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!