Last night’s episode was pretty funny! The larger sketches (the Denzel Washington send-up, and the strange but sort of funny sixties game show) erred toward mediocrity, but the moments in between made up for it. Jane Lynch looked radiant and was game for anything, appearing in a higher than usual number of sketches. Likewise, Andy Samberg is getting a lot of action this season, huh? He’s playing college kids, Glee’s gay character, little boys, teenagers, etc.! And kudos to him for his stamina. Bruno Mars was Bruno Mars. Many sketches this week seemed to be making points with their jokes, so let’s hand out some awards.
Most Accurate Depiction of a Twentysomething’s Facebook Status
Jokes about technology can often fall flat, but Andy Samberg and Jane Lynch pulled off the “perils of parents on Facebook” idea, mostly because none of it seemed too far off. The hypothetical Facebook statuses seemed fairly accurate, but funnier:
Hypothetical Mom: “October means having to take all my Fall motif sweaters down!”
Hypothetical College-Aged Son: “There isn’t enough beer in the world for me to deal with all of Glenn Beck’s holy roller B.S.”
And the “Damn It, My Mom’s on Facebook” app is probably already in development.
Funniest Political Commentary
Yeah! Even if you’re not a witch, what kind of candidate has to make that her very first point? Kristen Wiig explains: “Isn’t that the kind of candidate Delaware deserves — the kind of candidate that has to point out, first and foremost, that she’s not a witch? We haven’t had that since 1692.”
Most Uncomfortable Sketch
“The New Boyfriend Talk Show,” in which Samberg rattled off all the men his trashy mom had slept with, in front of her new boyfriend. Including Magic Johnson. Funny? Sort of. Offensive? Probably. Uncomfortable? Yes.
Most Needed Parody
With Jane Lynch’s stamp of approval, Glee was finally, rightfully mocked, with Samberg acting as the sometimes one-note “Gay Kurt.” Kenan Thompson’s sassy Mercedes impersonation was spot-on, and Jason Sudeikis got Will Schuester’s annoying arrested development right. The sketch pointed out that the Glee characters can all be parodies of themselves. The addition of the recurring Gilly character worked, if only because sometimes we want to throw things at those Glee kids, too.
Best Defense of Mark Zuckerberg
Seth Meyers points out: Sure, Mark Zuckerberg probably had women in mind when he created Facebook and became a billionaire, but that’s not exactly a revelation. Samberg, with his awkward nods, is an accurate-seeming but more expressive Zuckerberg. He shouts, “I invented Facebook, Seth. I didn’t invent getting successful to meet girls. Why does anyone do anything?! I mean, why did you get on TV?” Meyers responds with his patented smirk and a very convincing, “Touché,” as if to say, “Seriously, guys.” This is not something Zuckerberg has actually ever said or even implied, but it’s a good point!
Similarly: “Of course I [donated money to Newark public schools] to look good after the movie! But what does it matter — it was $100 million dollars!” (Touché.) And finally, he adds: “That’s my problem with The Social Network — I may not like what it says, but it’s a really good movie.” All fair points, none of which Zuckerberg has actually made, but all of which kind of vindicate him. Does Mark have a friend over at NBC?
Most “For the Hell of It”
Here’s Jane Lynch, singing about Sue Sylvester. Well they had to.
