Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa (2.3.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. Somehow, this show turned out to be more genuinely enjoyable and have more cameos from former cast members or friends of the show (or anyone else outside of the current cast really) than last week's show with Will Ferrell. I'm sure it didn't hurt the cause that most people had considerably lowered expectations for the entire rest of the season (much less this weeks' show). Some people must have thought it was a refreshing change of pace that this shows wasn't as front loaded with #MeToo/#TimesUp related material as the previous months worth of shows. Coincidentally, most of that type of material seemed to be buried in the latter post Update half of the show for some reason when the show started to really fall apart. Natalie hasn't changed as a host at all. She's still a dependable actress whether shes' doing comedy or drama. She sure did defy most peoples' expectations of how "woke" her show would be given more recent statements she has made to the press. Also, I was impressed with how she manage not to let herself be overshadowed by all the cameos this week. Hell, nobody really overshadowed anybody. It felt like airtime for most of the cast was pretty balanced but for some reason it felt like Pete dominated the show since he was actually in sketches after being completely shut out of the show last week. Also, Cecily and Aid appeared to dominate the rest of the show more than Kate or Leslie. Kudos to Heidi and Chris on continuing to make solid impressions on the show but sadly, I think it's over for Luke.

Before we go any further, I have to take a moment and point out that this was the only show so far this season to NOT be broadcast live coast to coast due to NBC airing the "NFL Football Honors" MVP awards ceremony before they aired the Super Bowl the following night. They did say initially this ENTIRE season would be broadcast live coast to coast. Obviously, that's not true anymore no matter what but I'm wondering if they are going to air the rest of the season live coast to coast again starting next month or if they decided to end that for good after last week? I did enjoy being able to watch the show truly live and nn hour earlier than my local NBC affiliate permitted in previous seasons and it certainly made writing out these reviews a much easier and more efficient process for me (given how ever since I got my first smart phone these reviews have just become a series of extremely polished hot to lukewarm takes anyway). I'd like to see them finish out the rest of this season doing the same thing even though knowing every episode this season BUT ONE was broadcast live would truly bug the hell out of me. I thought the entire reason they started doing this was to capitalize on the bump in ratings the show received for their "'political' coverage" since Trumps' inauguration. Sure, this didn't do much to affect the shows' ratings in anyway at first but last week's show with Ferrell as host had gotten them the highest ratings they've had in some time. Why quite while they're ahead? Didn't they finally get what they really wanted with this whole live coast to coast stunt? Well, if that was the last live coast to coast episode, at least we can take some solace in the fact that this little experiment was bookended by episodes hosted be beloved former cast members. Remember, Jimmy Fallon hosted the shows' first ever live coast to coast episode on April 15th of last year and Will Ferrell hosted what was (as of this typing) the last. Anyway, enough about that. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Now, let's move on...shall we?

FOX and Friends XI - This cold open was serviceable. The newer cast members fit well enough into their roles with Alex surprisingly being the only weak link. Sorry, but nobody will have a funnier take of Steve Doocy than Taran Kilam (same could obviously be said for Bobby Moynihan and Brian Kilmeade but I did appreciate how grounded and nuanced Becks impression was. Kudos to Heidi for debuting her second ever impersonation on the show. Cecily certainly wasn't miscast as Hope Hicks but sadly the glaring technical errors were all I remembered about her segment. Chris clearly walked away with this sketch as Louis Farrakhan (boy, that reference takes me back). Baldwin may be doing more to actively harm the reputation of the show than help it but I appreciate the restraint they showed in waiting until February to have him trot out his stagnant Trump. Yeah, I'm sure his absence could also be partly attributed to any other film or TV projects that his raised profile from this show has afforded him the opportunity to pursue but the sentiment remains unchanged. Unsurprisingly, his appearance felt completely telegraphed and actually killed any momentum this sketch could've built up from Chris' appearance. Still, this was actually preferable to the recreation of Trumps' actual SOTU speech I was expecting when he tweeted he was going to be on the show (much how they recreated Caters' 78/79 SOTUs' with Aykroyd, GHW Bushs' 91 SOTU speech and Obamas' first SOTU in '10 with Armisen). C-

Monologue - This is something of a trope for SNL by this point but I appreciate how well it was pulled off here and how they tried to make it as meta as they possibly could. Also, Natalies' brief  "V for Vendetta " joke actually worked for me. Come to think of it, this actually reminded me of parts of Rhonda Rouseys' monologue from a couple years ago. At least that was a high point of that episode and this one compares favorably to that one, so no harm.no foul. B+

Revolutionary War - This sketch had a decent premise. The joke itself has been observed to death by now but setting it during revolutionary times was a clever enough twist. I'm sure Tina had a hand in writing this which obviously helped. Nice seeing her and Rachel Dratch appear together in a sketch for absolutely no other reason than being in town this week. Everyone handled their Boston accents much better than Beck and Jessica Chastain did two week ago but nobody does it better than Dratch. Kenan probably could've used sine coaching from Tina on his Boston accent but it was funny watching try not to botch it completely. Also, I liked how that quick Fresh Prince reference was used to justify his characters' presence. My only real complaints about this was that it felt a little long and could've been edited a bit. For instance, they wasted Chris in his part here and the Dunkin' Donuts reference seemed unnecessarily tacked on. Maybe they could've gotten rid of both of those things? B-

Stranger Things 3 - This sketch seemed like another paper thin premise that was saved by its execution. Frankly, I was just glad the sole focus wasn't the budding pubescent sexual tensions between the two leads as the setup seemed to be implying. The supporting cast performed their parts really well (although I could've done without Cecilys' character entirely). Petes' part was very funny despite being heavily telegraphed for some reason and Luke making chilli while having a Brain hemorrhage may legitimately be the funniest thing he has done or may ever get to do on the show. Mostly, I appreciate how they chose to focus and latch on to one small character aspect of the show but pick a super obvious one as not to alienate those of us who have yet to have seen Stranger Things but see constant references to it everywhere. Kenans' appearance was a nice touch. Upon second viewing, one other thing bothered me about this sketch. Why would Aidys' character be able to do a Borat impression when Stranger Things takes place in the '80s (y'know, roughly 20 years before Sascha Baron Cohen had created the character...or any of his other characters for that matter?) I mean, they couldn't have just swapped Borax out for a reference to a pop cultural figure who was around in the '80s? Boy, I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder! C-

Natalies' Second Rap - I guess I should've been less surprised than I was that they actually decided to do a sequel to Natalies' Lonely Island rap video. Still, I actually enjoyed this as much as (if not moreso) than I did the original. More than I appreciate the Future/Nicki/Cardi B/parodies and other current rap tropes they snuck in there, I definitely appreciate how they acryually got (at least) Samberg to stop by for a cameo (and hopefully help write and produce this). I have to give everyone involved credit for realizing how utterly pointless it would have been to do this without him. I also liked the Star Wars jabs and the incredible restraint they showed in holding off on any Me Too/Times Up references until this point in the show. Additionally, this is the third piece in tonight's show that at least partially relied on being meta as part of its appeal. Wow! Was Dan Harmon a guest writer this week or something? B-

Update was pretty lackluster. It was packed with commentaries to make up for some real middling-to-poor level jokes. The only ones that stood out were Josts' Transformers/FOX News hype man/Piers Morgan interview lines. Not much else did anything for me. Maybe this is because after thebpast few weeks worth of crazy, "scandalous" Trump releated news, the Nunes memo bejng this weeks' top story makes this seem like a very very slow news week by comparison. I have no idea why Kate and Cecilys' commentary made it to air. I didn't hate it or anything. I just heard something vague about Bardots' comments in the news and it got buried under much bigger and less obscure stories this week but I suppose Cecily, Kate and their most frequent collaborators on the writing staff read this and pounced on it. This sure does fall in line with everything else Cecily and Kate have done on update content wise but format wise it falls more in line with what Alex and Mikey have been doing. Honestly, it felt more like they were portraying Eric & Don Jr or Princes Harry and William as elderly, sex-crazed French women. I did not know Pete filmed a series of Dockers ads recenter (hell, I had no idea any guys younger than me even WORE Dockers) but the story he told about doing them at the worst possible was very funny. Not sure why Kenan needed to bring Willy out of mothballs again. D+

Alien Lover - The best things I can say about this sketch are that they managed to add some decent heightened drama to such an absurd and outlandish premise and that they managed to successfully gender swap the old "Captain Kirk banging aliens" trope. Otherwise, this seemed like a bunch of wasted potential. I don't know what else I could possibly make of this. I was expecting them to bring this to more and more absurd heights of physical comedy than add the aforementioned interpersonal drama. Still, I have to admire Becks' commitment to what physical comedy was there for him to perform in the first place. The only laughs I got were from his "drinking" through his assistant (I wondered why that stain was on his leg. Must've been from dress rehearsal) and his peeing from his mouth and wearing a hat on his ass. Plus, I was left a little confused as to whether Beck was supposed to be a freak comped to others of his alien race or not. D+

Nick Kids Choice Awards Orange Carpet - This was just strange enough to work for me. Pete kind of dragged the sketch down but Mikey pretty much carried this despite Natalie acting her part well. It was also nice to see Kates' Ellen again. The increasingly drastic set of solutions to Natalies' vocal issue really made this work as played out as the voice modulators are in sketches now. It did seem a bit strange seeing this sketch in early February seeing as I'm used to hearing about these actually taking place in March/April. In fact, when they did a similar sketch to this when Ariana Grand hosted two years ago that was closer to when the Kids' Choice Awards tend to happen. C+

First Ladies - Despite coming across like a watered down mashup of the Ghost Of Hillary/Palin past sketch from when Tina and Amy co-hosted two Christmases ago and the posters/hot dog sketch from when Emma Stone hosted last season, this was a nice offbeat topical piece that was saved by most of its' performances. Cecilys' Melania was one of her better roles and this was a decent use of Kates' Hillary. Aidy was funny here but it seemed like her role could've been interchangeable with any other first lady from history.

I feel quite bad for Melissa what with this being her first and apparently only appearance in the live show. I don't think I'll quite understand how Natalies' portrayal of Jackie O was enough to sustain being the sole focus of a new full length film but thankfully not enough to serve the same function in this sketch. I can't believe I was sitting there waiting for Maya Rudolph or Sasheer Zamata to show up as Michelle Obama (well, the former is at least understandable given the other former cast cameos from her Era we have seen tonight) until I suddenly remembered that Leslie Jones was in the cast and this turned out to be a perfect role for her. B-

Bunny - If this sketch weren't set in a bar or a restaraunt, I have a feeling it would've been one of the first sketches of the night rather than the absolute last. Again, given the actual subject matter I have to admire there incredible restraint in holding off on this that much. As for Aidys' character, she seemed to have just thrown Kates' Sheila Sovage in a blender with Cecilys' Cathy Anne. Also, it frightens me that her character is supposedly the exact same age as I am this yearm Content wise, it seemed to be delivering the exact opposite message on gender relations that the rest of their all female/pro feminist sketches have in the past. I appreciate that most of the comedy seemed to come from. Aidy revealing more and more ridiculous details about her characters' personal life but it just didn't work for me. It didn't quite take the right risk and just seemed to be a borderline incoherent mess. C-

Now, for my updated rankings for this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

5. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

6. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

7. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

8. Saoirse Ronan/U2

9. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

10. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

11. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

12. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

13. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that certainly defied the most general of expectations. Next month, after the Winter Olympics are over, Charles Barkley returns for his fourth hosting stint in 25 years. An odd choice for sure, but his '93 and '10 shows were both very funny so I'm looking forward to what he can bring us with this cast and writing staff. I can't wait to find out who else will be hosting in March! I have a feeling Jonah Hill may end up hosting on the 10th or 17th since the show seems to like bringing him on every two years in the Spring like clockwork regardless of what he may or may not have to promote. He didn't host at all in 2010. That may be the exception that proves through rule. Anyway, see you then! Have a great midseason break everybody!

Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton (1.27.2018)

Okay, here's my review. This show was pretty par for the course for this season. It was at least the second most enjoyable show that aired in January of this year. It seemed to get off to a strong start fairly quickly but then lose some serious steam about a third of the way through the show. It had its moments, but theres' certainly no doubt it was disappointing to a lot of people. I think the most disappointing thing about this show was the lack of Ferrells' recurring characters or appearances from cast mates or old writers of his from his old days on the show. I certainly wasn't expecting that to be the entire show and I can understand if Ferrell and the writers just wanted to do some new original material and get away from those sketches. I just wish that Ferrell had made more of an impact as host throughout the week. In fact, I don't think we really can blame this episodes' faults in any one person. I think what dragged this show down was just a sense of palpable burnout from having to put on four shows in a row right between Christmas break and the Winter Olympics. I was afraid this would show during Ferrells week as host. I was hoping he would really boost morale and lift everybody's spirits and I'm sure he did behind the scenes but I guess they can only do so much to not run on fumes when they're under this much duress. Still, Ferrell did do a lot to save some pretty mediocre material tonight There's no denying that his age may be showing as a comedic performer in these late phases of his career but damn it if it wasn't wonderful to still be able to get glimpses of what made him such a beloved sketch performer on this show. The cast seemed almost as evenly balanced as last week. Leslie and Mikey felt a little underused and Pete was practically invisible the entire night. I am enjoying seeing the increased presence of Chris and Heidi, though. Anyway, lets' break this down

Dubya Returns Once Again Still - This cold opening helped get this episode off on the right foot. Just when I thought this would just meander with pointless silliness, it actually reminds us that George W. Bush was an actual war criminal! Ferrell had several laugh out loud lines here. There were too many to list individually. I guess Baldwin wasn't available this week? I'm glad they're relying on him less but this was one of the weeks I would've actually appreciated seeing him. Leslie as Condi Rice joining Ferrell in an All In The Family inspired duet felt a little strange but it was written just well enough to work. B-

Monologue  - This seemed promising, but I was really hoping it would escalate to crazier places. It really reminded me a bit too much of Ferrells' '05 monologue. Oh well, we all know that the monologues were never really the high points of the episodes that Ferrell hosted. The only real highlight was Ferrell calling them out on doing too many song-and-dance monologues. I mean, thunk about it. Every monologue this (calendar) year has involved singing and dancing so far. C-

Clown Penis Fighter Pilot - This was okay. It took a little long for it to go anywhere, but Ferrell made it worthwhile. It seemed like it was going to be way too one note early on, but Ferrells' explanation of why he picked the name "Clown Penis" turned out to be quite funny as did the reveal that he was in space. Yes, I do remember the clownpenis.fart investment website commercial with Chris Parnell from 99-00. At least that was a sign that he bought at least one old writer with him. C+

The House: Sonoma (Season 7,500,000) - I was glad to see that Ferrell got to do a Good Neighbor short with Beck and Kyle. Hell, I'm glad Beck and Kyle are still even getting to film their own Good Neighbor shorts at this point in their tenure on the show. While I wasn't sure at first how Ferrell would fit in with the vibe of their recurring Big Brother/Real World/Kardashians/reality TV parody, his endearing goofiness really sold this and put to rest any doubts or fears that he might be too old to fit in here. Thankfully, I was also able to enjoy Tracy Morgan's cameo since I didn't blink. B-

Commercial Shoot - This was definitely the weakest pre-Update segment of the show. When you consider who was involved in putting this on the air, it seemed like the biggest possible wastes of everyones' talents. The lines "baked in my bra and ass", "Nobody beats The Wiz", and "Yahtzee ISIS Queef" stood out to me. I'm genuinely curious as to who wrote this now because at first it reminded me of the short lived series "The Spoils Of Babylon" that Ferrell and McKay produced for IFC a few years ago which I believe Kristen Wiig and Tobey Maguire starred in. Ferrell played a very Orson Welles like host in the intro/outtro segments that seemed like an obvious riff on his infamous french wine commercial so Ferrell could've been drawing on that from his fairly recent past. Then, I saw the real viral video this sketch was based on. It was a faithful recreation no doubt but I have to wonder who thought it was worth putting on air during the week Ferrell was there. Now, this seems more reminiscent of Herb Welch (another faithful recreation of a viral YouTube clip that was run into the cold, cold ground while Hader was still a cast member which this hopefully won't suffer tge same fate as). Also, I was trying to think of who Ferrell reminded me of in that wig and those glasses. Then, I suddenly realized he reminded me of himself when he played Henry Hyde and Bob Livingston during the 98-99 Clinton impeachment related sketches as well as when he played Peter Graves that season in the sketch where Hammonds' Jack Perkins found out he was being replaced as host by CBS News' Harry Smith. He seemed to be channeling Nick Kroll and John Mulaneys' "Oh Hello" guys along with those obscure previous roles. D-

Atheist Flight Attendant - This sketch was more disappointing than it should've been. It seemed like something that was better on paper than in true execution  and Ferrell playing the role as a flamboyant southern man should've helped but something seemed off here and I'm pretty sure it was something about Ferrell and his timing. Chris, Aidy and Leslie played very well off of him. It seemed a little one note, but it was nice to see some darker Ferrel/McKay type humor at this point in the show. Also, it seemed pretty sad that beat boxing is the most notable thing that Luke Null has done on the show at this point. Hopefully, he will get to do something on Update next week. I mean, they gave Jon Rudnitsky that same courtesy by tips point in the season two years ago and he still ended up suffering the same fate that most of us suspect Null is going to suffer. C-

Next: For Men - This commercial was okay, but just felt derivative. It did speak to the incredible restraint they showed this week waiting about 30 minutes into the show to do their first "woke" piece of the entire night. C+

Update was serviceable, if not a little inconsistent. A lot of jokes stood out including Jost and Ches' jabs at McConnell, Miller and Trump as well as the obstruction of justice comments. Also, the Super Bowl/camel beauty pageant/shirtless Tonga man/Pitbull jokes were very funny. I can't believe they actually bought back Jacob Silj! I was actually thinking about what other semi-obscure long shot characters Ferrell could've done tonight and I flashed on Jacob Silj for a bit because I thought how easily well he could interact with Jost or Che behind the desk. I also predicted that they may not do another Celebrity Jeopardy sketch if they feel there isn't much room to explore after the last two. That turned out to be right given that Clown Penis was the first live sketch of the night. After Update, I didn't hate being right as much as I thouht I would. This was still very funny and the sharpness of the writing is still there even though it didn't stand out too much from this characters' previous Update appearances during the Quinn/early Fey eras and the timing and overall dynamic seemed a little different between him and Jost/Che. I did like the jabs at Jost/Che as well as the reveals about his sexuality and the sudden surprise ending. I'm glad to see Heidi got to debut another new original character. I just wished it was a bit more focused and trimmed initially. I'm glad we eventually got to see the legitimate work that went into her crafting this character and the specific aspects of teen/YouTube culture this was meant to satirize. I just wish the buildup to that wasn't so slow and dragged out. Also, I did hear her line about how her character thought Lady Bird sucked and women shouldn't direct. Maybe she should've been incorporated into the character rather than just compressed into a quick throwaway line. B-

Reality Stars Barbecue - This was WAY all over the place and it leaves me wit quite a bit to unpack. First of all, I have to say seeing a backyard barbecue set during the commercial for something that obviously didn't turn out to be another "GET OFF THE SHED" sketch may have been the biggest disappointment of this entire show (and after that pot pie sketch, that's REALLY saying something). Secondly, it felt a little culturally dated in its obnoxiousness and two reality TV based sketches in the same show the week after a show with at least three Tide Pod eating jokes just seems careless. It played out like something that got cut from dress at one of Ferrell previous hosting stints where maybe Wiig or Poehler were originally placed in Cecilys' role. Boy, I guess I spoke way too soon on the pot pie thing wasn't written by Anderlette, huh? Still, I have to say Ferrell is the only performer who could've made it work even this well. He clearly had the funniest lines in this sketch by far. Lastly, it looks like the thing this sketch may be the most notable for is going to be the first time SNL audiences ever witnessed Cecily cracking up and breaking character (or even come as close to doing so as she did here). Usually, she has always been more professional about that sort of thing than Kate or Aidy but I suppose it took Ferrell being her scene partner in this specific sketch to get that to finally happen. C-

Aziz Ansari Dinner Discussion - This felt like the longest sketch in the whole show. They really stretched what seemed like an already broad, observation on whats' at least a week old story by now and absolutely stretched it too thin over too long of a sketch. It really seemed like the second biggest waste of Will Ferrell this whole show. I did like the string of exaggerated visual and physical gags that led us up to Heidi's character using witchcraft to disappear into thin air, but (especially with Ferrell in the building) they should'be exaggerated these things to further and more absurd and dangerous heights if this sketch was going to be this length. C-

Crate and Cracker Barrell - This sketch unexpectedly worked much better than what preceeded it. I did like how Ferrell lashed out at his coworkers more and more the more defensive he got. The oncreasingly outrageous things he accused everybody of were funny. I do wish this sketch had more of am ending than it did. C+

Chucky Lee Byrds' Greatest Hits - This sketch may not have had the most original or creative premise but it was just funny enough to work for what it was. Surprisingly, Kate and Beck did more to improve this sketch than Ferrell did. Ferrell didn't necessarily drag this sketch down or anything, but this didn't feel like one of those roles that he and only he could've played. Also, the songs all seemed to run together to me and it also felt like timing was an issue here as well. I know from Ches' Instagram that he and Josh wrote an actual sketch this week. I wonder if this was it? B-

Now, I'd like to rank all of the episodes Ferrell hosted. Obviously, this was ALMOST going to be a no brainer. I was just curious to see how this episode compared to his others.

1. Will Ferrell/Green Day (5.16.2009)

2. Will Ferrell/Queens Of The Stone Age (5.14.2005)

3. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton (1.27.2018)

4. Will Ferrell/Usher (5.12.2012)

Now, for my updated rankings for the rest of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

5  Sam Rockwell/Halsey

6. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

7. Saoirse Ronan/U2

8. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

9. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

10. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

11. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

12. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was that. Next week, Natalie Portman hosts for the second time. I mostly remember her being a pretty solid and game host and her episode was one of the highpoints of the 05-06 season mostly due to the rap video she did with Samberg. Maybe she'd be willing to do a sequel to that one if she was willing to apppear in the 100th digital short (the last time Ferrell hosted incidentally) to commemorate it? Maybe, but hopefully they'd have more ideas than that. It doesn't surprise me at all that they announced this on Monday rather than waiting until Saturday. I've noticed a pattern with this show during the Winter Olympics. Every four years like clockwork, they will book either a big A-list celebrity host or a well established friend of the show as their last host before the Winter Olympics in February. Since this is an obvious Sweeps week move, they tend to announce these well in advance on the years of the Winter Olympics. I remember they did this with Melissa McCarthy in 2014 and with J.Lo and Ashton Kutcher who both hosted in 2010. Also, it's important to consider that Steve Martin hosted in '06 after a twelve year gap (much like Portman) and Britney Spears hosted in February of '02 which may have been the first year NBC may have gotten to air the Winter Olympics. John Goodman and Garth Brooks both hosted in February '98 but that may have just been a coincidence as the Olympics were on CBS at the time. Oh welll. Something tells me this episode will be more like Chastains' than Ferrell and that they won't skimp as much on the woke PC material as they did this week. See you then!

Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan (1.20.2018)

Okay, here's my review. While this show didn't quite take as many risks as last week, they showed they had by now completely shaken off all the cobwebs from their holiday break. Overall, there were less inconsistencies in quality from last week. This may be due to the writers relying on some semi-obscure recurring characters to close out the show with and everything before that being at just about the same level of quality (aside from two very strong sketches from the middle of the show and one weak one near the end). This episode did have two major redeeming qualities to make up for that. Jessica Chastain proved to be a perfectly game host who gelled extremely well with the cast. Also, as some have already said, the cast really worked together as an ensemble (especially since this show was just filled with big ensemble sketches that focused on the entire cast as a cohesive unit.). Anyway, let's break it down.

Trump Physical Press Conference - This cold open was pretty bland and middle-of-the-road even for this season, but at least we get a nice break from Alec as Trump. I did like Aidys' lines about the wall and Becks' "Propecia/sex test" bit. I did chuckle at Pete playing himself but I was hoping that would lead to a more meta, self-deprecating moment. Cecily also crushed her one line aa a reporter. Maybe Trumps' physical got washed out of the headlines by the end of the week (as evidenced by the throwaway government shutdown jokes at the top) or maybe that post physical press conference was already so ridiculous to begin with that there was barely any room left for fresh jokes or maybe it was just a difficult task to follow a surprise Bill Murray appearance but I could barely get in to this one. C-

Monologue - This had its moments. I appreciate the self awareness buried in the "strong woman/nagging girlfriend" joke. I'm not too crazy about the idea of two musical monologues in a row but at least this had cast walk on to break up the monotony. At least Jessica bought a lot of enthusiasm to proceedings here and showed she'd be a confident host. Also, it was a bit strange to just so blatantly see Kate hanging out by the side of the stage as Jessica made her entrance. That may be the first time I've ever seen anything like that. B-

Car Hunk - When did it become an unwritten rule that SNL has to do an off brand CVS Bachelor parody every January like clockwork? I mean, this is the fourth year in a row now! Anyway, at least this was a decent showcase for the past couple of seasons' worth of featured players (I have to actually wonder if Heidi was intentionally doing her Kristen Schaal impression agsin here) and Jessica had some good material here even ifvthe voice dhe went for was a little too naive and childlike for me. Still, one thing that bugged me was how she mentioned playing a dead body on the HBO show "Crashing". Given that this show stars comedian Pete Holmes playing a more pathetic version of himself with an actual failing career, I have to wonder if whoever wrote this episode has even seen the show (or if I just haven'haven't seen enough of it) or if they just picked the show title out of a hat. Also, one Tide pod eating joke in both sketches on each side of the monolog just seems sloppy to me.  C+

The Fresh Prince - This parody was one of the funnier segments of the night. I liked how it was a big showcase for Chris and I thought the increasingly dark turns this took were very funny. Jessica seemed well within her comfort zone here but this sketch used her well. Also, I'm curious as to who were all the black extras were and how they got to be on the show. Additionally, it was nice to see Akira Yoshimura again but in a non-Sulu role. B-

Google Talks - This was, to me, the funniest sketch of the night. As one note as this was, Mikey absolutely owned this in a hilarious way. Maybe me being such a hard core Simpsons fan made me appreciate this more, but this was the hardest I laughed at SNL in quite some time. The worst thing I could say about tuis is that Jessics dragged it down a little, but at least it was the inly thing she wasn't so great in. B+

What Even Mattees Anymore? - This game show sketch at first seemed like something that was written under duress or out of sheer desparation but it's obvious Jessica had pitched this from the moment they broke the fourth wall. Still, it worked. I enjoyed Jessicas' commitment as well as her brief jab at Mike Pence. I also thought the final/written response round was the funniest part of the whole sketch. I don't know if anyone else here remembers Beck Bennetts' game show sketch from last season where he tried to get Aidy and Vanessa to explain why host Benedict Cumberbatch was considered attractive, but this really reminded me of that (again, mostly because of the relative absence of any fourth wall). B-

Update got off to a slow start but had its brief moments scattered here and there. I wasn't feeling much of it but it started to pick up with Ches' Stormy Daniels/Womens March/Urn/Black Unemployment rate comments and both anchors physical exam jokes. Speaking of which, I'm sure none of us were surprised to see Cecily portray Stormy Daniels tonight but lets' be honest Cecily was really just portraying herself here (which I didn't necessarily mind either). Still, it was nice of her to show us a slightly different perspective on the feminist diatribes she usually delivers. The other two commentaries were fun as much as they meandered. It was nice to see two other figurehead offspring impressions from Mikey and Alex (Mikey seemed slightly miscast as Prince Harry but Alex was pretty much born to play Prince William). I did like the fun and loose vibe between the two as forced as it came off at times. I also have to admit the "Wet Willie/Moist Matthew" line made me laugh. as did Josts' UK Ministrr of Loneliness joke after their bit. Speaking of casting choices, Kate as Robert Muller was a bit jarring and way more out of left field than it really should'be been (and kinda defeats the desired effect of her playing Sessions in the wake of  McCarthy's Spicer if you think about it for a minute) but again, it was quite fun. B-

Amazon Headquarters Sketch - This was enjoyable. Some parts of it were well constructed on paper while some parts were well performed. Kyle and Chris were perfectly cast as Bezos and Booker and Chris really performed the hell out of this. The Boston presentation seemed to be missing something in execution (namely, Beck and Jessica having an easy time handling those Boston accents). Still, it was a nice excuse to see Alexs' Casey Affleck again. The Atlanta presentation seemed to be the strongest part of the sketch as Kenan, Leslie and Aidy were given the best material. The Miami presentation didn'the seem to go anywhere or allow the sketch to have a real ending (I do have to wonder what they had to cut from this between dress and air). Mikey does an unremarkable Pitbull but Cecily and Melissa looked pretty damn great here. I heard that Denver was also in the running for Amazons' next headquarters. I realize that SNLs' writers may not have many non-weed related directions to go in there, but maybe it would'be been a good way to sneak in Heidi as Kristen Schaal with maybe Kate as Lindsey Vonn with the Winter Olympics just around the corner. I mean, their both Coloradans and Schaal is even from my hometown of Longmont and even went to the same high school as I did! C+

Taco Math - This was definitely the weakest sketch of the night. It was one note in a bad way and didn't really didn't go anywhere. Jessica didn't come off as obnoxious here and while I liked seeing Heidi get a lead role again, I wish the writers would trust her this much with better material. Aside from this, I did like Aidys' walk on as well as Heidi confessing that she got sick from raw beef and the reveal of both girls being surgeons. D+

Doctor's Orders - I'm surprised that this is the third time we're seeing Petes' "Chad" character this season and the last time was less than two months ago. Still, at least that one was less by-the-numbers as the preceeding two. If they're going to let Pete keep bringing this back this often (it's sadly, his only "character" after all) I feel like this was a tiny step backward. Still, I did like Petes' "noice/I peed/titty" lines. Plus, I have to admit this is a serviceable way to make use of big dramatic/serious actors like Chastain and Cumberbatch. Also, I've noticed these have more and more gradually turned into two-handers between Pete and Mikey since Mikey joined the cast. I wonder if he, Pete and Streeter Siedell all cowrite these? C-

Movie Set - I'm a little surprised they bought Kenans broad mugging take director out of mothballs considering its' been almost three whole years since we've seen this character. I wanted to like this more but it just wasn't as fun as the one from Tina and Amys' Christmas show a few years back. C-

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

5  Sam Rockwell/Halsey

6. Saoirse Ronan/U2

7. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

8  Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

9. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

10. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

11. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, if nothing else, this episode proved to be a decent pallet cleanser. Next week, Will Ferrell returns to the show for his fourth time as host and I'm positive I'm not the only one excited about it. I do hope this episode turns out to be much better than his previous one. Hopefully, they were saving Alec Baldwin for next week for a possible "G.W. Bush Meets Trump In The Oval Office" sketch (and maybe another Bill Brasky if they can also get Adam McKay and Tim Meadows to also participate. As far as other recurring impressions and characters go, I'm not so sure there are many more places they could go with "Celebrity Jeopardy!" at this point so I feel that at least Bobby and Bobbi Mohan-Culp may be a safer bet somehow. Hell, we might have a better chance of getting another "Jeffreys" sketch if they can get Fallon and Sanz to participate. See you then!

Sam Rockwell/Halsey (1.13.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Given how dull and uninspired the previous live episode of SNL was, this seemed like quite a refreshing change of pace and (at times) a hopeful sign of better things to come. Sam Rockwell proved to be such a game host (if not a slightly one dimensional one when he was visible) that if he doesn't ever end up hosting a second time, we should easily be able to pinpoint the EXACT reason why. There did seem to be a big timing issue with this show that wasn't caused (what in my time zone at least, appeared to be) the obvious five second delay. The show seemed to know, but not necessarily care, that it was running somewhat short on material. Most of the live sketches (aside from Update, the monologue and the cold open) were very short. It's like there was an abundance of short sketches. Some were just as short as they needed to be and some weren't. Most of the sketches made the taped pieces feel longer than they were. There was an imbalance in the cast as far as airtime went. Kenan was barely in anything for the entire first half of the show. Chris Redd was in a lot of sketches but to me it seemed like they were misusing him. Mikey and Alex seemed to be getting chances to establish themselves as the shows go to utility men but other than that the night seemed to be wholly dominated by Cecily. She appeared even more than Kate which seems strange for this Era and pretty much overshadowed everyone else. Anyway, let's break it down. Shall we?

Morning Joe II - I wasn't so sure that another Morning Joe sketch was the right choice for the cold open this week. Thankfully, this one went in a MUCH different direction than the on from Chris Pines' episode last year. Although, maybe we could've done without Chris' part as it didn't add much. I probably shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when Fred showed up as Michael Wolff and as much as I've soured on his more recent performances, I have to admit he was very funny here (especially the "baby races" bit). I think I saw some brief flashes of the pre-Obama Era Freds' comedic talent that made SNL fans love his work back then. Fred can actually be funny when he has strong writing to back him up. Interestingly enough, when people were initially suggesting Armisen should play Michael Wolff, I was pretty convinced he'd already played this guy in that overly long Keith Olberman sketch from when Ben Affleck hosted in '08. Turns outn according to SNL archives, he was actually playing Richard Wolffe. Still, Armisen was a good fit for this sketch. Bill Murray really walked away with this without even trying. Casting him as Steve Bannon was brilliantly unexpected and kudos to him on being a good sport about the role. Still, I'm wondering why they even bothered with the voice modulator knowing full well they didn't need it at all. He may have seemed a little less into it toward the end but frankly I'm just glad SNL found a way to have a take on Bannon as a person rather than just his sinister presence as a media figure. Also, I'm glad they found a way to reprise Leslies' Oprah impression in a live setting. B+

Monologue - This was enjoyable to watch. I liked that Sam was able to easily poke fun at his own neat anonymity as a character actor better than other hosts of his ilk. Part of me would've preferred he had done an actual monologue rather than a song and dance number but mostly I was glad to see he could help get this episode off on the right foot with his seemingly boundless energy and charisma. Also, seeing Sam kick Colin through that door made this for me. B+

Science Room w/Mr. Science - This sketch felt a little like SNL going down a beaten path at first but thankfully, it was short because it just meandered with no real punchline. I did checkle when Mikey suddenly said "false" and Cecily saying the oil was going to explode. Also, I'm glad Sams' unfortunate flub (which was muted entirely in the mountain time zone during both airings) showed us how SNL was going to be able to get away with Trumps' "shithole" comment (if they were going to say anything about it at all). The show was on a five second delay this week if it can still be broadcast live in every time zone. C-

Tucci Gang - Petes' latest rap somehow seemed even more pointless than the sketch that preceeded it so I'm glad it was even shorter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but am I to assume "Lil' Pump" is an actual rapper Pete is impersonating rather than a made up character and that "Tucci Gang" is a parody of an actual song of his called "Gucci Gang"? C-

The Look- The second E! parody of this season was funnier than I was expecting it to be. I did appreciate how they tried to mix the message and the rhythyms of this sketch with some sheer off the wall absurdity. Melissas' character provided a nice balance and Kate as Frances McDormand provided some much needed structure. I did like how they explained away her bleeps. B-

My Drunk Boyfriend - This was funny but looking back I felt like there might have been a little something lacking in execution. I liked the physical acting I saw from Kyle, Sam and Heidi. B-

Update was strong, but a little inconsistent. They handled the "shithole" comments quite well and I'm impressed they were able to get it on the air unbleeped even once (let alone, twice) on NBCs' airwaves. Well, actually...let me level with you. In the mountain time zone, they air the local news at 9pm on NBC affiliates on Saturdays (as opposed to the usual 10pm through the rest of the week) and SNL is first aired live at 9:30 followed by an 11pm repeat of the news and an 11:30pm repeat of SNL. I believe they muted the "shitholes" during the 9:30 live airing (where they were uttered after 10pm) but let them fly uncensored in the 11:30 repeat (where they were uttered after midnight). Still, they tackled it well and it was among the best of tonight's individual jokes along with Ches' Kim Jong-Un/Twitter/Columbus Statues and Oprah/President rants. Josts' best material included Stormy Daniels/Puerto Rico, Steve Bannon and the toilet joke. The best jokes were scattered all about Update and sort of overshadowed the commentaries. I did like seeing Leslie as Oprah again and I appreciated seeing them give the Steadman role to Chris but not much stood out here aside from the "medical community" line. The cadences of this sketch reminded me a lot of that Update segment from the 2000-01 season where Jerry Minor played Al Sharpton to Darrell Hammonds' Jesse Jackson. Also, I just realized that this is the second show in a row where Leslie did the same impression during the first Update guest appearance that she did in the cold open. She did this exact thing as Omorosa in the last live show that Kevin Hart hosted. Aidys' commentary was a refreshing change of pace for a couple of reasons. It was nice to see a cast member besides Pete or Leslie do an Update commentary just as themselves as that felt like a throwback. Also, I liked seeing Aidy give us a fresher take on feminist and women's issues dominating the news seeing as that type of commentary usually gets dominated by Kate and Cecily the rest of the time. Kenans' Lavar Ball was just lather, rinse, repeat and the only thing that stood out to me was that this may have been the first time we've seen Michael Che laugh his way through an entire Update commentary the way Seth Meyers used to. B+

Captain Hook - This sketch was something else that meandered along but this time there was barely even a shred of a real joke or premise present. It almost felt out of place among the more topical pieces in the show. Kates' appearance as the overly effeminate Peter Pan was the best thing about this. C-

ATM - This poignant short was enjoyable to watch in how grounded and gritty it could be while still building on itself and adding new elements to its premise. The violent beating at the end stood out as the funniest moment. I believe this was the short that Che featured in his most recent Instagram story from when it was being filmed late Friday night (and of course it would be because nobody else but Michael Che could've written this). B+

Marco Pumpgood - This was funny mostly for Sam and Aidy's performances. Ironically enough, Alex and Chris were great straight men to them. It seemed like they really stretched out what little buildup this really needed but they reveal and payoff at the end were worth it. C+

Dog Head Guy - This was funny just for how unabashedly silly and simple it could be. Sam and Mikey were very funny here and I think this might have been the first time we've ever seen Mikey even close to breaking as a cast member. Also, this might have been my favorite Melissa performance in her entire run a cast member. B-

Chantix Ad - This felt pretty meta as it was possibly the most Cecily thing I've seen on the show in a while. I say this knowing full well how difficult that would be for me to explain in a way that makes sense. It definitely seemed like something cut from a previous dress rehearsal if for no other reason than they just tacked it on to the end of the show because they seemed to not have anymore live sketches left and the show seemed unusually short with more than a little extra time to fill. C+

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

5. Saoirse Ronan/U2

6. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

7. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

8. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

9. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

10. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that show got off to and explosive start but soon sputtered out. At least it was consistent but not consistently dull. Next week, Jessica Chastain makes her hosting debut. Chastain is mostly known for her dramatic roles and hasn't really done comedy aside from a few bits here and there in between late night interviews. She is rather politically outspoken on social media, however. This is another show where I have no idea what to expect going in. She could be a game host but we'll only find out by tuning in. I do have a feeling she will collaborate with the women in the cast and writing staff on some woke/feminist material which may once agsin, dominate this show. See you then!

Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters (12.16.2017)

Okay, heres' my review. It was very obvious the cast and crew were burnt out all week and we're coasting off of Kevin Harts' energy and enthusiasm to get them through the last show of 2017. They didn't seem totally out of ideas. They didn't rely on recurring material. They just didn't take as many risks as previous weeks and when they tried to it was with premises that sounded much better on paper. This was a very underwhelming way for SNL to close out the year but at least it seemed to be a banner night for Alex Moffat, Chris Redd and most of the female cast.

White House Tree Trimming - It must be a coincidence that they'really airing this right after a repeat of Ryan Hoslings' first episode from two years ago which ALSO featured a "Christmas Message From Donald & Melania Trump" cold open with Taran Kilam as Trump. I still genuinely cannot decide whose Trump I actually prefer between him and Baldwin but I will give Taran credit for being able to pick up on some nuances in Trump's voice and facial expressions that Baldwin was unable to capture. I do generally prefer this weeks' cold open as its' a much more fleshed out sketch in terms of writing. Still, they could've stood to shorten it a bit more between dress and air. I fid like the RIP Earth joke and the Don Lemon jab at the beginning. The walk ons from Beck, Aidy and Alex got the most laughs from me. I think I could've done with just the last Leslie/Omarosa scene instead of both. The Scarjo/Ivanka scene was okay. It didn't feel necessary but hey, she was in town and is dating a Weekend Update anchor. I do appreciate her getting to play Ivanka with some actual lines for the first time in ten years. I also liked her Bannon/Madball joke. Kate didn't do much for me as Kelly Anne or Elf Sessions but I have to be a little impressed that they found a way to quick change her between both roles just when I thought they wouldn't. C+

Monologue - Usually, Kevins' monologues are entertaining but for whatever reason I couldn't get into this one. Maybe I just couldn't relate to parenting a toddler or maybe I just couldn't get past the fact that he chose to do this material right after it came out that he cheated on the woman he supposedly had this baby with (he's REmarried?!? God, I hope he didn't cheat on TWO women). Maybe I just couldn't get over how out of place another stand up monologue felt at the top of the Christmas show (where they've pretty consistently done musical numbers. I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that this was my least favorite of Kevin Harts' SNL monologues. C-

Christmas Jewelry From Pandora - This felt too much like a tired trope for SNL (one they usually go to on Valentine's Day) but I did like how increasingly dumb the charms were. I also liked Kate and Cecily discussing what gifts they got Beck and Mikey. When I the first shots of this featured SNLs' three most prominent women, I was expecting this to be another strong feminist statement short in the vein of "Welcome To Hell" and I honestly would've preferred that instead. C-

Office Meeting Phone Call - This sketch was worth watching just for the payoff. I didn't like the buildup that much but I did like Beck, Kate and Pete badly faking phone calls at the end. C-

Captain Shadow & The Cardinal - This super hero film was okay. I don't quite know what to make of it. On the one hand, it does kind of play off some tired tropes of racial inequality based comedy. On the other hand, Chris Redd was easily the best thing about this. They should've given him a slightly bigger part. Kevin and Alex played well off of him. Kenan appearance was the most disappointing part as it didn't nearly go the way I was expecting. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. Also, it's nice to know now that this show can get away with dropping the GD bomb in both live AND taped pieces. C+

Inside The NBA - This was pretty funny. Kevin Hart does a pretty solid Shaq. He does breath some life into what appears to be the same tired take on Shaqs' persona that Jay Pharroh had. Chris and Alex did a great job as the straight men here and Kenan is always dependable as Charles Barkley. Kudos to Kevin for being able to handle the stilts they gave him. I'm glad I'm not the only person who saw the irony of casting Kevin Hart as Shaquille O'Neal. B-

Update was pretty forgettable tonight. Josts' best jokes were the Golden Globes and "vacation braids". I liked Ches' opening rant on voting even though it didn't seem to go anywhere. They both had great rants on the democrats calling on Trump to resign but the thing that disappointed me the most about tonight's update was how little Che had to say about the Net Neutrality issue. I can't believe SNL was the only late night show that only devoted one lousy stinkin' joke to it. This was more deserving of a long rant than anything. Hell, they could've legit gotten away with casting Chris Redd as Ajit Pai. Speaking of impressions, this was actually the best use of Leslies' Omarosa in the entire show. Speaking of guest commentaries, I didn't think there was anywhere else they could take Alexs' Guy Who Just Bought A Boat, but I do appreciate the implication that he is also a serial sexual harasser. That and making Colin break were the only things that stood out to me here. C-

Llama Nativity Play - This was much ado about nothing. It seemed like they spent half of the sketch building up to something that way didn't pay off the way they were hoping it would. This may be the only instance I've ever witnessed where a live animal derailed a live sketch by being too calm and easily in control. Plus, Kevin Hadrt wasn't that believable as a teen. At least Kenan and Leslie got some good lines out of this. C-

Christmas Party - I think I spoke to soon about that previous sketch. This barely built up to anything at all. It just meandered about and beat one tiny shred of a joke to death. It had an ending at least but there was no reveal. I did get a slight kick out of Hart revealing that all his party guests were also his employees. Otherwise, this was the weakest live sketch of the night. D+

Active Jack - I appreciate witnessing this see the light of day after hearing Kenan describe this sketch in his interview on Seth Meyers this summer. Unfortunately, this also meant the sketchs' every mover was very much telegraphed going in for me. Kenan also mentioned this sketch was cut from dress rehearsal when Bruno Mars pulled double duty in 2012. How burnt out were the writers this week that they had zero qualms about bringing a five year old sketch out of mothballs? Anyway, this made decent use of Kevin Harts' seemingly boundless energy (although I'm sure a professional musical performer of Mars' stature might have added slightly more to it). Kenan, Kate and Cecily were, once again, quite dependable in their roles here. Another impressively quick change for Kate here. I liked the added detail of her smoking a bent, torn cigarette. B-

Goodnights - It's nice to see them return to the rink for what had to be the first time since at least Fallon hosted, but if you were anything like me you were completely transfixed by Leslie, Cecily, Melissa and Che at one point playing "the rink is lava" with the same piece of cardboard (?) as Beck playfully scolded them.

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Saoirse Ronan/U2

5. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

6. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

7. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

8. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

9. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, at least the Foo Fighters allowed SNL to close out 2017 on a relatively high note. Going into the new year, SNL seems to be breaking their pattern of having someone promoting Star Wars be their first host on the calendar. After the Christmas break, Sam Rockwell makes his hosting debut apparently promoting Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing, Missouri. Alhough the name sounds quite familiar his work (to me) isn't. Hell, I thought he was in Jurassic Park until I realized I was thinking of Sam Neill. Rockwell is a little known actor whos' mostly been in a lit of small, indie type films (seemingly the second host of this ilk we've had this season after Saoirse Ronan). Obviously, I have no idea of what to expect from him going in. I'm.not sure how much comedy he has done but I hear he is a committed actor so this should be interesting. Of course, its' still going to be a January show so they may be running on even less fumes than they were this week but its' still nice to see another first time host. See you then (and happy holidays!)

James Franco/SZA (12.9.2017)

Okay here's my review. This show really took some bold chances writing wise and thankfully most of them paid off very well. Of course, thats' to be expected with such an avant garden host as James Franco who can be game for just about anything. While he delivered almost exactly what I expected, he seemed to dominate the show to the point where he almost overshadowed the cast in terms of airtime and visibility. Still, aside from him Heidi Gardner, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Chris Redd and Beck Bennett seemed to be dominating the show so good on them. Some say this was the best show of the season up to this point. I would hesitate to say that but it's definitely in my top three. Anyway, lets' break it down.

Visit With Santa - This was quite long and uneven for what is was. It was okay overall, but they should've cut some dialogue between dress and air. It felt like thry were just throwing everything topical from this week at the wall and not even bothering to pay attention to what was sticking. Throughout most of this, I kept trying to think back to the last time they used actual children for these types of sketches (or at least gave them this much dialogue). That was probably because I was just watching the Jack Black/Neil Young episode before this where they used Dratch, Samberg and Poehler for the kid parts in the Cheney/Santa open. Then again, this cold open did seem to need actual children in order to achieve the intended effect. Plus, I was also trying to think back to the last time SNL did a non-political cold open like this (I genuinely could not remember) until I realized this actually was political to a small degree and was therefore the closest thing to a non-political cold open the show seems to think they can afford right now. Still, anytime we get a break from Alec Baldwins' Trump impression is refreshing. Kate got in some great lines, Kenan was serviceable and as far as the kids...all I can remember right now is how those boys got the biggest laughs referencing the NFL/Matt Lauer scandals and how adorable it was when that other girl had a hard time actually saying "libtard response".C+

Monologue - I did like how they tried to poke fun at themselves at first but this disappointed and went nowhere fast. Kudos to the two new writers who got some early screen time in this. The Rogen cameo was to be expected. He had a decent exchange with Franco but otherwise he didn't do much for me. Jonah Hill is officially unsettlingly skinny now and even Steve Martin couldn't add much to this. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was at least a little disappointed that they didn't use this opportunity to bust out a Tommy Wiseau cameo but he does strike me as someone the writers may be afraid to work with and even now SNL might consider "The Room" too much of a cult niche film for their audience to recognize. C-

Sexual Harassment Charlie - This was a bit strange at first but Kenan performance and Becks' laundry list of real reasons he was fired really made it for me. The ladies in the cast really played well off him too. If this sketch was actually trying to make a real point about sexual harassment (seemingly the opposite of the ones the show usually tries to make about these types of issues) then I'm glad this tried to veer away from it quick enough to score some genuine laughs. C-

Gift Wrapping - This sketch was definitely the most entertaining piece of the whole night. I did appreciate how this tried to top itself in terms of grossness. I genuinely had to wonder if Leslie had any lines in this sketch or not. I honestly don't know what was funnier between the over the top blood or the cheapness of the blood spurting props. Did anyone else notice Francos' fake foot came off before it was supposed to? A-

Scrudge Goes To A Party - This film underwhelmed me but I have to think that had something more to do with the fact that is simply followed a sketch with lots of fake blood. I did sort of like the premise of a Scrooge character being more of a modern day dick while still maintaining just the appearance and style of an 18th century old rich miser but something seemed lacking in both writing and execution. It's a little better on the second viewing. I did lije Becks' various insults and impositions on people but they seemed to run kind of a thin joke into the ground and even when he encountered Francos' character it didn't seem to escalate anywhere. Even the ending where Beck seems like he is apologizing but then intentionally moons everybody seemed like too much of a non sequitur even to me. Perhaps the thing that bothered to me the most was the fact that Becks' character was named "Scrudge" instead of just Scrooge. I was under the impression that either "A Christmas Carol" was somewhat in public domain or just that the family of Charles Dickens was just very unlitigious. I could understand the name change here in terms of creative license but otherwise I don't get it. D+

Spelling Bee - This was a funny live piece. I did like Kate and Alexs' back and forth. Francos' character indignantly revealing more and more disturbing personal facts about himself was funny and the featured players were serviceable enough in small teenage roles. Pete managed to get some funny lines here. B+

Update was mostly solid and a vast improvement on the previous week tonight. The only jokes that really stood out in the first part were the tangent that Al Franken inspired Che to go off on and Josts' Trump/Hanukkah party rant. I'm a bit conflicted about Cecilys' latest commentary. I thought it was her funniest appearance yet but mostly because of the legally dead/drug habits/flying foot jokes more than the real world commentary. I did like how they chose to tack in a Seth-and-Stefon type joke at the end (at least I think that's a joke since we haven't heard anything about Cecily getting engaged in real life yet...but if I'm wrong and that ring is real than kudos to her for both the engagement and choosing this as the way to break it to the world). In part two, the R. Kelly/UK ghost sex jokes stood out the most to me. I enjoyed Ches' short film more than I thought I woukd. I did like how he didn't overdo it and go full on "White Chicks Like Me" on us. I started to see right where it was going as soon as the first brunch/mimosas scene since, as I may have mentioned here before, one of Michael Ches' go to comedy tricks is to create parallels between two disparate groups of people. He still made it work in a big way here (even in a big enough way that his sudden dropping of the n-bomb in response to Alex didn't feel unnecessary or unwarranted). I did like how Redd was the only one who recognized him, too. B-

Za On Trial - This was definitely worth it just for the payoff. I wasn't that into the premise at first but I did like Francos' commitment to something so seemingly thin. I felt like I was watching a sketch that got cut fron Ryan Gosling episode just until Redds' appearance and Franco having photographic evidence of the murder and Petes' guilt being part of the twist ending. C+

Christmas Charity- This film was enjoyable in a subtle low-key way. I did feel like I should'be seen the joke coming a bit before the reveal but I did really enjoy the long, slow sentimental Schillers' Reel style buildup. I did think they could've trimmed the ending to this just a bit as it felt like they were really milking this for all it was worth there. B-

Pretty Mandy Reunion - This sketch was another enjoyable semi low key piece. Kudos to Heidi Gardner for getting possibly her most airtime of the season tonight. This was a more endearing character from her. It almost felt like if one of Kyle Mooneys' characters were written and performed more coherently and competently by a woman. I'm glad that the Dave Franco cameo they were obviously trying to build to really did happen and I liked how Franco was able to poke fun at his career here more effectively. B-

Now, just for fun, I thought I would try and rank all of James Francos' episodes from best to worst since he's hosted four times now. I'm going from memory on half of these because while I have reviewed all four of his shows, my reviews of his first two are lost to the ages. Here we go..

1. James Franco/Kings Of Leon/ (9.20.2008)

2. James Franco/SZA (12.9.2017)

3. James Franco/Nicki Minaj (12.6.2014)

4. James Franco/Muse (12.19.2009)

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Saoirse Ronan/U2

5. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

6. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

7. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

8.. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was certainly a kick in the pants the show needed right now. Next week, Kevin Hart returns to host. Even though I've started to come around on Kevin more and more since he's been hosting, having him host the last show before Christmas feels a bit strange. Not quite as strange as having Casey Affleck host last Christmas but still just strange enough that he should probably be hosting on January 13th instead. See you then!

Saoirse Ronan/U2 (12.2.2017)

Okay, here's my review. This show had plenty of worthwhile moments but they were scattered throughout the show at such disparate point that it felt like the most wildly inconsistent episode in years. Saoirse Ronan proved to be a capable host, but I was left wanting to see a bit more of her as she seemed to barely be used at all in sketches. Aside from Melissa and Heidi, it seemed like everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE got a substantial amount of airtime this week. Let's break it down, shall we?

White House Christmas Carol - This was enjoyable at first, but as it went on it felt more like there was some wasted potential there. It felt like they were jumping the gun a bit doing a white house holiday party/Christmas Carol themed sketch in their FIRST show of December, but I suppose it would be a necessity in this year's breakneck news cycle. This seemed like it was gonna be another simple, unambiguous premise that would flourish under proper execution at first but it seemed to Peter out around the time Beck and Kate made their walk on as Putin and Hillary. It seemed like they were under duress and had to rush the ending for some reason (which is perfectly understandable but it kinda derailed this sketch). Mikey and Alex impressed me the most. It's about time Day played Flynn Sr. While I'm sure I'm not the only one whos' over Baldwins' Trump, I must say it felt refreshing only having to see him after an almost month long absence. Strangely, it felt less run into the ground than Becks' Putin. B-

Monologue - This disappointed me quite a bit. I didn't like that the song was the sole focus of the monologue (or that the focus of the entire song was the proper pronunciation of the hosts' name) but the walking from the cast really saved it. I didn't get the impression from this that Ronan would be anything other than a strong host but rather she might have to make the most out of some weak material. I would think they would have more to work with when Saoirse Ronan as a host. D+

Floribama Shore - This was all over the place. It was funny in spots but so inconsistent I still don't know what to make of it. Just when you thought the Hurricane Irma references were going to be a throwaway joke and not the main focus of the piece, they weren't. The introductions were very funny as much of a played out comedy trope as they felt like. Kudos to this season's new featured players for making a big splash here. Luke seemed to make his biggest impression yet (even though it was in abother taped piece and he seemed to be accidentally be doing his Blake Shelton impression again). Heidi also added a lot even if her character was a little too reminiscent of her straw-addled teen from the Gal Gadot episode. I liked Chris as the only one preparing for the hurricane. He did well to punctuate moments like Luke getting impaled on the flying Stop sign. Saoirse fit in surprisingly well here. She obviously spent most of tonight surprising her native accent but this seemed like her most outside-of-her-comfort-zone moment of the night. I have to say I most resonated with Becks' line at the end as I don't know why anyone thought we really needed a Floribama Shore parody (or a parody of anything at all on MTV) right now after SNL pretty much said anything they could'be possibly had to say about Jersey Shore five years ago. C+

American Girl Store Explosion - I'm glad this wasn't a complete by the numbers rewrite of the Matt Shatt sketch from last seasons' premiere despite having a very similar structure. I will say I liked the increasing escalation of Mikeys' doll infatuation as the details unfolded. C-

Welcome To Hell - As for this music video, I have to say I did appreciate the message behind it more than the execution. I can't say I blame the writers of this piece (I'll go out on a limb and guess either Cecily or Aidy collaborating with someone on the staff) for not bothering with any subtlety on this one. I get the sense whoever wrote this also did so under some (emotional) duress. If thats' the case, then I have to say I feel for them I wasn't expecting Leslies' contribution to be as brief as it was. I have to say Melissas' brief cameos were the only things that made me laugh in this. Still, I'I'm left wondering if there was any reason why Heidi was playing a man in a trenchcoat. C+

The Kmart Return Counter - Early on, this felt like it was going to be the best live segment of the night. I loved the rapid fire succession of jokes and pure silliness in this one. I especially liked Cecilys' character in this as I appreciate someone finally attempting to parody the recent trend of people filming and posting their unpleasant chain retail shopping experiences to social media. Other than that, I'd really be surprised to find an actual Kmart anywhere these days. A-

Office Race- This short film was also very enjoyable. I can tell this was written by Beck and Kyle but likely directed by Oz because it reeks of Good Neighbors' style of humor but is very different both visually and stylistically from the rest of their short films. Anyway, while I thought this was very funny I felt like it could'be been shortened a bit. Also, it took me a shameful amount of time to recognize that Greta Gerwig was the office boss in this. B+

Update may have been the most inconsistent and disappointing it has been all season tonight. The obligatory opening Trump rant was okay buy it all kinda ran together since this was such an absurdly not-slow news week. It's nice to see Kate sneak a new impression onto Update, but her Theresa May didn't exactly blow me away. The bit was some low hanging fruit and we'be all seen Kate play stuffy British women before. The only jokes after that that stood out were the nude Afterglow performance. The Lauer material was pretty weak. I never expected them to make Mikey and Leslies' first time S&M couple recurring. The only thing that made this any different and put this above the first installment were the diagrams that Mikey bought out. C-

Bachelor Auction - This sketch was probably the second funniest live sketch of the night. I liked how they developed fleshed out Petes' dim pool boy character to the exact point where he would work well in a live sketch. Of course, it does seem like the women of the show did much of the heavy lifting but Pete set them up nicely. Kenan absurdly high bids were also a nice touch. The John McEnroe cameo felt unnecessarily tacked on but even he made the most of it. B+

Late To Class - This sketch felt a little bittersweet. It was nice to see Luke Null finally get to be the main focus of something for the first time and show us his true comedic sensibilities. It'seems a shame his material didn'the quite land with the audience but at least he got to set up Saoirse and the rest of the cast up to get much bigger laughs than he did. Good for him for making his presence known but I don't think he should get too comfortable just yet. I don't get the impression he's secured his spot on the show next season just yet. C-

Aer Lingus - This sketch may have been the worst piece of the night. It seemed like the lamest "obligatory host sketch" ever. It just seemed like a flimsy excuse to let the cast members with an affinity for European accents bounce their best attempts at Irish ones off the host and try to gain her approval. Still, I have to give it to the cast for doing their damndest to sell this even though the materis wasn't quite there. At least the host got to use her natural accent in one sketch tonight. D+

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. Saoirse Ronan/U2

4. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

3. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

2. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

1. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Next week, James Franco returns for his fourth hosting stint. While I think we had seen the full extent of his sketch comedy capabilities by his second episode. He always gels well enough with the cast and writers that I wouldn't mind seeing him again. Plus, the fact that he is currently promoting "The Disaster Artist" alone justifies his return to the SNL stage. See you then!