Reese Witherspoon/Florence + The Machine (5.9.2015)

Okay, here’s my review. While this show was rather inconsistent, it showed more signs of life than last week. Reese Witherspoon was just slightly more visible as a host this season as Amy Adams was in December, but I would say that really benefitted the show in this case. Good to see more of Beck, Kyle and Pete this week as they have been underused lately. Anyway, let’s get on with it.

Republican Leadership Conference - This has to be the second worst cold open this season. They really could’ve had something here if they hadn’t decided to give Cecily THE ONLY SPEAKING PART! Still, I liked how they included Beck, Kyle and Kate. Also, Taran’s greased up bare chest made me chuckle. D+

Monologue – Bringing out the casts’ real life mothers was something sweet and sentimental they haven’t done in at least a decade and got this episode off to a better start than that cold open did.

Beck, Kyle, Sasheer and especially Pete were the real stand outs here. I would say the same goes for the home movies portion (especially for Kyle given how he was almost unrecognizable) but I also liked seeing Aidy, Jay and Kenan’s clips. I can already tell this is going to be one of the top two monologues this season. A-

Scene In L.A. – Well, I did like Jay, Kyle and Petes’ parts in this sketch. Otherwise, it was pretty Juvenile and a rather dated and tired concept for SNL in 2015. D+

Picture Perfect - This seemed like an ambitious sketch that wasn’t executed to its full potential. Taran, Kenan and Bobby all performed well in it. I'd say they could've taken this further bur that's probably the furthest they could've taken this premise on network TV and within the bounds of good taste. Thankfully, they didn't try and drag it out too long. B-

Mr. Westerberg  - This was pretty one note but Beck, Bobby and Pete were funny in it and this being a short film really behooved it in terms of execution. Plus, it's nice to see Beck front and center in something. C+

Update was pretty inconsistent. Che seemed like he was really phoning it in but Just had a couple of good ones with his May whether and Hamburg large jokes (as much as he was channeling Seth there) Leslie commentary was okay. This one wasn't quite as good as her previous ones but at least she tried something different with that letter thing. Cecily's party girl continued the Update trope of hosts impersonating characters alongside the cast members who play them but this was the first time I genuinely enjoyed seeing it. Reese fit the mold pretty well here and helped Cecily break the format of this character just a bit. Thankfully, they also kept this short. Kenans old man character wasn't exactly a welcome return either but he did have some good lines about throwing tomatoes and batteris at his graduation and locking up his classmates. C+

High School Theater II – This sketch was something I Never expected to return either but I have to say Reese Witherspoon is more believable than Cameron Diaz was. Plus, Leslie was a welcome addition to this and Bobby played well off her and the "we were black" vignette was funny. B-

Southern Ladies – This was more genuinely funny than it had any right to be. Reeses story about her demonic ally possessed husband and Cecily's sperm prank were funny. Plus, it was nice to see Leslie playing someone other than herself for once. The only thing that bugged me about that one was that the ending made it seem like a ripoff of those singing memories sketches with Hader, Sudekis and Forte. B+

Water Slide – Much like the sketch that preceded it, this sketch was funny to me due to its sheer outlandishness. Bobby, Kenan and even Reese had plenty of good lines and performances. Kudos to Beck and Kyle for getting to be the leads in their own live sketch after getting shut out of the show lately. B-

Whiskers R We III - I did like how their descriptions of each cat got more outlandish (one was a set offender and one was a cult leader). Plus, Reese Witherspoon saying "little jag off" made me laugh. C+

Now, for my updated rankings of this season…

1. Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar

2. Martin Freeman/Charli XCX

3. Jim Carrey/Iggy Azalea

4. James Franco/Nicki Minaj

5. J.K. Simmons/D’Angelo

6. Michael Keaton/Carly Rae Jepsen

7. Reese Witherspoon/Florence + The Machine

8. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson/George Ezra

9. Scarlett Johannson/Wiz Khalifa

10. Dakota Johnson/Alabama Shakes

11. Taraji P. Henson/Mumford And Sons

12. Bill Hader/Hozier

13. Blake Shelton

14. Kevin Hart/Sia

15. Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

16. Amy Adams/One Direction

17. Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande

18. Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5

19. Chris Rock/Prince

20. Chris Hemsworth/Zac Brown Band

Well, that was certainly better than I was expecting. The writing is taking some baby steps in the right direction. Next week, Louis CK returns to host the finale and I sure am looking forward to the monologue the most of all. See you then

Scarlett Johannson/Wiz Khalifa (5.2.2015)

Okay, here’s my review. Whether you look at this show from the standards of just this season or all of this hosts’ previous episodes, this show was pretty middle of the road and forgettable. Still, given my lowered expectations for this one, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised in some spots. Anyway, here it is.

Maywheather vs Pacquiao - This cold open was one of the better ones this season. Aidy as Manny was clever stunt casting and Higgins voice over was funny. Glad they found a way to work in Kate's Justin Beiber. Even Kenan had a few good lines As the ref. I did like the ending with Kenan and Jay bailing on the sketch to watch the fight in Wiz Khalifa's dressing room. C+

Monologue - That fourth straight musologue from Scarlet (which is coincidentally also the fourth straight musologue in a row at this point in the season) was actually her funniest one thanks mostly to Kenan and Taran. They also kept it from being completely self-serving for Scarlett, too. C-

Right Side Of The Bed II - I never expected them to ever recurring that Taran and Cecily Atlanta morning show sketch from the Martin Freeman episode but this one was much better than it had any right to be. Scarlett somehow kept Taran and Cecil from chewing up ALL of the scenery by themselves. I also liked Kates' brief appearance At the end as Holier. Coincidentally, both instances of this sketch have now ended with Kate portraying a male foreign singer now. C+

Baltimore Orioles - I also never expected them to rewrite that cut Ferguson sketch from Francos' episode for the recent unrest in Baltimore but I guess I should know SNL much better than this by now. That said, Kenan and Taran played quite well off of each other and Bobby was also very funny in his brief role as the hot dog guy. This might be the strongest live sketch of the night. B+

Black Widow: Age Of Me – This was a little weak for the obligatory “host sketch” but they did blend the tropes of both romcom trailers and Marvel trailers seamlessly enough. Beck and Jay were almost criminally underused here but I did get a kick out of Cecily’s couple of lines as the reporter, the “fire apology” and Taran playing Thor as the stereotypically gay best friend (really gave me a flashback to Patton Oswalt’s “Finest Hour”). Other than that, I thought the basic underlying premise of Marvel not knowing how to write for female characters/audiences was a valid premise but they could’ve done much more with this premise. C-

Girlfriends Talk Show VIII – This sketch may be beyond run into the ground here. Scarletts over use of the word “ratchet” really bugged me and she really seemed disinterested and miscast here. Still, I have to say Aidy played quite well off of her as she usually does in these sketches. Honestly, I think this sketch might have gone over better if they held off on it until next week when Reese Witherspoon drops by. Also, was anyone reminded of that Super Sweet Sixteen sketch from Scarlett’s first show back in ’06? C-

Update was pretty middle of the road tonight. Jost and Che had some fairly good jokes even if none of them particularly stood out more than the mention of the Bruce Jenner interview. The commentaries were all pretty forgettable Kates’ Ruth Bader Ginsberg is a little stale by this point but I did like her grim reaper comment toward the end. The Game Of Thrones couple was something new at least but nothing really stood out there. Bobby’s British accent really reminded me of his performance in the office hobbit sort film also from Martin Freeman’s episode in December. Kenan and Jay as Shaq and Barkley were probably the strongest of the bunch. I did like the “Puerto Rican hickey” line and their constant back and forth insults to each other. B-

Museum Visit – This was probably the weakest most one note sketch of the night sketch of the night. Still, it was worth it just for Taran’s unintentional Mike Meyers impression (the hair and the movements specifically)  and his reaction to Kenans’ “wildin’”. Speaking of which, is it just me or is “FourFiveSeconds” not a big enough hit for SNL to reference right now? Seriously, how could the people involved in that song make something so bland and forgettable? Oh well, I guess time will tell. D+

Blazer – Although this felt like a long buildup to no payoff, I did like the frenetic wacky violence in this as well as the mislead at the end. Seeing Taran bound far out of his way to punch only black criminals was worth a chuckle. Was anyone else reminded of the “People Getting Punched Before Eating” digital short from 2007? C+

Virgin Airlines – While the acting, timing and physicality in this sketch seemed a little off, this was silly and fun as it also got more and more frenetic and physical. Somehow, Vanessa playing a robot seemed appropriate as well as Scarlett now that I think about it. After all, this sketch did remind me of her role in “Her.” C+

Jingle Writers – This sketch felt far too derivative of that hip hop/flute amp sketch from Lena Dunhams’ show, the new NBC new open sketch from Brian Williams episode and the much superior “Fly High Duluth” sketch from Scarlett’s ’06 episode coincidentally. It just felt really dull and uninspired. C-

Now, for my updated rankings of this season…

1. Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar

2. Martin Freeman/Charli XCX

3. Jim Carrey/Iggy Azalea

4. James Franco/Nicki Minaj

5. J.K. Simmons/D’Angelo

6. Michael Keaton/Carly Rae Jepsen

7. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson/George Ezra

8. Scarlett Johannson/Wiz Khalifa

9. Dakota Johnson/Alabama Shakes

10. Taraji P. Henson/Mumford And Sons

11. Bill Hader/Hozier

12. Blake Shelton

13. Kevin Hart/Sia

14. Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

15. Amy Adams/One Direction

16. Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande

17. Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5

18. Chris Rock/Prince

19. Chris Hemsworth/Zac Brown Band

Well, that was that. Next week, Reese Witherspoon returns to host after a 14 year hiatus. I don’t have as many expectations set as I did for this week given that she has only hosted once previously. Still, she seemed less of a bad host than a host who was strikingly out of place on SNL which was forgivable at the time for obvious reasons. Anyway, see you then.