The half-hour stand-alone version of Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" feature made its return on Thursday, but you wouldn't know it if you weren't a die-hard SNL fan.
Apparently, the powers that be over at NBC believe that an all-out super-overdose media blitz to promote Jay Leno's doomed, horrendously forced and unfunny new prime-time talk show is a better idea than evenly promoting its other season/series premieres. The joke is already on them, with Jay's numbers plummeting - and other shows floundering in the void of market visibility.
Hell, I'm a rabid SNL fan, and I had no idea the show was airing before "Weekend Update Thursday" co-anhor Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" made its Season Two debut. I simply hit the couch at the wrong time. As it turns out, I wouldn't have missed much.
When placed in the context of its parent show, "Weekend Update" shines. It's the pace-changer, center balance of the show that's more reliably funny than any other segment or skit, cleansing the palate after the musical guest, which more often than not is plagued by terrible sound and inferior performances. But standing on its own, sadly, "Weekend Update" grows old rather quickly.
In true SNL form, a political sketch opened the show, and as usual, it ran a little too long. But the Joe Wilson bit was actually pretty damn funny, and seeing Amy Poehler behind the anchor desk opposite Seth Meyers (SNL head writer and, often, show MVP) was cause for celebration in itself. But the magic wore thin, and as usual, the guest impersonator bit (featuring Bill Hader doing a dead-on James Carville) went on far too long.
They should've added an element, changed up the formula just a bit. Maybe a "local weatherman" predicting the weather for an unspecified area, spoofing on the absolute uselessness and seemingly random guesswork of their jobs, or a reporter on location somewhere. Without the new angle, there's just no magic, and not enough innovation to keep viewers locked. With any luck they'll catch on and shift gears by next week; otherwise "Weekend Update" should maybe just stick to where it belongs - on the weekend.
