Comedian Zach Galifianakis hosted Saturday Night Live this week for the third time since he first hosted in 2010, delivering exactly what we've come to expect, only more so. When he hosted the first time, it was kind of exciting because he was an excellent, eccentric stand-up, and there was no way of knowing how he would fit in as the host of a sketch comedy show like SNL. Now that he's hosted for a third time, it seems like the writers are only interested in him doing one kind of sketch -- he plays odd or awkward characters who are basically exactly like the one he plays in the Hangover series.

That's all we got with this episode, making it feel like an overall disappointment. It's not that there weren't any laughs -- there were a few -- but there was such a sameness to all of the sketches that it all just felt totally safe and predictable at a certain point. With Zach Galifianakis as the host, the last thing SNL should be is safe or predictable.

Sketch Highlights

• "Cold Open: Fox and Friends Interview Mayor Bloomberg" - These Fox and Friends sketches are like shooting fish, but they work well as cold opens to the show. It allows the first sketch to be topical and political (which the writers love), but don't depend on that topical premise to carry them -- the humor comes out of the ridiculously stupid characters that the actors have established. This was about as good (or bad, depending of how strongly you feel about these pieces) as any of them have been, with Fred Armisen doing a funny Mayor Bloomberg and Taran Killam excelling at playing a smarmy douche. The best moment came when Bobby Moynihan starting reacting to the caffeine in his enormous soda; the way he calibrated the energy and quickly mounting delirium should be taught in classes. Too bad it didn't have anywhere to go. (Watch the "Cold Open: Fox and Friends" video)

• "Zach Galifianakis Monologue" - It was interesting to see Galifianakis doing his third monologue in almost as many years, because it really wasn't any different than what he has done in the past. He did some absurd one-liners, played the piano a little bit and that was it -- pretty much a shorter, less funny version of his stand-up. It might have come off a little better if, in retrospect, I hadn't realized that it was the exact same note as the rest of what he did in the episode. (Watch the "Zach Galifianakis Monologue" video)
• "Game of Game of Thrones" - This was the first sketch of the night to really lay out what the recurring theme would be: Zach Galifianakis would play weird or socially awkward characters in every sketch. In this one, it's not enough that he be one of those weirdos who's into Game of Thrones; he also has to dress as a dragon, because what a weirdo. Bringing out Game's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was a fun surprise, even if it's the exact same gag the show did a few weeks ago in its "Dylan or Dermot" game show. Also, the sketch tried to get some mileage out of making GoT fans seem like huge nerds, but hasn't it already been established that it's a very popular show that's watched by people in all walks of life? Are we still playing the nerd card in 2013? Iron Man 3 just made $175 million its opening weekend, because there are that many comic book nerds in the country, right? (Watch the "Game of Game of Thrones" video)
• "Match.com Commercial" - I will continue to root for Kate McKinnon, because I think she has a unique energy and when she's on (Edie Falco), she's incredible. A lot of her characters are bleeding together, though, and while her Martha Stewart wasn't as guilty of this as some of her impressions, I'd be lying if it didn't leave me longing for Ana Gasteyer, whose Martha Stewart ceased to be much of an impression and became its own character. Hearing Stewart say vulgar things about sex doesn't have the same impact it might have if we hadn't already seen her Topless Christmas Special. (Watch the "Match.com Commercial" video)
• "M&M Store" - Another Zach Galifianakis "weird guy" sketch -- he's dressed like an M&M, in case you didn't get it! This one actually suffers by being a lot like the Bobby Moynihan/Cecily Strong sketches that have popped up a few times this season, in which they play disgruntled employees who tell off all of their co-workers. That wasn't exactly the premise here, but it was still a guy standing in front of his co-workers and saying inappropriate things about them. There were a few decent jokes (I liked Kenan Thompson's reaction to the one being "actually kind of funny"), because this was a good joke carrier, but it felt too much like something for which I already don't have a ton of affection. (Watch the "M&M Store" video)
• "New Balance" - The observation here is that a lot of middle-aged men who don't run wear shoes that are meant for running. Ok, got it. Anything else? No? Ok, let's move on. (Watch the "New Balance" video)
• "Darrell's House" - Ok, here's the thing. I didn't love this sketch, because it was more of Galifianakis doing weird guy. And while it seemed the whole time like it was setting up some sort of payoff, one can never be sure; had it not been paid off, this would have been the worst sketch of the night. But because the show returned to it a little while later, it kind of works. It's rare that Saturday Night Live be at all experimental with its format or its structure, so I get kind of excited every time the show does something different. The payoff didn't really make any of it funnier -- it just gave Jon Hamm a chance to make his 19th cameo appearance of the season (I'm guesstimating) -- but I'll take something different or interesting over something lazy and predictable any week. (Watch the "Darrell's House" video)
• "Michael Jordan's Wedding" - Doing a sketch about the insanity that is Michael Jordan's second wedding is a great idea -- topical, and absurd enough that the writers at SNL could have a field day with it. I'm not even a huge fan of Kenan Thompson's Charles Barkley character, but having him as part of the sketch makes perfect sense. Couching the rest of the sketch in another grotesque Galifianakis misfit doesn't. For as wacky as so many of the sketches tried to be this week, there was such a sameness to them that they all run together. If the show really wanted to do something original with Galifianakis as host, they could have NOT just exploited his regular persona and instead tried to fit him into more traditional sketches. What would that have looked like? Would it have worked at all? It would have to have been more interesting than just seeing him in yet another ugly costume and wig. (Watch the "Michael Jordan's Wedding" video)
• "Darrell's House 2" - There isn't much to say about this continuation of the "Darrell" sketch that hasn't already been said. I like that show followed through on all the things it set up and at least tried to find the funniest solution to the things it had set up -- the use of public domain music was subtle, and the "CGI" blinking effect was even worse than any of us could have imagined. Again, this one wins points for doing something different than we get most weeks. It wasn't the funniest, but it has that going for it. (Watch the "Darrell's House 2" video)

• Original Air Date: 5/4/13
• Host: Zach Galifianakis
• Musical Guest: Of Monsters and Men