Too bad Lorne Michaels can’t have Betty White, Jay-Z and former cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Rachel Dratch on Saturday Night Live every week. Because not only was the hyped edition of SNL utterly hilarious, but it also proved that the show works best in small doses. To wit: Whether it was because of the over-stuffing or simply to keep the 88-year-old White fresh, each skit ended before it got unfunny. What a concept!
Now the bad news: Likely because of some music clearance issues, two of the best skits of the evening — CSI: Sarasota and The Digital Short — aren’t online yet. Though it’s hard to imagine the latter — which featured the entire cast singing “Thank You For Being a Friend” to White, who, in turn, sang a death metal version of the song (complete with the tag, “Happy Mother’s Day, Motherf***ers”) —not popping up soon, especially since its a massive viral hit waiting to happen. Instead, settle for watching Betty White talk about her “giant, dusty muffin.”
Not bad. And here’s how you know SNL was a powerhouse last night: Even the final skit of the night was classic — a callback to the famed Tina Fey-scribed Census Taker sketch with Christopher Walken and Tim Meadows. Here, Fey and White do the honors.
There was also a great edition of the Keenan Thompson tour de force “Scared Straight” (which featured White yelling about the “Wizard of Ass”), some hilarious “MacGruber” runners and even a quickie Little Woman-like skit with Amy Poehler as a lesbian. Basically the entire thing was a home run. Even the skits that were cut for time — Rachel Dratch’s “Debbie Downer,” Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler hosting “Bronx Beat” — were hilarious. Season finale host Alec Baldwin should be worried — there’s not much he can do to top Betty White.
