Okay, here's my review. This episode got off to a rather frustrating start but it ended up being pretty fun overall. When I heard John Mulaney was inevitably going to host for his fourth time this season, I honestly felt like I was getting just a little burnt out on him but I hoped this show would be better than his previous one. It was better, but it felt like it merely made some minor improvements on the new template for John Mulaney hosted SNL episodes that his previous show established. At first, it felt like this show was going to be exactly like his last one and it was but this one ended up being a lot more enjoyable of an experience. Sadly, I was hoping this episode would more follow the templates for his first two episodes than his third one. His first two episodes contained very little topical material outside of Update and filled the void with very writerly sketches. Some of which gave the new underused featured players a chance to shine while others he dug out of mothballs simply because they were among his favorite dress rehearsal cuts that he always wanted to see make it to air and only now can he get them on as host. Both of his 2020 episodes were the complete opposite of this and felt like he was just dragged-and-dropped into SNLs’ template for typical modern episodes with far less creative input due to last minute scheduling conflicts and other hosts having to suddenly drop out because of them. Given the circumstances surrounding this particular season, that’s completely understandable. This time, I heard they allowed HIM to reschedule from last week to this week. I thought this could mean we could get one of Mulaney’s previous types of shows since it might give him some more lead time to plan and work out his ideas but that was foolish of me. It’s just very disappointing to me to see John Mulaney gradually turn into the Justin Timberlake of this SNL era. Both are popular well loved hosts (particularly to young people on the internet and social media) whose first two shows got enough strong press and positive buzz for the show that they easily got comfortable resting on their laurels each time they came back and doing the same types of sketches hitting the exact same beats over and over again. Timberlake is a pop star turned film actor so with him it’s understandable but Mulaney is MUCH more of a creative type with a mind geared much more toward the mechanics of modern comedy and a much deeper behind the scenes connection to SNL and it’s hard to watch Mulaney seemingly NOT taking advantage of the upper hand he has over Timberlake (who in my much younger days I grew very vocally sick of seeing pander to the crowd in each of his later episodes by constantly playing his own “greatest hits” in a way similar to what Mulaney is just starting to do now despite both of them being strong presences on the show). Cast airtime seems a little more evened out from last week with only Dismukes being completely shut out (man, you’d think Mulaney could write something for him, huh?) and Punkie and Ego being relegated to only pretapes. Kate, Kenan, Chris and Mikey seemed to dominate the show with everyone else only getting to appear in only one or two pieces tops while Cecily and Aidy remain out on assignment. Anyway, let’s get into it. Shall we?
The Biden (with sincere apologies to Edgar Allen Poe) - Well, I was expecting them to do something that combined the election with the fact that today is in fact Halloween but at least this wasn't quite as lazy as I was expecting it to be. It was meandering and a bit drawn out and unfocused but certainly not lazy. Thankfully, they threw in a few things I wasn't totally expecting to liven things up a bit just when it got to the point where it felt like they just took some randos' Twitter thread where they tried to write a parody of SNL'S current approach to political humor and just decided to stage that. Speaking of which, the Trump Jr/Triggered reference seems like they’re just BEGGING right wing media outlets to bust their balls. I did like how they chose to dunk on Lil Wayne and Ice Cube. Plus, Beck as Mitch McConnell explaining his "old man purple" hand condition was the only genuine laugh I got from this. Kate’s walk-on as Hillary is sure to please the same type of online SNL fans who are genuinely excited to see Mulaney on again like THIS is actually his first time hosting and possibly bum everyone else out. Even Carrey as Biden seemed a bit more restrained than usual (although his putting on sunglasses and calling himself a “baller” just HAS to be intentional self parody on SNLs’ part). Of course Mikey and Maya were also there and the only line of Mayas’ I liked was the one about Walmart suddenly stopping their sale of guns. C+
Monologue - This felt exactly as unfocused as the cold open did but it still had its moments. I liked his bit about being unable to overhear conversations on the street when people are wearing their masks. Then, Mulaney kinda lost me with all the Governor Cuomo material but he one me back with the whole “elderly man contest” thing. He lost me again with the sleepover rant but got me back on board with the whole grandma/greatest generation tirade (even as much as that drivers’ license story seemed unfocused he had a strong conclusion after that). Basically, Mulaney successfully pulled off the same type of monologue that Bill Burr was going for with seemingly much less sharply divisive material. Mulaney can’t hope to ever divide the audience as hard as Bill Burr did because he’s such a perfect fit for modern SNL having worked there for so long and having proven himself to be a valuable host. Another thing this had going for it was that it was a monologue that was actually longer than the cold open for once. However, I do feel like people who may have been expecting Mulaney's stand up material (not that I'm one of those people necessarily) to provide a brief respite from current events are going to be sorely disappointed but I’m sure Mulaney still has enough young, die hard fans who he can do no wrong in the eyes of that there will be minimal disappointment with this monologue. B-
The Birds - This felt like a standup bit Mulaney was workshopping but decided to turn it into a sketch after discovering it just never worked on stage so he and the writers decided to reformat it into the predictable paint-by-numbers beats of these recurring Reese De’What sketches (since it worked for him once already with that whole Sound Of Music thing). I wanted to like this more because of how playfully chaotic it felt (and for some of the heavy Falconer vibes I got from it) but I strangely don't feel like the material was worth the strong technical execution they expertly pulled off for it. I’m tempted to say it felt like a season 20 sketch but it wasn’t THAT lazy. I don't like how it felt as meandering and unfocused as the rest of the show but I did like Kenans' meta line about how this "lost footage" added and extra day's worth of running time to the film. Yep, these sketches may be becoming to Mulaneys' episodes what the Barry Gibb Talk Show was to Timberlakes' run. C+
Strollin' - It took a while for this to get going but once it got there you could start to appreciate it for what it was. It takes some extremely likable performers to make a Bruno Mars style groove all about black voter suppression and intimidation seem pleasant and fun but hey, that's just a testament to the strength of SNL'S current black cast. B-
Sleepy Hollow, 1790 - I guess this was the sketch that picture posted on Reddit was from? I was expecting either a Hamilton parody or a Lord Of The Rings sketch and part of me was glad we didn't get either of those. I wasn't crazy about how much of a crude premise this was either but thankfully Becks' sheer commitment and Johns' sheer anachronistically meek presence sold this one for me. Some small assists from Pete and Mikey didn't hurt either. I especially liked Johns’ “mouth on your dingus” line as well as his and Pete’s “puritans, homie” and “Goodie Chastity” two hander. Call me crazy, but I think this may have been written by the same writers who wrote the Uncle Meme sketch for Pete and John back in February (or possibly Jost/Che if not them) rather than Lorne himself. C+
Thank You, New York - OK, this was just Kate having seen one or more particularly colorful old women out in the streets in New York and wanting to develop an impersonation of her, right? Without Kate, this would've just been an actual genuine PSA made by SNL'S cast for some reason. Still, I guess they gotta use Kate while they can. Also, since Mulaney wasn’t in this I do have to wonder if this had gotten cut from any of this seasons/ previous dress rehearsals? D+
Update was pretty uneven. I can't say I've ever seen Jost get the audience to boo him just by playing a clip of something particularly outrageous Trump said and then actually get in a few decent dunks on him so that was an interesting way to start. Plus, Jost seemed to have better material than Che the whole night. I wasn’t crazy about his “rappers are not black leaders” and “constipated accountant” jokes but at least his delivery put them over. The rest of their jokes kinda just washed over me aside from the police suspensions/party lines/Panera Pizza jokes. I’m not crazy about how they bought back Kyles’ Baby Yoda just to make him an even bigger central casting Gen Z dickhead. Frankly, I’m disappointed that this was Kyles’ only appearance in the whole show but I did chuckle at his threat to straight up murder Baby Groot. C+
New York Souvenir Shop – I knew exactly what this was going to be once I saw the words “New York” in red neon lights at the top of what looked to be a store display. Yep, these sketches have definitely become to Mulaneys' episodes what the "Omletteville/Homelessville/Plasticville/Liquorville/Veganville" sketches were to Timberlakes' run. Part of me was hoping that they would avoid doing a fourth one of these but I guess the previous three got big YouTube hits after the initial buzz that Diner Lobster got (it didn't quite land with me but it's two follow ups were okay) and this cast and writing staff is full of big theater geeks (Mulaney must also be one himself). At least this one had a pleasant message of unity to offset the mild gross out humor that tends to inspire these. This contained my least favorite of the four “one…singular sensation” parodies I’ve ever heard in my life (still can’t say I’ve ever heard the whatever the original is all the way through yet) and my second favorite “hey big spender” parody I’ve ever heard. Kate definitely sang the better of the two (!) “Send In The Clowns” parodies this show has done in 2020 alone (right before the last time Mulaney hosted, incidentally). I could’ve done without Beck’s part entirely. I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what song Maya was parodying (I’ve heard it’s something made famous by Elaine Stritch?) she may have given the strongest performance of the night but it’s nice to see her finally get some recognition applause in her obligatory post cold open/non-Kamala appearance of the night. Thankfully, besides Maya this had fewer cameos for the sake of cameos than Airport Sushi did. Honestly, the only real bummer of this one is that it was Alex and Melissas’ only appearance of the entire night. C+
Uncle Meme II: Meme Harder - Oh, boy. Well, I actually did like the first one of these they did in February and I liked John's commitment in this one. However, because this had to be so rushed and edited at the last minute (due to this literally being the last sketch in the show) the only real laugh I could get from this was when Pete exposed John's character for being a prison dating creep at the very end. C+
Now, for my updated rankings of all of Mulaney’s episodes so far…
2. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
3. John Mulaney/Jack White (4.14.2018)
4. John Mulaney/David Byrne (2.29.2020)
Now, for my updated rankings of this season so far…
2. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
3. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
4. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
5. Bill Burr/
Well, I guess it’s quite fitting that the man who just earlier this year hosted SNLs’ first ever leap day show would also end up hosting their first Halloween night show in 18 years (and fourth one over all). This also happens to be SNLs’ last show before the election and next week, Dave Chappelle will host SNLs’ (hopefully) first post election show of 2020 just like he did four years ago. Some people might say that it’s “tempting fate” or a “bad omen” but this year it looks like there might be other factors involved in this outcome. Plus, I personally quite enjoyed Daves’ 2016 episode which was widely regarded as the one of the best of season 42. He’s also a strong host who (until now) has only hosted once. He should be a welcome presence who is far from wearing out his welcome (which is actually a little bit more than I can say for the guy who just hosted tonight, so…) Hey, I think this season might be attempting to break the record for most standup hosts in one season that was previously set by season 43 (if I’m not mistaken and if I am I encourage you to correct me here in the comments or on Twitter or Discord). See you then! Don’t forget to vote, everybody!
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