Okay, heres' my review. It was very obvious the cast and crew were burnt out all week and we're coasting off of Kevin Harts' energy and enthusiasm to get them through the last show of 2017. They didn't seem totally out of ideas. They didn't rely on recurring material. They just didn't take as many risks as previous weeks and when they tried to it was with premises that sounded much better on paper. This was a very underwhelming way for SNL to close out the year but at least it seemed to be a banner night for Alex Moffat, Chris Redd and most of the female cast.
White House Tree Trimming - It must be a coincidence that they'really airing this right after a repeat of Ryan Hoslings' first episode from two years ago which ALSO featured a "Christmas Message From Donald & Melania Trump" cold open with Taran Kilam as Trump. I still genuinely cannot decide whose Trump I actually prefer between him and Baldwin but I will give Taran credit for being able to pick up on some nuances in Trump's voice and facial expressions that Baldwin was unable to capture. I do generally prefer this weeks' cold open as its' a much more fleshed out sketch in terms of writing. Still, they could've stood to shorten it a bit more between dress and air. I fid like the RIP Earth joke and the Don Lemon jab at the beginning. The walk ons from Beck, Aidy and Alex got the most laughs from me. I think I could've done with just the last Leslie/Omarosa scene instead of both. The Scarjo/Ivanka scene was okay. It didn't feel necessary but hey, she was in town and is dating a Weekend Update anchor. I do appreciate her getting to play Ivanka with some actual lines for the first time in ten years. I also liked her Bannon/Madball joke. Kate didn't do much for me as Kelly Anne or Elf Sessions but I have to be a little impressed that they found a way to quick change her between both roles just when I thought they wouldn't. C+
Monologue - Usually, Kevins' monologues are entertaining but for whatever reason I couldn't get into this one. Maybe I just couldn't relate to parenting a toddler or maybe I just couldn't get past the fact that he chose to do this material right after it came out that he cheated on the woman he supposedly had this baby with (he's REmarried?!? God, I hope he didn't cheat on TWO women). Maybe I just couldn't get over how out of place another stand up monologue felt at the top of the Christmas show (where they've pretty consistently done musical numbers. I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that this was my least favorite of Kevin Harts' SNL monologues. C-
Christmas Jewelry From Pandora - This felt too much like a tired trope for SNL (one they usually go to on Valentine's Day) but I did like how increasingly dumb the charms were. I also liked Kate and Cecily discussing what gifts they got Beck and Mikey. When I the first shots of this featured SNLs' three most prominent women, I was expecting this to be another strong feminist statement short in the vein of "Welcome To Hell" and I honestly would've preferred that instead. C-
Office Meeting Phone Call - This sketch was worth watching just for the payoff. I didn't like the buildup that much but I did like Beck, Kate and Pete badly faking phone calls at the end. C-
Captain Shadow & The Cardinal - This super hero film was okay. I don't quite know what to make of it. On the one hand, it does kind of play off some tired tropes of racial inequality based comedy. On the other hand, Chris Redd was easily the best thing about this. They should've given him a slightly bigger part. Kevin and Alex played well off of him. Kenan appearance was the most disappointing part as it didn't nearly go the way I was expecting. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. Also, it's nice to know now that this show can get away with dropping the GD bomb in both live AND taped pieces. C+
Inside The NBA - This was pretty funny. Kevin Hart does a pretty solid Shaq. He does breath some life into what appears to be the same tired take on Shaqs' persona that Jay Pharroh had. Chris and Alex did a great job as the straight men here and Kenan is always dependable as Charles Barkley. Kudos to Kevin for being able to handle the stilts they gave him. I'm glad I'm not the only person who saw the irony of casting Kevin Hart as Shaquille O'Neal. B-
Update was pretty forgettable tonight. Josts' best jokes were the Golden Globes and "vacation braids". I liked Ches' opening rant on voting even though it didn't seem to go anywhere. They both had great rants on the democrats calling on Trump to resign but the thing that disappointed me the most about tonight's update was how little Che had to say about the Net Neutrality issue. I can't believe SNL was the only late night show that only devoted one lousy stinkin' joke to it. This was more deserving of a long rant than anything. Hell, they could've legit gotten away with casting Chris Redd as Ajit Pai. Speaking of impressions, this was actually the best use of Leslies' Omarosa in the entire show. Speaking of guest commentaries, I didn't think there was anywhere else they could take Alexs' Guy Who Just Bought A Boat, but I do appreciate the implication that he is also a serial sexual harasser. That and making Colin break were the only things that stood out to me here. C-
Llama Nativity Play - This was much ado about nothing. It seemed like they spent half of the sketch building up to something that way didn't pay off the way they were hoping it would. This may be the only instance I've ever witnessed where a live animal derailed a live sketch by being too calm and easily in control. Plus, Kevin Hadrt wasn't that believable as a teen. At least Kenan and Leslie got some good lines out of this. C-
Christmas Party - I think I spoke to soon about that previous sketch. This barely built up to anything at all. It just meandered about and beat one tiny shred of a joke to death. It had an ending at least but there was no reveal. I did get a slight kick out of Hart revealing that all his party guests were also his employees. Otherwise, this was the weakest live sketch of the night. D+
Active Jack - I appreciate witnessing this see the light of day after hearing Kenan describe this sketch in his interview on Seth Meyers this summer. Unfortunately, this also meant the sketchs' every mover was very much telegraphed going in for me. Kenan also mentioned this sketch was cut from dress rehearsal when Bruno Mars pulled double duty in 2012. How burnt out were the writers this week that they had zero qualms about bringing a five year old sketch out of mothballs? Anyway, this made decent use of Kevin Harts' seemingly boundless energy (although I'm sure a professional musical performer of Mars' stature might have added slightly more to it). Kenan, Kate and Cecily were, once again, quite dependable in their roles here. Another impressively quick change for Kate here. I liked the added detail of her smoking a bent, torn cigarette. B-
Goodnights - It's nice to see them return to the rink for what had to be the first time since at least Fallon hosted, but if you were anything like me you were completely transfixed by Leslie, Cecily, Melissa and Che at one point playing "the rink is lava" with the same piece of cardboard (?) as Beck playfully scolded them.
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift
2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem
3. James Franco/SZA
4. Saoirse Ronan/U2
5. Larry David/Miley Cyrus
6. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk
7. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith
8. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters
9. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z
Well, at least the Foo Fighters allowed SNL to close out 2017 on a relatively high note. Going into the new year, SNL seems to be breaking their pattern of having someone promoting Star Wars be their first host on the calendar. After the Christmas break, Sam Rockwell makes his hosting debut apparently promoting Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing, Missouri. Alhough the name sounds quite familiar his work (to me) isn't. Hell, I thought he was in Jurassic Park until I realized I was thinking of Sam Neill. Rockwell is a little known actor whos' mostly been in a lit of small, indie type films (seemingly the second host of this ilk we've had this season after Saoirse Ronan). Obviously, I have no idea of what to expect from him going in. I'm.not sure how much comedy he has done but I hear he is a committed actor so this should be interesting. Of course, its' still going to be a January show so they may be running on even less fumes than they were this week but its' still nice to see another first time host. See you then (and happy holidays!)
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