Saturday Night Live has been in reruns for a couple of weeks, but came back live last night with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as host. Unfortunately, the political news was funnier over the last couple of weeks than it was this week. A Bobby Jindal impression could have been hilarious, but was already too dated to run last night. The "Rush Limbaugh as head of the Republican Party" story is also getting old, and while they did a fairly funny bit with Michael Steele, a Darrell Hammond Limbaugh impression would have been better.
So, they were left with the economy, which isn't very funny, and the new President, which the comedy writers don't yet have a handle on. The political skits last night were OK, but unlikely to land in a "best of" package. The cold open had Tim Geitner giving a prize for the best financial plan, and the Obama sketch is a less-than-timely, but apt for the host Incredible Hulk theme. Not their best work, but not terrible either.
It's my observation after 30-odd years of watching SNL that the entire show hinges on the cold opening, the monologue, first skit, and Weekend Update. It doesn't matter who the host is. If three out of four of those bits knock it out of the park, it elevates the whole program. Last night's meh program suffered from flatness in all four.
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