.  It went from interesting to boring really fast, and I found it hard to focus through most of this sketch.

Pageant Auditions(6)-Paul McCartney made this sketch, but it was dragged down by yet another screechy obnoxious Martin Short performance.  Imagine Martin Short in any movie he’s ever been in, and you have this sketch.

The Ugly

Monologue(3)-This epitomized why I didn’t like Martin Short as a host.  He was yelly, loud, and obnoxious through the whole thing.  His song was dumb and based on some possibly spurious ‘facts,’ and it really was a put-off to hear him say amorous over and over, kind of the opposite of funny.

The Rest

Paul McCartney had a fine first song, a weird second song, and a terrible third song.  His second song was him taking lead in a loud Nirvana song, of all things, and then his third was his terrible Christmas song who’s only saving grace was that the kid’s choir came back to assist.

There were some really strong moments in this show, but a lot of terrible ones as well.  It averaged a 5.90, buoyed by the fantastically chosen open.  Let see how it stacks up.

1. 11/10 Anne Hathaway/Rihanna(6.60)

2. 12/15 Martin Short/Paul McCartney(5.90)

3. 11/3 Louis CK/fun. (5.89)

4. 11/17 Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5(5.83)

5. 9/22 Joseph Gordon Levitt/Mumford & Sons (5.71)

6. 9/15 Seth McFarlane/Frank Ocean (5.38)

7. 10/13 Christina Applegate/Passion Pit (5.09)

8. 10/20 Bruno Mars (5)

9. 12/8 Jamie Foxx/Neyo(4.3)

10. 10/6 Daniel Craig/Muse (4)