Saturday, January 30, 2016

Ronda Rousey/Selena Gomez (1.23.2016)

Okay, here’s my review. This was one of the weaker shows of the season. It relied too much on recurring material and a rather shaky host and musical guest but still, for all its faults it maintained a certain amount of this seasons quality. Anyway, let’s get on with it.


Palin Endorsement Speech – Well, they had to do it. Even though Darrell has played Donald Trump on SNLs’ last three live episodes in a row and Tina has played Palin twice in a span of just less than five weeks, they couldn’t get away with NOT doing this. As forced as most of this seemed, it was a fun cold open and while giving asides to the camera felt a little jarring and unnatural, I can see how it was one of the easier ways to insert commentary on Palins’ speech itself. I mean, it must’ve been hard enough to make this speech MORE ridiculous than it was in real life but Tina did well enough with it. Darrell had great lines about Scrooge toward the end. B-

Monologue – Ronda was a little stiff and seemed to rush through a lot of this like she was out of her element, but she handled a rather meta, premise driven monologue capably. It was very gracious of her to congratulate Holly Holm on beating her. Kenan played a decent corner man. Beck and Taran were great as color men. Kyles disappointed audience member was funny. Kate as Justin Bieber also seemed a little forced. They picked the exact right spot to use Selena and for once a singing monologue did not feel gratuitous or unnecessary. B+

Screen Guild Awards – This was probably the strongest piece of the night and had some of the sharpest writing behind it. The black cast gave great shade and side eye and Che displayed some surprisingly great dramatic acting chops in his taped segments. I did like how each of the “white guy roles” in the Oscar analogue clips became increasingly small as the premises became more and more blatantly black centric. A-

Love Struck – This was probably the best use of Rouseys talents all night. I liked the dark turns this took. Good on Vanessa for writing this and being so committed to it. She seemed to be channeling Cecily at certain points. Beck getting throat punched was also a nice touch. B-

Bland Man – I can’t believe they carbon copied “Farm Hunk” from Blake Sheltons’ underwhelming outing a year ago. Hell, I’m shocked they threw together a Bachelor parody without even referencing how one of their current contestants looks just like Cecily. I’ll give this one points for replacing Blake with Taran, though. This was probably Rouseys’ second weake3st performance of the night. Selenas’ cameo was the only true highlight. D+

Good For You/Same Old Love/Hands To Myself – It is rare that I comment on the musical performances, but I have to say Selena (or her singing) didn’t bother me here as much as the mens’ snapping chorus and mattress choreography did.

Update was kind of uneven. They gave a good effort with the jokes even if the audience wasn’t that into them. Che got in a good jab at Lorne and great slams at Trump and the Oscars but I’m shocked no one jumped on his ass for using the term “window licking waterheads”. It was nice to see Leslie behind the desk again, but this Leo Dicaprio commentary wasn’t her best work. Glad Jost seemed to find it much funnier than I did. Willie just bought the whole thing down…again. C+

Three’s A Crime: The Janet-Johnson Luna and Kara Torkelson Civil Trial – I can’t believe they recurred THIS either (even as an excuse to tack on Ronda Rousey into another live sketch) but as expected Pete easily walked away with this. I, of course, liked the text/traffic cam/GIF/Vine evidence as well as Petes’ laundry list of peer nicknames. D+

Super Crew – This felt like a big swing and a miss. I’m shocked anyone even thought this worked on paper. Kudos to the cast for at least performing the hell out of this, though. D+

At The Club – This oddly felt like something any sketch comedy outlet BUT SNL should’ve been doing. Beck stole this (which isn’t saying much) and Taran demonstrated some decent rap skills but overall, it felt like a rehash of the Jack Sparrow music vid with Taran and Jay as the Lonely Island and Beck in the Michael Bolton role. D-

City Council II – This worked much better during Amy Schumers’ show. It was another sketch I’m surprised they thought would work again. I did like Leslies’ walk off, Kates’ general insanity and Petes’appearance. I appreciated Kyles’ effort. This was definitely Rouseys worst performance of the night. C-

Football Party – This was worth seeing just for Kyle and Becks silliness. Otherwise, it was pretty forgettable. C+


Now, for my update rankings of the entire season so far…

1. Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato
2. Elizabeth Banks/Disclosure with Lorde & Sam Smith
3. Tina Fey & Amy Poehler/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
4. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges
5. Chris Hemsworth/Chance The Rapper
6. Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton
7. Donald Trump/Sia
8. Miley Cyrus
9. Matthew McConaughey/Adele
10. Ronda Rousey/Selena Gomez
11. Amy Schumer/The Weeknd


Well, that went about exactly as most expected it too. Next month, Larry David comes back for his first hosting stint in what has to be the most exciting announcement of a host booking since Louis CK or Zach Galifinakis. See you then!

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton (1.16.2016)

Okay, here’s my review. While this episode was pretty middle of the road for this season, it was unusually strong for a January episode. Adam Driver really surprised me and turned out to be a genuinely capable and funny host. He gave the show his all and never once came off like he was trying too hard. I would not mind seeing him return at all. The cast felt evenly balanced tonight with the exception of Sasheer. Anyway, here it is.

GOP Debate - Although it feels a little like overkill since they just did a GOP debate cold open in the last live episode and this one wasn't as good, but this one had its moments. Taran and Jay pretty much walked away with this sketch as Cruz and Carson. Bobby as Christie moving his podium away from Jay as Carson and being swept off the stage by Kenan as the Apollo Sandman was funny. Pete as Rubio had a great line about being the only candidate with a chin and I chuckled at Kates’ brief cameo as Lindsey Graham. Glad to see they're still using Darell as Trump even though he and Beck as Jeb didn't add too much. Cecily was just fine as a moderator but I wish Kyle was used more in that role. C-

Monologue - This seemed pretty phoned in but I did like Adam poking fun at his own military photo and Leslie confusing him for Minnie Driver. Bobbys' Star Wars geekdom was a nice touch. D+

NFL Playoff Game - This seemed to not go anywhere. It seemed like just a rewrite of that football injury sketch that got cut from Seth MacFarlanes' dress rehearsal in 2012. It reminded me a lot of Eddie Murphy Buckwheat assassination sketch from 1983 what with the same clip being shown repeatedly. Kenan had a strong performance. Adam, Cecily and Beck tried their dander to save this but could only do so much with this material. Also, Pete should've had a bigger part being the focal point of this sketch. C-

Undercover Boss - This sketch was executed perfectly. Glad they didn't go too far down the beaten path with the obligatory Star Wars sketch. Adam played off of Taran, Bobby and Leslie (who each had countless great lines, BTW) and turned in a better performance as Kyle Ren than he did in The Force Awakens, IMO. B-

Aladdin - This sketch had to be the lamest thing in the show at first. It seemed like a cheap rewrite of that Aladdin divorce sketch with Sudekis from Rosario Dawsons' 2009 episode. Still, Cecily, Beck and Leslie were the best parts of this sketch. C-

America’s Funniest Cats - This sketch was much funnier than it had any right to be. Cecil and Kate turned in their best performances on the show in quite some time and I liked them making existential grim comments on cat videos. Plus, Adam turned out to be a pretty funny host and wasn't too obnoxious in his role. B-

Update came back strong. Jost and Che had several great jokes and showed they still have chemistry. I did like the Staten Island Summer shoutout and Josts’ Bloomberg/Trump rant and Ches’ masturbation/snake jokes. Pete delivered a very funny commentary. It felt a little too soon to bring back Vanessa as Laura Parsons but thankfully she had much better material to work with. I especially liked her cocaine line. B+

Social Puppeteering - This sketch was funny for the sheer bizarreness of the writing. It reminded me a lot of the Japanese Messy Boy sketch from J.K. Simmons' episode last year. B+

Bowie Tribute - I have to say that was the most I've genuinely enjoyed a Fred Armisen cameo in a long time. While I feel he got a gratuitous amount of applause his Bowie tribute was touching. I am glad they showed even a small portion of his "Man Who Sold The World" performance.

Golden Globes - This short worked well. They did know exactly how to counteract the heart and emotional center of the Kyle and Kate scenes with the rampant debauchery of the Adam and Vanessa scenes. Leiv Schreiber cameo was worth a few chuckles although his part could'be been edited down some. B-

The Doctor Is In…My Butt 4 - I never thought the premise behind "Hot For Teacher 4" was something that could've (or should've) been made recurring but I did like this one much better due to Becks' cheesy acting. Also, it feels a little strange that this would be Aidys' first appearance in the entire show. C-

Now, for my update rankings of the entire season so far…

1. Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato
2. Elizabeth Banks/Disclosure with Lorde & Sam Smith
3. Tina Fey & Amy Poehler/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
4. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges
5. Chris Hemsworth/Chance The Rapper
6. Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton
7. Donald Trump/Sia
8. Miley Cyrus
9. Matthew McConaughey/Adele
10. Amy Schumer/The Weeknd


Well, SNL certainly came back strong from Christmas break. Next week, Ronda Rousey makes her hosting debut. Rousey seems like she could be a fun host and someone I was expecting to see on the show, but it feels a little soon for her (aside from Entourage none of the movies shes’ reportedly involved in have even come out yet) and I haven’t seen any of her non UFC related appearances to gague her comedic talents. Still, I’m sure they could call on musical guest Selena Gomez to make a sketch cameo when needed. I’d be surprised if they DIDN’T do that, really. This is a show that could go either way, but I’m cautiously optimistic. See you then.