Nick Jonas (2.27.2021)

Okay, here's my review. I went into this show with rather low expectations and this episode did very little to prove to me that I was wrong to do so. Nick Jonas as host barely felt different from Nick Jonas as a musical guest making small cameos in sketches somehow and nearly every sketch felt like several different recurring (or previously one-off but now made recurring) sketches crammed into one sketch. Still, the cast gave it their all and each one of them got some screentime. As Pete said last week, the show did seem "noticably fatigued" but even more so than last week when he actually did say that. Still, I guess anything would seem low energy compared to last week when the guy from Bridgerton set off massive female screaming fits from the audience every two minutes and then the show seemingly sets you up to expect more of the same by booking Nick Jonas as host the following week but still, I'd say it was definitely the writing more than anything that proved the show was running on fumes again after five straight shows in a row. Anyway, let's break this down, shall we?

So You Think You Can Get The Vaccine? - This impression of Kate's automatically feels too soon to bring back, but I appreciate another unique premise for a cold open to couch it in (even if it feels like we're going back to longer, more political ones). I wanted to like the CVS jokes but those were beaten into the ground. I liked Alex, Cecily and Pete's impressions just fine but Aidys' Ted Cruz felt too wedged in for me. Aside from Mikey, the "contestants" didn't do much for me either but I still liked seeing them. C-

Monologue - I guess I SHOULD'VE expected Nick to sing in his monologue too, huh? I guess I also should've expected him to have a theater background given his past but as far as I know he hasn't had enough acting gigs to even suggest that. Otherwise, Nick carried himself well here. The song I wasn't crazy about but at least it was short. That literally felt like they just took Anne Hathaways' Les Mis/One Day More monologue from 2012 and put it in a blender with the "Let Kids Drink" song from one of the At Homes. Honestly, Kevin's cameo was the true highlight for me (especially the "Mmmbop? Was That Us?" joke). C-

Workout Mirror - This felt like a mishmash of several modern Day/Yang/Seidell era sketch templates being used at once (SoulCycle, Sandra Oh as Tushie, Chadwick Boseman as R. Kelly, Russell Crowe as Henry VII, Emma Stone as Christy Knox, Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins, Larry David as Kevin Roberts) but with a surreal, absurdist twist that made it worth watching. I did like Kate's performance as it felt like we were getting vintage Kate here. Kate seemed like she was drawing on the type of solid character work that got her hired almost a decade ago before she let herself get bogged down in the shows' obsession with political theater. A-

Murder and Cult Shows - Although the "banal music video about streaming shows" feels like a tired trope, I have to give them credit for writing an anachronistically upbeat pop song about murder and cult shows. Still, I think they could've gone a bit further. It would’ve worked more if they'd have gone more into graphic details on gruesome cases rather than devoting every other lyric to the other activities you give your divided attention to while this plays in the background. Good use of Chloe, though. She has a nice voice and I don't remember having seem her in any of these all female pop music videos that Kate, Melissa and Ego have been dominating so this must've been like a rite of passage for her. B-

Cinderella on Disney+ - This sketch felt all over the place before it finally settled on it's predictable reveal. It felt too much like a sketch meant for one of Mulaneys' episodes or J.J. Watts' episode (at least either of those guys probably wouldn't have overactive as hard as Nick Jonas did here). Honestly, Kenan and (to a lesser extent) Cecily were the only things keeping this sketch together for me. Nice use of Melissa and Chloe, though. D+

Boner Ballad - The unspoken awkwardness of mutual bachelor party erections seemed like fertile, unmined ground for SNL comedy. Unfortunately, it seems like this crew kept on digging right after they completely depleted the land and should've stopped. I mean,, they almost slammed right into the earths' core there. Honestly, Ego and Heidi made this for me with their fourth wall break (so, not quite for the reason you might have thought for me here). C+

Update was pretty par for the course for this season. As weak as the jokes were tonight, Che still had the lion's share of better material (although I did like Josts' "Orlando is awesome!/check his hard drive" joke). I didn't realize how much I missed Kenans' Lavar Ball until now. Did anyone else get All That/Cooking with Randy & Mandy flashbacks during the chocolate shoe thing? Nice to see Cecilys' Marjorie Taylor Greene start to get fleshed out into a full character. She really gave this her all despite the material being a little lacking in spots. I mean, it was pretty uneven in that she alternated between pointed jabs at MTGs' beliefs and politics and bland jokes that didn't land for me, but I appreciated the effort nonetheless. B-

Viking Voyager - This was pretty typical Kyle humor (even if he barely wrote any if it) but it was more annoyingly banal than endearingly awkward so I couldn't get as into it as much as I could more Kyle centric stuff. I feel a little bad for Punkie with this being her first appearance of the night. C+

Dionne Warwick Talk Show II - As much as I think this really should've stayed a one-off, it was a semi-viral hit for SNL. It was a big hit for Ego and it earned her the real Dionnes' affection and admiration (as well as earning each of this seasons' featured players a paycheck for the week) so I can see why they'd try it again. Still, it felt too cookie cutter to me. Having Pete reprise his role as Machine Gun Kelly and Nick Jonas play himself just to be drooled over felt beyond lazy and Kenan as The Weeknd felt like a waste of a decent impression. Honestly, the real highlight of this for me was Melissa Villaseñor as Dua Lipa and how neither Ego, Punkie or Andrew let the live bird blooper derail the sketch like the total pros that they are. C+

Bar - This felt too much like a sketch from 2011-12 for me at first (two specific sketches starring Melissa McCarthy and Katy Perry specifically) but with a slight quarrantine twist and some more slight overacting from Nick Jonas. Still, it had it's moments. I chuckled at Andrew's "guy piano" line as well as Kate casually taking money from Andrew's tip jar. The botched ball game lyrics were a nice touch. If there had to be two sketches in a row with audible off camera animal bloopers at least this one had an adorable kitten that barely affected the sketch. C+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season…
1. Timothee Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (12.12.2020)
2. Regé-Jean Page/Bad Bunny (2.20.2021)
3. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
4. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
5. Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa (12.19.2020)
6. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
7. Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)
8. Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)
9. Nick Jonas (2.27.2021)
10. John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly (1.30.2021)
11. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
12. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
13. Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen (12.5.20)
14. Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20) 

Well, that was a little more disappointing than I expected. In exactly one month, Maya Rudolph returns to host for her second time. Now, that is something I can look forward to. While Maya is always a welcome presence on the show and I'm happy to see that the show was able to announce that this early, it feels a little odd to me for three reasons. First, I guess this may lend some credence to the rumors being spread by this "deuxmoi" person that the show is now trying to get former cast members to host because they're having trouble booking new hosts and they're getting desperate. Still, I honestly wouldn't mind seeing Jason Sudekis host for the first time or Seth Meyers host again. I mean, he should be easy to book since he does his show in the same building, right? I'm guessing him renewing his Late Night contract with NBC would be the only thing preventing them from announcing that they've booked him. Secondly, I don't think Maya has much else to promote right now besides the second season of "Bless The Hearts" which is currently airing on FOX and an upcoming voiceover role in the next upcoming Disney/Pixar movie. The second time Mulaney hosted all he really had to promote was his role in "Into The Spiderverse" so I guess the world of entertainment has been so fractured even before Covid that as long as you're an alumni of the show you can host just to promote an animated project? That alone used to never even be close to enough for the show to let anyone host but maybe Mayas' really hosting in 2021 for the same reason Larry David hosted for his first time in 2016? Yeah, it goes without saying that they'll try to find some way to base a sketch around her Kamala Harris impression which suggests they won't be able to avoid using Alex Moffats' Biden impression (or Sudekis' impression would even be appropriate...or anyone who's mere presence wouldn't just scream "stunt casting" at this point). Look, I realize that Biden and Harris have mostly been working behind the scenes during their terms as President and Vice-President at this point and haven't done anything notable or memorable during the (understandably) few times they've been out facing the public yet and the show has had to set its' sights on much easier and more accessible political targets in the meantime but they can't keep avoiding this forever. They'll have to figure out how to approach Biden/Harris as characters in central positions of power sometime. Anyway, looking forward to seeing Maya after her brief break from the show. See you then!

Regé-Jean Page/Bad Bunny (2.20.2021)

 Okay, here's my review. There's no way this show wasn't in the top five for this season. Regé-Jean Page was one of the strongest first time hosts I've seen in a long time. Everyone really knew how to play to his strengths and the writers seemed to be having a particularly strong week. Almost the entire cast got an appropriate amount of airtime (except Lauren and Melissa who were both shut out entirely again but at least Melissa got to be in this week's promo so I have a feeling it might have been worth the tradeoff this time). In particular, Ego and Chloe stood out as having great weeks. Anyway, let's get right to it, shall we?

Oops, You Did It Again - Nice to see we're back to mere semi-political, out-of-left-field type cold opens. Chloe as Britney was a pretty solid anchor to this. I know the last time she did this impression on the show she got some flack from some Britney stans but hopefully any of them who happen to see this will see that this is written in a way that shows Chloe and the show are on their side too. This might actually be my favorite Chloe impression. I'm still not crazy about the just the vague idea of Aidy as Ted Cruz (it feels too much like something the show needs to have left behind in the era of the Trump presidency and Cruz himself has just been son unpleasantfor so long that any jokes about are starting to seem a little hack now) I have to admit it works and Aidys' Ted Cruz bring couched in this sketches' surroundings makes it easier to take. Speaking of impressions that work better than they should, I ended up really liking Petes' Andrew Cuomo. I was fully expecting that to be a Beck Bennett role but I guess Pete is much better at pulling of NYC/Jersey/Italian mobster roles so he got the part. I figured it was only a short matter of time before we got to see Cecily as Gina Carano as soon as Disney ended up having to fire her. Still, I kinda feel they treated her with kid gloves. More Whataboutism being thrown at Disney for their moral/ethical failings may not be the right approach here. I have to say though this being the first of her only two appearances of the night makes it seem like she really intended to keep her "Irish Goodbye" promise in regards to this season. Overall, for its few flaws this was one of the better and more enjoyable cold opens of this season. Another step in the right direction. B-

Monologue - Regé-Jean carried himself well. He didn't seem that nervous to be hosting SNL for the first time. I guess I should've expected SNL to resort to such a tried-and-true-attractive-host-monologue trope for someone who isn't as well known having their big break right now. His line about not watching Bridgerton with your mom hit a bit different for me since I still haven't seen Bridgerton but that didn't stop me from recommending it to my own mom. I just know her taste in TV and movies and a lot of it consists of flowery Jane Austen type period pieces. From what she's told me, she seems to be enjoying it. Nice to see they could at least use this to give Ego and (especially) Chloe their own spotlights. Aidy (boy, quite a jarring quick change from Ted Cruz, huh?) was a nice addition, too especially when she and Ego went all Mr. Skin on us. Speaking of Aidy, "Shrill" is another show I recommended to my mom based on Aidy being her favorite member of this current cast and having gotten bored of watching her SNL era on Peacock. Plus, they kept this monologue from turning into just Regé-Jean Page doing his impression of fellow Brit Andrew Garfield doing his impression of Justin Timberlake (remember May 2014? I sure do). After a string of shows where SNL hasn't exactly had the liveliest of audiences (whether or not they should even have ANY audiences at all let alone even be in production anymore right now is beside the point) it's nice to see Mr. Page has some vocal fans in the crowd to raise the atmosphere a bit even if they kinda stepped on his lines. In a different era, this would get on my nerves a bit but I think SNL needs more audience response now more than ever. It may make it sound like about 10 different Fridays audiences were beamed in from 1981 and it seems obvious that the show may have been anticipating this exact type of audience response and wrote large chunks of the show to cater to their tastes but hey, anything that helps the show right now in the smallest way. C+

Actors Spotlight - Kenan was the real saving grace of this. Ego, Chris and Regé-Jean supported him well. This was the most committed I've seen him in anything (and I think the same could be said for whoever wrote this as well). I loved how Alex played into it at the end as well. I liked how what they bought to the sketch really prevented the sketch from just becoming a continuation of the monologue (or too much of a repeat of last weeks' "What's Your Type" sketch). Weirdly, it took Chris Redd being shown in his own mock film clip for me to register that they did NOT bring in the actual Kingsley Ben-Adir for a cameo and that was just Regé-Jean Page playing him. B-

Loco - At least it was nice to see Ego get a chance to do the exact type of music video that the previous generation of SNL women have done a lot of before here. It's sort of a nice passing of the torch moment that didn't require the women in current possession of said torch to even be present. Pete wasn't bad here either, but I think we've seen enough of him rapping on SNL for a lifetime. Thankfully, he let Ego take center stage instead of relegating her to being his accessory. I also gotta hand it to Ego for managing to get to be in three straight segments in a row. Nice use of the musical guest in a sketch as well. I think it would behoove SNL to move on from quarrantine/lockdown based comedy right now but this was one of their more creative and better executed attempts at it and it would be the perfect capper to that era. C+

Driver's License - This was stronger than it had any right to be. It was like a much better, more focused version of what they were going for with that RuPauls' Drag Race Garage sketch with Chris Pine in 2017 and that Mike Jukebox bar fight sketch with Don Cheadle in 2019. It also bought to mind the similar treatment SNL gave to runaway pop hits such as Adeles' "Someone Like You", PSY's "Gangnam Style", Ylvis' "What The Fox Says and (to a much lesser extent) Drakes' "Hotline Bling". I'm glad that SNL can briefly return to those type of sketches from that specific era in this specific media landscape. The only weak spot was including Kate as a Dr. Weknowdis type character but thankfully she only had two lines. Bowens' presence seemed necessary to legitimize this sketch but also suggested at first there's no way he COULDN’T have written this but I just found out Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie wrote this so yeah I was way off there. My dad said it reminded him of the Adele Thanksgiving sketch from 2015, one of his favorites. This was definitely my favorite live sketch of the night and one of the best of this season. B+

Mr. Chicken Legs - Glad to see they could make something out of such a semi-relatable/noticable premise. Good on Mikey, Andrew and Pete for willing to put their real flaws out there like that. Regé-Jean seemed at his most confident here and was a great anchor here along with Cecily. As much as I'm glad they're finally using Chloe, I could’ve done without her character here. I know, that was the whole POINT of her character but it felt too much down the beaten path in these types of pageant sketches SNL has done on and off in recent years. Also, this sounds to me like something that COULD possibly have been written for Chris Rock in his episode but got cut at dress rehearsal or (more likely) the table read because he may habe suddenly decided he didn't want to do it? I remember reading about how the only time he got to meet Sade (his crush) in person while she was a musical guest on the show was when he was dressed as Robin in that Death Of Superman sketch from '92 where he said his skinny chicken legs wrre on full display and that came across my mind while watching this sketch. B-

Job Interview - I loved this for its' sheer increasing absurd silliness. Beck seemed to be returning to his comedy roots here and Regé-Jean seemed to fit into that seamlessly. Bowen handing out unrelated little notes was a nice touch. This might have been my favorite taped piece of the entire season. A+

Update was much more uneven than last week, but thankfully it was short. Not a single Jost joke was off the beaten path, and once again Che got all the better material. As much as Pete doing a commentary as himself feels like something the show has moved on from, he had a lot of great jokes once he got going. I liked seeing Heidi play an Update character that WASN'T some kind of social media influencer for once. Still, the basic joke was so predictable it went on a little too long for me. Also, she seemed to be playing this character in the exact way Melissa would've (if she were doing a piececwritten specifically for Kate that Kate rejected) which kind of makes me wonder why Heidi could've just let Melissa have this one (since she literally had nothing this week) but I know that's not quite how the show works. The knife glove gag got kinda ruined for me more for how predictable it was than the fact that you could clearly see her putting it on under the desk. B-

Songs Of The Sea - This was something I didn't quite know what to make of. They could've lost the opening mention of sea shanties bring a TikTok trend as that seems to be over now. As for the rest of the sketch, I couldn't tell if the premise was they were singing to sugarcoat how shitty life at sea is supposed to be or to sugarcoat their own incompetence. Still, the songs were performed well and added what this sketch may have been lacking. In particular, I liked the solos from Kenan, Mikey and Bowen. Kate and Bad Bunnys' characters felt unnecessary, though. Man, the SNL cast and writing staff of the past six years are just absolutely incapable of making ANY sketch set on a pirate ship work at all, huh? C-

Saying Grace - I liked how this felt the least like something the show has done before. The cast really performed this well and it was just the right length with a strong ending. The only bummer about this sketch is that seemed a little rushed and it was Punkies' only appearance of the entire show. B-

Obligatory Bridgerton Parody - Bridgerton having "intimacy coordinators" was definitely an interesting parody angle for the show to take for this weeks' "host sketch" (is it the first show to actually have those because people certainly seem to be writing about it like it is?) I liked seeing Mikey and Pete play characters we haven't really see them play before. They type of sleaze they put on display was just the exact type that worked for me. Chloe and Kate were nice anchors once again and Regé-Jean really held his own here. B+

Grocery Rap - It seemed like Beck, Kyle and Andrew are trying to do the same thing they did in that "last fry" rap that initially got cut from Gal Gadots' episode but later got edited into the reruns to replace that SafeLite sketch that got cut because SafeLite complained. Still, they added just enough to this to make it interesting and enjoyable to watch. The only real thing this had going against it was that Regé-Jean Page seemed a little miscast in it as a regular, everyday supermarket manager. C+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season…

1. Timothee Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (12.12.2020)
2. Regé-Jean Page/Bad Bunny (2.20.2021)
3. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
4. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
5. Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa (12.19.2020)
6. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
7. Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)
8. Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)
9. John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly (1.30.2021)
10. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
11. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
12. Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen (12.5.20)
13. Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20) 

Well, that show was a very pleasant surprise! Next week, Nick Jonas makes his hosting debut while appearing as musical guest for a fourth time. Yeah, Nick has appeared in sketches on this show each of those previous four times. He held his own well enough but he didn't exactly blow me away. If I had any expectations for next weeks show, I'd expect something on par with Adele and John Krasinskis' shows this season. See you then!

Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)

 

Okay, here's my review. It's nice to see the show gradually get more polished and focused with its energy each week. Tonight's episode was consistently solid with Regina King proving to be as dependable a host as expected. Much like Dan Levy, she comes across as one of those hosts who bring out the best in the cast and writers but she obviously has a broader range of acting ability given her training and background. The highs weren't as high this week, but thankfully the lows were at about the sane level.. Each cast member got some screentime this week. Nobody was completely shut out. Anyway, let's unpack this episode, shall we?

Tucker Carlson Tonight - Well, it was a nice two weeks while it lasted but I'll always miss that brief period of the Biden administration where there wasn't a political event in the news that was a big enough deal that you just KNEW it was gonna be SNLs' cold open that week. I wasn't too crazy about Alex's Tucker Carlson the first time he did it last year but it's gotten better and they wrote much better material for him. Part of the reason it works is that Alex seemed to make this a combination of Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and other similarly pathetic conservative pundits out there. I especially liked his "non-sequitirs". I'm still really not crazy about Kate's pandering Lindsey Graham. That impression has definitely gotten worse and I definitely would've preferred to see Kate anchor another no frills "What Still Works?" type cold open as herself than see this. Aidy as Ted Cruz seems like one of those things that was better on paper than in execution but he deserves it anyway. They seemed to have established Beck Bennett as their new Ted Cruz in Awkwafinas' 2018 episode. I would've rather have seen that but I guess they needed him to play Mitch McConnell. Honestly, aside from Alex, Mikey and Pete as Trumps' defense lawyers were the only other parts of this that worked for me. I should probably cut them some slack considering that most (if not all) of this may have had to be completely rewritten about seven hours before airtime. Honestly, I just haven't had all the time in the world to keep up with all the details of this second Trump impeachment trial this week. From what little I gathered, it amounted to whatever GOP senators even had the dignity to show up to this hanging their heads in (apparently newly discovered) shame at a found footage festival of footage from the Jan 6 Capitol attack they helped happen so I was surprised to see they would even find an angle on this to mine comedy from. C+

Monologue - I think Regina might be surprised at how many white people (particularly white males) know her from "The Boondocks" but she immediately came off like a polished pro and delivered that monologue with just as much professionalism as you'd expect from a trained actress of her caliber. Kenan was great here too even if his hype man routine felt a little too tacked on. B+

What's Your Type? - I've seen so many of these types of "trash  reality/dating show" parodies populate SNL in the Trump era that it actually took this level of self awareness to put this one over for me. It felt like a little bit of the formula for Kate's Sheila Sovage was mixed in there as well for good measure. Everyone played their roles expertly here. After Kyle's performance in last weeks "Raising Our Voices" sketch, it was nice to get this as a companion piece expanding on that premise a bit. B+

Pelotaunt - This almost felt like it just explained too much of its own premise upfront to really work but there was enough variance in the execution of it to it to keep it from falling flat. It was fast paced enough to not need any edits either. Kate and Heidi were definitely the best of the instructors here. Nice use of Lauren at the end. C+

Commode & Commode - This DID feel like too much of its premise was revealed (and possibly belabored) early on but again, the performances really put it over and they left plenty of space to explore their own implications here. Some of it could be edited though. C+

Wine Signs - This could get a little grating and repetitive (that must’ve been the whole point) but I liked this for the increasing bluntness of it. It felt like a cross between the drag brunch sketch from Mulaneys' first episode and Vanessa Bayers' sketch from "I Think You Should Leave w/Tim Robinson" (although it reminded me of that, it didn't remind me of it so much that I could see any fans or writers of that show accusing SNL of more plagiarism although I'm sure Tim Robinson himself might still want to maintain his connection to Lorne enough to discourage that). B-

The Negotiator - This felt like the first truly original premise of this episode. The song was pretty damn catchy. I liked seeing Melissa as Marge Simpson. Weirdly, I always thought she would be able to do a pretty solid Lisa with Kate as Bart. Anyway, she along with Beck, Pete and Aidy were a perfect counterpoint to the dramatic, gritty acting that Regina and Bowen (and to a little bit lesser extent Mikey and Andrew) bought to this along with the low key dramatic vibe that they went for with the cinematography. B-

Update was pretty solid and consistent. I appreciate the writers for making Jost and Che break down topics such as the impeachment trial and the Gina Carano controversy from a fresher perspective than we're used to getting. Even though Che's Morgan Wallen joke last week didn't work for me, I did like how Jost leaned into his this week. I especially chuckled at the Josts' Ted Cruz hair jokes and Che's Andrew Cuomo/Moe Syzlak comparison (although I was led to believe that Rich Hall was the actual real life model for Moe Syzlak?) The premise of Kate's feature was something I wanted to like more. Her performance wasn't doing anything for me at first (maybe I'm just not crazy about that proper elderly British woman voice she keeps using) but she eventually kinda won me over. Lauren's commentary was great. She's really sold hers and it's nice to see her finally get her own showcase in her first season (and hopefully NOT her last but given the extreme circumstances I can't see why they wouldn't keep her around). Beck's commentary was very funny. Nice to see Beck finally perform something that seems like it was written for Kyle specifically. I wonder if they cowrote this? B+

Fliona! - This was nothing more than a series of rapid fire list of unavailable items to me and it was so campy that I thought there was no way that it couldn't have at least been cowritten by Bowen Yang and I was right. The only thing that really stood out to me was Bowen staring more blatantly at the cue cards than anyone else (but given the rapid fire pace of this sketch I don't blame him) and Aidy doing a voice that I'd sooner expect to hear from one of Melissa's characters than one of hers. Otherwise, this was the weakest sketch of the night for me. D+

Fembox - This was set up like it was gonna be much funnier than it was but Kate and Aidy didn't add a whole lot to this for me (although I did like how Aidys' character just seemed to be "what if Alex Borsteins' character from 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' was doing a Kyle Mooney impression?") and Regina was just there for the gravitas.The reactions from Mikey, Chris, Andrew, Melissa and Heidi as the spectators were what made this for me. C+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season…

1. Timothee Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (12.12.2020)
2. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
3. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
4. Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa (12.19.2020)
5. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
6. Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)
7. Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)
8. John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly (1.30.2021)
9. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
10. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
11. Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen (12.5.20)
12. Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20) 

Well, that show was a pleasant experience. Next week, Regé-Jean Page makes his hosting debut with Bad Bunny as musical guest. This actually marks the first time I've heard an SNL lineup and knew who the musical guest was while having absolutely no clue on the host. I only know he's on Bridgeton because I just suggested that show to my mom without having seen it at all. I just thought she might like to see it since she's into flowery, Jane Austen Victorian period pieces. From what she's told me, she seems pretty into it so she should have a good time with this episode and I'll certainly go into it with an open mind as, again, I have absolutely no clue what to expect but if this guy respects and thinks enough of the show to agree to host right now, more power to him. Let's hope he commits. See you then!

Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)

Okay, here's my review. SNL in 2021 is still a little uneven so far but compared to last week, this host's visible commitment and genuine enthusiasm for the show put it over. It's easy to see why Dan Levy so easily blends in and gets along well with this cast. I can't remember I time I've seen a host whose comedic sensibilities matched up perfectly with SNL in its current incarnation to the point where you see that their conscious decision to pursue their own project right out of the gate rather than audition for SNL is the only thing that kept them from getting hired on the spot. Sadly, the cast was a little uneven with Lauren and Chloe being completely shut out and Pete only having appeared in the "men's cosmetics" pretape that was posted online as a dress cut. Anyway, this was another straight forward show with little to unpack so let's get right to it.

Super Bowl Pregame Show - Well, I guess we're two-for-two on cold opens that didn't feel like they should've BEEN cold opens. Placement in the show aside, the few genuine laughs I got from this were the "both sides" commercials, the "predictions" at the end and just Redds' presence in this sketch in general. I thought Beck and Kenan were laughing at some of the glaring technical miscues until they cut to Aidy dressed as two male football coaches which made me realize that if you're going for an Inside The Beltway style blooper moment, it does work if you lean into it no matter how low the stakes are. C+

Monologue - Dan Levy is a lot lower key of a performer than I expected. To be honest, it kinda hindered this monologue more than it helped it for me but this monologues general length may be more to blame for that. I wanted to like the idea of a backstage tour monologue in the time of Covid-19 more if I hadn't seen Fallon do something an awfully lot like this recently with his Billie Eillish "Therefore I Am" parody. This was executed in an almost identical way to that. Still, it was nice to see Kenan, Showgirls in plastic bubbles and Melissa in what was sadly her only appearance all night. Honestly, the Eugene cameo was the real highlight of this for me. It must have meant a lot to him to be able to see his son host this show so I'm pleased to see they found a way to get him there and keep him safe. C+

Universal Studios Tram Tour - It was nice to see a type of character Mikey has played before in a sketch template that I haven't seen used that frequently. Dan Levy carried this well with a few solid assists from Mikey and Ego. It was also nice to see Bowen in this to remind us that he and Dan have more range as performers than just playing roles the other one could do just as easily. B-

Zillow - I don't know whether I'd like this sketch more or less if I hadn't seen this premise before as the entire basis of a CRACKED article recently. Now, I'm seeing that this was already a college humor video and two other comedians are throwing their accusations out there. The performances really sold it for me but the subsequent accusations of plagiarism has kept me from enjoying it now.Once again, Cecily provided the perfect counterpoint to everything. C-

Mask Off Super Bowl Party - This was the first of many sketches tonight that I liked more for the performances than the writing since I could immediately tell where this was going anyway. I especially liked all the absurd reveals about each characters personal lives. I just wished Heidi hadn't let that Chilli step on her last two punchlines. I don't feel too strongly one way or the other about Kate's Dr. Fauci impression but I have to say this sketch was a better use of said impression than the cold open to Timothee Chalamets' episode last month. Bowen as PSY (again, another role that separates him from Dan Levy as a performer) was a nice unexpected addition if for no other reason than giving us a nice fourth wall breaking ending. B-

Lifting Our Voices - I almost thought this could've been another Che penned sketch until I realized I could actually make sense of the very straight forward point it was trying to make. Nice to see Punkie get a substantial role in a sketch. Kenan, Chris, Dan, Ego, Aidy and (especially) Kyle all really nailed their parts. I'd even go as far as saying Chris and Dan walked so Kyle could run away with this. Kyle may even go down in SNL history as the first cast member to make Ego Nwodim even come close to breaking. B+

Update was a bit shorter than I was expecting but overall it was pretty solid. Once again, Che had the better jokes (or just knew how to better deliver his in some cases but if they were even going to bring up Morgan Wallen they shouldn't have turned away from the skid and made it a slam on Jost for no reason). I had heard that Mikey and Heidi were doing an Update feature I was expecting to see their Instagram influencer couple again. I'm glad they did different characters this time but this was a little conflicting for me. I mean, their performances put this over for me but I'm not crazy about the idea of SNL doing "cancel culture is getting out of control" jokes. They feel wildly out of place on this show. Kenan and Chris' new characters are something I personally could get behind as I have seen several examples of the exact YouTube trend they were parodying. I could also tell it was written in such a way that you wouldn't have to know what they're parodying to get it due to the increasing absurdity of it. Honestly, the worst thing I could say about this week's Update is that my hopes for a "Bobby Bittman meets Bruce Chandling" Update feature were completely dashed. B-

Football Songs - It was nice to see Cecily finally make a live appearance in this week's show. It was a little disappointing to see her gradually gaslight a new group of people into suddenly knowing how some obscure show tune. I mean, everyone was great and the performances really saved it but I just wasn't crazy about seeing this sketch template again. I did like Cecily and Dan threatening Beck with violence at the end. C+

Wedding Objections - I liked Mikeys' performance in this. Ego and Punkie were great in it too as were Kate, Dan and Beck but this felt like too niche and too scattershot of a sketch concept for me to fully get into. C-

It Gets Better 10 Years Later - Now, this was another niche premise but it was pulled off in such a way that the entire audience could get in on it. This had great writing behind it and while it featured solely its' full LGBTQIA+ roster, it was a great way for the show to illustrate just how diverse it's cast in general has become. B+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season…

1. Timothee Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (12.12.2020)
2. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
3. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
4. Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa (12.19.2020)
5. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
6. Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)
7. John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly (1.30.2021)
8. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
9. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
10. Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen (12.5.20)
11. Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20) 

Well, that show felt like it would be one of the cast and crew's more memorable weeks. Next week, Regina King makes her hosting debut. She's had quite a career but the main thing I know her from is "The Boondocks" so I know even less of what to expect from her than I did from Levy. I just hope she can match Levys' energy. See you then!