Did anyone happen to catch Saturday Night Live this past Saturday? If you didn’t then you missed maybe one of the consistently funny episodes in a long time. I feel that there is this general understanding that SNL is funny for about 65 percent of it’s episode and the lackluster skits get pushed towards the backend – this past Saturday wasn’t the case.

Maya Rudolph was the host and apparently that meant to bring on everyone and anyone. Random surprise guests were: Justin Timberlake, Amy Poehler, Bill O’ Reilly, and Kate Upton (The Sports Illustrated Model).

Random side note: I honestly had watched “In Time” earlier in the night and wrote off Timberlake, then watched this episode and felt some minor redemption.

I first wrote this post with the intention of embedding each clip in this blog but for whatever reason HULU is stubborn and won’t let me. To try and make up for it I’ve included the link…

We have to start with the cold opening, this basically set the tone for me. Typically this is a political themed skit but this time it was a racially charged take on the Jeremy Lin scenario in NY:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Baby: My God this was funny. Jay Pharoah is great, and I hope he continues to be more prominent on the show:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

Cosby Obama: This was a skit that was pushed towards the latter half of the show and I couldn’t believe it. I think this would have killed in the first 30 minutes. Basic premise…errr… The Obama’s as the Cosby Show.

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

What’s Up With That - Presidents Day Edition: Remember Keenan from Keenan and Kel on Nickelodeon? I’m happy he’s still working in the comedy world, and this character is his stand out on the show. My initial reaction when seeing this –“What the hell is Bill O’ Reilly doing on SNL!?” and I loved every minute of it. Jason Sudeikis in his red jumpsuit is the stand out in these:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

Bronx Beat: Poehler was back and a special surprise from Timberlake. I typically don’t like women ranting back and forth by Rudolph and Poehler were great:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

Maya Angelou Prank Show: This was amazing:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

The Weekend Update: Poehler was back with Seth Meyers, and once again very funny. I kind of miss Poehler on SNL:

LINK THAT I WISH WAS THE EMBEDDED VIDEO!

There are still a few skits out there that almost made the cut, but I couldn’t put the entire episode on here… although I almost did. I think it’s great that various cast members are really starting to hit their stride and it’s amazing how SNL can continue to evolve. Rudolph brought it, this was a great episode, and sometimes I forget how funny SNL is.