Saturday Night Live with Guest Host Robert DeNiro and Musical Guests Diddy & Dirty Money -- a Review

A very funny parody of TMZ using the Wikileaks information exposed this week with Julian Assange (played by Bill Hader) as Harvey Levin with his TMZ flunkies exposing world leaders in TMZ style, including shots of Hilary Clinton without underwear. Best opening this year.

Monologue: Robert DeNiro -- 6

DeNiro gives a talk about how he knows and loves the city, calling it the land of 1,000 lakes, with the tallest building, the Taj Majal, and the great sports team, the Altanta Braves. When members of the audience try to object to his facts, he starts having his cohorts take care of them, including handing one a horse head. Amusing, but slight.

The Abacus Conundrum -- 5

A spoof of book commercials with DeNiro as Harlan Kane, the author of The Abacus Conundrum. This is simply a chance to showcase a bunch of silly overwrought thriller titles.

What's Up With That -- 5

Another round of What's Up With That, this time featuring DeNiro, Robin Williams (in a cameo), and of course, Lindsey Buckingham (played by Bill Hader). The only laughs come when DeNiro gets interrupted by the music and with a glance brings the music to a halt. But Kenan Thompson's character continues anyway, and brings the sketch to a halt. You have to wonder if DeNiro and Williams wonder what the hell they're doing there.

Mr. Produce -- 5

DeNiro plays Mr. Produce, a produce expert on a TV show. When his yams are diseased, he blames it on his smart ass son, played by Andy Samberg. He sends him away, only to find his squash is ruined, causing him to get angrier at his son. The anger escalates with each piece of produce. The sketch could be funny, but DeNiro keeps screwing up his lines.

Digital Short -- Party at Mr. Bernard's -- 7

Bill Hader and Andy Samberg play two young guys who decide not to let their boss' death to ruin a party. When they dress him up and try to make it look like he's still alive, the party guests immediately realize what they've done and freak out, causing the two men to wind up prosecuted. A typically silly digital short, with a nice twist in the middle, and a stupid ending.

Diddy Dirty Money -- I'm Coming Home -- 5

Seriously Diddy? "Wave your hands in tha air?" Is this 1982? The hand throwing angry rapper shouting vocals over an orchestra is getting old as well. At least it's a little more rhythmic than the usual rap.

Weekend Update -- 4

Guests this week include The Kardashians (Vanessa Bayer, Abby Elliot, and Nasim Pedrad) talking about their credit card. (A stupid bit with only one funny joke.) The lead cast member of Spiderman on Broadway (which had disasterous previews this week) shows up (upside down) to talk about the difficulties of the show in a funny spot. And Weekend Update wouldn't be complete without Kristen Wiig showing up to do a completely unfunny annoying character, this time in the form of an aerobics instructor. Not a great Weekend Update.

Funny lines: (Regarding Wikileaks exposure of diplomatic documents) "This week American diplomacy accidentally hit 'reply all'."

(In the third of three jokes about a man marrying his dog in Australia) "He insists their relationship isn't sexual. Okay, but why is the only thing they're registered for peanut butter?"

Little Fockers -- 8

Bobby Moynihan plays an over excited kid who gets to visit the set of Little Fockers, and goes crazy over every little bit of moving making on display, except Robert DeNiro, who he's not fond of for some very funny reasons. Good sketch.

Diddy Finishes an Album With the Blizzard Man -- 8

Andy Samberg returns as Blizzard Man, the old school white rapper who lays down some god awful G-rated rhymes in the whitest of voices. Diddy needs him to make an album but gets sidetracked by his "hot" mom, played by Robert DeNiro in drag. Diddy is actually very funny in this. Another funny sketch late in the night. What's up with that?

La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci -- 7

Bill Hader plays the only amusing foreign talk show host on SNL, Italian Vinny Vedecci. There are some very funny moments here with the deer from the Deer Hunter, and Vinny trying to coax DeNiro's famous line from Taxi Driver out of him.

Bosley Hair Restoration -- 8

A repeat of the commercial from earlier in the year where they use pubic hair to do hair transplant. Gross, but very funny.

Diddy Dirty Money -- Ass On The Floor -- 7

A much more catchy song that suffers from some obvious (but necessary) censoring.

Old Man at the Bar -- 3

Two guys (Jason Sudekis and Andy Samberg) walk into a bar and can't get a drink. Samberg asks, "who do I have to screw to get a drink around here?" "Me," comes the answer from an ugly old man at the bar, played by DeNiro. A freaky cameo by Ben Stiller doesn't save this stupid bit.

Greetings from American America -- I Hippie With Dana Carvey -- 1

An animated hippie talks about his experiences only to reveal his surprising career choice. Pointless.

Overall -- 6

A couple of pretty amusing sketches can't hide the fact that the writers were lazy tonight, putting DeNiro in sketches that either had him playing himself or playing to type. This is the third time that DeNiro has hosted, and I'm guessing Lorne would never turn down having him on the show, but this was a rather bland show for such a big name guest.