From her performances in hit comedies like "Superbad," "Zombieland," and most recently "Easy A," there's no doubt that Emma Stone is one of the finest female comedic stars of her generation. So it was about time the folks over at "Saturday Night Live" finally caught on and asked the 21-year-old star to host an episode. Here's what we thought of Emma's "SNL" debut from this weekend:
Things started out rather strong with a monologue that poked fun at how Emma has become the object of many a nerd's affections thanks to her roles in raunchy comedies and being cast in the upcoming "Spider-Man" movie. "SNL" cast members Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg all played geeked out admirers hoping to make out with Emma, while Bobby Moynihan and Taran Killam dropped in as her "Superbad" costars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera (newbie Taran totally nailed Michael's awkward mannerisms, wouldn't you say?) Check out the full clip below:
Emma's first actual skit found her playing an indifferent television home makeover show winner. In contrast to Kristen Wiig's overly excited host, Emma earned laughs by playing the straight (wo)man, something she's pretty great at. The actress scored again when she played a befuddled teen being interviewed about crazy devious high school behavior (we hope none of you Crushers out there are getting high off expired soup!).
But, Emma really started to shine in the "Digital Short" in which she played a Ke$ha-like pop star whose music video features her singing about slipping and falling in some grape jelly, and, ultimately, breaking just about everything in her body. The clip was silly (yep, even the grape jelly sang!) but it was definitely poking fun at some of the equally ridiculous pop songs out there today. Check out the clip...and for goodness sake, sign her cast!
Fans of Emma know that the actress is often described as something of a "Lindsay Lohan gone right," so I was excited to see what "SNL" would do having her play the troubled star for "The View" sketch. Unfortunately, there wasn't much for Emma to do as LiLo (and while we love her, the imitation wasn't the greatest) and she was outshone by Fred Armisen and his Joy Behar impression ("So what? Who cares?!")
Of course, it didn't take long for Emma to get back on track. She was especially cute in the “Les Jeunes de Paris" sketch in which she participated in one of the funniest dance-offs you've ever seen in your life. She even got to get in touch with that nerdy side she was talking about in her monologue when she played a dorky teen pal in the skit "My Brother Knows Everything" (check it out below!).
While it wasn't a perfect episode (though it did, thankfully, usher in the return of Stefon during "Weekend Update"!), Emma was a near-perfect host. She showed off her naturally funny side, all the while allowing her always-likable personality to shine through. It certainly didn't hurt that musical guests Kings of Leon rocked the house with some of their new tunes, but I think it's pretty safe to say (or at least wish) that this won't be Emma's last appearance on "SNL"!
What did you think of Emma Stone on "Saturday Night Live," Crushers?
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