"Saturday Night Live" was packed with Pauls, from a rock icon to a newbie comedian. Second time host Paul Rudd played up the plethora of fellas with the name during his opening monologue, claiming credit for the fan mania that was clearly the result of rock legend Paul McCartney's on-set presence as musical guest. Rudd smugly remarked about a woman crying and people chanting "Yesterday," until the Beatles icon appeared onstage to clear up the brouhaha. Featured "SNL" player Paul Brittain also briefly joined the Paul-fest.
For the most part, the two stuck to what they're each known for, with Rudd dishing out the laughs and McCartney serving up the music. In one sketch, Rudd brings his girlfriend home for the holidays to meet his super affectionate family who make out and grope each other to the horror of his gal pal.
Rudd also turns up as a gay man who heads to a relationship expert's talk show for advice, only to get ridiculed by her stodgy, ignorant producer who had to fill in because she was sick.
The "How Do You Know" star also competed in the faux game show "What's That Name," handily identifying pop culture figures like Subway spokesman Jared Fogel and fumbling when faced with naming his doorman of four years.
Rudd also flexed his comedic chops as a nerdy math teacher tasked with mounting a holiday party for students and ends up geekifying the whole affair by dropping zingers like "off the hoof" and "elf esteem."
Rudd and McCartney did cross paths once again in the digital short "Stumblin' " in which Andy Samberg and Rudd play buddies who tagger through life, always seconds away from falling over outright. McCartney inexplicably pops up mid-segment in a ruffled blouse and velvet blazer to croon '80s ballad "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin. Then he whips out a miniscule harmonica, dons cowboy gear and goes to town with Rudd and Samberg cheering him on.
McCartney confined the goofiness to the Samberg skit, taking the stage first with "Jet" from Wings' 1973 Band on the Run LP. The rock luminary strummed the straightforward jam, bopping along in a purple blazer, and adding a flourish of a boogie-woogie dance at the end. McCartney followed up with another Wings hit, "Band on the Run," for his second performance, ditching the blazer for skinny red suspenders and punctuating the set with guttural howls.
What did you think of "SNL" this week? Let us know in the comments!