John Mulaney/Jack White (4.14.2018)

Okay, here's my review. This show was just as consistently strong as Sterling K. Browns' episode was last month. Even if it didn't quite pack in the same amount of raw energy, you could tell everyone was easily able to keep their spirits up all week. John Mulan proved to be just as adept at performing live sketch comedy as hes' always been at writing it and performing stand up. He really gave this show the boost it needed as it headed into the final home stretch of its' current season. He seemed to be the most visible dominating force behind the show which is a very good quality for any type of host to have. As far as airtime of the actual cast goes, Pete, Alex, Cecily, Heidi and (shockingly) Luke Null seemed to be the most visible. Anyway, lets' break it down...shall we?

Muller Fockers - As much as Kates' Sessions is played out, I was intrigued to see a cold open that started out with just her and Becks' Pence seemingly in place of Baldwin. I was hoping they would give us something a little different and thankfully, they at least did that. Ben Stiller as Micheal Cohen was a great casting decision and he fit the role perfectly. DeNiro as Muller was okay, but probably seemed like a better idea on paper. I think he's at least a better visual fit for the role than Kate, but performance wise he kinda killed whatever momentum this was building since Stiller appeared onscreen. The only things of his and Stillers' that really got a laugh out of me were the "codenames" and the "hard drive/yikes" line. While the "Meet The Parents/Fockers" parody seemed incredibly dated and forced in 2018, it was a little more outside the box that SNLs' current attempts at political humor. C+

Monologue - This was as great as his standup usually is. There were too many great jokes to point out individually but the things that stood out the most to me were the "running for Mayor of nothing" line, his admitting he did coke just before his college graduation ceremony, how he proved he is the only comedian working today that can make robot/captcha jokes even remotely funny and how he chose to open with an entire joke on an obscure Patrick Stewart Salt-N-Pepa intro from February 12, 1994 that obviously stuck with him when he saw it in his youth. I definitely appreciate how he chose to call back to it during his first Jack White intro! My only complaint about this monologue would be that my sneaking suspicion that Darrell Hammond actually butchered his name introducing him as "John Mulvaney" was all but confirmed. B+

JonMuls' Drag Brunch - This seemed like another thing only Mulaney could make funny. In fact, as it progressed it seemed more and more like something only he would've written. I'm willing to bet this is something he co-wrote with Marika Sawyer and Simon Rich. It reminded me of that 50s' diner sketch from five years ago with Jennifer Lawrence as the waitress and Bobby Moynihan as the patron she was totmenting. This was much better however as it built to a much stronger ending that actually improved the sketch. B-

National School Walkout - This sketch kind of rubbed me the wrong way. For one thing, it almost seemed like it was either in questionable taste or just not the right way to address the current gun debate if they were even going to address it at all. Getting past that, Kate and Alex seemed to have the funniest parts in the entire show even though by the time they got to them, this sketch seemed to lose what little structure and focus it had. C+

Wild Wild Country - This was pretty much dominated by Kenan. Thanks to him, I didn't feel like I needed to have seen the source material to find this funny. I think I only became aware of what this was parodying once I saw part of it via either Sara Schaefers' or Stephanie Simbaris' Instagram story (or if not her, than one of the other female comics living in LA that I follow there whose reaction to this I'd like to see). Also, I never thought that Nassim Pedrad would be invited back for a cameo in a million years so its' nice to see that not only did we see that exact thing just happen, but that she also got some recognition applause upon her appearance! She must've really liked writing and collaborating with Mulaney during their time on the show together since she was on his sitcom. I'm guessing he also had a hand in writing this since theres' definitely some shades of "Documentary Now!" to be found here. B-

Lobster Miserables - This sketch was just silly enough to work. It was a decent showcase for Cecily and Mulaneys' singing. Kenan and Kate performed their goofy parts well but Pete and Chris counteracted their absurdity so well that I maintain that this sketch simply would not have worked without them. The biggest thing this sketch had going against it were how the timing on the subtitles got screwed up so bad. Also, Pete botched that Mean Girls Broadway plug so bad that they had to fix it in the repeat and it strikes me as very strange that Mikey first appearance of the entire show would be as a waiter in a non speaking role in this. C+

Update was pretty much the polar opposite of last week in that it was more worth tuning in for the jokes rather than the commentaries. As for the jokes, their best material seemed to be the non-Trump related stuff (aside from Ches' "germaphobe" comments) although his student/teacher sex joke shouldn't have been done at all. Kates' Laura Ingraham seemed a little off to me. It's like she went for a Carvey-level exaggeration there but took the exaggeration too far and the impression just got away from her entirely. Plus, I feel like SNL making fun of someone in the media who screwed up so badly that several of their sponsors had to bail out by portraying them announcing pitiful joke sponsors is a beyond tired trope on the show at this point. I mean, Jack Handy made joke sponsors in sketches his trademark for several years. Long after that, SNL created their own special episode of the sponsor-hemmorhagingly controversial ovelry sexed up MTV Teen drama "Skins" (a bastardized British import) with the cheapest product placements ever. A little over a year later, Taran Kilam depicts Rush Limbaugh gruffly rattling off new Handey-like sponsors which I actually remeber being funnier than tonights' retread of this trope mostly due to Tarans' performance. The only sponsors here tonight that really landed with me were "Reverse Mortages" & "Malaysia Airlines" as well as he line about bullying and the first amendment. I'm not sure we needed to see the return of Kenans' Lava Ball this week (as the real Lavar Ball wasn't exactly dominating headlines) but he was very funny when he was talking about his own "league" and their amneties and incidentals. C+

Hollywood Update/Switcheroo Reboot - This sketch worked more than it had any right to. Specifically, what made it work beyond the initial reveal of the joke was Cecilys' increasingly horrified reactions to Mulaneys' going into detail on the next-to-impossible logistics of pulling this wholly unnecessary "reboot" off and the damaging consequences of even doing the original show. B-

Horn Removal - Kudos to Luke Null for finally getting a leading role in a worthwhile sketch. I'm not sure this alone will guarantee him a second season at this point, but I'm rooting for him after seeing this. His and Heidis' description in his characters' other increasingly outlandish body modifications was what made this sketch for me. He seems to work best with Heidi and have a real chemistry with her from what I've been able to see thus far. If (and it's a pretty big IF at this point) he manages to come back next season it would probably behoove him to do more sketches with Heidi as his scene partner. I wouldn't mind seeing more of them together after this. Also, Mulaney was the best possible straight man thus sketch could've asked for. B+

The Real Intros Of Reality Hills - This was OK. Normally, I don't care much for reality TV parodies on this show but this was just rapid fire paced enough to keep me interested. The only people who stood out to me here were Mikey (because he had the funniest line), Cecily (because she was the only one who got to play two different characters for some reason) and Mulan (because he played twins and, along with Leslie, seemed to have the most dialogue out of everybody). I'm guessing Mulaney also wrote this because a fan of his who I recently started following on Twitter pointed out his resemblance to The Property Brothers here and I take it thats' a show he frequently watches with his wife given the amount of times I've heard him drop references to it in his stand up act and on his Instagram posts. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. John Mulaney/Jack White

3. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

4. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

5. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

6. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

7. James Franco/SZA

8. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

9. Charles Barkley/Migos

10. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

11. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

12. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

13. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

14. Saoirse Ronan/U2

15. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

16. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

17. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

18. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Wwll, that was certainly the return to form that the show needed right now. In two weeks, Donald Glover makes his hosting debut with Childish Gambino as his musical guest. It's about damn time they let Troy "Butt Soup" Barnes himself pull double duty on this show. It sure took them long enough. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is excited for this one. I've been wanting this exact lineup for at least the past six years. This also means we might get two stand up monologues  in a row if Donald wasn't serious about COMPLETELY retiring from comedy! As much as I'm a fan of his music, I'd rather just see him do some new stand up material for his monologues than a song or even a typical sketch/cast interaction type "monologue" they do with your average hosts. If they could get Larry David to do it, they could certainly get him as well. See you then!

Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B (4.6.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Thus show just about met my expectations but still left a lot to be desired. It was very "middle-of-the-road" for this season. It slowly got off to a promising enough start but had completely run out of steam by the time Update was over. From what I had seen in the weeks' promos and SNLs' social media, Chadwick seemed like he was going to be as solid and game and up-for-anything of a host as his "Black Panther" costar Sterling K. Brown was even with only abut a tenth of the enthusiasm. Thankfully, this monologue showed my preconceptions to be correct. He didn't do much to drag the show down but he did do the best he could when saddled with some fairly weak material. While it's pretty much a given that Kenan and Chris would get a lot of airtime this week, it was still nice to see. I also liked seeing how Heidi and especially Melissa are being allowed to come into their own and finally begin to make their mark on the show this week. This is good news for Melissa as Noel Wells and Abby Eliott were also hired mostly on their strengths at doing female impressions and this never happened to either of them before they were let go. It's also a nice change of pace to see Cecily and (to a lesser extent) Kate get put on the back burner for a bit in favor of Aidy. Besides them, Beck and Pete were really the only other people who seemed visible this week. Anyway, lets' break it down. Shall we?

Trump-Baltic Leaders Summit - This cold open sure seemed like a mess. Until now, I had no idea "Outnumbered w/Harris Faulkner" was an actual Fox News show. Still, they got some decent jabs at FNC as a whole here (especially "Mexicans" being blurted out as a "news alert"). I'm glad it didn't focus solely on the Baltic Summitt since that was far from the biggest news story of the past two weeks. I wasn't as glad to see this turned out to be just a random grab bag of throwaway jokes about the past two weeks' worth of Trump related news they almost missed. Baldwins' Trump appearances are officially a non-entity at this point but I'm glad they are limiting them to once a month at this point. I felt pretty bad for Heidi for having to appear in such a seemingly important role with zero lines. However, I did like Alexs' "this man is lying" line, the random "Stankonia" and "Mad Max Fury Road" references, the Amazon/Jeff Bezos jabs and the brief back and forth between Kate & Cecily. Those are really the only things that stood out to me here. C-

Monologue - This is what got this show off to a better start. I did appreciate the whole meta vibe of it and that the show was able to effectively poke fun at the quality of its own sketch writing (even though things are further away from season 20 levels than they were at the beginning of the season).  Thankfully it was JUST a straight forward monologue with Kenan as the only guest. Aside from the visual of him in that ridiculous Panthro costume, his appearance just didn't do much for me. Thankfully, his brief James Brown impression allowed the monologue to end on a slightly better note (even if he seemed too visibly nervous toward the end to really put his all into it). Speaking of Chadwick Borman as James Brown, the only thing this monologue could've done without was allowing the audience to applaud one by one for each name of a IRL prominent black figure he played in a movie. It kinda killed the pacing of the monologue. B-

Nike Pro-Chiller Leggings - To me, this basically came across like an all female reboot of the New Balance sneakers for chubby middle aged guys ad from Zach Galifinakis' 2013 episode that Bobby Moynihan and Tim Robinson costarred in with him. Other than that, all else I can say is that it was nice to see this was a more benign piece of female humor from Kate and Aidy than a strong ardently feminist soap box statement from Cecily (no pun intended). I'm guessing Aidy and Kate collaborated with Anna Drezen and/or Sudi Green on this one (or any of the other female writers I'm forgetting about). Also, is it just me or does it seem apropos that Heidi and Melissa are the women who have to put in the hard work here while Kate and Aidy are the ones who now get to rest on their laurels? C-

Black (Panther) Jeopardy V - I knew we would be getting a Black Jeopardy sketch this week since Leslie posted a photo on Instagram of her posing with some Girl Scouts on the Black Jeopardy set during what appeared to have been Thursday/Friday rehearsals. I was curious at first to see how they would be able to pull this off since they are usually only able to do this with white hosts (and Drake) playing the odd contestant out. At first, I thought they just might have Cardi B play the third contestant until I realized she probably can't act in live sketches. I have to admit though that "Black Panther on Black Jeopardy" was such a blindingly obvious premise it should have been staring us in the face for the past two weeks. It reminded me of sketches like "The Real Housewives Of Disney", "A Serial Christmas" and "The Office: Middle Earth" because it was a heavily pop culture based sketch where the simplicity and relative unambition of its not-at-all-overthought premise allowed the writers to explore fresh new territory. Sadly, they could've focused a bit more on Chadwicks' part. I'm glad Chris fit in to the black Jeopardy mold in the absences of Mr. Pharroh and Ms. Zamata but this sketch wasn't about them as much. They should have expanded the basic formula beyond just T'Challah (sp?) buzzing in every third question with an extremely reverent and idealistic yet very naive response only to be told by Kenan that he is very wrong. Even though it was a noble effort, it felt like a missed opportunity in some spots. B-

Male Pregnancy - This seemed like it was going to be much more ambitious than it was at first which was quite disappointing seeing how one note it actually turned out to be. Also, I'm not sure Chadwicks' role called for him to purposely do a bad Obama impression but it didn't exactly hurt this sketch (neither did the back and forth between Aidy and Cecily either). Mikey had to have written this since it follows a similar formula to other sketches he was responsible for such as Matt Shatt and American Girl Doll Store. C+

Aidy B Meets Cardi B - I could automatically tell exactly where this was going as soon as I saw the establishing shot of Rockefeller Plaza based on the sheer number of times they've done this exact type of field piece since season 39 but that doesn't mean I automatically discounted it. I had to watch it a few times in order to know what to make of it and make sure I caught all the jokes I missed the first time. It does hold up better on multiple viewings. Thankfully, Cardi B herself showed up at the end to lend some credibility to this piece as it would've made absolutely no sense had she not shown up. I'm positive Aid co-wrote this with Sudi Green since she actually shows up on camera in this. C+

Bodak Yellow/Barter Cardi/Be Careful - Speaking of Cardi B, I have a few comments on her performances since there were some things that really stood out to me there. I noticed she only performed part of her breakout hit "Bodak Yellow". I realize this was just so it could be included in a medley with another song but I wonder if the reason was mere time constraints or if there were just that many lyrics from "Bodak Yellow" she absolutely could not get away with performing on live television. As for her second performance, well...I didn't hate the song itself but let's just say I think that dress she was wearing should once and for all settle those rumors about her pregnancy. Also, I do have to wonder why the musical guest stage looks like it was specifically remodeled to look the way it did circa 94-95?

Update was saved by the guest commentaries tonight. Che and Jost had some great Chinese Trade War and Australian stabbing jokes but their unenthused delivery really bought them down. Alex as Mark Zuckerberg was really something. It was at once subtle and over the top. It was also nuanced and incredibly pointed while not treading a ton of new ground. It was also funnier than Sambergs' portrayal from the 2010-11 season of SNL but didn't make me forget about him in that role (probably because Alex is only the second person to have played that role). I'm genuinely surprised to see that Heidis' boxers' girlfriend could be more than a one shot character but its' nice to see they can adapt this role to whatever is in the news on a week-by-week basis. Still, even she must have been as burnt out as Jose and Che seemed tonight as she didn't perform it nearly as strongly as she did when she debuted the first character. Plus, "I'm taking my kids to my sisters" isn't an ideal catchphrase for a recurring SNL character. C+

R. Kelly Does Disneyland - Leslie and Beck made this much funnier than it really had any right to be. Chadwicks' R. Kelly was a little underwhelming. He performed his part well enough with the material he was given but his character could've been given more outrageous things to do. C+

Warehouse Fire - This was definitely the weakest sketch of the night. Did anyone else get strong 09-10 vibes from this or is it just me.? The premise was very convoluted and executed very awkwardly. It didn't really have an ending and it absolutely died with the audience. D-

Singing Restaurant Complaint - Kenan, Chadwick and Melissa really made this for me. I liked Chadwick and Kenan for the formers' raspy Louis Armstrong and the latter's wig and Melissas' characters' back story really added something of substance to it. I'm guessing Anderlette wrote this even though it doesn't meander as much as their other sketches usually do. C-

The Game Of Life: DACA Edition - This was quite a strong commercial that actually made a salient point successfully. I'm surprised this wasn't placed much earlier in the show. I'm guessing that Melissa cowrote this with Stephen Castillo since they seem to have gravitated toward collaborating with each other based on her Instagram. B+

Wakanda Salute - Chris and Leslie were pretty solid in this while Chadwick could've been playing himself and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. The only thing that made me laugh were Pete and Becks attempts at doing the Wakanda salute (especially the way Beck kept badly mispronouncing "Wakanda"). Kenans' part felt too tacked on. The audience seemed to view this similar to the way I did because they were pretty dead through this. I'm guessing Che wrote this since its' overly wordy and trips over itself in trying to make a much larger social point. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

3. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

4. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

5. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

6. James Franco/SZA

7. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

8. Charles Barkley/Migos

9. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

10. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

11. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

12. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

13. Saoirse Ronan/U2

14. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

15. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

16. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

17. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, this episode certainly was a mixed bag. Next week, former SNL writer John Mulaney makes his hosting debut. He is only the third former writer to host without ever officially being added to the cast. Conan O'Brien and Larry David are the only others to have accomplished this. I say, good for Mulaney. It's about damn time this happened for him. He's certainly had a big enough career in comedy in general for this to happen. I'm excited to get to see HIS stand up monologue for a change. Speaking of which, this will be this season's fifth stand up monologue after Kumail Nanjiani, Larry David, Tiffany Haddish (all in a row in that order, too I might add) and Kevin Hart. This might actually be a new record for SNL. I mean, the last time they even came close to having this many stand up monologues in one season was season 20 with six (Bob Saget, Damon Wayans, Paul Reiser, Bob Newhart, Roseanne and Steve Martin depending on how you would want to classify his monologues from that seasons' premiere). I also realize he was a frequent collaborator with Bill Hader while they were both on the show but I'd sooner expect a Nick Kroll cameo than a Hader cameo since the latter just hosted and it would definitely be overkill and I'm hoping Mulaney would be willing to play Gil Faizon to the formers' George St. Geegland since those characters were actually big enough to have their own run on Broadway at one point. Anyway, see you then!

Bill Hader/Arcade Fire (3.17.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Despite being just a little inconsistent compared to last weeks' show, this was easily a top three show for this season just for Haders' sheer presence alone. Last week, I think we were more blown away by a first time host than anything. This week, we were pleased to see a seasoned veteran of the show return to their roots and show us that they still haven't list touch with their chops. This was obviously much better than Haders' first episode in 2014. The current cast was pretty unbalanced as far as airtime went. Heidi and Alex seemed to dominate the show but Mikey seemed practically invisible and Kate appeared do little in the show you'd think she was already eyeing the exits and the show knows it and are knowingly phasing her out and phasing  Heidi in to fill the void. Kenan, Leslie and Melissa also seemed strangely absent. Beck, Kyle, Cecily and Chris also seemed to dominate the show. Anyway, I have less to summarize here upfront t than I have to unpack in the body of this thing so let's get right down to it.

Anderson Cooper 360 -  Moffats' Cooper and Kates' Sessions really got this episode off to a slow start, (although I did like Kates' "Christian white" joke) but Goodmans' Tillerson, Freds' Michael Wolff and Haders' Scaramucci really helped build up some momentum. Goodman and Hader especially had the strongest performances here. At least this week, we can say that the cold open gave something a littlr more than just "a break from Alec Baldwin". B-

Monologue/The Californians VII - Hader made me laugh quite a bit in the monologue explaining what he "learned" from his time on the show. Recognizing his Californians costume as the thing he was quick changing into was another real momentum killer for me but I still appreciate the format breaking and the seamless transition. That really felt like some thing we haven't seen on the show in quite some time. As for the actual sketch itself, well...I do appreciate how much more restrained and subdued it felt especially without Wiig there even though this wouldn't be the first time they've done one of these without her. I also liked how seamlessly Alex fit into his role. Petes' fourth wall dissolving and Bill and Fred arguing the merits of Waze vs Google Maps really made this sketchange for me. Also, it felt really odd timing-wise that they would make a big deal out of Vanessa Bayers' maid character being "deported" considering Vanessa herself was just on last weeks' show. I can't believe it took me seeing her framed photo for it to finally register in my brain that Vanessa was no longer in the cast. Maybe she should have picked a better week to cameo. C+

Kiss Me, I'm Irish - This really gave me some odd vibes. I appreciate how they inverted the trope of one contestant bring the odd one out in these dating contests with Aidy (sort of like how they did the Dick In A Box/Chezch Bros edition of "It's A Date!" when Timberlake hosted five years ago but more subtle). Plus, I feel like it was far too soon for them to do a dating game show again since they just did one two weeks ago. They must have just wanted to jam this one in once someone remembered today was going to be St. Patricks' Day during the Monday pitch meeting. Also, I sincerely have to wonder if this is something they pitched to Saoirse Ronan in December that she turned down because that was her line as far as all the Irish jokes went? If so, she's a real trooper for even going along with the rest of the show that week. All I can say is thank god they waited until Bill Hader was available before they tried to do this sketch. He was the best thing about it. Thankfully, my fears from seeing this set up during the commercial that this sketch was going to be Hader playing another Italian tracksuit guy from Jersey hitting on Irish women for some reason we're immediately put to rest. Also, Kudos to Kate for successfully hiding her fake deformed claw that entire sketch.

Horace - This had some solid writing behind it for something the relied so much on broad, physical sight gags for laughs, but it still felt slightly out of place on SNL. I get the feeling that maybe a different group of sketch comedians, maybe on the Internet or on a late night cable show where they'they'd be free of NBCs' strict network standards and practices regulations, would've been had more success in pulling this sketch off visually. Speaking of which, I do have to wondered how they negotiated with NBCs censors to get this one on the air in the first place? Also, I REALLY want to know who wrote this one. This reminded me a lot of Haders' previous role as a wheelchair bound 126-year old Adolph Hitler on the FXX series "Man Seeking Woman". I know that one was created by Simon Rich who wrote for the show during Haders' years in the cast so I'm wondering if he was also a guest writer this week? B-

Jurassic Park Auditions - I could definitely see what this was going to be about a millisecond in. It looked like they tried to get in as many cast impersonations as they possibly could, which I liked, but I feel like I would have enjoyed this more had we seen maybe a different range of impressions that included less of the types of celebrities we've already seen cast members play in these types of pieces. Sadly, this seems to apply to Hader the most. I mean, he had some great lines as Pacino being disappointed to findthat he was reading for a PG movie but his Alda/Eastwood impressions (while usually great) felt too tacked on here as did Kyles' Joey Lawrence. Mikeys' Pee-Wee (which may have been hiso only appearance of the night). Alexs' Hugh Grant was a decent way to start this. He certainly didn't make me forget about Tarans' Pee-Wee from his first season. Kate as Ellen in any Era feels like something we've seen too much of with little variation. To her credit, she does a much stronger Clarice Starling/Silence Of The Lambs Era Jodie Foster than she does a present day Jodie. I did also like her Lisa Kudrow impression though even though it was something I was half-expecting Heidi to tackle if for no other reason than my dad once said to me out loud that she reminded him of "Phoebe from Friends". Speaking of which, Heidi and Aidy turned in pretty solid performances as Drew Barrymore and Roseanne, respectively. Chris and Kenan turned in some funny performances with some rather obvious jokes as well. I never thought that much of Kenans' Sinbad but I did like that "triceratops" joke. Nice way for them to sneak in Melissas' Gwen Stefani even if '92 was a few years before No Doubt even got that big. It was sweet of them to give Luke Null something else to do at this point in his tenure, but that may have been the weakest Eddie Vedder I've ever seen (especially when we've seen Hader do a much funnier one). Leslie does a near flawless Whoopi and it's quite fitting that Pete did Sandler since he seems to be currently filling the Sandler/Fallon/Samberg generational void on the show. As easy as a Sandler impression is for just about anyone, Pete really nailed it (especially considering he's gotta be pretty close in age now to how old Sandler was then). C+

Update got off to a weak start, but thankfully they were able to finish much stronger. The only memorable jokes were Stormy Daniels/NDA/Headlines, Trump/Astros & Walmart/robotic bees. It was nice to see Kates' Betsy DeVos character (only making her second appearance) more developed. Still, I can't shake the feeling that she didn't have much fresh ground to explore as takes on Betsys' outrageous levels of gross incompetence have been beaten to death by now. Still, I did get a kick out of her describing her likes and dislikes of her job. Petes' latest commentary was very funny. I like when Pete opens up to us like this and I especially liked the idea of him having a who's-more-mentally-ill-and-whos'-having-a-tougher-time-opening-up-to-the-public-about-it off. It's great to see Stefon is still as wonderfully whacked out and deranged a fellow as ever. I did like his nicknames for Jost & Che even if they were just tacked on current film references. To me, the top two funniest moments of the entire episode were the Stranger/Billy Joel/Springsteen joke and Stefon naming "STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS, PLEASE" as an actual club. John Mulaney as Stefons' lawyer/piss artist pretty much made the whole segment for me. It's great that he's now recognizable enough for Lorne to let that little in joke happen although I do have to wonder what specific thing he whispered back to Hader in that moment that made him break character slightly. I also appreciated the Seth/Closer Look reference. Considering this is the second time Hader has hosted the show while Jost and Che were the anchors of Update, I was hoping they would bring in some kind of guest cameo to shake up the usual Stefon formula a bit. At the bare minimum, I was hoping they'd have Seth come on and cameo so he and Stefon could discuss their "married" home life together, but I welcome Mulaney being allowed to add something a little less predictable to the mix. B-

Sacred Rock - Of all of the sketches they could have made recurring from Haders' Era in the cast where he was the focus, I would never in a million years have thought they would do this with the Yeti sketch from Bruno Mars' 2012 episode like they did Haders puppet class PTSD 'Nam vet from that same season. Still, I appreciate that they shifted the focus of this from implied softcover yeti rape to implied softcover reverse gender alien on human insemination. C-

CBC Expos-eh - This disappointed me for a couple of reasons. At first, when I saw this being set up during the commercial, I thought we were going to see Hader as Vinny Vedecci interviewing Cecily as Marion Cotillard. Then, I saw that this was parodying the #MeToo movement in a way that plays up the "Canadians are extremely polite and always overly apologetic" stereotype and immediately realized what a thin and misguided premise that was. Still, only Hader and Gardner could've made these characters more likable and watchable than annoying. Also, one might be tempted to take some comfort in the fact that this was the first and seemingly only sketch of the night to even reference the #MeToo movement. Additionally, I also appreciated the Dave Thomas/Dave Foley/Mike Meyers in jokes as well as the gag of every sungle person involved resigning. Arcade Fire were also good sports to participate in this. Maybe Canadians are so willing to take this stereotype in stride not because it may or may not actually true but because its' such a benign way to generalize an entire nationality (at least on the surface). C+

Undercover Office Potty - This was much funnier than it had any right to be mostly because Beck, Kyle, Bill and Chris were so seriously committed to such a juvenile premise that could've only spring from their collective mind palace (unless Che wrote this). I don't know if it was the immaturity or the production value or the fact that Hader was wearing a wig that resembled his actual hair from his first four seasons on the show, but I did get a strong Lonely Island vibe from this as well. It seemed like a direct cross between "Cubicle Fight" and "Office Meeting" with small but definitely noticeable traces of "Like A Boss" and "Japanese Office" more than amything. The spilling was pretty much the perfect way to end this. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

3. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

4. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

5. James Franco/SZA

6. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

7. Charles Barkley/Migos

8. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

9. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

10. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

11. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

12. Saoirse Ronan/U2

13. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

14. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

15. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

16. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show could've used right now. In two weeks, Chadwick Borman makes his hosting debut. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but for some reason, "Black Panther" is the only thing I can think of that I've even heard of him actually being in. Oh, well. I may not know about this guys' acting background (another person who seems to mostly be involved in either dramatic roles or parts in big blockbusters) but as long as he goes into it with the same attitude his costar Sterling did, he should do just fine. See you then!

Sterling K. Brown/James Bay (3.10.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This episode was definitely in the top five strongest of the season. It was a little inconsistent but what was good was very good and really stood out. Sterling K. Brown seemed like a very promising host going by his social media activity promoting this weeks' show and he certainly delivered everything he promised by being a standout host and performing the hell out of all the parts he was given. I could definitely see him being asked to come back and host again if he has something else to promote thats' as high profile as "This Is Us" or "Black Panther". As far,as airtime, Melissa had a real breakout night and Pete, Alex, Kyle and Aidy seemed to be dominating the show the most. Anyway, we do have a lot to unpack this week so let's just get right down to it.

Bachelor Finale - This cold open was probably the weakest and most baffling of the season. It felt like a real throwback to the types of pop culture parodies the show would do during Fallon, Kattan and Morgans' final seasons in the cast under Feys' reign as head writer. I do have to give the writers credit for trying something a little different for these past two seasons here. I do appreciate how they tried to blend their obligatory topical white house commentary with the type of pop culture parody they would often attempt to do during the Bush II/Obama administrations, but this ran a huge risk of alienating the portion of SNLs loyal audience who doesn't happen to also watch "The Bachelor" religiously. I'm still not sold on the basic premise of Kate McKinnon playing Robert Muller but I will admit it worked somewhat here. Her semi-dramatic take actually dovetailed well with the premise of this cold open. I also liked the Stormy Daniels/American Steel jokes. Those were the only things that even made me chuckle in this whole open. Plus, the split screen didn't hurt this as much as lacking any real ending did. At least they gave us a break from Baldwin tonight but I just saw a promo for Fallons' show that named him as a guest next week so I guess we can expect him again real soon. Overall, I didn't hate this. I just struggled to make sense of it. Personally, I would've much preferred a Sam Nunberg cold open. Frankly, I'm shocked he didn't even get a mention on Update. I mean, he really only dominated Mondays' news cycle but it was still a pretty big deal. I do have to wonder what conservative sites are going to make of this site seeing as it basically depicts Muller admitting his investigation is turning up empty? D+

Monologue - This helped get this episode off to a better start and build back up some of the momentum that the cold open really killed. I liked how Sterling showed the same raw enthusiasm he exhibited on social media all week and I especially liked how he was able to poke fun at his own emotions. That was the real highlight of this monologue. It really helped counterbalance all the jokes he delivered well enough but still didn't quite land. His Kenan impression made me laugh. The only real drag is that while Leslie was great in it, it seemed like Sterling was setting up for an appearance from his "This Is Us" castmates. Maybe it wouldn't have been totally necessary but at least it would've mixed things up a bit more. C+

Family Feud X - This wasn't greater than the sum of its' parts or anything but everyone got their individual chance to shine. Oscar winners and losers seemed like a thin premise but the performances really boosted this. Kate had good material as Frances MacDormand, but she seemed to be putting less into it than the last time she played her. Maybe she was basing the character more on her animated Oscar speech but it partly felt like Kate was playing herself. Beck did a solid G. Del Toro but his part ultimately felt underwritten. Heidi did a brilliant Allison Janney. Hell, at times she even bordered on channeling Kristen Wiig attempting an Allison Janney impression and despite tripping over her last line she really nailed it. It was great to see her debut another actual impression. Chris as Jordan Peele was a great addition. He really nailed the Jordan Peele impression. Kudos to him on being the first person to even play a former MAD TV cast member in SNL. His prompting Kenan to intentionally break character AND the fourth wall was the single most brilliantly executed moment of the entire show. Pete as Timothee Chalamette  (sp?) didn't do much for me. He seemed slightly miscast and it seemed like less an impression than a base observation about a celebrity. Alex as Willem Dafoe was great. He got solid laughs with just a look and a couple of lines alone. It was nice to see Melissa get to debut a new impression but it was such an obscure one and it was done entirely in sign language. It was the most spectacular way they've defeated the purpose of having her on the show at all so far. Sterlings' got bars but I still don't quite know what to make of his actual Common inpression. B+

This Is U.S. - Now, this was a more successful blend of politics and pop culture than whatever they were going for in the cold open. Still, also like the cold open it felt somewhat like a throwback to what they would do in a previous Era of the show. Scratch that, this actually felt like something MAD TV would've done but with writers who are more competent at tackling current political events. Sterling does a fine Ben Carson but he certainly didn't make me forget about Jay Pharroh. Pete as Jared Kushner was an interesting take (and one I wouldn't mind seeing again if handled the right way. Still,  I do have to wonder how Alex or Colin would also play him. B-

Shrek Vs. Coco - This family dinner sketch was much bett r than it had any right to be thanks to the increasingly heated tension between Beck and Sterling near the end. I can't imagine any other host making that sketch as watchable as he did. I do have to wonder if this sketch was written by the same writers who wrote the La La Land interrogation sketch from the Aziz Ansari episode last January since they both revolved around heated confrontations over grindingly banal film & pop culture minutiae. B-

Sasquatch - This film had a lot going for it. There were more reasons it worked than just it was filmed. It established it's premise quickly without letting it get too one note and it was just unabashedly silly and immature enough without getting too juvenile. C+

Update felt a little underwhelming compared to what surrounded it in this episode but the commentaries really sabed it. Right off the bat, Che had the better of the two sets of Trump-meets-Kim-Jong-Un jokes and Josts' Jong-Un/lesbian joke came off incredibly awkward. Nothing else really stood out and Ches' Gary Cohn/video game jokes felt derivative as did Josts' Amelia Earhart/Barbie joke. Che did get to redeem himself with his In-And-Out Burger joke. I'm glad to see that they decided to keep tweaking the formula if they're going to keep bringing out Mikey and Alex back as Eric & Don Jr. I'm really glad to see that they'really actually having a lot more fun in these roles (especially Alex) but most of all, I'm just floored that they could get away with saying "goddamn jews" on live network television. The thing I liked most about Vanessas' cameo was how genuinely unexpected it was. Seriously, I was expecting Bobby to come back for a cameo before Vanessa did at this point. It was nice seeing her again even if she came back to do the last character she left the show with and I almost thought it was Heidi impersonating her for a few seconds for some reason. C+

Black Panther Deleted Scene - This obligatory host sketch was worth watching just for Kenan. He pretty much carried this with several funny lines. Plus, the more you actually watched this sketch the more apparent it became that you didn't necessarily need to have actually seen Black Panther to actually get it. B-

Dr. Love - This sketch was all right for what it was. It was another premise that would only work with Sterling as a host. I liked how it didn't get too one note too fast. I liked how they let on more that Sterlings' Dr was medically uncaring than that he was just flat out medically incompetent. Most of all, I liked how comfortably and swiftly Beck and Sterling instantly switched the tone of this from simple comedy sketch to final act of a romantic comedy. C+

Script Supervisor - This sketch was more frustrating than anything else. I wanted to like it much more than I did since it seemed like it was going to go in a much different direction than it did early on. It seemed like it was going to be all over the place until it became obvious this was going to be a near carbon copy of the Arizona Evenings/Starfish sketch from Alec Baldwins' 2010 episode. Still, this was a superior sketch to that as Cecily wasn't playing as one dimensional of a character. Plus, this had Kyle in a decent role that he hadn't played before and the added gag of the script Cecily was reading becoming increasingly, gratuitously filthy. Also, I'm glad Melissa is being used a lot tonight but maybe she didn't need so many lines given how small her part was. C-

Rock N' Rap - I was really excited to see the return of Kyles' Chris Fitzpatrick character after a near four year absence. The thing I liked most here is how instantly my fears were put to rest that this character wouldn't work in a man-on-the-street interview setting. I liked how progressively odd and outrageous the interview responses were getting. B+

Nickelback Deathbed - This worked more than it had any right to. It was possibly the most endearing ten-to-one sketch in recent memory. It felt more like a Web video I would've seen posted by an Internet sketch group on Cracked.com. Kudos to Melissa for getting an elderly woman role over Kate for once, first of all and to Luke for getting in his one genuinely funny line per show here. If Melissa actually had a Chad Kroeger impression than this sure was an overly elaborate way for her to sneak it onto the show. Also, if they found out over the course of the week that Sterling also had a Chad Kroeger impression that would be a bit of an unusual thing for he and Melissa to bond over but it would explain how this got on the show. B-

Now for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

3. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

4. James Franco/SZA

5. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

6. Charles Barkley/Migos

7. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

8. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

9. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

10. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Saoirse Ronan/U2

12. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

13. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

14. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

15. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show needed right now. Next week, Bill Hader comes back to host for a second time. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying this, but this is the episode I've been looking forward to the most the entire month. I have to admit though, I feel a little less excited for it than I did for Ferrells' episode only because Hader hasn't been gone from the cast as long as Ferrell has so as much as I loved him then as a cast member then (and still do) it's a bit harder for me to be nostalgic for his Era of the show since it still feels so recent. Still, I have no doubt that he won't disappoint and I'm sure Hader can boost staff morale just as much as Sterling clearly did. Plus, this is only Haders' second time hosting and (counting his appearances at the 40th anniversary specials and the only two season 39 episodes he cameoed in) his fifth return to the show overall since leaving the cast. Speaking of which, someone here mentioned they had hoped he could get through this episode without any cameos from Wiig or Armisen. I agree about the former, but I wouldn't mind if we got another Armisen cameo if it also meant we get another Vincent Price St. Patricks' Day special. See you then!

Charles Barkley/Migos (3.3.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This show had its moments, but it was a considerable let down from all of the previous times Charles Barkley hosted. He usually is funnier in a goofy, oddball Walken type of way but here he seemed like he was either  stumbling over himself or coasting on some rather weak material. It can't entirely be the latter considering he did liven up some sketches that would've barely been watchable with any other type of host. Maybe I might have been expecting too much since Charles Barkley is more likely to be unintentionally funny than intentiinally funny but this waa his weakest show yet. The cast seemed evenly balanced with only Luke and Melissa appearing the least. No surprises there, but at this point I think Melissa might just be in a slump and Luke is more likely to be in more real danger. Anyway, let us begin.

Bipartisan Gun Control Meeting - This cold open was just a bland mush of all the White House related headlines over the past month that the show hadn't responded to yet. Nobody besides Baldwin really needed to be there so making him the sole focus was a huge misfire. The only jokes that stood out to me were the lines about Jared Kushner being the hottest chick left in the white house and the entire waffle house bit. The "I hear you" and Black Panther references seemed the most tacked on. I'm surprised they didn't work in a reference to the real Trump's "Alex Baldwin/dieing career/bring back Darrell Hammond" tweet. On a more positive note, I do like how Baldwin has started incorporating Trumps' pouty crossed arm pose into his impression. D+

Speaking of Hammond, does anyone else think he might have been doing his announcements live in studio 8H tonight? He seemed to have some timing issues that made me think they might not have been prerecorded.

Monologue - This was marginally funnier than the cold open, but Barkley seemed to be giving it less than his all. He seemed to stumble over his cue cards at the start and he definitely shouldn't have been counted on to deliver a monologue with even that much of a preachy social message. He also shouldn't be counted on to do a straight solo monologue for that long either. Thankfully, Che showed up but I wish he was able to add something more than he did. I do appreciate him basically admitting he was hosting the show for no reason and how he, unlike Baldwin, managed to actually make a shoehorned in Black Panther reference actually funny. C-

The Grabbies - This felt like it had a derivative premise that wore thin pretty quickly. I don't know if impersonations of real life celebrities would've improved this at all, but I'll say I would've liked to have seen them. Pete, Kenan, Aidy & Barkley had the best parts. I'm guessing this was written by Cecily, Sudi Green and Anna Drezen. C-

Neds' Roach Away - This actually had a funny premise and something about Barkleys' performance actually added to it. Still, I think they could've taken it a bit further. I think Che may have written this as it appears to be the same short film he posted behind the scenes footage of in his Instagram stories because the set looks exactly the same. B-

Homework Hotline - This was incredibly juvenile but really only Barkley and Aidy could make it watchable. The periodic table and static electricity bits made me laugh the most. I'm sure Day and Seidell wrote this. C-

The Champions - This sketch was very funny due mostly to Kenans' performance. It really picked up once Kenan started mentioning which of his body parts were fake. I also laughed at "Every Kiss Beguns With Q" but that billboard/underwear joke felt a little too telegraphed to me. The A-Rod cameo seemed a little too tacked on to me but its' nice to see him finally make it onto SNL considering he spent the last several years of his career with the Yankees. My biggest criticism of this sketch is that the way it was written and structured made it seem like the sports version of Debette Golden but that didn't necessarily hamper it.  B-

Update was pretty inconsistent tonight. Che had quite a few well written jokes but his delivery dragged them down. Jost had great jokes on Kushner/Bannon, arming teachers and Ghandi's letter. As soon as Jost mentioned her name, I was fully expecting Cecily to play Hope Hicks. At least they put some effort into the look that they couldn't afford to after the last live show as I understand they switched to her from Natalie Portman playing her in the cold open. I thought the personal dedications at the end of her letter were the highlight. Besides that, it felt like I was watching a less preachy rewrite of her Stormy Daniels commentary from a month and a half ago. Kyles' commentary may have been the funniest thing in the entire show. It's nice to see a cast member besides Pete or Leslie (especially one with Kyles' comedic sensibilities) play themselves on Weekend Update. Speaking of Leslie, her Olympic recap wasn'the all that distinguishable from the Olympic reports she posted on social media. The only thing that stood out to me were the "penalty box" jokes. I suppose its' natural that an NBC show like SNL would want to get an Olympic Gold Medal winner to make a guest appearance after the fact but the Hillary cameo didn't do anything for me. B-

Hump or Dump - This waa about the second funniest segment of the night if you're in the mood for some very light, low level gallows humor. This is a sketch that only Barkley and Aidy opposite each other could make funny let alone endearing. Kenan, Chris and Alex were serviceable in their roles. Kudos to Melissa for getting a decent laugh out of me with her one line but I feel bad for her for this being her first appearance of the night. My only complaint about this would be that it seemed a little rushed in execution. B-

Repair Site - This sketch seemed like it was a more interesting premise on paper but it seemed a little too thin and wordy when performed. Still, I enjoyed it and my only real suggestion would have been to give Beck a few more lines leading up to his final speech. It reminded me a lot of the sketch from last seasons' Chris Pine hosted episode where a group of garage mechanics talk about RuPauls' Drag Race. I seriously have to wonder if both of those sketches were written by the same writers? C-

Last Call VII - This may have been the shortest Sheila Sovage sketch ever written. That's actually a good thing seeing as Barkley being Kates' "love" interest seemed like a better idea on paper until we saw how stiff he played his part. The funniest thing he did was almost break character when the Lady Speed Stick and dentist tools were busted out. Plus, I think they were expecting a bigger reaction from that crown/toilet joke that they didn't get for some strange reason. I waa thinking how they might have been better off saving this sketch fir two weeks frim now when Bill Hader returns to host but if Barkley couldn't get through it without break8ng just a tiny bit, Hader doesn't even stand a chance. Still, I have to say this sketch featured the best Kenan reactions of all time. I wonder how they actually pulled off him turning to stone since there seemed to be a delay that was longer than they were expecting? Also, did anyone else get the impression that Kate may be leaving this season and only the show knows right now so they wrote this specifically to be the last one of these sketches ever? I'd bet if that were really the case there may be a whole season worth of speculation leading up to this point like there was with previous cat members. 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. Charles Barkley/Migos

6. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

7. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

8. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

9. Saoirse Ronan/U2

10 Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

12. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

13. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

14. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was a bit of a letdown but it had its moments for those willing to look for them. Next week, Sterling K. Brown makes his hosting debut. I figured it wouldn't be too long at this point before a cast member from "This Is Us" would host the show. It seems to be NBCs' biggest hit right now and the episode that aired after the Superbowl garnered a lot of strong buzz, so its' at least natural that NBC would push Lorne to get one of its stars to host. I'm sure SNL thought that Sterling would be a much better choice for host than Mandy Moore, Christy Metz or Milo Ventimiglia. I don't know him from much else besides "This Is Us" or "Black Panther" so I get the sense he is known more for dramatic roles than comedic ones. However, he seemed to express a lot of excitement on social media when they announced he would be hosting so at the very least he should be a game host (like Barkley usually was) who would gel with the cast and be up for just about anything. As long as the writers don't continue to rest on their laurels, this should be a fine show. See you then!

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!