Keep on dancing, Mokiki.
This weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” featured a ridiculous segment that could pass for a 1970s B-movie – “The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish,” showing SNL cast member Taran Killam dressed in hippie attire, kicking his leg and dancing across the island of Manhattan.
Kenan Thompson served as the segment’s narrator, calling Mokiki’s exploits “a really stupid dance created by a crazy person.”
Stupid? Crazy? Yeah, that’s pretty accurate.
But watching Mokiki “Sloppy Swish” through a Central Park picnic, leaving maddened park-goers mouthing obscenities, was one of this SNL season’s true laugh-out-loud moments, a highlight during a clunky episode hosted by actress Anne Hathaway.
The episode was clunky because the skits were improperly arranged. A “Girlfriends talk show” spot about jealous teens would have been well-suited for the second half of the episode. But airing the ho-hum “Girlfriends talk show” early bumped an Ellen show spoof into post-Weekend Update territory, meaning many viewers missed Hathaway’s reprisal of her Katie Holmes impersonation, sideways smile and all.
“Thanks Ellen, it’s great to be … anywhere right now,” Holmes (Hathaway) says, hinting about the fallout from her divorce with Tom Cruise.
“What have you been up to?” Ellen (played by cast member Kate McKinnon) asks.
“If you believe US Weekly, Suri and I spend every moment at the zoo.”
The newly-married Hathaway also showed off her Claire Danes impression in a “Homeland” spoof, scrunching her face and experiencing a meltdown to mimic the actress’s Emmy-winning efforts.
Another late-episode highlight showed the two subjects in the iconic American Gothic painting – played by Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis – improvising with a series of props and poses, from tennis rackets and corn puppets to alternate pitchfork uses.
Of course Mitt Romney and President Obama made appearances. The show’s opening featured a dejected Mitt (played by Sudeikis) standing on his porch, swigging milk and reflecting on his presidential run.
“I still love you America, I really do, but you hurt my feelings very, very much,” Romney says from his porch.
Even Paul Ryan’s feats of strength don’t brighten Mitt’s spirits.
“Well, I’d like to see him carry Wisconsin!” Mitt responds.
Jay Pharoah’s Obama, meanwhile, spent his Weekend Update appearance goading Republican voters and sharing work perspectives.
“I learned a lot from my first term that I’m ready to apply to my second term,” ‘Obama’ says. “This is a terrible job and I hate it.”
Faux Obama also discussed his plans to dissolve the military.
“If you wanna go to war with Iran, you’re gonna have to send Ted Nugent,” he said.
Rihanna served as the episode’s musical guest, singing against a graphic background that gave her performance of “Diamonds” a 1980s music video feel. The Barbados-born musician has appeared in SNL skits in the past – most notably in a series of “Shy Ronnie” sketches starring former cast member Andy Samberg.
There would be no “Shy Ronnie” reprisals this weekend, only Mokiki and his Sloppy Swishes as the SNL crew settles into post-election territory.