Host: Betty White! In case you don't know, she's an old lady who won a Facebook contest, I think?
Musical Guest: Jay-Z! As Betty White said, “Jay-Z is here. If I had a dime for every time I've said that, I'd have one dime.”
Surprise Guests: Maya Rudolph, Tiny Fey, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Rachel Dratch.
Cold Open: The Lawrence Welk show - which I sort of wish wasn't reprised, as it is one of the best sketches ever and hard to top. But it was better than a generic politics opening and basically all the surprise guests showed up for the opening, which was pretty spectacular.
Monologue: Alternately sweet and hilariously mean, and occasionally kind of dirty, White instantly proved that she was more than up to the job: “Before I got this hosting gig, I didn't know what Facebook was. But now that I do, I think that it's a...huge waste of time.”
Best Sketch: The SNL Digital Short managed to balance cute and cheesy with insane and hilarious - and it was super short, which is always welcome. Sadly, it's not online (technically, I'm sure you can find it around), but it's a cute sketch that perfectly encapsulates the entire episode.
Worst Sketch: “The Manuel Ortiz Show.” The insane dancing in the sketch is, granted, pretty funny - but like most recurring sketches based on ideas, and not characters, it loses a lot in the second go-around. Except, even this picked up when Betty White entered. This was kind of a very good episode of SNL.
Musical Performance: I was expecting "Empire State of Mind." "My Name is Hov," was a pleasant surprise, and, as usual, pretty awesomely performed.
Wrap-Up: This was like some sort of SNL All-Star Game or something. From “Delicious Dish,” to “MacGruber,” and more - I'm not usually a fan of the recurring sketch, but with all the great guests, a fantastic musical performance, and a host that more than exceeded her hype, this was one of the most consistently solid SNL's... Ever. This gets an “A,” easily.
