NBC shows us a Poehler-less SNL, and it ain't pretty

Saturday Night Live sparkplug Amy Poehler finally had her baby Saturday, forcing her to miss the show.

I know it was a last-minute thing, so they probably had to scramble to cover her absence (given how big she had gotten, couldn't they have anticipated that?). One hint: Coldplay performed three and a half songs! I mean, I like 'Yellow,' but I wouldn't know Chris Martin if I ran over him in my car. Should NBC really have turned one-third of SNL over to him and his mates?

I also know it's not fair for me to use this moment to say my previous blog post on SNL's Poehler problem was prophetic . . . but i'm going to say it anyway.

Check out part of the episode and judge for yourself.

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Comments

[TC]

Yeah, it wasn't 3.5 songs...it was 3 songs and they played as the show was ending (less than 8 bars made it on TV - it was more just the band playing for the studio audience.) This is a relatively common thing for platinum selling bands on SNL...I know the last couple times U2 and REM have been on, each has played 3 times, and while I wouldn't put Coldplay in that stratosphere of popularity, there as close as any band that's been on SNL is quite some time.

[Eric Deggans]

Well, considering that I was blown away by Adele and not so much by the coldplay dudes, maybe Im he wrong person to ask that question....

[SanDiegoInExile]

True, the "cold open" segment was awful. It went on too long, but no doubt someone at GE felt that they needed to ridicule Biden and Murtha to "balance" things out. The Barack and Michelle Variety Show Preview would have been a better open, especially with the return of Maya Rudolph (who I expect will be back for a few additional appearances over the winter).

This season, they have produced several hours more of content.

In past years, the season started in mid-October and perhaps we got 2 new episodes a month (three during sweeps). This was Episode Seven (?) of the season, plus there have been four Weekend Update Thursdays (which seem to clock in at about 19 minutes when you strip out the promos and commercials. That's a lot of additional time to fill.

In the past, when they have had MEGA-performers, three songs is often the standard. Also, on the West Coast, the show ended just after the host said goodbye and introduced Coldplay again. No credits, just the quick closing frame. And no .5 additional song.

Which is worse? 3.5 songs from Coldplay or 2 songs from one-hit-wonder Adele?

True, they should bring on more females, more minorities, heck, more ANYTHING, New blood is always good. There's no excuse why there aren't 2-3 new young comics added every season. If that were the pattern, we would get at least one breakout star every couple years.

[Colin]

I actually thought it was the most consistently funny episode of the season, and I've read numerous other online comments that echo that sentiment. Of course, part of that had to do with the performance of Jon Hamm, who was a great host. As for Coldplay, they're one of the most popular bands on the planet, so not such a bad option to fill some time.