Keke Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This episode mety expectations about 2/3rds of the way which makes it the second best show of the season so far behind Chappelle of course. I say this because while Chappelle's monologue cast a dark shadow over the show for two weeks his episode was consistently strong sketch wise. KeKe was a much better host and honestly had a much better monologue (honestly, she was the best thing about this entire episode by far) but this episode was unfortunately front loaded with it's weaker sketches leaving the best stuff in the bottom 2/3rds. Still, this episode shows the remainder if this season is om the right track. Surprisingly, Sarah had her best night all season (with Molly, Punkie, Cecily, Bowen and Devon vying for close second) leaving everyone else to get washed off the screen by KeKe so airtime was a little unbalanced but that was to be expected. Anyway, let's get on with it, shall we?

Walker, Cornyn, McConnell & Blackburn - Wow, if the botched and unnecessary applause cue didn’t key you in to the fact that this was probably going to be another weak cold open, nothing would've. You know it's bad when the only legitimately funny part of this involves Cecily throwing a blanket over Kenan to trick him into falls asleep (honestly, that wasn't so much "funny" as it was "this is the least 'beaten to death' feeling 'Herschel Walker is dumb' joke we could come up with). Still, at least this was short and gave us JAJ delivering a solo LFNY (and DIDN'T give us something bad enough to overshadow the rest of the show). C-

Monologue - I should've known a bland, forgettable cold open was going to be irrelevant this week since I knew KeKe Palmer would have the right energy to get the show started proper (questionable Aziz Ansari impression aside). She came off like a more confident and focused Meg Thee Stallion and she's definitely got both Amy Poehler and Cardi B beat for "best pregnancy reveal in SNL history". I liked the self assured ending she gave us too. B+

Forceingtons' Ridge - Well, for me the inclusion of KeKe Palmer is apparently what it takes for me to fully be able to appreciate another Cecily/Bowen campfest. Other than that, this sketch deserves credit for being technically/logistically impressive in terms of staging (as well as achievements in subtlety in meta humor now that I think of it). This works as a fine companion piece to "Sands Of Modesto" with Daniel Craig (as that was one of the last live sketches they were able to do before Covid changed the world and this one could ONLY be done after everyone who was going to get vaccinated for it did so). C+

Big Boys - Ok, I immediately recognized this as something that wasn’t for me but I did like Punkies' verse (even if some of it felt flat for me) as well as Egos' snoring and Cecilys' "first class" bits. I can't recall a time when I felt this show was actively daring me to stop watching (not since at least seasons 35/36) but this came pretty damn close. D+

United Tingz Of Aubrey - Well, first of all, kudos to Sarah for not only having the funniest line delivery in this (along with KeKes' reveal that she was just playing herself and Punkie being a close third) but also reaching a point where she can be cast as a chick hot enough to get hit on by Drake. Other than that, this seemed a little too pop culture specific to have been done in this era. It reminded me a bit of the Spiderman Turn Off The Dark attorney ad from season 36 that featured Samberg as Bono. This sketch had no real business being on the show anytime after 2015 at all. Also, I can think of about 525,600 different endings that would’ve made more sense than singing that theme song from Rent. That being said, it was still one of the more fun pieces of the night. The few miscues we got were so glaring it ALMOST looked liked we were headed straight into Meg Thee Stallion Workout class territory for a sec but we were pulled back. This had a bit more going for it. C+

Hello Kitty Store - This was the first sketch all night that I was fully on board for. The increasingly committed intensity from KeKe and Bowen along with Sarah's "insane place to get high" line gave mr my biggest laughs of the night. Speaking of Sarah, my mom always talks about how she and Melissa Villaseñor look alike and she gets them confused now (and that seems to be the only thing she has to say about Sarah ever). I personally didn't really see it until this sketch. It must be something about the eye makeup and the wig. Anyway, the New York ending was fun too. I didn’t even mind the Natasha Lyonne cameo either. A-

Kenan And Kelly And Kel - I honestly SHOULD have expected this to grow on me more in rewatches as much as it did. After all, I did watch my fair share of '90s (and even a little bit of early '00s) Nickelodeon as a kid so I AM at the exact target age to get wrapped up in All That & Kenan and Kel nostalgia but probably not "True Jackson VP" nostaliga. Sorry, KeKe. I guess I just aged out of Nickelodeon by the time that was on (even if I occasionally tuned into "Victorious" and "Sam and Cat"). Still, I'm sure I watched a lot more "All That" than "Kenan and Kel". Hey, I've been a hardcore sketch comedy nerd from early childhood in case you couldn't tell so yeah, I've definitely watched way more of their sketch shows than I have of their sitcoms. Hell, that coupled with the fact that I had heard Kenan and Kel themselves (along with other original All That alumni) were the ones actually producing the 2019/20 All That reboot was the only thing that convinced me to check that one out in the first place. For those reasons, I could only really get on board with this once Devon did his dead on Ed from Good Burger impression followed by the real Kel Mitchell actually showing up. While I enjoyed watching KeKe give it her all here, I feel like I've seen too many parodies of the idea of "gritty/dramatic '90s reboots" in comedy lately (especially here on SNL around the time the "Bel-Air" dropped on Peacock) so I'm thankful they got Kel to actually participate in this to make it feel like a genuine hrartfelt reunion between old friends and not a cold cynical misfire meant to cash-in on childhood nostalgia. Thankfully, they were careful not to cross the line between parodying that and...y'know actually BEING that. B-

Arbys' 5 for $10 - Gee, was I supposed to be as confused by this sketches mere existence (or just Arbys' real life existence in general) as Cecily, KeKe, Bowen and (OF COURSE) Mikey were at least pretending to be? The Taco Bell and Wendy's mentions seemed unnecessarily tacked on. It reminded me too much of a tweet I read about 10 years ago that said (and I'm badly paraphrasing here) "the fact that Burger King can sell you 10 chicken nuggets for $1.50 should concern you more than it entices you". Neither of those things should be dragged out into full length sketches. D+

Update was pretty uneven tonight. For one thing, I didn’t hate Josts' Kanye and Florida rambles as much as I was expecting to, so that was nice. Other than that, I liked Ches' Thriller, Dallas Cowboys, Nick Cannon and "give black voters a voice" jokes just for how expertly underplayed they both were. Speaking of, it's nice to see Michael Longfellow back at the desk after his strong debut. While I didn’t like this commentary as much as his last one, I did like the reveal that his dad was a divorce attorney. The real highlight of this Update was Sarah finally branching out and appearing at the desk next to Che for once and doing so as a non-Sarah Squirm character. It was a little immature and a tad seasons 20/30-ish to be honest but thankfully it wasn’t too one note. C+

Ultrasound - I can see how this sketch was absolutely necessary this week. It works as a nice prequel to the Selena Gomez baby monitor sketch and I honestly liked this one better than the original just for how KeKe was far more on board with the increased insanity (and how Devon showed he wasn't). B-

Christwound High Girls Choir - This sketch was a cute way for KeKe to show off her pipes. The worst thing I can say about this was that it was just a little tonally confusing. Kudos to Molly for getting another big role where they were part of the focus right when I thought that they were gonna give Sarah another big part. B-

Flight Attendants - It's nice to finally get a sketch where Ego and KeKes' chemistry is the sole focus because they really elevated this. It was pretty much a better version of that older flight attendant sketch that Kristen Wiig and Megan Fox did back in 2009 during the season 35 premiere. B-

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
2. KeKe Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)
3. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
4. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
5. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
6. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
7. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that was just what this season needed. Next week, Steve Martin and Martin Short each return to co-host an episode and I gotta say I'm pretty excited for it. Steve may have suffered from diminishing returns in his last few hosting outings (his two solo '80s episodes were great and his 2006 episode was all right but I remember being sadly disappointed by a lot of his 2009 episode and the less said about his early '90s episodes the better) but Marty always brings his A-Game to this show. His 1996 and 2012 episodes were fantastic and I can't wait for the possibility of seeing him deliver something on that level once again. I know they've already cohosted once before with Chevy Chase back in December of 1986 and having just rewatched that episode I have to say...it was fine but after the cold open and monologue they each seemed to appear completely away from each other in their own separate sketches (or at least Chevy did) so that episode was so scattershot it feels unfair to really talk about. I'm not saying this episode would work on paper just because Marty would be propping up Steve the entire show or anything like that as much as I'm saying this episode will work because we'll get to see two old and dear friends with excellent chemistry play off each other if the rave reviews "Only Murders In The Building" have been getting are anything to go by. Considering Steves' age and the gap between this and his last hosting gig and the fact that he would have to host two more times to take back his all time hosting record from you-know-who, working with Marty again should make this an ideal show to go out on if he truly plans to retire from hosting (or just, acting or performing in general). Plus, while Steve may be a five timer, Brandi Carlisle now gets to join the even more inclusive "Two Timers Club For Musical Guests Who've Only Appeared In Episodes Hosted By Former Cast Members" which I believe only her and Dr. Dre would be members of. See you then! Can't Wait!