Saturday Night Live: “Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar”

This is, quite literally, your father’s SNL, kids.

Last seen in Studio 8H in the spring of 1992, appearing in anticipation of the season finale of Cheers, Woody Harrelson has finally returned, as a kind of benign, stoner daddy, hosting a mostly reassuring and wholly perfunctory episode of the graying sketch comedy juggernaut. Sure there were a few laughs, but few surprises, and no delight. Saturday Night Live is a corny dad joke now.

You may be wondering, why is Woody Harrelson hosting SNL? Was Bruce Willis booked? Well, the prevailing theory is… with the holiday season’s biggest tent pole movie upon us, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, Woody Harrelson (who wears a wig in that film) is at least a reasonably plausible host for Saturday Night Live.

“But!” you insist, “Doesn’t that cast also include Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, and Julianne Moore? Wouldn’t any of those actors make a far more plausible host than the guy who replaced “Coach” on Cheers?

“You remember Coach… Nicholas Colasanto?” your father asks, impressed.

SNL at 40 seems more than a little concerned with playing it safe. True, Kendrick Lamar is a name that might be unfamiliar to most dads, but the Isley Brothers sample (“Who’s That Lady?”) that forms the base melody of his song “i,” is a company picnic classic. And as such, serves as a trigger warning for pops: “Yes, this is a rap song. But! Whatta rap song it is!”

Harrelson did a fine job as host, actually. Which is the point: low risk, low reward. The episode was a solid “C.” All “Cs.” You know, the kind of report card that would make your benign, stoner dad proud.

Woody’s best moment? “Match’d,” a game show parody where a horny bachelorette tries to pick a date from a trio of horny dudes. Only, her dad is the host. So things get kinda awkward. (“You kids act like you’d never seen a game show! You haven’t? Just shut up and watch the damn sketch.”)

Harrelson’s Opening Monologue was classic dad joke. Old (stoned) dad… attempts to stay relevant by reworking the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song (“Blank Space”) as a kind of nostalgic recap of the year 1989. But… said dad did a lot of drugs back then, so his memories are a little fuzzy. (“Just go with it, kids! And um, oh look! It’s the sexy young stars of ‘The Hunger Games!’ We’ve got a great show for you tonight!”)

Every dad worth his salt likes a good dad joke. And 40-year old SNL serves ‘em up fast and furious.

“The Dudleys,” a pre-taped send-up of a network television sitcom promo, was a rare flash of inspiration. The writing was fresh, funny, pointed (a TV show in constant flux because of erratic viewer feedback). And it featured a cameo by Orange Is the New Black’s “Crazy Eyes,” Emmy winner Uzo Aduba.