REReview Plus: Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga (10.22.2016)

 The following blog entry is a companion piece to last weeks’ episode of the Saturday Night Networks’ 50 Greatest Episode Countdown series. Give it a watch OR a listen, won't you?

These are excerpts from the original review of this SNL episode I posted back in the fall of 2016 with new comments from 2025.The original review is posted in italics. New comments are presented in standard format text

Third Presidential Debate  

This has to be my second favorite of the 2016 campaign. I like how it was much more focused than the previous week (since it was meant to parody a debate that occurred four days ago rather than nearly a week). Tom Hanks as Chris Wallace was very much a welcome addition. Kates' highlights were the "birth control/nasty women" riffs and describing Hillarys' last 30 years. Baldwins' highlights were the spinning out of control/rigged riffs and Stephen Baldwin jabs. B+

Geez, I feel like I was a little generous to this one at the time that it aired. This could probably be chalked up to being in the mindset that most of America was in at the time that, well…HE had no chance at winning this thing, right? Even Baldwin thought this would just be a fun little way to pick up some extra money on the side since a movie he was supposed to be doing at this time got cancelled and there’s no way he’d be stuck doing this for four years.

I do remember the appeal of Baldwins’ impression during this time being that he captured Trump's sheer manic adderall fueled essence from his first campaign more than Darrell Hammonds’ low energy “stuck in the Apprentice era” Trump (which was actually funnier in hindsight because there was less at stake and less weight that Darrell had to carry with a Donald Trump impression from that time). Other than that, it’s obviously not that accurate of a Trump impression, physically or vocally. Time would prove this just as time would show Baldwin getting more and more burnt out on having to do this impression even if it was once a month at most rather than every week as it was during this season.

…which leads me to my next point. This debate sketch had the feeling of it being hampered by the exact type of toothless, empty, meandering low-effort #Resistance political humor that would sadly come to define SNL (and mainstream political comedy in general) during Trump's first term in office (you know, when pretty much every news channel really DID become Trump TV and we all really did hate it?). Perhaps the most glaring example of this would be the “settle down, entire planet” montage and the “nasty hombres/bingo card” bit from Kate.

Speaking of Kate, she does do a really solid Hillary. She sells the hell out of that “last 30 years” rant and the “nasty woman mug” pitch does sadly hold up as a reflection of the DNCs’ true colors better than you would expect. It is easy to see at the time why Lorne thought she could hold her own next to heavy hitters like Hanks and Baldwin.

Also speaking of, Hanks was a solid straight man here but his presence made this feel a bit like they had to pull back a bit more than normal with this debate sketch because they were trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible with one of the biggest A list movie stars ever. Quite a bit of the jokes in the first half of this really did feel like low hanging fruit. That could also be attributed to this episode and presidential campaign taking place during the era of peak social media where pretty much everyone on Twitter in addition to all the other late night hosts could get in their best jokes about the debates in real time. 

Plus, this being one of the most absurdly ridiculous presidential elections in recent history meant that there was very little left for SNL to explore comedically during these debates. I hinted at this in my actual review of this episode and I think I must’ve labeled this as the best of the three 2016 presidential debate sketches because it didn’t have that “badly beaten to all possible punches by random peoples’ tweets” feeling as the one from the Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars episode (which I think was the one directly before this) nor did it absolutely reek of “too much overconfidence in the moment that Hillary would definitely 100% win” that the first debate from the Margot Robbie/The Weeknd episode did or the cold open from the Lin Manuel-Miranda/Twenty One Pilots episode (aside from the ending where Hanks tells Baldwin that he’s “probably going to lose this election…which wouldn’t happen for another four years…and sadly, when that DID happen we WOULD see exactly what Trump meant when he outright said that he would only accept the results of an election if he wins)

For all its flaws and all its feeling of comfort food viewing for baby boomers who still cling to SNL out of familiarity, who expect this exact kind of thing from the show and would probably turn the TV off and go to bed immediately when this ends if not by Update if they can’t just figure out how to watch or stream Sunday morning, this sketch would probably be the safest choice if the show HAD to pick its best representation of this particular election cycle. (Gee, I sure hope I wasn't spinning out of control too hard with that entire paragraph!)

Monologue 

This has to be Hanks' strongest monologue since at least 1992. It may have been something simple on paper but the writing was what really made it. B-

This still hits about the same as it aired. Too bad it didn't quite pay off with America “making the right decision”. Somehow, this is even more touching and heartwarming than it was nearly a decade ago.

I especially liked how this was written with a “timeless” feel to it that touches on general topics that (for better or worse) concerned Americans both then and now (gun control, immigration, national debt).

I laughed at the “t-shirt cannon/stuffed pizza crust” jokes as well as how quaint it was to hear the last time anyone ever used the words “trill” or “fleek” (or actually “on fleek”, as it were).

Fun fact: This monologue was written by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher of the sketch group “BriTANick”. They both wrote for SNL for only this season. Wonder what ever happened to them?

Black Jeopardy

This may have been the strongest installment of the series by default. Hanks really fit the "odd white man out" role well and got the audience on his side early. Plus, there was some pretty creative writing behind this and it's good to see Leslie fits the void left by Jay Pharroh well. My only real complaint is that the buildup felt like an eternity and the payoff just wasn't quite there. B-

Yeah, I still stand by my above assessment nine years later. Hanks has still got it and has proven he can always get any audience on his side. You can tell because the crowd was particularly hot for this one giving Hanks specifically two applause breaks. Sasheer, Leslie and Kenan turned in strong performances as well.

I don’t know why I complained about the “buildup” though. I must have decided that the Final Jeopardy category being “Lives That Matter” was the payoff because if the payoff was the very funny Tyler Perry jokes followed by the “handshake”...yeah, that was definitely there. I can say that with confidence after having seen them attempt that “payoff” at the SNL50 Black Jeopardy sketch without ANY of the “buildup” play to near silence from a much older, more distinguished crowd.

I know Bryan Tucker wrote on these but didn’t Michael Che write on these as well? I feel like he had to because I have noticed from Che’s early standup that one of his go to comedy tricks is to create unexpected parallels between two disparate groups of people (mostly black people and white republicans) so he HAD to have contributed something to this.

Halloween Block Party 

This was only worth seeing for the middle-of-the-road musical number. Plus, Melissa showcased a surprisingly decent natural singing voice. C-

I…guess I stand by this too? I could mostly tell this was just more James Anderson/Kent Sublette written nonsense where Cecily and a male host confuse the shit out of a group of people that included Beck and Kate as a couple with an unexpected bad song (except this time it’s a song they’re supposed to know because it’s a reworking of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and also Melissa is here too?)

Speaking of, I really did like Cecily and Melissas’ performances here. Melissa was pretty underrated during her entire run on the show (but that may go without saying)

Broken 

This was something I didn't quite know what to make of mostly because I'm not terribly familiar with every single facet of the genre of show this is deconstructing. Plus, the main premise being CBS throwing every acclaimed streaming trope at the wall in an effort to win some awards with their new show kind of narrows the appeal of this. The biggest thing this had going for it was how well acted this was. C+

I would go as far as to say this holds up even better nine years later now that we are living in an era where a show like “The Bear” can keep getting nominated for awards for “best comedy”.

Plus, unique comedies and dramadies like this keep popping up all over streaming services and premium cable at such a rate that this could easily be an Apple TV + or HBO Max show. It may not work as a satire of TV since more and more new shows are a lot like this, but it still works at some level

David S. Pumpkins 

This had its moments but it mostly seemed like an inferior Halloween themed Kevin Roberts remake. The highlights were Leslie's appearance, the final Bobby/Mikey/Hanks scene and Becks' increasing confusion/frustration. Speaking of Mikey, I will go out on a limb here and guess that he wrote this. C+

Yes, Casey. Mikey Day did indeed co-write this.

Yes, this also became another “classic” sketch that nearly everyone who knows about SNL knows. Still, I wouldn't put it up there with “Cowbell” or “Dick In A Box” since I couldn’t tell at that moment that I was watching a future classic or anything. 

It didn’t feel all that unique or different from what the show was doing at the time since we’ve already seen Mikey Day/Streeter Seidell sketches that follow this exact template (see “Kevin Roberts” or “Space Pants”). 

I think a big reason this became a classic is because Tom Hanks performed the absolute hell out of such a ridiculously absurd, nonsensical character at a time when America really needed something silly, goofy and fun to latch onto and distract ourselves from how the upcoming election made us fear for the state of the country we live in.

Plus, it was something spooky to obsess over just in time for Halloween. This was the perfect distraction for the time! 

I may have been a little unfair to this sketch when I first reviewed it, but it has grown on me a bit the more it gets hyped up online…and nowadays, that it the true measure of a “classic” SNL sketch (along with not doing more than two or three times, tops)

Lady Gaga Performs “A-Yo” and “Million Reasons”

Girls’ got some pipes on her. 

I don’t remember being that into Gaga in this era of her career but she sure can sing.

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

Update was exactly as strong as the rest of the show. It seems as if they're phasing out long-form Update already in favor of the more traditional format in time for the post-election season, but this may have been the most intricately written series of Trump jabs this season. Leslie's commentary may be the single funniest and strongest thing she has done on the show so far. She may have been a little late with it but it was a clever and refreshing take on her summer scandal. Nothing really stood out to me from Cecily's latest “Girl...Party” retread but I will say the timing of it is just about right. B-

Yeah, not much stood out to me from Che and Jost (mostly because we’ve seen them talk about all different eras of Trump for the past ten years and as of this writing we may still be stuck with them).

It was great to see Leslie owning her own hacking/trolling scandal (although I don’t know how well her messaging about her own nudes being leaked holds up today).

This was a good edition of Cecily’s “Girl…at a party”. Great chemistry and interplay between Che and Strong here. Hey, “sheeple”! There’s another quaint little word I haven’t heard in at least a decade (hell, people might have stopped saying “sheeple” way before the time people started saying “trill” and “on fleek”).

Sully 

This was possibly the strongest live piece of the night. Something about it made it feel like a '90s Era sketch. I don't know if it was the Baldwin/Hanks pairing (nice to see Baldwin in his first non-Trump appearance this season, BTW) or the more low-key focused style of writing, but whatever it was made it work. My only real complaint would be that the scene with Kyle and Vanessa felt a little too predictable. A-

Yeah, at the time this aired I felt like I was watching a lost season 21/22 sketch (with all the focus on dialogue in a cockpit) but now I see how this fits into a more recent SNL trope of the host reprising one of their old movie hero roles as a pathetic has been who can’t seem to let go of their glory days (see Val Kilmer in season 26, Daniel Radcliffe in season 37) except the only twist on this is Hanks was stealth promoting his newest movie role as an old real life hero. Honestly, the only line that doesn’t hold up here is Hanks’ “I know Ellen…Degeneres. Sweet gal. Funny.”

A Girls' Halloween 

This was another piece written in a similar low-key vibe but with much more female-centric humor. The thing I liked most about this was the stark contrast created by the interspersed editing of the 8pm/4am scenes. C+

Boy, this really kicked off a trend with SNL pretapes that lasted until at least 2022.

This was a nice showcase of the dynamic between the mid-2010s female cast and Bobby was fun in it.

America’s Funniest Pets  

I didn't mind that they decided to bring this back from Adam Drivers’ January episode as I genuinely liked it then, too. Even though it felt like something that worked best as a one-off sketch, Kate and Cecily managed to bring back everything that made it work the first time and Hanks goofing on his pal Ron Howard also worked as a stark contrast to the ladies professional ennui. B-

This may not be one of the all time classics from this show that EVERYONE remembers but it certainly hit just right for me so I’ll always remember it for cracking me up at pretty much every moment.

Sure, it may be buoyed by silly voices (Hanks’ goofy Ron Howard, Cecily and Kates’ absurdly thick French accents and wacky sound effects played to sudden sex & murder mysteries) but damn if those things didn’t fit this premise like a glove.

Overall Thoughts

As expected, this turned out to be the best show of the season up to this point and Tom Hanks’ mere presence played a big part in that. He really sold everything he was in and it was pretty obvious from watching him that he really kept everyone’s spirits up all week. I say this because there was less palpable burn out visible this week compared to last week. We saw a lot of the female cast get plenty of airtime tonight but Bobby, Mikey and Alex were barely visible. Other than that, it was pretty balanced.

I’d say that this one DOES truly deserve its’ status as an all time classic. Hanks is an all time great host and this was a very consistently strong episode that he elevated a lot of. 

This episode did a lot more than just coast on good vibes. There’s really two big pieces everyone remembers from this episode but everything else from this episode is definitely worth remembering as well.

Closing Thoughts

Well, I have no idea what else I will be doing for this blog until October 5th but right now you can also read my new REreview of the first Dave Chappelle episode from this season as well as my brand new “classic” review of the Christopher Walken episode from season 25. Have a great end of summer, everyone!

Ranking Each Vinny Vedecci Sketch (Worst To Best)

This "special edition" blog post is meant as a companion piece to the latest episode of me and Deej Barens' podcast "We Heart Hader" which I, as always, will encourage you to go listen to if you're reading this.

9. Drew Barrymore - 10/10/09

• This may have been the weakest of all the Vinny Vedecci sketches for me, personally.

• The "et/E.T" and "Whip It" jokes were real low points (as sad as that is to say about a Devo reference). Drews' line about how "this must have never happened before" was an even more tired button on a lame tired trope.

• The Letterman/Mrs. Vedecci references and "female director/speaking of your breasts" jokes were OK but they felt a little too telegraphed for my liking. The Letterman jokes at least added a nice topical wrinkle to these.

• On the plus side, we at least get to see Vinny Jr as a belligerent drunk now.

8. Catherine Zeta Jones - 10/23/05

• This is the characters' first appearance in SNL. He doesn't host a talk show yet, but he does run a hotel in Italy. Rather than playing herself, Catherine is playing Vinnys' wife. She, Beppo (Armisen) and Sanz all run the hotel together.

• Sudeikis, Poehler & Thompson are three American tourists who enter asking to use their phone because their bus broke down. Sanz tells them the bus will not work so they are forced to stay the night.

• This sketch plays upon a well worn comedy trope of foreigners making numerous references to '70s/80s American pop culture as if they just got them there.

• Vinny and his wife frequently fight (especially when he tries to hit on Poehlers' character) but quickly make up. Hader treats "ma bella" as something of a catchphrase.

• They also do imitations of the tourists in nerdy, nasal voices (especially Armisens character). This also plays upon some slight racial tropes with Hader making an out of nowhere Rodney King reference to Kenan and at one point simply saying "we are not afraid of you".

• The tourists all leave by the end with the reveal that Sanz has stolen their passports.

• This wasn't the best debut for this character so it's probably for the best that the setting is changed and the writing is focused and tightened up. Hader undeniably brings a fresh new energy and charisma to the show that was sorely needed at this time.

7. Robert Deniro - 12/04/2010

• Same old intro but even the stiff Walken-lite presence of latter day Deniro on SNL really adds something to this and Bill plays off him greatly with his abundant energy.

• Deniro killing the "deer" from Deer Hunter, angry drunk Vinny Jr and the "you talking to me?" gag were the highlights of this.

6. John Malkovich - 12/06/08

• Armisens' character lies and says Malkovich told him he could speak Italian. Vinny mimics Malkovichs' voice expertly.

• Vinny plugs his own film similar to "Being John Malkovich" titled "Being Vinny Vedecci" which is 20 hours of pornography spread across an 8 DVD box set.

• Naturally, with this being Bobby Moynihans' first season, we are introduced to his character of Vinny Vedecci Jr. A small boy who smokes just like his proud papa.

• Not the strongest of these sketches but the impression and "pornography is sex film?" joke may be the highlights of this one.

5. Seth Rogen - 04/04/09

• The "glasses" gag with Armisen was just an unnecessary button on a tired intro trope of these sketches.

• Here Seth Rogen learns that he is known in Italy as " The Bear Man" and all his films are part of the "Bear Man" series of Horror films. 

• "Super Bad" being known as "Bear Man And A Very Very Handsome Gentleman" was cute.

• Vinny imitating Seth's voice (dead on of course) may have been one of my biggest laughs of the tail end of season 34. Glad to see that still holds up today.

4. Zach Braff - 05/19/07

• Set is more minimal as it would be for other installments. Columns and reflected light are removed.

• Vinny does Peter Falk/Columbo impression after learning Zach Braff made his acting debut in "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (which Peter Falk was NOT in).

• Zach learns that Scrubs is dubbed over to be very intense as it is shown as the #1 drama in Italy. The Italians do not find this show funny. The edited out of context Scrubs clip might have been the comedic high point of this. The editing made it obviously better, I'm sure.

• Zach is then asked to kiss a puppet that sprays "vomit" on him which highly amuses the crew. Karate Gorilla is bumped, much to his frustration. That got a laugh out of me.

• Zach Braff seemed an odd fit for this sketch in the first part, but they made it work. This wasn't as good as the JLD installment, but far from the worst of these.

3. Shia LaBeouf - 05/10/08

• Refreshingly, this is the only Vinny Vedecci sketch NOT to begin with the hassle over the host revealing they do not speak Italian followed by Vinny getting into a shouting match with his spaghetti chomping producers (Armisen and a silent Forte). They immediately clear up the confusion by having Vinny explain that he speaks English.

• The Transformers/sex change joke annoyed me slightly back in 2008 but definitely wouldn't hold up today. The smoking arrest (especially with Lorne and Cue Card Wallys' cameos) and Indiana Jones dubbing jokes make up for that though.

• The "HE HATES SNAKES!!!" Joke with Sambergs' sudden appearance may be the high point of this episode. In fact, it almost seems like a gag taken straight out of a Vincent Price sketch.

2. Julia Loius-Dreyfus - 03/17/07

• This is the first sketch with Vinny in his new permanent setting as host of a Charlie Rose-like talk show (in all ways possible, apparently).

• Vinny gets into shouting matches with his spaghetti eating producer (Armisen) over JLD not being fluent in Italian. This will essentially be the opening of all but one installment of this sketch.

• JLD is plugging "New Adventures Of Old Christine" but Vinny does his impressions of Michael "Kramer" Richards (a strong one, reusing and improving upon the one he developed for the Matthew Fox monologue earlier in the season) and a squeaky high pitched barely accurate Jerry. He then reveals he does JLDs voice in the Italian dub of Old Christine. 

• He brings out his daughter (?) Fabiola (Maya Rudolph) to recite the days of the week in slightly broken English as Vinny asks "you put her on show?"

• Vinny then puts a foam cowboy hat on JLD and makes her join in on a song she does not know. She is pecked by a man in an ostrich costume. This continued the theme of 80s/90s pop culture references from the debut sketch as he mentions his guest on his next show will be Jan Michael Vincent of Airwolf fame.

• This character seems to still be finding its own identity and doesn't rely quite as much on stereotypical sex, wine and cigarette jokes as much as in later installments. It seems more occupied with mimicking the real life confusion and horror of American actors appearing in foreign language talk shows. This is reminiscent of "Weird Al" Yankovics' appearance on Japanese television in 1984 performing "Eat It".

1. Jon Bon Jovi - 10/13/07

• The traditional opening gag is made slightly funnier by Vinny outright stating there would be no translator because he assumed a man named "Bon Jovi" would be fluent in Italian. 

• Despite this being the fourth time we've seen this character, he visibly struggles to speak in English more than he has done previously.

• Vinny does his Silvio/Van Zandt impression and Armisens character does his Paulie Walnuts because Bon Jovi mentions he is from New Jersey which of course means...Sopranos reference. This is the last time he extrapolates or free associates to get to an impression or makes an American geography reference so Vinny feels a bit more removed from his original character here. 

• Bon Jovi is not pleased at all to learn he is spokesman of a tobacco brand that prominently features 7 & 8 year Olds (not kids...MEN!) smoking Blaze cigarettes.

• Vinny calls off the robot horse after learning that the "steel horse" he references in "Dead Or Alive" is merely a tour bus.

• Vinny singing "Living On A Prayer" in "Italian" was a cute button on this but having the real Bon Jovi call him out on not speaking REAL Italian was a funnier ending (despite it kind of selling the sketch out and breaking its own reality a but too much) but I can forgive that because I remember this sketch being one of two real bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming episode that showed plenty if evidence if Bon Jovi taking himself and his image too seriously to have much (if any) real fun.

...and, that's it for now. My next blog post might just be a mini-review of the upcoming SNL 50th Anniversary Special. If I have enough stray observations to share with you guys after watching it, I will post them here. 

If I do, in fact, post a whole new blog just about SNL50, you can expect something resembling my "mini-review" of Saturday Night (2024) from a few months ago (or my blog post about the SNL 40th anniversary special from a decade ago...but, y'know obviously a lot better written this time). 

Aside from that, the next episode of "We Heart Hader" will be released in two weeks. It will be another SNL related episode mainly focusing on Bills' assorted game show host parts in sketches over the years (aside from "Vince Blight" from "What's That Name?" who will, of course, be the focus of his own "character spotlight" episode some time down the road). Whether or not I will put together a new blog post to go with THAT one...well, I haven't decide yet but don't count on it.

I'd like to tell you about some more future plans for the blog and podcast, but I think it's best to wait until Deej and I have the next few episodes scheduled and planned out better first. 

For now, just count on my next blog post being a full length review of SNLs' next planned regular episode after the 50th anniversary special...whenever that may air. If I decide to suddenly change course and make another blog post related to the podcast, I will tell you here but you can always find out what my plans for this blog (and the podcast) are by following my three main socials where I regularly announce new blog posts and podcast episodes (Twitter, Bluesky & Threads).

See you again real soon!

Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)

Okay, here's my review. When your expectations for an SNL episode pretty much start at the floor, there's nothing they can do BUT pleasantly surprise you. Sure, it was an episode buoyed by surprise cameos (in a good way for the first time since at least 2012) but Jack Harlow certainly did his part by being a surprisingly likable and easy going host. The worst thing I can really say about this episode is that it was still a little uneven but then again so were all of this seasons' episodes. Thankfully, this week's episode was more uneven on the level of Brendon Gleesons' where the highs were very high and the lows were just somewhere in the middle.This was a big night for Andrew, Punkie, Ego (the back half anyway) and all the newbies along with Cecily (as expected) and Kenan. Sarah and JAJ got some small parts that are showing they can stretch and continue to be used as utility cast members. Even with one returning veteran, no one really felt shut out. Anyway, let’s unpack this, shall we?

PBS News Hour - Well, I guess we were due for one if these, too. I guess it's more watchable than a C-SPAN opening...and at least PBS is a more unique framing device for these? It made me feel more like I was watching a mellow Norm MacDonald era cold open than a Mikey Day/Heidi Gardner era cold open, so...thats' nice? Shockingly, Cecily had the only worthwhile performance in this  (and her shot in the montage was so seamless you wouldn't even think she missed each of the previous four episodes so far). C+

Monologue - While I think it's good that Jack Harlow showed right away that he can poke light fun at himself but that was a little too light for me. I get the sense that Harlow wanted to do one of Jimmy Kimmels "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" segments more than he wanted to host SNL but he just decided to say "fuck it" and tell Lorne and the writers "can you guys jusy make my monologue this?" (loved that possibly unintentional Mr. Subliminal shout out, though). The Lil Nas X jokes just confused me at first becsuse they mostly left me wondering whether or not Harlow had come out recently or not. I appreciate that he tried something different in speaking to an audience member who turned out to NOT be a plant but it was so brief it was pointless and it wemt nowhere. Overall, thr best thing about this monologue wss that Harlow didn’t seem ill at ease with being on the show. C+
Wedding Like Joker - Only Andrew Dismukes could make such a paper thin, repetitive premise watchable much less funny (with some assists from Sarah Sherman who we get to see stretch and grow as an actress and from Jack Harlow who thankfully showed he was more into doing the show here than he did during his monologue). The surprise Jeff Probst cameo was a nice touch but it hardly did anything for me. It was nice to see JAJ keep getting used in non-impression roles. C+

A Message From Skechers - I didn’t completely hate the idea behind this, but I couldn't help but get uneasy "Steve Carrell IS Jeff Bezos" bad take vibes. They didn’t even come close to striking the right balance between making Skechers look lame and pointlessly kissing up to Kanye to me. Marcello had a good line about how Skechers could be thrown in the washer but it wasn’t really worth this sketch existing. The ending was pretty weak. JAJ does a solid Mike Lindell but...is that really an impression the show needs right now? D+

Post Halloween Red Carpet Special - Thie felt a little long, but it was worth it to see Kenan, Bowen, Harlow and all the featured players really get to score here. Cecilys' character being named "Tina LaFaye" was an interesting choice. Kudos to the show for successfully pulling off what they attempted with "The Grabbies" in Charles Barkleys' last episode. B-

Pixar AA Pitch - By far, this was the best live sketch of the night. I loved how immediately everyone was comitted to the rapidly increasing silliness of this. I didn’t even mind that they tried to sneak in another "everyone starts singing along with Cecily as soon as they realize that...wait a minute, they DO know the song she is singing" sketch on us because that was a very small part of it. Tom Hanks is always such a welcome presence that you can't get hung up for too long on why he isn't hosting when he makes an unexpected cameo. I do love that they ended with suitcase puppets on us and pulled out to show us who was operating them. A-

2020 Part 2: 2024 - Well, it's nice that they let this air just in time for Halloween. While this may seem like another hacky tired SNL trope on the surface, I have to say I found it...somewhat relatable given what the last two years have been like, so...I can't even work up the energy to be disappointed by it (and I can't really imagine anyone else doing it). C+

Best Bartenders In The World - This was honestly the worst sketch of the night. At first, it just seemed like an incoherent mess. Then, the twist ending came and it felt to me like someone found crumpled up pages from the first draft of John Mulaneys' drag brunch sketch from his 2018 episode and just said "fuck it, let’s just see if we can get this on the air". D-

Update felt kinda all over the place this week. The only notable jokes were Josts' breakdown of the Oz/Fetterman debate and Ches' portion of the whole Kanye rant. It was very nice to see Bobby Moynihan back in any capacity. He is a sorely missed presence. Good to see he's not entirely "done" with the show and has made like Sandler and Murhpy and put whatever issues he had with the end of his tenure behind him. Kudos to him for giving us the Covid era update on Drunk Uncle that we didn't know we needed (and pulling it off better than Forte did w/MacGruber). B-

2 David 2 S. 2 Pumpkins - Suddenly, the presence of both Tom Hanks AND Bobby Moynihan in the same episode makes a lot more sense. I'm guessing we could all immediately tell where this was headed when Kenan showed up? While this was a pleasant (and genuinely unexpected) surprise, it was too much like the original. I didn't mind seeing this again (and I do appreciate the reveal that his is from Ibiza), but it needed some tightening up because Dismukes and Ego didn’t quite have the same timing that Beck and Kate did that made the original work. Normally, I'm a fan of Ego and Dismukes but this felt too much like something that the show left behind in the previous era for them to make it work without making it their own (and Harlow didn’t really work for me in the Melissa Villaseñor role either). I’m guessing the whole reason that they did this tonight was that either Jack Harlow just wanted to be a part of it or this may be Mikeys' last season with the show. As we all know, he cowrote the original w/Streeter Siedell and may have wanted to bookend his time on the show with a reprisal of the biggest hit from his first season in the cast. Kudos to the makeup department (especially on either JAJ or Marcello who I'm guessing played Freddy Kreuger and Longfellow who I'm 99% sure played Pennywise). C+

The View - You know, if I didn’t know any better I'd think Jack Harlow wrote this hinself. I was gonna say if they absolutely had to still be doing View parodies now that they should’ve at least had Ego and Punkie switch roles until I realized that wouldn't work because Ego Nwodim was basically playing Whoopi Goldberg as Ego Nwodim and Punkie Johnson wouldn't have been able to pull that off. Otherwise, this seemed only worth putting on air for the undeniable fact thst Joy Behar is the role Sarah Sherman was born to play. At least this was placed appropriately in the show. D+

Now, I'm finally ready to deliver my first real ranking of the season so far...

1. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
2. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
3. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
4. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, I certainly learned how not to judge a book by its cover. Next week, Amy Schumer marks her third time hosting and the less said about her, the better. Schumer bring placed into the context of this season as host gives a whole new meaning to the term "diminishing returns" which is starting to become a running theme of this season (and yes, I'm also starting to wonder about the troubles they are having booking hosts this season). See you then!