Aside from the presence of Paul McCartney doing five numbers, including an extended John Lennon tribute at the end of the episode (he rather bravely attempted "A Day in the Life" on that awful soundstage, which had totally drowned out his earlier numbers; then he did "Give Peace a Chance" and jumped into "Get Back" over the closing credits), this felt like a pretty standard episode of SNL: Host Paul Rudd was game but stuck in a lot of straight-man roles, and we saw the return of some tired sketches, but there were bright moments, enough to keep the whole thing from feeling like a total waste of time.
The cold open followed the pattern that's been set for weeks now—instead of Armisen playing Obama as a character, he just mirthlessly recites jokes that mock him for being a milquetoast who gets shafted by Republicans. It's becoming pretty repetitive and you can tell the seething anger that's behind the writing, but considering Armisen has picked "muted" as his approach to Obama from now on, I guess it's the way they'll be going for the rest of the year. The idea of having him come around to being a birther was funny and would have worked as the spine of the sketch, rather than just the punchline, but that's just me.
Paul Rudd is adorable, and I love him no matter how many mediocre romantic comedies he makes, but he got drowned out a little by McCartney, who obviously got a lot of stage time and showed up in a couple of sketches (his "tiny harmonica solo" in the digital short was a highlight of the show). Rudd's monologue, mocking his star being outshined by the Beatle, was cute, capped well by McCartney appearing to tell him he liked Role Models and then a hyped Paul Brittan arriving at the end. But after that, Rudd got absolutely nothing to do until the final sketch of the night, where he did a passable "Willkommen" from Cabaret as Jason Sudeikis, the spotlight technician, mocked him from the rafters. Rudd is obviously a good scene partner to Andy Samberg (judging from last year's digital short "Everyone's a Critic" and this episode's "Stumblin'"), so it was too bad there was no sign of Samberg throughout the show.
Of the returning sketches, the kissing Vogelcheck family is usually good for a couple of laughs, and they admirably stepped up their game with each further gag (Hader fondling Rudd's chest, then grabbing Wiig's boob, then the whole gang transmitting gum from mouth to mouth), but there's not much too it past mild shock value. Fred Armisen as the grumpy producer on the sex show is something we don't need to see again for a while. It's so dragged-out, too, with Armisen repeatedly demanding everyone speak up, etc. etc. I did laugh at his closing line about his sister wanting to borrow $15,000, though. "I mean, I have it, but I want it."