Charlie Day Hosted SNL: C'Mon That's Charlie Work!

SNL Charlie Day we were psyched as hell when we found out that Charlie Day would be hosting an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live. There are some actors that pretty much play versions of themselves in everything they do and Charlie Day can be classified as one of those people. That’s not to say he can’t act, it’s to say he brings the loveable spazz character to everything he does, whether it be on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia or Horrible Bosses, you know what you’re in for when Day is around. Let’s see what happens when his brand of humor meets up with Saturday Night Live won’t we?

Let’s do some Charlie work shall we?

Cold Open: Gaddafi’s Ghost
The cold open with Fred Armisen as the ghost of Muammar Gaddafi might be the perfect example of the type of cold open SNL should always implement – topical, some great jokes, and quick to kick off the night. Toss in a random reference to Borat and we’re off to the races in a place where the FreeCreditReport.com band plays gigs every night.

Monologue
I was hoping we’d see some of Day’s Sunny cast mates show up during the evening and why not Danny DeVito? The two usually have the most interaction together on their sitcom, so why not on the monologue? Their banter is excellent and who knew Day could play a bit of piano?

Kardashian Divorce Special
The Kardashian Divorce began a one of many bits of the night that pulled together the entire cast to execute as they put together a solid skewering of the E! network’s ability to make waaaaay too many shows about the most vapid family around. I have to give the win of this sketch to both Kristen Wiig and Taran Killam for killer lampoons of the family’s parents, Kris and Bruce Jenner.

Ask Dr. Oz
I’ve been forced to watch the Dr. Oz Show on more than one occasion and this send up of the show is pretty spot on. Oz has numerous weird visuals using human remains and crowd participation beyond the simple Q&A. Bill Hader’s impression is terrific getting all of the good doctor’s mannerisms but Day wins for his willingness to go the extra mile and don the “poop” sign.

Greek Gods
We have ourselves another sketch involving the entire cast as they team up to play the Greek Gods helping to figure out the economic crisis the country is currently in the middle of. It’s a great premise for jokes and gives pretty much everyone the chance to deliver the goods. I think this is a toss-up between Bobby Moynihan’s Demeter or Jay Pharaoh’s Apollo for the top jokes of the sketch. But Jason Sudekis kept it fun with his turn as Zeus. And belly laughs were elicited when they cut to the Greek God of music himself, Yanni in an Adam Levine cameo.

Getting Freaky With Cee Lo
Keenan Thompson is always putting some sort of musical number together, and there’s probably a reason for that as his turn as the Georgian crooner Cee-Lo is pretty damn great. Who else to teach people how to make things freaky than the closet freak himself? But Cee-Lo is not the star of the show here, that honor goes to our host and Freakasaurus himself Charlie Day. Sunny fans already know Day was capable of these moves since we we’ve seen him in the Green Man suit. And Freakasaurus is just a Green Man whose, uh, horny. Thompson did win with side jokes about planking, stumpy hands, and the Na’vi.

Comedy Tour 2
Here’s our final bit of the night that involves the entire cast as they touch on all stand-up comedian stereotypes. Adam Levine and head writer Seth Meyers even got in on the action. Bobby Moynihan once again stole the sketch with some Slappy Pappy.

Maroon 5: “Moves Like Jagger”
I can deal with some Maroon 5 so let’s watch them perform some moves like Jagger, or something. We saw him get hit with a hawk, now lets watch Levine get a sing session on.

Weekend Update
Seth Meyers removed the Boston Powers garb to deliver the news to us. Update got a great boost this week and the appearance by Bill Hader as a drunken Rick Perry was easily the highlight of the update. Please more hula girl!. Hader has a special report with Meyers when they do update together and it’s not just reserved for Stefon.

Dolphin Movie
This sketch was probably the weakest of the night, though Taran Killam barking out orders for a dolphin as if it were a German Shepard police dog made the bit at least interesting.

Maroon 5: “Stereo Hearts”
The 5 are back and this time they have Travie McCoy from Gym Class Heroes on hand for a duet for their song “Stereo Hearts.” A song that I wasn’t 100% sure Travie was singing at first.

Crime Scene
After a brief commercial we’ve seen already we come to the night’s closing sketch. From the moment it kicks off, I thought “hey, that’s the Seinfeld set” hoping that very idea would be addressed and it was as Day plays something of a Columbo character who has not a firm grasp on pop culture yet mimics every cop stereotype out there. It was solid ending the night with Day and Sudekis as the Horrible Bosses co-stars traded barbs once again in a fun and silly.

The night was a big one, and word on the street Day brought in big ratings for the show. Though he was a fantastic host, it would have been great to see Day run lead on more bits. He’s one who normally takes the supporting role so why not see him out in front trusting his comical chops.

Bobby Moynihan had three small roles throughout the night, but damn if he didn’t pretty much steal every scene he was in.
Slappy Pappy!
When there is not a Digital Short, there’s not much Andy Samberg is there?
Seriously, more Hula girl.
Wait, was that the real Cee-Lo on stage at the end of the show?

Let’s meet up again next week when Emma Stone comes back for a second hosting gig as Coldplay serves as musical guest.