Saturday Night Live: Steve Carell plays the worst dad over and over again

Saturday Night Live had a bounce back week with host Steve Carell who played a few characters with one thing in common: they were really terrible dads.

Saturday Night Live continues to try to find its footing and develop some consistency week to week. The highs of hosts Adam Driver and Jonah Hill have been met with equally mediocre episodes with hosts Awkwafina and Liev Schrieber. But there was no denying the consistency that Steve Carell brought to his performances this week.

It was a bit surprising that this was only Carell’s third time hosting Saturday Night Live and his first in ten years. While he has taken on more diverse roles since his days of The Office and The 40 Year Old Virgin, Carell remains one of the funniest people on the planet and one of the most talented improvisers (despite how off the rails the “kern” sketch may have went).

SNL was rewarded for bringing Carell back to NBC. The show had its best ratings since the Adam Driver/Kanye West premiere to match those of the Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers episode. Carell’s appeal is undeniable. Branching out beyond comedy as he has aged has also opened Carell up to a new demographic. And that may be part of why we saw so much of Carell in “dad mode” this week.

Carell didn’t just play a generic or typical dad during his episode. He was a terrible one. And not in the sense he couldn’t pull off the characters but that these were not the type of dads you’d celebrate in June. It started during the monologue that focused on a reboot of The Office but featured Carell’s wife, and SNL alumnus, Nancy Walls and their children.

We don’t see too much of Walls on screen these days. She and Carell are the creators and writers of the television series Angie Tribeca. But Walls reminds us here that she is an excellent comedic actress even with limited opportunities. Their children may not be naturals on cameras like their parents but they help land the joke that maybe Carell the dad isn’t need around so much.

The first sketch of the night after the monologue/Office mini-reunion was the best example of Carell as a bad dad. He is terribly out of the loop when it comes to his failed marriage and news that not all of his children are in fact his.

Carell dusted off some of the exasperated and “this is not happening” looks he made famous as Michael Scott on The Office. This sketch wasn’t the only time that Carell would play Aidy Bryant’s father as the pair teamed up later for a spoof of Grease that topped “Disney.”

Aidy Bryant typically shines any time she is the playing the straight woman to someone who so clearly is off the deep end. Something about her expressions and way she can deliver a line is hilarious when faced with absurdity. Again Carell plays a father who hasn’t lived up to his responsibility but is desperate to avoid confronting that fact. This happens yet again later in the episode with “RV Life”

It’s tough to see someone living their dream at the expense of those around them, isn’t it? Carell the dad here hasn’t inconvenienced his children so much as forced them to bear witness to how he has crushed their mother’s soul. Heidi Gardner is a standout here and is perhaps only outplayed by Lady Gray. Side note: Look for more of Gardner in the new year as she co-hosts the animated late night series Alien News Desk.

Saturday Night Live needed to establish consistency so they turned to the most consistently funny man they could find. The Steve Carell we saw in these sketches is a far cry from Brick Tamland or Andy Stitzer. Instead, they reflect the new Carell, the more mature Carell but not exactly the version of Steve Carell that you want as your dad.