Saturday Night Live -- Ryan Reynolds & Musical Guest Lady Gaga -- a Review -- 10/3/09

Another week, another political opener. Fred Armisen again proves out of his depth with his horrible Barack Obama impersonation. The sketch is about how Barack Obama has accomplished nothing he's set out to do yet. Unfortunately, the impersonation is so bad that any humor in the sketch is killed.

Monologue -- Ryan Reynolds -- 7

Ryan talks about the differences between superhero movies and romantic comedies. It's amusing and Ryan's charming.

Commercial -- Mostly Garbage Dog Food -- 6

Your dog is your friend, but the economy is in the crapper, so why worry about what your animals eat, feed them Mostly Garbage. Great premise, but I'd have rather the description of the food been more amusing instead of showing the visual of actual garbage coming out of a bag.

Celebrity Family Feud 1981 -- 7

OMG, they aren't going to go there, are they? The Osmonds vs. The Phillips (as in MacKenzie and Papa John). Jason Sudekis apparently has never seen Richard Dawson EVER with his horrid impersonation. Ryan Reynolds, Abby Elliott, Bobby Moynihan, and Fred Armisen make funny Osmonds. The Phillips are darkly funny as they answer questions like "Name something you do with your dad." I

Digital Short -- To The Ground -- 8

Andy Samberg plays a rapper with lots of inappropriate anger as he throws numerous things to the ground. It sounds dumb, but it is actually funny, with lots of slow motion shots of the results of his anger. Elijah Wood shows up in a cameo. Funny stuff.

Porcelain Fountains -- 2

Fred Armisen does a variation on his Lawrence Welk as he extols the joys of porcelain fountains. Another stupid commercial with a pointless appearance by Scarlett Johansson. Just dumb.

Deep House Dish -- 4

Kenan Thompson and Andy Samberg do another pointless edition of this sketch redeemed a bit by a Madonna/Lady Gaga catfight with the two attacking Keenan. Big shocker is that it may have actually been Madonna playing Madonna.

Lady Gaga -- Paparazzi -- 4

The sound mix on the music this year has been horrid, not that it will redeem this Madonna clone of a song. But hey, Lady Gaga gets to say "shit" on live TV, so its all good.

Weekend Update -- 7

Seth Meyers has slowed down quite a bit and his timing is better this week. He also been given funnier material. Darrell Hammond shows up to do a very funny Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation as he talks about Roman Polanski's legal woes. Kenan Thompson does his Charles Barkley impersonation, which Seth Meyers seems to think is a riot. So why am I not laughing?

Best line: Kate Hudson may be pregnant with boyfriend Alex Rodriquez's baby. If true, it would be the first time A-Rod has produced in October.

So You Committed a Crime and You Think You Can Dance -- 7

Convicted criminals learn how to dance with a funny Ryan Reynolds as a choreographer on this crime and dance show hybrid. Funny premise with some funny taped moments with Kenan Thompson, and Fred Armisen playing convicts, and Andy Samberg playing a fat and stupid K-Fed. Bobby Moynihan shows his one talent, opening his eyes as wide as he can and making a goofy expression as he allegedly impersonates Nathan Lane. Fortunately, other

International Masterworks -- 5

Foreign actors from Oslo act out a police drama with bad American accents and stilted American dialogue. The cast's energy makes this one better than it has any right to be, but it still falls flat because the premise and the dialogue just aren't that funny.

Lady Gaga -- Medley -- 8

I don't know what the hell any of that was, but it seemed like entertaining performance art. I enjoyed it. So sue me.

Lady Gaga and Andy Wear The Same Dress -- 9

Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg both find out they're wearing the same outrageous costume, which makes them instantly fall in love, only to be thwarted by the same costumes. This sketch looks thrown together but has the kind of goofy good humor that they show so desperately needs. I've laughed at Andy several times tonight. I think I might be coming down with H1N1 flu.

Overall -- 7

This episode was much better than last week's horrid debacle, with some truly amusing sketches, celebrity cameos, and decent performances. The only real problem this week was that Ryan Reynolds was hardly given anything to do and the show's in serious need of a cast member that can do Obama. A decent sophomore effort for this season.