Cold Open: 7th or 8th GOP Debate — Really no surprise here, that they’d bring on as many cast members as they could and tie it into a GOP debate. Honestly, I’m a bad American and haven’t been following nary a minute of who’s running for President lately, but I did find it funny when they mentioned the list of those who don’t stand a chance in hell of being elected.
Monologue: Alec Baldwin — It was inevitable that Steve Martin would make an appearance in this episode, as soon as Baldwin noted he’d ousted Martin with most guest host appearances. The appearance of Seth Rogen was a bit random, though.
Red Flag — Happy to see a new faux commercial this season, when we see so many repeats. “She’s funny, but not funny like ‘ha ha’ … funny like ‘yikes!'” Red Flag: smells like trouble.
All My Children party — I loved the fake(?) names they used, like Wendell Scaggs, the fan operator, and Shaz Manadu the costume designer. Other than that, it was an OK sketch that had its funnies moment when the eye-patched Samberg came in and said he was in the wrong room.
WDHX in Costa Rica — God this was a brilliant spoof on the annoying delays of these on-location news programs. The first snake moment was hilarious, the second one going a little over the top. “Denise your face is covered in huge beetles! And a giant snake is biting your boobs!”
Musical Guest: Radiohead — Radiohead sounded great. I never really noticed this before, but didn’t Thom Yorke look a hell of a lot like Baltar from Battlestar Galactica tonight?
Weekend Update — Baldwin does one hell of a job as Tony Bennett, doesn’t he? But I was surprised he was the only guest in the season premiere!
Who’s On Top? — Wow what a fucked up idea for a game show. Funniest parts were when Sudeikis left the game before it started, and Baldwin losing all of his winnings.
25th Anniversary of Top Gun — Funniest part of this was Harvey Fierstein reading the ultra-gay sounding portions of the script and wondering why it wasn’t a gay film.
Power Test Date — I really wasn’t sure how else to title this sketch. It was the perfect sketch for Baldwin and worked out pretty well. Best part, of course, was the pudding being dumped all over the date’s head. That and when Baldwin’s character almost turned around when he found out which tennis jacket was being burned.
TCM: Angels in the Trenches — What does SNL have against TCM anyway? Well this sketch, for being so late in the episode, was one of the high points of the night, surprisingly. Maybe the telling the mother she’s fat was too much absurdity, but it definitely started out strong.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Sep 25, 2011 @ 01:02 EST5EDT
I thought Thom Yorke looked like John Hurt!
I didn’t stick with it after Weekend Update, but absolutely LOVED the Top Gun sketch.