Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning Oscar nominee J.K. Simmons hit the stage of NBC’s Studio 8H last night for his first stint as Saturday Night Live host, which opened the show for a second week running by goofing on the New England Patriots “Deflate-Gate’ controversy. With Jay Pharoah as Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and Taran Killam as way-too-affable Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, Kenan Thompson stole the sketch as Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch, goofing on his ridiculous non-answers to reporters’ questions:
Simmons was joined for the opening monologue by cast members Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney for a bit that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen Whiplash, in which J.K. Simmons delivers a devastating performance as a whip-cracking, manipulative band conductor. When none of the cast’s drumming lived up to his standards, former cast member (now Late Show bandleader) Fred Armisen hopped behind the drum kit to show them how it’s done:
One of the episode’s high points took a look at what happened at school when students stay home for a snow day and the teachers let it all hang out — especially J.K. Simmons as the pants-less principal:
Easily the night’s weirdest bit cast Caucasian Miles O’Brien as the lead in “The Jay Z Story’, with Simmons as Nas in the bizarro biopic. And be on the lookout for a former SNLer in a surprise cameo:
Simmons shone as a dad who showed up at his son’s school career day to tell the class about his vocation: as a “Japanese Messy Boy.”; While everyone is initially appalled to hear about what he does for a living — wearing diapers and a bib, he eats sloppy food with no napkins (“I wish!”;) while wealthy Japanese women watch and judge him — he becomes something of a hero, however, when they learn how much he gets paid:
Don’t miss SNL“s 40th anniversary special, a three-hour live extravaganza airing Sunday, Feb. 15 on Global. Until then, you can watch full episodes and individual sketches online.