'SNL' RECAP: Jim Carrey Parodies Career and Matthew McConaughey

Welcome to Edition No. 46 of Popculturology's Saturday Night Live recaps. All of your questions about the Jim Carrey-hosted episode will soon be answered.

How'd Jim Carrey do?



Carrey's been in the comedy game for a long time. Over the past two decades, though, he went from comedy genius to guy who was famous for not realizing that Kick-Ass 2 — a movie he starred in — was a violent movie. When I heard that Carrey was hosting SNL for the third time, I was worried that it would be a pointless episode. Stale. Irrelevant. Pointless.

Carrey and SNL surprised me (and hopefully everyone) this weekend with an episode that was very funny and made use of a Carrey who not only unleashed his comedic chops but also was willing to poke fun at the 1990s persona that made him famous.

The biggest weak spot in the episode was Carrey's monologue, an extremely random mishmash featuring Carrey as Helvis (a combo Devil-Elvis Presley) singing about pecan pie, complete with background singers and a supporting choir. Did anyone understand this monologue? What was the joke here?

What were the best sketches of the night?

Remember those Brad Pitt commercials for Chanel No. 5? It was just Pitt talking nonsense. It didn't take SNL long to make fun of those commercials a few years ago, getting Taran Killam to break out his Pitt impression, sending the actor's Chanel commercials up in a way that rivaled the original commercials' ridiculousness.

When I started seeing Matthew McConaughey's Lincoln commercials, I was immediately reminded of Pitt's Chanel commercials — and the fact that SNL skewered them so well. Just this past week I was wondered if and when SNL would get around to tackling these commercials. This weekend, SNL made that happen. Carrey can do a killer McConaughey impression, and he put it to good use during three fake commercials for Lincoln. From wondering the fate of the tiny booger he's been rolling between his fingers to saying that everything — life, Earth — was a mistake to running Kenan Thompson down during an Allstate commercial, Carrey killed as McConaughey.

Carrey's brand of humor during the 1990s was very distinct. Whether you were watching an Ace Ventura movie, Dumb and Dumber or The Mask, you knew you were watching Carrey. That brand of humor hasn't really translated well in today's world of comedy movies (Dumb and Dumber still stands up, though). The characters that made Carrey famous were on display during "Carrey Reunion," with SNL's cast taking on various Carrey characters. Jay Pharoah as the Cable Guy, Bobby Moynihan as The Mask — even special guest Jeff Daniels as Lloyd Christmas.

SNL did this kind of sketch when Christopher Walken hosted a few years ago. Similar idea, but while the one with Carrey hosting was based on the actor's characters, Walken's was pretty much the SNL cast each rolling out their Walken impressions.

Leslie Jones is going to steal SNL. The comedian is already on the fast track, moving from rookie writer to appearing in "Weekend Update" segments to getting promoted to castmember this past week. In "Ghost Chasers," Jones showed why she could be the one of the show's funniest scene stealers. Jones played a supposed skeptic on a ghost hunting show who was easily scared by ghost-hunting game.

Last time Carrey hosted SNL, he donned drag to play a ballerina facing off against Nasim Pedrad's ballerina in a Black Swan sketch. Carrey played a female dancer again this weekend, playing an office worker dressed up as the dancer girl from Sia's "Chandelier" music video. Carrey's character went head-to-head with Kate McKinnon's character who was wearing the same costume, engaging in a sprawling dance-off that took the duo into the audience, by Lorne Michaels and across a set from a previous sketch. Even Iggy Azalea got involved in the sketch too, revealing a nude bodysuit and blonde wig of her own.

Any shorts or commercials?

Besides those awesome McConaughey Lincoln commercials? Nope.

How was 'Weekend Update'?

Another classic "Weekend Update" character from the Seth Meyers era appeared for the first time during the Colin Jost/Michael Che era. Moynihan's Drunk Uncle was only seconds into his rant when he noticed that he was talking to Che, the first black "Update" anchor. "I'm sorry, fifth floor please," Drunk Uncle said to Che before rolling all the way over to Jost's side of the "Update" desk. Yikes.

Vanessa Bayer introduced Daisy Rose, a new "Update" character, for a segment about romantic comedies. While Che just wanted to move on with the segment, Daisy Rose mistook the moment for a meet-cute.

How about the rest of the show?

Yeah yeah, we got Pharoah's Barack Obama and saw Killam as Ron Klain, but the highlight of the cold open was Thompson's Al Sharpton. Always good. During a press conference about Ebola, Sharpton — the only New York Democrat willing to be seen with Obama — mistook Klain as the "Ebola caesar" and warned Americans that "all of New York is contaminated — all of the time."

Paul and Phil are just a couple casual ghosts who are always around. The rest of the haunted graveyard isn't a big fan of them. Sasheer Zamata and Pete Davidson aren't afraid of them.

Davidson was born in 1993. He's not even 21 yet. Carrey has been making hit comedies since the early 1990s. Could Davidson have imagined a few months ago that he'd be paired with the comedy movie icon in a sketch about zombies?

This sketch didn't really have a point nor did it end in a coherent way, but Carrey as senior member of the Illuminati with a steel hand was worth a few laughs.

Look, SNL, if you're going to pair Cecily Strong and Bayer, it better be as two pornstars trying to hawk suspect goods. Yes, Carrey's character in this sketch has access to Hell, but big whoop.

What's next?

SNL is back on Nov. 1 with Chris Rock hosting and Prince as the musical guest.