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Last Night on "SNL" Jimmy Fallon Was Brilliant! Four Stars! And He Was Also Pretty Good

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (17)

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Jimmy Fallon returned to his old stomping grounds at Studio H last night and brought damn near his entire cast with him. For those of you who grew up specifically on the Fallon/Fey/Poehler cast, it must have been like returning home and sleeping in your old bed. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder that Fallon, Fey, and Poehler are so much better now than they ever were on “SNL,” which is not a knock against their “SNL” work. I’m just saying that those three are now three of the most vibrant, energetic, creative, and good people on television right now. And last night’s show was so good, in part, because Fallon — who is like a pocket full of earnest, a heavy dose of graciousness, and six parts great guy — brought his energy from “Late Night” to “SNL” and gave us an episode that rivals, and may even edge, Melissca McCarthy’s episode as the best of the season so far.

To the highlights:

Sully and Denise: Fallon kicks off the show with his second most famous recurring character, and hey! Look! Rachel Dratch. Their make out scenes are still just as hilariously uncomfortable.

Monologue: An awesome combination of Fallon and Bruce Springsteen’s Christmas song provide an extra dose of nostalgia for this stroll down memory lane. Unfortunately, NBC is not embedding it. You’ll have to wait for the full episode later today on Hulu. Worth it.

The Today Show: Fallon as Regis, and Kristen Wiig does a mean Kathie Lee.

Buble Duets: An excuse for Fallon and Co. to trot out a lot of impressions, and probably the best sketch of the night.

Jimmy Mirror: I don’t know why it was funny, but it was. It really was.

Weekend Update was brilliant all around, starting with the Headlines, cutting to Get in the (Nic) Cage with Jude Law (making a guest appearance) and ending with the spectacular joke off between Meyers, Fallon, Poehler, and Fey.

Tebow: The show made great use of Fallon, and unlike most hosts, he actually dominated the show last night. However, he was not in the night’s final skit, a tour de force by Jason Sudeikis.










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Comments

My favorite line: "Don't sass me, hat!"

Posted by: Melissa at December 18, 2011 10:16 AM

Holy shit, it's actually Jude Law.

And the Tebow one was really funny. AND IT WAS ONLY 4 MINUTES! DO YOU HEAR THAT LORNE AND SETH? FOUR GOD DAMN MINUTES! IT DIDN'T STRETCH OUT TOO LONG! Except that Mormonism being the only true religion joke has been used in everything already.

Posted by: maka at December 18, 2011 11:07 AM

My brother graduated from Shawsheen Tech. Wonder if he knew Sully and Denise.

Posted by: kirbyjay at December 18, 2011 11:26 AM

Yeah, clearly the best show of the year. And the best since Betty White a few years ago.

I started laughing early. And fell on the floor laughing at the Tebow sketch. And Pharoh's Kanye.

Boy, did I need to laugh. Thanks SNL, for chasing the holiday blues away for a few hrs.

Posted by: Sean at December 18, 2011 12:47 PM

And Fallon had the decency NOT to do "Barry Gibb Talk Show".

Posted by: Sean at December 18, 2011 12:59 PM

The joke off KILLED me

Posted by: Even Stevens at December 18, 2011 1:06 PM

I beg to differ on the Bublé Duets sketch: It was easily the worst sketch of the night...the only thing good about it was Jay Pharoh.

Posted by: Munkymack at December 18, 2011 3:16 PM

I was happy to see Horatio Sanz, Chris Kattan, and Tracy Morgan all came back to perform that Christmas song. I'm going to have "I wish it was Christmas today" stuck in my head for the rest of the week. I'm alright with that.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at December 18, 2011 3:28 PM

Melissca McCarthy was a terrible episode. It was like black-face for fat people. So, that's not a good comparison point.

Posted by: John G. at December 18, 2011 3:30 PM

I wonder if SNL would be substantially better if they took out the Celebrity element.

Posted by: Haystacks at December 18, 2011 4:57 PM

Wait, Melissa McCarthy IS heavy. I don't know how that's "like black-face" at all. But I agree that it wasn't a great episode, and wish everything hadn't been centered on her body type.

Posted by: jzhz at December 18, 2011 5:30 PM

The Bublé skit was fantastic and I was so happy to see the "wish it was Christmas today" guys reunited. The most consistent episode in quite a while.

Posted by: Colin at December 18, 2011 7:13 PM

I kinda liked the Beethoven skit...

"Man, I am good at classical music," and "That was Mozart, you son of a bitch!" were good little moments.

Posted by: Cody at December 18, 2011 11:00 PM

The best sketch of the night was that Nic Cage bit.

The description of his hairline was POETRY!

God that was a fun episode (and Pharoh's Kanye was phenomenal).

Posted by: ChristianH at December 19, 2011 12:21 AM

Also, seconds on the earlier comments about the Christmas Song (I squeed) and the Beethoven sketch. Very fun.

Posted by: ChristianH at December 19, 2011 12:24 AM

The Tebow sketch kicked ass. Loved the way Jesus kept having to tell him to take it down a notch.

Posted by: Protoguy at December 19, 2011 2:39 AM

Come on Jimmy, Toys for Tatas? Toys for Tits!

Posted by: SaBrina at December 19, 2011 7:36 AM