âSaturday Night Liveâ installed a new Barack Obama and a new attitude this weekend. Jay Pharoah succeeded Fred Armisen in playing the president, and the NBC series took sharper digs at the president.
In the first-rate opening sketch, a drawling Obama (Pharoah) acknowledged that âthings arenât great,â that he is aloof and overconfident, and that the country has a âSanford and Sonâ economy because so many children live with their parents.Â
But Obama unveiled his campaignâs secret weapon: a gaffe-prone Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis). âWouldnât you be overconfident if your only competition was this?â Obama asked. Obama also pointed to budget guru Paul Ryan (Taran Killam), who had trouble with numbers.
The political jokes were most memorable as the show started its 38th season. An over-the-top Obama commercial â" the president said he wasnât real proud of it â" relentlessly skewered inconsiderate Romney for closing businesses and even spreading disease.
On âWeekend Update,â Seth Meyers noted Obama had joked that Bill Clinton âshould be appointed to the role of secretary of explaning stuff.â Meyer added: âHey, you know whatâs another good name for that position? President.â  (âSNLâ offers a prime-time political special at 8 p.m. Thursday on NBC.)
Another commercial presented Clint Eastwood (Bill Hader) going on the road with his Republican National Convention act and that empty chair.  âItâs a show that audiences are giving a sitting ovation,â a commercial spokesman said.
The other material was stronger than usual. âFamily Guyâ creator Seth MacFarlane got in the loopy spirit with a bravura opening monologue in which he performed a range of voices. MacFarlane was a dense Ryan Lochte previewing the fall TV season. MacFarlane was a sports store worker who brought on Korean rap sensation Psy to lift spirits. MacFarlane was a cheerful puppeteer working with a military veteran (Hader again) whose puppet smoked. MacFarlane threw himself into the role of a stuttering drill sergeant.
Television, as usual, inspired several sketches. âSNLâ brought back the nasty producer (Armisen) who insulted guests on âSex After 50â³ and spoofed daytime host Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson), who made over a guest (MacFarlane) to look just like Harvey. Honey Boo Boo (Vanessa Bayer) and her mother (Bobby Moynihan) visited âWeekend Update,â where their talk was subtitled.
Frank Ocean performed two songs, and John Mayer supplied a guitar solo on the second. All in all, it was a promising start for âSNL,â and the political season should be the gift that keeps giving through the fall.
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