John Mulaney/David Byrne (2.29.2020)

Okay, here's my review. This struck me as the type of episode that looks better in comparison to the rest of this season but not so much when compared to Mulaney's previous episodes. He was still a welcome premise and a solid host but it felt like a typical modern episode of the show with Mulaney just dragged-and-dropped in as host (Mulaney having to further postpone a standup gig in Canada he had tonight to host at Lornes' possibly last minute request probably has a lot to do with that). The fact that I can't immediately point to something as being a possible dress cut Mulaney dug up from his time as a staff writer or a piece he championed as a showcase for this season's most underused featured player (which would obviously be Chloe at this point but at least she got her own showcase in the previous episode) indicates that there's barely enough of Mulaney's comedic tone of voice throughout the show for it to hold a candle to his previous episodes (I also know that specific singular unilateral quality is what some people dislike about Mulaney's episodes but hey, to each their own). Plus, looking back over some of the sketches they did it just seems like they just plopped him into a lot of this season's recurring premises he had nothing to do with writing or conceiving thus wasting his talents. Aside from that, cast airtime was pretty uneven. Mikey, Heidi, Alex, Bowen and Ego were barely in anything while Melissa was shut out of the show entirely (gee, Mulaney wasn't THAT hurt by the impression she did of him on social media this week, was he?) Chloe only had a couple of small speaking parts but hey, I'm sure that's a major step up for her. Everyone seemed to dominate the show to different degrees, but let's break it down, shall we?

Coronavirus Press Conference - Well, what this cold pen says to me (besides just "Baldwin and Sudekis weren't available this week) is that the cast and writers must've had so much fun writing original sketches with Mulaney that writing this weeks obligatory political cold open felt like even more of a slog than usual so they really had to rush this one. I do like how they went slightly outside of the box with this one by just assembling almost all the cameos regular viewers might be expecting for a Democratic Debate sketch at this point but placing them in a sketch parodying last night's White House Press Conference instead. They sprung those cameos on us at the exact moment when we would expect them the least. Speaking of the things I least expected, I'm not sure Mulaney as Biden worked for me but thankfully he had some decent lines and his part in the sketch was fairly small. Plus, I could tell adding anyone as Biden was a VERY last minute addition since they heavily referenced his victory in the South Carolina primary from hours ago that same night. As much as I tire of seeing Fred Armisen on SNL, I know I have to get used to it seeing as the looming inane face of Mike Bloomberg is still watching over this election. Plus, with Mulaney hosting it feels somewhat appropriate since he seemed to really like writing for both him and Hader during his time on the show. Of course, it's always nice to see Rachel Dratch and Larry David again even if they don't have much that stays with you after their sketch is over. Honestly, the true highlight of this sketch was Kenan as Ben Carson. Sure, his impression wasn't as strong as that of Jay Pharaoh or Sterling K. Brown but Kenan injected some of the fun and loose yet restrained just the right amount type of silliness that he has mastered by this point in his SNL tenure. While I still don't quite know what to make of this sketch, I will say it worked in spite of itself because everyone seemed to have better dialogue than we usually get in these modern day political cold opens. Plus, it was a lot more entertaining and watchable than what we usually get when they try to cram in all of the big tentpole political headlines of the past two weeks that they took off into a single cold open. C+

Monologue - It's good to see Mulaney is still in the prime of his standup career. I liked this much better than I liked the bull of his standup monologue from last season. I especially liked the comparisons he made between himself and Louis Farrakhan, the Founding Father's and the '92 Chicago Bulls as well as all the constitution material. I also liked how he really broke down the general concept of "dad jokes" just enough to make them seem fresh and how he managed to make a story about him fulfilling a sick child's Make-A-Wish request funny in a self deprecating type of way. Also, I like that he just admitted he was promoting nothing but I was a bit surprised. I guess his "Sack Lunch Bunch" special on Netflix didn't come out recently enough for him to still be promoting but I guess he can't just be "promoting" his own standup whether he's on tour or just releasing a new album or Netflix special for some reason. B+

The Sound Of Music - This had to have been at least cowritten by Mulaney as it's so much in his voice that it immediately reminded me of the bit from his second album/special where he just lays out how conceptually fucked up "Back To The Future" had to have been even as a pitch to a studio. Well, at least I hope it was since that would be the best thing this had going for it. Between doing at least their fourth or fifth "Sound Of Music" parody this century and at least their third or fourth sketch with this cast pointing out how baby boomer era pop culture just flaunts inappropriate age differences and power dynamics in romantic relationships compared to how we tiptoe around such things today, they really hit us with the one-two punch of "tired SNL sketch premises in the 21st century". I don't know if it actually was too long or if all of those things I just mentioned made it feel much longer than it actually was but it just didn't feel necessary. D+

When Your Uncle Finds Out You've Been Memeing Him - Seeing Chloe being prominently featured in the commercial bumper showing this sketches' setup made me think this could've been her big sketch if not Heidi's third attempt at getting that sexy movie quotes game night sketch of hers on the air. What this ended up being was Mulaney's obligatory collaboration with Pete but it ended up being much funnier than I expected (that's probably because I just found out before posting this that Dan Licata and Stephen Castillo wrote this instead of John and Pete). Meme humor on SNL is another thing that is starting to feel played out but thankfully it was another thing that only someone like John Mulaney (with the occasional assist from Chris Redd) has the comedic ability to feel fresh and funny in 2020. Mulaney pretty much carried this whole sketch on his back but everyone else played straight men off of him well. B+

Kyle Gets Swole - It sure feels nice to see another one of these soft focus "The Problem With Kyle" type shorts (especially since they can still pull these off after Leslie left thus making this one the first of these types of shorts they have done all year). I do like how drastically against type Kyle played himself here and how they added a lot of different elements to make this different from the one from last season's premiere where Kyle just tried to gain everyone's respect just by emulating Pete. I also liked the two covers of SNL magazine as well as how they underplayed such an outlandish premise by having it reach such an anticlimactic conclusion. The only negative thing I can really say about this is how needlessly and gratuitously tacked on the Justin Theroux cameo felt (or was that Alex Moffat or Taylor Swuft in heavy makeup?) B+

Say, Those Two Don't Seem To Loke Each Other - Okay, this pretty much killed all the momentum the show had been building up to this point. I liked Kate and Aidy presenting each other with various deadly weapons. Thankfully, they weren't the focus of the rest of this. Sadly, it's not saying much that Mulaney ended up being the main focus or that they barely changed the premise of this from the J.Lo installment. This one was honestly worse and seeing Becks' character (and not even he could save this one either) suddenly turn gay at the mere sight of Mulaney's character is a bit of a stretch (maybe not as big as seeing bullets from a tommy gun do absolutely no other collateral damage to Mulaney's character besides blasting off his sleeves and pant legs but still). Oh, well. I'm sure this still had a lot more value to that small but vocal hardcore segment of Mulaney's fanbase who, like he said in his monologue, views him as their Farrakhan. D+

Update was really only worth watching for the drastic format breaking. Che's Coronavirus breakdown and Josts' Eric Trump joke were the only things from them I was really feeling (and yeah, I am getting the subtle hint here that this is at least their last full length season on the show if not their last episode). Redds' black history month commentary was the highlight of Update for me. I like that they finally let Chris Redd just do some of his own standup on Update. I am just wondering why this didn't happen two seasons ago when Redd was still a mere featured player. That's honestly the only bad thing I can say about Redds' piece. B+

Phantom of LaGuardia - Okay, I can immediately tell what this was based on seeing the commercial setup. I'm still left wondering if this was another one of Mulaney's lost dress cuts or if it was something he wanted to write AFTER Diner Lobster (and to a lesser extent Bodega Bathroom) became viral hits. Still, this was enjoyable despite feeling a little overstuffed with possibly one or two Broadway showtime parodies too many (and maybe those "Sack Lunch Bunch" fan service cameos from Byrne and Gyllenhaal could've been cut) but I guess I could understand Mulaney wanting each of these to feel bigger and more spectacular than the one that preceded it (and besides, at least this ensured Alex and Bowen each got a few seconds of airtime this week so they wouldn't be totally shut out like poor Melissa putting on a brave face during the goodnights). Also, I don't think they really NEEDED to explain the Sully Goose Phantom joke but I'm sure there would be some viewers out there who would've missed it otherwise. B-

Forgotten Figures Of Black History - This was something I wanted to like for how creative if a premise it seemed but it ended up being so muddled and unfocused in execution (in a way that screams "only Che could've written this") that I could barely get a handle on it. I think the main problem is that Kenans' character was given much more detailed and intricate backstory than was necessary. The payoff was okay, but the buildup didn't quite seem worth it. C+

Now, for my updated rankings of the entire season so far...

1. Eddie Murphy/Lizzo
2. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
3. Chance The Rapper
4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
5. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
6. Scarlett Johansson/Niall Horan
7. Adam Driver/Halsey
8. John Mulaney/David Byrne
9. RuPaul/Justin Bieber
10. J.J. Watt/Luke Combs
11. Jennifer Lopez/DaBaby
12. Will Ferrell/King Princess
13. Harry Styles
14. Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

Now, just for fun, I think I'll rank all of Mulaney's episodes from best to worst...

1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett (3.2.2019)
2. John Mulaney/Jack White (4.14.2018)
3. John Mulaney/David Byrne (2.29.2020)

Well, that pretty much met my kost realistic expectations for a Mulaney hosted episode in a heavy election primary season. Next week, Daniel Craig makes his hosting return after an eight year absence from SNL. I think it'll be a little hard for a lot if people (myself included) to get genuinely excited for that one. That's certainly not just because it's the week after Mulaney hosted. It's mostly because his 2012 episode was looked upon as being pretty weak at that time. In fact, it was one of the few minor weak spots in the middle of the otherwise solid season 38. I may have to go back and reread my old review of that one or see some clips from it to see if that general consensus still holds up but I feel like it still should given how little I remember of his first episode. Oh, well. See you then!