Chance The Rapper/Eminem (11.18.2017)

Okay, here's my review. This was a strong episode that pretty much falls in line with the rest of this season in terms of quality. Chance The Rapper performed well as a host but even though we saw more of him throughout the show, he left virtually the same impression as he did the last time he was on as a musical guest. He came across as a little nervous and unpolished, but that may be expected of a first time host taking their first stabs at acting and/or sketch comedy. He obviously gelled well enough with the cast. Speaking of which, kudos to Chris Redd on having his first real standout episode of the season much like Heidi did before him last week. Anyway, let's break it down.

The Muller Files: Wikileaks - This cold open at first seemed like it was going to be more original and creative than it was going to be. Still, I do appreciate them going outside the box a little bit more and not overusing Alec Baldwin for the cold opens lately. Kate is a suitable replacement for Hader as Julian Assange and she seemed to play the part with much more subtlety than her other male roles. Mikey and Alex are still funny as Don Jr and Eric even when they just repeat their rythyms and cadences from the Update desk in sketch form. I did also like how they broke format a little with the LFNY line. Too bad the audience was pretty dead through this. Also, why did they title this "The Muller Files" when Muller was barely even mentioned let alone depicted in it?? C+

Monologue - This was enjoyable. I was expecting a musical monologue seeing as Chance The Rapper was not credited as a musical guest tonight, but given his stage name this wasn't quite the monologue I WAS expecting. It felt like a much funnier rewrite of Wiigs' Thanksgiving monologue from last year. Chance had some decent jokes although his delivery could've been better. Still, I think we can give him a pass for how noticeably nervous he was. He is a first time host after all. Kudos on Heidi and Luke getting their airtime I'm early. Also, Melissa looked pretty damn good here. C+

Wayne Manor Thanksgiving - This sketch was funnier than it had any right to be. The writing wasn't ambitious but the cast performances really sold this. The non-Caucasian cast really had the funniest parts and sold them. Melissa came in at just tge right time, got her laughs and got out. That's what really made this stand out from the other bits of sketch comedy I've seen poking fun at the foibles of Bale/Nolan/Dark Night Era Batman films. C+

Come Back Barack - This was a catchy song even though I could immediately see the joke coming after Kenans line about crying after he turns on the TV. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Chance wrote this. Speaking of Kenan, his spoken word breakdown was the real highlight of this. My only actual complaint would be that some of the lyrics were unintelligible. B-

Family Feud IX - I'm glad to see they're still doing Family Feud sketches (I'm guessing whoever writes these is still with the show?) This did seem like a rewrite of the Family Feud sketch from the last episode that Tracy Morgan hosted but with a couple of small twists added to it to make it seem more complex. Still, I liked how they worked in Redd, Che and the new black writer who played Leslie and Kyles' college aged sin last week. Plus, Chance actually does a pretty solid Steve Harvey himself and I did appreciate the Forrest Gump reference. B-

Update was consistently strong tonight. Jost and Che don't have any real duds. The opening sexual harassed rant really stood out as I really appreciate how they went after Franken in a way that would trick someone who has never seen an episode of SNL from before 2004 that he was never even associated with the show. Josts' Piven joke was also great although I can't help but wonder what his Roger Goddell joke would've sounded like if Che had been the one delivering it. Kate really isn't bringing anything new to her portrayal of Jeff Sessions but I appreciate them relying on her more than Alec these days. This may have been both my favorite Pete Davidson and Bruce Chandling commentaries ever. I like how Kyle really relished delivering dumb punchlines with such foolhardy glee and made his sob story more grounded yet still rediculous. I think what made Petes' commentary work so well was seeing Pete and Colin laugh because of their bond over their mutual disdain of thir hometown of Staten Island. I honestly do have to wonder how many of those newspaper quotes were real. B+

Sideline Hockey Reporter - For a sketch that was based so heavily on a slightly tired and overused stereotype, this was much funnier than it could've been. Chance really sold his lines (which I'm guessing were written by some combination of him, Bryan Tucker and/or Gary Richardson). He and Alex seemed to have the most to add here out of anyone. This seemed like a slightly more underwritten version of the Univision Winter Olympics coverage sketch from the second time J. Lo hosted in 2010. C+

Rap History - This was very funny. Chance, Chris and Kenan really sold both the younger and older versions of themselves. It seemed a little unfocused at first but it holds up better upon repeat viewings as you can see what they were going for more clearly. I'm starting to think that Che may have written this because I've noticed a big part of his comedy is drawing parallels between disparate groups of people. When Petes' character was first established, I first thought something that came out about him in real life may have been part of the basis of this sketch. See, I follow the Twitter account @SNLInReview run by professional writer/critic Andy Hoglund. He reviews the show and posts the odd bit of trivia about it. On Petes' birthday, he tweeted that Pete had supposedly never even knowingly watched SNL before auditioning (outside of some Celebrity Jeopardy sketches on YouTube that he for some reason could not place). I mean, I know Pete is younger than me but this is still a stunning revelation. B+

Career Day - Chance and Mikey were both the best things about this sketch. Cecily and Aidy had some decent back and forth. This reminded me a lot of a similar sketch from January 2003 where host Jeff Gordon played an air force pilot and Seth Meyers played a carpet salesman and they were both giving competing career day presentations to an elementary school class. Also, was anyone else expecting more of an ending where there would've been some sort of reconciliation moment between father's and sons? C+

Skank Babysitter 17 - They didn't really do anything new with Aidys' character here but I did like Kyles' one line and I really did appreciate getting to see more of Heidi in a substantial lead role (even one that the other ladies could've played in a similar way). C-

Now, for my updated rankings for the season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

4. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

5. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

6. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was certainly one of the stronger Thanksgiving shows in recent memory. After the holiday, Saiorse Ronan makes her hosting debut. This comes way our of left field. I only know shes' an actress because I read that she was part of a spread in Vanity Fair or some magazine of that ilk along with Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence and (possibly?) Meryl Streep where one of these women (I think it was Emma?) spoke out against sexual harassment in the field. I take it she mostly takes on dramatic roles and isn't tremendously well versed in comedy or anything. I have no idea what to expect here. See you then!

Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift (11.11.17)

Okay, here's my review. This show was the most consistently enjoyable show of the season so far. It wasn't as unevenly balanced as last weeks episode. Tiffany Haddish proved to be a dynamic host and a welcome presence on screen. Thankfully, they front loaded the show with all their best material so that they didn't run out of steam at least until Update. Everyone in the cast got a pretty decent amount of airtime on the show although I'm starting wonder about Luke Null. He should definitely be worried that he still hasn'hasn't gotten to break out with anything of his own after being shut out of the show completely. Anyway, let's break this down.

Moore, Pence & Sessions - The cold open was enjoyable. I just knew Mikey would be the one to play Roy Moore. He sure looked the part as much as he could but he should've tried to affect a deeper voice. I appreciate that they leaned more on Becks' Pence and Kates' Sessions this week than they did on Alecs' Trump (guess he wasn't available this week). My only real complaints were that Becks' Louis CK name check was pointlessly weak and that there seemed to be no real ending besides the possum thing. C+

Monologue - This helped get the show off to a strong start. It was a lot faster paced and shorter (and a little more pointed and acerbic) than most SNL monologues in recent memory but it had a lot of great moments (especially for someone whos' seen none of her standup.) I especially liked the Tupac/Tyler Perry Island and SNL vs In Living Color jokes (although ILC was on Sunday nights so it must've been pretty easy to watch both back in the day). My only complaint was that the dress/fashion jokes were a little repetitive. A-

Death Fighter 12 Tournament - I did like seeing this sketch fully realized but seeing Mikey on Seths' show describe this its premise in detail kinda ruined it for me. I will say that Tiffany, Kenan and Alex added more to this sketch than Kevin Hart or Leslie could've. B-

Lion King Screen Tests - This left a little something to be desired as far as new impressions being debuted on the show. There were only a few worthwhile impressions out of the ones we haven't seen on the show before. I liked seeing Becks' Nick Offerman again and Cecilys' Lin-Manuel Miranda worked better here than it did in the Family Feud sketch from last seasons' premiere. Petes' Eminem seemed like a pointless addition but it almost looked like he was on to something with that impression. That and Aidys' James Cordes are two impressions I would like to see a bit more of if they develop them a bit more. Although I had been thinking if any member of the current cast was going to play John Oliver it should've been Kyle Mooney, Mikey did a great job with the impression . I think we could've done without Tiffany & Chris as MJ Blige/Cardi B/ Offset and Kenans' LL Cool J but hey, they had to include Tiffany somewhere. Leslie as Oprah  and Heidi as Kristen Schaal were both inspired casting. Heidi played well off of Chris' Sterling K. Brown and Alex did well as Kit Harrington and Melissa as Celine Dion was a welcome addition despite sounding just like a cross between her J.Lo, Xtina and Ariana. C-

A Message From The DNC - This was okay. I liked the impressions (kudos to Mikey on getting to play Tim Kaine for the second time ever) but it could've been shortened a bit and it didn't exactly seem like the freshest or most originsl take on the democratic party. Plus, Leslie playing Donna Brazille stood out to me as I was expecting Tiffany to play her. Tiffany just resembles Donna Braille more closely that Leslie. I did like how they bought Larry back just to poke fun at his monologue from last week in character as Bernie and that they included a pretaped cameo from Jason Sudekus that (for all we know could've been taped four years ago). C-

Beck & Kyle & Colin & Leslie - This short film was a very strong outing for Beck, Kyle, Colin and Leslie. I did like how they gave us a look at Leslie and Kyles' relationship from Beck and Colons' viewpoints as they grew a pat as friends. I also liked how they included the masquerade ball plot rather than going in the direction I was expecting; having Beck use Tiffany to make Kyle jealous. The ending with everyone punching Jost repeatedly worked extremely well and I liked how they worked Lorne and Tiffany in there. Also, does anyone recognize who was playing Kyle and Leslies' now college aged son? Just from hearing this guys' voice closely enough, I can tell that it's not Che, Redd or Pharroh. B-

Update was a little uneven. It got off to a rather tepid start but really picked up with the Roy Moore jokes and the commentaries. Tiffanys' monologue callback must've really given Jost and Che a shot in the arm because all they really hit all their jokes out of the park after that. She showed up at just the right time too as I was starting to think she was being underused as a host at the point. Cecilys' commentary worked extremely well and may have just been the funniest thing she's ever done on the show. Part of me was hoping they would give us another chance to see Heidis' acting skills during this part of the show but I enjoyed this more as it went on as I recognized that Cecily clearly wrote this herself from a place of fear, anger and frustration that she wanted desperately to express. Kudos to her on having the courage to do so. I did like seeing Kenans' Lavar Ball again even though it felt like more of the same. B+

The Last Black Unicorn - This seriously needed some edits. Tiffany really sold her part but Leslie didn't really add anything here. Overall, it showed some promise but turned too one not too early.D+

Get Woke with Tamiya - This was the first real dud of the night. It was too long, had some serious pacing issues and it was the first time I've seen Leslie not really committed fully to a character or try to sell it. I did like the sponsors and Leslie and Tiffany played well off of each other once Tiffany entered the scene. D-

The Dolphin Who Learned To Speak - This was a bit better than it had any right to be. Kate and Leslie really sold their parts but Tiffany really stole this scene and kept it from being too one note. Plus, I felt the timing of this sketch was a little too eerie. C-

Whiskers R We VI - This may have been my least favorite installment of this sketch. The only things that really stood out to me were Tiffany blatantly hitting on Kate and the kittens reactions to being on camera. Speaking of Tiffany, she really stood out like a sore thumb here. This feels like something they tried to write for Taylor Swift earlier in the week that she dropped out of by Friday so they just substituted Tiffany in her place. Plus, kudos to Chris Redd on bring the third SNL cast member to play Katt Williams (even if his was the weakest impression of the three). C+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

3. Kumail Nanjiani/P!ink

4. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

5. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that show provided some much needed stability for this season. Next week, Chance The Rapper makes his hosting debut (after two previous appearances as musical guest). He may seem like an odd choice for host but he did a fine job in his sketch appearances from last December and obviously made an impact on the show then. He reportedly pitched several ideas for his own sketches when he showed up that week and "Jingle Barack" was apparently his strongest one and it worked well when they did use it. They must have decided to book him as a host because he showed a lot of initiative and willingness to be very involved with the show just as a musical guest and they liked those qualities enough to let him host so he could pitch his ideas on Monday like everybody else instead of (presumably) Thursday. I have a feeling cast members like Cecily, Kate and Aid are going to dominate this show. Apparently, Chance The Rapper is known to be politically and socially active (they say he wanted to do a sketch called "Gentrified Chicken" last year) so he's probably going to want to work the most with cast members that have similarly "woke" sensibilities to his. See you then!

Larry David/Miley Cyrus (11.04.2017)

Okay, here's my review. As expected, this show managed to be the relative high point of this season while not being as good as Larry Davids' first hosting stint from February 2016 in terms of quality or consistency. As a host, Larry certainly proved to be just as welcome of a presence as ever. Obviously this is good because he clearly gelled well with a cast and writing staff that has changed drastically since he last visited studio 8H. Still, its' nice to see they were still willing to take some risks for what felt like the first time this whole season. Aside from Luke, Mikey and Melissa everyone seemed to get a decent amount of airtime tonight. Anyway, lets' just break it down.

Trump & Manafort - This cold open felt pretty awkward even without the pre-shower scene blooper. I will say Alex as Paul Manafort worked more than it had any right to once you actually recognize what he was going for. I appreciated the initial sight gag of the Airplane!-style inflatable pilot disguised as Trump but I don't think that two scene of it was necessary (even if I kinda liked Cecily's dialogue in the second one). The best thing this cold open had going for it were Beck and Kates' walk-on as Pence and Sessions and even some of their parts could've been trimmed down a bit. C+

Monologue - This was quite enjoyable seeing as he rarely seems to do stand up anymore. His Weinstien jab worked much better than Alecs' in the cold open (c'mon , like every one on Twitter didn't make that same Weinstien joke that Baldwin just did). The Quasimodo jokes worked well and if it weren't for social media existing, you may also believe the Holocaust pickup lines did, too. Hey, all I'm saying is I've seen live SNL audiences react much worse to things that they considered shocking. B-

Celebrity Price Is Right - This worked very well. Beck Bennett is one of the last members of this cast I would ever expect to play Drew Carey (that role could've just as easily gone to Luke Null) but he pulled it off well (even if the voice was a little too high). Leslie and Kate played off each other well. This may have been my favorite of her appearances as Tilda Swinton on the show. Chris Redd did well as Lil Wayne. Kudos to him for getting his first impression with actual lines on the show. Alex did a great Chris Hemsworth and his presence provided a great excuse to sneak Miley and her fiance into the sketch. Nice to see Baldwins' Tony Bennet and Cecilys' Sofia Vergara worked in. Also, it was great that they found an impression from Melissa we haven't seen her do yet. Finally, I really liked that this was how the chose to work in the obligatory Bernie impression into the show. B+

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Press Confeerence - This music video was entertaining and had plenty of solid comedic moments (the "riddles" in particular come to mind) but something about it felt a little...off. I waa half expecting her to sing "incompetent" but as soon as she sang the actual lyrics, I got some mixed messages from it and at times it almost seemed like even the writers didn't know what they wanted this to be. Either way, I'm curious to see what Demi Lovato and Father and Daughter Huckabees' reactions will be. B-

Career Retrospective - This sketch was very funny. I liked how they took a real chance with this and got out right when they got all their necessary laughs and only Larry David could've made this work. Still, I was left wondering why Larrys' character had a ponytail that no one adknowledged and Aidys' character had no lines at all. For all its' strengths, it wasn't without its tiny flaws. B+

Baby Steps - This was something that really rewarded the viewers' patience as short as it was. Larry dressing down Miley and the cast was the best payoff possible to this. Plus, Pete Davidson is surprisingly competent as a rapper. C-

Update was a little inconsistent but it still had its moments despite how burnt out Jost and Che seemed at the beginning. Che had good rants on Trumps' tweets and the NAACP but this Update really seemed backloaded with all the best jokes delivered by Jost. The latest appearance by the Trump brothers seemed a little less inspired than their previous ones but Mikey and Alex still delivered (especially Alex who really knocked his best jokes out of the park once Mikey got him going). Kudos to Heidi for getting her first substantial character piece on the show and I was impressed with how well written and developed this was. I have a good feeling about Heidi as a cast member after she sold the hell out of this. It did almost seem like the type of thing that would've been written for Cecily except done better and with some more depth by Heidi. Leslie's commentary wasn't that great but it was obviously written as an excuse to work the Houston Astros into the show. B-

Fresh Takes - This sketch worked mostly because it felt natural as it wasn't as much of a stereotypical cookie cutter portrayal of high schoolers by a group of thirty-something adults as we'receive used to seeing on a show like SNL. They played well off of Larrys' wildly inappropriate AP History teacher and I'm glad to see they were able to bring his character to its logical conlusion. Leslie and the various "sponsors" were very funny. Pete and Chris scored some decent laughs. Miley didn't quite play against type here but kudos to Luke for getting one of the biggest laughs of the show with his only line of the show. B+

New Wife - This sketch also REALLY rewarded the viewers' patience for a totally different reason that obviously wasn't planned. I was actually anticipating Larry to start cracking up any minute. After watching this, any SNL viewer should be able to fully understand how breaking character can sometimes save a sketch rather than always derail it. Upon second viewing, what worked within the sketch that WAS planned was hearing Larrys' character incredulously over explain his girlfriends gay culture to a confused Beck, Kate and Chris and then suddenly kick Beck out of the room. Still, that worked best as a buildup to the breaking. C-

Good Neighbor: Beers - This worked mostly because of how intentionally absurdly miscast Larry was in his role and how the cheesy production values clashed with the attempts at building a serious or dramatic moment. It had the usual reliable trademarks of a Good Neighbor short that get laughs, but what Larry added was really icing on the cake. B+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season....

1. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

2. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

3. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

4. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was a shot in the arm the show needed right now. This season got off to a slow start but thankfully it has been gradually improving. Still, the question now is how long can they at least keep this momentum going? Next week, Tiffany Haddish makes her hosting debut I know shes' a stand up but I'm not terribly familiar with the jokes in her act. Most of my exposure to her has been seeing her as a guest on various panel/late night/talk shows. Still, after Larrys' monologue from tonight I am very excited at the prospect of THREE consecutive stand up monologs in a row (especially when one is from a person whose act I am genuinely seeing for the first time). I'm sure she'll also be dynamic as a host and hopefully Leslie and Chris get their chances to shine when paired up with her. Still, even an established comedian would need to be backed up with some solid writing so let's hope they keep actively trying to improve the show and play your Tiffanys' strengths rather than expose her weaknesses as an actress. See you then!