Jonah Hill/Bastille (1.25.2014)

Okay, here’s my review. While this episode sure seemed like it was rather “middle of the road” for this season, it had its fair share of fun moments here and there. In terms of Jonah Hills hosting gigs, I would rank this second behind his ’08 episode and ahead of his 2012 episode. He wasn’t as strong of a host as some others this season, but he added to the show when he could. Still, the writing is about on the same level and most of the new cast seems to be being used more sparingly compared to the preceding two shows. A little more of the new FPs as well as more of Bobby and Jay couldn’t have hurt this episode.

Full disclosure: I ended up watching this episode in a big lounge/common room with a small group of other people who wanted to see it. I think it’s worth mentioning because it may have affected my ability to view this episode as critically as possible. This review will most likely be less objective than most or all of my others. Anyway, here it is.

Heterosexual Olympic Skating - This cold open was pretty well done. It was a cleverer premise than most of the stuff they've done this season and it was executed well. Bobby, Jay, Beck and Kate were particularly good. It was a nice touch seeing them subvert their typical over use of gay humor as a tired trope with STRAIGHT humor as a tired trope at least. C+

Monologue – Jonah was funny here. Leonardo Dicaprio was a pretty good get for SNL at this point, too. It was pretty cool of him to come on, but he could've seemed a little more interested in the whole thing. I did like how Jonah trashed him and immediately changed his tone once he walked out. The Titanic bit at the end was cute and I liked how it made decent use of Noel and John. Taran's Brad Pitt was also a nice touch. B-

Six Year Old III - I'm not really surprised that they did this sketch again with or without Hader (since they added Vanessa) because this is kind of exactly what I thought they would do anyway. Even though it was more of the same this time, Jonah had some decent lines and his back and forth with Vanessa at the end was endearing. They also made good use of Sasheer. C+

The Hit - This short film about the snow stakeout went on a little too long and felt like the type of sketch SNL has done before but it had an endearing quality to it. The cinematography was good and the ending was funny even though I did see it coming a mile away. Taran also did well here. B-

Couples Quiz - That game show sketch was a really weak premise, but I did like how Jonah, Cecily and even Kenan were committed to it. C-

Update was kinda all over the place. People are laughing at everything but the only good lines were Seth's first Bieber joke and Cecily's tea party speech joke. Kenan had some good lines in his Miami police bit, but I think his delivery may have oversold it. Cecily's delivery continues to be more entertaining than Seth's and her Scottish fish joke was great. Seth's Massachusettes owl joke was an example of a real news story funnier than the lame punchline and his call back to Cecily's Scottish fish joke gave me a heavy Tina annd Jimmy vibe for better or worse. I'm surprised they decided to reprise this specific Kate Russian meteor character (but for the Olympics) but it's still pretty entertaining. I did like her dog lawyer, Haiti/middle of ocean and warm rehab jokes. It's getting huge laughs from people around me right now, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they just saw this for the first time. B-

Horse Stable - This sketch may have been one joke run into the ground, but in a way it felt a lot like a throwback to something they would've done back in the '90s. Cecily was all right. In fact, I thought it was Kate at first instead of her from her voice so I guess that shows she has some range as an actress. It was something a little different for this season, I'll give it that. C+

Me - This “Her” parody was another piece that really made all it could out of a rather lame and uninspired premise. I laughed at the testicle line and the back and forth with Vanessa in the elevator. The Micheal Cera cameo felt unnecessary and made the sketch go on a little too long. C-

Dinner w/Boss - This dinner scene is also pretty repetitive, but Jonah's screaming is making me laugh for some reason. I particularly liked the Infant Penis Syndrome/black guys wife lines. The ending fell kinda flat, but at least they knew how to keep it from going on too long. C+

Good Neighbor: Inside SoCal - This short was a lot better than last week's "I Know" short. I liked seeing awkward Kyle and Beck make their way back onto SNL (and I also appreciate Beck’s character being coincidentally named after me). I also notice how this was another one of their bits from YouTube that made it onto the show (I believe that a version of this sketch made it onto Kyle Mooney’s Christmas special from 2012…look it up on YouTube if you don’t believe me), so good for them that they mined something else that's safe for broadcast television out of their repertoire. I liked the transitions between all the awkward bro-ish dialogues and the use of the words “sick” and “gangster” with a hard R. Taran, Jonah and Bobby's performances also made this sketch for me. B-

Lamborghini - I think they've gotten all the mileage (no pun intended) out of the former porn stars. Even shoehorning the host into this sketch felt a little uninspired, but I did like the Seal Team Six/16 Seals and funeral lines. D+

Well, that show also turned out better than what my lowered expectations led me to think but not as much as last weeks’ episode w/Drake. I hope the same thing happens next week with Melissa McCarthy even though they write completely differently for her than they do for any other host.

Now, my updated rankings…

1. Kerry Washington/Eminem

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Lady Gaga

4. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry

5. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire

6. Paul Rudd/One Direction

7. Drake

8. Jonah Hill/Bastille

9. Josh Hutcherson/Haim

10. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake

11. John Goodman/Kings of Leon

12. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae

See you next month!

Drake (1.18.2014)

Okay, here’s my review. This was pretty middle of the road for this season, but probably one of the stronger episodes SNL had in January coming right off of Christmas break. Drake was a much stronger host than I expected him to be. Just imagine what he might have done if he were given better material! I guess I was gradually raising my expectations for this episode ever since hearing Jonah Hill and Melissa McCarthy would be hosting. We’ve seen them host before and their most recent appearances felt a little too phoned in. Drake, however, hasn’t hosted and I honestly didn’t know what I should’ve expected from him performance wise. As I’ve said, it could’ve gone either way and thankfully, he didn’t totally disappoint. Other than that, the writing hasn’t shown any visible signs of improvement and they definitely retreaded a few things too early but I do like how the new cast got quite a bit more screen time than they have previously this season. Anyway, let’s get on with it.

Piers Morgan VI – This wasn't the best choice for an opening, but the cast did save it despite being given some pretty weak material. Bobby tried his damndest to save some weak lines. Taran just played straight man to everyone but I did like his "journalistic integrity" line. Drake did a pretty funny Alex Rodriguez and I liked his texting/autocorrect bit. Kate's Justin Bieber made that whole sketch. She was the last female cast member I expected to play him which is what made it so funny. She didn't quite look like him, but she made up for it by having his voice and "swag" movements/mannerisms down pat…and I can already see her and SNL getting a lot of hate tweets over this. C+

Monologue – This was better than I expected. Drake was actually quite charismatic and not as stiff or wooden as I thought he was going to be. The bar mitzvah sketch went on a little too long for my liking but I did like how it made good use of Jay, Kyle and Sasheer. Drake's rap number was the real highlight, although I do have to wonder why he would be throwing in references to Lebron, Kimye and Rhianna if it’s supposed to be set in 1999. B-

Hip Hop Classics: Before They Were Stars - Kenan's Sway was all right. It seemed to be the rare impression where he was actually putting some effort into it. Other rappers starring on family shows before they were famous seemed like a weak premise, but the performances and some of the writing saved it. Kilam as Eminem on Felicity was brilliant. Drake did a fine job as Lil Wayne/Urkel (that impression probably came from all the time Drake spent hanging out with Lil Wayne) but his Jay-Z certainly didn't make me forget about Pharoh. Kenan was also pretty good as Reginald VelJohnson and Telletubbie Rick Ross, but we could've done without his Flava Flav Wonder Years narration. Sasheer did a fine job as Rhianna from what little of her impression we saw, but the fact that this is the second time in 20 years that SNL has done a shot-for-shot virtually jokeless recreation of the opening credits to "Blossom" is. Is actually frightening (Stooge knows what I'm talkin' bout, yo). Beck Bennett did an okay Mr. Wizard but I couldn't help but be reminded that this was another impression Hader successfully pulled off. I also thought the back-and-forth between Jay/2 Chainz and Kate's Disney actress was good. B-

Nancy Grace - Noel doesn't do Nancy Grace as well as Amy Poehler did (she does do better with the facial impressions than her actual voice much like seemingly every impression of hers), but kudos to her for giving it her all (even if it was a little one note and repetitive). Kate was also good in this and Drake did a good Katt Williams but again, he wasn't as laugh out loud funny as Jay when he did Katt. I knew SNL would probably do something on pot being legalized here in Colorado and I do appreciate the Boulder shout out. I was worried this would be pretty half assed, but the cast really saved it. C-

Resolution Revolution - This music video was okay. I liked how it made decent use of Sasheer and the donuts/drinking/gambling/sex toys/cosplay cutaways really saved it. I liked how they used those to break up the monotony of the rapping at the exact right moments and it also had a good ending. C+

Sleepover - This was another sketch that served as a very good sketch for Aidy. Drake was okay here, but he just played a straight dorky dad here so that role didn't call for a lot performance wise. Vanessa's appearance at the very end was also funny and gave the sketch some decent closure. I also like how they gave Sasheer some lines here. It wasn't much but she is new. B-

Update was nothing to sneeze at. Seth continues to phone it in, but Cecily can still make the most of jokes that are barely there. I was expecting SNL to do something on Jacqueline Bisset at the Golden Globes, but I was also expecting it to be about how spacey her speech was not how long her walk was! Everybody had an awkwardly long walk! That was a horribly designed stage! Plus, I thought Kate instead of Vanessa should've been playing her but this promise of continuing the bit was more promising that it should've been. Seth was pretty damn irritating through most of it (plus that Freud joke of his was quite telling, wasn't it?) but at least they knew when to end it and not let it run on too long. Nassim as Arianna Huffington was pretty damn forgettable. C-

Rahat - This Indiana Jones attraction sketch was probably the worst live segment of the night, but I really gotta admire Drakes sheer enthusiasm and determination to save it. Nassim probably could've been worse here, but the awkward hug and prayer bits made me giggle. Also, Kenan's "native" costume made me cringe just a little bit. I kept thinking how it was such a poor choice for Sasheer Zamata's first show which happened to be hosted by Drake. I can already see bloggers trashing the show just for this but, oh well. D+

Detention - I can't believe they decided to recur Vanessa's poetry teacher from the Miley Cyrus episode, but the first one had its moment. Still, just like this one Aidy and Kenan tried to save it. Seriously though, Kenan's "hell yeah" poem was the first genuine laugh I had all night. Brooks and Sasheer had good lines, but too bad Brooks had to flub his. Drake was all right, probably his only real phoned in performance of the night but I can't really blame them for copy-and-pasting the same ending from the previous sketch so yeah I saw his whole bit coming. I even liked Mike's lines about New Jack City and Vanessa's character sounding like someone punching a dolphin, but too bad he had to break a little at the very end. C-

Started From The Bottom/Hold On, We’re Going Home - Again, it's rare that I comment on the music performances but I have to say something about the staging choices during Drakes numbers. It is rather interesting having him seemingly alone, barely lit and awashed in orange and blue spotlights. It reminds me of something like Kanye would do but not nearly as aggressively pretentious and honestly a bit more preferable. Also, I don't know who this female singer with him is but her name sounds like it should be familiar to me. She might've been featured on Childish Gambino's newest album. Overall, Drake's performances were fine except for the shameless audience pandering there at the end.

Mornin’ Miami II - I'm really surprised and a bit worried for the show that they chose to recur TWO sketches from Miley's episode in a row, but Mornin' Miami was actually quite good the first time. This time, however, it feels like they may be missing a little something. This didn't quite have the raw absurdity of the first one but it had a great ending. C+

Good Neighbor: I Know - That may have been Good Neighbors weakest short so far this season in terms of laughs, but I did like the sharp, fast pacing of it and the endearing ending. C-

Now, updated rankings…

1. Kerry Washington/Eminem

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Lady Gaga

4. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry

5. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire

6. Paul Rudd/One Direction

7. Drake

8. Josh Hutcherson/Haim

9. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake

10 John Goodman/Kings of Leon

11. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae

Well, that episode kicked off the New Year for SNL decently enough. In the coming weeks, Jonah Hill and Melissa McCarthy host the show. I’ve already said my peace on them, so…goodnight! Happy long weekend everybody!