SUNDAY MORNING LIVE: Louis C.K. Channels Lincoln and Makes Out with Kate McKinnon on 'Saturday Night Live'

Welcome to the sixth edition of Sunday Morning Live, The Bill Kuchman Chronicle's look at the latest edition of Saturday Night Live.

How'd Louis C.K. do?



Louis C.K. hosting an episode of SNL was always an intriguing idea. C.K. is often referred to as the best comedian working right now, but if you're familiar with his material, you're aware that his style of comedy might not always click with the average SNL sketch. I really, really want to be able to say that C.K.'s episode was one of the best of the season, but I'm torn on how I feel about it. The episode had some really great highlights — the Abraham Lincoln parody of Louie and the closing sketch — but SNL never really found its grove this weekend. There would be a great sketch featuring C.K., then he would disappear for awhile. The episode also had another case of returning from a commercial break only to send back to commercials, something that has become increasingly common this season. After almost 40 seasons, you'd think SNL would have the whole timing thing down by now.

All of this said, when C.K. was giving the chance to do something funny, he nailed it. Like Dane Cook before him (I'm so, so sorry I just compared C.K. to Cook), the comedian used his monologue time to do some standup, giving the SNL audience the chance to become familiar with C.K.'s brand of comedy.

What were the best sketches of the night?



The one sketch that people will be talking about is the Abraham Lincoln spoof of an episode of Louie, C.K.'s FX show. Everything about Louie was captured in this sketch, from the tone to music to the very font they used. Did anyone else think that C.K. looks like former presidential candidate Bill Richardson when he's in Lincoln makeup? It's the beard.



Without a debate to make fun of, SNL focused on Superstorm Sandy by going after the politicians involved. Fred Armisen broke out his Michael Bloomberg impression, speaking a little Spanish and even asking New Yorkers to avoid trans fats as they dealt with the storm aftermath. Bobby Moynihan's version of Chris Christie oozed New Jersey charm. The highlight of this sketch, though, wasn't Bloomberg and Christie — it was the sign language translators they had by their sides. Cecily Strong (quickly becoming the breakout star of this season's freshman class) and Nasim Pedrad signed along in ridiculous fashion.



C.K.'s best sketches came on opposite ends of the comedy spectrum. He could be very dry, like he was in the Lincoln sketch, or he could be absolutely absurd, like he was in the sketch that closed the episode. C.K. and Kate McKinnon's non sequiturs had me laughing as the bit went along, but it was their face-consuming, nose-sucking makeout session that made me laugh harder than anything else in this episode had. I wonder how many people went to bed early and missed out on this sketch. It should've aired earlier in the night.

With the election just days away, what'd SNL do with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama?



You would think that in the final SNL before a presidential election there would have been tons of presidential humor. Apparently Seth Meyers and his writers felt differently, as the election was barely even touched upon this week. Jason Sudeikis' Mitt Romney made a Weekend Update appearance, commenting on how Sandy had detracted attention from his campaign. That was about it. Jay Pharoah was pretty much absent this week, and his Barack Obama never even showed up. Very odd.

You mentioned Cecily Strong earlier. How are the newbies fitting into the SNL cast?
If you had asked me this question earlier in the season, I would've told you that Tim Robinson was on track to be the star of this group of new cast members, but with Robinson quiet this week, I'm now firmly behind Strong being the the newbie with the most potential. (McKinnon doesn't count in this category. While Entertainment Weekly may have featured her in their article about SNL's new castmembers a few weeks ago, McKinnon joined the show last season and quickly made her mark. Also, for the record, EW's latest Oscar picks are all wrong.)





Strong popped up in numerous sketches, with her Weekend Update segment being her best. Strong had performed The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party during one of Weekend Update's Thursday episodes earlier this fall, so the character's appearance this weekend was her official SNL debut. I love this character, and Strong manages to capture the vibe of the better Kristen Wiig Weekend Update characters with her.



I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Social Media Expert Courtney Barnes is Aidy Bryant's first character with a shot at being a reoccurring bit. Attributing the quote "Vegetables suck and ice cream rules" to Joe Biden made this segment.

What's next?
SNL is back on Nov. 10 with Anne Hathaway hosting and Rihanna as the music guest.

Previous editions of Sunday Morning Live
Oct. 21, 2012: Bruno Mars
Oct. 14, 2012: Christina Applegate
Oct. 7, 2012: Daniel Craig
Sept. 23, 2012: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Sept. 16, 2012: Seth MacFarlane