Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels recently told reporters that he thinks athletes make particularly good hosts, as they’re “used to being in front of large groups of people and not knowing how it’s going to turn out.” That’s as opposed to actors and musicians, who are accustomed to rehearsals and retakes. While we don’t think this formula works all the time, Giants quarterback Eli Manning did a solid job last night, after a pretty wooden start, showing up in a surprising number of skits and performing well — though we don’t think this episode will go down in the history books or anything. Click through to watch the best and worst skits of the evening, and let us know if you agree with our assessments — or if we missed your favorite — in the comments!
The Best:
Amazon Mother’s Day Ad
We were expecting the masturbation joke, but we weren’t expecting the Fifty Shades of Grey cameo — though we were pleasantly surprised. This is exactly the kind of topical thing SNL should be covering.
Little Brothers
In a nod to big brother Peyton Manning’s 2007 United Way ad, Eli gets out some of his younger son frustration — “because we all know that big brothers can be real dickheads.”
Murder Evidence
Even if most of the charm in this skit came from Eli Manning making funny faces based on emoticons and then trying not to laugh, we appreciate that he was able to poke fun at himself.
The Worst:
Helga Lately!
Really, they made a whole skit out of pretending to speak Swedish? Maybe it would have been funnier if we ever watched Chelsea Lately.
Miss Drag World
Yikes. Here’s a skit where Manning’s lack of acting ability showed painfully. That said, it would have taken a lot to get us to like this overplayed sketch, no matter who hosted. Drag queens? Snooze.
Cheech and Chong
In no world is Cheech and Chong still relevant right now, even funneled through TCM.