Or so it would seem.
The reaction to last week’s Taylor Swift SNL was overwhelmingly positive, with most critics/bloggers declaring it the best episode of the (mediocre) season. While I think it was one of the stronger episodes of the season, I’m not quite sure it was the best (I’d probably have to hand that distinction to the Gerard Butler outing, in which Butler was more polished and comfortable than Swift), but certainly it’s possible to make the argument for its season supremacy. But boy, how quickly things change. After the buzzed about Swift edition SNL returned this weekend with Mad Men‘s January Jones as host, and if the blogosphere is to believed it was the worst episode in the history of Saturday Night Live, featuring the most ill-prepared host in 35 years of the show. Well, yes, it was bad, but we’re hyperbolizing just a little bit. If anything, saying that the new episode was that bad gives too much credit to other dreadful performances from this season (basically all but Butler and Swift), and certainly episodes from past seasons (ahem, Michael Phelps). So to get all riled up about a single terrible episode of SNL is about as useless as getting giddy about an excellent episode of SNL, because, no matter what, the show is coming back next week, sometimes it’s going to be inconceivably bad, sometimes surprisingly brilliant, and mostly very average. That’s why teachers invented the bell curve, to bring the extremes back down to earth. So, by all means, complain about the episode, as it was lazy, sloppy and just generally unfunny. But, remember, they have and will do worse.
With that, it’s not worth doing a rundown of the highlights, as there weren’t that many, but a few thoughts:
More: Running out the clock, Jones vs. Hamm, Slate vs. Watkins, and cotton balls made out of clouds…
Jumped The Snark 