Okay, here’s my review. This was probably the worst episode
of the season so far, but this was more the fault of the writers than the host.
Bruce Willis proved to be a capable sketch performer but the show was pretty
reliant on tired recurring premises and characterizations. Good to see John, Beck,
Brooks and Aidy are getting more chances to prove themselves. This episode
could’ve really used more appearances from Noel and Kyle though. Thankfully,
Taran, Bobby, Jay and Kenan were able to pick up some of the slack performance
wise. Anyway, here it is.
NASA Cold Open – This was clever enough, but not really an
effective commentary on the government shutdown. After they established the joke,
they didn’t go anywhere with it. Kate and Taran had some good lines and Cecily
did fine in a supporting role. C-
Monologue - This seemed to have promise but soon fell into
tired SNL trope territory. Bruce's "six Die Hards" joke was actually
OK but his delivery ruined it. His delivery felt way too stilted and awkward
through the whole thing. Bobby's bit wishing he was Bruce's son was alright and
it was nice to see him play himself for once, but it felt too predictable once
they started playing harmonica. D+
24 Hour Energy for Dating Actresses - This was alright, but it felt like something
with too narrow appeal that only a very small fraction of SNL'S audience would
get. Still, it had some energetic performances and it was nice seeing Noel and
Kyle. I have to wonder who wrote this. I’ll bet it was probably Colin Jost. B-
Black Ops - This sketch was nice but like the airport sketch
from Tina's episode, it felt like it could've been done in any season since the
'90s. All it did was make fun of action movie tropes but in a fun way. Bruce
was good in this, but he wasn't exactly playing against type or anything. Bobby
and Kenan added some fun energy and it was nice seeing Beck get a big role. C+
Barbershop - This sketch was pretty lame. I did like Bruce's
Robin egg line. Otherwise it had serious pacing and timing problems. It was
also an obvious rip off of the scene from "Coming To America" because
Pharrohh was doing a variation on his Eddie Murphy. Still, I gotta give Kenan
and Jay credit for having a rapid fire back and forth and giving this some
energy. C-
Boy Dance Party - This was fun but a little too silly for my
tastes. The crowd seemed to love it but it didn't really go anywhere. Bruce and
Jay were alright in it and I did laugh at the "shake that sack" line.
This can't be a Good Neighbor short since Beck was in it but not Kyle (unless
"yle wrote it which he probably didn't). B-
The Lady Gaga Show - This was pretty inferior to The Miley
Cyrus Show. Vanessa had the impression down well enough at first, but it kinda
slipped away from her. I don't think either of these should become recurring
sketches. Bruce as Micheal Kors made me chuckle a couple of times, but he got
old pretty quick. Kate's Penelope Cruz didn't do anything for me. I did like
Taran as the DJ and Aidy was pretty funny. C-
Update hasn't made any progress backward or forward.
Cecily's delivery is improving (and still has some room to do so) and the jokes
are still at the same level. I did like Cecily's sexual harassment joke and
Seth's police rats joke. The commentaries were pretty forgettable. Kenan as the
chaplain was pretty grating and repetitive. Brooks' commentary had potential to
be better than it was but he couldn't really save it in spite of himself. He
had all right material but it was kinda bought down by Seth turning it into an
interview. Still, it was nice to see a cast member play themselves on Update
for the first time in years. C+
Centauri Vodka - This was probably the best live sketch of
the night. The visual of Bruce and John as a Centaur was funny on its own and I
liked how they added some broad physical comedy in there. B+
Kirby - I'm surprised they tried to bring this back. Aside
from making this one an Armageddon parody, they changed nothing. The only thing
I liked was when Bruce mentioned that Kirby was banging his daughter. D-
Chun - I'm also surprised they tried to bring back Taran's
"Glice" character but I did like how they found a way to do it
without Sudekis and change the format up a bit. Nassim had some good lines and
I did like the chin jokes as well. C+
Good Neighbor: Sigma - This short was the funniest taped
segment of the night. Beck and Kyle played well off of each other and I liked
the building silliness of it. Still, I admit it seemed a bit derivative of the Lonely
Island. While Good Neighbor has shown a very distinct and inventive style of
humor on YouTube and I like what they’ve contributed to SNL so far, I think it
might take them some time to fit that sensibility into the SNL mold effectively
and find their real voices. B-
Well, that was that. Edward Norton hosts in two weeks. I
think he may be the most interesting choice of host so far this season. He’s
shown he can be a fine yet intense actor in small doses but I can’t accurately
gauge his comedic skills based on what I’ve seen him in. This show could go
either way but should be interesting to watch no matter what. See you soon!
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