Joseph Gordon Levitt went on SNL in his return to NBC, after Joseph Gordon Levitt first rose to fame as a child star on 3’rd Rock From The Sun. Since then, Joseph Gordon Levitt has become an adult star from indie films, and from this summer’s 500 Days Of Summer. Joseph Gordon Levitt had nothing to plug on SNL, except 500 Days Of Summer and the musical number he did in the movie. So Joseph Gordon Levitt’s SNL hosting gig was mostly made up of music, talk show and TV spoofs, with the occasional Al Gore cameo.
Joseph Gordon Levitt’s SNL monologue had him singing the nearly 60-year old musical number “Make Em Laugh” from Singing In The Rain – although it did let him show some impressive physicality. After that, for some odd reason, nearly every single live sketch involved Levitt singing, and involved some kind of talk show/TV parody.
Kenan Thompson brought back his “What Up With That” bit where he kept singing over his guests – who were made up of Al Gore and The Office’s Mindy Kaling. Gore, who already appeared on 30 Rock as part of NBC’s “Green Week” returned to SNL to plug his new book one more time.
But Gore wasn’t interrupted on Weekend Update, providing the highlight of the night by revealing his “crazy” backup plans to save the Earth. Gore also likely got a laugh from a fake 2012 trailer, in which the Mayan apocalypse is really Sarah Palin becoming President.
In addition to Joseph Gordon Levitt and Al Gore on SNL, Dave Matthews also came by to sing and make a sketch cameo. In a bit where Andy Samberg reprised his “mellow” Jack Johnson impression, Matthews impersonated the far less mellow Ozzy Osbourne – while Bill Hader impersonated Matthews himself.
Adding to the musical theme of this SNL episode was Samberg’s latest digital music video. This time, it was about him making love to Reba McEntire – even though McEntire looked a lot like Kenan Thompson in a wig.
As for Joseph Gordon Levitt, his SNL appearance was a final highlight in a year where he broke through to the mainstream again. Matched up with past SNL hosts this month, Levitt will probably land somewhere between the raves for Taylor Swift, and the pans for January Jones.
SNL will now take the Thanksgiving holiday off and start its December run in two weeks, with another young host, Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, coming on board with musical guest Rihanna.
Sources
NBC.com- “Saturday Night Live – All Videos – Newest”
