Okay, here's my review. This show was pretty uneven, but still enjoyable. There were strong moments and weak moments that were spread throught the show on quite the scattershot fashion. Sandra Oh was a strong host whose performances really saved quite a few sketches so I wouldn't mind seeing her back again on the show. The whole cast seemed to get plenty of airtime tonight. Leslie and Pete only seemed to get one appearance each but this was a particularly strong night for Beck, Kyle and Ego in particular. Anyway, it was a pretty straightforward episode so let's break it down, shall we?
Muller, Barr, Trump & Gullianni - Well, it was pretty much a given that DeNiro (and probably Baldwin) would be in the building tonight but Aidy as AG Barr really threw me for a loop as I thought they established last month that Beck would be playing him. Oh well, I can't really complain about that since her and Kate's performances were the only thing breathing any life into this cold open (as much as I'm on the fence about Kate's Gulliani...who I didn't notice being in the news enough to warrant an appearance here). D+
Monologue - I wasn't sure what this monologue was going for at first but it allowed the show to really pick up some steam and gave the show some fun energy with an assist from Leslie. I didn't know Sandra Oh was actually Canadian so I'm glad to see that the personal fact about her that they picked to base most of this monologue around was a surprising revelation. It actually reminded me a bit of James Coburn's monologue from 1982 where he taught a then 20 year old Eddie Murphy how to confidently and authoritatively order drinks at that night's afterparty. B-
The Mind Of Jordan Peele For Discover - I haven't actually seen "Us" yet, but have read about it a bit (and compared to "Get Out" which I have seen, it seems to be getting some mixed reviews along with Peeles' rebooted "Twilight Zone" which is disappointing as I'd hate to see Jordan Peele turn into the next M. Night Shyamalan) but I do appreciate how the jokes weren't so inside that you needed to have seen "Us" to recognize that this was, in fact, a parody of "Us". Kudos to Kenan & Ego for really disappearing into their parts. B+
Firing Jussie - Well, at first it seemed like SNL was going to step a little further out of their comfort zone than normal to satirize Jussie Smollett but the whole bit didn't seem that original. Chris's performance was the best thing about it. They seemed to just expand on the one Jussie Smollett joke they wrote for that legal Shark Tank sketch they did when John Mulaney hosted almost a whole month ago now. Thankfully, they kept this short and to the point without milking it for all it was worth. C+
The Duel - This felt a little odd too. After all, the main joke was a woman getting shot repeatedly by a few ricocheting bullets. Still, I liked the Pyhtonesque vibe to this and the humor picked up after a bit since everyone was so damn committed to this one. Plus, it also got in, got its' jokes and got right out. B-
Tishy - This was definitely the funniest live segment of the night. Another obvious Day/Seidell penned piece, this pretty much felt like Boo Boo Jeffries and the Black Unicorn sketch from Tiffany Haddishs' show was put on a blender with the hot dog/poster sketch from Emma Stones' last episode. I liked Mikey's increased exasperation as Alex, Beck and Sandra reveal more absurd and outlandish details of his future to him. Sandra seemed to have fun with such a silly character but I have a strong feeling that this was actually written for Awkwafina earlier this season and got cut from dress rehearsal. B+
Kremlin Meeting - This sketch seemed to have a unique flipped viewpoint on the whole Russia situation from these past couple of years even if it took a second to establish what that take actually was. It was nice to see Becks' Putin fully clothed for the first time in two-and-a-half years and Cecily definitely does the best Russian accent out of this cast with Alex coming in a close second. When I saw this sketch being set up during the commercial bumper, I got a little worried at the initial sight of what I thought was Beck dressed as Kim Jong Un jogging around the set. (Hell, now that I think about it...I'm surprised no one really complained about Bobby Moynihan or Amy Poehler playing each of North Koreas' previous two dear leaders.) I was relieved to hear his Putin again and to be instantly reassured that yes, SNL does at least know better than to do that. Bowen Yang fit in to the role perfectly (perhaps he wrote this, as well?) and this sketch made a clever use of Sandra. B-
Update was pretty consistent all around. Josts' material was pretty much as tepid as he's been lately but Che had a lot of strong jokes (he was particularly spot on with his "toxic optimism" rant). I liked seeing Cecilys' more fleshed out Judge Pirro return. I especially liked her explaining who her biggest fans are. Still, it felt a little strange seeing her do this impression after reading that the real Pirro had to postpone her Fox News return this week due to a major family emergency. I was sure they'll get torn apart in the right wing media sphere for this one until I went back and read that she only ended up having to cancel an appearance on Hannitys' show and that her regular Saturday night prime time program was actually back on that night. (why they chose to only put her on Saturday nights I may never understand). Aidys female spacewalk suit was funny. She probably cowrote this with Anna Drezen or Sudi Green or one of the other female writers since it was definitely written in her voice. This also made good use of Beck and Melissa on Update. For some reason, I was half expecting Leslie to do this commentary because she was one of a few female celebrities who recently complained about not being able to find a designer to dress her for a red carpet event. It makes just as much sense that Aidy ended up doing this instead since in the lead up to her "Shrill" debut and an apparent fashion line she herself was starting, she has spoken out about the pathetically low standards of what constitutes fashion for plus-sized women. I was a little surprised there was no Braun Strowman appearance or even mention of Jost & Ches' upcoming Wrestlemania appearance. I guess that's next weekend? B+
Office Kiss - This was enjoyable for the sheer unexpected silliness followed by sudden depth of it. I also liked Sandras' commitment and Beck being the only one who is into this. One thing that disappointed me was the realization that Kate uses pretty much the same voice for every octogenarian role she plays. C+
Cheques - This felt like a fun dramatic throwback to season 42. Nice to see Julio Torres still occasionally writes for the show (or if not him, I'm guessing Eli Coyote Mandell or Bowen Yang) may have written this. B-
Electric Shoes - This felt like a bad, mind numbing type of throwback to the type of stupefyingly pointless sketch the show would do back in either season 39, 35, 36, 30 or possibly even 20. I'm left disappointed and stunned as I sit here and wonder how the hell this made it even past the pitch meeting let alone on the air. The only thing even resembling a joke in this was Kyle mentioning how Kenan "blew out one of his balls". Another thing I noticed here was how suspiciously similar the song/sketch here is to "What Up With That?" I'm sure this was written by the same people which begs the question of whether or not we are getting this instead of an actual final "What's Up With That?" if this is indeed Kenans final season and the finale on May 18 is indeed his last show? Do they already know that Sukekis, Hader and Armisen will be too busy elsewhere for the next few months? D-
SAT 2 - This also felt like the type of sketch SNL has done quite a few times before but in more recent, less justifiably maligned seasons. I'm guessing whoever did write this had just been watching "My So-Called Life" recently. I did like how strongly Sandra played off of everyone as the straight woman. Kate seemed to just be doing her Justin Beiber but more subdued. Kyle had the best part in this which was obvious because even he almost broke (which is an absolute rarity for him). C-
Now for my updated rankings of this season...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Idris Elba/Khalid
8. Halsey
9. Sandra Oh/Tame Impala
10. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
11. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
12. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
13. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
14. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
15. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
16. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was another episode that certainly didn't defy any expectations of mine. Next week, Kit "Jon Snow" Harrington makes his hosting debut. Who knows how he will handle doing comedy for possibly the first time in his career? I also have to say that I think if Bobby Moynihan were ever going to make any brief guest cameos after leaving the show on his own terms (as his castmate Vanessa Bayer had done roughly one year ago) that this would be the week for him to do so. I say this because Bobby always seemed to be a huge GoT nerd because he always seemed to participate when SNL did any of their many parodies of this show over the years and probably cowrote them with the likes of Day/Seidell & Kelly/Schneider. It's probably a long shot at this point given how he and his seemingly like minded friend Taran said they felt working on their respective last seasons of the show but they could still surprise us (and Moynihan seems like he may not hold as much animosity toward the show). See you then!
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Idris Elba/Khalid (3.9.2019)
Okay, here's my review. After last week's show with John Mulaney hosting, my expectations were considerably lowered. Thankfully, this episode just barely went above them as there were a few ways it was different from what I was expecting. For the most part, it seemed like the writers wanted to see if they could do another show full of mostly original heavily premised based sketches. They couldn't quite pull it off at the level of Mulaney or those of his ilk as they may not have his keen attention to detail but the results were impressive nonetheless since they made up for it with a distinct lack of political and recurring material (they must have thought this was a slow week for the hard news, huh?) Idris Elba was a serviceable host, but he came off as far less polished as other recent hosts. I wouldn't mind seeing him host again because I'd like to see him do better each time. One thing about his performances that stood out to me was how he mostly stuck to just disguising his own British accent with a generic all purpose American one as opposed to how other accented hosts (James McAvoy in particular) tried to take on several different regional American dialects. As far as airtime goes, it seems like this episode was pretty much dominated by the female cast members and especially the African American sketch players (which is good since these things are always fun to see and end up being what we all root for and expect anyway when a woman or a black person does host when the show gets new black featured players) with the occasional assists from Mikey, Pete, Beck and Alex. Meanwhile, Kyle Mooney was pretty much absent from the show except for the good nights since his latest filmed piece got cut. Anyway, let's break this down, shall we?
Gayle King Interviews R. Kelly - Well, I have to say I find it refreshing that SNL appears to be taking baby steps toward a pro-Trump administration era state of normalcy by doing a pop culture themed cold open rather than a political one. Seriously, it has to have been since at least season 40 since they've done a non political cold open. Sadly, the fact that this was a non political SNL cold open in 2019 was the best thing about it. The only jokes that stood out to me were the camera gag involving Beck, R. Kelly naming his song titles as "clues", the "jail king" line and the wrong way facing LFNY tag. Everything else about this seemed a little too milquetoast for me. The frequent "Trapped In The Drive Th...uh, Closet, excuse me" callbacks were nice but they should've been a bigger buildup to something. I think the biggest thing keeping me from getting into this was how they gave the lead roles to Leslie and Kenan rather than Chris and Ego. Even Redds' appearance as R. Kellys' "crisis manager" didn't do too much for me. Kenan undoubtedly gave it his all but still seemed a bit miscast as R. Kelly. Still, I suspect this cold open (and almost all this episode now that I think about it) might have been given to him as a bit of an early going away present if this is indeed his last season. C+
Monologue - Given how little I actually seemed to know about Idris Elbas' actual career, I appreciated that he used his monologue to tell us how he got started in show business and explain his connection (however tenuous it may be) to the New York comedy scene. He may not have had as much obsession with or Nerdy love for the show as other hosts who have done solo, sincere monologues (Awkwafina, Seth, Momoa, Damon, Halsey) but nonetheless he showed us why he belonged here tonight. B+
Can I Play That? - I appreciate the low key conceptual nature of this sketch, but it looked like it lost focus somewhere in the middle as it attempted to break down the current state of movies and pop culture. Overall, it just seemed a little scattershot in execution. I wonder if Che had a hand in writing this? It seems to have shades of his humor in it. Obviously, the Twitter jabs and Idris Elba acknowledging his own false James Bond rumors from the Sony email hack (one of two things I previously remember him from for some strange reason) were the stand out material. C+
Bok Boks' - I certainly hope "sketches referencing the hot real life internet meme/moral panic of the week" doesn't become too much of a recurring feature. That bring said, this was OK even if this was a strange way of working in a Momo reference if they absolutely felt they had to for whatever reason. I appreciate Kate (and especially her makeup teams') solid commitment to her role. The highlight was Kate scaring Heidi out of her car in the drive thru. C+
Microsoft PowerPoint Seminar - This turned out to be the funniest live sketch of the night. I especially liked how, for the first time in quite a long time, they actually wrote a sketch for Kate that played to her best qualities as a cast member and let her purely just act in it rather than just trying to fit her into the mold of a political figure again. I loved how increasingly absurd and borderline dadaist their slideshow was and their laundry list of dumb confessions at the end. Leslie, Idris and Mikey were solid supporting players here. A-
The Impossible Hulk - This was the strongest taped segment of the night. Cecily did well in the type of role she usually excels at and Idris, Ego, Chris and particularly Melissa played very well off of her. The premise may have seemed a little like a concept that had been explored before elsewhere but it was executed very well in a taped sketch format with this cast. A-
The Gold Diggers Of The WNBA - This was a little lighter on laughs, but I still appreciate the premise based nature of it and the explanation of every small detail and character aspect. Still, it may have spent too much time explaining itself to be that entertaining. At one point early on, Kenan and Idris seemed to be playing exact crosses between Lavar Ball and Kings Of Comedy era Steve Harvey and Cecily seemed like she was just doing a very precise Melissa Villaseñor impression. Plus, the ending felt a little too predictable. I have a feeling Che and/or Bryan Tucker helped write this. C-
Update was all over the place tonight. I definitely liked the political stuff they led off with tonight more than I did from previous Updates this season mostly because this week, Update was shockingly the first point in the show where politics was mentioned so it at least felt like a semi fresh take. Plus, Jost seemed quite animated throughout and Che at times seemed tired and almost like he was just getting over a cold. They had a lot of good jokes, but a lot of them bordered on intentionally dark Norm MacDonald like territory. It seemed like they were going more for groans and just general crowd reactions than pure laughs. I really didn't need to see Heidi's Goop spokeswoman even the first time (which somehow felt less one-note than tonight) but I'll admit Gwennyth Paltrow herself showing up was this piece's one redeeming value. I know she's an established friend of the show at this point (three-time host and all) but it's at least admirable to me that someone as seemingly out of touch with all of reality AND humanity as Ms. Paltrow can see the humor in her ridiculous low-grade pyramid scheme masquerading as a "lifestyle brand" and could somehow be persuaded into poking even some light fun at herself over it. Pete delivered a solid and well thought out commentary on society's case by case wavering abilities to separate certain artists from their art (as it pertained to other artists besides Kanye this time) and even his additional statement on the age difference in his current relationship was funny. Speaking of which, did anyone else get the feeling Kate Beckinsale was going to also come out in person based on the crowds' reactions to Jost prodding him to talk about her? I guess I just like seeing and hearing about Pete the most when he's contributing something to the show that isn't directly based on his personal life rather than just putting said personal life out on display in the tabloids. It's refreshing to be reminded that going on SNL and saying stuff on Weekend Update once in a while is what helped him get to that point in his life before said life of his just morphed a symbiotic codependent relationship between standup and fame. Leslie's commentary was very engaging and funny. I'm glad she addressed the fact that she was sitting opposite Che instead of Jost for the first time because it also threw me for a bit of a loop. I guess both tonight's Update and the cold open both show signs that SNL is slowly returning to it's Season 40 pre-Trump era roots by having Leslie and Pete dominate the guest commentary portion of Update. B
Sky Sports - As simple and straightforward as this premise was, it got better as it went along. Mikey and Alex played roles that are sort of becoming tropes for them.on the show and Idris flourished in the one sketch of the night that required him to hide his natural Britishness the least. I have a feeling that whoever wrote the hockey sketch from Chance The Rapper's episode last season may have also written this. It also reminded me of the SportsCenter sketch from Ray Romanos first episode almost 20 years ago. B-
The Amazing Rudolpho - While this sketch was entertaining in how strongly performed it was, it felt like it stalled a little too much before revealing it's true premise/punchline at the very end and didn't take it's extremes far enough. Still, it was quite a strong piece for Leslie and Kenan. C+
Karate Actor - This was a strong piece to end the show on. Beck really sprinted away with it. Becks' general adolescent-ness and disappointment barely concealed by badly feigned enthusiasm filtered through manic energy really made this for me. Idris was a great supporting player. The only thing this sketch had going against it was it's lack of an ending. I feel like this sketch was supposed to have an actual conclusion (maybe a series of spinning newspaper headlines and magazine covers showing Becks' rise to fame as an action star specializing in dumb karate moves?) that had to be cut for time possibly because some small thing during Update or a mildly botched line or two here or there made the show run seconds long? B+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Idris Elba/Khalid
8. Halsey
9. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
10. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
11. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
12. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
13. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
14. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
15. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Idris Elba/Khalid
8. Halsey
9. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
10. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
11. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
12. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
13. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
14. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
15. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that show came and went. In three weeks, Sandra Oh makes her hosting debut. I guess her cohosting the Golden Globes with Andy Samberg was as good an indication as any that she is ready to start transitioning toward comedy after years of serious acting? Still, kudos to SNL on taking enough risks to end up with two Asian-American women as hosts in the same season. See you then!
Sunday, March 3, 2019
John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett (3.2.2019)
Okay, here's my review. This was honestly the best show of the season at this point. It was even better than Mulaneys' show from last season by quite a lot. I mean, I was expecting Mulaneys' second show to be quite similar to his first in terms of substance. I was expecting another show full of more fun, creative and unique sketches coming from a very detail oriented comedy writer's perspective. This show gave us that and so much more. Everyone got their chances to shine but Mikey, Leslie and Ego felt like they were put on the back burner a bit more since they were featured slightly less than everybody else. Let's just jump right in because this was a particularly densely packed episode.
Michael Cohen Hearing - Aside from one major thing, this was mostly what everyone who keeps up with the hard news was expecting them to do. I was also expecting this to mostly be an unremarkable boiler plate by-the-numbers rewrite of the Kavanaugh hearing from the season premiere but they actually added more to this one and kept it at what felt like a more reasonable length. Stiller pretty much went through his motions here. Like always, he was serviceable as Cohen but his presence was no surprise. His checks and letters presented as evidence were the best part of his testimony. Also, this seems like a weird place for them to try and work in Khloe Kardashian and Natalie Imbruglia jokes. Kenan was a solid anchor as Elijah Cummings and had his share of funny lines. Bill Hader (in a role most people probably expected Mikey Day to be cast in) clearly sprinted away with this and Kyle "Mr. Malapropism" Mooney came in a close second. Kate, Heidi, Alex and Ego did a fine job bringing up the rear. I sincerely wished Melissa's AOC could've been a slightly bigger part of this. If nothing else, this sketch made me realize that both episodes Mulaney has now hosted have both had Ben Stiller playing Michael Cohen (in lieu of Baldwin's Trump) in them as he made his debut in the role in Mulaneys' first episode last season. A-
Monologue - Mulaney really led with his strongest material here. This was much better than his first monologue from last year (and even that one has grown on me more in recent viewings). The only part of this monologue I didn't really care for was the bit about police sirens. Otherwise, everything worked for me. B+
What's That Name? III - Although I personally would've been fine with this being left back in season 36 from whence it came (I didn't even know Mulaney wrote it until just recently) I do appreciate how they substantially change a good portion if it each of the three times they have recurred it so far. Last time, we found out that Lady Gaga remembers literally EVERYONE she has ever met. This time, we take a step back as Haders' host forces us all to confront our own deeply ingrained borderline mysogynist gender biases (which I suppose might be the only way this sketch could make it to air again in 2019). Fortunately, this sketch is immediately saved by Mulaneys' writing skills and Haders' effortlessly commanding performance as the latter gives us a deeper look into his characters' life and inner psyche. A-
Toilet Death Ejector - This is as close to a "blackout" sketch as the show seems to be willing to get in this day and age. Still, for all it's intricacies that was what served it well. This just got in, fully explained its premise in as much details as timing would allow and got out with it's dignity intact. Another filmed piece that set itself up and executed itself flawlessly. B+
Shark Tank: Legal Edition - Wow, there's certainly a lot to unpack here. First off, Pete & Mulaney were surprisingly competent choices to play Avenatti & Dershowitz mostly going solely on the latters' voice and the formers' undiscovered until just this week facial resemblance alone. This was also a good way to use Cecilys' Judge Pirro and Kate's Gullianni. I'm guessing Cellino & Barnes are just local New York attorneys as SNL and other topical New York based late night shows (definitely Stephen Colbert, probably Seth Meyers, maybe Trevor Noah) are the only places I ever hear them mentioned anywhere. Becks' Robert Kraft was accurate and got some laughs and I'm almost impressed they found a way to tactfully dance around the Jussie Smollett controversy. I did like how this managed to be topical without having a whole lot to do with the Trump White House. Overall, this somehow manages to be both the second best and second worst Shark Tank parody the show has ever done. I'd say they're still 1 for 3. B-
The Unknown Caller - While I'm still not sure "Chad" is a character that needed to be bought back, I do appreciate how they place him in different settings and situations for him to blunder his way out of unscathed like he's the Road Runner. I liked John's Saw/Scream/Momo/Crispin Glover hybrid character and how the moronic and increasingly obnoxious Chad was physically and mentally unfazed by him and his actions. C+
Cha-Cha Slide - This sketch was quite hard to get a read on. It seemed more interested in laying out it's own environment and giving us every relevant characters' back story than making it's main premise clear. Fortunately, if you gave it a chance it became clear enough that the literal song and dance wasn't going to be the main joke and that the sketch was going to be about a white man who knows much more about black people than he let's on to his black fiance. Speaking of which, nice to find they've found another substantial, fleshed out lead role for Ego. Considering he did the "Horns" sketch with Luke Null last year, Mulaney must have an affinity for taking first year featured players who may be struggling to get on under his wing and helping to write sketches that showcase them. Speaking of which, this was something I have a feeling Bryan Tucker and/or Michael Che had a hand in writing. B+
Update was pretty solid given most people's very suddenly heightened expectations. Che and Jost certainly led with their best foot forward. All of their jokes landed but they had some strong material on the Cohen hearing and the Trump/Kim summit. Plus, Ches' joke about the murderer released from prison sounds exactly like a joke Norm would've done. It may not have been a good sign that they were okay with just airing an extended montage of Trumps' wild CPAC speech with minimal commentary of their own. I mean, I know that speech itself WAS a joke and there's only so much they even could've written about it considering it happened that same day, but still. I wasn't too crazy about Kate and Aidys' commentary at first but I got more into it once I saw and processed how intricately conceptual it was and it regained it's focus. Did it remind anyone else of the final sketch of Rob Lowe's first episode in 1990 where Jon Lovitz plays the owner of a fur store explaining how all the animals died of humane natural causes? Anyway, I'm sure most people were excited to see a new Stefon sketch once they noticed both Hader AND Mulaney were in the building and then slightly disappointed to NOT see it but I personally think that bit is best saved for just when Hader hosts as tonight was more Mulaneys' big night than his. B-
Bodega Bathroom - Well, I definitely thought "Diner Lobster" definitely worked best as a one-off concept. I didn't expect Mulaney & Jost to even write a spiritual sequel to it. Since they did, I'm at least glad that they came to the conclusion that they needed to up the ante and further build up on the concept this time. I definitely liked this one a lot better than "Diner Lobster" for a few reasons. The premise was more outrageous (or just seemed that way given the subject matter) and rather than just parody one or two specific songs from "Les Mis" this was a parody mashup of various different numbers from "Cats", "Willy Wonka", "Little Shop Of Horrors" and even "Rent" for some reason. This was the most entertaining way that Mulaney and most of the more musically inclined members of this cast have all allowed themselves to indulge their inner high school theater geeks in the show yet. Part if me wonders whether or not this was another sketch that Mulaney wrote around 2010 that bombed at the table read that they let him resurrect but the other part of me realizes he probably didn't have the confidence to even write another one of those sketches until they let him do "Diner Lobster" on the show last time he hosted and it became a buzzworthy smash hit online. B+
Cinema Classics: To Have And Have Not - Well, this is a recurring bit we haven't seen in at least three years, IIRC. Kenan and Mulaney were pretty solid here and Kate was really committed as usual. Plus, this was more focused than these Reese De'What helmed sketches usually are. Still, it felt a little inconsistent because Kate went all over the place the longer it went on. At times it was funny but at other times Kate seemed to be indulging in her less desirable tendencies as a performer. In fact, this seemed like something that was originally written for Wiig when Mulaney still worked on the show that somehow got cut at dress. Then again, I could see this playing well enough in any live setting that they would want to make sure this got on the air. Speaking of which, if Kenan had an outtro to this, it must've gotten cut for time at the last minute because this show was obviously running quite long. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Halsey
8. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
9. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
10. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
11. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
12. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
13. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
14. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was a breath of fresh air. Next week, Idris Elba makes his hosting debut. No doubt if you still have any expectations for this one, they've certainly just been lowered considerably. Idris Elba feels like the third in a series of Male hosts this season who are mostly known for either dramatic or action filled roles whose sense of humor and comedic timing we are unable to gauge going in. Still, the previous two hosts of this ilk (Liev Schreiber & Jason Momoa specifically) had admitted to being fans with a fair amount of affection for the show so let's hope Idris Elba can follow suit in that regard because it will really help the show. See you then!
Michael Cohen Hearing - Aside from one major thing, this was mostly what everyone who keeps up with the hard news was expecting them to do. I was also expecting this to mostly be an unremarkable boiler plate by-the-numbers rewrite of the Kavanaugh hearing from the season premiere but they actually added more to this one and kept it at what felt like a more reasonable length. Stiller pretty much went through his motions here. Like always, he was serviceable as Cohen but his presence was no surprise. His checks and letters presented as evidence were the best part of his testimony. Also, this seems like a weird place for them to try and work in Khloe Kardashian and Natalie Imbruglia jokes. Kenan was a solid anchor as Elijah Cummings and had his share of funny lines. Bill Hader (in a role most people probably expected Mikey Day to be cast in) clearly sprinted away with this and Kyle "Mr. Malapropism" Mooney came in a close second. Kate, Heidi, Alex and Ego did a fine job bringing up the rear. I sincerely wished Melissa's AOC could've been a slightly bigger part of this. If nothing else, this sketch made me realize that both episodes Mulaney has now hosted have both had Ben Stiller playing Michael Cohen (in lieu of Baldwin's Trump) in them as he made his debut in the role in Mulaneys' first episode last season. A-
Monologue - Mulaney really led with his strongest material here. This was much better than his first monologue from last year (and even that one has grown on me more in recent viewings). The only part of this monologue I didn't really care for was the bit about police sirens. Otherwise, everything worked for me. B+
What's That Name? III - Although I personally would've been fine with this being left back in season 36 from whence it came (I didn't even know Mulaney wrote it until just recently) I do appreciate how they substantially change a good portion if it each of the three times they have recurred it so far. Last time, we found out that Lady Gaga remembers literally EVERYONE she has ever met. This time, we take a step back as Haders' host forces us all to confront our own deeply ingrained borderline mysogynist gender biases (which I suppose might be the only way this sketch could make it to air again in 2019). Fortunately, this sketch is immediately saved by Mulaneys' writing skills and Haders' effortlessly commanding performance as the latter gives us a deeper look into his characters' life and inner psyche. A-
Toilet Death Ejector - This is as close to a "blackout" sketch as the show seems to be willing to get in this day and age. Still, for all it's intricacies that was what served it well. This just got in, fully explained its premise in as much details as timing would allow and got out with it's dignity intact. Another filmed piece that set itself up and executed itself flawlessly. B+
Shark Tank: Legal Edition - Wow, there's certainly a lot to unpack here. First off, Pete & Mulaney were surprisingly competent choices to play Avenatti & Dershowitz mostly going solely on the latters' voice and the formers' undiscovered until just this week facial resemblance alone. This was also a good way to use Cecilys' Judge Pirro and Kate's Gullianni. I'm guessing Cellino & Barnes are just local New York attorneys as SNL and other topical New York based late night shows (definitely Stephen Colbert, probably Seth Meyers, maybe Trevor Noah) are the only places I ever hear them mentioned anywhere. Becks' Robert Kraft was accurate and got some laughs and I'm almost impressed they found a way to tactfully dance around the Jussie Smollett controversy. I did like how this managed to be topical without having a whole lot to do with the Trump White House. Overall, this somehow manages to be both the second best and second worst Shark Tank parody the show has ever done. I'd say they're still 1 for 3. B-
The Unknown Caller - While I'm still not sure "Chad" is a character that needed to be bought back, I do appreciate how they place him in different settings and situations for him to blunder his way out of unscathed like he's the Road Runner. I liked John's Saw/Scream/Momo/Crispin Glover hybrid character and how the moronic and increasingly obnoxious Chad was physically and mentally unfazed by him and his actions. C+
Cha-Cha Slide - This sketch was quite hard to get a read on. It seemed more interested in laying out it's own environment and giving us every relevant characters' back story than making it's main premise clear. Fortunately, if you gave it a chance it became clear enough that the literal song and dance wasn't going to be the main joke and that the sketch was going to be about a white man who knows much more about black people than he let's on to his black fiance. Speaking of which, nice to find they've found another substantial, fleshed out lead role for Ego. Considering he did the "Horns" sketch with Luke Null last year, Mulaney must have an affinity for taking first year featured players who may be struggling to get on under his wing and helping to write sketches that showcase them. Speaking of which, this was something I have a feeling Bryan Tucker and/or Michael Che had a hand in writing. B+
Update was pretty solid given most people's very suddenly heightened expectations. Che and Jost certainly led with their best foot forward. All of their jokes landed but they had some strong material on the Cohen hearing and the Trump/Kim summit. Plus, Ches' joke about the murderer released from prison sounds exactly like a joke Norm would've done. It may not have been a good sign that they were okay with just airing an extended montage of Trumps' wild CPAC speech with minimal commentary of their own. I mean, I know that speech itself WAS a joke and there's only so much they even could've written about it considering it happened that same day, but still. I wasn't too crazy about Kate and Aidys' commentary at first but I got more into it once I saw and processed how intricately conceptual it was and it regained it's focus. Did it remind anyone else of the final sketch of Rob Lowe's first episode in 1990 where Jon Lovitz plays the owner of a fur store explaining how all the animals died of humane natural causes? Anyway, I'm sure most people were excited to see a new Stefon sketch once they noticed both Hader AND Mulaney were in the building and then slightly disappointed to NOT see it but I personally think that bit is best saved for just when Hader hosts as tonight was more Mulaneys' big night than his. B-
Bodega Bathroom - Well, I definitely thought "Diner Lobster" definitely worked best as a one-off concept. I didn't expect Mulaney & Jost to even write a spiritual sequel to it. Since they did, I'm at least glad that they came to the conclusion that they needed to up the ante and further build up on the concept this time. I definitely liked this one a lot better than "Diner Lobster" for a few reasons. The premise was more outrageous (or just seemed that way given the subject matter) and rather than just parody one or two specific songs from "Les Mis" this was a parody mashup of various different numbers from "Cats", "Willy Wonka", "Little Shop Of Horrors" and even "Rent" for some reason. This was the most entertaining way that Mulaney and most of the more musically inclined members of this cast have all allowed themselves to indulge their inner high school theater geeks in the show yet. Part if me wonders whether or not this was another sketch that Mulaney wrote around 2010 that bombed at the table read that they let him resurrect but the other part of me realizes he probably didn't have the confidence to even write another one of those sketches until they let him do "Diner Lobster" on the show last time he hosted and it became a buzzworthy smash hit online. B+
Cinema Classics: To Have And Have Not - Well, this is a recurring bit we haven't seen in at least three years, IIRC. Kenan and Mulaney were pretty solid here and Kate was really committed as usual. Plus, this was more focused than these Reese De'What helmed sketches usually are. Still, it felt a little inconsistent because Kate went all over the place the longer it went on. At times it was funny but at other times Kate seemed to be indulging in her less desirable tendencies as a performer. In fact, this seemed like something that was originally written for Wiig when Mulaney still worked on the show that somehow got cut at dress. Then again, I could see this playing well enough in any live setting that they would want to make sure this got on the air. Speaking of which, if Kenan had an outtro to this, it must've gotten cut for time at the last minute because this show was obviously running quite long. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Halsey
8. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
9. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
10. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
11. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
12. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
13. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
14. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was a breath of fresh air. Next week, Idris Elba makes his hosting debut. No doubt if you still have any expectations for this one, they've certainly just been lowered considerably. Idris Elba feels like the third in a series of Male hosts this season who are mostly known for either dramatic or action filled roles whose sense of humor and comedic timing we are unable to gauge going in. Still, the previous two hosts of this ilk (Liev Schreiber & Jason Momoa specifically) had admitted to being fans with a fair amount of affection for the show so let's hope Idris Elba can follow suit in that regard because it will really help the show. See you then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)