SNL: Anne Hathaway and Rihanna

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I've been under the weather of late and wasn't going to live blog tonight's SNL, but the girls are asleep and the siren song of Anne Hathaway beckons.  There aren't many women who can make me forgo much needed rest or make me cry during a movie trailer.  Good God, that new Les Miserables trailer is killer.

Cold Open:  Election Night at the Romneys

I find it slightly disingenuous that only now the joke about the Romneys is their overwhelming politeness.  There were some good bits:  the interchangeable Romney sires, throwing Karl Rove over the ledge, but there was no ending here.  This will undoubtedly be the last time we see Jason Sudeikis as Romney and Kate McKinnon as Ann, and they couldn't find a funny hook to close the piece.  Perhaps if they hadn't been so mean spirited the last few months they could have found a more meaningful ending.

Monologue:  One Day More

A musical spoof of the Les Mis song One More Day as the cast's tribute to Sundays.  This is a cute bit featuring the cast's love of the one day that they get to eat chili, go to the movies and have sex.  But I don't think Jay Pharaoh gets the joke.  Those silly white guys.

Girlfriends Talk Show

Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant play long time cohosts and BFFs of this talk show about girlfriends who talk about things.  Strong's character, Kira, has found a new BFF (played by Hathaway) and has brought her on the show.  The teenager talk is pretty de rigeur, but Bryant's insecurity at being replaced is delightful and charming.  This is why Bryant was hired.  I wonder how the piece would have played if Strong was the insecure one instead of Bryant.  Probably not as funny but perhaps more interesting.

The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish

Keenan Thompson narrates/sings this pretaped bit about the hippy Mokiki (played by Taran Killam) who goes all over Manhattan doing his hypnotic dance, the Sloppy Swish.  Hathaway plays one of Mokiki's admirers who becomes under the thrall of his contagious venom, which is an absurdist bit that has to be seen to be believed.  The piece is filmed with a 1960's psychedelic movie filter that adds a texture and legitimacy to the piece.  I have really enjoyed the filmed SNL sketches this year.  This was just silly (which is Killam's strong suit) but quite funny.  The "Sad Mouse" movie during the Bruno Mars episode and the Lincoln/Louie mash-up in the the Louis CK episode last week were two of the better sketches of the season so far.

Live News Break In

It appears a house has exploded on the southside of Indy, preempting the show for the time being.  I'm sure it's not a meth lab.  I'll hang on a bit longer, but this may have to wait until it's OnDemand.  The live report has been going for 12 minutes now.

It's been 20 minutes now and what I find interesting is that the report is entirely pictures that the network is lifting from Twitter and Facebook and phone calls from folks who have heard the explosion.  It goes a long way to confirm what I learned during Hurricane Sandy and affirmed on Election Night:  you watch the news to learn what happened; you follow Twitter to learn what's happening.

You can follow me on Twitter:  @johned970

So Far I've Missed

A Homeland Sketch?  Rihanna singing and Weekend Update?  I hope that no one was injured in the explosion, but it better not have been a meth lab.  They keep saying a gas leak, and the size of explosion would indicate that is the case.