Trumps’ Tariff Speech
- Speaking of numbers, I guess we're back to paint-by-numbers JAJ Trump Cold Opens again, huh?
- Well, at least they're making, uh, improvements to his makeup here.
- The “Make America Great Depression Again” stuff was OK, I guess.
- Hey, Dismukes is a commerce secretary. Neat.
- The forced Borat reference was completely unnecessary and the Cheesecake Factory McDonald Island jokes were…eh.
- I did like the gag of Trump explaining the “formula” though. Kind of reminded me of the equation in the background of the White And Nerdy video.
- The “reciprocal/bedroom” joke was good for a “wait, what? Oh nevermind” type near shock laugh.
- C'mon guys, that brief “God's country” callback wasn't worth a frigging applause break. Even JAJ himself looked slightly annoyed at having to deliver that nonsense. I liked the 30 Rock/Tina reference just fine.
- At least Mike Meyers’ Elon likened this up a little. The “self vandalizing Tesla” animation may have been the true highlight of this. I also liked the “tariffs sound dumb” ending.
- Part of me has to wonder if JAJs line “it's time to never see you again” could possibly mean that Mike Myers has too busy of a schedule to play Elon again at any point in the season and this is his last cameo of season 50? C+
Monologue
- After everything I saw last week, it's so nice to see Jack Black call band guitarist Maddie Rice by her first name and then kick off the show with a big Tenacious D style musical number that sprawls around the studio…even if all he's doing so far is just listing all the big paycheck family friendly films he's done since he last hosted.
- Heidi and Marcello were great sports. You can tell Heidi was clearly having a blast.
- Huh, quite odd to see them not call ANY attention to Bill Burr and Kieran Culkin being in the audience (straight from tonight's performance of “Glengarry Glen Ross” I see). B-
Love Match
- Hmm…this is the hardest sketch to get a bead on I've seen on this show in YEARS.
- I chuckled a bit at Marcellos’ “the true answer is butt” line.
- The premise seems to be “what if a regular, sincere guy dressed like Indiana Jones whole vehemently denying knowing anything about Indiana Jones at all?”
- I have to say this feels like a premise we've seen numerous times but Black & Dismukes are acting the hell out of this.
- This does seem like a very Andrew Dismukes-centric idea too as it is reminiscent of his “Joker Wedding” and “Jumanji” sketches from the past few years.
- I chuckled a bit more at his line about Marcellos’ character looking 12 years old and JAJs’ character looking just like Jane Lynch.
- Most of all, I liked the very tight writing and pacing of this. Even once we saw Bowen revealed to be a guy dressed as Capt. Jack Sparrow (possible Lonely Island shout out there?) this never felt like it overstayed its welcome. B-
Flamin’ Hot Preparation H
- Ok, I liked how hard this leaned into its own gleeful stupidity and I liked how it gave us two back to back Jack Black/Andrew Dismukes pairings. (Yes, that was Andrew as the voice of the cheapest CGI Chester Cheetah you've ever seen).
- It was nice to see Jack Black INTENTIONALLY sweating his ass off for once (pun unintended but fuck it, I went with it anyway). C+
One Uppers
- Another “hip group of young, trendy people at a restaurant” sketch AND another “people constantly try to out do one another” sketch rolled into one. How…innovative?
- Ok, so maybe the framework of this isn't very new but I do admire the show risking a minor derailment and nearly throwing its own timing out if whack just for the sake of putting something on that very nearly defies accurate description.
- Seriously, the best way I could describe this was just “Eagle Screech Whip Pans”.
- I did like the needle drop of Disturbeds’ “Down With The Sickness” during one of Ego's closeups.
- Even just a stupid fart noise punctuating Sarah & Dismukes announcing that they were “poly” just before Heidi summons the cheapest eagle puppet you may have ever seen made me chuckle when couched in with this chaos. B-
The First Play
- Another unique and creative premise on display here that genuinely feels the least like anything they've done before.
- I immediately liked the idea of people witnessing the historic moment of the first ever acting performance treating it as a dialogue or normal conversation because they may be unfamiliar with the basic concepts of “acting” or “pretending” even just “lies”.
- I loved the gag of Longfellow pulling a red streamer out of Bowens’ chest plate to simulate his stabbing death.
- I feel like the promise of later nudity in the play was a kind of cheap ending but this sketch (and this host in particular) had enough gravitas to put that over. A-
Goth Kid On Vacation
- I liked the bait-and-switch/mislead of this better than the main joke once it got revealed but hey, nice use of Longfellow here.
- I liked Jack Black singing “Black Parade” (THEMES!!!) possibly most of all here. C-
Weekend Update w/Jost & Che
- Come on, guys. Just let this Morgan Wallen thing die already!
- I liked Che's “Trump will not stand for plundering/Chinese tariffs/D.E.I. school funding/Matt Gaetz” jokes just for how much bite he gave them. Josts’ “#WhyVinDieselTrippin” and Kid Rock jokes were Ok.
- I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see Marcello and Jane's severely mismatched couple return. I actually liked these characters during their debut in Mulaney's episode from November and I still think this is the best use of Marcellos “loud shouting man” persona.
- Among Marcellos’ stand out jokes were Romeo & Juliet, going “stupid on a woodwind”, Doctor Who and doing dishes/cooking.
- The gag of Jane deadpanning risqué, suggestive/aggressive lines still works.
- The Russell Brand/Chris Brown flashback from Jost worked for me the way they intended, though. I ALMOST liked that code breaker joke.
- I liked Josts’ Subway Nachos/Goofy stuffed animal joke but the HBCU joke that preceded it may have been the point when the joke portion of this Update started to lose its sharp focus (hey, at least Che got through another whole Update without another “hey, it's the ‘90s”). The Hooters joke could've derailed it completely but the next commentary stopped this whole Update from falling off a cliff.
- I was DEFINITELY on board with Ego “Ms Eggy” Nwodim as a Queen Of Def Jam Comedy from the get go (even if her “voice” seemed to be a mix of Lisa From Temecula, Esther from Sanford & Son, her “TSIDDAHN!!!” teacher and her “Rich Auntie With No Kids” among possible others.
- Her reaction to certain unexpected audience reactions really made this for me (and made me genuinely wonder if there could be any “fallout” from this or if this portion could be included in any possible 10pm “vintage” rerun slot). B-
Making Love
- Right off the bat, this seems like an exact cross between a similar high wire sketch from 2019 with Cecily Strong and Chance The Wrapper and both of Melissa Villaseñors’ “dirty talk” sketches with Aziz Ansari and Donald Glover.
- The “champagne” joke worked for me. Not sure we needed Bowen as the “third” but Brandi Carlile as the “fourth” fully justified his appearance.
- I could see this not quite working as well with any lesser hosts (or musical guests for that matter) but Jack Black and Brandy Carlile really had the gravitas to hit this out of the park.
- I also liked how they pulled out to reveal the stagehands operating the cables on the side of the stage. B-
Bass Lake Jam Session
- Hmm, what if a cover performance of Tom Pettys’ “Free Fallin'” had so many bass players it literally caused structural damage to the pier it was being played on?
- Well, this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jack Black is the only performer on Earth that can make this specific sketch premise work. I love how he provided the detail heavy nature that needed to work.
- Is that Dismukes on drums?
- Thankfully, this didn't turn out to be a sketch that Heidi would ruin with her newest impossibly dumb one off character being the main focus. I mean, I wasn't exactly worried this sketch would tank when I saw her show up. Well, let's just say I was more…distracted…than worried and leave it at that (‘cuz I couldn't quite tell if those were 100% her real ones either…but anyway, moving on).
- I got a kick out of Marcello bringing up spoons and then saying they were just for crack.
- I got a kick out of Bowen bringing up his base in a keyboard shaped carrying case.
- Hey, any sudden appearance of The Simpsons theme song is A-OK in my book!
- The gag with Ego's dog being a bass player too was just goofy enough to work for me.
- Oh hai, Devon & Ashley.
- This reminded me a bit of an MTV Spring Break sketch with Cameron Diaz where Amy Poehler is taking song requests and is increasingly frustrated that everyone keeps requesting “That Don't Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain…even Tracy Morgan. Anyone else? No? Care to watch the sketch on TikTok? No? How about this other sketch from season 27 that the Preparation H thing reminded me of?
- Anyway, a surprisingly strong sketch for the back half of the show.
- …and yeah, while I'm posting links to random season 27 sketches i found on TikTok I might as well share this one with you since it was the one that this sketch apparently reminded everyone else of. B+
WWII Times Square Kiss
- Hmm, I feel like I may have heard a joke with this exact same premise somewhere recently, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this one.
- All the performers in this did a fine job of selling those old timey ‘40s voices. Kenan and Mikey were…there, too.
- I did like the added detail of Jack's character just being an anti-Asian propaganda cartoonist whose work is considered too shockingly racist even for war time in the 1940s. C-
Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst
- SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
- Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
- Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
- John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
- Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
- Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
- Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
- Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
- Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
- Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
- Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
- Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
- Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
- Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
- Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
- Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
- Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
Overall Thoughts
- Ok, this may or may not be a hot take but I say this episode may be perhaps the strongest contender for best episode of the entire season (if you don't count the 50th anniversary special from February as an “episode” like I do).
- I know that last week set a ridiculously low bar for this episode to clear but the show played so well to Jack Blacks’ dynamic energy and strengths as a host that you would think he may have been heavily involved with the writing and pitching.
- It also helped that after a week packed with old recurring sketch templates this episode gave us a lot of fresh, unique ideas that felt very original for this era of SNL (or at least put some new twists on some old concepts we may have seen before).
- While Ashley and Devon took some minor hits in airtime this week, it still felt like a week where no cast member was shut out entirely. In particular, James, Andrew, Heidi and Ego made great strides this week.
Closing Thoughts
- Next week, another four timer Jon Hamm makes his return to hosting after a 15 year absence of his own (minus the odd cameo every now and then).
- Whether in cameos or as a host, Jon Hamm was always a performer the show knew how to use effectively and two of his three host outings are certified classics, so let's hope that SNL can keep this weeks good, strong vibes going and hopefully ride that energy all the way to the end of the season next month.
- After I review that episode, the next post you're likely to see on this blog will be a review of the Julia Loius-Dreyfus/Paul Simon episode from season 31. Of course, this is going to be the next full length SNL episode that me and Deej will review for the We Heart Hader Podcast.
- Oh, that reminds me. You'll also be seeing a review of the Steve Martin/Prince episode on both the blog and the podcast this coming Thursday, April 10th.
- Have a good one, guys!