Okay, here's my review. This show was much more uneven and inconsistent than last week but everything that did work worked very well. James McAvoy proved to be an enthusiastic host immediately whose presence would give the show a much needed boost. However, the second half of the show seemed to be bogged down with the weight of too many retreads. Let's break this down, shall we?
Tucker Carlson Tonight - Well, it took until the very end of this for me to be able to like this as much as I initially wanted to. I was glad to see SNL finally attempt to satirize Tucker Carlson with Alex in the role but performance wise he seemed to be phoning it in more and more as the sketch progressed. It's like he put too much emphasis on getting Tuckers' dopey facial expressions down so the impression as a whole came off too sleepy, lethargic and devoid of malice. Also, all their jokes about him seemed more like played out snarky observations from people I follow on Twitter. I usually like Cecilys' Judge Pirro but I feel like she played it too big here. Plus, this was a strange place for them to work in their obligatory Marie Kondo reference. As much as I feel Kate playing male Trump cabinet members is another overdone thing, her Wilbur Ross impression worked surprisingly well here. It was an impression she was surprisingly well suited for and she had great "out of touch" lines that were pretty funny. Maybe I liked this as much as I did because it's a Kate impression that we're just seeing for the first time before it gets run into the cold, cold ground. Of course, the high point was Steve Martin as Roger Stone. I was expecting Alex to play him if they weren't going to parody this specific interview and Kate if they were. Steve was such a left field choice that he was inherently worth at least a chuckle but he actually seemed to be going for a specific over the top character voice/series of affectations here that were very funny any fun to watch here. It didn't matter if the impression was all that accurate with what Steve did with it. B+
Monologue - If James coming out in a kilt hinted that he may be here to have fun and make a good first impression, the Ewan McGregor jokes cemented that. Also, that was the best recovery from a minor cue card flub I have seen in recent memory. I do have to wonder if his "masculine skirt" was also an adlib because I'm not sure something scripted would've been that visibly directed at one specific audience member whom we couldn't quite hear. B+
Virgin Hunk - Well, it's their last January show this year and they didn't do their seemingly required Bachelor parody with last week's female host so they must have had to figure out a way to do one with this week's male host. I'm kidding, of course. They obviously knew they had to do it this way because they've already used both of the current male cast members who would be believable in this role so they needed a male host. Again, kidding. They obviously must've wanted to specifically parody something about this year's Bachelor. That being said, I'm not sure if McAvoy was having trouble nailing down a specific Colorado accent or something or if that was his portrayal of how he thought a stiff and frothed up adult virgin would present himself in such a situation. Either way, his acting kinda took me out of this. Unfortunately, his and Ego's performances were the only things that stood out to me in this sketch. The rest of it seemed pretty indistinguishable from the show's previous Bachelor parodies but the ending to this one worked for me. C-
Mr. H - I'm glad they actually called out how cliched this premise was and then gradually flipped it around. Redd was a solid lead in this. McAvoy provided a nice balance between serious acting and comedic dialogue. Mikey, Ego and Pete added some funny moments as well. This was one of the most thoroughly well written and produced short films in recent memory. A-
Scottish Air - Well, this seemed like it was going to be too one joke for me initially but the performances really sold it. Mikey, Kenan and Kate were very funny but Beck made the whole sketch for me. James seemed the most within his comfort zone here and that really helped the sketch play better. B-
Upper East Side - Leslie actually does have some great rap skills. I believe this is the first time she's gotten her own showcase for them in a music video where she is the lead performer rather than being a supporting player in all female song with the rest of the women in the cast. Kate and James provided a nice balance here. I guess I wasn't expecting a sudden German accent so soon. Other than that, nothing really stood out to me here because this seemed too regional and New York centric to really land with me. C-
Charmin Focus Group - After the host doing three different accents in a row, it took me a full minute to get back in sync with his acting, but his Philly/Pittsburgh accent paired with his insane, unwarranted scatalogical ad pitches was the true highlight of this sketch. I don't know why those accents are so funny to me, but they just are. Other than that, nothing else really clicked with me. It felt too much like we shouldn't have been seeing this the week after they revived the Barbie Instagram sketch because it played out just like a cross between that and the film Q&A sketch from Seth's show. I do have to wonder if this was originally written for Tina's episode last season given that one character had a heavy Philly accent. C+
Update had its moments. I couldn't really get into it until the Roger Stone jokes. Che in particular seemed to have quite a bit of fun with his. I also had a hard time getting into Redds' Soulja Boy commentary. It made me chuckle a bit but I really didn't appreciate having to know why Soulja Boy is back in the news this week to fully appreciate this. I really didn't think we needed to see Cathy-Anne again either. B-
Return To Narnia - Speaking of things I had to have read up on to recently to get, I had to check and make sure James McAvoy was actually in the Disney Narnia franchise films. The only film adaptation of "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" I've seen was from long before the time when those came out and I haven't really read the book since second grade. At least this was a nice pull for a host sketch. Otherwise, I was just WAY not the target demographic for this very niche female centric sketch. Still, I'm really curious to know which writer wrote this one. C-
Boys - I'm actually surprised they chose to recur this. Beck, Kyle and Cecily were still great in it but I still feel like this should've been left a one off and this version was too much of a carbon copy of the first to make me think otherwise. Thankfully, it got to its conclusion quicker this time. I do appreciate their acknowledgment of continuity by having James' character state that Cecily "remarried" him. C-
Dogs - Well, I hate to say this but...I think I'm officially starting to tire of Chris, Pete, and Kenans' rap videos. Still, this was at least better than the RBG one and the Permission one to a certain extent. I can appreciate that this was going more for "cute" than funny. I did like Pete's "hypoallergenic" lyric, James' intensity and the fact that they gave Ego her own verse that explained why she, Aidy & Heidi were wearing bunny ears reminiscent of a certain someone from Pete's recent past. C+
New Orleans - I think I spoke too soon about them recurring sketches from earlier this season that worked better as one offs. The only thing that stood out to me was James' near breaking and how Kate's part was considerably minimized and given to Ego. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
3. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
4. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
5. Adam Driver/Kanye West
6. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
7. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
8. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak*. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
9. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
10. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, this episode kind of petered out in the second half but the first half was very fun while it lasted! In two weeks, Halsey pulls double duty for her first time as host and second as musical guest. Look, pop stars and musicians tend to make very fun and engaging hosts. However, I'm a little surprised Halsey was chosen to host because I don't think she's had any acting experience outside of a couple of voice acting gigs in animated fare. Hopefully, she can prove our preconceived wrong and be a fun and engaging host. See you then!
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet (1.19.2018)
Okay, here's my review. This was a strong enough show to start out the season. Nothing was too great or too terrible even though they seemed to have made a whole lot of rather strange choices and not all of them worked. Pretty much the entire cast got a fair amount of airtime. Rachel Brosnahan proved to be dependable if not outstanding amongst her peers. Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?
Deal Or No Deal: Government Shutdown Edition - Well, this was a rather odd mishmash of a cold open. This seemed like a half thought out premise (so, I guess Deal Or No Deal really did get an inexplicable reboot last month, huh?) and they seemed to be ticking off items on a checklist of the previous weeks' notable news stories again. Plus, they decided to really Trojan Horse Baldwin's Trump on us here but at least they were thinking outside the box this week for the cold open. I know we've seen Kyle play Howie Mandell in Jonah Hills' episode a couple of months ago and I guess he could've just as easily done so again here since he wasn't playing one of the suitcase senators but Kenans' Steve Harvey actually livened this up a bit more so I think they made the right call. Other than that, the only things that stood out to me were Kate's Nancy Pelosi (which seems to have morphed into a Jennifer Tilly impression somehow) Mikey's Steve King "Whites" comment and Ego's brief Cardi B impression (because Mikey's part was the biggest laugh I got out of this whole sketch and Ego finally made it on to the show again and they seem to be close to finally figuring out how to use her) and the fact that this sketch actually had something of an ending. C+
Monologue - Rachel Brosnahan was a hard host to get a read on here. She seemed to be more into hosting than she let on and exhibited a very controlled and reserved level of enthusiasm for the show. As for the content of the monologue, the song more relatable for its time than it was outright funny (maybe aside from the drug part). It felt like they just took Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt's monologues from the two previous seasons and just stripped them of most of their substance. It mostly left me curious as to how Cecily might have spent her Christmas/New Year's break as I've never seen her that ridiculously tan before. C+
Action 9 News At Five - Well, I was pretty foolish to think this would not be a rewrite of Matt Shatt or last seasons' Sairose Ronan American Girl sketch just because Mikey played the anchor this time. Nonetheless, the rapid fire pace of stupid silly names made this very funny. Sure, it was pretty sophomoric but I'll take what I can get right now. B+
Leave Me AlUrn - This was another female oriented piece that really appealed to everyone to some degree since it had a creative idea behind it. Alex, Ego, Pete, Kate & Kenan scored the biggest laughs here. Also, is it just me or is Rachel Brosnahan a dead ringer for Noel Wells? B+
Millenials Millions - Yeeaaah, okay...well, this was another thing that I found specifically relatable to me as someone well within the millennial age range who has fairly recently worked a freelance job at a local tech startup that offered no benefits. I'll try to be as impartial as I can here. For starters, while I think the divide between Boomers & Millennials is starting to become a tired, played out comedy topic and this might be the final nail in that coffin it was at least nice to see SNL make a trip to that well once and acknowledge this actual effect on the lives of people my age. I admire how they went after all three sides as evenly as they could manage, I also thought this could've been a little less condescending to millenials (even if that WAS on purpose). Thanks to Kenans' character, I at least have a better understanding of why my generation is supposed to also hate Generation X. Also, is it just me or is Rachel Brosnahan also a dead ringer for Claire Foy? (or is it just that they both hosted within two months of each other and played very similar roles on this show?) I actually thought for a second that Cecilys' tan might have been fake for her role in this sketch but then realized that the makeup team probably wouldn't go as far as to spray tan Cecilys' legs if she was wearing pants. At least this was one of the more creative premises for a game show sketch they've done in recent memory. Speaking of which, does anyone else think it's strange that this was the second game show sketch in tonight's show? B-
The Raunchiest Mrs. Rita - Well, this was a fine "host sketch" and a fine excuse for Leslie to just play herself stuck out of time. The only flaw here was that this took too long to establish it's one joke and it stayed once it got there without really going anywhere else. Beyond that, it just used Aidy and Kyle to establish that whoever wrote this was familiar with the show. Yeah, I figured if anyone in the current cast would play Alex Borsteins' part in a parody of this show it would be Aidy (the second time in the past year an SNL cast member had impersonated a MadTv cast member, oddly enough). Also, the Cosby reference at the end (the second in the entire show over all) felt a little too tacked on. C-
Update was pretty solid. Most of the jokes were either good or just forgettable. The entire opening Jost/Che rant and Josts' Instagram egg/Twitter egg joke and reaction to his own Florida watch joke were the funniest joke moments of the whole shoe (even if the egg joke is a little dated because Twitter replace that anonymous egg icon with a minimalist silhouette). Kate played her Elizabeth Warren much more loose and relaxed and it worked much better. Nice to see Pete in better spirits under Mulaneys' wing (who's always a welcome presence on SNL no matter what). I found their Clint Eastwood Mule commentary a little too fast paced to follow the back-and-forth of it (it actually kinda reminded me of the two man film reviews they did in 85-86 with Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall and 88-89 with Ben Stiller and Mike Meyers) but I like to think of it as one long setup to the "Mule-aney" punch line. B+
Tabitha - This was a strange premise that I didn't quite know what to make if (or even what it may have been parodying) but everyone's performances really sold the hell out of it and made it funny. C+
Kool-Aid - This was one of the strangest parodies of anything the show has done in recent memory. It was a very unusual take. I thought Ches' mention of it during Update was enough. It almost seemed like both segments missed the point if the ad (but not to a dangerous degree fortunately). Thankfully, this didn't detract too much or veer too far off course from the Gillette ads' basic message. I'd like to think the whole point of this parody was at least absurdity for the sake of absurdity if not to poke fun at the strange non-sequitir approach Gillette took in illustrating their representation of the "toxic masculinity" they wished to take a stand against. Seriously, did anyone else who saw the Gillette ad get a strong Tim & Eric/Kroll Show type vibe from the first part of it? C+
Kens' Instagram - Well, I'm shocked they tried to recur something from the home stretch of last season that so obviously worked best as a one off. Pete, Heidi and Kenan had some great lines but I preferred the Donald Glover version. Also, did we ever get confirmation of who wrote either sketch? I want to say it was Julio Torres but I believe he may have left the show entirely in the middle of last season to produce his own new show with Fred Armisen so I'm really not sure who on the current writing staff is that skilled at aping his existentialist malaise type style. C+
Now for my updated rankings of this season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
3. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
4. Adam Driver/Kanye West
5. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
6. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
7. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
8. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
9. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
10. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that got 2019 off on the right foot. Next week, James McAvoy will be making his hosting debut. I want to say he's an actor I'm more familiar with but I'm not sure what else he's been in besides Split, Glass and some of the more recent X-Men films. Still, he strikes me as someone who can have enough fun with himself and the cast to be a pleasant host. See you soon!
Deal Or No Deal: Government Shutdown Edition - Well, this was a rather odd mishmash of a cold open. This seemed like a half thought out premise (so, I guess Deal Or No Deal really did get an inexplicable reboot last month, huh?) and they seemed to be ticking off items on a checklist of the previous weeks' notable news stories again. Plus, they decided to really Trojan Horse Baldwin's Trump on us here but at least they were thinking outside the box this week for the cold open. I know we've seen Kyle play Howie Mandell in Jonah Hills' episode a couple of months ago and I guess he could've just as easily done so again here since he wasn't playing one of the suitcase senators but Kenans' Steve Harvey actually livened this up a bit more so I think they made the right call. Other than that, the only things that stood out to me were Kate's Nancy Pelosi (which seems to have morphed into a Jennifer Tilly impression somehow) Mikey's Steve King "Whites" comment and Ego's brief Cardi B impression (because Mikey's part was the biggest laugh I got out of this whole sketch and Ego finally made it on to the show again and they seem to be close to finally figuring out how to use her) and the fact that this sketch actually had something of an ending. C+
Monologue - Rachel Brosnahan was a hard host to get a read on here. She seemed to be more into hosting than she let on and exhibited a very controlled and reserved level of enthusiasm for the show. As for the content of the monologue, the song more relatable for its time than it was outright funny (maybe aside from the drug part). It felt like they just took Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt's monologues from the two previous seasons and just stripped them of most of their substance. It mostly left me curious as to how Cecily might have spent her Christmas/New Year's break as I've never seen her that ridiculously tan before. C+
Action 9 News At Five - Well, I was pretty foolish to think this would not be a rewrite of Matt Shatt or last seasons' Sairose Ronan American Girl sketch just because Mikey played the anchor this time. Nonetheless, the rapid fire pace of stupid silly names made this very funny. Sure, it was pretty sophomoric but I'll take what I can get right now. B+
Leave Me AlUrn - This was another female oriented piece that really appealed to everyone to some degree since it had a creative idea behind it. Alex, Ego, Pete, Kate & Kenan scored the biggest laughs here. Also, is it just me or is Rachel Brosnahan a dead ringer for Noel Wells? B+
Millenials Millions - Yeeaaah, okay...well, this was another thing that I found specifically relatable to me as someone well within the millennial age range who has fairly recently worked a freelance job at a local tech startup that offered no benefits. I'll try to be as impartial as I can here. For starters, while I think the divide between Boomers & Millennials is starting to become a tired, played out comedy topic and this might be the final nail in that coffin it was at least nice to see SNL make a trip to that well once and acknowledge this actual effect on the lives of people my age. I admire how they went after all three sides as evenly as they could manage, I also thought this could've been a little less condescending to millenials (even if that WAS on purpose). Thanks to Kenans' character, I at least have a better understanding of why my generation is supposed to also hate Generation X. Also, is it just me or is Rachel Brosnahan also a dead ringer for Claire Foy? (or is it just that they both hosted within two months of each other and played very similar roles on this show?) I actually thought for a second that Cecilys' tan might have been fake for her role in this sketch but then realized that the makeup team probably wouldn't go as far as to spray tan Cecilys' legs if she was wearing pants. At least this was one of the more creative premises for a game show sketch they've done in recent memory. Speaking of which, does anyone else think it's strange that this was the second game show sketch in tonight's show? B-
The Raunchiest Mrs. Rita - Well, this was a fine "host sketch" and a fine excuse for Leslie to just play herself stuck out of time. The only flaw here was that this took too long to establish it's one joke and it stayed once it got there without really going anywhere else. Beyond that, it just used Aidy and Kyle to establish that whoever wrote this was familiar with the show. Yeah, I figured if anyone in the current cast would play Alex Borsteins' part in a parody of this show it would be Aidy (the second time in the past year an SNL cast member had impersonated a MadTv cast member, oddly enough). Also, the Cosby reference at the end (the second in the entire show over all) felt a little too tacked on. C-
Update was pretty solid. Most of the jokes were either good or just forgettable. The entire opening Jost/Che rant and Josts' Instagram egg/Twitter egg joke and reaction to his own Florida watch joke were the funniest joke moments of the whole shoe (even if the egg joke is a little dated because Twitter replace that anonymous egg icon with a minimalist silhouette). Kate played her Elizabeth Warren much more loose and relaxed and it worked much better. Nice to see Pete in better spirits under Mulaneys' wing (who's always a welcome presence on SNL no matter what). I found their Clint Eastwood Mule commentary a little too fast paced to follow the back-and-forth of it (it actually kinda reminded me of the two man film reviews they did in 85-86 with Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall and 88-89 with Ben Stiller and Mike Meyers) but I like to think of it as one long setup to the "Mule-aney" punch line. B+
Tabitha - This was a strange premise that I didn't quite know what to make if (or even what it may have been parodying) but everyone's performances really sold the hell out of it and made it funny. C+
Kool-Aid - This was one of the strangest parodies of anything the show has done in recent memory. It was a very unusual take. I thought Ches' mention of it during Update was enough. It almost seemed like both segments missed the point if the ad (but not to a dangerous degree fortunately). Thankfully, this didn't detract too much or veer too far off course from the Gillette ads' basic message. I'd like to think the whole point of this parody was at least absurdity for the sake of absurdity if not to poke fun at the strange non-sequitir approach Gillette took in illustrating their representation of the "toxic masculinity" they wished to take a stand against. Seriously, did anyone else who saw the Gillette ad get a strong Tim & Eric/Kroll Show type vibe from the first part of it? C+
Kens' Instagram - Well, I'm shocked they tried to recur something from the home stretch of last season that so obviously worked best as a one off. Pete, Heidi and Kenan had some great lines but I preferred the Donald Glover version. Also, did we ever get confirmation of who wrote either sketch? I want to say it was Julio Torres but I believe he may have left the show entirely in the middle of last season to produce his own new show with Fred Armisen so I'm really not sure who on the current writing staff is that skilled at aping his existentialist malaise type style. C+
Now for my updated rankings of this season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
3. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
4. Adam Driver/Kanye West
5. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
6. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
7. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
8. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
9. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
10. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that got 2019 off on the right foot. Next week, James McAvoy will be making his hosting debut. I want to say he's an actor I'm more familiar with but I'm not sure what else he's been in besides Split, Glass and some of the more recent X-Men films. Still, he strikes me as someone who can have enough fun with himself and the cast to be a pleasant host. See you soon!
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus (12.15.18)
Okay, here's my review. This was definitely the strongest show of this month. Overall, it was a high point for the whole season. It was slightly inconsistent at times but what clicked really clicked and there was plenty of fun to be had. The show didn't feel to bogged down in recurring sketches but there were plenty of nice retreads to things that were enjoyable the first time we saw them. Matt Damon proved to be just as effective a host as he was sixteen years ago. Each cast member seemed to get plenty of airtime with no one really getting shut out, not even Ego for once. Normally, I'd say it was strange that Pete was barely in the show but given the circumstances it was smart of them to not let him do Update (or really be in any other non-filmed sketches for that matter) and have his only (thankfully) live appearance be introducing Miley's second performance to show his fans he's okay and not succumbing to pressure. Anyway, let's unpack this week.
It's A Wonderful Trump - I appreciate all the time and effort that obviously went into putting this on as the cold open, but it was kinda hard for me to get into. For one thing, they're pretty much subjecting us to the exact same guest cameos and political characterizations they bought out two weeks ago (give or take about three people). Still, I have to say Damon's Kavanaugh was the most welcome addition. He was the only one who actually made me laugh here and I think it's because this is only his second appearance. Seriously, since Brett Kavanaugh has only been a headline grabbing political figure for four, maybe six months tops out of the entire year and Damon hasn't been able to make it out to New York again until this week, it's the character that's been beaten into the ground the absolute least. Also, for some reason I was expecting this to take place in more than just two different settings. I was hoping to see Baldwin and Kenan travel around to more different landscapes if this sketch was going to be as long as it was. It was only after the sketch ended that I realized that I may have been confusing "It's A Wonderful Life" with "A Christmas Carol" but then I remembered that they've done "It's A Wonderful Life" parodies that have sprawled about the studio a bit. "It's A Wonderful Newt" from season 20 immediately comes to mind as (to a lesser extent) Baldwin's monologue from four years after that (which oddly makes this the second "It's A Wonderful Life" parody that Baldwin has participated on the show in 20 years). This one more closely resembled the two cold opens from season 15 ("It's A Wonderful Dice" and the one from Goodman's first episode in December '89). C-
Monologue - This had to have been the most endearing monologue the show has done in several years. I genuinely appreciate Damon admitting that bonding through SNL meant as much to him and his family life as it did mine. I also liked him flat out admitting he had no movie out and the nonsequitir of this being Becks' last show. It's nice to see two hosts in a row who both claim to be knowledgeable fans of the show (especially when at least one if them can actually translate that into their performances). B+
Westminster Daddy Show - While I immediately recognized that I am WAY not the target audience for this, I do appreciate how it played out as the sketch went into detail explaining every intricate detail of it's own premise to me. I especially liked the visual gag of graying, middle aged men being jogged and led around by professional dog handlers and the twist that Damon's character would be a last minute Triwizard Cup dark horse victor. I also liked the back and forth between Kenan and Alex although I don't know if I like seeing Alex get typecast in all the smug, self-superior, perpetually blind to their own privelege straight white guy roles. B+
Best Christmas Ever - This was obviously done in the same vein as the Girls Halloween/middle school theater Legally Blond/Amy Schumer pregnancy shorts from the past two seasons. Having one of these take place during Christmas was a nice touch. Since I've seen this format so many times already, not much stood out to me besides Mikeys' #MAGA hat cousin and Damon consoling his non-adopted daughter and cursing at a crumbling Fisher-Price play house. C+
Back Of The Tree Ornaments - This was the funniest live piece of the night. Beck, Kyle and Melissa seemed mostly resigned to thankless straight roles but everyone else turned in great performances. Damon poked fun at himself and his career in an interesting way. Mikey was committed to playing his first of two Harry Potter characters of the night as an oblivious sap. Oddly, Kate's old aftermath of 9/11 era Guliani is a much more accurate impression than her current day Trump administration era Guliani. I wouldn't mind seeing her continue to play present day Rudy if the stuck to using that exact same voice doing so. Cecily doesn't play a lot of creepily damaged roles very often but she succeeded here channeling her inner Maria Bamford. Honestly, the worst thing about this sketch was the constant camera miscues. A-
Oscar's Host Auditions - The recent Kevin Hart controversy was an odd excuse to do another impressions screen test showcase but it was clever and it's always fun to see these. Egos' Tiffany Haddish was pretty dead on but the voice she used was a little too high pitched. I'd say the same for Kate's Michelle Wolf but maybe also suggest that Cecily had played her instead so that Michelle Wolf doesn't gradually sound just like Kellyanne Conway for some reason. Speaking of Cecily, I haven't seen a single episode of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" but I've seen thr cast and crew accept an absurd amount of Emmys inbetween each of the seemingly-endlessly-played-on-a- loop promos for the show to be able to see how accurate Cecilys' Rachel Brosnahan impression was. Damon's Hemsworth and McConaughey impressions were on the mark. Kenans' Michael Strahan and Terry Crews were very funny (although the former didn't make me forget about Jay Pharrohs' impression). Aidys' Roseanne still doesn't do much for me but her Hannah Gadsby stood out. I haven't seen Nanette but again, I did see her Emmys speech and from what I remember I can see why Aidy may have had to exaggerate this a little. Pete had the look down for Rami Malek but he may have needed a little more than just that. Of course, it's always nice to see Redds' Kanye, Melissas' Silverman, Heidi's Allison Janney and Kate's Ellen again. B-
Jingle Bells - This was obviously a Strong/Anderson/Sublette collab and I gotta say this was the most easily tolerable thing they've put together in quite some time. It's nice to see something from them that was just bland and forgettable rather than actively obnoxious and over the top. It reminded me of the lower key lounge singing duo type pieces that Anderson and Sublette would write for Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. C-
Update was uneven but had some strong moments. Jost really got it going with the Cohen jokes after telling two Trump jokes that read so interchangeable they could've been cut from any Update in the past two years. I liked "Where's Wes" the first time I saw it during one of the Summer Thursday episodes last year. I don't think I needed to see it again when the only thing that's different is that a Christmas Carol is the theme song. I'm not sure why we needed to see Angel again either until I realized who tonight's host was. He was a welcome addition and I guess this gets the obligatory Boston role out of the way. I'd have to say the funniest moments of Update were Jost acknowledging the awkwardness of the Boy Scouts/Sex Island transition and he and Che reading each other's jokes written for each other. If that wasn't 100% genuine, then Jost in particular really knew how to sell it. B+
Weezer Dinner - I'd actually like to know who wrote this (I suspect it was whoever wrote that Shrek dinner sketch from Sterling K. Browns' episode in March) because casting Leslie opposite Damon as two ardent yet diametrically opposed Weezer fans was pretty inspired. I also liked how the ending was relatively grounded. B-
Christmas With The Cops - This sketch really didn't go anywhere at all and felt much too long and drawn out. The most pointless thing about it was Baldwin's presence. He barely had anything to contribute aside from a watered down version of his old DeNiro impression (and there was a distinct possibility that DeNiro had already left the building by that point). It's already uncomfortable enough just seeing him play Trump at this point. We're well beyond the point where he should also be placed in regular sketches throughout the show. The only things approaching jokes were Cecilys' walk on and Beck admitting to shooting Kyle's wife. If this was a parody of a specific scene from a specific cop drama, the reference was lost on me. I can't even tell who the intended audience was for this one. D+
Happy Christmas, Britain - Well, it's nice to see SNL comment on international politics every once in a while but a lot of this seemed destined to be lost on US audiences. Kate and Matt did turn on fine performances. I mean, I don't know a ton about former UK Prime Minister David Cameron but Matt Damon is still not the first person I would picture playing him. Aidys' Elton John is okay but still comes off rather strange and out of place. Mikey as Lord Voldemort looked like it was going to be the best part of this but too bad the bulk of his part had to get cut abruptly due to time. I guess Jost & Ches' giggling made Update run long. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
3. Adam Driver/Kanye West
4. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
5. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
6. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
7. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
8. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
9. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was a strong note to end the calendar year on. I'm shocked that there was no on air acknowledgment that this WASN'T SNLs' surprise series finale let alone any host/MG announcement for any episode that could theoretically take place next year. Maybe they actually ARE trying to get Bradley Cooper and/or Lady Gaga to do the show on January 19 and are just not having their calls returned. Maybe they already had them booked as recently as this week but they both had to drop out at the last possible second? I mean, it happened with Ariana Grande already this season. The way this season has been going, I don't see why it couldn't happen twice. I guess they'll make an announcement on social media either this next coming week or early next month after the holidays. Anyway, Happy Holidays and see you January 19th...whoever we end up getting.
It's A Wonderful Trump - I appreciate all the time and effort that obviously went into putting this on as the cold open, but it was kinda hard for me to get into. For one thing, they're pretty much subjecting us to the exact same guest cameos and political characterizations they bought out two weeks ago (give or take about three people). Still, I have to say Damon's Kavanaugh was the most welcome addition. He was the only one who actually made me laugh here and I think it's because this is only his second appearance. Seriously, since Brett Kavanaugh has only been a headline grabbing political figure for four, maybe six months tops out of the entire year and Damon hasn't been able to make it out to New York again until this week, it's the character that's been beaten into the ground the absolute least. Also, for some reason I was expecting this to take place in more than just two different settings. I was hoping to see Baldwin and Kenan travel around to more different landscapes if this sketch was going to be as long as it was. It was only after the sketch ended that I realized that I may have been confusing "It's A Wonderful Life" with "A Christmas Carol" but then I remembered that they've done "It's A Wonderful Life" parodies that have sprawled about the studio a bit. "It's A Wonderful Newt" from season 20 immediately comes to mind as (to a lesser extent) Baldwin's monologue from four years after that (which oddly makes this the second "It's A Wonderful Life" parody that Baldwin has participated on the show in 20 years). This one more closely resembled the two cold opens from season 15 ("It's A Wonderful Dice" and the one from Goodman's first episode in December '89). C-
Monologue - This had to have been the most endearing monologue the show has done in several years. I genuinely appreciate Damon admitting that bonding through SNL meant as much to him and his family life as it did mine. I also liked him flat out admitting he had no movie out and the nonsequitir of this being Becks' last show. It's nice to see two hosts in a row who both claim to be knowledgeable fans of the show (especially when at least one if them can actually translate that into their performances). B+
Westminster Daddy Show - While I immediately recognized that I am WAY not the target audience for this, I do appreciate how it played out as the sketch went into detail explaining every intricate detail of it's own premise to me. I especially liked the visual gag of graying, middle aged men being jogged and led around by professional dog handlers and the twist that Damon's character would be a last minute Triwizard Cup dark horse victor. I also liked the back and forth between Kenan and Alex although I don't know if I like seeing Alex get typecast in all the smug, self-superior, perpetually blind to their own privelege straight white guy roles. B+
Best Christmas Ever - This was obviously done in the same vein as the Girls Halloween/middle school theater Legally Blond/Amy Schumer pregnancy shorts from the past two seasons. Having one of these take place during Christmas was a nice touch. Since I've seen this format so many times already, not much stood out to me besides Mikeys' #MAGA hat cousin and Damon consoling his non-adopted daughter and cursing at a crumbling Fisher-Price play house. C+
Back Of The Tree Ornaments - This was the funniest live piece of the night. Beck, Kyle and Melissa seemed mostly resigned to thankless straight roles but everyone else turned in great performances. Damon poked fun at himself and his career in an interesting way. Mikey was committed to playing his first of two Harry Potter characters of the night as an oblivious sap. Oddly, Kate's old aftermath of 9/11 era Guliani is a much more accurate impression than her current day Trump administration era Guliani. I wouldn't mind seeing her continue to play present day Rudy if the stuck to using that exact same voice doing so. Cecily doesn't play a lot of creepily damaged roles very often but she succeeded here channeling her inner Maria Bamford. Honestly, the worst thing about this sketch was the constant camera miscues. A-
Oscar's Host Auditions - The recent Kevin Hart controversy was an odd excuse to do another impressions screen test showcase but it was clever and it's always fun to see these. Egos' Tiffany Haddish was pretty dead on but the voice she used was a little too high pitched. I'd say the same for Kate's Michelle Wolf but maybe also suggest that Cecily had played her instead so that Michelle Wolf doesn't gradually sound just like Kellyanne Conway for some reason. Speaking of Cecily, I haven't seen a single episode of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" but I've seen thr cast and crew accept an absurd amount of Emmys inbetween each of the seemingly-endlessly-played-on-a- loop promos for the show to be able to see how accurate Cecilys' Rachel Brosnahan impression was. Damon's Hemsworth and McConaughey impressions were on the mark. Kenans' Michael Strahan and Terry Crews were very funny (although the former didn't make me forget about Jay Pharrohs' impression). Aidys' Roseanne still doesn't do much for me but her Hannah Gadsby stood out. I haven't seen Nanette but again, I did see her Emmys speech and from what I remember I can see why Aidy may have had to exaggerate this a little. Pete had the look down for Rami Malek but he may have needed a little more than just that. Of course, it's always nice to see Redds' Kanye, Melissas' Silverman, Heidi's Allison Janney and Kate's Ellen again. B-
Jingle Bells - This was obviously a Strong/Anderson/Sublette collab and I gotta say this was the most easily tolerable thing they've put together in quite some time. It's nice to see something from them that was just bland and forgettable rather than actively obnoxious and over the top. It reminded me of the lower key lounge singing duo type pieces that Anderson and Sublette would write for Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. C-
Update was uneven but had some strong moments. Jost really got it going with the Cohen jokes after telling two Trump jokes that read so interchangeable they could've been cut from any Update in the past two years. I liked "Where's Wes" the first time I saw it during one of the Summer Thursday episodes last year. I don't think I needed to see it again when the only thing that's different is that a Christmas Carol is the theme song. I'm not sure why we needed to see Angel again either until I realized who tonight's host was. He was a welcome addition and I guess this gets the obligatory Boston role out of the way. I'd have to say the funniest moments of Update were Jost acknowledging the awkwardness of the Boy Scouts/Sex Island transition and he and Che reading each other's jokes written for each other. If that wasn't 100% genuine, then Jost in particular really knew how to sell it. B+
Weezer Dinner - I'd actually like to know who wrote this (I suspect it was whoever wrote that Shrek dinner sketch from Sterling K. Browns' episode in March) because casting Leslie opposite Damon as two ardent yet diametrically opposed Weezer fans was pretty inspired. I also liked how the ending was relatively grounded. B-
Christmas With The Cops - This sketch really didn't go anywhere at all and felt much too long and drawn out. The most pointless thing about it was Baldwin's presence. He barely had anything to contribute aside from a watered down version of his old DeNiro impression (and there was a distinct possibility that DeNiro had already left the building by that point). It's already uncomfortable enough just seeing him play Trump at this point. We're well beyond the point where he should also be placed in regular sketches throughout the show. The only things approaching jokes were Cecilys' walk on and Beck admitting to shooting Kyle's wife. If this was a parody of a specific scene from a specific cop drama, the reference was lost on me. I can't even tell who the intended audience was for this one. D+
Happy Christmas, Britain - Well, it's nice to see SNL comment on international politics every once in a while but a lot of this seemed destined to be lost on US audiences. Kate and Matt did turn on fine performances. I mean, I don't know a ton about former UK Prime Minister David Cameron but Matt Damon is still not the first person I would picture playing him. Aidys' Elton John is okay but still comes off rather strange and out of place. Mikey as Lord Voldemort looked like it was going to be the best part of this but too bad the bulk of his part had to get cut abruptly due to time. I guess Jost & Ches' giggling made Update run long. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
3. Adam Driver/Kanye West
4. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
5. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
6. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
7. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
8. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
9. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was a strong note to end the calendar year on. I'm shocked that there was no on air acknowledgment that this WASN'T SNLs' surprise series finale let alone any host/MG announcement for any episode that could theoretically take place next year. Maybe they actually ARE trying to get Bradley Cooper and/or Lady Gaga to do the show on January 19 and are just not having their calls returned. Maybe they already had them booked as recently as this week but they both had to drop out at the last possible second? I mean, it happened with Ariana Grande already this season. The way this season has been going, I don't see why it couldn't happen twice. I guess they'll make an announcement on social media either this next coming week or early next month after the holidays. Anyway, Happy Holidays and see you January 19th...whoever we end up getting.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons (12.8.2018)
Okay, here's my review. While this show had considerably more energy than last week (not a lot though) something about the writing and the material they had really dragged it down. The show as a whole felt so unfocused that I'm not sure any host could have saved this week given what they wrote and ended up putting on the air. Jason Momoa seems like a good guy who gave it his all but he wasn't quite the strong host I was expecting him to be. I realized at some point that Jason is more a big popcorn blockbuster action star in the making than an actor's actor. Plus, he must not have had that much acting experience at this point in his career since he's basically only know for two distinct roles and to my knowledge, this is the first time he has acted or performed in a live setting anywhere. This occurred to me when I had noticed that Jason really excelled in the two pre taped segments he was in tonight than in any of his live sketches. As far as airtime goes, the show was pretty much dominated by Beck/Kyle, Mikey/Alex/Pete and Kenan. Kudos to Chris for making enough live appearances tonight to make up for his virtual absence from the last few shows. As far as the female presence on the show, I've noticed that newer hires like Heidi and Melissa were all over the place while the senior women on the show (Cecily, Kate, Leslie) were barely used at all (with Aidy still being visible). I really got the impression tonight that Cecily and Kate were planning on this being their final season while Heidi and Melissa had proven themselves enough to be widely visible and used as utility players by this point. It's almost as if Lorne is grooming them to take over for the women who might be leaving. However, I'm starting to get a little more worried about Ego. She seems like a strong performer who is definitely meant to be a great fit for the show and she has had one breakout sketch in the first three shows of thy he season but she hasn't had any other "breakout" roles since then where she got to be front and center. Granted, it is still her first season but it's almost like she is being unfairly punished because (through no fault of her own or the show) her breakout sketch caught some flak from the real life Baltimore police department. This is obviously not something that should keep her from being on more her first season let alone getting a chance at a second one. Anyway, we've got a lot to unpack here as I'm sure you can already tell so let's get to it.
Eric's Bedtime Story - If nothing else, a nice palette cleanser from last weeks' mess. It's nice to see the Eric & Don Jr. bits have gotten less and less formulaic to the point where they work even better away from the Update desk. Alex had some good malapropisms here. Deniros' Muller is probably the most welcome of the show's stable of recurring political impressions just by virtue of it being one of the least obnoxious characterization of anyone the show currently satirizes. Honestly, the worst thing about this one was Deniro stumbling over a few cue cards. Even though the ending came off a little awkward thanks to Deniro, I was glad to see it didn't belabor the point. C+
Monologue - This came off quite strange and given the host's stature I was a little disappointed that it ultimately failed to set the right tone for the rest of the show. I'm glad to see Jason Momoa is a self professed SNL "nerd" and even wanted to move to New York to join the cast at one point but I wish he could've made that sheer enthusiasm translate better here to more than just the P-Funk pastiche he took part in at the very end. Speaking of which, I think the bigger problem here is that this monologue seriously lacked focus. It felt like they had ideas for three different monologues and could not settle on which ONE they thought would work best to save their lives. It really felt like a cross between all the monologues Sterling K. Brown, Hugh Jackman and Chadwick Boseman did in that order. At least it ended on an up note. I do have to wonder how Jason got Lorne to let him host the show without shaving his beard. That is a rarity nowadays. C+
Elves On The Shelves - This had a pretty one note premise but the writing was the main thing that made it watchable. Thankfully, this didn't belabor the point by the time it ended either. It felt like it could've been done with literally any male host but somehow Jason playing his role in a similar way to how I imagine Liev Schreiber would've had this sketch taken place just outside a woman's restroom really added something to this. Strangely, my biggest issue with this sketch was how jarringly unnecessary the voice modulates were. C+
GE Big Boy Appliances - This was an enjoyably simple piece. I mean, this wasn't exactly the first time that anyone has taken a hard look at the different ways household products are marketed toward men and women and tried to mine it for comedy but this worked due to the sheer levels of committment to broad visual gags. Jason did well here because again, this piece was being carried on the strength of its' absurd props so he barely had to contribute anything. B-
Khal Drogos' Ghost Dojo - I expected Jason to do much better than he did in the night's requisite "Game Of Thrones" sketch. After all, he's playing what up until very recently may have been his best known role. He should have been well within his comfort zone if not for the whole "live" aspect. Still, he was HARDLY the biggest problem with this sketch. It was basically all over the place writing wise and had far too much going on. It felt like the second piece of the night that the writers couldn't decide on one theme or central premise for. Even Kenan seemed to be thrown for a loop as he's never been known to break in any sketch or even stumble over any lines as he did here. Ironically, it seemed like it was going for mass appeal but at the same time gave us a string of GoT references that were so hyper specific that they couldn't have been meant for anyone other than obsessive GoT fans who've seen and analyzed every episode multiple times over (and I point this out fully aware of any inherent irony in what I'm writing right now). This seemed like it played about 10 times better at the table read on Wednesday than it did for the live and dress audiences but they felt like they had to keep it in the show anyway due to the subject matter being so relevant to the host's career. With the addition of Beck as Hodor after seeing him as Santa, it's become pretty obvious that they're now using him for the same types of roles they would have used Bobby Moynihan for two years ago. That must be an odd feeling for him if he has ever had to think about this. Good to see Pete make attempt at playing a character that wasn't entirely "himself" even if it started to unravel. Kate as King Joffrey oddly felt like a bit of a throwback in terms of go to Got references in pop culture (based on who hadn't been killed off yer) and yet very current and prescient in how Kate is being used on the show. Staging a ridiculous slap fight between her and Aidys' character just felt like the audience was having one more thing thrown ar them unnecessarily. While I thought the gag with Kyle was funny, it is also starting to feel dated. Not just because people have made fun of the general premise of discussion shows and after shows before but it now seems like society is actively trying to make them less of a thing now either because the first shows to have them ended or because of what came out about Chris Hardwick (who was the first person to become famous by hosting those shows and is thus the person most strongly associated with the genre). D+
Them Trumps - Well, it's nice to get a different take on the goings on in the Trump white house than what the show usually gives us. Still, while the examination of racial double standards in our legal system isn't exactly fresh ground (hell, Chappelle already did "what would our current Republican president be like if he were black?" as a sketch premise nearly 15 years ago now) but this sketch just goes to show how well Kenan does serve the show as the anchor/glue of this and the last few casts. Plus, after the sketch that came just before it, I was very glad to see something that got in, got right to the point it was trying to make and got out. B+
Update was the most consistent and well written part of this episode and thus tonight's stand out segment. Che really got it going and then Jost picked up the slack and really sold all of his material. Nice to see Aidy play a well thought out character that was grounded in reality after some of the rare misses Heidi had been giving us recently. Ches' bidet commentary was funny and I do like the format/fourth wall break the show employed to deliver it. B+
The Ghost Of Xmas Extra - Okay, this HAD to have been written by the same persons who wrote the Cleopatra sketch from Awkwafinas' episode and the "GPYASS" sketch from Steve Carell's episode. It did have that exact same ultra feminized trending Twitter meme sensibility to it and seemed written solely to pander to Jason's female fans. Other than that, I liked Mikeys exaggerated exasperation. I'm glad they knew that the perfect place to end this would be right after the twerking. C-
Day Of The Dorks - Well, I was really expecting the reveal behind Jason's character to be a more substantial payoff than it ended up being. This was just full of too much useless exposition. It seemed like it was written just to harness Jason's manic bro energy from the weeks' promos. I'll bet whoever wrote this also wrote that NOT!Scooby Doo sketch from Mikey's first episode two years ago with Margot Robbie. D+
Sleigh Ride - Well, that was a great mislead with Leslie, Kenan, Kyle and Melissa (who had a great exit line, by the way) because I wasn't expecting Cecily as Gemma to show up. Frankly, it was a little strange to see her first live appearance so late in the show. What was also strange but pleasantly surprising was Jason's performance here because only by this point in the show had he gotten over his nervous habit of tripping over cue cards and gained a sense of comedic timing. I liked how different of a setting this was and how much more outlandish the dialogue was. The ending to this was satisfying as well. B-
First Impression - This was fun to watch due to the way Beck and Jason played off each other and Melissa and Heidi playing off of them. It gave me immediate flash backs to Paul Brittains' Lord Wyndemeire (sp?) from season 37. The ending could've been trimmed a bit because it killed the momentum the rest of the sketch built up. B-
Rudolph's Revenge - This got off to a bit of a slow start when they basically gave us the Cliffs Notes version of the Rudolph story. Pete really shined in this. He probably had plenty of personal life inspiration to draw from this week. The only other stand out performer was Jason mostly because he was the second actor in this show alone to play the role of Santa Claus. B+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
5. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
6. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
7. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
8. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that barely lived up to any expectations I may have had. Next week will be the final SNL of 2018. Matt Damon returns to host for his second time ever in sixteen years seemingly just on the strength of his surprise Brett Kavanaugh impression from the season premiere. If that was any indication, we are in for a far more competently acted show than this one. He was a strong host in 2002 and he should make for a fun show even if he has sort of shown us his ass in recent years re: #MeToo and diversity related issues (thankfully, that was more anything dumb he might have SAID than what he actually did). Still, I think now his presence will somehow feel a bit less tone deaf. See you then!
Eric's Bedtime Story - If nothing else, a nice palette cleanser from last weeks' mess. It's nice to see the Eric & Don Jr. bits have gotten less and less formulaic to the point where they work even better away from the Update desk. Alex had some good malapropisms here. Deniros' Muller is probably the most welcome of the show's stable of recurring political impressions just by virtue of it being one of the least obnoxious characterization of anyone the show currently satirizes. Honestly, the worst thing about this one was Deniro stumbling over a few cue cards. Even though the ending came off a little awkward thanks to Deniro, I was glad to see it didn't belabor the point. C+
Monologue - This came off quite strange and given the host's stature I was a little disappointed that it ultimately failed to set the right tone for the rest of the show. I'm glad to see Jason Momoa is a self professed SNL "nerd" and even wanted to move to New York to join the cast at one point but I wish he could've made that sheer enthusiasm translate better here to more than just the P-Funk pastiche he took part in at the very end. Speaking of which, I think the bigger problem here is that this monologue seriously lacked focus. It felt like they had ideas for three different monologues and could not settle on which ONE they thought would work best to save their lives. It really felt like a cross between all the monologues Sterling K. Brown, Hugh Jackman and Chadwick Boseman did in that order. At least it ended on an up note. I do have to wonder how Jason got Lorne to let him host the show without shaving his beard. That is a rarity nowadays. C+
Elves On The Shelves - This had a pretty one note premise but the writing was the main thing that made it watchable. Thankfully, this didn't belabor the point by the time it ended either. It felt like it could've been done with literally any male host but somehow Jason playing his role in a similar way to how I imagine Liev Schreiber would've had this sketch taken place just outside a woman's restroom really added something to this. Strangely, my biggest issue with this sketch was how jarringly unnecessary the voice modulates were. C+
GE Big Boy Appliances - This was an enjoyably simple piece. I mean, this wasn't exactly the first time that anyone has taken a hard look at the different ways household products are marketed toward men and women and tried to mine it for comedy but this worked due to the sheer levels of committment to broad visual gags. Jason did well here because again, this piece was being carried on the strength of its' absurd props so he barely had to contribute anything. B-
Khal Drogos' Ghost Dojo - I expected Jason to do much better than he did in the night's requisite "Game Of Thrones" sketch. After all, he's playing what up until very recently may have been his best known role. He should have been well within his comfort zone if not for the whole "live" aspect. Still, he was HARDLY the biggest problem with this sketch. It was basically all over the place writing wise and had far too much going on. It felt like the second piece of the night that the writers couldn't decide on one theme or central premise for. Even Kenan seemed to be thrown for a loop as he's never been known to break in any sketch or even stumble over any lines as he did here. Ironically, it seemed like it was going for mass appeal but at the same time gave us a string of GoT references that were so hyper specific that they couldn't have been meant for anyone other than obsessive GoT fans who've seen and analyzed every episode multiple times over (and I point this out fully aware of any inherent irony in what I'm writing right now). This seemed like it played about 10 times better at the table read on Wednesday than it did for the live and dress audiences but they felt like they had to keep it in the show anyway due to the subject matter being so relevant to the host's career. With the addition of Beck as Hodor after seeing him as Santa, it's become pretty obvious that they're now using him for the same types of roles they would have used Bobby Moynihan for two years ago. That must be an odd feeling for him if he has ever had to think about this. Good to see Pete make attempt at playing a character that wasn't entirely "himself" even if it started to unravel. Kate as King Joffrey oddly felt like a bit of a throwback in terms of go to Got references in pop culture (based on who hadn't been killed off yer) and yet very current and prescient in how Kate is being used on the show. Staging a ridiculous slap fight between her and Aidys' character just felt like the audience was having one more thing thrown ar them unnecessarily. While I thought the gag with Kyle was funny, it is also starting to feel dated. Not just because people have made fun of the general premise of discussion shows and after shows before but it now seems like society is actively trying to make them less of a thing now either because the first shows to have them ended or because of what came out about Chris Hardwick (who was the first person to become famous by hosting those shows and is thus the person most strongly associated with the genre). D+
Them Trumps - Well, it's nice to get a different take on the goings on in the Trump white house than what the show usually gives us. Still, while the examination of racial double standards in our legal system isn't exactly fresh ground (hell, Chappelle already did "what would our current Republican president be like if he were black?" as a sketch premise nearly 15 years ago now) but this sketch just goes to show how well Kenan does serve the show as the anchor/glue of this and the last few casts. Plus, after the sketch that came just before it, I was very glad to see something that got in, got right to the point it was trying to make and got out. B+
Update was the most consistent and well written part of this episode and thus tonight's stand out segment. Che really got it going and then Jost picked up the slack and really sold all of his material. Nice to see Aidy play a well thought out character that was grounded in reality after some of the rare misses Heidi had been giving us recently. Ches' bidet commentary was funny and I do like the format/fourth wall break the show employed to deliver it. B+
The Ghost Of Xmas Extra - Okay, this HAD to have been written by the same persons who wrote the Cleopatra sketch from Awkwafinas' episode and the "GPYASS" sketch from Steve Carell's episode. It did have that exact same ultra feminized trending Twitter meme sensibility to it and seemed written solely to pander to Jason's female fans. Other than that, I liked Mikeys exaggerated exasperation. I'm glad they knew that the perfect place to end this would be right after the twerking. C-
Day Of The Dorks - Well, I was really expecting the reveal behind Jason's character to be a more substantial payoff than it ended up being. This was just full of too much useless exposition. It seemed like it was written just to harness Jason's manic bro energy from the weeks' promos. I'll bet whoever wrote this also wrote that NOT!Scooby Doo sketch from Mikey's first episode two years ago with Margot Robbie. D+
Sleigh Ride - Well, that was a great mislead with Leslie, Kenan, Kyle and Melissa (who had a great exit line, by the way) because I wasn't expecting Cecily as Gemma to show up. Frankly, it was a little strange to see her first live appearance so late in the show. What was also strange but pleasantly surprising was Jason's performance here because only by this point in the show had he gotten over his nervous habit of tripping over cue cards and gained a sense of comedic timing. I liked how different of a setting this was and how much more outlandish the dialogue was. The ending to this was satisfying as well. B-
First Impression - This was fun to watch due to the way Beck and Jason played off each other and Melissa and Heidi playing off of them. It gave me immediate flash backs to Paul Brittains' Lord Wyndemeire (sp?) from season 37. The ending could've been trimmed a bit because it killed the momentum the rest of the sketch built up. B-
Rudolph's Revenge - This got off to a bit of a slow start when they basically gave us the Cliffs Notes version of the Rudolph story. Pete really shined in this. He probably had plenty of personal life inspiration to draw from this week. The only other stand out performer was Jason mostly because he was the second actor in this show alone to play the role of Santa Claus. B+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
5. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
6. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
7. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
8. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that barely lived up to any expectations I may have had. Next week will be the final SNL of 2018. Matt Damon returns to host for his second time ever in sixteen years seemingly just on the strength of his surprise Brett Kavanaugh impression from the season premiere. If that was any indication, we are in for a far more competently acted show than this one. He was a strong host in 2002 and he should make for a fun show even if he has sort of shown us his ass in recent years re: #MeToo and diversity related issues (thankfully, that was more anything dumb he might have SAID than what he actually did). Still, I think now his presence will somehow feel a bit less tone deaf. See you then!
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak (12.01.2018)
Okay, here's my review. This was a real forgettable middle of the road show for this season. It had it's fair share of recurring sketches and derivative premises but thankfully it was at least buoyed by a very charming and likable host whom I wouldn't mind seeing on the show again. Everyone in the cast seemed to get an even amount of airtime (except Chris who only seemed to appear as a utility player in one pre tape and Ego seems like she is still going virtually unused). Anyway, let's break it down.
Donnie Does Argentina - Another cameo loaded uninspired cameo stuffed political cold open with Baldwin's Trump as the centerpiece. Hey, I'm not crazy about still having to see him either (that "parking space" joke was wholly unnecessary and way to awkwardly shoehorned in) but hey...two appearances across seven shows isn't too bad. I guess since the latest developments in the Muller investigation were the biggest political headline this week they felt they had to do something on that. It may have seemed like this was done in the same vein as the cold open from Donald Glovers' episode in May but at least this felt more direct and to the point due to the comparative lack of cameos. Speaking of which, I know Armisen has been know to play various ethnic/foreign leader roles competently but seeing him portray Mohammed Bin Salman somehow felt pretty tone deaf. They may have taken a minor risk that may not have paid off there. Other than that, all that stood out was the jab at Eric and the "like a son to me" joke. D+
Monologue - This started off slightly awkward and Claire seemed visibly nervous but the way she delivered the anecdote about meeting the actual queen worked for me. It was nice to see they trusted her to deliver a straight forward true solo monologue and once again resisted the temptation to have Fred or even Kate for that matter make a cameo as present day Queen Elizabeth despite both being in the building currently. C+
Netflix...has EVERYTHING (*meant to be read in a Stefon voice*) - At this point, the idea of Netflix letting itself become this endless inane void that will one day consume us all simply by buying every show pitched within their field of vision is starting to feel like a worn out comedy premise but the gritty Family Matters reboot and Leslie's segment made this worth watching.
C+
Morning Joe IV - Well, congrats to Joe and Mika on their recent nuptials but I'm not sure that alone was enough to do another sketch where they put their relationship front and center over their actual jobs. Still, Melissa and Claire were the true highlights here. Good to see Melissa shine in a role that was pretty much designed just for her. C+
WWI Letters - This didn't really seem to be going anywhere at first but I liked Mikey's increasing exasperation at Claires' cryptic ongoing vagueness and Kenans' unexplained, unwarranted presence. It reminded me of the Jennifer Lawrence/Tim Robinson civil war letters sketch from 2013 but this thankfully went to a much stranger place. B-
Dad Christmas - While this was pretty much the exact type of pathetic middle aged divorced guy humor I was expecting once they established the basic premise, every part of this was executed very well. Mikey and Cecily really played their parts well and Aidys' song at the end really made this whole thing for me. B+
Update was kind of all over the place tonight. Jokewise, all that really stood out were Jost on the Trump balloon and Che on Manafort & Assange. As usual, Leslie's commentary was endearingly boisterous and visually entertaining but very scattershot and unfocused and probably could've benefitted from being trimmed down a bit. Che's Judge Judy name drop had to have been adlibbed based on the reaction it got. Becks' character seemed a little one note at first but his bit really picked up steam once he talked about getting hit by cars and his dad inventing Oxycontin. Colin played off of him very well. I liked how this was very possibly the very first Update commentary that ever ended with one anchor gently pushing the character off screen. Between this and Leslie's commentary, this is by far the most animated I have seem Colin on the show ever. Finally, while I thought the end of Update was initially a very strange place for a sincere, heartfelt Bush 41 tribute but I did like how they segued to a few clips of Carveys' Bush that concluded with the remote pre taped clip of the real HW from Carveys' '94 monologue. Plus, it's not every week that a former president dies while SNL is actively in production. I was just thinking about why they never did a similar tribute for Gerald Ford (who has a similar connection to the show and even made a similar pre taped cameo on the show when he sent his real life press secretary to host in season one) and it was probably because he died during the Christmas/New Years' 06/07 holiday when everybody was off and it would've been old news by the time they came back that January. Also, I'm betting this was the only reason Leslie's commentary wasn't the thing they ended Update on given that it ended with the Rocky theme. C+
Charlie And The Cialis Travesty - It felt strange watching this because they just did an extremely similar (and much better written) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory parody two seasons ago with Kristen Stewart. This was the much raunchier version of that. It was pretty much that mixed with the Game Night sketch from Haders' episode last season. I didn't much care for it but at least they knew exactly when to end it. C-
HSN - Okay, seems like there's quite a bit to unpack here. At first, it just seemed like someone started out trying to write another "Right Side Of The Bed" sketch before realizing that Taran Killam is no longer on the show but decided to keep writing anyway to see what direction this could go in. Then, it seemed like this was going to be like one of those "Hello Dolly" sketches that Ana Gasteyer did in the late '90s/early 2000s mixed with that QVC sketch Cecily did with Kristen Wiig two years ago. Thankfully, this went in a much stranger direction. Cecilys' string of very light profanity was amusing and then Aidy came in and added a whole new level of surreal strangeness to it. Also, it seems a little strange that the portion of the show where Claire Foy tries different accents that are not British would be so late in the show but it was nice to eventually see that somewhere. B-
Good Morning Goomah - As soon as I heard the words "Staten Island Cable", I knew exactly who could've written it. Still, there were a couple of reasons, I couldn't totally get into this. First, I thought Cecily should've had Kate or Aidys' role instead of just being relegated to an offscreen voice over. Secondly, this was so dialogue heavy it seemed longer than it actually was. At least we got to see Pete actually attempt to act. C-
Muller Christmas - The fact that this was a parody song rather than a straight, dramatic maudlin cover song was the only thing that kept it from being another "Hallelujah" or "To Sir With Love". That being said, it was immediately obvious where this was going and even though some of it felt rushed and awkward it was pretty solidly written and performed for what it was. It really got going once they let the women who got hired AFTER season 40 joined in. Other than that, this either should've been the cold open or saved for the cold open for whichever of the next two planned episodes Baldwin won't be able to make it to rather than buried at the end of this week's episode. C+
Now, for my update rankings of the entire season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
5. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
6. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
7. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was that. Next week, Jason Momoa makes his hosting debut. I don't know much about him besides the fact that he was on "Game Of Thrones" and is now in "Aquaman". In fact, the only thing I'm sure I've seen him in is that meme where he looks like he is going to sneak up on Henry Cavill on some red carpet. Still, he strikes me as someone who is going to be a similar type of host to The Rock or John Cena. He seems like he has a big enough personality to handle sketch comedy well. See you then!
Donnie Does Argentina - Another cameo loaded uninspired cameo stuffed political cold open with Baldwin's Trump as the centerpiece. Hey, I'm not crazy about still having to see him either (that "parking space" joke was wholly unnecessary and way to awkwardly shoehorned in) but hey...two appearances across seven shows isn't too bad. I guess since the latest developments in the Muller investigation were the biggest political headline this week they felt they had to do something on that. It may have seemed like this was done in the same vein as the cold open from Donald Glovers' episode in May but at least this felt more direct and to the point due to the comparative lack of cameos. Speaking of which, I know Armisen has been know to play various ethnic/foreign leader roles competently but seeing him portray Mohammed Bin Salman somehow felt pretty tone deaf. They may have taken a minor risk that may not have paid off there. Other than that, all that stood out was the jab at Eric and the "like a son to me" joke. D+
Monologue - This started off slightly awkward and Claire seemed visibly nervous but the way she delivered the anecdote about meeting the actual queen worked for me. It was nice to see they trusted her to deliver a straight forward true solo monologue and once again resisted the temptation to have Fred or even Kate for that matter make a cameo as present day Queen Elizabeth despite both being in the building currently. C+
Netflix...has EVERYTHING (*meant to be read in a Stefon voice*) - At this point, the idea of Netflix letting itself become this endless inane void that will one day consume us all simply by buying every show pitched within their field of vision is starting to feel like a worn out comedy premise but the gritty Family Matters reboot and Leslie's segment made this worth watching.
C+
Morning Joe IV - Well, congrats to Joe and Mika on their recent nuptials but I'm not sure that alone was enough to do another sketch where they put their relationship front and center over their actual jobs. Still, Melissa and Claire were the true highlights here. Good to see Melissa shine in a role that was pretty much designed just for her. C+
WWI Letters - This didn't really seem to be going anywhere at first but I liked Mikey's increasing exasperation at Claires' cryptic ongoing vagueness and Kenans' unexplained, unwarranted presence. It reminded me of the Jennifer Lawrence/Tim Robinson civil war letters sketch from 2013 but this thankfully went to a much stranger place. B-
Dad Christmas - While this was pretty much the exact type of pathetic middle aged divorced guy humor I was expecting once they established the basic premise, every part of this was executed very well. Mikey and Cecily really played their parts well and Aidys' song at the end really made this whole thing for me. B+
Update was kind of all over the place tonight. Jokewise, all that really stood out were Jost on the Trump balloon and Che on Manafort & Assange. As usual, Leslie's commentary was endearingly boisterous and visually entertaining but very scattershot and unfocused and probably could've benefitted from being trimmed down a bit. Che's Judge Judy name drop had to have been adlibbed based on the reaction it got. Becks' character seemed a little one note at first but his bit really picked up steam once he talked about getting hit by cars and his dad inventing Oxycontin. Colin played off of him very well. I liked how this was very possibly the very first Update commentary that ever ended with one anchor gently pushing the character off screen. Between this and Leslie's commentary, this is by far the most animated I have seem Colin on the show ever. Finally, while I thought the end of Update was initially a very strange place for a sincere, heartfelt Bush 41 tribute but I did like how they segued to a few clips of Carveys' Bush that concluded with the remote pre taped clip of the real HW from Carveys' '94 monologue. Plus, it's not every week that a former president dies while SNL is actively in production. I was just thinking about why they never did a similar tribute for Gerald Ford (who has a similar connection to the show and even made a similar pre taped cameo on the show when he sent his real life press secretary to host in season one) and it was probably because he died during the Christmas/New Years' 06/07 holiday when everybody was off and it would've been old news by the time they came back that January. Also, I'm betting this was the only reason Leslie's commentary wasn't the thing they ended Update on given that it ended with the Rocky theme. C+
Charlie And The Cialis Travesty - It felt strange watching this because they just did an extremely similar (and much better written) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory parody two seasons ago with Kristen Stewart. This was the much raunchier version of that. It was pretty much that mixed with the Game Night sketch from Haders' episode last season. I didn't much care for it but at least they knew exactly when to end it. C-
HSN - Okay, seems like there's quite a bit to unpack here. At first, it just seemed like someone started out trying to write another "Right Side Of The Bed" sketch before realizing that Taran Killam is no longer on the show but decided to keep writing anyway to see what direction this could go in. Then, it seemed like this was going to be like one of those "Hello Dolly" sketches that Ana Gasteyer did in the late '90s/early 2000s mixed with that QVC sketch Cecily did with Kristen Wiig two years ago. Thankfully, this went in a much stranger direction. Cecilys' string of very light profanity was amusing and then Aidy came in and added a whole new level of surreal strangeness to it. Also, it seems a little strange that the portion of the show where Claire Foy tries different accents that are not British would be so late in the show but it was nice to eventually see that somewhere. B-
Good Morning Goomah - As soon as I heard the words "Staten Island Cable", I knew exactly who could've written it. Still, there were a couple of reasons, I couldn't totally get into this. First, I thought Cecily should've had Kate or Aidys' role instead of just being relegated to an offscreen voice over. Secondly, this was so dialogue heavy it seemed longer than it actually was. At least we got to see Pete actually attempt to act. C-
Muller Christmas - The fact that this was a parody song rather than a straight, dramatic maudlin cover song was the only thing that kept it from being another "Hallelujah" or "To Sir With Love". That being said, it was immediately obvious where this was going and even though some of it felt rushed and awkward it was pretty solidly written and performed for what it was. It really got going once they let the women who got hired AFTER season 40 joined in. Other than that, this either should've been the cold open or saved for the cold open for whichever of the next two planned episodes Baldwin won't be able to make it to rather than buried at the end of this week's episode. C+
Now, for my update rankings of the entire season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
5. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
6. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
7. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was that. Next week, Jason Momoa makes his hosting debut. I don't know much about him besides the fact that he was on "Game Of Thrones" and is now in "Aquaman". In fact, the only thing I'm sure I've seen him in is that meme where he looks like he is going to sneak up on Henry Cavill on some red carpet. Still, he strikes me as someone who is going to be a similar type of host to The Rock or John Cena. He seems like he has a big enough personality to handle sketch comedy well. See you then!
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Steve Carrell/Ella Mai (11.17.2018)
Okay, here's my review. This show really felt like much more of the same but it was largely saved by Steve Carrells' general charm and likability as a host. Good to see he hasn't lost touch with his comedic side as he seemingly transitions toward full time dramatic acting. Still, I went into this show knowing it's likely not going to hold a candle to either of his previous episodes since, in a way, both of them marked SNL going into a brand new and bold era and transitioning away from the old guard. Most of the cast seemed to get their share of airtime but Kyle seemed entirely absent, Ego was only in one sketch and Chris only made one taped appearance all night. Let's get right to it.
The Ingraham Angle - This had some decent parts to it for something that was just a blatant by-the-numbers rewrite of the same cold open from two weeks ago. All of the jokes were to telegraphed that even the live studio audience seemed to have a hard time getting into this. Plus, Kate's list of "feel facts" felt a little too reminiscent of when Colbert introduced us to the meaning of "truthiness" on his very first "Report". It was nice to see they changed things up a little by including Moffat's Zuckerberg and Leslie's Marcia Fudge but they barely gave them any material to work with even though Leslie made the most out of what she was given. Pete's part could've been cut and it would've been no big loss. C-
Monologue - I could immediately tell where this was going as soon as that unidentifiable audience member (seriously, which writer was that? I could at least tell it was someone hired in the last two seasons and definitely wasn't Sudi Green or Anna Drezen since I know for sure what those women look like) asked about the possibility of an "Office" reboot. Well, at least this was still fun to watch just to see which former "Office" alum would be the next to cameo and try to badger Steve into doing a reboot. It was also nice to see Nancy Walls make her second cameo since being let go from the show 22 years ago. It was also a nice way to work in cameos from well loved Office cast members who never got their chances to host. I also liked how they both had Steve and Kenan call out the conceit of the fake-questions-from-fake-audience-members monologue (which, man, sure makes me realize what a tired ass trope even that is on the show by now) and had more material beyond that to keep this from being a carbon copy of Tina's monologue from the end of last season. B-
Disneyland - This sketch seemed like it was going to be a very basic, bare bones premise at first but I liked how much it unraveled as more and more outlandish details were revealed and how more and more shockingly clueless and oblivious Steve's character was revealed to be. Plus, Mikey really sold his part and was the most convincing at playing a kid. B+
A Message From Amazon's Jeff Bezos - This sketch felt more than a little tone deaf. Casting Steve Carell as Jeff Bezos was really the only thing this had going for it. He was able to add a necessary warmth to this that Kyle Mooney may not have. I'm a little disappointed that in 2018 SNL would do a sketch attempting to satirize Amazon and Jeff Bezos in particular and make Bezos trolling Trump (with plenty of done-to-death Trump jokes & observations sprinkled in for good measure) over his more obscene wealth the central premise whole making absolutely no mention of how he got that wealth by through Amazon's horrible businesses practices. Like I said, I AM disappointed in SNL for this...but knowing how corporate and sponsor friendly the show has to be now I am in NO WAY surprised. D+
Thanksgiving Song - At first, this seemed like it was going to be a very season 41/42 era run-of-the-mill-Cecily-opposite-attractive-male-host-showtune-song-and-dance type sketch. Plus, trying to rectify America's lack of Thanksgiving songs is a premise that SNL has definitely done before. Thankfully, the lyrics turned out to be so stupidly silly and immature that it became obvious that the rest of this sketch was going to be free of their trademarks. Plus, I did like the other cast joining in on their short song and the gradual reveals that someone's supposed "friend" (they can't even figure out who) left after stealing the TV and stabbing Beck. B+
RBG - While I appreciate Chris Redd attempting to write another music video that educates us on an issue that he cares about, this video felt wholly unnecessary. I mean, they're already just tripling down on the basic "image" of RBG that Kate projects when she portrays her on Update. I also get that the show may have wanted to do some kind of tribute to RBG after news broke that she fell and broke a rib but I would've appreciated something different. I will admit I liked Pete admitting he knew nothing about her record as a judge but that's about it. D-
NASA TV - While this took a bit too long to get started, the wait was worth it. I liked the premise of something going horribly wrong with animals in space while children are unwittingly subjected to it. Mikey and Leslie were also great additions to this and there was great prop work. My only other observations are that this didn't really escalate as far as I would have liked it to and Kate may not have really been selling the illusion that she was floating dead in space that well. She's not quite the same type of physical comedian that a cast member like Taran Kilam was. B-
Update was pretty uneven. Jost & Che open with some more frustratingly ignorant Amazon and voting jokes (seriously, does anyone at SNL know that you can actually vote by mail now?) but at least Jost followed that up with a decent Trump/Babe Ruth joke. The Denver Riggleman/bigfoot erotica piece felt weirdly out of place as it seemed to be based on a months old story. I seriously wonder if this had been getting cut from dress since the premiere. Good to see Mikey get another showcase but this didn't do much for me. It didn't really add anything to its' premise. At least Jost & Che followed this with all the best material they had for this week. I'm not sure we needed to see Kenans' Lavar Ball again since it felt like more of the same. I did like the "LaMorpheus" gag, though but that's about it. C+
Guardian Angel - While 2018 was a strange time to do a Grease "Beauty School Dropout" parody, I didn't necessarily hate this. Aidy and Steve are great scene partners for each other and this seemed to have come from a place of real human drama. Still, I didn't feel it went anywhere. C-
RV Couple - This sketch seems to mostly have been written as a showcase for Heidi and I don't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I liked how she was able to convincingly convey an emotional slow burn. On the other, I don't so much like how she played up some of her more grating tendencies as an actress. I did like how Kate had a cameo as a different type of character than what she's been playing lately. C-
Alien Corn - I did like seeing another sci-fi space sketch that appeared to have an actual plot at first. I did like seeing this attempt to go somewhere with what little allotted time it had left after establishing its main premise. I did like how the miscue/tech blooper with Pete just showed us how this was this type of sketch that would actually benefit from having cast members break in it. I didn't like how rushed the ending seemed. C+
GPYASS! - I'm glad this was as short as it was because it really didn't go anywhere either. Still, I'm left wondering who played the drag queen. Was it an SNL writer or an unknown real life drag performer? Also, who wrote this? Was it Anderlette or one of the other recently hired gay writers? - D+
Now, for my updated rankings of the season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
5 Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
6. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, they certainly wrapped up that show in time for Thanksgiving. In two weeks, Claire Foy makes her hosting debut. Another mostly dramatic actress, so this could go either way. Hopefully, she's at least as game of a host as Liev Schreiber was. I'm mostly just glad someone we tried to predict as a host on this board finally turned out to be right. See you soon!
The Ingraham Angle - This had some decent parts to it for something that was just a blatant by-the-numbers rewrite of the same cold open from two weeks ago. All of the jokes were to telegraphed that even the live studio audience seemed to have a hard time getting into this. Plus, Kate's list of "feel facts" felt a little too reminiscent of when Colbert introduced us to the meaning of "truthiness" on his very first "Report". It was nice to see they changed things up a little by including Moffat's Zuckerberg and Leslie's Marcia Fudge but they barely gave them any material to work with even though Leslie made the most out of what she was given. Pete's part could've been cut and it would've been no big loss. C-
Monologue - I could immediately tell where this was going as soon as that unidentifiable audience member (seriously, which writer was that? I could at least tell it was someone hired in the last two seasons and definitely wasn't Sudi Green or Anna Drezen since I know for sure what those women look like) asked about the possibility of an "Office" reboot. Well, at least this was still fun to watch just to see which former "Office" alum would be the next to cameo and try to badger Steve into doing a reboot. It was also nice to see Nancy Walls make her second cameo since being let go from the show 22 years ago. It was also a nice way to work in cameos from well loved Office cast members who never got their chances to host. I also liked how they both had Steve and Kenan call out the conceit of the fake-questions-from-fake-audience-members monologue (which, man, sure makes me realize what a tired ass trope even that is on the show by now) and had more material beyond that to keep this from being a carbon copy of Tina's monologue from the end of last season. B-
Disneyland - This sketch seemed like it was going to be a very basic, bare bones premise at first but I liked how much it unraveled as more and more outlandish details were revealed and how more and more shockingly clueless and oblivious Steve's character was revealed to be. Plus, Mikey really sold his part and was the most convincing at playing a kid. B+
A Message From Amazon's Jeff Bezos - This sketch felt more than a little tone deaf. Casting Steve Carell as Jeff Bezos was really the only thing this had going for it. He was able to add a necessary warmth to this that Kyle Mooney may not have. I'm a little disappointed that in 2018 SNL would do a sketch attempting to satirize Amazon and Jeff Bezos in particular and make Bezos trolling Trump (with plenty of done-to-death Trump jokes & observations sprinkled in for good measure) over his more obscene wealth the central premise whole making absolutely no mention of how he got that wealth by through Amazon's horrible businesses practices. Like I said, I AM disappointed in SNL for this...but knowing how corporate and sponsor friendly the show has to be now I am in NO WAY surprised. D+
Thanksgiving Song - At first, this seemed like it was going to be a very season 41/42 era run-of-the-mill-Cecily-opposite-attractive-male-host-showtune-song-and-dance type sketch. Plus, trying to rectify America's lack of Thanksgiving songs is a premise that SNL has definitely done before. Thankfully, the lyrics turned out to be so stupidly silly and immature that it became obvious that the rest of this sketch was going to be free of their trademarks. Plus, I did like the other cast joining in on their short song and the gradual reveals that someone's supposed "friend" (they can't even figure out who) left after stealing the TV and stabbing Beck. B+
RBG - While I appreciate Chris Redd attempting to write another music video that educates us on an issue that he cares about, this video felt wholly unnecessary. I mean, they're already just tripling down on the basic "image" of RBG that Kate projects when she portrays her on Update. I also get that the show may have wanted to do some kind of tribute to RBG after news broke that she fell and broke a rib but I would've appreciated something different. I will admit I liked Pete admitting he knew nothing about her record as a judge but that's about it. D-
NASA TV - While this took a bit too long to get started, the wait was worth it. I liked the premise of something going horribly wrong with animals in space while children are unwittingly subjected to it. Mikey and Leslie were also great additions to this and there was great prop work. My only other observations are that this didn't really escalate as far as I would have liked it to and Kate may not have really been selling the illusion that she was floating dead in space that well. She's not quite the same type of physical comedian that a cast member like Taran Kilam was. B-
Update was pretty uneven. Jost & Che open with some more frustratingly ignorant Amazon and voting jokes (seriously, does anyone at SNL know that you can actually vote by mail now?) but at least Jost followed that up with a decent Trump/Babe Ruth joke. The Denver Riggleman/bigfoot erotica piece felt weirdly out of place as it seemed to be based on a months old story. I seriously wonder if this had been getting cut from dress since the premiere. Good to see Mikey get another showcase but this didn't do much for me. It didn't really add anything to its' premise. At least Jost & Che followed this with all the best material they had for this week. I'm not sure we needed to see Kenans' Lavar Ball again since it felt like more of the same. I did like the "LaMorpheus" gag, though but that's about it. C+
Guardian Angel - While 2018 was a strange time to do a Grease "Beauty School Dropout" parody, I didn't necessarily hate this. Aidy and Steve are great scene partners for each other and this seemed to have come from a place of real human drama. Still, I didn't feel it went anywhere. C-
RV Couple - This sketch seems to mostly have been written as a showcase for Heidi and I don't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I liked how she was able to convincingly convey an emotional slow burn. On the other, I don't so much like how she played up some of her more grating tendencies as an actress. I did like how Kate had a cameo as a different type of character than what she's been playing lately. C-
Alien Corn - I did like seeing another sci-fi space sketch that appeared to have an actual plot at first. I did like seeing this attempt to go somewhere with what little allotted time it had left after establishing its main premise. I did like how the miscue/tech blooper with Pete just showed us how this was this type of sketch that would actually benefit from having cast members break in it. I didn't like how rushed the ending seemed. C+
GPYASS! - I'm glad this was as short as it was because it really didn't go anywhere either. Still, I'm left wondering who played the drag queen. Was it an SNL writer or an unknown real life drag performer? Also, who wrote this? Was it Anderlette or one of the other recently hired gay writers? - D+
Now, for my updated rankings of the season so far...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
5 Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
6. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, they certainly wrapped up that show in time for Thanksgiving. In two weeks, Claire Foy makes her hosting debut. Another mostly dramatic actress, so this could go either way. Hopefully, she's at least as game of a host as Liev Schreiber was. I'm mostly just glad someone we tried to predict as a host on this board finally turned out to be right. See you soon!
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne (11.10.2018)
Okay, here's my review. I would say this show was at about the same level of overall quality as last weeks' episode but more consistent with what worked and what didn't. It certainly was about the same in terms material that had felt done before despite having many more actual recurring characters and premises. Liev Schreiber proved to be exactly what I expected him to be as a host with his background. He was a component sketch player who seemed pleased to be there but didn't quite make a strong enough impression to make me think he would need to be invited back. It seemed like a pretty even night for most of the cast as far as airtime is concerned. In particular, it was a strong night for Heidi, Chris, Mikey, Pete and Alex while Leslie, Melissa and Ego seemed almost shut out of the show entirely. Anyway, let's get right down to it.
Sessions Packs Up - A few days ago, I had jokingly predicted that, in light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' firing, this week's episode would open with Kate as Sessions singing "Hallelujah" at a piano alone on home base stage. Well, replace Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" with Adele's "Someone Like You" and add in an office setting plus several other characters and they came shockingly close to doing just that. I guess this would've been their safest choice for a cold open this week and I would understand why they would want to officially retire what has somehow become one of Kate's most inexplicable recurring characters. The only thing she did that really stood out to me was Kate listing off the various unique items on her desk she was packing. Otherwise, it was just more of the same standard portrayal of Sessions as a deranged Southern elf-possum hybrid creature we've seen on a regular basis for the past year and a half. Beck as Pence was okay. He had a great exit line. I liked seeing how refreshingly unformulaic Mikey & Alex were as Eric & Don Jr here. Otherwise, the DeNiro as Muller cameo and everything after the song felt a little too unnecessarily tacked on. C+
Monologue - Well, I appreciate them giving Schreiber a straight solo monologue. He handled that quite well after shaking off some first time jitters. I also appreciate how he initially showed some reverence toward the show and indicated that he has really wanted to be here for quite some time. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing someone who is primarily known as an intense dramatic actor currently best known for a prominent "tough guy" role show some real human vulnerability. My only real complaint was how his speech about midterm voter turnout seemed too awkwardly jammed in. C+
Good Day Denver II - I guess I shouldn't have expected anything BUT a carbon copy rewrite of the "Danny Bangs Animals" sketch from ScarJos' episode from two seasons ago but I guess I was just too caught off guard as soon as I noticed this was actually the second time they've used the "Good Day Denver" title card. Anyway, I can't say this was an improvement but I will say I liked how they chose to stop just short of milking this premise absolutely bone dry and how the hosts were definitely horrifyingly aware of their mistaken implications. B-
Unity Song - This music video sure seemed like one of the most all time unoriginal premises ever executed on this show but that execution was what saved it. At least the examples of commonly hated things didn't seem too far down the beaten path. Boy, if it weren't for Ego, Melissa, Chris Heidi and Liev being a part of this I would think that this was a leftover dress cut from season 41 just for how much it reminded me of "This Is Not A Feminist Song" from Ariana Grande's episode. Other than that, I was surprised that Kyles' background dancing at the very end wasn't something that was addressed within the song. B-
Paranormal Occurrence - Well, this was certainly an odd time to recur this sketch again. Even more odd is that this Kate character got no recognition applause like she did during the Ryan Gosling premiere from last season. I guess changing the premise of this sketch from describing an alien abduction to describing a ghost encounter allowed for a stranger, more absurd brand of humor here. Also, it somehow helped this sketch that Kate went all out with the juvenile toilet humor. My only other takeaway from this sketch was how Liev Schreiber seemed miscast as a Southern Country Bumpkin but at the same time, I get the sense that the real reason they did this sketch again was because Liev said he wanted to. It's funny how this sketch originated with Ryan Gosling because it made me think how they pretty much used Schreiber as a host the same way they used Gosling although Gosling appears to have been a first time host they had way more faith in. C+
Booty Kings - A mid-to-late-aughts pre trap era hip hop song that seems like it's going to demean women at first but then turns out to be all about respecting them as people also doesn't seem to be the most original comedy premise in 2018 but this was actually pulled off well if you were willing to give it a fair chance. Its' tone was a bit uneven and inconsistent but it had more little things going for it. I did like Kenan and Chris placing coasters over girls' drinks and their sudden realization that all women have different names. I also liked Pete's character being completely incoherent all the way to the point where he reveals he is using a grill as a substitute for actual teeth. Other than that, Future and Lil Wayne felt like wasted cameos. The song was already so long and Chris, Kenan and Pete are already so good at convincingly portraying rappers that their presence felt like overkill. Plus, their verses went back and forth between sounding like they were in on the basic joke and sounding too much like generic lyrics lifted from actual rap songs. Still, I did like the visual of Future making it rain over a tip jar labeled "Womens' Rights Fund". Finally, I read a Vulture interview with Chris Redd last month when his and Pete's "Trees" video aired during Seth's episode and he confessed to his affinity for writing rap songs about serious issues he truly cares about like saving the environment and now apparently preventing sexual assault in an effort to reach and educate people. If this is another example of him doing that, well I certainly respect that and good for him. Kudos to Future and Lil Wayne for wanting to get in on this as a cause if that's also what they wanted. C+
Update seemed understandably rushed and uneven given the circumstances. First off, as a Coloradan I appreciate the Jared Polis shout out from Jost. It helped wash out the bad taste that Good Day Denver sketch left in my mouth. Other than that, I liked Josts' obligatory Florida joke (although the montage of Trump's implied/almost racial slurs didn't quite work for me) and Che clearly had the best midterm wrap up material. That Beto O'Rourke joke in particular was the most biting joke the shows' made about anyone on the left in recent memory. Most of the bit with Cecily as the white house intern came off as too awkward to work for me but I did like the obviously doctored video that was the payoff. Also, it was very classy of Pete to offer a sincere apology for his Dan Crenshaw joke last week. It was even better that the real Crenshaw was willing to actually come on the show and prove what a not easily offended good sport he was. I particularly liked his blue meth/Martin Short jabs directed at Pete. Also, for once I feel a sincere serious speech in the middle of the show is actually appropriate and even warranted (especially one of this length). They must have spent most of the time and effort that went into putting Update together getting Crenshaw to appear on the show and meeting his conditions to do so. That has to be the explanation as to why much of this Update felt so rushed together at the last minute. B+
The Poddys - Wow, a lot to unpack here. First off, I was wondering whether "Bros Save Politics" was supposed to be parodying "Pod Save America" or "Chapo Trap House" until I realized that the former (and SNL and late night comedy shows in general right now) are things that the latter would ruthlessly make fun of. Also, who was playing the silent third host of that podcast alongside Beck and Mikey? I also liked Kyle's podcast segment. The nervous white women segment makes me think Anna Drezen wrote this because it bears quite a resemblance to Melissa's character from last weeks' Update. I was actually surprised that Heidi's character made it out alive instead of Aidys. Also, I think I'm aware of quite a few comedy related podcasts that would find "La La Laughs" a bit too close to home. As far as impressions go, I did like Alex's Marc Maron and Kenans' Ving Rhames. As for Liev, I think he must actually frequently listen to the podcast of whoever he was portraying. I have a feeling he must have mentioned on Monday that he could do this semi-obscure impression and they then decided to write this entire sketch around it. C+
House Hunters - This worked extremely well because of their intense commitment to absurdist Tim & Eric/Comedy Bang! Bang! style humor. In fact, I think Weird Al may have been the star of a sketch that was very much like this on the final season of CB!B! The vertical floors was my favorite of the non stop crazy visual gags. It reminded me a lot of that exercise infomercial from Channing Tatums' 2012 episode but much more coherent and written by people who are actually competently able to pull off that style of comedy. It's good that the weirdest thing about this sketch was how it was Leslie's first appearance of the entire show. B-
Boys - This was definitely the funniest live piece of the night. I liked Beck & Kyle's intense commitment to physical comedy (it has been quite a while since we saw a piece on the show that they so obviously conceived just for themselves). I also liked how Aidy and Cecily didn't even try to hide their breaking. Also, I was pretty floored at how the show can seemingly just get away with dropping two GD bombs in one episode (and even have one be blatantly intention because it's part of a pre taped song) but I suppose we might have been spoiled by Chappelle's episode from two years ago where he alone said that and much more WAY more than just twice. B+
Dave's Outside The Women's Bathroom - This was another piece that worked just for it's sheer outlandish silliness. The only thing that hindered this was that Liev stumbled over quite a bit of his lines to a point where I wondered how this sketch would've gone with literally any other male host. I did like the twist that Heidi's character actually WANTED to be supportive of all of this. B-
Now, for my updated rankings for this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
4. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
5. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was that. Next week, Steve Carrell returns for his third time hosting in just thirteen years. I think I'm not alone in saying that he is the first host I can get genuinely excited about seeing on the show this season given his extensive comedy and acting background outside of this show. See you then!
Sessions Packs Up - A few days ago, I had jokingly predicted that, in light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' firing, this week's episode would open with Kate as Sessions singing "Hallelujah" at a piano alone on home base stage. Well, replace Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" with Adele's "Someone Like You" and add in an office setting plus several other characters and they came shockingly close to doing just that. I guess this would've been their safest choice for a cold open this week and I would understand why they would want to officially retire what has somehow become one of Kate's most inexplicable recurring characters. The only thing she did that really stood out to me was Kate listing off the various unique items on her desk she was packing. Otherwise, it was just more of the same standard portrayal of Sessions as a deranged Southern elf-possum hybrid creature we've seen on a regular basis for the past year and a half. Beck as Pence was okay. He had a great exit line. I liked seeing how refreshingly unformulaic Mikey & Alex were as Eric & Don Jr here. Otherwise, the DeNiro as Muller cameo and everything after the song felt a little too unnecessarily tacked on. C+
Monologue - Well, I appreciate them giving Schreiber a straight solo monologue. He handled that quite well after shaking off some first time jitters. I also appreciate how he initially showed some reverence toward the show and indicated that he has really wanted to be here for quite some time. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing someone who is primarily known as an intense dramatic actor currently best known for a prominent "tough guy" role show some real human vulnerability. My only real complaint was how his speech about midterm voter turnout seemed too awkwardly jammed in. C+
Good Day Denver II - I guess I shouldn't have expected anything BUT a carbon copy rewrite of the "Danny Bangs Animals" sketch from ScarJos' episode from two seasons ago but I guess I was just too caught off guard as soon as I noticed this was actually the second time they've used the "Good Day Denver" title card. Anyway, I can't say this was an improvement but I will say I liked how they chose to stop just short of milking this premise absolutely bone dry and how the hosts were definitely horrifyingly aware of their mistaken implications. B-
Unity Song - This music video sure seemed like one of the most all time unoriginal premises ever executed on this show but that execution was what saved it. At least the examples of commonly hated things didn't seem too far down the beaten path. Boy, if it weren't for Ego, Melissa, Chris Heidi and Liev being a part of this I would think that this was a leftover dress cut from season 41 just for how much it reminded me of "This Is Not A Feminist Song" from Ariana Grande's episode. Other than that, I was surprised that Kyles' background dancing at the very end wasn't something that was addressed within the song. B-
Paranormal Occurrence - Well, this was certainly an odd time to recur this sketch again. Even more odd is that this Kate character got no recognition applause like she did during the Ryan Gosling premiere from last season. I guess changing the premise of this sketch from describing an alien abduction to describing a ghost encounter allowed for a stranger, more absurd brand of humor here. Also, it somehow helped this sketch that Kate went all out with the juvenile toilet humor. My only other takeaway from this sketch was how Liev Schreiber seemed miscast as a Southern Country Bumpkin but at the same time, I get the sense that the real reason they did this sketch again was because Liev said he wanted to. It's funny how this sketch originated with Ryan Gosling because it made me think how they pretty much used Schreiber as a host the same way they used Gosling although Gosling appears to have been a first time host they had way more faith in. C+
Booty Kings - A mid-to-late-aughts pre trap era hip hop song that seems like it's going to demean women at first but then turns out to be all about respecting them as people also doesn't seem to be the most original comedy premise in 2018 but this was actually pulled off well if you were willing to give it a fair chance. Its' tone was a bit uneven and inconsistent but it had more little things going for it. I did like Kenan and Chris placing coasters over girls' drinks and their sudden realization that all women have different names. I also liked Pete's character being completely incoherent all the way to the point where he reveals he is using a grill as a substitute for actual teeth. Other than that, Future and Lil Wayne felt like wasted cameos. The song was already so long and Chris, Kenan and Pete are already so good at convincingly portraying rappers that their presence felt like overkill. Plus, their verses went back and forth between sounding like they were in on the basic joke and sounding too much like generic lyrics lifted from actual rap songs. Still, I did like the visual of Future making it rain over a tip jar labeled "Womens' Rights Fund". Finally, I read a Vulture interview with Chris Redd last month when his and Pete's "Trees" video aired during Seth's episode and he confessed to his affinity for writing rap songs about serious issues he truly cares about like saving the environment and now apparently preventing sexual assault in an effort to reach and educate people. If this is another example of him doing that, well I certainly respect that and good for him. Kudos to Future and Lil Wayne for wanting to get in on this as a cause if that's also what they wanted. C+
Update seemed understandably rushed and uneven given the circumstances. First off, as a Coloradan I appreciate the Jared Polis shout out from Jost. It helped wash out the bad taste that Good Day Denver sketch left in my mouth. Other than that, I liked Josts' obligatory Florida joke (although the montage of Trump's implied/almost racial slurs didn't quite work for me) and Che clearly had the best midterm wrap up material. That Beto O'Rourke joke in particular was the most biting joke the shows' made about anyone on the left in recent memory. Most of the bit with Cecily as the white house intern came off as too awkward to work for me but I did like the obviously doctored video that was the payoff. Also, it was very classy of Pete to offer a sincere apology for his Dan Crenshaw joke last week. It was even better that the real Crenshaw was willing to actually come on the show and prove what a not easily offended good sport he was. I particularly liked his blue meth/Martin Short jabs directed at Pete. Also, for once I feel a sincere serious speech in the middle of the show is actually appropriate and even warranted (especially one of this length). They must have spent most of the time and effort that went into putting Update together getting Crenshaw to appear on the show and meeting his conditions to do so. That has to be the explanation as to why much of this Update felt so rushed together at the last minute. B+
The Poddys - Wow, a lot to unpack here. First off, I was wondering whether "Bros Save Politics" was supposed to be parodying "Pod Save America" or "Chapo Trap House" until I realized that the former (and SNL and late night comedy shows in general right now) are things that the latter would ruthlessly make fun of. Also, who was playing the silent third host of that podcast alongside Beck and Mikey? I also liked Kyle's podcast segment. The nervous white women segment makes me think Anna Drezen wrote this because it bears quite a resemblance to Melissa's character from last weeks' Update. I was actually surprised that Heidi's character made it out alive instead of Aidys. Also, I think I'm aware of quite a few comedy related podcasts that would find "La La Laughs" a bit too close to home. As far as impressions go, I did like Alex's Marc Maron and Kenans' Ving Rhames. As for Liev, I think he must actually frequently listen to the podcast of whoever he was portraying. I have a feeling he must have mentioned on Monday that he could do this semi-obscure impression and they then decided to write this entire sketch around it. C+
House Hunters - This worked extremely well because of their intense commitment to absurdist Tim & Eric/Comedy Bang! Bang! style humor. In fact, I think Weird Al may have been the star of a sketch that was very much like this on the final season of CB!B! The vertical floors was my favorite of the non stop crazy visual gags. It reminded me a lot of that exercise infomercial from Channing Tatums' 2012 episode but much more coherent and written by people who are actually competently able to pull off that style of comedy. It's good that the weirdest thing about this sketch was how it was Leslie's first appearance of the entire show. B-
Boys - This was definitely the funniest live piece of the night. I liked Beck & Kyle's intense commitment to physical comedy (it has been quite a while since we saw a piece on the show that they so obviously conceived just for themselves). I also liked how Aidy and Cecily didn't even try to hide their breaking. Also, I was pretty floored at how the show can seemingly just get away with dropping two GD bombs in one episode (and even have one be blatantly intention because it's part of a pre taped song) but I suppose we might have been spoiled by Chappelle's episode from two years ago where he alone said that and much more WAY more than just twice. B+
Dave's Outside The Women's Bathroom - This was another piece that worked just for it's sheer outlandish silliness. The only thing that hindered this was that Liev stumbled over quite a bit of his lines to a point where I wondered how this sketch would've gone with literally any other male host. I did like the twist that Heidi's character actually WANTED to be supportive of all of this. B-
Now, for my updated rankings for this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
4. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
5. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was that. Next week, Steve Carrell returns for his third time hosting in just thirteen years. I think I'm not alone in saying that he is the first host I can get genuinely excited about seeing on the show this season given his extensive comedy and acting background outside of this show. See you then!
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