Saturday Night Live Recap: Jennifer Lawrence Grasps for Silver Lining

Coming off of an unexpectedly great episode with Martin Short to close out the year, this return after over a month off felt like a layer of rust had developed. Jennifer Lawrence isn't known as a great comedienne, but she's charismatic and seems like a good sport. Unfortunately, the show around her was unfocused and short on laughs. The beauty of SNL is that even the lamest episode will yield a memorable sketch or two. I'm just not sure what those would be in this case. Maybe Bill Hader as Tommy Lee Jones doing this.

Headline Skimmer of the Week

You knew this week's show would include takes on Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o, and possibly even Jodie Foster at the Globes. The fact that all three were thrown into the same pot for a Piers Morgan sketch felt like there was no one great idea for any of the three. Taran Killam did a good job as Morgan, "the British Mario Lopez," nailing his contempt for his guests. And each of the three headline-makers had a cute line or two (Jason Sudekis's unapologetic Armstrong: "Am I sorry I did it? Yes. Ish."; Kate McKinnon's uncanny Jodie Foster: "...the voices of reason in my life, Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson"). It just felt like a poor man's Weekend Update rather than a sketch that stood on its own two feet. I did appreciate the egg-within-an-egg nature of McKinnon as Foster referencing the old Molly Shannon "I'm 50!" sketches, as Foster herself did at the Globes. Read More....

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