Chance The Rapper (10.26.2019)

Okay, here's my review. This was definitely the most consistent show all season. The highs weren't quite as high as they were in the previous two episode but what few lows there were seemed minor and weren't low enough to create a crater or anything so it all pretty much evens out. The show may still be a little too reliant on outside cameos at times, but they still showed us that unexpected cameos can be fun when used in just the right way. As expected, Chance and the rest of the cast really delivered. As we saw just shy of two years ago, Chance brings a fresh energy to the show that's not like any other recurring "friend of the show" type host that's infectious and clearly rubs off on the cast. Speaking of which, it's great to see a show where the whole cast gets an even amount of airtime. Ego, Heidi, Chloe and Bowen stood out in particular because we finally get to see the show break them in and ingratiate them with the audience. Aidy, Kate and Cecily had few and far in between appearances that suggest the show might be phasing them out in preparation for a mutual parting of ways by the end of this season. Anyway, there isn't too much beyond the cold open to really unpack this week, but I'd still like to just get to it right now.

Albuquerque Trump Rally - There's no doubt that this was a frustrating cold open to watch for anyone invested in this show at all. I won't go into the most obvious reasons but the biggest reason to me had to do with the energy of this sketch. It certainly had a similar not as listless energy as the Equality Town Hall open from the previous episode (which I'd be willing to go back and reevaluate at some point since it was revealed others liked it much more and that it was written by Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie rather than Jost & Che who wrote most if not all of the political cold opens these past two seasons). Parts of it seemed different in that it seemed to be written (and in some parts performed) with some level of controlled, cautious passion by people who actually cared somewhat about the piece and wanted to write what they were writing. I'm guessing they called Sudi and Fran back in to write this along with Jost since Che was recovering from dental surgery and shouldn't have been writing anything in that condition anyway. However, that energy kept getting disrupted at certain points by certain people Baldwin as Trump kept bringing up on stage alongside him. Mostly, I'm referring to Kate and Fred Armisen here (hell, I'd rather see Kate as Gullianni again than as Lindsay Graham but I did like Freds' jabs at Trumps "wealth" here and did get a brief Mary Katherine Gallagher flashback from Kate's Glass Menagerie recital) but Cecily (as out of touch as a Mickey Mouse Club reference may seem in 2019), Mikey, Pete and Aidy especially breathed some much needed life into this with their strong and committed performances. I did appreciate seeing Alexs' Mark Zuckerberg again but even that impression suffers from diminishing returns as it has fallen into repeating the same beats over and over. How many "Zuck is a cyborg" takes do we need to see? Hell, considering this was set in New Mexico I was expecting them to introduce Aaron Paul (who does still have "El Camino" to promote after all) but I'm kinda glad that they were willing to subvert one of my expectations here. Speaking of which, I was expecting this to mostly use a cheap throwaway reference to Trump's Colorado Border Wall gaffe (I appreciate shootouts to my home state on the show but...not like this). I thought what they did there was okay as telegraphed as it felt. It especially stung seeing Darrell Hammond show up to reprise his Clinton alongside Baldwin's Trump. I know he's the post-Pardo announcer now, but I also know most of those announcements are prerecorded from across the country. It must have taken a lot for him to come out to be on the show in person considering what he went through when they pushed him out of a role that was rightfully his in favor of Baldwin. I mean, sure, Baldwin's manic Trump energy seemed preferable to Hammond's Apprentice era Trump but that was when we were all naive enough to think Trump DIDN'T actually have a shot at the presidency. Hell, after less than even a full season of Baldwin we all realized how much easier Hammond mined Trump for laughs and even Trump himself came to the realization that Hammond should be back in the role under his own presidency. Plus, as much as it pains me to notice this much less admit it out loud, Hammond is more physically appropriate to play Trump than he is to play Clinton. C-

Monologue - This was fun. Chance being from Chicago and using that as a jumping off point to rap about other things he likes that are "second best" as Chicago is sometimes known as "the second city" was something that worked surprisingly well. The Adam Carolla lyric made me laugh. I was impressed that Kyle could hold his own so well next to Chance. I was also impressed that Heidi and Melissa could keep up with those cards. Also, is it just me or does Chance seem to young to be married with kids? Still, good for him. B+

E-Sports Coverage - I heard that they might bring back Chances' reluctant hockey reporter character as he has been doing that same bit for real for various other NBC Sports events. I'm glad they had him report on something much different than hockey (or even just sports in general). It's good too see this character can work in multiple settings even on or off SNL. Chance had a couple of lines that really made me laugh (I mean, they even made HIM almost laugh) and I especially his color commentary on the gameplay clip they showed. This sketch also made great use of Bowen and Chloe and Chance played great off of them as well.

Judge Barry - As strange as it feels realizing we've now had two double duty hosts AND two live courtroom sketches two weeks apart from each other this season, the premise of Chance The Rapper as a judge who makes his rulings solely based on "first impressions" was executed pretty much perfectly. I do like the rapid fire pace of sketchy participants that Chance immediately dismisses. I didn't even mind the genuinely unexpected Jason Momoa cameo either. He fit well into this sketch, too. B+

Tasty Toaster Tarts - This had the perfect amount of build ups and dark unexpected twists to me. Just when I was starting to tire of Chance listing off an excessive amount of Chance they start setting us up for the completely wrong unexpected discovery. B+

Spooky Song - I do appreciate how short and concise this was considering I was expecting something similar to that graveyard song sketch that was in Jim Carrey's 2014 episode.This felt like what that sketch should've been. I wasn't expecting the reveal to be that juvenile exactly but this subverted just the right expectation for me. C+

Update had a fun vibe. Che and Jost had almost nothing but solid jokes (except for that Olaf one, the Bernie/Hillary v. Tulsi jokes that just seemed like bad hot takes and that punchline to that Kanye joke was where Che seemed the most "loopy"). As far as the political material goes, I liked how strongly they addressed the stories from this week that would've made for far better cold opens tonight (especially Ches' Gullianni rant Josts' Matt Gaetz/Quagmire comparison) do appreciate how Alex can make Eric Trump still seem like a newly fleshed out character each time. B-

Finding True Love On Wires At A Bar - This sketch did feature Cecily and she was on wires so this has to be the one sketch that the one girl from the SNL Standby Line podcast mentioned in Twitter just before the show. I was glad to see this didn't get cut (I mean, how could it?). I could easily appreciate this just for it's sheer physicality. I also thought it was interstellar because it's the first time we've ever seen Beck break on camera (or Ego or Heidi for that matter) and this was one of the rare times where the general live studio energy translates well to the viewers at home so it's obvious to everyone why this is funny. B+

Space Mistakes - This was an obvious genre/trope parody in the way that the Downton Abbey parody from the season premiere was general format/premise parody. I could appreciate for how purposely vague they kept it so that the honor comes from how silly and foolhardy this comes across. B+

Dazzle Designs - It seems a little early in the show for this week's obligatory Kate & Aidy farewell tour giggle fest, but okay. I'll take it. Chance, Pete and Chris had some great lines in this. This was interesting to watch for how obvious it was that Kate and Aidy were breaking only due to their chemistry and rapport rather than the material they had and the fact that this sketch was set up with minimal room for unplanned live bloopers. C+

Dance Studio, 1978 - This felt like an exact cross between a similar dance studio sketch from Christina Applegates' 2012 episode,  that other sketch from Jon Heders' 2005 episode where he thought he was a werewolf but he could really only grow a mustache under a full moon and that SCTV sketch (from around the same time in real life that this sketch was set in incidentally) where Eugene Levy played Gino Vanelli singing his hit "Stop" while transforming into a Bigfoot-like wereape. I do have to wonder if this was a dress cut from around 2010-2013 or so as it felt very much like something from that era. Still, everyone really sold it which made it fun to watch. It had some of the typical tropes of an Anderson/Sublette joint but thankfully not all of them C+

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

1. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
2. Chance The Rapper
3. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift

Well, that episode just delivered the most basic vibe I expected based on what I'd seen on this show before. Next week, Kristen Stewart returns. I remember her being a similarly "game" host but compared to someone like Chance, she kinda blended into the background in most sketches. Hell, I think most people remember her episode for her dropping that f-bomb on air and for the first (of what only ended up being four times ever) that Melissa McCarthy played Sean Spicer. Still, none of this should've prevented KStew from getting her second shot at hosting. See you then.

David Harbour/Camila Cabello (10.12.19)

Okay, here's my review. As wildly uneven as this episode was, it's still the strongest one of the season by default because the highs were much higher than the previous two episodes. David Harbour proved himself to be a consummate professional who fit right in to the host role perfectly. The cast members who were either largely absent or still struggling to find their place on the show were featured almost enough to make up for it tonight (aside from Chloe who is sadly still getting washed off the screen as soon as she starts to feel visible). Ego was certainly used the most tonight during her entire SNL tenure so far but until the last third of the show I thought this was going to be a very light night for Cecily. Pete understandably made only two appearances all night and less understandably, so did Kenan. Other than that, cast airtime felt as balanced as it's been all season. Anyway, let's unpack this whole thing, shall we?

CNN Equality Town Hall - I wanted to like this cold open more than I did, but there just wasn't enough there. I guess they had to do it because the CNN LGBTQ town hall took place THIS week and the next actual Democratic Debate will be taking place NEXT week when the cast and crew will be taking off. At least this was still preferable to another Trump/Pence/Barr/Gullianni centric impeachment themed cold open. I'm not sure that the Billy Porter cameo was that necessary (or even appropriate) but at least he added some much needed energy. Redds' Cory Booker and Alex's Anderson Cooper are always solid. Nice to see they're sticking with Colin as Mayor Pete. It works, but they still seem to be struggling to come up with a take on him. I think they might be spreading Kate's Warren a bit thin but at the same time I'm glad they found a way to parody her already funny moment from the real debate in a way that didn't feel like gratuitous piling on. Nice to see Lin Manuel could be called down to 30 Rock in an attempt to shut up the detractors who complained that Julian Castro wasn't represented in the first debate sketch from the season premiere. Sadly, the only moment that stood out to me during his part was Melissa's brief look of barely concealed disappointment that she lost this part to Lin Manuel right before she asked her question (although I could be wrong and it may seem a little mean for me to say that, it's just what I was thinking). Good to see they're sticking with Woody as Biden this election cycle because it's been working. Having him REALLY pander to gays seemed a little off somehow though. Weird to see Bowen as an audience member in this but I guess Andrew Yang wasn't a part of this real event? I probably would've liked this a lot better had Larry been able to show up as Bernie. Wasn't the real Bernie at this thing anyway? C-

Monologue - This got the show off to a much better start. Even though, you could tell exactly where this was going after the first minute, that didn't necessarily spoil it for me. Harbour immediately proved he was going to be funny with his jokes about his Stranger Things castmates and mentioning his role as Hellboy after mentioning his classical training. I do wish they'd done more with the whole "cast gets trapped in the upside-down" concept but I liked the gag with Kenan having Lornes' job and Lorne being his intern. Also, as much as I kinda wish we'd be getting a slightly longer break from Pete I do appreciate how the show just let us know that this was the week he'd be returning (and that he'd be returning so abruptly that this was one of only two pieces in the live show they'd be able to place him in). B-

Little Miss Teacher's Friend Pageant - Okay, this had to have been written by whoever wrote the nephew pageant sketch from Kit Harringtons' episode last season. This was a very similar (yet slightly more abstract) concept. Harbour and Aidy were great at being the glue of this sketch. Kate's "epic tattle" story and Harbours' interactions with Bowen made me laugh. This was also a great way for the show to utilize the underused female cast members (especially Ego and Chloe). B+

Grouch - This was another one of those pop culture parodies where they took a very simple concept and ran with it executing it as expertly as they possibly could've. I'm even more impressed to learn that this was something Harbour himself pitched. This is likely the most successful host pitch in SNL history. Seeing Harbours' slow burn transformation and the rest of the cast as live action versions of Muppets were great. I especially liked Kenans' Snuffy the pimp, Heidis' Big Bird, Melissa's Elmo and Alex and Mikey as Bert and Ernie (Alex might have drawn from that Melissa impression he did with Mikey and Cecily that Melissa posted on Instagram). A-

SoulCycle Auditions - This was very fun and enjoyable sketch that helped keep up the energy the show had established since the monologue. It was also a great showcase for Ego and Bowen but Harbour clearly ran away with it. Alex, Heidi, Cecily and Kate were great supporting players in this. Since Bowen was prominently featured in this, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance that he at least co-wrote it with some of the show's current crop of millennial female writers (Anna Drezen, Sudi Green, Fran Gillespie etc.) It does really seem like it's in at least one of their voices. B+

Update was pretty much the exact point in this episode when things started to get pretty uneven. Che had a strong night but it doesn't speak well for Josts' contributions to the show when his funniest Update jokes were a Trump slideshow set to the music of Thin Lizzy and him calling himself out on how bad he thought his own Mayor Pete impression was. Personally, I didn't think the impression was that bad. I mean, Jost looks the most like Pete Buttigieg out of the current male cast but he barely tries to sound like him so the best thing I can say about it is that I can still see what they are going for. The entire short form portion of Update completely fell flat for me except for Josts papal celibacy joke and Ches' sex doll joke. Heidi's latest Bailey Gismert commentary was pretty indistinguishable from all her previous ones. The only part of Pete's latest commentary that I actually liked were his and Josts' attempts at fourth wall breaking with the audience. The rest of it seemed so unfocused and meandering that it really made it obvious just how late in the week Pete made it back to Studio 8H. C-

Folk Of The Past - This felt like the most aimless sketch of the night. Alex was funny as the cloying host but the song seemed to go nowhere. There were some funny lyrics here and there but they were too few and far in between. C-

Father-Son Podcast Microphone - This is another piece I wanted to like a bit more but I really wasn't sure what it was going for. I guess the main joke here was that podcasts in general are such a white Male dominated field that they're now the only way said white men can genuinely communicate with each other (thank you very much, Marc Maron). Still, there were some pretty solid acting moments between David and Kyle here. C+

Grandparents - This sketch had a very 90s feel to me. Specifically, it was very reminiscent of when Steve Martin played Grandma Pugga in '91 as well as those Kirstie Alley Italian restaurant sketches, that sketch where Dana Carvey and Linda Hamilton played a couple, that dinner sketch with Danny Aiello, that sketch from when Gullianni hosted and he played Cheri Oteris' grandmother in drag and those Zimmerman sketches with Oteri and Kattan. Other than that, it just seemed like a gender swapped Morning Joe sketch but if they were non-famous old world Italian grandparents mixed with every "Last Call" sketch Kate has done. That's all I really care to say about this sketch. It just seemed like an excuse for Kate and David to act very inappropriately broad and for Kyle, Cecily and Melissa to react accordingly. I did like David's performance but he didn't need to prove to us that he would be a strong and fearless host anymore by this point in the show. D+

Dog Court - Well, given her well documented love of animals in general (but especially dogs) it's pretty obvious that Cecily cowrote this with either Anderson/Sublette or whoever wrote that Judge Court sketch from Emma Thompsons' episode (which she wasn't even in) and aside from Cecily's pug near the end the dogs were surprisingly well behaved here. The intro from Cecily and the brief cutaway reactions from the dog jury were the real highlights to me (especially the Tim Allen grunt after the reveal of Kate's stretched out shirt). Also, does anyone remember that Chris Farley documentary where David Spade talked about the week that Farley tried to write that "puppy lawyer" sketch that bombed at the table read? This sketch reminded me a lot of that but in a good way because I was glad to see something at least with a similar enough concept to that actually can make it to air 27 years later to honor his spirit. Also, I have this theory that this sketch the real reason this sketch got on is because this may very well turn out to at least be Cecily's last season and people at the show happen to know it already and those same people also knew that this may have been a sketch concept she had been wanting to get on the show all these years but she just couldn't get it off the ground (sort of similar to how Jason Sudekis only got to do Maine Justice in his last season in the cast). B-

Now, for my updated rankings for this entire season so far...

1. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
2. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
3. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift

Well, this was a bit of a shot in the arm for this season. In two weeks, Chance The Rapper returns for his second time as host, third time as musical guest but his first time pulling double duty on SNL. It feels a little soon and it almost seems to go against the vibe of "variety in hosts" this season has been establishing so far but I honestly don't mind seeing him again as his first hosting stint two years ago was such a strong episode. See you then!

Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift (10.5.2019)

Okay, here's my review. This was a bit of a let down from last week. It had it's moments but still felt just as uneven as last week. The highs were pretty high but the lows weren't exactly lows as much as they were just mediums. The live audience seemed to raise the energy level considerably given that tonight's host and musical guest both drew in a lot of rabid fans. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was probably the most fun to watch out of all the British female hosts the show had had recently. Still, this show had some of the same basic pacing problems as last week and a lot of sketches felt like basic retreads of previously aired material. They even recurred some sketches that should've stayed one-and-done but seemed necessary to them given who the host was. I'm sure Phoebe kept morale up this week, but it showed much more in the performances than in the actual writing. Plus, Heidi and Melissa were shut out of the show entirely (the latter of whom seemed to be in better spirits about it during the goodnights) which had to be a bummer for both of them. Even thought everyone else got a decent amount of airtime, I'm sure I'm.not the only one still having an easier time getting used to Pete's unexpected temporary absence from the show than I am getting used to Leslie's slightly-less-unexpected permanent one. Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

Cabinet Meeting On Impeachment - This was one of the blandest cold opens in recent memory. I automatically couldn't get behind it since it led off with two of my least favorite political impressions the show currently features. It almost seems like they were going to just do a live version of that cut Gullianni/Fleabag parody from last week (which I actually would've preferred to be honest) because it would've been overkill of they just did this and showed it after the monologue. With Beck playing Pence in the same sketch I can see why Aidy as AG Barr was actually warranted. Still, that doesn't explain why they went with Matthew Broderick to play Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. That has to be the most baffling example of SNL political stunt casting I have ever seen. I'm sure they've actually seen what Pompeo looks like but realized they were already using Beck and Aidy in other roles. I mean, there is one way I can see why they would've cast Broderick in this role. Mike Pompeo has gained a reputation as a big time conservative war hawk and seems like a guy who projects a false air of power and imposing strength in much the same way Trump and the rest of his cabinet do. They must have thought Matthew Broderick was the exact polar opposite of this and wanted to have Broderick play him just to get under his skin like they managed to do to Trump and Sean Spicer but in a more subtle and thoughtful and less petty way than what they must've been going for with Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions. Still, I don't get why they felt this was the place to jam in Ferris Bueller references. Maybe they just came with the territory since they already got Broderick in the building. Honestly, the only real laughs I got out of this were the Stephen Miller snake parseltounge scene and Kenan as Ben Carson. It's not quite on the same level as that of Jay Pharroh or Sterling K. Brown but it still works and is still very funny. C-

Monologue - This definitely allowed the show to pick up some stream. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was immediately very likable and expertly got the audience on her side (which was probably pretty easy when you consider how many audience member were probably fans of hers' and Taylor's who camped out in the standby line). I liked how she was able to pull off self deprecation well and make jokes about "Fleabag" and "Killing Eve" that one didn't have to have watched either show to find funny just before seemingly effortlessly transitioning into an unexpected standup routine on the current state of human sexuality. She seemed a lot more comfortable in her own skin than she let on, but that was probably the whole point of that monologue. My only complaint about this monologue would be it's seemingly excessive length. B+

What's Wrong With This Picture II? - This was a very strange and unexpected choice of something to make recurring (especially since it actually first appeared a mere two episodes ago) but it was still just as funny as the first one and everyone performed this really well. Maybe Phoebe saw the last one and liked it so much she wanted to do another one? Kyle also made a great replacement for Pete. I did like how much tighter this felt than the previous one. B+

Love Island - Even though this seems like the exact type of thing I thought they left back in season 43, I guess this was something else they couldn't resist doing with a British host? Maybe this is one of Phoebes' guilty pleasures? It obviously seems like it would be one of Cecily's. I liked this mostly for everyone's attempts at the trashiest specific type of British accent there is. Upon rewatching this, I noticed this had some pretty solid writing behind it. I liked the intros and Phoebes' confessional at the end. I also liked how they wrote Chloe a role she seemed tailor-made for as well as the makeup/thumb gag between her and Aidy who also did some great physical comedy on this. B+

Local Mid-Day News - This was a fairly simple Chappelle's Show-like premise (which automatically makes it a little dodgy to try and do in 2019) but they pulled it off well and the performances from everyone really sold the hell out of it. Good to see Ego placed front and center in something (literally) for once. The worst thing I can say about this is that Phoebe really seemed to struggle with her accent. Also, did the sight of Chris Redd playing a weather man with a suddenly very loose tie give anyone else flashbacks to David Alan Grier in Wake Up And Smile? A+

The War In Words II - I had a feeling we might get another one of these even before someone I follow on Twitter who went to dress rehearsal confirmed it for me. Mikey and Streeter couldn't resist doing one of these again, huh? I guess after the monologue this is the second thing Claire Foy did 10 months ago that Phoebe Waller-Bridge vastly improved upon. I can't say much about this as it seemed to hit all the same beats as last time but I did like the doctored Hitler footage and the five year old cameo as they were the only things that stood out to me as different. C+

Update started out strong but started to lose a bit of steam in the middle and near the end. Jost & Che who seemed like they were really on top of their game. I do have to wonder if Che's utterance of "See? He's Strong!" during Josts' Trump/Nickelback joke was planned or an adlib. I liked Kate's Warren commentary just for the jab at Hillary and the BDSM marine jokes, but I'm hoping they don't waste this impression by running out into the ground through Update especially since she may have a shot at winning the Dem nomination now. Also, the fact that this and the cold open were Kate's only appearances tonight seems to suggest they're phasing her out at what may be a more and more inopportune time for the show. Bowen's commentary was the true highlight of this Update for me (especially since I was starting to get worried he'd be shut out of the show entirely on the same night my local NBC affiliate ran a profile on him interviewing his old mathematics/improv teacher from the high school in my own home state where he graduated from and was named "Most Likely To Be A Cast Member On SNL"). They may have waited until his second show to give him his big showcase but he really hit the ground running. His performance skills really made up for the sheer Kelly-and-Schneider-esque millennial-ness that might put off some viewers over the age of 35. Mikey's Super-Centenarian was something else I'm surprised was made recurring instead of being left a one off. This also hit all the same beats as the original but there were funnier misleads directed at Colin this time. I also liked the jab at Pete and that the sheer length of this week's Update made up for the shortness of the previous week's Update. B+

Royal Romance - Kenan made this much funnier than it had any right to be. He clearly sprinted away with this but everyone else supported him well. I wonder if whoever had written this had just gotten to see "Dolemite Is My Name" before this Monday's host/pitch meeting? A+

State Line Bar - This sketch was a bit of a mess, but I liked it mostly for Phoebes' attempt at a white trash Southern accent. Plus, it was fun to see everyone on the verge of breaking all at once and trying to guess who would be the first to go. C+

Now, time to start ranking this season...

1. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eillish (9.28.2019)
2. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift (10.5.2019)

Well, that episode certainly defied expectations if you bought into the hype enough to set them high. Next week, David Harbour makes his hosting debut. I've already seen he has a good sense of humor about himself so he should be fun. Plus, Canilla Cabello (a newly self professed fan of the show) makes her debut as a musical guest. To me, she seems goofy enough to want to participate in some of their sillier sketches. See you then!

Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish (9.28.2019)

Okay, here's my review. This episode had a fun vibe (mostly due to the host) but it wasn't enough to distract you from how wildly uneven it was in terms of pacing and cast airtime. Woody proved himself to be an always reliable host and he made a lot of sketches fun to watch despite how a lot of things felt like subtle to not so subtle retreads. The cast airtime seemed so uneven because everyone who's still here who's been there since at least seasons 38-43 was in most everything while this year's featured players clearly had to struggle to get noticed. While Bowen seems to have hit the ground running (by featured player first show standards) Ego had nothing but small straight roles and Chloe only had only had two appearances all night which made me wonder if she actually IS going to be the next female impressionist to get chewed up and spit out by the show) but she's earned a lot of goodwill pre-SNL and it seems like the cast really likes her. Also, Leslie's absence is already gradually making itself known and apparently Pete couldn't be in the show as he's busy filming Suicide Squad. Somewhat surprisingly, the literally gravity defying musical guest performances were a real highlight of the show. I'm usually not a huge fan of when musical guests use redesigning the whole stage as part of their gimmick but Billie was excellent here. Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

Trump Makes A Few Calls - Ok, I realize it's a season premiere and they were basically shaking the cobwebs off this week but this was a little underwhelming. I mean, it picked up some steam as it went along but it's just disappointing to realize that they thought the breaking impeachment story didn't deserve much more than just the Donald Glover, Seth Meyers and Kumail Nanjiani cold opens from the last two seasons (and THEN realize that given the context of the story that they weren't totally wrong). Still, I guess my theory about Baldwin bring slightly less "miserable" about playing Trump when the real deal's impeachment is actually on the horizon is already appearing to hold up. Still, having Aidy play AG Barr at this point just feels too much like perry baiting. Let's just get to the highlights already. To me, the only real standout moments were Kate's Joe Rogan Experience namecheck, (still think someone else should be playing Gullianni though) the reprisals of Cecilys' Judge Pirro, Bowen's Kim Jong Un (good to see they're already making his presence in the actual cast known right up front) the Redd/Kenan scene and the Liev Schreiber cameo just for how completely untelegraphed it seemed. C+

Monologue - I could already tell this was going to be unexpectedly engaging once Woody came out in a tuxedo. I chuckled at his poking fun at his own fashion consciousness (or lack thereof) but once he changed into his pajamas it started to feel a little overlong and meandering. Still, Woody's sheer presence and loose easy going personality made it fun to watch. Also, I don't know if his running "apologies" were the show's own way of very subtly acknowledging the Shane Gillis controversy but I'm quite glad it was the only way they planned on even broaching the topic. B-

CNN Impeachment Town Hall - Well, I'm impressed that this was the way they decided they could do a parody of this summer's Democratic debates. They obviously realized that they're gonna have a hard time doing any Dem debate sketches as none of them take place the same week as one of their live shows this season but people are still going to expect to see their hot takes on all the hopefuls somewhere in this episode. I was thinking about how increasingly likely it seemed that they would do a "debate" sketch in the same vein as the one they did in the Anna Faris/Drake episode from October 2011 with some elements of their 2015/16 primary debate parodies and I was a bit surprised to see they actually did just that. Alex does Beto competently enough. Bowen had a great line as Andrew Yang and his impression was pretty funny. I liked seeing Redds' Cory Booker again. Surprisingly, Jost as Mayor Pete actually worked. Good to see Chloe got the Marianne Williamson role at the top of her first episode. Kates' Warren served the sketch well despite being washed away by all the cameos and new cast members making an impression for themselves. Larry clearly ran away with this whole sketch. A bit surprised to see Woody as Biden but this surprisingly this works since it's more focused and precise than Jasons' broad characterization. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing Woody take over the role from Jason completely at this point but I doubt he'd do it and deep in the back of my mind I doubt that is what I really want. Plus, it's nice to see they realized they needed to update and sharpen their take on 2019 Candidate Biden but that "plastic straws" joke seemed a little iffy. As expected, Maya handled the Kamala impression well as only she could. Still, I wanted to like it more but I found it too frustrating. With that "weed arrest" joke, it just looked like they had the right take on Kamala but they easily let it slip out of their hands at the last second and just decided to go for more surface level pandering and turn her into a Law and Order style caricature. I'll give them credit for having a take no one else had on Kamala (because it was absolutely not a take worth having) but it still didn't work. Other than that, I have no real complaints. B-

Cheeto Museum - At first, this looked like it was almost going to be a rewrite of either the Denver Morning show sketches from ScarJo and Liev Schreibers' most recent host outings or the RV sketch from Steve Carrells' episode last season but just bought indoors and with Woody and Aidy swapped out for Steve and Heidi. Then, I noticed it started to take a bit more of a slice of life tone until the Cheeto evaporated and they acknowledged the big emotional turn and quickly got to the ending. Most of all, I liked how this didn't feel TOO one note and drawn out. B-

Update got off to a bit of a scattered start seeing as Che had the better and more focused Trump impeachment rant. Kenans' Big Papi had grown on me quite a bit and I wanted to like this more but the "Pelocon" joke was really the only thing that stood out to me. It felt a little odd that Big Papi being shot was the impetus for Jost to write this. After that, Che had a couple of jokes that didn't land but they closed this unusually short Update with about a half dozen string jokes in a row (especially the matches and Jost hate symbol ones). The brevity of this Update compared with how long and dense the cold open and debate/town hall sketch were are what really drives home my point of how uneven this episode was. C+

Fighting Corgis - It must be a bit more of a coincidence that both of Woody's 21st century shows had sketches where he played a Texas high school football coach. Still, not sure what to make of this obviously Day/Seidell penned piece. I really only liked it when it established it's two shock moments with Heidi's character (who, at times, felt like a character they would write for Melissa McCarthy) and kinda went all over the place from there. It just felt like they took the script from Sandra Ohs' "Tishy" sketch and plugged Heidi and Woody into the Sandra and Alex/Beck roles respectively.  C+

Inside The Beltway - Ok, Kenans' very first line pretty much established that this was going to be the direct inverse of "Them Trumps" except done live and way more stretched out. Kenans' pretty much saving this single handedly and the audience is quick to catch on. This is another example of what people mean when they call him the "glue" of the current cast. Plus, we also got to see the worst poorly executed extreme live quick change induced case of corpsing to ever air on live television. Seriously, I wonder if they will just put the dress version of this online? C+

Downton Joker - This felt about as pointless as that Samberg narrated "Fancy Entourage" ad from season 37. Still, nice way of them to sneak in Chloe and Bowen. Still, the reviews and Alex's "that's where mud goes" line were the only things I even smirked at. D+

Dad - Good thing Kyle and Chris broke out into their Fresh Prince/DJ Jazzy Jeff meets Harry Chapin style rap when they did because it was just starting to feel a little dry. I know The Fresh Prince may not seem like the freshest parody target but seeing Chris rap deep in character with Kyle is certainly preferable to seeing him rap basically as himself with Pete. I also liked the additional turns this took with Woody's separate mini rap. B+

Chickhams' Apple Farm - This felt like just a mishmash of Aidy and Kate's meat commentary from Mulaney's last show, their fancy hotel ad from Cheadles' show and the Italian vineyard ad from Emma Stone's last show. From the way they both broke so badly, I think they'd agree with me that Chris and Woody had the best lines because those animals seemed pretty well behaved. C-

Now, since this is the season premiere and I can't rank much else yet, I think I'll take a stab at ranking all of Woody's previous episodes just for fun...

1. Woody Harrelson/David Byrne (11.18.1989)
2. Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar (11.15.2014)
3. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish (9.28.2019)
4. Woody Harrelson/Vanessa Willisms (5.16.1992)

Well, that was one of the more fun season premieres in recent memory. Next week, Phoebe Ealler-Bridge makes her hosting debut. She seems like she will be a good host given that her background seems to be mostly in comedy. See you then!

Paul Rudd/DJ Khaled (5.18.2019)

Okay, here's my review. Anyway you look at it, this was a rather frustrating episode especially for a season finale. Hell, this was probably the most frustrating finale since the one Andy Samberg hosted five years ago. Paul Rudd was his usual, dependable self but his fourth outing as an SNL host kind if made it easy to see why he was so easily overshadowed in his first three. The writers didn't so much saddle him with bad material as much as they didn't quite know how to play to his strengths as an actor so he really couldn't stand out much in anything. The whole cast seemed to get a fair amount of airtime but Beck, Mikey and Ego seemed relegated to background roles once again. Speaking of which, there seemed to be almost no on air confirmation that this was the last show for either Beck, Kyle OR Cecily (the only cast members whose rumors of leaving the show still have yet to be confirmed or denied). I suppose that's for the best as each of those people strike me as the type of performers who would rather leave the same way Sasheer Zamata left two years ago (quietly and with little to no fanfare on their own terms to focus on their own passion projects). Anyway, let's break this down.

Don't Stop Trump Now - Well, I heard this was supposed to be a "big" cold open but it wasn't quite "big" in the way I was expecting it to be. I thought it was going to have more cameos than just DeNiro but this was at least preferable. Even for a musical number this seemed understated. You would think I of all people would be more into this with it being a blatant song parody and all but there were only few lines here that stood out to me. Cecily and Aidy had some decent lines but Kenan, Chris and Kate's appearances felt like the only things resembling jokes to me. Mikey and Alex felt too needlessly tacked on here. If nothing else, this cold open made me both appreciate how sparse Baldwins' appearances as Trump have been this season compared to the previous two and realize this is the first one of these during the Trump era that they have tried to frame as a straight into the camera address to the nation from the oval office desk like they've done several other times for all the other sitting presidents they have covered. Also, this cold open made me take note of a trend with season finale cold opens of the Trump era. They tried to close out the last two seasons with a generic Trump themed cold open that doesn't have anything to do with specific news stories of that particular week but rather a generic broad, toothles commentary on his administration in general. Sonetimes, they're musical numbers but they'reusually pop culture themed in some way (not necessarily current pop culture, mind you). They used to just try to imply or put out there or just will out into being that Trump and his cronies will finally face some form of justice and their whole world will soon collapse on them. First, they all sang "Hallelujah" in a brief moment of meta near self-awareness on the show's part. Then, Trump himself got stared down by Deniro as Muller in a parody of The Sopranos finale. This year, they seemed to have resigned themselves to accepting that the Muller report alone couldn't bring down Trump and that this madness will likely continue until at least next year's election. That's a start, at least. In a way, it's the most sensible take the show may have had in recent memory (now if only they could elaborate a little further with it). C+

Monologue - This concept felt like it had been done quite a long since the '90s but Rudd put a somewhat more modern twist on it. I liked the concept of Rudd giving a "best man" and whether or not Rudds' 1975 story was true, I appreciated hearing that as well as strange as it sounded. It at least did a good job of parodying this season's trend of hosts just using their monologues to tell sincere personal emotional stories about their tenuous connections to the show (particularly Idris Elbas' monologue). He had a couple of good self effacing lines in there about his age and film career. I also liked how Rudd chose not to call attention to who the musical guest was until the very end of the monologue. That served him well. B-

Mrs. Raffertys' Not-So-Excellent Adventure - Is it just me or is it a little frustrating that they chose to do this sketch tonight when we have no real confirmation who (if anyones) last show this is? I mean, the rumors are swirling around Cecily right now but this seems like it would be better suited for Kate's last show but as far as I know, she's one of the ones confirmed to come back next season. Maybe Rudd or Cecily still wanted to do this, but whatever. What I did like about this one was how they changed the premise from an alien/deity sighting to a time travel experience. I also liked how Kate went full Mr. Peepers on Rudd but otherwise it hit all the exact same beats. C+

Grace And Frankie Rap - I really appreciated all the different  misleads Kenan set up that were a part of this seeing as just a rap about Game of Thrones would've been one of the lamest and most predictable things the show could've done right now. I immediately knew something else had to be coming since I do remember at one point Pete mentioned how he got a GoT tattoo without having seen the show. The real life Greyworm cameo felt a little too tacked on for me but I did like Pete's line "I'm a penis" and his mentioning that he "doesn't" like to talk about his personal life. The Grace and Frankie twist was decent but I feel like they could've gone with something more our of left field. DJ Khaleds' cameo was something I was kinda expecting. After he posted his laundry list of special guest performers on his social media, the only way I could see Rudd being upstaged tonight was if John Legend decided he wanted to appear in a sketch or two tonight. SZA seemed like she wouldn't have wanted to appear in any comedy segments in the show and the rest of his guys seemed like they could only be able to make forgettable background cameos in one of these types of rap videos the show does. Khaled and the show apparently decided he could do this one solo so this is pretty close to what I was predicting. Rudd was a welcome addition. Somehow, he kept this from getting too stale. The Fonda and Tomlin filmed cameos were a nice touch even though it feels a little odd that this is what it took to get Lily Tomlin back on the show after countless decades. C+

What's Wrong With This Picture? - I really like how this just came at us hard and fast with the absurd non-sequitirs right out of the gate with the best possible cast members (and host) to pull this off. I also liked how they kept it short and just focused on heightening the jokes to the point when Rudd was the first person to guess anything correctly and just ending it right there. I didn't even mind how it still felt like an exact cross between the morgue sketch from Jeremy Renner's 2012 episode and the Cartoon Catchphrases sketch from Kerry Washingtons' episode a year later (and also the Barbie Instagram sketches they've done this past year). B+

Update was possibly one of the strongest of the entire Jost/Che era tonight at least in terms of sheer theatricality. They had a lot of solid individual jokes but for the most part, the regular jokes weren't the focus of tonight's Update. I always like seeing Cecilys' Judge Pirro on the show. I especially liked how she was as animated as she's ever been this time. It almost makes me think this really IS Cecilys' last show but if that were really the case we'd probably be seeing her do Cathy-Anne or Girl...At A Party right now (and we'd probably also be seeing Paul Rudd play Gemma's new boyfriend, too). The true highlight was Jost and Che trying to out do each other in terms of sheer offensiveness with unseen jokes they wrote for each other. It seemed quite the far cry from what they usually do at the end of every season. Chr telling that dog disease joke was a moment laden with such bitter irony that I'm 100% sure Jost knowingly wrote that for him for going after that thinkpiece writer who was mildly critical of him a whole back. At first, I was wondering how they could seriously follow that with Leslie's commentary on abortion legislation but then I realized they probably NEEDED to end this Update on a positive, uplifting, constructive note after that string of outrageous rejected jokes. Thankfully, Leslie managed to expertly make a strong point while still being effortlessly funny and without making am over the top grandstand. She is basically the only person in the past three years who found just the right way to make a serious, sincere point on this show. A-

Fancy Party - I was interested in seeing what direction this sketch was going in as well. I was expecting one of the other women to be green screened in as the dancing ballerina in the music box. Then, it became obvious that this was another Strong/Anderson/Sublette collab as it hit the same beats as the Thanksgiving song sketch from Steve Carrels' episode from earlier this season which I believe they all wrote. Thankfully, they didn't drag this out as long as they seemed to with that one. Plus, Rudd, Mooney and Strongs' commitment really saved this. The Twilight Zone twist was quite odd but at least it provided this with the quick ending it needed. This now makes two black Male cast members who impersonated Jordan Peele on the show. C-

The View XIII - I guess all the current women really are staying until next year or else they wouldn't be trying to make this a recurring thing. Paul and Beck were the real highlights of this as they kept it from being too much of a carbon copy of the last "View" sketch. The Biden bit seemed unnecessarily tacked on to me. Speaking of Paul Rudd, he was probably the absolute last person I'd expect SNL to have play Mayor Pete Buttigieg but he worked out just fine in this role. I mean, my first choice here would've been Mikey but I have heard the real Mayor Pete speak (I saw this clip of Pete responding to Trumps Alfred E. Neuman comparison) and I do hear some similarities in Pete and Paul's voices here. People sure do seem to like Pete's husband Chasten but I don't know enough about the real Chasten Buttigieg to really comment on Becks' portrayal. C+

Leslie & Kyle & Paul - Well, if this really is supposed to be Beck & Kyle's last show (or at least Kyle's) this is the only thing that even comes close to indicating it. I liked how this was essentially breaking the fake fourth wall that they supposedly set up to break when they did all these other relationship shorts two seasons ago. I also liked the Carpenters soundtrack with Lornes' face in the moon juxtaposed with a jarring cut to Leslie and Kyle's sex scene. I do like how they knew exactly when to end this with Paul as well. B+

Slumber Party Demon - It's really great to see that the show has this much confidence in Melissa Villaseñor as a lead sketch performer and not just a go-to impressionist. The show must be grooming her to be the next female lead in a few years once Aidy, Kate and Cecily really are gone. This had a certain cute low key charm to it. It seems very much in Melissa's voice so I'm guessing this is the piece she cowrote with Stephen Castillo this week (she posted a social media clip of them in their offices together this week). Paul worked well as a goofy, dorky dad trying to make do and entertain with his lack of refreshments. B+

Now, just for fun, here are my rankings of all four of Paul Rudds' episodes from best to worst.

1. Paul Rudd/Paul McCartney (12.11.2010)
2. Paul Rudd/Beyonce (11.15.2008)
3. Paul Rudd/One Direction  (12.7.2013)
4. Paul Rudd/DJ Khaled (5.18.2019)

Now, for my updated (and final rankings) of the complete 44th season...

1. Adam Sandler/Shawn Mendes
2. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
3. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
4. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
5. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
6. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
7. Adam Driver/Kanye West
8. Emma Stone/BTS
9. Idris Elba/Khalid
10. Halsey
11. Kit Harrington/Sara Bareilles
12. Sandra Oh/Tame Impala
13. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
14. Emma Thompson/Jonas Brothers
15. Paul Rudd/DJ Khaled
16. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
17. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
18. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
19. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
20. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
21. Awkwafina/Travis Scott

...and that's the season that was. It was pretty middle-of-the-road and showed some gradual signs of recovery from the hit it took in season 43 what with the loss of Kelly & Schneider as head writers (as well as Bobby and Vanessa from the cast) Still, it's a bit of an uphill battle from here and maybe another "rebuilding year" is needed soon. I guess there's nothing left to do now but wait for any official announcements of who WON'T be coming back to spend season 45 with us (which will probably be in August if we don't hear anything next week) Have a great summer! See you in September!

Emma Thompson/Jonas Brothers (5.11.2019)

Okay, here's my review. I was kind of expecting to have to come down from the high of last week's episode with Adam Sandler. Fortunately, they managed to let us down as gently as they thought they could. Emma Thompson was a serviceable host when they actually used her. Seriously, she was more and more invisible throughout the show. After her extensive background in British sketch comedy had been pointed out to me, I expected SNL to take advantage of that with her hosting but it seems they chose instead to just start running out the clock on this season at this point. The whole cast seemed to get a fair amount of airtime but Cecily seemed shoved into the background near the end of the show. Anyway, let's break it down.

Meet The Press II - I wanted to like this cold open more than I did but it just felt too tired and played out. It came across as an exact cross between the Kavanaugh cold open, the previous Meet The Press cold open from Halseys' episode and all the "How's He Doing?" sketches from the Obama administration. Cecily's Susan Collins and Kyles' Chuck Todd were okay, but other than that I wasn't a huge fan of the political impressions they employed here. C-

Monologue - This got the show off to a better start. I definitely liked Emma's controlled Ed Grimley-esque enthusiasm. I could tell she was definitely here to have fun. Her joke about Kenan being her husband was funny. Tina and Amy were welcome additions here and the latter really had the best lines here. Plus, it's always nice to see Poehler again as she definitely seems to cameo more sporadically than Fey does. Boy, we internet users sure are good at predicting when the early 2000s' women SNL cast are going to cameo on the current show to plug their newest movies, aren't we? B+

Royal Etiquette Coach - At first, I was trying to figure out whether this would be a retread of the Royal Baby Etiquette sketch with Martin Short or the frequent Queen Elizabeth/Prince Phillip sketches Hader and Armisen used to do circa 2010/11. Then, it became clear this wasn't going to resemble either of those and I began to wonder whether this was supposed to be a parody of "My Fair Lady", "Get Out", "Mary Poppins", or "Whiplash". Whatever it was, it really didn't seem to go anywhere. Again, I wanted to like this more for the sheer physically violent nature if it but I also wanted it to build to an actual conclusion. Also, is it just me or does it seem that Emma might have actually hit Leslie for real when she was stirring the teacup (or at least caused her to bit her lip or the inside if her cheek or sonething?) C+

The Perfect Mother - I could immediately tell this was going to be at least the fifth on a three season long string of short films consisting entirely of quick back and forth jump cuts. For some reason, this one felt a little longer than the others. I did like how Heidi was made to focal point of this. They really must be grooming her to be one of the next female leads with Cecily rumored to be leaving next week. I also liked the scene where she called the doctor about her baby eating five crayons. C+

Cinema Classics VI - I guess I shouldn't have expected as much as I did from something that established its basic premise as "two actresses both try to get in the last word in the same season". It had its moments and Kenan had some good lines (especially the ones about his wife making "mistakes" for dinner and bursting who wrote his closing dialogue), but stayed a little too close into Garth & Kat territory near the end. Given that this week's promos established how Kate was a huge fan if Emma's, this must be the requisite piece that Kate and whoever usually cowrites these Reese De'What sketches pitched to Emma as just a two-hander between her and Kate. C-

Chopped - This had to have been written by the same person who wrote the House Hunters sketch from Liev Schreibers' episode. It applied the same exsct sense of dry Tim and Eric-ish absurdity (but more watered down and cleaned up) to a parody if a different type of reality show. Anyways, it was the first thing all night I could really get into. My favorite gags were the "five pound horse penis" and the "raw" steak. B+

Judge Court - This was the second piece of the night I could actually get into. They seemed to have replaced the sheer absurdism in the last sketch with over confident incompetence and confusion but it still worked. I'm guessing Che wrote this given his apparent affinity for Judge Judy and possibly just daytime judge/court shows in general. Everyone turned in a funny individual performance here. Emma really disappeared into her role. She had a surprisingly good handle on the Long Island accent that Kate ran into the ground years ago. I did especially like the three ladies naming each thing they did/regularly do for each other. Until this sketch, I may have forgotten that the Jonas Brothers were even in the building tonight. They certainly felt awkwardly jammed into this sketch but they didn't bring it to a screeching halt or anything. B-

Update was pretty uneven, but there was fun to be had. I don't know if all of Jost and Ches' material was funny enough to warrant them giggling right out of the gate but I liked Josts' jabs at FOX News, the Florida panhandle rally, New Jersey, ("murderin' snake freaks") and Mitch McConnell for "looking like he's watching a man slowly drown". I also liked Ches' Jeff Bezos, baby name, China trade and Trump airline and "I Eat Ass" jokes (just for how he dumped the transition into Josts' lap like that which seems to be a recurring tradition for them now). Somehow, from the moment I heard Che utter the title "Avengers: Endgame" I could tell we were in store for another appearance from Heidi's teen YouTube movie critic. She and Che did seem to hit all the same beats as her previous appearances, but at least their breathing some life into this character by slowly revealing more absurd details about her life and inner thought process. I also liked her insinuation that "the Jonas Brothers wrote most of the show". Pete's commentary seems like it could've been cut from dress at any point during the last four seasons. Hell, it gave me flashbacks to the "living with my mom" jokes I saw Pete do live at the Comedy Works in Denver in October 2015. This had such an abrupt ending that I have to wonder if there was a good chunk of this cut at dress. C+

Teapot and the Beast - This felt like the show's first attempt at an at least semi-original "outside of the box" premise of the entire night. Still, this also seemed to end quite abruptly after it lost it's initial focus. Beck and Cecily don't seem quite right for the roles of Beast and Belle for some reason but I did like the fight they got into once Emma revealed the beasts' real name was Wilbur. Speaking of Cecily, it feels odd that this was her second to last sketch appearance of the whole night. Maybe she really is leaving and is thus being phased out gradually? I'm guessing someone felt they had to write this just because Emma Thompson was actually in the real life Beauty and the Beast remake two years ago? C-

Tracy - Oddly, this turned out to be my favorite sketch of the whole night. It was the only sketch the entire night that actually built to and actual conclusion. I also liked how they gave Ego a real part in something again. I also liked the slightly conceptual character focused writing behind this. It makes me think either Julio Torres/Bowen Yang wrote this or (since it was live and not taped) maybe Anna Drezen/Alison Gates collaborated on it. B+

Wait A Second, That Shouldn't Be There - This was another thing I wanted to like more than I did. It was executed well live, but something felt lacking in the writing. Plus the Harvey Weinstein joke felt too forced in. Emma was the real stand out in this for some reason. C+

Now, for my updated rankings of this entire season so far...


1. Adam Sandler/Shawn Mendes
2. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
3. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
4. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
5. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
6. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
7. Adam Driver/Kanye West
8. Emma Stone/BTS
9. Idris Elba/Khalid
10. Halsey
11. Kit Harrington/Sara Bareilles
12. Sandra Oh/Tame Impala
13. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
14. Emma Thompson/Jonas Brothers
15. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
16. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
17. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
18. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
19. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
20. Awkwafina/Travis Scott

Well, that was a bit of a strange show that I still don't quite know what to make of. Next week, Paul Rudd returns with DJ Khaled to close out the season. Rudd has repeatedly had to prove himself to be a solid dependable host so (and I know many people, myself included, have been making this exact joke on social media for almost a month now) I have to give SNL kudos for finally pairing up Rudd with a musical guest that can't possibly upstage him. Then again, people like Timberlake and even Rudds' own Anchorman cast mates were unannounced special guest cameos when he previously hosted and they each did steal focus from him in their own way. DJ Khaled is one of those guys who is obviously more of a producer than a performer so he might just hang in the background while his own possibly unannounced special guest performers (probably people along the lines of Drake, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B etc) purposely "overshadow" him. As long as anyone Khaled brings with him doesn't decide they want to be in sketches that week I think Rudd should be fine. I even entertained the possibility of Rhianna AND Samberg both returning for "Shy Ronnie 3" and Rudd joining them both but that's definitely a bit of a long shot in 2019. See you then!

Adam Sandler/Shawn Mendes (5.4.2019)

Okay, here's my review. This is definitely a strong contender for the single best show of this entire season. Sandler wasn't as disinterested or as disappointing of a host as I was picturing he was going to be. He fit in well with this cast and the staff played to his sensibilities well without completely abandoning their own. He clearly boosted morale around studio 8H this week. Still, the extra focus on him made most of the rest of the cast invisible. It felt like Kate, Kenan, Pete, Beck, Kyle and Mikey almost dominated the show this week and everyone else made just two sketch appearances tops. The show overall started off good, sputtered a bit post monologue and then picked up a lot of momentum near the end. Let's break it down, shall we?

Family Feud: Game Of Thrones vs. Avengers - I did like the C-SPAN/Barr whatever-the-opposite-of-bait-and-switch fakeout (hell, I was already expecting this weeks' cold open to be that for real to begin with even if it was kind of a thin story) and I usually like the Celebrity Family Feud sketches (if Kenan didn't just announce he was staying until at least 2020 I'd think this was another subtle hint he was leaving in two weeks) but I admit this does make me feel a little like I'm missing out on something here since I haven't any recent episodes of "Game Of Thrones" or any of the MCU flicks (don't worry, I'm not the type of guy who makes bragging about this his entire personality or anything). Still, I like that they wrote this in a way that makes it so you don't have to be so emotionally invested in these franchises to get any of the jokes besides the sheer aesthetics of Leslie as Groot, Beck as Thanos and Melissa as Arya Stark. Good on them for finding a role for Ego (even if she's playing the real version of a knockoff she portrayed in the last live show.) Plus, it feels a little weird to see a Family Feud sketch as the cold open with another group LFNY in this Trump era. Also, I'm a bit surprised that they didn't do anything Sandler centric for the cold open if they were going to go with something lighter on politics and heavier on current pop culture. I thought they would want to acknowledge Sandler's as early as they possibly could given that they were hyping up his first hosting stint ever in 24 years that it turned out to be. Still, even though it seemed like low hanging fruit for a show of SNLs' status and came across more like the type of Family Feud parody that MAD TV would do if it were still on today this was a decent way to sort of hook and reel in that segment of the audience who are bigger fans of Sandler and his era of the show than the current one and would thus be more put off by the show's current affinity for political humor than anything. B-

Monologue - It's nice to see they could write a monologue for Sandler that turned out to be exactly what I couldn't NOT picture an Adam Sandler hosting monologue to be (except I pictured him with a guitar instead of a microphone and I also pictured Spade making a walk on instead of Pete). Rock, is a surprisingly decent singer by the way. This was very funny and a great way to really get the show started for the longtime casual fans who are tuning in for the first time in decades just to see Sandler. It was also nice to see Sandler finally set the record straight on his departure from Studio 8H after hearing a few conflicting stories over the years. I also thought his cracks about Norm MacDonalds' advanced age and losing his virginity to the Church Lady behind the scenes at age 23 were real funny. A-

CNN Snapchat Report - This seemed like it was going to be a very one note piece once it got going but thankfully Beck and Sandlers' performances were able to breathe some life into it. Mikey was also in this, so I think it's safe to assume he and Streeter wrote this (especially because it reuses their trope of Cecily being the only news anchor taking the report seriously as opposed to co-anchor Beck as we saw when Margot Robbie introduced us to Matt Shatt and when Saiorse Ronan informed us of an explosion inside an American Girl doll store). C+

Clothes Are Holes - This was definitely the weakest segment of the night. It seemed like it was going to be a goofy song that would be right up Sandler's alley but he ended up appearing far too little and far too late into this for something that Beck and Kyle seemingly tailor made for him. While I liked how theatrical and over the top it was, I still found it to be far too long for it's own good. It was too repetitive for how extremely juvenile and one joke it was. The only thing really worth chuckling at was the "buttholes at your funeral" line. Beck and Kyle usually do well with absurdist surreal humor but they shouldn't ever try to go full Tim & Eric dadaist with it because they can't quite pull it off the same way. Still, I'd be interested to see what late '80s/early '90s era obscure art rock/medal video this had to have been based on. It suggests a mix of Kenny G, Bon Jovi and Guns N' Rose's. Who was playing the colonial law maker? D+

Romano Tours - Having seen the actual Ron Perillo Italian Tour as these are very loosely based on, I'm a bit surprised someone found a way to mine some comedy out of this. Still, it was very funny. It seemed to just expand one one simple premise in a similar way that the previous Good Neighbor piece did, but this was less an absurd, ironically minimalist observational piece and more of a premise based piece stemming from a very real part of the human condition. Plus, benefitted from having a LOT more substance to it to explore which kept it from being too long for it's own good. Strangely, Aidy and Kenan added more to it than Alex and Kate did. What particularly made me laugh was the yoga pose being labeled as "this" and the "sad you/can & cannot" charts. B-

Sandler Family Reunion - Well, mega kudos to whoever on the internet predicted they would literally do this exact thing. I mean, since they did it with Jim Carrey this seemed like the next logical step. Kyle and Mikey's impressions of generic Billy Madison era Sandler really made this for me as did Melissas' Waterboy. Shawn Mendes seemed awkwardly shoehorned into this sketch but it's nice to know he's something of a Sandler fan as well. I had this theory that Mendes was mostly booked as MG (and always oddly seems to be booked on the show right around the time Emma Stone hosts for some reason) because Sandler may have daughters who are fans of his music so it's nice to know they could be at SNL because they are mutual fans of each other. Pete and Beck did passable Little Nicky/Wedding Singer impressions. It's been so long since I've seen Happy Gilmore that I barely remember the character that Leslie was portraying but she was still entertaining nonetheless. Wiigs' first completely unexpected cameo of the night doing a bit from one of Sandler's albums was a somewhat welcome surprise. Fallon was someone I was much less surprised to see cameo on the show but his bit was all right. It seems natural that tonight of all nights he would do the impression that supposedly secured him his spot in the cast when he auditioned. I'm glad this was more focused on his movie career and not any of the sketch characters he did on this show. Those would've warranted their own separate sketches anyway which they wouldn't want to deprive the audience of or make it feel like overkill if they included in this. I also liked how much more straightforward and right-to-the-point this felt compared to the last two "(Host)'s Family Reunion" sketches which kinda dragged with all the references they tried to pack in. B-

Rectix - Well, we've ruled out everything else that Sandler, Smigel, Herlihy and Koren obviously did NOT write so this definitely has to at least be the second thing at least one of them wrote tonight. Strangely, it seemed to have some of the same crude sensibilities of most '90s era comedy but the production value and execution of SNLs' modern incarnation so there's a chance this could also be at least the partial brainchild of a current staff member as well. I did like how gradually they revealed that this "pill" was just a vibrating butt plug that is also, for some reason, dishwasher safe. B-

Update was consistently solid throughout. Jost and Che had great Barr material to start off with. The rest was a bit shaky but still good. Kate's Elizabeth Warren somehow gets funnier everytime they use her. I'm impressed by how they are able to write better and better material for her. After being on pins and needles throughout all of Update, I was glad my suspicions that they'd never let him get away with not doing Operaman turned out to be unfounded. This made my whole night complete as surreal as it was to see a now middle aged and unshaven Operaman in HD on the opposite side of the desk against an all blue background instead of an all white one. I especially liked how even the Trump jokes somehow didn't feel too forced or played out (probably given how Sandler made jokes about Trump as Operaman even when he was still in the cast and Trump was just a tacky, unfaithful NY real estate developer). Sadly, I'm not following the lead up to the NBA playoffs (or basketball in general right now) close enough to be able to appreciate the Draymond/Durant joke. The Rogen/Bernie/Biden jabs were also very funny. It was fun to see Adam call out Seth for stealing his old movie formula. That gave mr call backs to that Tom Hanks/Billy Madison joke from season 20. The Game of Thrones/HBO joke felt a little dated in 2019 for some reason (especially since it came after Josts' "10 HBOGO passwords joke") A-

Sheila Sovage IX - I should've seen this coming since Sandler does fit into the both the molds of the "generic older Male" and "comedy legend" type hosts they usually do these with. Wiigs' surprise appearance wasn't as much a hindrance to this as she seemed to restrain herself more here. Everyone turned in a string of solid sight gags as usual, especially Kenan. I do like that they are adding a little more variation to these as well by having Kate encounter different types of relationships. Last time with Schumer, it was some lesbian experimentation. This time, it's a threesome with a poly couple. C+

Chris Farley's Song - Even though this was lifted directly from his recent Netflix special (well, rewritten slightly to edit out the f-bombs and s-bombs for network television) it was a very touching, poignant and fitting way to end Sandler's first hosting stint. I guess the show ran long and they had to choose which if the last two pieces they were going to cut and naturally decided to take out whatever wasn't this song. He seemed a lot more visibly choked up singing this on SNL than he did on his Netflix special. I guess doing this song in the place where it all started for both of them hit him twice as hard.

Cut For Time: Chads' Journey (https://youtu.be/Ivxx_grnL2c) - They must've either cut this to make room for the Farley song or just because they did another "Chad" film fairly recently (the last time an alumni hosted two months ago) but I'm glad to see my vague prediction that Sandler and Davidson would play Father and son in something came to fruition. It was decent enough for something where Mikey had to do all the emotional labor and I liked how they vary the settings and dialogue more in these each time they try them. B-

Now for my updated rankings of the season so far...

1. Adam Sandler/Shawn Mendes
2. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
3. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
4. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
5. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
6. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
7. Adam Driver/Kanye West
8. Emma Stone/BTS
9. Idris Elba/Khalid
10. Halsey
11. Kit Harrington/Sara Bareilles
12. Sandra Oh/Tame Impala
13. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
14. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
15. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
16. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
17. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
18. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
19. Awkwafina/Travis Scott

Well, that turned out to be just about everything the show and it's audience needed right now. Next week, Emma Thompson makes her hosting debut after backing out during the year BEFORE Sandler and Farley got fired. She seems like a strong choice for a host, but for some reason she seems to me like one of those actresses who would be better suited to host in March/April or October/December rather than any of the Sweeps months but I guess she's hosting in May because this is when her new movie comes out (which also seems to be her first foray into even light comedy at all, as far as I know). The Jonas Brothers are her musical guest and I honestly can't tell whether they seem more out of place on the show now or ten years ago when they were first on as a group. Oh, well. See you then!