Watch the full SNL Seth MacFarlane episode
Season premieres can be difficult for Saturday Night Live. The show is expected to come out swinging -- to announce that this year is going to be better than last year, that the show is still as relevant as ever and that the writers have spent months coming up with top-notch material. Those are somewhat unrealistic expectations to have, and they end up coloring one's reaction so that an acceptable episode like this week's 38th season opener becomes a bad episode by virtue of the fact that it doesn't do any of those things we expect it to accomplish.

Host Seth MacFarlane (creator of several hit animated series, most famously Family Guy, and director of this summer's Ted) was an interesting choice to host the season premiere, and I'm not sure it was the right one. When he wasn't smirking or referencing his hit TV shows (which he did a lot), he was a fine host, but he the best he could do was stay out of the way.

Of course, this is a big year for SNL. There's a presidential election coming up, and back in 2008 the election provided the sketch show a huge ratings bump and cultural relevancy again. There's a different cast member playing the president. Huge stars on the show like Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg have left, and there are three new featured performers in their place. Jason Sudeikis, currently the show's Mitt Romney impersonator, will be around through the election but could very well leave after that. Yes, it's a big year for the show, and it could go in a lot of different directions. On the basis of this week's show, though, it's only interested in staying the course.

Nothing felt new outside of the opening titles.

Sketch Highlights

• "Cold Open: Obama vs. Romney" - So this season's cold open was a big deal (it was even reported as news), because after four years Fred Armisen is no longer going to play President Barack Obama. Instead, Obama will now be played by actual black actor Jay Pharoah, who graduated from Featured Player to regular cast this season (as did Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam). I'm happy to see Pharoah getting a huge spotlight, and he's going to be used a whole lot in the next few months. He seemed nervous during the sketch (anyone see his hands?), but his Obama is solid and, I suspect, will only get better. Just one problem: he had a ton of makeup on so that his skin could be made a few shades lighter. Seriously? So Obama is finally being played by an African-American, but now he's too black? How is this any better than putting Fred Armisen in pseudo-blackface? Couldn't we just accept that Pharoah is playing Obama on the strength of his impression? And the fact that he's introduced as Barack Obama? Not cool, SNL. Ease up on the makeup. (Watch the "Cold Open: Obama vs. Romney" video)
• "Seth MacFarlane Monologue" - Hmmm. Going into the show this week, I had predicted that MacFarlance would either spend his monologue doing Family Guy voices (to remind everyone who he is) or perform a song, because he's a big Broadway/showtune geek and SNL loves the singing monologue. Well, he showed me and did BOTH. Each one felt a little embarrassing in its own way, and while I don't think he was a terrible host overall, this was the worst thing he did in the episode. It felt smug and self-aggrandizing and, worse, wasn't very funny. (Watch the "Seth MacFarlane Monologue" video)
• "Mitt Romney Ad" - There was an idea for a sketch here, but it either needed to go further or focus in more. The Bill Hader stuff was kind of funny, and the Kenan Thompson stuff was kind of funny, but they ended up working against one another. There should have been more testimonials, or they should have spent more time with one and forgotten the other. The results were weird, and it never quite came together. (Watch the "Mitt Romney Ad" video)
• "Rodger Brush" - Not a good sign. The new season basically kicks off with a tired repeat sketch from last year (and, I believe, the year before that) which was never all that funny in the first place. You had a whole summer, everyone. This is the best foot you can put forward? Let's hope it's not a sign of things to come this season, or it's going to be a long 22 episodes. (Watch the full "Rodger Brush" video)
• "Lids" - I don't really know what to say here. SNL took some desperate stabs at relevancy last season by booking musical acts who where viral sensations, like Karmin and Lana Del Rey. It resulted in some of the worst musical performances the show had all year. So I'm not exactly thrilled that they once again appear to be pandering to the YouTube set by referencing the very popular Korean pop song "Gangam Style" making its way all over the internet right now. The problem isn't so much the reference; it's that the reference is all there was. "Hey, everyone, this is very popular right now! Here you go!" Interesting that it happened on the episode hosted by Seth MacFarlane, since it's the same kind of "humor" his Family Guy traffics in so often -- the reference is the joke. Having PSY, the original singer of "Gangam Style," made for a surprise, but to no end. It was just an extension of the reference. (Watch the "Lids" video)
• "Eastwood and Chair" - SNL got some mileage out of Bill Hader's Eastwood impression after last year's Super Bowl commercials, but those results weren't really duplicated here. Yes, part of the problem is being a few weeks late on the parody (this is one of the problems with being off for the summer and then trying to catch up on the things you may have missed rather than just allowing some stuff to fall through the cracks), but mostly it was a result of never quite cracking the central joke. Hader's Eastwood continues to be funny, and I really liked Jay Pharoah's logical response as an audience member, but the material just wasn't as strong as it could have been. (Watch the full "Eastwood and Chair" video)
• "Puppet Class" - I might be alone here, but I kind of liked this sketch. MacFarlane wasn't all that funny (though he was pretty much playing the straight man), but the writers did come up with a way to make use of his talent for voices. I appreciated that it got weirder the longer it went on, and I like just about any time the show lets Bill Hader come up with an oddball character and lets him run with it. Vanessa Bayer's slavish commitment to her puppet's "character" was also pretty funny. This wasn't anything I'm going to be thinking about even 24 hours from now (or at least until the show brings back Hader's character, because you know they will), but there were far less successful sketches this week. (Watch the full "Puppet Class" video)
• "Weekend Update: Ryan Lochte" - This is another case of SNL being a little late to the party, but I didn't mind it so much because a) it was probably MacFarlane's best performance of the night; b) The "go-od" joke was funny and c) someone seriously needed to address just how stupid Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte appears to be. Mission accomplished. (Watch the full "Ryan Lochte" video)
• "Weekend Upate: Mimi Morales" - New featured performer Cecily Strong got the biggest showcase of all the new cast members during this week's "Update," and it was a mixed bag. Like so many new cast members when they come to the show, it seemed like a character she had performed a bunch of times doing improv on stage in Chicago. It's a funny character in theory because it's really well observed, but there weren't a lot of obvious jokes for the audience to grab on to. On the plus side, she performed with a ton of confidence, like she's been doing the show for years. She didn't steal the show -- she didn't even steal "Weekend Update" -- but it was a good debut for Strong. (Watch the full "Mimi Morales" video)
• "Drill Sergeant" - Like a number of sketches on this week's show, there was a funny premise here and not a whole lot else. It took its time revealing what the actual joke was, and I perked up when it was revealed because I started to think about the possible directions the sketch could take. Unfortunately, it pretty much ended at that point. (Watch the full "Drill Sergeant" video)
• "Steve Harvey Show" - Well, we should just brace ourselves now to see a lot of Kenan Thompson's Steve Harvey this season, partially because Harvey now has a talk show, which SNL loves to do, and partially because it now has some sort of relevant context, and SNL is all about context. Plus, Kenan Thompson gets a lot of sketches on the air. It's the perfect storm. It wasn't very funny, however. The sight gag of Seth MacFarlane made over to look just like Harvey was amusing, but should have been just a throwaway joke. Instead, it became the entire premise of the sketch. There just wasn't enough there on which to hang all of this material. But it will come back. Mark my words. (Watch the full "Steve Harvey Show" video)
• "First Date" - Another sketch I kind of liked this week, because both MacFarlane and Nasim Pedrad were very good at doing a bunch of annoying voices. Plus, I've known people like this, which gives it a hint of truth. When Fred Armisen came in as the robber, I once again got excited that the sketch was going to go in a bunch of similarly crazy directions. Instead, his appearance was pretty much just a one-off. And that punchline, in which MacFarlane once again winkingly referenced the fact that he does Family Guy, was nauseating. (Watch the full "First Date" video)
• "Wooden Spoons" - Ok, this was my favorite. It was obviously butchered when the show was running long, but that meant it didn't overstay its welcome. Each of the descriptions of the letters was funny. I laughed through all 75 seconds. (Watch the full "Wooden Spoons" video)

• Original Air Date: 9/15/12
• Host: Seth MacFarlane
• Musical Guest: Frank Ocean