Maybe mild disappointment was inevitable–we were all just a little too excited, a little too sure of the guaranteed awesomeness of an SNL hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
And it certainly wasn’t bad. NPH scored laughs right off the bat bashing child star rival Fred Savage (see opening monologue embedded below) and kept us smiling with bouncy characters (the guy from Rent; an exercise instructor, embedded after the jump ). But the sketches never really clicked, and Harris only got a few chances to show off the comic chops that earned him a Golden Globe nod this year for his How I Met Your Mother performance (tune in tonight to see if he wins).
At least he didn’t have to worry about getting shown up by the musical guest and guest stars (We still love you anyway, Paul Rudd!). Taylor Swift gets props for gusto despite so-so songs, but was her guitar even plugged in? And a pantsless Liza Minnelli, while certainly a hoot, just doesn’t pack quite the same thrill as a pantsless Justin Timberlake.
So here’s hoping NPH gets another shot at hosting soon. Because with the right sketches, there’s no doubt that he could be nothing short of legen…..wait for it…..dary. (Okay, it’s funnier when he does it.)
So, what do you think PopWatchers? Was the show better or worse than you expected? Should Neil Patrick Harris get another shot at hosting? Or should they just turn the whole thing over to Liza and the tomato next time?
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Maybe SNL needs to get rid of the writers and current cast and hire funny people.
I think we can all agree that a person can only be as funny as the material the writers give them. The writers on SNL have been truly terrible for a while now. Neil Patrick Harris deserves so much better than that. I agree, the writers have got to go.
They wasted him. The show is just awful, and Kristen whatsherface — horrible. Every character is the same.
You can only work with the materials you are given. I think he was handicapped by the horrible concepts. I loved him.
I thought the show was absolutely hilarious and among the best of the past couple seasons.
I honestly enjoyed the show. I think NPH helped a lot of sketches become funny. I didn’t even smirk until he showed up at the Today Show sketch. But funny can’t happen unless the writing is good. I think NPH was one of the best actors for the job. His facial expressions and movements fit well with the actual scene. Many host give a mere two or three different expressions or have the same expression throughout. I think NPH did fabulous compared to some recent hosts. I just really miss having better writers.
And no, Liza M. and the tomato could not have done a better job.
The show certainly had its funny moments. Harris was a good guest and performed well. He also seemed to be having fun, which is typically a good sign. Taylor Swift, who I’d never hear of before, was terribly lackluster. Her barely audible and at times off key singing made her look like some wanna-be American Idol contestant.
The only reason I watched SNL last night was because NPH hosted- what can I say, I’m a fan. Can someone please tell me why the show is still on the air? It’s become completely irrelevant.
i thought the show was very good. i don’t understand how people thought the show wasn’t funny. maybe they just don’t have senses of humor.
I missed it but will watch it on Hulu today. http://www.athletedate.com
Totally agree. He deserved better material. He had the enthusiasm but all of the sketches were just a tad off the mark.
‘Can someone please tell me why the show is still on the air? It’s become completely irrelevant.’
Politics…where have you been the last year, in a cave?
Totally disagree. I think that was the best episode of the season.
Can someone tell me why this show is still on? What has happened to the amazing writing of yesteryear? NPH is funny, and talented. But, given the material he was, well, what can I say?
TSwift was offkey andmiming the guitar, I hear!! There’s your top-selling femal artists people…nearly 6 feet tall with gorgeous hair and a perfect mannequin for clothes, glad to know it’s all about the music! Lulz.
SNL is pretty terrible…the election stuff was lucky. I haven’t watched this show in years; now I’m 30, old and maternal so I can’t stay up for inevitable disappointment.
I will, however, make time for it if and when they have the Jonas Brothers as both the musical and comedic guests, omg so precious…so who do I have to write to to make that happen? Heehee.
This is funny: EW has one article calling NPHs show hilarious while this article calls him “eh”… so which is it?
My expectations were very high for this show, so they weren’t quite met, but it was still a fantastic show. NPH is terrific, his timing was perfect in the monologue.
The Digital Short of NPH playing the DH theme was brilliant.
Was hoping to see Dr. Horrible, but I figured NBC wouldn’t want to encourage webisodes by calling out attention to it.
Hunter – watch some clips and make up your OWN mind…this blogger has made up theirs!
I didn’t watch this show but I just LOVE that NPH has overcome his teen star, Doogie Howser past and gets so much well-deserved respect and adoration nowadays. It’s a triumphant thing to see. How SNL did it’s usual job of crappification is irrelevant to his accomplishments.
I don’t know why I feel this so strongly, I am not even a fan. LOL.
i thought it was one of the better episodes of the past few seasons. NPH is brilliant (and I’ll add that i enjoyed him ‘thrusting’ and ‘crunking’ in the Today Show sketch). And Kristen Wiig is by far one of the best female cast members ever.
OK show, but Why Oh Why did they pass on mocking Sweet Caroline Kennedy of Camelot? ya know. They made a season from Ms. Palin . . . Sweet Caroline could have launched this season.
NPH was GREAT! I thought his episode last night was definitely the funniest of the season, and I can’t even think of a host from last season that I liked better. He’s a natural and I’m glad he was finally given this opportunity. Bring him back quick!
I have to admit that I was let down by NPH’s stint on SNL. He’s got such great comic timing on Dr. Horrible… just goes to show that if the material isn’t funny, the performance won’t be either. I fail to understand why SNL keeps changing cast members when its the WRITERS that need a whole new cast. NPH deserved better!
i thought “this is great” from the opening monologue to the skit before taylor swift (uggh). and then it was a let down (including the majority of weekend update.) here’s a thought: knock the show down to an hour, and instead of having to “fill” with stuff that just isn’t funny, put together an hour of solid material. shorten update by half, give the musical guest one song, and give the guest host funny material. and why is darrell hammond still on the show? his tommy lee jones was hideous. all of his characters are bill clinton/donald trump anyway.
I had a REALLy big expectation last night b4 SNL came on, I was so excited to finally get to see NPH host AND the beginning was funny (except the ‘girlfriend’ part) and the Today Show was very entertaining … BUT i wasnt really blown away. HE was AWESOME, but he didnt really have any WELL WRITTEN marerial to work with…I’d rather watch an hour long interview with NPH because that would hav been funnier than last nights SNL.
Could barely hear Taylor Swift – I thought for a while that her mic wasn’t turned up enough, or maybe she just had a quiet voice, but then she actually sang a couple lines in each song loud enough to be heard, which dashed that theory. I thought NPH’s “girlfriend” throwaway in his opening monologue was great.
AWESOME SHOW!!!
I think he did the best he could with the material he got. I agree with the other review on EW that they had a lot of his sketches playing second fiddle to the rest of the cast. It was like they knew they would get an audience so they wanted to thrown in their top performers in order to keep ratings after NPH left. I did love the Digital Short tribute to Doogie and the Broadway characters. The second half staled out because they were making me watch the rest of the cast and him react to them.
With all the great comedic hosts SNL attracts, why don’t they bank on the improv skills of the hosts (and cast members…)? Give Hugh Laurie a five minute framework and let him go nuts! Let NPH off the chain! The writing is definitely a problem on SNL, and a lot of talent is going to waste. Also, I want to see the digital short from last night…