Bruno Mars served as both the host and musical guest in what was surely one of the better episodes of the season. The artist's musical abilities were put to good use, not only during the opening monologue, but in the fantastically entertaining Pandora sketch, which had Mars impersonating the musical stylings of Green Day, Michael Jackson and Aerosmith. There were also a couple of fantastic appearances by Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks can do no wrong. First he lets an F-Bomb slip on Good Morning America and then manages to be charming, funny and sincere all at once when he apologizes. Then he appears on SNL in the opening monologue, and later again in another sketch to be funny some more. As fantastic as Hanks' appearances were, last night's SNL would've held up just fine without him. Mars did a great job of hosting and the writers did just as great a job finding ways to use his talent and humor as the singer joined the ranks of Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift and Mick Jagger among the hosts that also served as the musical guest.
Mars' musical talent put to good use throughout the show. Unfortunately, the Pandora sketch isn't included in the highlight videos (possibly a rights issue with the music), but a number of other sketches are, including Bruno's opening monologue, the Debate cold open, which includes Hanks' first appearance, and the return of the Amusement Park sketch, which we've seen before.
Also ahead are both of Mars' excellent musical performances, and the goofy parodies of Brad Pitt's Chanel No. 5 commercials. Oh, and did we forget to mention that Stefon made an appearance on "Weekend Update"? That's there too!
Town Hall Debate Cold Open
