Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran (2.11.2017)

Okay, here’s my review. This show came very close to being just on the same level of quality as last weeks’ show. However, this show felt jam packed with material of wildly varying quality making it feel like the most un even show in recent memory. Still, this show had plenty of genuinely enjoyable moments among what worked and what didn’t. This week, the highs were high and the lows were only just low enough to stand out among the highs. Alec was pretty much what you would expect him to be like as a host. If you’ve seen one 2000s era Baldwin episode, you’ve pretty much seen them all. As far as the cast goes, it feels like pretty much everyone was got a lot of screentime (even Pete, Sasheer and the new featured players) but there was a lot less of Beck, Bobby and Kenan this week. Anyway, we have a lot to get to so let’s break it down here.

Sean Spicers’ Second Press Conference – This was an appropriate choice to open this episode and it hit on all the same comedic beats as the last weeks’ Spicer sketch did. Still, “last week” is the key phrase here as it did have an inescapable “more of the same” feel and didn’t quite vary enough from last week but I guess that’s par for this seasons course with the way they’ve been relying on celebrity cameos lately. That’s not to say it didn’t have its moments. For one thing, Kate as Jeff Sessions got the biggest laughs here. Mispronouncing foreign names seemed derivative, but only Melissa McCarthy cold sell that. I also enjoyed Melissas’ back-and-forth with Bobby’s Glenn Thrush, the sudden Ivanka infomercial, the Segway podium chase and the snowblower (Oh Cecily, you don’t know what you do to me). B+

Monologue – This left a lot to be desired as it feels like reminiscing on his previous hosting experience is all Baldwin has been doing with his SNL monologues since they released his “Best Of” DVD back in ’03. Plus, Pete did sort of stick out like a sore thumb here and the “millennial” jokes at his expense grew a little tiresome. Still, if you can look past that it’s nice to be briefly reminded of the things that made Alec Baldwin such a beloved returning host B-

Russell Stover Black History Month – This premise was okay but it felt very much like something the show had already done. It just seemed a little one note to me, but the acting really saved it. Sasheer and Leslie played very well off of Alec and Alex and I did appreciate the various faces of prominent black figures molded out of chocolate. Otherwise, this maybe should’ve been fleshed out a little more. I have a strong feeling either Che or Sasheer cowrote this one with one of the new writers. C+

Cheetos Pitch Meeting – I really appreciated the idea behind this but it also felt a little one note and belabored. I liked the idea of poking fun at the seeming onslaught of recent commercials with seemingly innocuous yet uplifting themes that (even if it’s quite a stretch and only because it’s 2017 and this is the world we must live in and face now) can be easily or in some cases not so easily be interpreted as a slam at President Trump. I also appreciated that it at least attempted to build to something. I just wish there was a little less repetition and a little more variance to this. B-

Fatal Attraction – This has to be my favorite portrayal of Kellyanne Conway by Kate McKinnon yet. I actually enjoyed the dark and disturbing angle they went for here, probably more than most of you, I’m guessing and this definitely benefitted from being pretaped. Still, I can see some reasonable criticism of this being sexist as Kellyanne is being portrayed as mentally unstable while holding a high government position, but hey…that didn’t ruin it for me. A-

Drill Sergeant – This made me think I was a little hard on the Cheetos sketch and the first pre-taped ad. Still, Alec Baldwin is the only host that could’ve kept this even mildly watchable. Sadly, his line flub was the only real laugh I got out of this but I did like the gag with the fan. D-

Update made a major comeback from last week. Both Jost and Che came out swinging and it’s nice to see they found a way to return to the traditional short form joke heavy Update format in a way that still allows them to get in their best jabs at the Trump administration. Still, Che’s Harambe joke really toed the line. I’m starting to see some criticisms of him being too obtuse in expressing his more unique social viewpoints. Kates’ Elizabeth Warren was brilliant. She handled the impression masterfully and I liked the whole meta angle of her investigating SNL. Kudos to the show for finally calling themselves out on having Trump host. Alex’s character should not have worked but I couldn’t help but chuckled at the sheer cheesiness of it. The S&M couple seemed like a simple premise that fortunately had some really strong writing behind it. Mikey and Leslie were really the only two cast members who could effectively pull this one off. It was very gracious of Leslie to let Mikey do most of the comedic heavy lifting here. A-

Peoples’ Court – Well, I’m glad they restricted Baldwin to only one Trump sketch and built up to it throughout the course of the show. Given that it takes seven minutes for Baldwin to get made up as Trump, it makes perfect sense that this sketch would be right after Ed Sheeran’s first song and Update. They did a pretty solid job of covering perhaps Trumps biggest news story this week outside of Update. I likened Baldwin hosting this episode to Larry David hosting last year but I guess I was pretty naïve to think there wasn’t as obvious a pop culture parallel to Baldwins’ Trump as there was between Bernie and CYE. Overall, this was a pretty solid live sketch with decent writing behind it. Baldwins’ performance here was pretty much nothing we haven’t seen before but Cecily really stood out here as they gave her all the best lines. I can confidently say now that this sketch did a better job of condemning Trump than it did The Peoples’ Court. However, even this wasn’t without its small flaws. Mikey and Alex were pretty much wasted in their small parts as Don Jr and Eric. The Grim Bannon and Putin cameos were unnecessary and Pete playing a judge only makes sense after you notice most of the male cast (besides Jost) were stuck in these thankless supporting roles. That being said, this was still an enjoyable sketch. B-

Beyonce Ultrasound – The thing I liked most about this sketch was seeing how small they were able to make this typical Sasheer role while also effectively allowing her to show us how HER Beyonce impression is actually MILES better and more accurate than Maya Rudolphs’. Of course I’d MUCH rather see her break out than continue to be used in minimal parts if SNL is going to keep her around. Nothing against Sasheer, I just wanted to point this out. Anyway, this was an interesting place for a Tracy Morgan cameo but his and Kenans’ parts wore thin real quick and Baldwin was saddled with some very lame dad jokes that not even he could salvage. C+

Leslie Wants To Play Trump – This was a great response to all the bloggers suggesting an all-female cast impersonating Trumps’ cabinet in the wake of Melissa’s success on the show. Sure, even they must realize some of their more outlandish casting suggestions are never going to happen but I’d hope they see that the show acknowledging them in this way must make up for it. The confrontations with Lorne, Vanessa and “Melania” alogn with seeing Leslie forming her impression were among the many highlights. I also liked how they worked Melissa and Sasheer in there. B-

Gym Class – Gee, maybe I was a little harsh on that drill sergeant sketch from earlier. At least this was just the right length and at just the right spot in the show. Kudos to Alec and Mikey for fully committing to it. I’m guessing the latter of whom wrote this one. D+

Now, for my updated rankings of this season…

1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest
2. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga
3. Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara
4. Lin Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots
5. Aziz Ansari/Big Sean
6. Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran
7. John Cena/Maren Morris
8. Felicity Jones/Sturgil Simpson
9. Casey Affleck/Chance The Rapper
10. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd
11. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars
12. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes
13. Kristen Wiig/The xx
14. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange

Now, since this was a somewhat special occasion I thought I’d add something a little different to this review. I thought I would rank all of Baldwins’ episodes from best to worst much like I do with each current season and I did with Justin Timberlakes’ episodes in my review of his 2013 episode. This isn’t going to be very precise, though. I’ll be going by memory on most here since I’ve seen all of his episodes but I haven’t rewatched any of them recently (aside from his ’91 episode which was just on SNL Vintage right before this show aired). I’ve only reviewed his last four (counting this one, and those first three of my reviews are now pretty hard to come by). Feel free to voice any disagreements you may have, but I feel this list would please everyone. Here we go…

1. Alec Baldwin/Paul McCartney (2.13.1993)
2. Alec Baldwin/Whitney Houston (2.23.1991)
3. Alec Baldwin/The B-52s (4.21.1990)
4. Alec Baldwin/Tori Amos (1.20.1996)
5. Alec Baldwin/Tina Turner (2.22.1997)
6. Alec Baldwin/Luciano Pavorotti & Vanessa Williams (12.12.1998)
7. Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera (11.11.2006)
8. Alec Baldwin/Shakira (12.11.2005)
9. Alec Baldwin/Coldplay (4.7.2001)
10. Alec Baldwin/P.O.D (4.20.2002)
11. Alec Baldwin/Missy Elliott (4.7.2001)
12. Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran (2.11.2017)
13. Alec Baldwin/Radiohead (9.24.2011)
14. Alec Baldwin/Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (5.15.2010)
15. Alec Baldwin/Beastie Boys (12.10.1994)
16. Alec Baldwin/Jonas Brothers (2.14.2009)
17. Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger/UB-40 (2.12.1994)

Well, that certainly delivered almost everything it promised to the general public. Next month, SNL returns with Octavia Spencer as host. I have no doubt she will adapt well to the show and I really like them continuing the trend of booking non-white and non-male hosts after this show. See you then.

Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara (2.4.2017)

Okay, here's my review. Despite our collective lowered expectations going into this show, it turned out to be the best episode of 2017 so far. Kristen Stewart played WAY against type the entire night as someone who was actually excited to be on the show and had chemistry with her coworkers. Obviously, some of her unbridled "awkwardness" from her Twilight days still carries over to her performances to this day, but that didn't hinder her too much here. All things considered, I wouldn't mind seeing her back on the show if she has something to promote and Lorne/NBC agree let her back on the air kmore on that in just a moment). Solid writing and a major unexpected cameo were two other factors in this shows' success. Aside from Sasheer and maybe Cecily, the whole cast got plenty of airtime tonight (even Alex and Melissa are finding their niches and things are looking up for them on the show now) so there was a real sense of balance. Anyway, let me break it down for you.

Oval Office - This cold open was a lot of fun even if it might be overkill to trot Baldwin back out a week before he is due back to host. They sure did cram in all of Trump's fuck ups since the inauguration well. I did like the return of Grim Bannon. Beck as Turnbull and Alex as Pena Nieto were Allright (although they probably should've placed Melissa in that role). Kenan really walked away with this as the dictator of Zimbabwe. During tbe desk switching scene, did anyone else get major flashbacks to tye second of the two Fey/Fallon era Weekend Update Thursday night specials from 2001? B+

Monologue - This started out well but kinda lost momentum. Still, it showed Kristen had much, MUCH more potential as a host than we first thought. She didn't seem like she was difficult to work with at all. It kinda felt like they had two ideas for the monologue and couldn't decide which ONE to use. I'll admit that her referencing Trumps' tweets on her relationship w/Pattinson were very clever. Kate was all right but throwing in Aidy really didn't make any sense. They handled the f-bomb well and I genuinely wonder if they will actually "ban" Kristen or if Lorne will just pay the FCC fine and that will be the end of it. Still, I can already see the uproar over this. B-

Immigration Welcome Film - This was clever, if not a little underwritten. Beck was the real highlight but if have to wonder how hastily they had to edit in his line about the judge block at the end since it just happened the morning of this show. C+

UCONN Dry Fridays - This sketch was all rght but they didn't go far enough with it. I liked the idea of Kristen spouting a series of insane Braskyesque drunken stories but it was pretty one note. They should've had it build to something more. I didn't hate it, but at the same time I was waiting for it to end. I couldn't help but think how any other host might have handled Kristens, role after she and Pete both stepped on the same line. C+

Totino - I should've expected then to do another one of these ads rght before the Super Bowl. The twist here was clever but I still liked the Larry David one better. This could'be also been edited down and it obviously has Julio Torres' fingerprints all over it. B-

Sean Spicer Press Conference - I'm usually not a huge fan of Melissa McCarthys' performances on this show but casting her as Sean Spicer was brilliant. I thought they might just cast Beck or Bobby but they couldn't really capture Spicers' high pitch whine. Mikey or Alex certainly could but they're both too skinny for this part. Jason Sudekis would've been the next best thing if his connection to the show weren't so tennuous. Anyway, Melissa made the most of this role. Kudos to the hair and makeup department. She played well off the rest of the cast and made great use of all her "props". Bobby, Kate, Mikey and Kyle also had very funny supporting partz in this as well. I actually wouldn't mind if this impression became really urging much like LD/Bernie or Baldwin/Trump. A+

Update was pretty forgettable aside from what had to be some of the biggest gaffes in the shows history. Colin really saved Ches' ass after he screwed up his Trump/O'Reilly/dog joke. Che and Kenan really did the same for him after he mistakenly tried to bring it all home after the latter's forced Papi Ortiz commentary. Honestly, that was for the better because Ches' super bowl mini rant was a much better thing to end on anyway. C+

Family Feud VII - I'm actually kinda impressed they managed to keep findimg excuses to do Celebrity Family Feud. Kenans' Steve Harvey is getting better. Sadly, no impressions really stood out (put of the ones we haven't seen before. Leslie as Sam Jackson was another bit of clever stunt casting that didn't quite work out. Kates' Bieber really seemed tacked on needlessly. Alex as Casey Affleck seemed more like an in joke between the staff and us superfans who watch the show with alarming regularity. You would have had to see him host to really find that funny. Melissa was okay as Lady Gaga but I have a feeling it's not one of her well known impressions from her pre-SNL period for a reason. Still, that's okay because that was a pretty small role that she couldn't really add much to. Everyone else was just sreviceable in their roles, but WOW Kristen Stewarts' hoy some legs on her! (and there's REALLY nothing else I can say about this sketch as the introductions are still too much of the bulk of these.) C-

Meet Cute -This was a simple premise that they really mined the hell out of. It was one of the better written short films on recent memory. Pete Davidson really turned in his funniest performance on the show to date. If I had to venture a guess as to who wrote this, I'd have to say that the Britanick guys did. This seems pretty close to their style to me. B-

Willy Wonka - This was the first real dud of the night. It felt like the only true filler sketch of the whole show. Thankfully, it was in the PERFECT time slot. Pete and Kristen were terribly miscast in their parts (Pete more so that Keisten) and Petes' singing was quite weak. Thankfully, Mikey and Kate were able to add something different to it. Plus, Vanessa repeating her only line twice was really pointless. C-

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

1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest

2. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga

3. Lin Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots

4. Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara

5. Aziz Ansari/Big Sean

6. John Cena/Maren Morris

7. Felicity Jones/Sturgil Simpson

8. Casey Affleck/Chance The Rapper

9. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd

10. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars

11. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes

12. Kristen Wiig/The xx

13. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange

Well, that was a lot of fun. Next week, Alec Baldwin returns to host for a 17th time. Well, I honestly can't say I didn't see this coming from two towns over but if there were any justice in this world he would've hosted on November 5th of last year and that would be the last week he is urgently needed at Studio 8H for quite a while. I liken this to Bernie Sanders hosting last year around this time (both beloved guest stars/friends of the show who played fringe presidential candidates hosting during a sweeps month). Hopefully, they will handle this the same way they handled Larry's Bernie Sanders impression then, too and have Baldwin only play Trump ONCE in a pre-filmed segment (which may be a necessity seeing as it takes him 7 minutes to get made up as Trump) that is if they don't end up having him host the WHOLE show in character as Trump in every sketch or do something else that's that creative or out of the box with him. Still, if they do use his Trump impression sparingly I'm sure Baldwin will do well with the other (hopefully) non political sketches that are sure to fill up the rest of the show. I do agree that having Baldwin guest star nearly every week this season does ruin any sense of excitement for this show but it's just a matter of finding the right balance with Baldwin. See you then.