Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)

Okay, here's my review. This show is certain to age better than Chappelle's previous post-election episode of SNL did as it felt much less "of the moment" as a whole, but this one was WAY more uneven. This is most likely due to this being their sixth consecutive show in a row taking place on the week of an election where the results were dragged out for four whole days after words. Chappelle only making his presence known in his monologue and no more than two additional sketches also contributed to that feeling. This is understandable when you consider he was literally flying back and forth between New York and Atlanta throughout the week doing standup shows (and presumably working on his monologue in the process). I can understand why this felt like an early period Ebersol era episode as that period made the least use of its hosts possible. At times, it felt like Chappelle may have been working on a whole new show of his own that was an entirely different show than what the regular SNL staff was putting together. I say this because the sheer pacing of this episode was the thing that screamed "burnout" the most to me (they pretty much just gave Chappelle free reign for his monologue and went for small amounts of long segments) but hey, I applaud SNL for managing to put on six consecutive shows in the middle of a pandemic as safely as possible. Speaking of which, it seemed to be a good night for everyone cast-wise except for Chris Redd, the new featured players (even Punkie shockingly) and the two women who were absent due to conflicting shooting schedules. Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

CNN Election Results Continuation 2020 - Beck had plenty of good lines as Wolf Blitzer. I'd like to think he would've made a better John King if they didn't need him in the Wolf Blitzer role but I did like Alexs' hand prosthetics as John King. With the way this elections been dragged out, it's pretty much impossible to tell exactly how much of this cold open (if any) was rewritten since this morning. I'd like to think SNL learned their lesson on smugness from season 42 (around the last time Chappelle hosted, incidentally) but considering the election was literally called the morning of this show they may not have had the time to think much about that if it just dawned on them this week. That's good because it didn't look like the results of THIS election were going to backfire and bite them in the ass nearly as hard as 2016 did. Speaking of which, Carrey’s Biden still needs some serious work if they're actually going to stick with him for even the rest of this year let alone the next four but for all the unnecessary Carrey-isms he sneaks into his Biden, this was the only time a little Ace Ventura fan service felt appropriate. Maya did fine even though most of her lines seemed designed to milk as much applause from the audience as possible. Her wardrobe and the set dressing are the only things that even vaguely suggest they saw any of the victory speech but the fact that it aired live at a time when their own dress rehearsal was scheduled to be in progress says to me that they may have YouTubed it while waiting for the game to end. Baldwin's portion seems like it could've been written at any point in the week but I have to hand it to them because having his Trump sing "Hallelujah But It's Actually Just Macho Man" at the piano may have been the only genuinely funny thing they've done with the character. It was a fitting (hopefully) final performance for him but it certainly doesn't excuse him for holding up that sign at the goodnights saying "you're welcome." It's just too bad Chloe only got to debut her Kayleigh McEnenay (sp?) impression on the air at the literal last moment of its relevancy. Overall, the writing of this had enough of an "all-purpose" feeling to it to suggest there wasn't a massive overhaul of what they had planned. B-

Monologue - Well, I honestly didn't expect this Chappelle set to feel more somber than the one he did four years ago at the START of the Trump era but I can kinda see why they let him ramble on for approximately 28 minutes at the top of their sixth consecutive show. There's no way the writers' didn't hit their wall this week. It looks like the only people this may offend are  racist whites and some women and gay men (at the pay gap/Freddie Mercury lines). I appreciated him telling us about his great grandfather even though it was such a long walk to that "bought and sold" punchline it got the monologue off to a weird start. I did like the "lock up the murderous whites" comments as well as the "farmers only/did I say it or you?/wear your Klan hood as a mask at Walmart" comments. He bought up a good point with the Reagan/stimulus comparisons but he started to lose focus a bit at that point (especially since he veered toward some just OK Trump/Covid/Christie material that seemed to be a jumping off point to some mild shock laughs and then came back to it at the end). The "black niceness conspiracy" seemed like something he could've cut altogether if he didn't need it to transition into the "lessons" callback as his conclusions. All in all, I liked this monologue but it felt far too uneven in a way that I was not expecting. C+

Black Mascots - This was genuinely funny but it had its issues. It felt a little long and sloppy but again, hey...sixth show in a row. This also felt a little dated since the Aunt Jemima/Uncle Ben story was in the news over the summer (possibly late May around the time of the George Floyd protests, IIRC) but I can overlook that for a few reasons. First of all, this felt like an idea that someone had this summer that they just couldn't use until now. Maybe Micheal Che or Bryan Tucker came up with this but couldn't get it on the air until now and needed Chappelle to champion this to make it past the table read. Maybe Chappelle originally thought of this as a standup bit but found it just wasn't working on stage so he worked with Neal Brennan to rewrite it as a sketch. It does seem more like a Chappelle's show sketch (especially with him introducing it) than an SNL sketch. Chappelle's general performance and the "breast milk" line were enough to suggest to me this was the case. Plus, this was written in such a way that only Chappelle and Rudolph had the talent to put it over (although it was kind of a bummer that Chappelle had to rely on a voice modulator to pull off a Dennis Haysbert impression which he really should've wore a wig for but I totally get why he broke before even delivering his first line). Some assists from Kenan (who sadly kinda got washed off the screen for me) and a fourth wall breaking Pete helped too. As for Baldwin, well...after bring bombarded with portraying Trump both on (and seemingly off at times) the SNL stage it may take some time for me to come around to the idea of even seeing him do non-Trump/non-political material on the show. B+

Mario Memories - Well, I never thought I'd see a sketch where other cast members react in disgust to something Mikey overexplained but I guess he and Steeter wanted to try a different approach for once. That actually seemed to work in this sketches' favor seeing as the disgusted reactions from Kenan, Ego, Melissa and Bowen really made this for me. Other than that, it felt like it went on longer and felt more bogged down in unnecessary details than I would've liked. Also, congratulations to Cecily on getting another voiceover check this week. C+

Take Me Back - This felt like Beck playing a type of character we see him play frequently but Ego's reactions to his increasingly dire revelations were what sold this for me. Ego really has a knack for finding a strong chemistry with this show's male cast members. B+

Update felt pretty short because they only really talked about one thing. Maybe they were just too exhausted to write jokes about anything else or they had to write all of it on Friday. Either way, I had no problem with the material they came up with. It was nice to see Colin use international celebration footage to subtly gloat without really gloating and it was even better to see Colin devolve into unclipped tie drinking for happy reasons rather than soul crushing ones. Kate's Guiliani is more watchable as the lead character in her own standalone segment as opposed to a larger Trump related sketch even if the material is about the same (the cut for time piece from David Harbours' episode also proved this). B-

Albany Hailstorm - This was a premise that almost felt a little too low key (and vaguely familiar) for its own good. The performances really heightened that. It felt like it was gonna go on longer than it did at first but it seemed like they knew when to end it. Surprisingly, Ego had less onscreen chemistry here with Alex than she did with Beck in the pretape. C-

DC Morning - Wow, Ego plays two different local anchor women in live sketches in a row. It's fitting that Chappelle was in this because it feels just like something Chappelle's show would do. Maybe this was another standup bit he reworked into a sketch? I can understand if it's not because it feels a little Jost/Che-ish as well. Also, congrats to SNL for not only getting two G-D bombs on the air but getting it on the air in print once as well even though it doesn't even touch his previous record. C+

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

1. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
2. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
3. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
4. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
5. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
6. Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)

Well, that was a fitting end to SNLs' longest consecutive run of shows. Next week is their first week off and as of this writing, no one knows when they'll be back. Some are speculating December 5th but I think we can all agree they've more than earned the next two months off at least. See you soon!

John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)

Okay, here's my review. This episode got off to a rather frustrating start but it ended up being pretty fun overall. When I heard John Mulaney was inevitably going to host for his fourth time this season, I honestly felt like I was getting just a little burnt out on him but I hoped this show would be better than his previous one. It was better, but it felt like it merely made some minor improvements on the new template for John Mulaney hosted SNL episodes that his previous show established. At first, it felt like this show was going to be exactly like his last one and it was but this one ended up being a lot more enjoyable of an experience. Sadly, I was hoping this episode would more follow the templates for his first two episodes than his third one. His first two episodes contained very little topical material outside of Update and filled the void with very writerly sketches. Some of which gave the new underused featured players a chance to shine while others he dug out of mothballs simply because they were among his favorite dress rehearsal cuts that he always wanted to see make it to air and only now can he get them on as host. Both of his 2020 episodes were the complete opposite of this and felt like he was just dragged-and-dropped into SNLs’ template for typical modern episodes with far less creative input due to last minute scheduling conflicts and other hosts having to suddenly drop out because of them. Given the circumstances surrounding this particular season, that’s completely understandable. This time, I heard they allowed HIM to reschedule from last week to this week. I thought this could mean we could get one of Mulaney’s previous types of shows since it might give him some more lead time to plan and work out his ideas but that was foolish of me. It’s just very disappointing to me to see John Mulaney gradually turn into the Justin Timberlake of this SNL era. Both are popular well loved hosts (particularly to young people on the internet and social media) whose first two shows got enough strong press and positive buzz for the show that they easily got comfortable resting on their laurels each time they came back and doing the same types of sketches hitting the exact same beats over and over again. Timberlake is a pop star turned film actor so with him it’s understandable but Mulaney is MUCH more of a creative type with a mind geared much more toward the mechanics of modern comedy and a much deeper behind the scenes connection to SNL and it’s hard to watch Mulaney seemingly NOT taking advantage of the upper hand he has over Timberlake (who in my much younger days I grew very vocally sick of seeing pander to the crowd in each of his later episodes by constantly playing his own “greatest hits” in a way similar to what Mulaney is just starting to do now despite both of them being strong presences on the show). Cast airtime seems a little more evened out from last week with only Dismukes being completely shut out (man, you’d think Mulaney could write something for him, huh?) and Punkie and Ego being relegated to only pretapes. Kate, Kenan, Chris and Mikey seemed to dominate the show with everyone else only getting to appear in only one or two pieces tops while Cecily and Aidy remain out on assignment. Anyway, let’s get into it. Shall we?

The Biden (with sincere apologies to Edgar Allen Poe) - Well, I was expecting them to do something that combined the election with the fact that today is in fact Halloween but at least this wasn't quite as lazy  as I was expecting it to be. It was meandering and a bit drawn out and unfocused but certainly not lazy. Thankfully, they threw in a few things I wasn't totally expecting to liven things up a bit just when it got to the point where it felt like they just took some randos' Twitter thread where they tried to write a parody of SNL'S current approach to political humor and just decided to stage that. Speaking of which, the Trump Jr/Triggered reference seems like they’re just BEGGING right wing media outlets to bust their balls. I did like how they chose to dunk on Lil Wayne and Ice Cube. Plus, Beck as Mitch McConnell explaining his "old man purple" hand condition was the only genuine laugh I got from this. Kate’s walk-on as Hillary is sure to please the same type of online SNL fans who are genuinely excited to see Mulaney on again like THIS is actually his first time hosting and possibly bum everyone else out. Even Carrey as Biden seemed a bit more restrained than usual (although his putting on sunglasses and calling himself a “baller” just HAS to be intentional self parody on SNLs’ part). Of course Mikey and Maya were also there and the only line of Mayas’ I liked was the one about Walmart suddenly stopping their sale of guns. C+

Monologue - This felt exactly as unfocused as the cold open did but it still had its moments. I liked his bit about being unable to overhear conversations on the street when people are wearing their masks. Then, Mulaney kinda lost me with all the Governor Cuomo material but he one me back with the whole “elderly man contest” thing. He lost me again with the sleepover rant but got me back on board with the whole grandma/greatest generation tirade (even as much as that drivers’ license story seemed unfocused he had a strong conclusion after that). Basically, Mulaney successfully pulled off the same type of monologue that Bill Burr was going for with seemingly much less sharply divisive material. Mulaney can’t hope to ever divide the audience as hard as Bill Burr did because he’s such a perfect fit for modern SNL having worked there for so long and having proven himself to be a valuable host. Another thing this had going for it was that it was a monologue that was actually longer than the cold open for once. However, I do feel like people who may have been expecting Mulaney's stand up material (not that I'm one of those people necessarily) to provide a brief respite from current events are going to be sorely disappointed but I’m sure Mulaney still has enough young, die hard fans who he can do no wrong in the eyes of that there will be minimal disappointment with this monologue. B-

The Birds - This felt like a standup bit Mulaney was workshopping but decided to turn it into a sketch after discovering it just never worked on stage so he and the writers decided to reformat it into the predictable paint-by-numbers beats of these recurring Reese De’What sketches (since it worked for him once already with that whole Sound Of Music thing). I wanted to like this more because of how playfully chaotic it felt (and for some of the heavy Falconer vibes I got from it) but I strangely don't feel like the material was worth the strong technical execution they expertly pulled off for it. I’m tempted to say it felt like a season 20 sketch but it wasn’t THAT lazy. I don't like how it felt as meandering and unfocused as the rest of the show but I did like Kenans' meta line about how this "lost footage" added and extra day's worth of running time to the film. Yep, these sketches may be becoming to Mulaneys' episodes what the Barry Gibb Talk Show was to Timberlakes' run. C+

Strollin' - It took a while for this to get going but once it got there you could start to appreciate it for what it was. It takes some extremely likable performers to make a Bruno Mars style groove all about black voter suppression and intimidation seem pleasant and fun but hey, that's just a testament to the strength of SNL'S current black cast. B-

Sleepy Hollow, 1790 - I guess this was the sketch that picture posted on Reddit was from? I was expecting either a Hamilton parody or a Lord Of The Rings sketch and part of me was glad we didn't get either of those. I wasn't crazy about how much of a crude premise this was either but thankfully Becks' sheer commitment and Johns' sheer anachronistically meek presence sold this one for me. Some small assists from Pete and Mikey didn't hurt either. I especially liked Johns’ “mouth on your dingus” line as well as his and Pete’s “puritans, homie” and “Goodie Chastity” two hander. Call me crazy, but I think this may have been written by the same writers who wrote the Uncle Meme sketch for Pete and John back in February (or possibly Jost/Che if not them) rather than Lorne himself. C+

Thank You, New York - OK, this was just Kate having seen one or more particularly colorful old women out in the streets in New York and wanting to develop an impersonation of her, right? Without Kate, this would've just been an actual genuine PSA made by SNL'S cast for some reason. Still, I guess they gotta use Kate while they can. Also, since Mulaney wasn’t in this I do have to wonder if this had gotten cut from any of this seasons/ previous dress rehearsals? D+

Update was pretty uneven. I can't say I've ever seen Jost get the audience to boo him just by playing a clip of something particularly outrageous Trump said and then actually get in a few decent dunks on him so that was an interesting way to start. Plus, Jost seemed to have better material than Che the whole night. I wasn’t crazy about his “rappers are not black leaders” and “constipated accountant” jokes but at least his delivery put them over. The rest of their jokes kinda just washed over me aside from the police suspensions/party lines/Panera Pizza jokes. I’m not crazy about how they bought back Kyles’ Baby Yoda just to make him an even bigger central casting Gen Z dickhead. Frankly, I’m disappointed that this was Kyles’ only appearance in the whole show but I did chuckle at his threat to straight up murder Baby Groot. C+

New York Souvenir Shop – I knew exactly what this was going to be once I saw the words “New York” in red neon lights at the top of what looked to be a store display. Yep, these sketches have definitely become to Mulaneys' episodes what the "Omletteville/Homelessville/Plasticville/Liquorville/Veganville" sketches were to Timberlakes' run. Part of me was hoping that they would avoid doing a fourth one of these but I guess the previous three got big YouTube hits after the initial buzz that Diner Lobster got (it didn't quite land with me but it's two follow ups were okay) and this cast and writing staff is full of big theater geeks (Mulaney must also be one himself). At least this one had a pleasant message of unity to offset the mild gross out humor that tends to inspire these. This contained my least favorite of the four “one…singular sensation” parodies I’ve ever heard in my life (still can’t say I’ve ever heard the whatever the original is all the way through yet) and my second favorite “hey big spender” parody I’ve ever heard. Kate definitely sang the better of the two (!) “Send In The Clowns” parodies this show has done in 2020 alone (right before the last time Mulaney hosted, incidentally). I could’ve done without Beck’s part entirely. I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what song Maya was parodying (I’ve heard it’s something made famous by Elaine Stritch?) she may have given the strongest performance of the night but it’s nice to see her finally get some recognition applause in her obligatory post cold open/non-Kamala appearance of the night. Thankfully, besides Maya this had fewer cameos for the sake of cameos than Airport Sushi did. Honestly, the only real bummer of this one is that it was Alex and Melissas’ only appearance of the entire night. C+

Uncle Meme II: Meme Harder - Oh, boy. Well, I actually did like the first one of these they did in February and I liked John's commitment in this one. However, because this had to be so rushed and edited at the last minute (due to this literally being the last sketch in the show) the only real laugh I could get from this was when Pete exposed John's character for being a prison dating creep at the very end. C+

Now, for my updated rankings of all of Mulaney’s episodes so far…

1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett (3.2.2019)
2. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
3. John Mulaney/Jack White (4.14.2018)
4. John Mulaney/David Byrne (2.29.2020)

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

1. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
2. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
3. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
4. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
5. Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)

Well, I guess it’s quite fitting that the man who just earlier this year hosted SNLs’ first ever leap day show would also end up hosting their first Halloween night show in 18 years (and fourth one over all). This also happens to be SNLs’ last show before the election and next week, Dave Chappelle will host SNLs’ (hopefully) first post election show of 2020 just like he did four years ago. Some people might say that it’s “tempting fate” or a “bad omen” but this year it looks like there might be other factors involved in this outcome. Plus, I personally quite enjoyed Daves’ 2016 episode which was widely regarded as the one of the best of season 42. He’s also a strong host who (until now) has only hosted once. He should be a welcome presence who is far from wearing out his welcome (which is actually a little bit more than I can say for the guy who just hosted tonight, so…) Hey, I think this season might be attempting to break the record for most standup hosts in one season that was previously set by season 43 (if I’m not mistaken and if I am I encourage you to correct me here in the comments or on Twitter or Discord). See you then! Don’t forget to vote, everybody!

Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)

 Okay, here's my review. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard Adele was going to host this show. I must have been expecting something a little less low key. Pop starts usually make for fun hosts but Adele is a much older, more mature pop star so she wasn’t as over the top as some of the younger ones who had famously made their mark on the show. She held her own so well and was such a charming presence that I didn’t even really mind that she seemed to play slight variations on herself (when she wasn’t literally playing herself) on the show. This episode was about on the same level of quality as last weeks’ but after four consecutive weeks, I’d say some of the cracks are starting to show even if no fatigue has fully set in yet. Still, I guess this is to be expected when Adele was apparently a last minute replacement for a completely different host (more on that at the end). Generally, the show was slightly more uneven than last week. Even the casts’ airtime reflects that as Kyle Mooney was practically invisible while Melissa Villasenor made her first substantial live appearance in almost an entire month. Meanwhile, Punkie and Andrew were relegated to their one appearance each being in the same pretape while Lauren’s live airtime increased and Cecily and Aidy continue to literally be absent. Speaking of, I was actually gonna say something like “man, of all the weeks for Aidy to miss a show” until I realized that Adele doesn’t look a thing like Aidy anymore and looks more like Cecily now who will ALSO be missing this weeks’ show. Everyone elses’ airtime stayed virtually the same. Anyway, let’s break it down, shall we?

NBC Presidential Debate - Well, for starters, I'm glad to see they just had Maya play Kristin Welker rather than Kamala Harris. That was definitely the right move. It probably wouldn't have hurt to focus just a little bit more on her and a little less on Baldwin and Carrey. At least with their material you could tell the writers realized they a little more focused on the substance of this debate and tried to be a little less broad and simplistic this time as there were less silly distractions and disruptions than the first one. In fact, I was expecting them to give us something similar to the 2012 debates here (the Vice Presidential ones in particular) which they pretty much did. Even Baldwin as Trump was more tolerable this time (I did like the Army Vaccine cannon and ventilator jokes as well as how he seemed to focus on some of the real Trumps' whiny vocal tics a little more) but the cameo from Kates' Guiliani seemed to tacked on at the last minute for me. They even gave Carreys' Biden stronger material but what frustrated me is they gave him quite a few lines that Sudekis or Harrelson would've killed with. The whole "Delaware night out" and "Obamacare/Bidencare" rants as well as his calling out Baldwin’s Trump on his inconsistent attacks on him are perhaps the best examples of this. During the latter he almost even broke. Hell, I liked the idea of his "Eastwooding it" bit if they hadn't botched that along with the needless double takes. I also wanted to like the Biden Bingo bit more even though it's a carbon copy of a joke the had Kate as Hillary do four years ago in Tom Hanks' last real episode. I'd say that this confirms my theory that most people's problem with Carrey as Biden us that he's just a far less likeable performer (hell, just a far less likable celebrity in general at this point) than Jason Sudekis and Woody Harrelson (the former of which SNL audiences are FAR more used to seeing in this role). Plus, Sudekis played Biden when the real Biden was possibly under the least amount of public scrutiny in his political career and in an era when people were less PC and culturally sensitive than they are now. Harrelson played Biden after he came under some allegations of borderline sexual harassment and racial insensitivity but he and the writers worked that into his short lived portrayal (as they did with Sudekis when he briefly returned) and Woody worked in some of Bidens' general old man folksiness in a way that seemingly came natural to him as a performer but still indicated he took his portrayal just as seriously as public perception required of the show. The way the show is handling Carrey in the role seems to suggest the writers agree that this isn't the best idea in the world right now but are too afraid to bring it up to Lorne out of fear of losing their jobs mid-pandemic and are overthinking it, trying way too hard to play it as safe as possible with Carrey. Frankly, I'm starting to believe the rumor that Carrey has only heard the real Joe Biden speak only once. This isn't saying much but by default, this might just have been my favorite debate sketch of the 2020 election cycle because it suggests the show is "winding down" on its' heavy political coverage in more ways than one. C+

Monologue - We have only really seen Adele twice in public since her weight loss. I'll admit, seeing her like this took me some getting used to so it's nice to see she has adjusted her personal sense of fashion and style accordingly. I probably should have expected her to do a low-key personal, sincere season 44 type of monologue like this one. I expected her to joke around a little more but considering this is their fourth of a planned six (and now suddenly seven) consecutive shows without any weeks off. I'm sure the writers were glad to just let Adele speak from the heart in a tone that suggests "dry British wit" more than anything else at this point rather than try to write awkward jokes for her. Speaking of which the “travelling light/half of me” joke didn’t quite land with me and the giant swear jar almost didn’t either but thankfully Kenan was able to save that one. It’s also nice to see Adele giving off a general vibe that she's currently in a good place in her life and she'll be a quietly confident host. This got the show off on the right foot so far. B+

2019 Psychic - Even though Kate's character seems to be an exact cross between Dr. Wayne Weknowdis, Olga Povlatsky and her old "kiss" lady, I liked her performance and how premise driven this was. The idea of people living in last year reacting to being told what this year would be like has been thankfully unexplored until now. The worst thing I can say about this sketch is that it felt a little labored and the obligatory Jeffrey Toobin joke was a little drawn out. I did like the J.K. Rowling jab as tacked on as that felt. Also, it’s pretty obvious that the dress rehearsal take of this is what they put on YouTube. B-

The Haunted Manor - I guess we were due for another "Chad" piece in the early part of this season. As formulaic as these always were, they still have their moments and in the more recent ones they throw in something a little different each time to shake up the usual "Chad" formula. Plus, another recurring piece like this allows the writers to conserve some of their energy from the next two weeks. Also, Adeles' character being a ghost seems like the production of this allowed for plenty of green screening and proper social distancing. I did like the "Where's Waldo" joke and the twist ending. C+

The Bachelor – I usually like SNL’s reoccurring Bachelor parodies (that they do in January when ABC actually airs new seasons of the show) and I'm glad they broke the established format of the previous ones where they just parade each female cast member out one by one. Having Adele just play herself is funny enough as a twist on its own. Having her sing here instead of the monologue like most musician hosts (especially non-double duty ones) was a decent change of pace. The only things I can say this had going against it is that it seemed like a premise any local YouTube sketch group could have done five or eight years ago (although learning that former SNL writer Chris Kelly may have come back this week to write this may have contributed to that feel as he came to SNL from Funny Or Die originally) and that in order for this premise to really work you may have to ignore the fact that Adele is now a divorced mom so you don't end up wondering whether she's too focused on herself and being a mom to even think about getting another man into her life right now. That mental energy is probably best left to wondering whether or not she actually just got away with singing "and I'll lay your shit bare" on live television or if you misheard her. I also thought this ended on a touching note with Adele wandering into the audience. B-

Trump Addicts Of America - I liked this at first as the twist seemed to be SNL poking a little fun at itself (even if they unintentionally threw a little red meat out there for their conservative critics). Then, it just seemed like the show, the network and just the American news media cycle in general admitting to an uncomfortable truth about itself and potentially sending the wrong message. Still, the performances and subtle characterizations were what really sold it. C-

Update was saved by its own self aware cheesiness tonight. Jost and Che's debate/Guiliani/Borat material seemed a little too forced for my liking but they made up for it by reacting to several of their own jokes in a "joke exchange" like format. It's nice to see Melissa Villaseñor finally get to make a live on air appearance four weeks into this season. I'm sure letting her work out some standup at the desk made up for that. Still, I have to say her Fleetwood Mac parody/Stevie Nicks impression was the only thing I was that crazy about. The Village People segment was just cheesy and over the top enough to work well for me. I guess this was the thing that the guys were rehearsing with a choreographer for in that Instagram post from Keith Ray Wood? I do appreciate how the YouTube version of that feature put the lyrics at the bottom of the screen. B-

Nursing Home - I was a little nervous about this sketch once it was established that Maya (as an nursing home resident in her obligatory non-political late in the show role of the week) was to be shouted at from a balcony. Thankfully, there turned out to be more substance to this as it went along. I eventually came around on the premise of young people having to explain increasingly complex life situations to a safely socially distanced retiree. I'm sure everyone can relate to that on some level. I also liked how Maya seemed to be playing a more doddering, more ethnically ambiguous and less Southern fried version of her "Bless The Harts" character and quickly revealed she blew all her inheritance. This sketch ended at just the right point and didn't feel too long either. C+

Tourism Board Of Africa - I wasn't crazy about this as it was pretty much the exact same type of piece Kate has been doing endlessly with Aidy for the past few years. The only difference here is that in Aidy's absentia they clearly just dropped Adele and Heidi into the role she would've gotten. Honestly, the only thing this sketch did have going for it was Adele breaking much harder than even Jimmy Fallon ever did on this show (which is actually charming appropriate here as Adele is clearly not the seasoned sketch comedy veteran that Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant are supposed to be). D+

Ass Angel Perfume Jeans - I'm really not sure what this was going for and the audience didn't seem to know what to make of it either. It seemed like something Tina Fey collaborated on with Tim and Eric. I gave it a chance and I really wanted to like it more after realizing it was basically just a scaled back “Happy Fun Ball For Women” but just set about seven years earlier but something still felt a little off for me. I think there’s a definite possibility that this was made from a left over 04-05 script since Maya’s in it and I can easily picture Amy Poehler and Will Forte in Adele and Beck Bennet’s parts respectively. I guess the thing I liked most about it was how it was the first sketch where Adele attempted a different accent than her own. She handled that well and I suppose this being a pretape helped. D+

Now, for my updated rankings of this season…

1. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
2. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
3. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
4. Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)

Well, that defied my expectations. Next week, John Mulaney makes his fourth appearance as host. I like John Mulaney just fine and he’s always a welcome presence at the show but I feel like social media and the comedy world in general has bene oversaturated with him to the point where we might be suffering from Mulaney fatigue (especially since his last episode was so weak compared to his first two but hopefully he’ll bring out enough old scripts and feature the new cast in big enough showcases to make up the difference) Still, part of me was expecting him to host sometime this season as SNL is having to resort to getting friends of the show who either already live in New York or are willing to quarantine there for two weeks if they can travel to host due to COVID restrictions. Plus, I had heard he was already scheduled to host this week but had to reschedule. It really speaks to the strangeness of our times that SNL got Adele to replace John Mulaney as host (who may have already had to replace Issa Rae back in February as evidence by his last episode feeling the least like it was in his “voice” and more like he was just another interchangeable host just dragged-and-dropped into an average season 45 episode) and ONLY as host because they already had a different musical guest. Oh well, see you then!

Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)

Okay, here’s my review. This was honestly the strongest show of the season so far. After two shows that were deemed heavily divisive it’s nice to see SNL produce a consistently enjoyable show with a host who did well in sketches and seems like she could easily be asked back. Issa did a great job and the show made much better use of its’ cast. Everyone got to participate in some form or another tonight even if they couldn’t be there in person. Anyway, let’s break this down, shall we?

Dueling Town Halls (YEEHAH!) – I honestly didn’t have the time to watch either of Thursdays’ town halls but this cold open kinda made me wish I had. Carrey seems to have sharpened his portrayal of Biden just when I thought he was slipping into just playing him as a generic pleasant Abe Simpson type. It certainly helps that he’s perfected his Biden squint. I did like Mr. Rogers/Bob Ross bits and his back and forth with Redd when wrapping up his 1939 Worlds’ Fair story. After seeing Carrey turn his Biden into Jeff Goldblum, Mr. Rogers AND Bob Ross, it’s still nice to see he (and the quick change people from SNL’s wardrobe department who really seemed to be at the top of their game compared to last season) can bring something different to the role (essentially making Carrey’s Biden like a living Family Guy cutaway but in a good way without making it too cartoony). Alexs’ brief shot with a blanket and warm milk would’ve been funnier had they not included him seemingly every time they cut back to Bidens’ whole audience. Speaking of cast cameos, nice to see Melissa actually get some screentime as brief as it was after literally being absent the last two weeks. Egos’ twerking cameo was the only part of the Trump segments that didn’t completely wash over me (mostly because after seeing Lauren Holts’ character was seemingly seen in a split screen before she was supposed to be visible which they managed to fix by the time they reaired this episode on the same two hours later because my NBC affiliate is one of the ones that does that I was wondering if it was intentional or a green screen glitch until Mayas’ Kamala acknowledged it in a pleasant but seemingly forced cameo). Upon a second viewing it seems Baldwin actually got in a few sharp jabs at Trump. The fact that Trump spent the last three years playing a very rote, stilted, clipped Trump in the exact same way week after week without changing anything because he couldn’t be bothered to do so by that point is really the only thing that warrants my praise of Carrey’s Biden from five run on sentences ago. He must still purely be motivated by the thought of Trump losing the election at this point. He even seemed like he might have broke during Egos’ bit which, to his credit, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him do as Trump before. I heard Savannah Guthrie really held Trumps’ feet to the fire at this so of course they would have Kate “yas kween”-ing it up as her. Also, kudos to SNL on their first mention of Candace Owens and (IIRC) their first real attempt to get a jab in at QAnon? Kudos to Melissa for getting her first (and sadly only) three seconds of airtime this season so far. Chloe channeling Linda Belcher from Bobs’ Burgers’ as a rabid Trump fan was another highlight. I also liked the brief Earth animation at the end. Well, even though the scheduled debate fell through due to Trump contracting COVID, Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin and Maya Rudolph were all apparently contractually obligated to have their whole Octobers’ free so they did the biggest news story of the week that involved the candidates each of them portray anyway (in the most predictable way they could’ve but still somehow made it fun, even moreso than last week) since the Amy Coney Barrett hearings turned out to not be that big of a deal on account of her being far less emotional than Kavanaugh, I guess? B-

Monologue – Issa Rae pretty much delivered the same type of Phoebe Waller-Bridge style solo-but-not-quite-standup monologue I was expecting from her. Plus, for the first time this season the audience actually sounded like they were small enough to be properly socially distanced. That and the overall decent quality of this episode makes me feel much better about actively supporting the show in general. I noticed Issa mentioned she was supposed to host back in March. Unless she backed out early or something, I’m guessing she meant April since we already saw Daniel Craig host the last pre-pandemic live show back in March and John Krasinksi was booked next and Bill Burr apparently admitted on his podcast he was originally booked to host in April. Other than that, she seemed to just be talking about how the success of her show “Insecure” has raised her professional profile and boosted her career. I liked her comments about the poor timing of her shows late 2016 premiere the most and her seemingly encouraging people to mistake her for Mary J. Blige. Other than that, this monologue seemed to lack some focus but after Bill Burr it was nice to get a bit of a pallet cleanser and see someone who clearly fits better into the modern SNL mold and alienated precisely no one in the cast or audience. Issa seemed a lot less nervous than she said she was and didn’t even let the small, less responsive audience of tonights’ episode give the impression that they weren’t on her side. She did quite well and didn’t let anything stop her. B-

Bonjour Hi – This is a very different sketch for this era of SNL. I can’t really speak to the accuracy of the accents. Kate has proven to be able to handle French accents expertly in the past so no surprises there. Issa Rae surprised me a little as this is probably the last thing I expected her to be doing on the show but she pulled off a believable French accent. They had some pretty funny writing for her character as well. Bowens’ seemed a little off but I was amused enough by his performance in general enough that I really didn’t care. He seemed more like he wanted to show off his ability to SPEAK actual French than do the accent but it worked for me. He gave me strong flashbacks to Fred Armisens’ character “Leonard” from those Euro-centric “Club Traxxx” sketches from seasons 28 and 29. I wonder if Maya got as strong flashbacks to that as I did since she was in the building tonight and also in those sketches with Fred? I was a little surprised when Mikey’s character (that was seemingly written with him in mind specifically) was introduced as I was expecting Chance The Rapper to reprise his Lazlo character the way the sketch was going. I only expected him because I had seen his tweet about making a cameo on tonights’ show just to perform on the song Beiber had him featured on. Either way< I was pleased with what we got here. B+

Five Hour Empathy – I heard about this seemingly getting cut from dress rehearsal one of these last two shows. I like how fresh and inventive of a concept this felt and how perfectly it was executed. A-

Homeless Date Interruptions – Just when I was expecting a low-key slice of life sketch, Kenan, Pete and Bowen go all Anton/Buddy Valentine/Kevin Aquarius/Macy Gray/Whoopi Goldberg on us out of nowhere. I also liked how they just pulled out and showed us everyone intentionally breaking character as the sketch ended the exact way it was supposed to. The whole shows’ been pretty strong pre-Update so far. B+

Update was very fun even if it was seemingly carried by the guest commentators. Honestly, Jost and Ches’ best moment was when they broke out into a low key unintentional “joke exchange” in between the final two Update commentaries. Che’s came out swinging with the jab at NBC “having a type” (w/Cosby, Lauer and Trump) but nearly negated that when he implied that people were actually considering voting for Kanye as an alternative to Trump or Biden. He won me back with that QAnon/Lexington Steele (another odd “first” in terms of references for tonights’ show). All of Josts’ solo jokes kinda washed over me. It’s good to see Mikey and Alex can still build on their chemistry together while Alex is building brand new previously unseen (on SNL at least) chemistry with Chloe. The Trump bros still work and Chloes’ Carvey like caricature of Tiffany really adds something different in the mix. I liked Alex “zoom meeting/I was muted/white trash/hand sanitizer/debt” jokes even though they felt like they should’ve been telegraphed. Aidy’s remote segment was very brief but a very good use of her while she was in Oregon starting filming on season three of “Shrill” this week. Heidis’ 80s cocaine wife didn’t do much for me at first. It didn’t stand out too much from her previous Update characters to me but it built to something very worthwhile given the chance. I especially liked how Heidi acknowledged that she’d only known Che for three minutes. B-

Your Voice Chicago – This seems like it’s just last weeks’ “Blitz” sketch thrown in a blender with last seasons’ “Mid Day News” with some “How’s He Doin?” sprinkled in. Still, like Heidis’ Update piece it builds to something great if you just give it a chance. The audience isn’t quite giving it the reaction it deserves though given how low key and “writerly” it seems. I did see someone I follow online mention that this sketch may have been based on a comment she made at a recent awards show that she will actually “vote for everybody black” and that she could’ve helped write it. If so, kudos for her for having the best sense of humor about herself out of any SNL host in recent memory. Redd, Punkie and Mayas’ parts were funny. I also like how Maya just feels like she’s back in the cast again given that her non-Kamala roles get buried late in the show with no recognition applause from the audience. Also, kudos to SNL for (IIRC) their first “Diamond and Silk” parody? I do have to wonder how the real ones are going to react? C-

Issa & Kyles’ Dance Off – This reminded me a lot of the breakdancing short Kyle did in his first season with Beck. In fact, it reminds me a lot of all the season 39 era Good Neighbor shorts in general so it’s good to see Kyle return to his roots in his (presumably) final season. I liked the TLC “No Scrubs” homage and Chance and Andrew had funny cameos as well (but Andrews’ bit felt a little too “real” honestly in a way I’ll explain at the end of this review). C+

Jack Flats – I liked seeing the show close out with a high energy performance from Beck, Kyle and Andrew. I also liked how they took a real conceptual Mr. Show/Whitest Kids U’Know type approach to satirizing these anti-mask/”liberate” protestors who can’t even manage to kidnap any of their local elected officials without even tipping off the FBI. I like how the militia guys are seemingly more preoccupied with the food and the waitstaff teasing you than anything else and are very aggro about it. At first, when Beck bought Kenan into the frame I thought one of them made the other break unintentionally until Kenans’ “playgrounds” line and I saw he was playing an intentionally goofy character and Beck just stumbled over his line. Andrew Dismukes did a great job in his first substantial sketch role but the way he played it did remind me a lot of how Beck, Kyle and Pete play certain roles (especially in his emotional breakdown). He did great, but I’d like to see how he does in the cast after Beck, Kyle and Pete leave so he doesn’t run the risk of being cancelled out in the “young goofy guy” roles. Thankfully, Lauren seemed much less Aidy like in her cameo than she did in her brief parts in the premiere with Chris Rock. Honestly, the only real bummer about this sketch was that Melissas’ opening voice over was only her second appearance in this episode. A-

eBay – This was another pretape based on a rather off-the-beaten-path COVID/Quarrantine related concept that was execute well. Heidi, Chris and Ego were great in it but…if you knew how many vintage back issues of MAD, CRACKED and CRAZY I myself bought from that site in the last two months (for clearly the opposite reason of “bettering myself”), you’d know why that episode hits just a little too close to home for me. I also liked how they used Cecily for the voiceover so she technically appeared in this episode remotely as well. C+

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

1.       Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)

2.       Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)

3.       Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)

Well, it’s great to see SNL getting back into its’ groove as it successfully produced its’ first three live in studio episodes since the pandemic began. What worries me now is that no host or musical guest for next weeks’ show had even been announced on air as of this writing. I’m not sure I believe the rumor on Twitter from yesterday that Anne Hathaway was going to be next weeks’ host with Sam Smith as musical guest. Unless one or both of them had to cancel back in September, that seems like something they would’ve announced way ahead of time on social media as either of them would be the biggest “gets” the show could have this season at this point. Plus, neither of them seem like they’d be willing to travel to NYC two weeks early just to quarantine beforehand. There’s another rumor about a potential host for next week. It’s kinda been put out there by the girls who host the SNL Standby Line podcast so out of respect for them (and also because I personally find it to be a strange rumor myself) I’m not going to divulge that information here on my own blog. So, I encourage you to seek that out yourself if you know their handles (one of the hosts’ personal account is set to private). The ending to Issa and Kyles’ pretape (where Andrew Dismukes informs Kyle that he had just tested positive for Covid) made me briefly consider the very real possibility that either someone already working in 8H or a possible 10/24 host or musical act could’ve already done so leading to the next two weeks of shows’ already having been cancelled. I guess we’ll just have to wait for some kind of official press release from NBC or social media posts from the shows’ official accounts before we can be 100% sure. The last time the show went without any expected on air announcement of their next host/musical guest lineup was two seasons ago between when Matt Damon and Rachel Brosnahan hosted and that was the gulf between the 2018 Christmas show and the first show of 2019. Unfortunately, we only have a week and not a month between new episodes of SNL at this point so if the current cast and crew are unable to produce next weeks’ show I at least hope they can stay safe and healthy in quarantine.

Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20)

Okay, here’s my review. Knowing what Bill Burr is like in general, I probably shouldn’t have expected this show to go smoothly without the writers dragging him into their comfort zones with them. It seemed like some on the show who have outwardly expressed their admiration for Bill as comic must’ve enjoyed working with him and some others (who must’ve seen him as a bit rough around the edges as a comic but really trusted in his actual acting chops) seemed to want to take sketch premises they’ve done previously (which, given their schedule and the state of the world right now I don’t totally blame them for) and working Bills’ on screen persona into each of them. With all the sketch retreads that just plugged the host into interchangeable straight man roles, it really felt like I was either watching J.Lo’s episode from last season (but on steroids) or watching Zach Galifinakis’ 2010/11 episodes all over again (only they didn’t trust Zachs’ acting chops nearly as much). Still, I have to hand it to the show for not giving up on Bill nearly as early as some of the audience seemed to. Their response was inconsistent as some people were on board with him from the monologue and some were with him only on a sketch by sketch basis. Anyway, you look at it this was a wildly uneven and divisive show. Even the cast airtime balance was uneven compared to last week. In addition to Melissa still seeming to be nowhere even near the building, Andrew, Bowen, Chris, Lauren, Cecily and Aidy (understandably) were practically invisible (well, Lauren was in a pretape but that’s about it) while Kenan, Kate, Pete, Beck, Punkie and Heidi all had great nights. It’s ironic that this is another season where Chris Rock just hosted because last time he hosted in season 40, many thought that his November 2014 episode was the weakest of that whole season. I agreed with them until the Chris Hemsworth/Zac Brown Band episode aired in March 2015. That seasons’ Hemsworth episode was just flat out boring with too much bland and “safe” material whereas Rocks’s episode took far more risks (which even if they didn’t pay off made the show that much more interesting to watch). This season just proved to be the inverse of that as Burr’s took much bigger risks (some of which paid off and some didn’t) and Rocks’ most recent show (while not “safe” or boring by any means) was more consistent. Anyway, there’s a lot to unpack here so let’s get right to it. Shall we?

CNN Vice Presidential Debate – This started off like a typical “checklist” debate sketch (COVID concerns, interruptions, fracking, supreme court packing, Kamalas’ side-eye, swine flu callbacks) but definitely more streamlined and focused than last week and with more pleasant participants. I was expecting to see Chloe as Susan Page but I can see why they would want to give that role to Kate if she was still in the building. I also see they’re still taking some baby steps toward making Maya’s Kamala an actual person and less of a walking political Beyonce meme. I did like her breaking out into Tinas’ Philly accent at one point. That may have been my favorite Maya moment of this sketch. At least they seemed to have made much more progress on Beck’s Pence in that regard seeing as they’ve moved away from the closeted/repressed homosexual jokes with him and started focusing on how Pence spouts the real Trump party line these days. This may have been the strongest material they’ve ever had for Becks’ Pence (and the most effort they seemed to have put into writing for Mayas’ Kamala so far).  I am glad they at least didn’t jump right into the “Fly” material right way and focused on other things people took away from that debate. I have to give them credit for at least finding a slightly creative way for them to sneak in both Carreys’ Biden AND his Goldblum (putting Carrey’s knack for spot on impressions to good use and hopefully placating the people who wanted the actual Jeff Goldblum to show up when he obviously couldn’t make it but then again why even have Carrey as Goldblum let alone the real Jeff Goldblum if you’re going to have either one of them just quote more lines from Jurassic Park and his apartments.com commercials than from The Fly anyway?). Other than that, they pretty much staged the “flies on Pences’ head” scenes the exact way I expected them to. In fact, by this point the sketch came off so rote and telegraphed that it felt like Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell cowrote it.  Honestly, the only things that really rubbed me the wrong way were how they crudely pasted Carrey-as-Bidens’ face on Young Goldblums’ head in the Fly clip they showed while Carrey (who got zero recognition applause from the audience in only his second appearance as a recurring guest this season which I don't know whether to find funny or sad at this point) was getting into his costume (felt too lazy and Trevor Noah-esque for my tastes) and how awkwardly they worked in Kenans’ Herman Cain as the other fly. That seemed like something they should’ve found a better way to address on the show last week. I appreciated that they tried to take a boiler plate debate reenactment and give it a bizarre sci-fi twist near the end but it’s a little sad to me that it was only a little weirder than the exact thing I was picturing after coming to terms with the fact that a fly on a man’s head was the biggest “binders full of nasty women” type of moment (even from a Vice Presidential debate). Speaking of which, this honestly felt as much like the cold opens to the 2016 episodes hosted by  Lin-Manuel Mirandas’ (an empty Vice Presidential debate veers off into a separate piece about that weeks’ much “bigger” news story) and Emily Blunt (another rote, telegraphed almost Scary Movie-like reenactment of the latest debates’ biggest moments) as I was expecting it to be. C+

Monologue – At times, Bill Burr proved exactly why I thought I’d never see him on SNL in this day and age but I gotta hand it to him. He may have completely lost all of social media tonight in his attemptto be an equal-opportunity-offending, middle-of-the-road centrist but he managed to at least keep the studio audience on his side the whole time which is probably the best outcome the show could’ve hoped for of letting Bill Burr do standup on SNL in 2020. It was a real zigzaggy stand up set and Burr managed to zag in the exact right moment right when he zigged unexpectedly. If Bill Burr simultaneously telling the audience that he’s okay with you whether you wear a mask or DON’T wear a mask didn’t clue you in that he was going to systematically make sure everyone in this audience felt somehow both alienated AND placated to, then I don’t know what to tell you. Honestly though, there were only two things I was really bothered by here. The first was him namechecking Rick Moranis and referencing his recent attack to make his “NEW YORK IS BACK BABY” point. Still, I don’t want to “cancel” him for it since I did like that John Wayne joke that immediately followed. I also liked him calling out white women for “hijacking the woke movement” since he seemed to know what he was talking about there up until the point where it seemed like he was implying false rape accusations from white women against black men were a common thing at one time. Now, THAT was the second thing I was bothered by. I don’t really feel it’s my place to speak on the “why is gay pride month in June?” material as I’m straight and not terribly educated on the history of the LGBTQ movement myself but I will say the “Black people only get February” material seemed like it has been done to death before. In a wildly uneven and divisive show, this definitely WAS the most divisive and uneven part. Since it was right at the top, it really got the show off on the wrong foot. C+

Unpresidented Times – This seems like it definitely had to be written by whoever wrote the James Franco “Za/Zuh” courtroom sketch or the Will Ferrell Cracker Barrell office sketch from Season 43. There’s definitely a dash of the Sterking K Brown Shrek dinner sketch thrown in for good measure. Overall, this had too much of a “been there done that during an unstable season” feel for me to really get into after reeling from such a wild ride of a monologue but I have to say Burr made this work. It seemed like it was written specifically for him. C-

The Blitz – Speaking of season 43 sketches that had to have been rewritten for tonights’ show, this reminded me a lot of the “Bank Breakers” sketch from Kumail Nanjiani’s episode (with a little of those Snapchat Filter news report sketches from the last two seasons thrown in) but with higher stakes. This felt much more dramatic than that Kumail sketch both because it addressed a sadly prescient real world issue and also because the audience didn’t seem all that responsive (or it just seemed that way because either Bill or Pete may have majorly missed a cue and that threw the sketch off track to the point where Bill and Ego tripped over a couple of crucial lines) but I did like how it came back full circle and had a solid ending. C+

Enough Is Enough – Ok, now I see we’re going back to Season 42 episodes to pull old sketch premises from? Beck’s just using the same template to make fun of things like this weeks’ nude voting video and this summers black and white “Kesha and Jesse Pinkman accept responsibility for their racism” video that he used to go after that infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad? Hell, it almost seemed like he was parodying the 2008 Will.I.Am/Obama “Yes We Can” video for good measure there for some reason. Also, since Beck was the only non-virtual participant it’s almost like this could’ve been filmed for and subsequently cut from one of the At Home shows Either way, while I appreciated the idea behind this (and the Jason Momoa cameo got a chuckle out of me) I just can’t get behind the execution of this. I mean, it was produced safer than anything the shows’ done this season but that’s about the best thing I can say about it. D+

Update was a nice palate cleanser from the odd tone this episode got off on. Jost and Che seemed to have some fun swinging for the fences (especially Che). It’s nice to see material in slightly questionable taste be delivered by someone I’m used to seeing from, I guess? Kates’ character seemed like an odd cross between Sandlers’ “Cajun Man” and Kenans’ “FIX IT/DURR IT” character from season 34. It’s like late period scripts for rejected Maya Rudolph/Kristen Wiig/Fred Armisen characters were given to Kate. I’m glad that she and Jost chose to address the audience directly about what this character was really supposed to be once it started really going off the rails and losing direction because I’m not sure how much longer I could’ve watched that. Then, Jost and Che had a shaky moment or two until Pete came in to knock it out of the park. Pete really went back to his roots in self deprecation (and vocally supporting trans people in the face of their discrimination) from his days as a featured player and that was legitimately the most I’ve laughed at anything he’s done or said in two whole years. B+

Mob Meeting – As soon as I heard Pete deliver his first line, I had a feeling that this might be a sketch I heard was cut from dress in Sandlers’ episode dealing with a mafia leader just released from prison who now has to face how “woke/PC” his crime family has become. That turned out to be exactly what this was. I appreciate Burrs’ commitment to a role that was VERY well suited to him but it left me wishing I could’ve seen Sandler in the Bill Burr role. Honestly, Alex, Punkie and Beck’s characters were the only thing I could really get behind here (especially the #MafiaSoWhite joke which really tickled me for some reason). C+

Pumpkin Spice Sam Adams – Ok, I guess now we’re going back a little further into season 42 to do the Casey Affleck Dunkin Donuts ad but with “homages” to both Denis Leary (the second one tonight, hopefully unintentional) and Dave Chappelle (probably intentional), I see? I was expecting Burr’s energy to really carry this but he didn’t really get ramped up until Mikeys’ character (who is apparently Burrs’ characters’ son now) shouted at him. Overall, I can definitely say that was the second best Sam Adams commercial parody I’ve seen Bill Burr act in (and it was a distant second, you’ll know what I’m talking about if you could recognize the second “homage” I pointed to earlier). Still, it’s at least a little more creative of a twist to recur something that hadn’t been recurred before than to do what I was expecting they’d do with Burr and bring in Dratch and Fallon (who I guess weren’t available this week) to give us another Boston Teens sketch starring Bill Burr. C+

N    Now, it’s time for me to start officially ranking this season from best to worst… 

      1. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.2020)
2. Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)

Well, that was some show, wasn’t it? Next week, Issa Rae makes her hosting debut. I’m not familiar with much of her work (I know she’s the star of HBOs’ “Insecure” and was in the movie “Little”) and therefore don’t really have any set expectations for her as a host. I do expect this episode might serve as a general pallet cleanser from this week. They might settle back into their live groove (as much as possible with what’s going on right now) with a much safer choice of host for this era (of both SNL and entertainment in general). I’m sure everyone at the show will have a similarly pleasant and easy going experience working with her. Somehow, this feels like a show that Cecily is going to want to make sure she’s a part of somehow. I’m not sure if Issa Rae is another standup like Rock or Burr but she seems like she could write a Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Tina Fey style monologue that’s not quite a traditional standup routine but still feels very much like one because it’s done so much in her own voice rather than what the writers thought she’d be the most comfortable saying on stage. Whether this will make for a good or bad show, I can’t say. It should at least make for the show by which they should just find their footing by this point in their COVID era live run. See you then!

Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.03.2020)

 Okay, here's my review. Given every circumstance that made it seem almost impossible for the cast and crew of SNL to put on the show in any form at all, I'm glad they were able to successfully put on the show that they did. They did a fine job of making the show feel like it did back in March and giving viewers a real "return to normalcy" feeling. It felt like just the right balance of "escapism" and "real life reminder of what we still have to deal with" was struck here. However, I'm a little conflicted about how it sounded like even the size of the live in studio audience was "back to normal" and not nearly as "limited" as they promised. They either had to have been piping in small amounts of canned laughter or putting a mic on each individual audience member (which isn't exactly a bright idea either). I liked hearing just enough laughter that it felt like nothing was bombing as hard as possible but not so little that they made it obvious that they didn't even consider the possibility of tightening up the show in general. Besides that, there were still times where the awkward silences left something to be desired. I guess that can be forgiven due to this being their first actual live show in seven months with an adjusted production schedule to allow for proper social distancing and rapid testing (for which the resources maybe could've best been used elsewhere?) I'm also impressed that they were able to get every cast member some airtime as small as it was (except for poor sweet Melissa who must have had a big showcase in whatever was cut for time that the band shot was used to fill in for). Still, nice to see Ego and Chloe are on their way to dominating the show at least. Anyway, there's a lot more to get to so let's just break it down, shall we?

Presidential Debate - Well, it's strangely comforting that SNL could just stick to giving us pretty much the EXACT Presidential Debate sketch I was expecting in spite of every little thing that happened between Tuesday and tonight. I know some people didn't want to see this open with a title card, but I guess that was a necessary evil, huh? Beck did well with the Chris Wallace impression (yeah, like they actually gonna fly Tom Hanks out just for this) and they focused on the real Wallace's ineptitude as moderator just the right amount. Baldwin was certainly...there...as expected...to exaggerate the real Trump's tendency to talk over people. He seemed to give a stronger performance than he usually does. Maybe it was Drezens' influence on the writing or Baldwin getting through this month by imagining himself literally anywhere else or maybe it's just me. After all, I have said in the past that "debate Trump" is the only Trump Baldwin comes close to being able to accurately portray and that still very much holds true four years later (although I wish we hadn't even had to consider that as a remote possibility let alone see this play out in real life). Carreys' take on Biden was the exact thing I was picturing in my mind as soon as I heard their names together in an interview with Lorne. He gave us a technically accurate Darrell Hammond style vocal impression with just a very small, comparatively restrained dash of his own Carrey style rubber face mugging. They came up with a creative way no one else thought of to work Maya's Kamala in there (and thankfully give us just the first of three very brief verbal throwaway W.A.P in passing). Speaking of things no one else might have thought of, I do like how they green screened Harry Styles and Cecily Strong in there. Good to see them make good on THAT promise and also give us the portrayal of Kimberly Guilfoyle by Cecily we've been waiting for. I was thinking about how they might have to have this one mirror either the cold opens from either the 2016 episodes hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda (a debate is interrupted by a news flash of the weekend's biggest surprise story) Benedict Cumberbatch (scene performers mercifully break character to address the audience with a message of sincere hope that the divisiveness in America will end with the election) or the one from Daniel Craig's 2012 episode (focusing on the Democratic candidate's inner monologue as the Republican just shouts over everyone). Thankfully, they went with the latter two mixed together rather than the first former which would've been very awkward to work around. I liked that Carrey tried to end the sketch on a cathartic vibe and address the cruel irony/poetic justice of Trump's current situation as tactfully and gracefully as he could (because they way Baldwin tried to do it felt much too forced for me). Again, I appreciate what they were going for but it still felt slightly off to me in its approach. That and the slight miscues throughout the sketch throwing the timing off were really the only things I could take off points for. Actually, speaking of miscues...they seem to have put up the dress version of this debate sketch up on YouTube. I could tell because there seemed to be a lot of noticeable alternate takes and both Baldwin and Carrey (especially) have long stretches of dialogue that were completely edited out for air. Look, I know that if you're reading this, it's even money that you're one of the ten or so people that is in the same SNL Discord server and/or Twitter group chat that I regularly chat with and I know you likely hated watching this debate sketch the first time around. However, I hope you decide to give the YouTube version a look if you want to see a much smoother, slightly more focused and competently directed version looks like. C+

New Montage - As much as I thought this was a strange time for SNL to film an entire new intro, I really like the heavy 1979/80 vibes this gives off and I can see how stop motion was the best, safest way to go here. I do wonder why some cast members wore masks and some didn't but I'm guessing they did it this way so that the "masked cast" shots can be more easily replaced next season if the pandemic finally ends (god willing). The thing that really stood out to me was how Cecily's new shot seemed to show her getting off an 8H elevator despite the announcement that she would be in Vancouver working on her new show so I'm just left wondering how they pulled that off timing and travel wise. I have to hand it to Jost for getting the funniest shot in both COVID-19 era SNL intros.

Monologue - As odd as it is seeing Chris Rock holding a mask in his hand rather than a mic, I enjoyed seeing him continue the cathartic vibe that Carrey had just started by explaining just how screwed up our whole governmental system is. A lot of these seem to be common complaints from Twitter but a lot of people can surely relate (although I'm sure that Chris Farley joke might rub some people the wrong way). Also, it was nice to see them save all the floor seats for masked first responders. That was at least a smart move on the show's part if a cast or band member suddenly gets sick on air but I'm still left wondering what they're gonna do about audience members in the balcony if the same happens to them? B-

Action News Pittsburgh - Even though this is a blatant season 44 Day/Seidell retread, I liked the first one well enough that I welcomed its' return. Still, I can't say that this one being just a bit raunchier than the first one for sure makes it better than the first one. I will say that Ego and Rock pretty much stole this from the get go (although Rock stumbled pretty badly early on and the name "Moe Lestin Jr" DEFINITELY isn't going to sit right with some). Some assists from Beck, Heidi, Lauren and Kenan didn't hurt either. Frankly, I'm stunned they could even say "Mike Litt" once I'm the air let alone nearly run it into the ground but I totally get Lorne wanting to give us another Reese Witherspoon "fucking freezing my balls off"/Ferrells' patriotic short shorts/Sam Jackson's Schrodingers' "bullshit" type moment as a brief distraction right now. B-

Bottom Of Yo Face - This is a pretty creative premise for something rapped (pardon the expression) in what might be Petes' most tired crutch (as much fun as Chris and Kenan make these seem). It's a strange feeling to realize that it took a global pandemic for me too feel like I hadn't gotten sick of Pete, Chris and Kenan producing their own rap videos after being deluded with them two seasons ago but this forced them to think outside the box (even if I kind of have to suspend my disbelief at someone actually dating a new masked person during a pandemic). I liked how they worked in Ego and Megan Thee Stallion to keep this feeling a bit more fresh and how tgey got Rock to perform an homage to his own "No Sex In The Champagne Room" video. B-

My Mom Married Kenan Thompson - I'm really grateful to Beck & Kyle for being able to give us something this silly completely off the cuff. I may be biased as not just a suckered for pointless October 2000 nostaliga (although I'm thinking maybe Eliza Dushku and Spy Kids may be either too obscure or nonexistent references even back then) but one of Kyle's few admitted fans in the general online SNL Fandom but I enjoyed what he was giving us even though I admit Kyle wasn't exactly indulging in his best tendencies as a performer here. It did seem like it dragged just a tad and belabored its' point a little but it's actual length didn't hurt it and they included just enough small twists for my liking. C+

The Drew Barrymore Show - This is another thing many of us were predicting the show would give us that's actually welcome to see. Chloe really nails all her impressions with some solid assists from Alex, Kenan and Beck. B-

Update was fairly strong. Jost & Che actually struck a decent balance between addressing Trumps' COVID-19 diagnosis appropriately while also addressing the elephant (pardon the expression) in the room. I was a little surprised to see Bowen make a live appearance after hearing he might be missing some early shows. Still, while I enjoyed seeing Chen Biao again it's starting to suffer from diminishing returns and feel too formulaic (especially after this character's occupation has been changed from "trade daddy" to "medical official" and then quickly back to "trade daddy" again) and Aidy's Carrie Krum continues to wash right over me. I wasn't even sure "if" let alone "how" they would mention RBGs' passing since it felt like several weeks ago (in spite of how many weeks ago it actually was) but I suppose it meant a lot to Kate to giver her as much closure as she got to give to Hillary. B+

NBA Bubble Draft - This sketch seemed a little unfocused to me. It had Che's conceptually muddled style of writing all over it. The only things I really liked about it were how they worked Ego, Chloe, Lauren, Aidy, (boy, it's a good thing that they put those two on one right after the other because I imagine the only thing that could possibly confuse the fuck out of peoole even less would be to have them onscreen right next to each other at the same time) Maya, Punkie, Heidi and Megan into this. I also liked Alex's performance as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Alfred E. Neuman jug ears and all. The rest of this felt like something you'd have to follow basketball really closely to get. C+

Stunt Performers Of America - I feel like I've seen the real life video this was based on in my Twitter feed a lifetime ago which really gave this a "cut from the 'At Home' shows but not put online for whatever reason" feel even though this had to have been something they pretaped in the lead up to the season as Kate and Aidy were neither "at home" nor "socially distanced". Discuss. I wasn't crazy about the way this suddenly turned into another Kate and Aidy two hander out of nowhere (in fact, it reminded me a lot of the athletic wear pretape they did for the late Chadwick Bosemans' episode) but at least Chris, Mikey and Ego were there to keep things a little more varied. I did like the dog/octopus hat anecdotes, though. C-

Well, that was certainly refreshing.. Next week, notable Boston comic Bill Burr makes his SNL hosting debut. He's someone who's standup I could go either way on now but I liked him quite a bit more in the past than I do now but then again I haven't seen much of him despite his career being on the rise. Thankfully, he's not so much a full on MAGA Trump guy as much as he's just always been a cranky, anti-PC, get off my lawn/old man yells at cloud guy but more self aware. In fact, the last time he even acknowledged SNL was on David Spade's now cancelled Comedy Central show "Lights Out" during the whole Shane Gillis fiasco and that was just to castigate what he viewed as overly sensitive PC snowflake millenials for going through several years of people's tweets just to find something offensive enough to get them fired (despite the fact that someone just found a clip of him from just ONE year ago using slurs against Asians after the announcement that he got hired along with this show's first east Asian cast member ever and they almost mutually decided to part ways so the show could keep working in a stable environment with the guy they already spent a year getting to know and love). Anyway, so to veer off topic there but my point is Burrs' style of standup may just drastically clash with modern day SNL but I like him just fine and certainly hold nothing against him. Other standups working on SNL seem to like him and have made him out to be a great guy both on and off stage. He certainly must have a strong bond with Pete since they're both east coast based standups who did a movie together recently so this must be two different kinds of favors at once. Hope Bill gives us a great show! I'm rooting for him and SNL and I'll certainly be tuning in! See you then!

SNL At Home III (Kristen Wiig/Boyz II Men) (5.9.2020)

Okay, here's my review. This started off seeming like it was going to be the weakest of the three "at home" shows that closed out season 45 but I can't quite say that it was because the show gave us much better material as the night went on. I certainly don't think the writing was a problem as much as the inclusion of certain unannounced cameos, but while the highs were about the same as the previous "at home" show, the lows were definitely a bit lower. The cast was a little unbalanced (just in that Alex and Bowen were almost nowhere to be seen) but everybody did get some airtime. This did leave me with a fair amount to unpack, so let's break it down, shall we?

Trump Zoom Commencement - I immediately got flashbacks to the commencement cold open from the Steve Carrell/Usher season 33 finale and reflected on how we've now had two different finales of seasons interrupted and cut short (one by a writer's strike, the other by a global pandemic). There were some funny lines but I pretty much mentally checked out as soon as Baldwin appeared on screen. I liked Kenan, Ego and Chris' bit being "muted" by Baldwin's Trump but that's about it. Kate and Heidi had a funny interaction, too. I admit, I was also intrigued to hear Baldwin sneak the words "one last time" into his LFNY tag. I realize that Baldwin had loudly whined in the press about how playing Trump takes such a toll on him but SNL has changed horses midstream with their presidential impersonators before and Lorne usually seems to like making sure someone different plays the incumbent president by the time they are running for reelection and are actively debating their challenger from the other party so I'd have to say next season is the most likely time we're going to see a new Trump impressionist (whoever they may be). Honestly, the true highlight of this was trying to spot which writers (besides Sudi Green, Fran Gillespie and Will Stephen) and other possible non cast members were on this Zoom call because I'm shocked to find that they didn't think they had a large enough cast to pull off another high school commencement sketch. C+

Monologue - I guess we really should've expected this, no matter what? A lot of people have been speculating that the show would have Kristen Wiig host the originally planned 5/16 finale of this season to promote her major role in Wonder Woman 1984 (and as a possible send off to the senior women of this cast) and I guess this may confirm that this was their plan all along. Plus, Wiig can still promote WW84 as I believe it's still being released On Demand. The only real laugh I got was the bodybuilding mom photo she showed. The rest of this monologue just seemed like a cross between several things from Wiigs' final season in the cast (specifically Melissa McCarthy's first monologue and her Liza Minelli/Ann Margret sketches) with a sincere "mother's day under quarrantine" message tacked on. I was just as checked out of the rest of this as I was in the cold open. C-

Deirdre and Ripley's Zoom Call - I wasn't quite crazy about this character of Heidi's that she played opposite Seth Meyers but the inclusion of Martin Short as her scene partner here automatically makes this my favorite appearance of hers'. Sure, Marty seemed quite restrained here but he really helped make this one feel fresh and different than the last two. I also like the added detail that they went to Italy just to further derail their quarantine. I sure would've liked to have seen Marty host again this season whether or not he has anything to promote. B+

Let Kids Drink - This was a pretty funny premise. Framing it as a We Are The World like charity number was a great idea. The reveal was well executed and the little yellow chyrons really added to the humor along with Beck and Pete's scenes. Josh Gad was someone I thought I'd never see on the show (I do wonder if he was also originally on the pre-quarrantine shortlist to host in April or May?) but he was all right in his short bit. That was honestly the most I would've ever liked to have seen of him on SNL. B-

Masterclass II - A second one of these was definitely good for Chloe (especially since she did more easily accessible impressions in this one) and it ended up being good for Melissa that Chloe decided to include her in this doing an impression of a former alumni that she had previously only done on social media and podcasts. Her Mulaney is solid and ine if the better ones of the multiple Mulaney impressions I've seen lately. She nails his joke delivery even though her voice is still noticeablly higher than his. It actually does work a lot better when she makes the extra effort to actually dress like him. I know Melissa also had a Phoebe Waller-Bridge impression but she must've made a deal with Chloe to let her do PWB if she could do Mulaney (either that or Chloe just didn't have a Mulaney impression). Between the two, it's hard to say whose PWB was "better" (especially since Melissa only did hers in small pieces) but Chloe's was obviously more developed and both impressions must revolve more around nailing certain beats from "Fleabag" than her actual voice. Chloe's Britney impression really worked for me and made me start to see what others see in her (although given how little control over her own finances we now know the real Britney actually has she might get some flak online about that "being rich" line). If they can find a way to put Chloe's Britney and Melissa's Xtina in a sketch together next season, they should definitely go for it. A-

Mt. Methuselah Baptist Church Zoom Service - Kenan, Chris, Cecily and Ego really made the most out of this. It seemed like more like something that a YouTuber would make but this cast really turned it into a testament to their performance abilities. Again, I'm left wondering who else besides this cast was on this zoom call because the only people from this show's writing staff I recognized were Bryan Tucker and Gary Richardson (who likely cowrote this). If those other people were friends or relative of Chris, Kenan or Ego I'm sure they'll give them a shout out on social media tomorrow. B+

Danny Trejo - This was obviously done in the same vein as "Tucci Gang" and "RBJ" from each of the previous two seasons which makes me wonder what actual song this may have been a parody of as I didn't immediately recognize it nor do I know who "JP On Da Track" is. I didn't like this as much as I liked Pete's previous "at home" music videos. Chris' verse was OK but didn't do much for me either. He just kinda repeated a bunch of the same jokes Pete did. C+

Bouncy Waves w/ PJ Charnt - This felt like a typical Anderson penned self indulgent Wiig sketch to me that we used to see constantly ten years ago when she and Fred were dominating the show. Still, it's a new "character" from Wiig and I'd rather see this than any of her old characters from her years in the cast. I did genuinely like her stern, disappointed reaction to the spaghetti hair text as well as Kenans' character. Those were the only laughs I got. Still, this does make Wiig the most active and involved host of the "at home" episodes. C+

Update got off to a stronger start than the previous two "at home" Update. Both of their jokes seemed a lot better written this time. Speaking of, the joke that the contest winner wrote was pretty weak as far as their typical edgelord-lite cold reads go (although it's oddly fitting that that kind of a joke could come from someone who had hundreds of thousands of dollars to bid on this) but Che's joke from a "sick kid" made up for it. Tinas' commentary was something that just kinda washed over me. It was nice seeing Cecily's Judge Pirro again. I liked how she used her background and outfit changes to break from the formula of these. This must have been one of her favorite impressions to do lately which makes me wonder if this was supposed to truly be her last show. B+

What's Wrong With This Picture? III - I liked the previous two installments of this sketch but I was afraid that this one would suffer from the law of diminishing returns like the previous one did. Fortunately, that didn't happen as adding Ego and Melissa into the mix for Kenan to play off of really helped. B+

Eleanor's House - This is definitely the strongest piece Aidy contributed to the "at home" episodes so far. I really liked the animation and it reminded me a lot of the [adult swim] series "Tigtone" which I happened to catch for the first time last Sunday night. I do wonder if their animators worked on this? I did recognize Bowen and Becks' voices as the second and third animated characters (especially since Bowen was just doing his "Bottle Boi" voice) but I couldn't tell if Melissa or Chloe was the voice of the goldfish. I did like how Kyle, Heidi, Pete, Chris and Mikey's characters were specifically animated to look like them. B+

Brandons' Corny Ass Dad Pranks - This is definitely the best way any of the show's staff could've involved their real life kids on the show. Mikey and Kenan were very funny in it, too. B+

Phineas Gale - This was the weakest sketch of the night for me. I mean, it was a fine premise and I appreciated what it was going for but it was a little too low key for me and Kate may not have been the best type of performer to pull this off. D+

Kyle's House - Hearing the sole laugh track in this tricked me into thinking this was gonna be another one of Beck and Kyle's fake early '90s sitcoms until I noticed Beck wasn't in it and Kyle was playing different characters we haven't seen him do on the show yet but may have seen him do in his pre-SNL YouTube videos. He really seemed to be returning to his roots with this. Combining that with the stark shifts in tone from sheer disjointed Tim and Eric style weirdness to sappy emotional melancholy, it felt like this was Kyle's big goodbye piece (as he and Beck both seem like the type of cast members who are more than comfortable leaving without a big emotional send off). Still, I enjoyed this for the sheer unfiltered Kyle Mooney strangeness it was. It ended up being something I preferred to Kyle's previous solo piece with similar production value. I especially liked the entire "bank robbing" scene. A-

Dreams - At first, I thought this might be Cecily's official send off (and possibly Kate's) since the former seemed to be the main focus throughout and the latter was waving from the top of 30 Rock at the end but I liked how this ended up featuring the full cast. I especially liked the sheer abstract, dadaist, non sequitur "let's just use whatever footage we all can get access to and make this even weirder than Kyle's solo piece" feel of it. The only things I didn't like were how this featured Alex and Bowen's only real appearance of the night. A-

Now, for my final rankings of this entire season...

1. Eddie Murphy/Lizzo
2. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
3. Chance The Rapper
4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
5. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
6. Scarlett Johansson/Niall Horan
7. Adam Driver/Halsey
8. SNL At Home II (Brad Pitt/Miley Cyrus)
9. SNL At Home (Tom Hanks/Chris Martin)
10. Daniel Craig/The Weeknd
11. SNL At Home III (Kristen Wiig/Boyz II Men)
12. John Mulaney/David Byrne
13. RuPaul/Justin Bieber
14. J.J. Watt/Luke Combs
15. Jennifer Lopez/DaBaby
16. Will Ferrell/King Princess
17. Harry Styles
18. Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

Well, season 45 of SNL has officially come to a close. We heard Wiig say "see you in September" but there are a lot of unknowns beyond that. We don't know when the show will be able to be truly "live" or not by September but we do know they can at least give us more of these "at home" episodes if the quarantine continues to last that long. I would've expected the show to come back on October 3rd at the earliest but this is supposed to be an election year and they might want to make up for the other three planned live shows from this Spring they had to suspend production on if NBC'S budget will allow them to do so. Naturally, they may want to transition between seasons 45 and 46 the same way they transitioned between seasons 33 and 34. We don't know for sure if this entire cast will be back in September let alone if Lorne will be able to even audition anyone to fill out the cast if anyone does leave. The only thing we can do know is keep an eye out for any press releases that may turn up between now and August. For all we know, with most of the rest of the TV, film and live performance industries having to shut down, certain cast members could probably really use the job stability/security and income that SNL has been providing so we could get most of this same cast this fall. One thing I know is that I'll be back on September to provide more of these reviews of whatever the show can provide its audience with so, see you then. Have a great summer and stay safe!