- Well, Season 51. Here we go.
- First off, I have to say I don't feel confident about the decisions made as to which cast members…didn't make the cut for this season.
- I think with the loss of Emil, Devon and Mr. Longfellow they're getting rid of the featured players who had the most untapped potential and the best chances of doing something actually interesting on the show and clinging on to certain “vets” who may not have been on the longest or anything but seem the most burnt and tapped out creatively (even if only one of them seems the most honest about it). Emil, Devon and Longfellow are definitely going to be missed more than the show realizes right now.
- Heidi and Ego, I get them wanting to leave on their own. Heidi has been a solid dependable anchor of the female cast who's had a respectable eight season run. It felt like the right time for her to leave on her own and she seems primed for a solid, respectable acting career at this point.
- Egos’ always had such a great presence on the show that I would’ve liked to have seen another year of her in the cast, but she's in the same boat as Heidi in that she's put in enough great work that this would seem like an ideal time for her to leave as well.
- Seems like she might have decided last minute to leave in solidarity with Heidi for some reason and the fact that Heidi is the only departing cast member to have NOT posted some sort of official Instagram announcement at this point makes it seem like something went on behind the scenes that she didn't quite find to be on the level. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out about it in due time.
- I'm not crazy about the fact that this leaves Chloe Fineman as the most senior female cast member in the show, though. Sarah being a close second isn't much consolation (and she honestly seems to be in the same boat as Emil, Devon and Longfellow except for the fact that she's still on the show) but she's still in the same boat as Ego in that I've always liked the idea of them both being in the cast even if they may not be getting used to their full potential (which is honestly the real problem with Sarah in that the show may be pounding a square Peg into a round hole with her since they obviously can't let her go full on “Squirm” on the show) but I do see an opportunity for Ashley Padilla to make major inroads in stabilizing (and potentially leading) the female cast.
- Most of the new featured players seem like decent enough fits for the show. I can see why Ben Marshall is the only PDD member they saw fit to legitimately add to the cast. I haven't gotten to have seen much of Jeremy Culhane, Tommy Brennan or Veronica Slowikowsas’ pre-SNL work but I've read enough of what their prior credits are to see why they would've been hired.
- Kam Patterson is the new hire that…concerns me the most. I don't even mind that he runs in the same circles as Gillis and Che as much as I'm concerned about the fact that he was plucked straight from “Kill Tony”. Having actually seen pieces of his standup, I don't quite see him fitting in with the show that well or bringing the show such great press for that matter (even though I realize that any attempts to “cancel” him the way they “cancelled” Gillis would be pointless). At best, I see him as another “one and done” type cast member.
- I am intrigued that they hired several new writers (so, I guess they did find SOME new women of color they liked enough to hire, huh?) so that alone gives me a tiny shred of hope that season 51 could be the start of the same transition between eras that season 31 was (that reminds me, I know my friend Jon Schneider is doing a season 31 rewatch podcast for their Patreon but if you want a podcast some full length season 31 reviews that aren't currently behind a pay wall then have I got the podcast for you!)
- Now, on to tonight's episode. I thought Bad Bunny was a rather unambitious choice for host at first but I'm OK with it. His season 49 episode wasn't the best of that season by any stretch, but when that season first premiered I remember being intrigued by the experimental feel of sketches like “Age Of Discovery”, “Telanovela” and the PDD Shrek short. I especially liked how they helped offset the “we're just gonna do some sketches about how hot this host is and just skate by on his charisma” vibe that the monologue and nun sketch gave off.
- I even liked how they bought in Pedro Pascal for a sequel to the “Protective Mom” sketch from his season 48 episode. That was possibly my favorite sketch from that one. I mean, I'm not as crazy about Pedro Pascal as the show seems to be but I hope to see another one of those sketches tonight. Hell, it might be a good breakout role for Veronika!
- I'm not going into this episode expecting much as I've learned not to expect much from modern SNL season premieres in general. They always tend to have that “dull as dishwater/just shaking off the old cobwebs/gotta get settled back into that old weekly grind” feel to them mixed with that irritating compulsion to catch the viewer up on EVERY single thing that happened this summer, but this one has a chance to be different.
- Specifically, a lot of what happened in pop culture over THIS summer revolved around late night comedy shows being taken off the air or chastised by government officials on social media for even the mildest criticisms of the current administration. As this is a subject that we all know affects THIS show dearly, I'm hoping that the cold open and Weekend Update can address it in a worthwhile manner (but I have a feeling this week's cold open with probably just focus on JAJs’ Trump rambling on to no one in particular about the current government shutdown. In fact, we might get a worse version of the season 47 premieres’ cold open).
- While I'll be going into this episode fully expecting it to be mediocre, I may be more generous to it than a lot of you as I'm using it as a distraction from everything else going on in my life right now (let's just say I'm writing this from my dad's hospital room and leave it at that) and I'm not even sure when my full length review of this episode will be finished enough for me to publish it by Sunday night at this point, but I just wanted to share this with you guys.