SNL – Hugh Laurie & Kanye West 12/13/08

Hugh Laurie was one the best hosts last year and does an admirable job once again. The Blagojevich scandal was certainly milked (well) for all of its comic potential, but Fred Armisen’s impersonation of New York Governor Patterson was the best moment of the night for me.
Bronx Beat was OK, much less annoying than usual and served as one last hurrah for Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph. The Christmas Dinner sketch was funny – love Kristen Wiig’s “angry” face. The Wedding Toast sketch was also inspired with lots of interesting characters. The Lamp skit looked disastrous as it started, but turned out OK. The “Cat Letter” and “Cookies” Digital Short were average. Could have used much more Bill Hader. Hey, Kanye, all the production values in the world can’t save your crappy songs. Overall, an improvement over the past several weeks, the best episode since Jon Hamm. B