The beautiful Charlize Theron took on hosting duties for the penultimate installment of “Saturday Night Live.” Her opening monologue was all about how beautiful and great she was. In fact, as she proved in song, the only thing she couldn’t do great was sing. And she was really, really bad at that.
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But before that, “SNL” stuck by its bizarre need to get political in its cold open. At least it gave newest cast-member Sasheer Zamata a chance to shine as Michelle Obama. Vanessa Bayer was on opposite as Hillary Clinton in a sketch that spotlighted the two First Ladies roles as mothers. There was a brief nod to Clinton’s presidential ambitions — as well as her impending grandbaby — but much of the bit centered on the two women taking subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at one another.
“Come Do A Game Show with Your Mom. It’ll Be Fun. Yes It Will” was the week’s requisite game show. This seems to have become a staple of “SNL” this season, but at least they put a fun new twist on it. Rather than celebrity parodies, Kate McKinnon came out as the mother, with Charlize Theron, Brooks Whelan and Kyle Mooney as her children.
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The questions were typical mom fare like, “Who’s that gal I like?” and “Who in Hollywood do I think is gay?” It went on a little long, but it was worth it for Bobby Moynihan‘s “Dad Round.” He had only one question for the kids: “How you doin’? You doin’ good?”
Aidy Bryant continued her strong late-season run, stealing the game show as neighbor Linda, and then dominating another round of her recurring sketch, with Cecily Strong, “Girlfriends Talk Show.”. “I hope we are all breathing deeply from our anuses,” Charlize Theron said on the girls’ show as Ms. Christine, a fired drama teacher who wanted to do “The Vagina Monologues.” As usual, Bryant’s Morgan wasn’t in sync with this guest, until Ms. Christine fired up her passion by complimenting her while fondling her breast.
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Theron jumped into another recurring sketch with an awkward character, but at least this time she was joining an already awkward character: Heshy Farahat. Nasim Pedrad’s “other” active character — and not nearly as funny as her troublemaker child Shallon — returned for another awkward seminar about how to score with men.
“I once showered with a man who described my body as a complex network of flaws,” Heshy said at one point, considering this a victory. Theron came in as a carbon copy of her, and proved she was game enough for the silly sound-effects driven physical antics, but the sketch still fell flat.
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HBO First Looks at “Dragon Babies”. Bibbo is a dragon voiced by a retired police officer, portrayed by Mike O’Brien. Most of the jokes come from the officer breaking character during recording. And yet, they animated everything he said in the booth? Ultimately, the premise logically falls apart. It’s a silly idea, but it wasn’t enough to sustain a full sketch.
“Weekend Update” honored the career of Barbara Walters by looking back at some of their favorite moments from the broadcast legend. That meant a look back at all the various cast-members who’ve portrayed Walters over the year. But this flashback was just to whet viewers’ appetites for a surprise appearance by Ms. Walters herself.
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“You’ve always been a personal inspiration to me as a news anchor,” Cecily Strong told her.
“But I’m a real anchor,” Walters countered. She then offered some tips on how to be a great news journalist. Things like not being afraid to ask the tough questions, like, “Your place or mine, Brokaw?” Walters proved she could take a joke as well, taking a hit for being a serious journalist and a co-host on “The View” at the same time.
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The good times kept rolling as Drunk Uncle made his long-awaited return to the Weekend Update desk to honor the newest graduating class. He proved he had his usual grasp of youth culture with lines like, “Can I light a eCig with my Bitcoins?” It may not make any sense when Drunk Uncle is on, but it’s always worth a few laughs … and tears. His incoherent rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” even reduced him to tears. But then, as he’s always told, he was probably too drunk.