Okay, here's my review. This may have been far from Mulaneys' best episode (or the best episode of this season) but it was the only episode he hosted that can hold a candle to either of his first two. Some of the recurring premises of the night weren't from his previous episodes (and the ones that were somehow felt like they had LESS business being there) but a lot of the original material was fairly solid (even if a lot of the material may have been buoyed by expected cameos). Unfortunately, while the newer players got plenty of airtime (except for Aristotle who seemed to have been shut out of everything but the goodnights) they all got supporting roles rather than one of the big showcases Mulaney was known for helping previous first year cast members get. Still, I was just glad to see SNL finally take some baby steps away from the established formula of a Mulaney hosted episode. In a couple of instances, I was glad to have accurately been able to predict certain things that SNL would do for the betterment of this week's show. Let me explain as the first one is coming right up.
Ukrainian Chorus Dumka Of New York - Well, I'm glad to see SNL give us the exact type of cold open this week warranted instead of trying to mine a comedic take out of a burgeoning war. I'll just leave it at that without rating this and move on.
Monologue - I liked the January 6th reference and the stories about his intervention, his son's pacifiers and his finding out his "drug dealer" was just a painter. Other than that, I'll just say I'm glad this monologue wasn't TOO much of an introspective "deep dive". B-
Monkey Judge - Now, THIS is the exact type of sketch I was hoping to see again in a Mulaney hosted episode! This felt the most like something else that Mulaney tried to write 12 years ago and didn't get on (although I have hust found out that is not the case and that the PDD dudes wrote this makes it even better!) It really leaned into how absurd and abstract it was and I also liked how they gave Melissa a lead role (and JAJ a supporting role) right at the top of the show. I also liked how Cecily and Mulaney fully committed to deadpanning the sheer absurdity of it. It's funny how they do this sketch just mere hours after I posted a joke in the That Week In SNL Discord server about how if they were actually going to do another TCM Classics they should finally do a Planet Of The Apes one and get Dana Gould to cameo as Dr. Zaius! (Hanging With Dr Z is a really great webseries on YouTube by the way. Check it out if you haven't). B+
Blue River - I'm not sure we needed such a blatant retread of a sketch Cecily already did with Seth Rogen way back in her own second season and I'm not sure pretaping it with John, Heidi or Chloe really added to it. Still, if this was done as sort of a late birthday/early going away present for Cecily (similar to the reason I suspect LCD Soundsystem was booked tonight for Colin) then I'll take it. C-
Restaurant - Well, it almost seemed like I spoke too soon about unnecessary sketch retreads (remember the Aziz Ansari sketch from the season 43 Will Ferrell episode? Think hard, you might have repressed those memories) but at least this somewhat improved on that formula by raising the stakes, broaching one subject with multiple different takes and providing more cartoonish reactions like Kenans' tie curl, Kate's elevator head and Mulaneys' tooth pull. C+
PDD: Dope Variant - It wasn't ideal of the show to do two back to back Covid related sketches but at least this one just provided some silly, absurdist escapist fun with one always welcome fun and benign cameos (I don't see Roker getting canceled anytime soon) and gave Sarah a noticable role. I did chuckle at Martin Herlihy testing positive for anal worms and Pokémon suddenly being real. B+
Back (Yet Again) To The Five Timers Club - Well, THIS was obviously the high point of the show! It's good to get at least a brief glimpse of what COULD’VE been in Rudds' episode two months ago as well as some meta self reflection on the silliness if the whole five timer legacy. First of all, I liked how they transitioned OUT of the PDD short into this (and I'm sure PDD felt proud of themselves for finding a way around the obligatory applause break cameos that would have normally gotten them "cut for time".) Second of all, I liked how after bringing out Bergen, Martin and Fey (who's certainly one to talk about wriyung things that aged terribly on this show) they actually gave us two genuinely UNexpected cameos in Eliott Gould (who I suppose I only failed to expect because it took me until Mulaney mentioned it to remember he was on Mulaneys' self titled 2014-15 failed FOX sitcom) and of course...the one, the only...CONAN FUCKING O'BRIEN after not even having touched NBC with a 50 foot pole in 12 years (and even this came being nearly ruined by a camera miscue!) Apparently, all it took to get him back was this specific group of people! Not only did he show up tonight, he actually bought his good old fun and loose talk show energy with that line flub and "drinky-drinky" motion! It's like the show decided to make ALL our collective dreams come true by making every single person's wildest guesses as to who tonight's planned cameos were going to be (after that info was strongly hinted at, of course, by a source several people have already thanked me NOT to mention for their own personal reasons in the past month). Kudos! A-
Update was shockingly short and surprisingly sweet this week. As expected, Che had the lion's share of better Russia material (I mean, as lightly as it seemed they broached the subject anway) although I did like Colin's Chernobyl/Weinstien joke (as well as his Prince Andrew/Medina Spirit/Sister Sister jokes). Che's Luke Cage/lead paint joke came out of nowhere but his delivery really sold it for me. I was just thinking about which cast members I'd like to see do commentaries this week until I realized I'd much rather see no commentaries than run the risk of seeing Pete address the Kanye situation (I sure hope that fears for his own safety regarding THAT aren't the reason he skipped tonight's show). B-
Subway Churro - Okay, this HAS to be the weakest of Mulaneys obligatory Broadway medelies so far. This had the most "running on fumes feeling to it out if anything else that aired in the whole show. The songs felt barely threaded together by anything at all. I'm glad they included Melissa here but I'm sure she has some very mixed feelings about it. Doing a parody of "If I Were A Rich Man" called "If I Were A Mole Man" (at least Kenan and Mulaney acted the hell out of their parts and if you squint you could probably make out JAJ and Sarah as rabbinical backup dancers there) and Kyle's Evan Hansen along with Aidys' Jesus Christ Superstar numbers were a bit too much of a stretch for me. I did like Alex's number more for his apparent invention of cardboard pixelation than the song itself. Still, at least this made good use of Redd, Kate, Punkie and Dismukes though. Cecily seemed to be who this entire sketch was written for and her presence really got me through this so I'll let her slide. I suppose it's neat that they managed to squeezed in LCD Soundsystem as the Guardian Angels into this even though they did nothing for me. C-
Nickelodeon: Behind The Slime - Okay, this was just more chaotic fun. Redd pretty much expertly carried this along with Alex and the cast members playing kids were very fun. Chris in particular played off his mustache difficulties well. Cecily and Melissa had fun banter but Mulaney, Sarah, Kyle, Mikey and Chloe (even if it seems like there was a genuine unplanned mishap there) were the best at reacting to slime. Could've done without Aidys' part though. B+
Robinson Family Reunion (Cupid Shuffle) - Nice to see the return of a low key sketch from Mulaneys' second episode that I genuinely liked the first time. Even if this one seemed sorely lacking compared to the first, it was fun seeing this format in a Mulaney episode again (as well as getting to see Punkie continue to make up for lost time). The Soul Train Line gag was a little predictable but Mulaneys' performance sold it. B-
Now, for my updated rankings of each of Mulaneys' episodes do far...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett (3.2.2019)
2. John Mulaney/Jack White (3.14.2018)
3. John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem (2.26.2022)
4. John Mulaney/David Byrne (2.29.2020)
5. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.2020)
Now, for my updated rankings of this season so far...
1. Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile (10.23.2021)
2. Keiran Culkin/Ed Sheeran (11.6.2021)
3. Simu Liu/Saweetie (11.20.2021)
4. Billie Eillish (12.11.2021)
5. John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem (2.26.2022)
6. Paul Rudd/Charli XCX (12.18.2021)
7. Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift (11.13.2021)
8. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)
9. Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (1.29.2022)
10. Will Forte/Måneskin (1.22.2022)
11. Ariana DeBose/Bleachers (1.15.2022)
12. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
13. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)
Well, that show set out to prove that if you set your expectations at the floor it's almost impossible for them to NOT be exceeded! Next week, Oscar Issac makes his hosting debut. I've seen enough of him to know he would work well as a host. Good to see Charli XCX get to make up for lost time as well. See you then!
