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.
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