After the total misfire that was Vince Vaughn’s episode, "Saturday Night Live" was back in fantastic form with host Zach Galifianakisthis week.
The actor played a role in nearly every comedic segment, and we think Galifianakis trails only Justin Timberlake as the best host of the season.
Galifianakis wore a number of hilarious costumes throughout the night, starting with a dragon suit to play Game of Game of Thrones, a Jeopardy!-style quiz show testing contestants on all things George R. R. Martin.
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But for some reason, poor Galifianakis kept getting real-world questions he couldn't answer. For example: The Lannisters are the wealthiest family in Westeros, but let’s say they want to put their money in a Roth IRA. What is a Roth IRA?
Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) showed up as himself, giving Galifianakis a thrill.
“I would make a great best friend,” Galifianakis told the handsome actor. “We could shower together, and I wouldn’t look down, even though I wanted to.”
Later, Galifianakis got last place in a Jennifer Aniston look-alike contest, while his "Hangover" costars Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms tied for first. It doesn't get much better than seeing the Wolf Pack together in Aniston wigs.
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In his opening monologue, Galifianakis delivered a number of short jokes and told a story he claimed happens to him fairly often. He said last week a woman came up to him at a gift card shop and asked “Has anyone ever told you that you look like the guy from 'The Hangover'?...No offense.”
In a sketch that worked because of Galifianakis’ inherent sweetness, he played a racist greeter at an M&M store who tried to make amends for the previous day's offenses.
“I continuously referred to you as the wrong type of Indian,” he told a young woman (Nasim Pedrad). “But I want to get it right, so please tell me which kind you are and I swear I’ll never ask again.”
When informed she was Pakistani, he responded: “Is that your tribe?”
He also apologized for calling a man (Fred Armisen) a “dirty Mexican," trying to find common ground by saying “I’m a total slob. Maybe I don’t deserve to be in this country either."
Galifianakis, Jon Hamm and SNL pulled off one of this season’s wackiest creative fetes in the final minutes of the program. To say more would spoil it, but the two-part sketch about a man with a public access TV show (Galifianakis) has a payoff that makes it absolutely worth watching.
In one of the rare pieces not featuring Galifianakis, Match.com touted its newest client,Martha Stewart (Kate McKinnon). In real life, Stewart revealed this week she has joined the service, though the details she gave weren’t put quite so pruient as McKinnon’s take, who said she "likes the simple elegance of a good bang.”
"SNL" is new next week with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest Vampire Weekend.