Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)

 Church Chat

- Ah, now THIS is more of what I wanted to see from Carveys' sudden return in season 50! (even if Dana seems to have completely lost the voice by this point).

- Too bad the circle of SNLs' online fandom that I roll with has already figured out that Church Chat only works if at least Robert Smigel and/or Jim Downey are writing for Dana (and part of me kinda hopes he wasn't this time because whoever did write this...it wasn't their best work).

- Already off to a half assed feeling start with the seemingly obligatory "Hawk Tuah/Wicked references". 2024, ladies and gentlemen.

- Well, who didn't see those Sabrina Carpenter/Jesus jokes coming from two towns over? I will admit I did chuckle at "He's working late, cuz he's a savior".

- More Matt Gaetz! This is LESS of what I wanted to see from Sarah Sherman on the show in any capacity.

- David Spade as Hunter Biden? Okay, I...kinda see it? Hell, it's kinda nice to see Spade pop up on SNL anyway since he usually only cameos very sporadically. It kinda felt the same as seeing Sandler or Eddie Murphy host in the modern era, but...y'know on a much smaller scale.

- Sadly, the "podcast/pardon me" jokes may have been the absolute laziest part of this long sleepwalk of a sketch.

- Seriously though, was Spade involved with the writing of this at all? This feels like it was mainly written just because Spade just had some Hunter Biden jokes of his own he wanted to get out there on the show.

- Still though, it's a nice break from Carveys' Joe Biden. This was definitely one of the weaker Church Chats, but it was still at least preferable to another lame white house cold open with Carvey & Spade as father & son Biden.

- Marcello as Juan Soto? Sure, whatever. Too bad he didn't bring the energy to this.

- The song seemed like it was going to be a decent way to end this but it ended up feeling the most like they "gave up" on the whole thing here.

- Yeah, this definitely came off feeling like it would have been better off getting rewritten and split off into a couple of Update commentaries than a cold open (even though tonight's Update felt like it was as close to the ideal length as possible) but this whole thing felt like it was written way too late in the week for that to be considered an option. D+

Monologue

- Well, based on this weeks' promos I was really hoping Paul Mescal would deliver some strong performances in the show. I was glad to see he has as much love and reverence for the show as I do.

- This monologue didn’t exactly perk up the energy level as much as I had hoped, but he had enough laid back charm to make a montage of his own crying scenes funny. Plus, he handled that "Irish stereotypes" portion of the monologue like a pro.

- More Marcello in short shorts didn't do much for me but overall the monologue made me feel a little bit better about the rest of the shows' potential. C+

Earring

- Glad to see Emil get a lead comedic role (and Ashley get even a heavily physical supporting part near the end).

- Even Heidi and Paul turned in funny restrained performances (by Heidi's standards, anyway...up until she had a spatula hanging off her bleeding earlobe). I actually chuckled at the "Gummo/Metallica" lines.

- Longfellows entrance as Pauls' Trent Reznor like lil bro was a nice button on this. I liked how fairly grounded this felt. Decent post monologue sketch. C+

Gladiator Twosical

- This was another example of SNLs' writers making the absolute most out of the most nothing of premises.

- Kenan and Bowens' song was a cute way to open this. I liked how well the mild fake gore was coreographed in Pauls' first solo number and I liked the Hamilton style rap battle between him and Mikeys' emperor.

- Good use of Jane's musical talents. That number of hers might have been better than her song from Nate Bargatzes' Update. JAJ had a fun role in this, too.

- I definitely liked how accessible this felt. I liked that it wasn't too steeped in the lore of either "Gladiator", "Moana", "Wicked" or even "Hamilton".

- Maybe this wasn't my favorite SNL pretape of all time, but it fit the vibe of this episode well. B-

Capanellis' Shoot

- Ooh, an actressy Ashley part. This looks promising.

- Ok, so Paul Mescal is going to be the aggrieved one and Ashley mostly plays a chipper straight woman. Not a bad concept.

- I liked the ending to this sketch but Kenans' strong choice of an accent was about as jarring as Pauls' non-choice to stick with his actual Irish accent (since he did a decent American non-accent in the previous sketch) but I can't say either choice really hurt this sketch. B-

PDD Loves Mescal

- Huh...at least this was played a little too subtly and romanticized to count as your run of the mill "lolgay" sketch. In fact, this might have been played TOO subtly and low key for it's own good.

- I mean, if this has to be the "obligatory host is hot" sketch that the show seems to have no problem returning to in 2024, I can live with it.

- This wasn't doing much for me...until the townspeople showed up. Still, I can't say this was one of my favorite PDD shorts.

- Was anyone else distracted ny what sounded like...accidentally mic'ed crew members moving scenery or was that just me?

- Oh, apparently it IS just me because it sure as hell sounds like they didn't bother editing those same moments out of the YouTube upload. C-

Swashbucklers All Male Revue

- For a brief second, I was on "high Domingo alert" until I noticed Chloe was sitting with the other girls in the audience instead of just Dismukes...who himself was onstage with the other guys. Also, I thought to myself "yeah, c'mon...back to back episodes, I mean, we all know they haven't been THAT nakedly desperate with a recurring new character since Jon Lovitz debuted the pathological liar back in season 11."

- This took a bit too long to get going in general but the writerly, detailed nature of this sketch kept me intrigued enough.

- I didn't know what to make of them suddenly switching from Heidi to Ego being the in the designated Melissa Villaseñor "odd one out who's weirdly into this whole thing" role. On second viewing, Ego put this over for me.

- Sudden mop headed Longfellow made me chuckle.

- Marcello being thrown off the boat after revealing he has scurvy was a moment that worked for me. Didn't care too much for Emils' peg legs though. Glad they didn't do too much with that.

- Heidi being thrown off the boat was a predictable but fitting (if not slightly visually and possibly physically botched) gag and I did like the ending where the guys only start actually stripping once the four main women leave. C-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

- Of the opening CEO shooting ramble, I liked Jost & Che's "Christmas Tree/Port Authority/ Lucky S Bechalive" lines.

- I also liked Che's "Billy Long" and "National Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day" jokes. I think the setup to that last one actually made it for me. That one ALMOST made up for those cheap ass Kash Patel jokes. Other than those, absolutely nothing else worked for me.

- Heidi's new character definitely had that "all over the place feeling" to it but at least Marcellos' dead eyed straight man performance saved this for me (even his dumbest lines and during his visible struggle not to break) just when Heidi and her horny Shaboozey puns were getting to be a bit much for me.

- The brief, unexpected cutaway to Colin was a nice format break for this Heidi/Marcello two-hander. The "dookie" puns (did it even occur to them to spell it "D-U-K-E-Y" as to not totally belabor the joke?) were pretty much the ideal note to end this entire Update on. C-

Brilliant Lawyer

- Already Pauls' outfit and Dismukes as a lawyer has me intrigued. The Devo hat alone is a nice touch.

- The dozen and a half other shuffling extras dressed identically to Paul made me chuckle.

- I'm sure I'm not the only one who got "we are bald men" vibes from this sketches big reveal but am I the only one who got slight Jack Harlow vibes from...seeing Paul Mescal with a much thicker beard?

- Bowen as the angry judge really served this well and it ended on the exact right beat.

- I also liked how the preceding band shot was timed just right as to not give away the joke immediately. This was definitely my second favorite live sketch of the night. B+

Spotify Wrapped

- The strange, detail heavy nature of this sketch had me intrigued, but the reveal of this being another Bowen vanity piece had me almost struggling to not tune out.

- Wow. Good thing they covered for Paul not even bothering to attempt another accent besides his own just by having Ego shout "you're Irish" at him.

- Hmm...some live audience members seem to be cheering prematurely at something or someone we cannot see on camera yet. Wonder if it's another surprise cameo? Well, Gee, if it is, I sure hope it's somebody truly worthy of such a thing!

- The random Trisha Paytas cameo (don't ask me how or why I know that name or face because I sure as hell can't tell you) made me hit my wall with the niche terminally online pop culture pandering in this episode but thankfully Pauls' speech signaled the sketch was almost over anyway.

- Hey, real quick. I have not been able to get my own Spotify Wrapped this year. Is it because I only use the free version of Spotify to sporadically listen to three or four different podcasts instead of music? C-

Buzzfeed

- Ok, JAJ may have just ran away with this entire show here. No one could've inhabited the role of present day Bob Dylan on SNL more perfectly than him. His sudden "what?" was my first genuine laugh of the night.

- Dismukes doesn't really do a strong Springsteen but his line "like all my stories, that's not true" was my second biggest laugh of this sketch.

- Paul did a strong Bono. No real surprise there. He may not have had the best material in this sketch but he got it to the finish line.

- Thank God the show realized that Chloes' Chalamet can't sustain an entire live sketch and had her exit early (I mean, that impression of hers barely sustained any of the pretapes it was in). I did like her "these guys love appetizers" line. Heidi as the reporter was fine. B+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
5. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
6. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
7. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
8. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Overall Thoughts

- As I had hoped, this episode sort of restabilized SNL after the hype surrounding the Charli XCX episode. The focus on a more mainstream host with more mass appeal certainly helped (and also that they kept the social media/pop culture clout chasing sketches to a more restrained minimum).

- Paul Mescal was a decent, committed host even if he didn't give as super strong of a performance as he did in that taped promo from earlier in the week. He met my expectations of him as a host that the show set when Charli was on in that they both turned in strong enough performances that the their episodes' weaknesses couldn't possibly be blamed on them specifically.

- Overall, this episode wasn't exactly my favorite of the season so far, but I didn't actively hate it. It got off to a slow, disappointing start at first, but it had a strong middle and closed with a bit of a banger. It was very "mid" by present-day SNL standards, a real necessary pallette cleanser.

- As far as cast airtime goes, there appeared to be more of a balance. I mean, it didn't seem like any specific cast members "dominated" the show. Heidi and Marcello came close, but they really only had a couple of big parts each.

- Emil also came close, but he is a first year featured player who the show is displaying much more confidence in. JAJ and Dismukes each hit a couple of their own bits out of the park.

- Mikey seemed relegated to only one pretape and a dress cut. Ashley seems to be getting more substantial roles. Kenan, Sarah, Longfellow, Ego, Jane, Chloe, Devon and Bowen seemed to take small hits.

Closing Thoughts

- Well, SNL is in a somewhat safe place once again, but for how long? Next week, Chris Rock hosts for his fourth time...and I gotta say I have some pretty mixed feelings about that. I mean, the guy may only be 2 for 3 on hosting decent episodes.

- I only say "2 for 3" because his 2014 episode had a few still memorable black clouds hovering over it (if you'll pardon the expression) but looking back at my review of Rocks' 2020 episode, I feel I may have graded it on the curve of it being the first episode of the "COVID season" where it really felt like a miracle that the show was being produced live in studio at all without as much as a single positive rapid swap test shutting the show down. Man, they really dodged a bullet with Morgan Wallen that first month, huh? I mean, they could've dodged a second one, but still.

- I remember liking Chris Rocks' 2020 monologue the most out of that episode. I apparently thought that was one of the better parts of that episode along with Chloes' Drew Barrymore and (maybe?) Kyles' video game sketch. I may have to watch that one again some time in the next week just to see how it holds up. I just remember that one being one of the more "mid" episodes from a VERY "mid" season. (While we're on the subject of season 46, I just went over my Elon Musk review and I personally don't think I was too easy on that one and have absolutely zero desire to go back and watch it, I may not have heard enough backstage stories from that week to be sure yet. Also, looking back at any old reviews I did sure does make me as  thankful as i assume you all are that I decided to make these format changes this season).

...and also, I'd like to announce that I will be cohosting my own podcast with Deej Barens (who you might have seen recently on the same SNN Patron Feedback shows as me). We have already recorded the trailer and the first episode. In fact, she has sent me a rough edit of that first episode (but as of this writing/publishing I have not had the time to listen to the whole thing because I've been too busy trying to get this blog entry you're reading finished in a timely manner, you see). I'll give you more information when closer to when the podcast is released (possibly in the new year?)

See you next week.