Bill Hader/Arcade Fire (3.17.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Despite being just a little inconsistent compared to last weeks' show, this was easily a top three show for this season just for Haders' sheer presence alone. Last week, I think we were more blown away by a first time host than anything. This week, we were pleased to see a seasoned veteran of the show return to their roots and show us that they still haven't list touch with their chops. This was obviously much better than Haders' first episode in 2014. The current cast was pretty unbalanced as far as airtime went. Heidi and Alex seemed to dominate the show but Mikey seemed practically invisible and Kate appeared do little in the show you'd think she was already eyeing the exits and the show knows it and are knowingly phasing her out and phasing  Heidi in to fill the void. Kenan, Leslie and Melissa also seemed strangely absent. Beck, Kyle, Cecily and Chris also seemed to dominate the show. Anyway, I have less to summarize here upfront t than I have to unpack in the body of this thing so let's get right down to it.

Anderson Cooper 360 -  Moffats' Cooper and Kates' Sessions really got this episode off to a slow start, (although I did like Kates' "Christian white" joke) but Goodmans' Tillerson, Freds' Michael Wolff and Haders' Scaramucci really helped build up some momentum. Goodman and Hader especially had the strongest performances here. At least this week, we can say that the cold open gave something a littlr more than just "a break from Alec Baldwin". B-

Monologue/The Californians VII - Hader made me laugh quite a bit in the monologue explaining what he "learned" from his time on the show. Recognizing his Californians costume as the thing he was quick changing into was another real momentum killer for me but I still appreciate the format breaking and the seamless transition. That really felt like some thing we haven't seen on the show in quite some time. As for the actual sketch itself, well...I do appreciate how much more restrained and subdued it felt especially without Wiig there even though this wouldn't be the first time they've done one of these without her. I also liked how seamlessly Alex fit into his role. Petes' fourth wall dissolving and Bill and Fred arguing the merits of Waze vs Google Maps really made this sketchange for me. Also, it felt really odd timing-wise that they would make a big deal out of Vanessa Bayers' maid character being "deported" considering Vanessa herself was just on last weeks' show. I can't believe it took me seeing her framed photo for it to finally register in my brain that Vanessa was no longer in the cast. Maybe she should have picked a better week to cameo. C+

Kiss Me, I'm Irish - This really gave me some odd vibes. I appreciate how they inverted the trope of one contestant bring the odd one out in these dating contests with Aidy (sort of like how they did the Dick In A Box/Chezch Bros edition of "It's A Date!" when Timberlake hosted five years ago but more subtle). Plus, I feel like it was far too soon for them to do a dating game show again since they just did one two weeks ago. They must have just wanted to jam this one in once someone remembered today was going to be St. Patricks' Day during the Monday pitch meeting. Also, I sincerely have to wonder if this is something they pitched to Saoirse Ronan in December that she turned down because that was her line as far as all the Irish jokes went? If so, she's a real trooper for even going along with the rest of the show that week. All I can say is thank god they waited until Bill Hader was available before they tried to do this sketch. He was the best thing about it. Thankfully, my fears from seeing this set up during the commercial that this sketch was going to be Hader playing another Italian tracksuit guy from Jersey hitting on Irish women for some reason we're immediately put to rest. Also, Kudos to Kate for successfully hiding her fake deformed claw that entire sketch.

Horace - This had some solid writing behind it for something the relied so much on broad, physical sight gags for laughs, but it still felt slightly out of place on SNL. I get the feeling that maybe a different group of sketch comedians, maybe on the Internet or on a late night cable show where they'they'd be free of NBCs' strict network standards and practices regulations, would've been had more success in pulling this sketch off visually. Speaking of which, I do have to wondered how they negotiated with NBCs censors to get this one on the air in the first place? Also, I REALLY want to know who wrote this one. This reminded me a lot of Haders' previous role as a wheelchair bound 126-year old Adolph Hitler on the FXX series "Man Seeking Woman". I know that one was created by Simon Rich who wrote for the show during Haders' years in the cast so I'm wondering if he was also a guest writer this week? B-

Jurassic Park Auditions - I could definitely see what this was going to be about a millisecond in. It looked like they tried to get in as many cast impersonations as they possibly could, which I liked, but I feel like I would have enjoyed this more had we seen maybe a different range of impressions that included less of the types of celebrities we've already seen cast members play in these types of pieces. Sadly, this seems to apply to Hader the most. I mean, he had some great lines as Pacino being disappointed to findthat he was reading for a PG movie but his Alda/Eastwood impressions (while usually great) felt too tacked on here as did Kyles' Joey Lawrence. Mikeys' Pee-Wee (which may have been hiso only appearance of the night). Alexs' Hugh Grant was a decent way to start this. He certainly didn't make me forget about Tarans' Pee-Wee from his first season. Kate as Ellen in any Era feels like something we've seen too much of with little variation. To her credit, she does a much stronger Clarice Starling/Silence Of The Lambs Era Jodie Foster than she does a present day Jodie. I did also like her Lisa Kudrow impression though even though it was something I was half-expecting Heidi to tackle if for no other reason than my dad once said to me out loud that she reminded him of "Phoebe from Friends". Speaking of which, Heidi and Aidy turned in pretty solid performances as Drew Barrymore and Roseanne, respectively. Chris and Kenan turned in some funny performances with some rather obvious jokes as well. I never thought that much of Kenans' Sinbad but I did like that "triceratops" joke. Nice way for them to sneak in Melissas' Gwen Stefani even if '92 was a few years before No Doubt even got that big. It was sweet of them to give Luke Null something else to do at this point in his tenure, but that may have been the weakest Eddie Vedder I've ever seen (especially when we've seen Hader do a much funnier one). Leslie does a near flawless Whoopi and it's quite fitting that Pete did Sandler since he seems to be currently filling the Sandler/Fallon/Samberg generational void on the show. As easy as a Sandler impression is for just about anyone, Pete really nailed it (especially considering he's gotta be pretty close in age now to how old Sandler was then). C+

Update got off to a weak start, but thankfully they were able to finish much stronger. The only memorable jokes were Stormy Daniels/NDA/Headlines, Trump/Astros & Walmart/robotic bees. It was nice to see Kates' Betsy DeVos character (only making her second appearance) more developed. Still, I can't shake the feeling that she didn't have much fresh ground to explore as takes on Betsys' outrageous levels of gross incompetence have been beaten to death by now. Still, I did get a kick out of her describing her likes and dislikes of her job. Petes' latest commentary was very funny. I like when Pete opens up to us like this and I especially liked the idea of him having a who's-more-mentally-ill-and-whos'-having-a-tougher-time-opening-up-to-the-public-about-it off. It's great to see Stefon is still as wonderfully whacked out and deranged a fellow as ever. I did like his nicknames for Jost & Che even if they were just tacked on current film references. To me, the top two funniest moments of the entire episode were the Stranger/Billy Joel/Springsteen joke and Stefon naming "STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS, PLEASE" as an actual club. John Mulaney as Stefons' lawyer/piss artist pretty much made the whole segment for me. It's great that he's now recognizable enough for Lorne to let that little in joke happen although I do have to wonder what specific thing he whispered back to Hader in that moment that made him break character slightly. I also appreciated the Seth/Closer Look reference. Considering this is the second time Hader has hosted the show while Jost and Che were the anchors of Update, I was hoping they would bring in some kind of guest cameo to shake up the usual Stefon formula a bit. At the bare minimum, I was hoping they'd have Seth come on and cameo so he and Stefon could discuss their "married" home life together, but I welcome Mulaney being allowed to add something a little less predictable to the mix. B-

Sacred Rock - Of all of the sketches they could have made recurring from Haders' Era in the cast where he was the focus, I would never in a million years have thought they would do this with the Yeti sketch from Bruno Mars' 2012 episode like they did Haders puppet class PTSD 'Nam vet from that same season. Still, I appreciate that they shifted the focus of this from implied softcover yeti rape to implied softcover reverse gender alien on human insemination. C-

CBC Expos-eh - This disappointed me for a couple of reasons. At first, when I saw this being set up during the commercial, I thought we were going to see Hader as Vinny Vedecci interviewing Cecily as Marion Cotillard. Then, I saw that this was parodying the #MeToo movement in a way that plays up the "Canadians are extremely polite and always overly apologetic" stereotype and immediately realized what a thin and misguided premise that was. Still, only Hader and Gardner could've made these characters more likable and watchable than annoying. Also, one might be tempted to take some comfort in the fact that this was the first and seemingly only sketch of the night to even reference the #MeToo movement. Additionally, I also appreciated the Dave Thomas/Dave Foley/Mike Meyers in jokes as well as the gag of every sungle person involved resigning. Arcade Fire were also good sports to participate in this. Maybe Canadians are so willing to take this stereotype in stride not because it may or may not actually true but because its' such a benign way to generalize an entire nationality (at least on the surface). C+

Undercover Office Potty - This was much funnier than it had any right to be mostly because Beck, Kyle, Bill and Chris were so seriously committed to such a juvenile premise that could've only spring from their collective mind palace (unless Che wrote this). I don't know if it was the immaturity or the production value or the fact that Hader was wearing a wig that resembled his actual hair from his first four seasons on the show, but I did get a strong Lonely Island vibe from this as well. It seemed like a direct cross between "Cubicle Fight" and "Office Meeting" with small but definitely noticeable traces of "Like A Boss" and "Japanese Office" more than amything. The spilling was pretty much the perfect way to end this. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

3. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

4. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

5. James Franco/SZA

6. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

7. Charles Barkley/Migos

8. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

9. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

10. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

11. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

12. Saoirse Ronan/U2

13. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

14. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

15. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

16. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show could've used right now. In two weeks, Chadwick Borman makes his hosting debut. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but for some reason, "Black Panther" is the only thing I can think of that I've even heard of him actually being in. Oh, well. I may not know about this guys' acting background (another person who seems to mostly be involved in either dramatic roles or parts in big blockbusters) but as long as he goes into it with the same attitude his costar Sterling did, he should do just fine. See you then!

Sterling K. Brown/James Bay (3.10.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This episode was definitely in the top five strongest of the season. It was a little inconsistent but what was good was very good and really stood out. Sterling K. Brown seemed like a very promising host going by his social media activity promoting this weeks' show and he certainly delivered everything he promised by being a standout host and performing the hell out of all the parts he was given. I could definitely see him being asked to come back and host again if he has something else to promote thats' as high profile as "This Is Us" or "Black Panther". As far,as airtime, Melissa had a real breakout night and Pete, Alex, Kyle and Aidy seemed to be dominating the show the most. Anyway, we do have a lot to unpack this week so let's just get right down to it.

Bachelor Finale - This cold open was probably the weakest and most baffling of the season. It felt like a real throwback to the types of pop culture parodies the show would do during Fallon, Kattan and Morgans' final seasons in the cast under Feys' reign as head writer. I do have to give the writers credit for trying something a little different for these past two seasons here. I do appreciate how they tried to blend their obligatory topical white house commentary with the type of pop culture parody they would often attempt to do during the Bush II/Obama administrations, but this ran a huge risk of alienating the portion of SNLs loyal audience who doesn't happen to also watch "The Bachelor" religiously. I'm still not sold on the basic premise of Kate McKinnon playing Robert Muller but I will admit it worked somewhat here. Her semi-dramatic take actually dovetailed well with the premise of this cold open. I also liked the Stormy Daniels/American Steel jokes. Those were the only things that even made me chuckle in this whole open. Plus, the split screen didn't hurt this as much as lacking any real ending did. At least they gave us a break from Baldwin tonight but I just saw a promo for Fallons' show that named him as a guest next week so I guess we can expect him again real soon. Overall, I didn't hate this. I just struggled to make sense of it. Personally, I would've much preferred a Sam Nunberg cold open. Frankly, I'm shocked he didn't even get a mention on Update. I mean, he really only dominated Mondays' news cycle but it was still a pretty big deal. I do have to wonder what conservative sites are going to make of this site seeing as it basically depicts Muller admitting his investigation is turning up empty? D+

Monologue - This helped get this episode off to a better start and build back up some of the momentum that the cold open really killed. I liked how Sterling showed the same raw enthusiasm he exhibited on social media all week and I especially liked how he was able to poke fun at his own emotions. That was the real highlight of this monologue. It really helped counterbalance all the jokes he delivered well enough but still didn't quite land. His Kenan impression made me laugh. The only real drag is that while Leslie was great in it, it seemed like Sterling was setting up for an appearance from his "This Is Us" castmates. Maybe it wouldn't have been totally necessary but at least it would've mixed things up a bit more. C+

Family Feud X - This wasn't greater than the sum of its' parts or anything but everyone got their individual chance to shine. Oscar winners and losers seemed like a thin premise but the performances really boosted this. Kate had good material as Frances MacDormand, but she seemed to be putting less into it than the last time she played her. Maybe she was basing the character more on her animated Oscar speech but it partly felt like Kate was playing herself. Beck did a solid G. Del Toro but his part ultimately felt underwritten. Heidi did a brilliant Allison Janney. Hell, at times she even bordered on channeling Kristen Wiig attempting an Allison Janney impression and despite tripping over her last line she really nailed it. It was great to see her debut another actual impression. Chris as Jordan Peele was a great addition. He really nailed the Jordan Peele impression. Kudos to him on being the first person to even play a former MAD TV cast member in SNL. His prompting Kenan to intentionally break character AND the fourth wall was the single most brilliantly executed moment of the entire show. Pete as Timothee Chalamette  (sp?) didn't do much for me. He seemed slightly miscast and it seemed like less an impression than a base observation about a celebrity. Alex as Willem Dafoe was great. He got solid laughs with just a look and a couple of lines alone. It was nice to see Melissa get to debut a new impression but it was such an obscure one and it was done entirely in sign language. It was the most spectacular way they've defeated the purpose of having her on the show at all so far. Sterlings' got bars but I still don't quite know what to make of his actual Common inpression. B+

This Is U.S. - Now, this was a more successful blend of politics and pop culture than whatever they were going for in the cold open. Still, also like the cold open it felt somewhat like a throwback to what they would do in a previous Era of the show. Scratch that, this actually felt like something MAD TV would've done but with writers who are more competent at tackling current political events. Sterling does a fine Ben Carson but he certainly didn't make me forget about Jay Pharroh. Pete as Jared Kushner was an interesting take (and one I wouldn't mind seeing again if handled the right way. Still,  I do have to wonder how Alex or Colin would also play him. B-

Shrek Vs. Coco - This family dinner sketch was much bett r than it had any right to be thanks to the increasingly heated tension between Beck and Sterling near the end. I can't imagine any other host making that sketch as watchable as he did. I do have to wonder if this sketch was written by the same writers who wrote the La La Land interrogation sketch from the Aziz Ansari episode last January since they both revolved around heated confrontations over grindingly banal film & pop culture minutiae. B-

Sasquatch - This film had a lot going for it. There were more reasons it worked than just it was filmed. It established it's premise quickly without letting it get too one note and it was just unabashedly silly and immature enough without getting too juvenile. C+

Update felt a little underwhelming compared to what surrounded it in this episode but the commentaries really sabed it. Right off the bat, Che had the better of the two sets of Trump-meets-Kim-Jong-Un jokes and Josts' Jong-Un/lesbian joke came off incredibly awkward. Nothing else really stood out and Ches' Gary Cohn/video game jokes felt derivative as did Josts' Amelia Earhart/Barbie joke. Che did get to redeem himself with his In-And-Out Burger joke. I'm glad to see that they decided to keep tweaking the formula if they're going to keep bringing out Mikey and Alex back as Eric & Don Jr. I'm really glad to see that they'really actually having a lot more fun in these roles (especially Alex) but most of all, I'm just floored that they could get away with saying "goddamn jews" on live network television. The thing I liked most about Vanessas' cameo was how genuinely unexpected it was. Seriously, I was expecting Bobby to come back for a cameo before Vanessa did at this point. It was nice seeing her again even if she came back to do the last character she left the show with and I almost thought it was Heidi impersonating her for a few seconds for some reason. C+

Black Panther Deleted Scene - This obligatory host sketch was worth watching just for Kenan. He pretty much carried this with several funny lines. Plus, the more you actually watched this sketch the more apparent it became that you didn't necessarily need to have actually seen Black Panther to actually get it. B-

Dr. Love - This sketch was all right for what it was. It was another premise that would only work with Sterling as a host. I liked how it didn't get too one note too fast. I liked how they let on more that Sterlings' Dr was medically uncaring than that he was just flat out medically incompetent. Most of all, I liked how comfortably and swiftly Beck and Sterling instantly switched the tone of this from simple comedy sketch to final act of a romantic comedy. C+

Script Supervisor - This sketch was more frustrating than anything else. I wanted to like it much more than I did since it seemed like it was going to go in a much different direction than it did early on. It seemed like it was going to be all over the place until it became obvious this was going to be a near carbon copy of the Arizona Evenings/Starfish sketch from Alec Baldwins' 2010 episode. Still, this was a superior sketch to that as Cecily wasn't playing as one dimensional of a character. Plus, this had Kyle in a decent role that he hadn't played before and the added gag of the script Cecily was reading becoming increasingly, gratuitously filthy. Also, I'm glad Melissa is being used a lot tonight but maybe she didn't need so many lines given how small her part was. C-

Rock N' Rap - I was really excited to see the return of Kyles' Chris Fitzpatrick character after a near four year absence. The thing I liked most here is how instantly my fears were put to rest that this character wouldn't work in a man-on-the-street interview setting. I liked how progressively odd and outrageous the interview responses were getting. B+

Nickelback Deathbed - This worked more than it had any right to. It was possibly the most endearing ten-to-one sketch in recent memory. It felt more like a Web video I would've seen posted by an Internet sketch group on Cracked.com. Kudos to Melissa for getting an elderly woman role over Kate for once, first of all and to Luke for getting in his one genuinely funny line per show here. If Melissa actually had a Chad Kroeger impression than this sure was an overly elaborate way for her to sneak it onto the show. Also, if they found out over the course of the week that Sterling also had a Chad Kroeger impression that would be a bit of an unusual thing for he and Melissa to bond over but it would explain how this got on the show. B-

Now for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

3. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

4. James Franco/SZA

5. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

6. Charles Barkley/Migos

7. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

8. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

9. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

10. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Saoirse Ronan/U2

12. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

13. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

14. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

15. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show needed right now. Next week, Bill Hader comes back to host for a second time. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying this, but this is the episode I've been looking forward to the most the entire month. I have to admit though, I feel a little less excited for it than I did for Ferrells' episode only because Hader hasn't been gone from the cast as long as Ferrell has so as much as I loved him then as a cast member then (and still do) it's a bit harder for me to be nostalgic for his Era of the show since it still feels so recent. Still, I have no doubt that he won't disappoint and I'm sure Hader can boost staff morale just as much as Sterling clearly did. Plus, this is only Haders' second time hosting and (counting his appearances at the 40th anniversary specials and the only two season 39 episodes he cameoed in) his fifth return to the show overall since leaving the cast. Speaking of which, someone here mentioned they had hoped he could get through this episode without any cameos from Wiig or Armisen. I agree about the former, but I wouldn't mind if we got another Armisen cameo if it also meant we get another Vincent Price St. Patricks' Day special. See you then!

Charles Barkley/Migos (3.3.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This show had its moments, but it was a considerable let down from all of the previous times Charles Barkley hosted. He usually is funnier in a goofy, oddball Walken type of way but here he seemed like he was either  stumbling over himself or coasting on some rather weak material. It can't entirely be the latter considering he did liven up some sketches that would've barely been watchable with any other type of host. Maybe I might have been expecting too much since Charles Barkley is more likely to be unintentionally funny than intentiinally funny but this waa his weakest show yet. The cast seemed evenly balanced with only Luke and Melissa appearing the least. No surprises there, but at this point I think Melissa might just be in a slump and Luke is more likely to be in more real danger. Anyway, let us begin.

Bipartisan Gun Control Meeting - This cold open was just a bland mush of all the White House related headlines over the past month that the show hadn't responded to yet. Nobody besides Baldwin really needed to be there so making him the sole focus was a huge misfire. The only jokes that stood out to me were the lines about Jared Kushner being the hottest chick left in the white house and the entire waffle house bit. The "I hear you" and Black Panther references seemed the most tacked on. I'm surprised they didn't work in a reference to the real Trump's "Alex Baldwin/dieing career/bring back Darrell Hammond" tweet. On a more positive note, I do like how Baldwin has started incorporating Trumps' pouty crossed arm pose into his impression. D+

Speaking of Hammond, does anyone else think he might have been doing his announcements live in studio 8H tonight? He seemed to have some timing issues that made me think they might not have been prerecorded.

Monologue - This was marginally funnier than the cold open, but Barkley seemed to be giving it less than his all. He seemed to stumble over his cue cards at the start and he definitely shouldn't have been counted on to deliver a monologue with even that much of a preachy social message. He also shouldn't be counted on to do a straight solo monologue for that long either. Thankfully, Che showed up but I wish he was able to add something more than he did. I do appreciate him basically admitting he was hosting the show for no reason and how he, unlike Baldwin, managed to actually make a shoehorned in Black Panther reference actually funny. C-

The Grabbies - This felt like it had a derivative premise that wore thin pretty quickly. I don't know if impersonations of real life celebrities would've improved this at all, but I'll say I would've liked to have seen them. Pete, Kenan, Aidy & Barkley had the best parts. I'm guessing this was written by Cecily, Sudi Green and Anna Drezen. C-

Neds' Roach Away - This actually had a funny premise and something about Barkleys' performance actually added to it. Still, I think they could've taken it a bit further. I think Che may have written this as it appears to be the same short film he posted behind the scenes footage of in his Instagram stories because the set looks exactly the same. B-

Homework Hotline - This was incredibly juvenile but really only Barkley and Aidy could make it watchable. The periodic table and static electricity bits made me laugh the most. I'm sure Day and Seidell wrote this. C-

The Champions - This sketch was very funny due mostly to Kenans' performance. It really picked up once Kenan started mentioning which of his body parts were fake. I also laughed at "Every Kiss Beguns With Q" but that billboard/underwear joke felt a little too telegraphed to me. The A-Rod cameo seemed a little too tacked on to me but its' nice to see him finally make it onto SNL considering he spent the last several years of his career with the Yankees. My biggest criticism of this sketch is that the way it was written and structured made it seem like the sports version of Debette Golden but that didn't necessarily hamper it.  B-

Update was pretty inconsistent tonight. Che had quite a few well written jokes but his delivery dragged them down. Jost had great jokes on Kushner/Bannon, arming teachers and Ghandi's letter. As soon as Jost mentioned her name, I was fully expecting Cecily to play Hope Hicks. At least they put some effort into the look that they couldn't afford to after the last live show as I understand they switched to her from Natalie Portman playing her in the cold open. I thought the personal dedications at the end of her letter were the highlight. Besides that, it felt like I was watching a less preachy rewrite of her Stormy Daniels commentary from a month and a half ago. Kyles' commentary may have been the funniest thing in the entire show. It's nice to see a cast member besides Pete or Leslie (especially one with Kyles' comedic sensibilities) play themselves on Weekend Update. Speaking of Leslie, her Olympic recap wasn'the all that distinguishable from the Olympic reports she posted on social media. The only thing that stood out to me were the "penalty box" jokes. I suppose its' natural that an NBC show like SNL would want to get an Olympic Gold Medal winner to make a guest appearance after the fact but the Hillary cameo didn't do anything for me. B-

Hump or Dump - This waa about the second funniest segment of the night if you're in the mood for some very light, low level gallows humor. This is a sketch that only Barkley and Aidy opposite each other could make funny let alone endearing. Kenan, Chris and Alex were serviceable in their roles. Kudos to Melissa for getting a decent laugh out of me with her one line but I feel bad for her for this being her first appearance of the night. My only complaint about this would be that it seemed a little rushed in execution. B-

Repair Site - This sketch seemed like it was a more interesting premise on paper but it seemed a little too thin and wordy when performed. Still, I enjoyed it and my only real suggestion would have been to give Beck a few more lines leading up to his final speech. It reminded me a lot of the sketch from last seasons' Chris Pine hosted episode where a group of garage mechanics talk about RuPauls' Drag Race. I seriously have to wonder if both of those sketches were written by the same writers? C-

Last Call VII - This may have been the shortest Sheila Sovage sketch ever written. That's actually a good thing seeing as Barkley being Kates' "love" interest seemed like a better idea on paper until we saw how stiff he played his part. The funniest thing he did was almost break character when the Lady Speed Stick and dentist tools were busted out. Plus, I think they were expecting a bigger reaction from that crown/toilet joke that they didn't get for some strange reason. I waa thinking how they might have been better off saving this sketch fir two weeks frim now when Bill Hader returns to host but if Barkley couldn't get through it without break8ng just a tiny bit, Hader doesn't even stand a chance. Still, I have to say this sketch featured the best Kenan reactions of all time. I wonder how they actually pulled off him turning to stone since there seemed to be a delay that was longer than they were expecting? Also, did anyone else get the impression that Kate may be leaving this season and only the show knows right now so they wrote this specifically to be the last one of these sketches ever? I'd bet if that were really the case there may be a whole season worth of speculation leading up to this point like there was with previous cat members. C+

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

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

5. Charles Barkley/Migos

6. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

7. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

8. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

9. Saoirse Ronan/U2

10 Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

12. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

13. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

14. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was a bit of a letdown but it had its moments for those willing to look for them. Next week, Sterling K. Brown makes his hosting debut. I figured it wouldn't be too long at this point before a cast member from "This Is Us" would host the show. It seems to be NBCs' biggest hit right now and the episode that aired after the Superbowl garnered a lot of strong buzz, so its' at least natural that NBC would push Lorne to get one of its stars to host. I'm sure SNL thought that Sterling would be a much better choice for host than Mandy Moore, Christy Metz or Milo Ventimiglia. I don't know him from much else besides "This Is Us" or "Black Panther" so I get the sense he is known more for dramatic roles than comedic ones. However, he seemed to express a lot of excitement on social media when they announced he would be hosting so at the very least he should be a game host (like Barkley usually was) who would gel with the cast and be up for just about anything. As long as the writers don't continue to rest on their laurels, this should be a fine show. See you then!