SUNDAY MORNING LIVE: Zach Galifianakis Plays 'Game of Game of Thrones' and Delivers Winning 'SNL' Episode

Welcome to Edition No. 19 of Sunday Morning Live, Popculturology's look at the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. All of your questions about the Zach Galifianakis-hosted episode will be answered after the jump.

How'd Galifianakis do?



The last time we saw SNL, the show gave us a Vince Vaughn-hosted episode that was so dismal, it looked like SNL had already packed it in and gone on summer break. When I can't even identity ONE sketch worthy of being called the night's best, it's a rough episode. Thankfully, last night's episode was the opposite of Vaughn's. Galifianakis was original, funny and brought just enough of his usual quirkiness to give the episode an edge that it had been missing. I was going to say that Galifianakis was helped by the fact that this wasn't his first time hosting SNL, but then I remembered that Vaughn had hosted before his crash-and-burn gig. I guess some people are just superior SNL hosts.

As predicted, Galifianakis took to the piano during his opening monologue, playing along to a bunch of jokes that didn't have punchlines. No, they weren't bad jokes — the fact that they didn't have punchlines was the punchline.

It's rare to have an episode of SNL without a weak spot, but Galifianakis delivered just that this weekend. While he didn't shave off any hair this time, the Hangover Part III actor absolutely has this "SNL hosting" thing down.


What were the best sketches of the night?



The night's buzziest sketch had to be Game of Game of Thrones, a game show that pitted several diehard fans of the HBO show against each other. And if SNL is doing a game show, you can expect Bill Hader to play the host, in this case a man with the unfortunate name O.J. Sampson. While Taran Killam and Aidy Bryant's characters thrived on questions about Game of Thrones, Galifianakis' character, Duncan, was stuck answering questions about the real world like "What is the capital of Wisconsin?" Despite his knowledge of Game of Thrones, Duncan was clueless when it came to anything else. The Kingslayer himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, made an appearance at the end of the sketch, and while Duncan knew everything about him, he was unable to identify the person in the picture Coster-Waldau was holding. And no, the picture wasn't of an old pilgrim. It was Ruth Bader Ginsberg.



When I saw the setup of this sketch, I really hoped that it was going to be another installment of Bobby Moynihan and Cecily Strong's verbally abusive workers. I didn't get my wish on that one, but the sketch we got instead was still very funny. As Racist Jim, Galifianakis spent the sketch apologizing for saying racist things about his coworkers, which was really just an excuse to insult everyone again. The funniest banter was the repeated Indian jokes between Galifianakis and Nasim Pedrad. "Why don't we just bury the hatchet? No offense."



Darrell's House, a local-access cable show about a guy hosting a guest at his house for the first time, seems like something that Galifianakis pitched. For the most part, he carries the entire thing, which we later realize is a two-part sketch. We get to watch Darrell shoot his program in the first sketch, telling his poor cameraman, Marcus, what to shoot, what to cut and what footage will get added in later. Keenan Thompson serves as the stand-in for Jon Hamm, the guest Darrell is sure will make the final version. C'mon, they had different schedules and Hamm couldn't be there.



At the very end of the episode, we got to see what the finished version of Darrell's House looked like. It's choppy. It's poorly edited together. It actually has Hamm. Keep an eye out for Darrell texting in the background of the footage where Hamm is supposed to be talking to him.



I love the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. Strong is fantastic. For all intents and porpoises, this is just a great sketch.

Here's an absurd concept for a sketch — a Jennifer Aniston lookalike contest where many of the participants are men. When Galifianakis' character places last, he goes off on the rest of the contestants, repeatedly using Helen Keller-related comments as insults. I kept expecting the real Aniston to show up, but we instead got Galifianakis' Hangover Part III costars Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms. Unfortunately, SNL ended this sketch with a song (that wasn't the Friends theme), and I'm guessing rights issues are keeping this one from getting posted online.



Yes, anyone who plans on wearing Google Glass, you're going to look pretty stupid. Fred Armisen doesn't appear in much these days, but this sketch was dead on.


How about Pseudo Digital Shorts or commercials?



Match.com was apparently able to boost their advertising prowess now that Martha Stewart is a member. Kate McKinnon added Stewart to her repertoire of impressions, giving us a Stewart that preached about the "simple elegance of a good bang."



Nothing groundbreaking here, as Crazy Stupid Love already taught the world that New Balance shoes aren't worn by athletes.


Did SNL poke any fun at the political world?



The show opened with another installment of Fox and Friends, which served as a catchall for a lot of things that SNL missed while it was on break the past few weeks. Jokes about Jason Collins and Armisen as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were the main targets. As usual with the Fox and Friends sketches, the best part was the list of corrections at the end.



Like Stefon's Weekend Update appearances, Hader's version of James Carville is less about the content of the sketch and more about trying to top the ridiculousness of what the show has done before. While talking with Seth Meyers, we learned that one of Carville's best friends is an actual alligator and that his grandma is a ghost who not only hangs out with him but will help him sneak into houses.


Anything else worth nothing from this episode?



I'm not sure why SNL decided to build a sketch around Michael Jordan's wedding, but it was probably so that the show could fit in Thompson playing Charles Barkely again, introduce us to Jay Pharoah's Dikembe Mutombo impression and give us Galifianakis and Jason Sudeikis as two jugglers who are very good at ducking away and doing blow but not very good at actually juggling.


What's next?

SNL is back on May 11 with Kristen Wiig hosting and Vampire Weekend as the musical guest.


Previous editions of Sunday Morning Live

April 14, 2013: Vince Vaughn
April 7, 2013: Melissa McCarthy
March 10, 2013: Justin Timberlake
March 3, 2013: Kevin Hart
Feb. 17, 2013: Christoph Waltz
Feb. 10, 2013: Justin Bieber
Jan. 27, 2013: Adam Levine
Jan. 20, 2013: Jennifer Lawrence
Dec. 16, 2012: Martin Short
Dec. 9, 2012: Jamie Foxx
Nov. 18, 2012: Jeremy Renner
Nov. 11, 2012: Anne Hathaway
Nov. 4, 2012: Louis CK
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