SNL Reviews (and possibly other stuff): Mike Myers

Showing posts with label Mike Myers. Show all posts

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Scarlett Johansson/Arcade Fire (05.17.2025)

Trump/MBS Meeting

Well, one more Trump cold open to end the season.

Apparently “he found…love” with Mohammad Bin Salman. Not crazy about the “season 42 Beck as Putin sketch” vibes I am getting right out of the gate.

I do like that JAJ has worked Trumps’ real life jerky back-and-forth power move handshake into his repertoire. It brings back fond memories of seeing Athony Atamanuik do that same thing on Comedy Centrals’ “The President Show” in 2017…oh, wait. Never mind. Forget I brought that up. Parallel thinking, I guess.

I like that they're finally using Emil after a while…but I'm not crazy about the way they're using Emil in this sketch.

I mean, I liked “oil/money/end of list”, “the late great Fred Flintstone” and the “they Dubai a lot of weapons” and “Utah” jokes but…the rest of this was just white noise.

Thankfully, the fourth wall break was interesting. I especially liked the “season 50 Worst one yet” jab. (Hey, at least they're being semi-honest here, amirite?)

God help me I even got into him ranking the attractiveness of the female audience members sitting around him as they…at least pretended to be? I mean, I appreciated it more on rewatch after learning from Jon Schneider that SNL actually does arrange audience seating by placing all the younger, more “camera friendly” people on the floor and everyone else up in the bleachers.

Yeah, while I do like JAJ himself as a performer and a comedian…I'm really about as ambivalent about seeing his Trump as I am about seeing the real one l…anywhere, so no big loss there.

Also, I'm starting to agree with whoever first put forth the take that Trump doesn't deserve an impression that makes him appear likable or relatable like JAJs. He does actually deserve an impression more like Baldwins’ that makes you as sick of seeing both the impressions as much as you are of the real person. JAJ just does Trumps’ actual voice better and he seems like a nice, friendly family man in real life which he can't help himself from letting through in his impression. Baldwin captures Trumps’ other real life behaviors better and probably got even more sick of doing the impression as we got of seeing him do it. C+

Monologue

Hey, a sincere “Piano Man” monologue where the cast gently pokes fun at themselves. This is…pleasant.

Honestly, this feels like it SHOULD have been the cold open (and probably would've been around this time three seasons ago).

I…thought we all agreed that Bowen pretty much stopped playing “likable” characters about two seasons before he was given the role of J.D. Vance?

I did like the jabs at Sarah's pants. She's one of the last people I would expect to be leaving unless she sees herself as, like, the Janeane Garafalo of season 50 or something which part of me suspects may be the case with both her and Bowen (and if she really is I would have some…pretty mixed feelings about that but I would wish her all the best).

Kenan as an audience member was fun. I also liked Longfellow, Jane, Emil and Ashley poking fun at their own lack of screen time. Heck, I even liked how they worked Devon, JAJ, Andrew, Longfellow and Marcello in here

Huh…I'm a bit surprised we didn't see…oh, nevermind. B-

Channel 4 NYC News

Hey, a wildly off key Pink Pony Club parody from Emil. Now, THIS is how I like seeing them use Emil on the show.

Hey, Ashley has a big upfront role!

Ok, so…apparently this is a reworked and slightly inverted version of the coffee shop sketch from Timothee Chalamets’ episode…except Scarlett is taking Ashley's role which is made the main focus along with the dark, upsetting nature of the various puns.

Well, I have to say that leaning into the darker aspects of this sketch (especially on Scarlett, Devin and Heidi's parts) really elevated this for me. B-

PDD: First Class Flight….to Newark?!?!?

Hey, these guys are back! I was wondering where they've been.

So, it's a rap that keeps getting interrupted by ScarJo and the boys’ anxiety over realizing they're flying to Newark? Well, at least this is the rare topical short from Please Don't Destroy.

Mikey as the pilot was…something that turned into a very Mikey-type role.

I did also like the “who will make the article?/prayer hands/LOST pilot/Avengers money” jokes.

I appreciate their slight subversion of the audience's collective expectations of when Bad Bunny was gonna show up in this…and how long it would be taking him to start singing. He does work surprisingly well as a dumbfounded, out of his depth, first day air traffic controller and this had a charming ending with the plane landing semi-safely…as Ben Marshall reveals he has urinated on himself. C+

Couples At The Bar

Four people fighting over the same specific thing? What is this, a season 28 sketch?

I guess this was the requisite “hey, Bad Bunnys’ in the building this week so naturally that means we HAVE to do a sketch where he and Marcello talk to each other almost exclusively in Spanish for 99% of the total runtime” sketch?

Still, I do like how multilayered this sketch was where the men are just as much the butt of the joke for how they view the women in their relationships as the women are for how badly they misunderstand (or how they merely very selectively understand as the case may be) Hispanic language and culture.

I also liked how JAJ and Dismukes characters accidentally display a better, more educated understanding of Marcello/Ego and Benito/Scarjos’ relationships from a complete outsider's perspective than they do. Even though their parts could've been cut without really affecting the sketch either way, I liked that they were there to add that extra wrinkle to it.

I especially liked Marcellos’ intense, bug eyed stare down of Bad Bunnys’ character as he tells Scarlett what a great couple he and Ego make. C+

Bowens’ Still Straight

So, they're just gonna do “Bowens’ Straight” again? Goddammit.

Yeah, I just wasn't crazy about this the first time he did it with Sydney Sweeney over a year ago (no pun intended) but I guess…some people still liked it and that episode much more than I did?

I wasn't too crazy about this one either (and that's not coming from a place of sheer jealousy over the mere implication that Bowen got to hook up with both Ego and Heidi in the same sketch) so I'll just stick to mentioning which elements of this I actually DID like.

I do like how they're establishing some continuity from the last one with Gina Gershon making another cameo and not totally ignoring the elephant in the room anymore at this point in the episode any more re: Colin's relationship status with this week's host.

I did like Bowens’ lines to Scarlett about how he just found out who she was this morning and “thanks for inventing A.I., by the way”. I don't like how this pretty much had the exact same ending as last time, though.

Was it ever established who wrote both of these? I'm guessing Bowen himself may have had a large hand in it but I'm just curious how it was determined which specific women Bowen would be “straight” for. Heidi and Ego must've come from him having bonded with them as a platonic friend and coworker over the years but Sydney and Emily must've just come from a specific preference of his or just him having the basic idea of “lol str8 guys just like big boobs, big lips and blonde hair”. Scarlett must've come from a place of all three of these things together. C-

Elevator

Hey, Mike Myers is back! He's not playing Elon. He's playing himself…and Scarlett isn't. In fact, she is barely in the scene at all. This should be interesting.

…and hey, look. Kenan is playing…Ye (neé Kanye West)? Ok, not too crazy about Kenan's impression, but…he can make it work well enough. I have faith in him. Still, I would’ve at least liked to see Devons’ attempt at a Kanye instead of just a walk on between him and Ego where she has lines and he doesn't.

I genuinely wonder who had the idea of “let's imagine what it would be like if Mike Myers had a chance encounter with the stunningly bigoted and fully broken brained Kanye West of 2025 because there's no way that wouldn't be a million times more awkward and uncomfortable for him, right”?

I definitely think that news of Kanye having released a new single that could be described as “slightly incestuous” at best would be the only thing to make someone come up with this because I haven't heard of this having been cut from any previous dress rehearsals but if this was ultimately scrapped from the 50th I can see why. I mean, that one aired in primetime on a Sunday night so I would see why they would want lighter fare than this to the point where they would've chosen Debbie Downer and In Memoriam over this.

I mean, upon rewatch, I can see what Kenan is going for with Yes’ speech patterns but he doesn't quite have that nasal Chicagoan semi-angry whine down they way Pharoah and Redd did so it's coming out more Steve Harvey than Ye.

I did like Mike's sudden line “my kids are safe” and Kenan's line revealing his next song is called “Squeezin’ On My Grandpas’ Booty” which gave me a legitimate laugh, but what was with that weird voice modulated line of Kenan's at the very end? Were the writers confusing Nitrous Oxide with helium or does Nitrous actually lower your voice?

Also, why are all his front teeth gone…oooooh riiight, he blamed/tried to sue a dentist for getting him hooked on Nitrous. Was that what that was supposed to be a reference to?

So, basically this is a slightly inferior remake of a sketch that Mike Myers had previously done with (unfortunately) the real Kanye West almost 20 years on the season 31 premiere? Hey, me and Deej actually covered that previous sketch in the first ever episode of our own podcast which you can listen to here. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

Out of Colins’ “regular” jokes, I liked “McJournalist”, “Qatar-a-lago”, “favors” and “Dick's/Foot Locker”.

Out of Michaels’ “regular” jokes his “uphold the constitution” seemed surprisingly out of character but I liked “South Africa/Mandella Effect”

Boy, that RFK Jr./parasites joke was a real throwback to Seth & Amy's era of Update, huh?

Hey! Miss Eggys’ back! All right!

I'd say the highlights from this one were “piss a biscoff”, “compote” “Miss Eggy stay strapped” and “hollandaise/benedict”

Hey! Another joke swap to close out the season!

For what Colin was given, I got a bigger kick out of the “Lorne, retire bitch/topping off priests/ bonobos halftime show” stuff than the “black CBS soap opera” and “Nick Kerr lover” jokes.

Yep, I can definitely tell Che's part of this once Scarlett came out was crafted by her, Colin and her (presumably female) friends to humiliate him. I got a slightly bigger kick out of the “unattended drink”,“farm” “thousands of jokes/dozens of laughs” and “selling crack” stuff though.

Yeah, this one was just as fun as the Christmas one. I know it might feel like a slight let down, but how else could they have possibly even TRIED to follow that roast beef joke anyway?

I will say that the joke swaps we got this season were both much better than the ones we got last season but I've noticed both sets of joke swaps have followed the same pattern of “stronger one for the Christmas show, weaker and more uneven one for the season finale.

I wouldn't say this was the best we could hope for for this season's final Update since, y'know…we were all at least hoping for some solid confirmation of who would be LEAVING the show tonight and the closest thing we even got to that was…Colin begrudgingly smearing on lipstick.

Ok, I've also heard some people theorize that Colin may stay on to take Lornes’ position rather than leave the show at some point. I highly doubt Lorne is planning on retiring this soon anymore (if at all) but if that truly turns out to be the case with Colin some time down the road, then I have a theory of my own there.

My theory is that Lorne is going to eventually talk Colin into stepping down from the Update desk if he wants to move into the executive producer position. He'll only do it by telling Colin the story of how he was originally planning to host Update himself in the very early stages of development for “NBCs’ Saturday Night” but decided to give that gig to Chevy because he realized he can't be the person who ultimately decides what sketches get cut and what gets taken from the rest of the casts’ airtime while also having secured his own guaranteed spot for himself on the show that he (for all intents and purposes) created each week.

Of course, Lorne will put this forth to Colin in such a vague way that it may takes Colin days to figure out what Lorne was trying to tell him, but only time will tell if this truly turns out to be the case. B-

Penelopes’ Secret

So, Kenan and Scarlett are intimacy coordinators, Mikey is a try hard male feminist type without the predatory vibes, Sarah is the assistant director just there to be the butt of a single “they/them” joke, Ashley and Jane are about to shoot a lesbian love scene and everyone is just trying to gently guide Kenan in the vague direction of “finally figuring out what ‘scissoring’ is for the first time in his life?

Thank God this ended at the EXACT moment it wore out its welcome and thank God Kenan still has a likable enough personality to put this over.

I did get a kick out of Kenan sweetly smiling as he tried to picture two women scissoring and then running through the wall (although the timing of Kenan's exit after “what's the wifi?” seemed visually botched a bit). C+

TV Takes

Ok, so they're literally just doing a slightly more dumbed down version of the same “cast interview” sketch from the season 46 finale except with Marcello in Pete's role, Bowen and Scarlett in Aidy and Anya Taylor-Joy's roles and…Sarah and Jane being placed into Punkie and Bowens’ old roles?

I did like some of Sarah, Jane, Ego and Heidi's roles in this (although I didn't like the return of the “hey, let's make Sarah the butt of a few ‘lol she's least attractive girl in this sketch’ when in reality nothing could be further from the truth” trope).

Ok, so maybe this version of this sketch wasn't THAT bad. Upon rewatch the highs may have been a bit higher this time. In fact, it was probably smart of them to borrow a sketch from a much stronger season finale than this one.

Hell, it’s not even the fact that they're still so frequently bringing back old sketch premises from several seasons ago that bothers me so much here.

I guess the fact that they borrowed a sketch from a previous season finale where absolutely none of the cast members people were expecting/secretly hoping would leave…actually left…is perhaps the most troubling thing to me here. C+

Victorian Ladies At Lunch

A strange Victorian sketch featuring Scarlett Johansson? Could we finally be about to meet the mysterious Mr. Willoughby?

So, I guess the whole point of this was to try and create a “THIS IS LIVE TELEVISION!!!” forced breaking type moment by making the women of the cast eat real blood pudding, jellied eels, candied clams and pickled cows’ feet on camera? Hey, they could've done worse.

At first, this felt more like it belonged on Jimmy Fallons’ Tonight Show than SNL but then I noticed how the snappy live pacing of it and the over the top writing and dialogue delivery saved it.

Kudos to them for executing this as a live sketch rather than a pretape. That was a very unusual and uncharacteristically daring move on the show's part.

I liked a lot of Dismukes' dialogue (probably because his was easiest to understand due to his mouth being the least full). It seemed like this sketch was structured dialogue wise to just have the women set him up to describe the ridiculously offensive way these endangered animal dishes were prepared.

Perhaps the thing I got the biggest kick out of was seeing Chloes’ very real reactions to what she was eating. Yeah, she was clearly struggling the most here. She was even too disgusted to break like a normal person here.

Meanwhile, the gross out queen herself Sarah Squirm seemed the absolute least phased by this out of anyone. Heidi and Scarjo are tied for a close second here since Heidi's one if the shows’ more fearless performers in the cast right now (which means something different today, I'm sure) and Scarletts’ just a friend of the show who's always willing to support her fellow women and who must've been in a prankish mood this week between this and the joke swap.

My guess is that some combination of Sarah, Heidi, Dismukes and possibly Scarlett were involved with the writing on this one and I have another (slightly less educated) theory that this sketch was designed by the other women solely as one big humiliation ritual for Chloe for missing so much airtime for doomed vanity projects lately. I mean, she must've been absent at least on Monday and Tuesday of this week because I believe this and the monologue were the only things she was even in this week.

Damn, that is the longest title card I have ever seen on this show. They must've taken great care timing-wise not to overload the show because they knew they absolutely HAD to get this in along with the joke swap on Update. There wasn't even a band shot anywhere near this episode.

Yeah, the Pepto Bismol button at the end was a bit of a bummer and something I too really wish the show would cease doing already but I had enough fun watching the rest of this sketch that I'm honestly not gonna let it bug me that much. B-

Goodnights

So, we see Scarlett being handed flowers by Colin who kisses her on the mouth so that Emil can react with the most committed disgust out of a small group in the left hand corner of the stage that includes him and everyone else besides Sarah who joined the cast after season 46? I wonder how that was set up? I'm sure they were always planning to have the Victorian lunch sketch at the end of the rundown.

We do see Sarah over in the opposite corner tightly hugging Bowen (who appears the most emotional out of everyone on stage at this moment) with Ego a distant third behind him and Sarah. Miss Eggy doesn't appear on the verge of tears or anything. She just appears most ready to hug everyone.

Based on this alone, I'd say the safest bet to make would be the announcement of Bowens’ departure some time by August or September. I'd say Sarah and Ego are the next most likely candidates in that order. I don't base that on what I'm now seeing could be their “meta moments” in the monologue and TV Takes respectively (because reading into that may be a bit much). I just get the sense that Bowen and Sarah may have developed such a strong emotional bond that they may not want to do the show without one another and this may leave together. Plus, Ego getting to reprise Miss Eggy so soon reminds me of when Vanessa Bayer did the same thing with her Dawn Lazarus character back in season 42, so…these might just be gut feelings on my part.

Ranking All Of ScarJos’ Episodes From Best To Worst

Scarlett Johansson/Death Cab For Cutie (01.14.2006)
Scarlet Johansson/Niall Horan (12.14.2019)
Scarlett Johansson/Bjork (04.21.2007)
Scarlett Johansson/Lorde (03.11.2017)
Scarlett Johansson/Bad Bunny (05.17.2025)
Scarlett Johansson/Wiz Khalifa (05.02.2015)
Scarlett Johansson/Arcade Fire (11.14.2010)

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)
Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
Quinta Brunson/Benson Boone (05.03.2025)
Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
Scarlett Johansson/Bad Bunny (05.17.2025)
Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)
Walton Goggins/Arcade Fire (05.11.2025)
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

Well, that was season 50…and that was another typical “let's run out the clock” finale to end it.

Just think, this is the exact same episode that a few years ago some people were led to believe would be the last SNL episode ever. Makes you think, huh?

Overall, I feel this episode represents this season as a whole (outside of the anniversary special itself) in that we might have proven ourselves to be fools for buying into any amount of hype and expecting anything bigger or better from the show than just…what it actually is now. Oh, well. Just standard operating procedure, I guess.

At least after last week, it was nice to have another established host who has the proven ability to elevate material and boost morale around the show…even if there was still this gassed out feeling.

I'm not gonna let myself get bothered by the fact that they're still digging out as many old, reused sketch premises from years ago as they've been these past two weeks. I'm not saying that because there was a fair enough level of buzz and hype surrounding it to distract even me from that but also because a few moments felt original enough to stand out and balance out this episode a bit.

Still, there was fun to be had if you can see the forest for the trees tonight…and although Mikey seems to have had a light night, it looks like everyone in the cast got some airtime and no one was shut out of the finale (no matter how many times they may tell you it's happened to them previously on the show).

Honestly, the thing that bums me out the most is that we're finding ourselves back in the same place we were four years earlier when season 46 ended and we were left with no clue as to who (if anyone) would be leaving the show.

Of course, Covid isn't dictating those decisions as much anymore and back then we did find out that new people would be joining an already overstuffed cast after a couple of people did leave slightly unexpectedly, and the people we were expecting to have left dipped in and out quite a bit and ended up leaving at the end of season 47 instead (and in the middle of season 48 in one person's case who we just saw last week).

This led to a promising new season that quickly lost steam leading us right back to where we are now and where we have been for the past two damn years at this point and I don't know if I can go through that whole cycle with this show again.

Still, I guess we have the whole summer ahead of us to wait and speculate until we find out who's definitely leaving and who may be joining the show and if there's hope for things to take off in any more new directions creatively at this point.

Maybe a complete season 21 style reboot is too much to hope let alone ask for at this point…but I agree with whoever been putting forth the take recently that this would be the biggest thing the show could do to keep them genuinely interested at this point (and you know who you are…even though I kinda doubt you're reading this right now).

Closing Thoughts

Well, that sure was season 50, wasn't it?

Fear not though, because for a change of pace…this blog will actually continue on semi-regularly throughout the summer…by taking things back to season 32…for now.

I can confirm that the next post on this blog is going to be posted this coming Thursday, May 22nd and it will be another full length SNL retro review of the Hugh Laurie/Beck episode from season 32 as Deej and I will be covering it on the next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast.

After that, we'll do a couple more episodes with season 32 specific topics that I will not reveal here yet. I'll wait until Deej and I nail down a few more things before doing so.

See you in a few days and have a great summer!

Sunday, April 6, 2025

Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)

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!

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)

White House Truce

I had a feeling they might do another Trump cold open involving Mike Myers as Elon Musk again.

I hadn't heard about the meeting with the blowup between Musk & Rubio (guess he's finally starting to grow something resembling a spine?)

At first thought they might do something on Trumps’ Joint Address to congress but even with Kenan as Al Green and Longfellow silently reprising his role as Speaker Mike Johnston that might not be enough to sustain a whole sketch. Makes sense that they would rather just throw in a couple of callbacks to it instead.

Still, I figured they might want to reprise Mikes’ Elon impression simply because it got under the real Elons’ skin more than Carveys’ did.

Somehow, Marcello seems ill suited to play Marco Rubio, but it should at least appease his biggest critics to see him in a quieter straight man role off of Update.

I did like JAJs line “we tried that in 2016 and it didn't work” line.

Huh, so we're going from the “Curb” theme playing in Rubios’ head to JAJ/Trumps’ inner monologue. Not a huge fan of that.

…and HERE'S the Mike Myers cameo this was building to!

Seems like Mike either fine tuned his facial expressions for this role or the makeup department stepped up their game.

Still, I don't mind seeing Mike Myers in this role (he certainly has a better take on Elon than his buddy Carvey did anyway).

I did like the “buffering” gag as well as Marcello asking Mike “what's this?” when he did his Elon dance again.

JAJ as Trump coaching Elon & Rubio on insulting each other was cheap and “been there, done that” but it is “on brand” for both Trump as a character, I'll give them that.

I probably liked Myers “inner monologue” the most out of the three, forced Dr. Evil reference and all…because Mike's basic handle on this character seems to be “lane Dr. Evil but played AS a senile Austin Powers”.

Honestly, I still don't mind the idea of occasional Mike Myers cameos. I like seeing Mike pop up on the show sometimes. I just hope that if he is going to cameo on a regular basis like Carvey did that they at least attempt to fold him into the show in some other non-Elon/non cold open roles. C+

Monologue

Well, as I suspected, a more mature Gaga showed us she was more than comfortable poking fun at herself. I still feel like I haven't seen her act enough to really judge her acting abilities, but she must be better at acting and light comedy than she is at picking movie roles (heyooooo!)

The lines about her performance with R. Kelly felt a little too tacked on. I thought acknowledging his unfortunate musical cameo in her first hosting stint during the “In Memoriam” at the 50th was enough.

The Joker 2 stuff was fine. I did like the “Razzies/EGORT” lines.

Her listing the other current pop girlies “ages” was fun (Chappel Roan is 58, Charli XCX is 75, Tate McRae is her biological grandmother)

I like even the mildest SNL meta references but I would’ve cut Bowens' appearance since it didn't do anything for me…especially since he did a great job of actually introducing Gagas’ first performance anyway.

The stuff about her engagement was cute but fell a little flat compared to the rest of the monologue. C+

A Long Goodbye

Hmm, this is a slightly more Marcello heavy show than I was expecting.

I really wasn't sure what the hell this was going for but the sight gag of Gaga riding a luggage caddy down a highway was enough to keep me interested.

I did like the further escalation of this gag by having JAJ, Dismukes and (surprisingly the funniest part of this whole sketch) Jane Wickline as a Sons Of Anarchy-style biker gang riding on similar luggage caddies with Marcello chasing them on his own luggage. I might have cut the dog out of this sketch, though. That part felt too awkwardly shoehorned in for me.

I also liked how this made good use of the backstage quick change hallways but perhaps most of all, I managed to blend sheer goofiness with sweetness. B+

Midnight Matinee: Pip

Huh. Seems like a mouse named Pip is about to enter a weightlifting competition. Lady Gaga sings him an inspirational song, which might have genuinely been the best part of this.

It's good they're spacing out these Dan Bulla pretapes because they are really all starting to feel the same thematically.

Well, I can at least appreciate the cute sentimentality these go for…until the first in a series of “twists” is revealed.

I do like how this didn't feel the need to stretch itself out and on as long as “Beppo” did.

I did appreciate the ending, as telegraphed as it felt. B-

Wonderful Tonight

Ah, HERE'S the exact type of sketch I was expecting to see as much of as possible. A Bowen and Gaga two-hander.

It's the exact type of refined, odd-detail heavy sketch I would expect from Bowen but Gagas’ performance is really making this work for me and actually making me laugh.

“Italians aren't white?” Geez, Gaga was a REAL good sport to go along with that

“I recently…came…into some money?” Well, I could see where that was going…but I'm still a little surprised NBC could air that at any point before midnight.

Even though the ending seemed a little rushed and clumsy for my liking, I enjoyed that. C+

Funeral Planners

Hmm…they really seem stuck on this “roaring 20s” theme for a funeral.

Roaring 20s? More like BORING 20s, am I right, folks?

Kenans’ brief appearance was funny. Still, strangely late into the show for him.

That was a helluva quick change for Heidi & Gaga there. Wonder how they pulled that off?

Overall, while this felt like a retread of a long worn out SNL sketch trope that I had almost memory holed until now, I didn't hate it. C+

L’Oréal Easy Run Mascara

This seems like a very specific premise. I mean, I know I may not be the “target audience” for this but I still feel like I “get it” enough.

It feels like an improvement over whatever last seasons “Diet Coke from Olay” pretape was supposed to be.

Not a whole lot of individual lines stood out to me in this, but this was well performed and I did like how it made good use of the entire female cast (especially Jane and Ashley). C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

I liked Josts’ meta jab at Mike Myers right off the bat and Che's “Bin Laden” joke.

I also liked that Linda McMahon joke just for the odd visual element to it.

Che's “40lbs of fentanyl/two buttfuls” joke was just goofy enough to make me chuckle.

That Zelenskyy joke was WAY too awkwardly constructed for its own good.

I like the IDEA of Update going in harder on Elon, but those punchlines didn't hit for me. I thought the Don Jr joke was OK (despite the audience reaction to just the set up). None of their other jokes really hit for me at all (except maybe “labia puffs/Honey Smacks”).

Kenan seems like he's going for just a goofy voice and slightly silly dialogue with this Kendrick Perkins impression. The only context I have for this impression is that it's the guy Kenan was playing in those “cut for time” First Takes sketches from a few years ago. I did like the sight gag of him removing his beard to wipe his sweat.

Mikey as “Lord Gaga”? Was this just a throwaway idea Mikey had for Taran Kilam or something from Gagas’ LAST hosting gig? Hell, we know for SURE it was used in a 2009 promo with Fred Armisen.

Seemed like this wasn't going anywhere at first. Seems like the idea at first was to poke fun at the casual misogyny of the age of ACTUAL “lords and ladies” until Mikey revealed this to be another incredibly labored and stinging Jost roast.

Overall, this was the rare Update that carried itself mostly on the strength of its own jokes than its commentaries. B-

Friendly's

So far, the premise is Bowen is lying to a restaurant wait staff about Heidi's birthday to get a free song and dessert…and is SWORN to a veracity they see right through.

Seems like this might go somewhere interesting with the whole angle of this being a Temple of Doom-esque satanic ritual.

While this didn't quite escalate enough for my liking, the sheer strangeness of it was enough to keep me interested.

I did like Sarah's brief voice modulated, bloody mouthed speaking part during the “ceremony”.

I'm especially curious to know who did write this because it seems like a long-gestating idea that Bowen or someone was saving for a specific host and thought Gaga would be ideal for (or maybe Mikey and Streeter wrote this? It explains enough of its own details that it makes me think this could be them). B-

Killah

Yeah, I know I don't normally comment on the musical guest performances but I did like how she started this one by sprawling around the hallway before getting to the stage.

Oh and also, did she actually say “talking that shit” on air? Oh well, it is about 12:45am where they are anyway. No big whoop, I guess?

Little Red Glasses

Hey, speaking of sketch premises that would be ideal for a Lady Gaga hosted episode…

I guess some combination of Allison Gates, Anna Drezen, Sudi Green and/or Fran Gillespie were guest writing this week?

Even though Gaga, Squirm and Ego were carrying this, I liked Ashley and Heidis’ cameos a bit more.

Speaking of Squirm, I did like Sarah's line “I was ahead of the curve on gay marriage…and that's where it stuck”

Chloes’ impression is going right over my head but, ah, THERE'S the Chuck Schumer/Mom from Bobs’ Burgers’ references I was expecting (too bad Alex Moffat was apparently unavailable to cameo this week). C+

No More Slay

Ok, good thing Bowen and Gaga were there to pretty much sing my immediate reaction to this sketch just as I was starting to wonder why they felt this was worth sneaking in under the wire.

I did like the “Ollipop can” and “Diva Down” jokes. I especially liked Dismukes line “I named my son mother” as well as the final verse of the song. B+

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
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)
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

Well, it was not a difficult feat, but SNL did clear the very low bar set by last weeks’ episode with Shane Gillis.

This shouldn't be a surprise. As I said in last weeks’ blog, Lady Gaga did prove to be an effective SNL host when she was used in exactly the right spots back in November of 2013.

More than a decade later, Gaga has shown she can be trusted to helm the entire show and be a more prominent host as she had gotten much more acting experience under her belt in the ensuing years.

Plus, the show currently employs more die hard fans of hers who know how to play to her strengths as an actress (comedic or otherwise).

Naturally, this led to a more fun and inviting atmosphere around the show this week which carried over into this episode very well.

Cast airtime didn't change much. Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim are still hurting for screentime and Kenan took a slight hit but Ashley and Jane have made great gains. We saw a bit more of Marcello than we were expecting but everyone elses’ airtime seems to have stabilized.

Closing Thoughts

Well, at this point, we have no idea who SNLs’ next live host will be, but I have heard that the next new episode will air on March 29th.

I am cautiously optimistic about the next few episodes because lately it's been the late March/early April run where we've been getting some of the stronger episodes and better hosts of the season (Quinta Brunson, Kristen Wiig).

Hell, if nothing else we get at least one, unique off the beaten path choice of host around this time like Jerrod Carmichael or Molly Shannon (I say this because it wasn't clear what she was promoting in April of 2023 besides, maybe…the most recent season of The Other Two?)

However, I do know what my next entry for this blog is going to be. I will write a review of the Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys episode from season 31. Of course, I'm doing so because this will be the next full length episode Deej and I cover on the "We Heart Hader" podcast. We hope to record that one in a couple of weeks.

The next episode of the podcast that we HAVE just recorded should be out this Thursday. It's a deep dive into all of Bills’ guest appearances in the first two seasons of The Mindy Project.

In addition to all the rest of our channels, you can now also listen to We Heart Hader on iHeartRadio as well as on our own new YouTube channel.

Additionally, you can follow us on TikTok. That's right, folks. Deej actually created a new TikTok account just for the podcast so I actually made myself get on TikTok just so I could have another place to plug it to death. That's how much I care about reaching as wide an audience as possible with this thing.

Anyway, see you soon!

Sunday, March 2, 2025

Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)

White House Cold Open

Well, no use delaying the inevitable.

Hey, maybe Emil would've made a better Zelenskyy than Mikey but…Ok, sure. It's not like he'll have any lines in this anyway.

Marcello as Rubio. Hey, that's an…interesting wrinkle. He made the most our if the two lines he actually had.

Somehow, I'm actually enjoying Bowens’ louder, slightly more queened up Vance. Maybe it's because we haven't seen this impression in about five months and they finally found a decent use for it, but whatever.

I got a forced chuckle of of JAJs lines about Pokémon cards and the Homer Simpson hedge meme. I also liked his "Epstein files released/names A through S only/ No Ts" joke but sadly that's about it. He seemed to just be there for others to steal focus from anyway.

Mike Meyers is Elon now? Well, if anyone can do more interesting things with this character it's Mike Meyers.

Well, to tell you the truth…Mike Meyers seems to be playing Elon Musk as an exact cross between every member of the Rolling Stones and all his Austin Powers characters (perhaps a more senile version of Austin himself?) with maybe a little dash of Ozzy Osbourne thrown in there but…still, it was nice if them to give us some surprise here.

I do have to admit the real Musk was ultimately right about Carveys’ impression of him sounding like Carvey more than anything…so part of me is morbidly curious to see how he might react (if at all) to Mike's impression of him.

At this point, I'm personally open to the idea of Mike Myers making regular cameos through the rest of this season much like Dana Carvey did as long as they don't just have him keep playing Elon each week and let him play different unique roles.

I say this because when I saw Mike on screen I flashed on David Spades’ recent cameo as Hunter Biden from a few months ago and how they could both be grouped together with guys like Adam Sandler and even Eddie Murphy as “former cast members from a distant past era who made cameos infrequently enough in recent years that it's intriguing to see how they play into the current show”.

I got some chuckles out of Dismukes as “bigballs”. His “DOGE/DOUCHE” lines were OK.

Overall, I at least appreciate them adding a couple new characters to the basic cold open we were all expecting. C+

Monologue

(*sigh*) Here we fuckin’ go again…

Hmm…let's see where he's actually going with this Trump stuff. Absolutely nowhere? OK.

Now, he's on to his Biden stuff. Ok. This does feel like stuff I've seen him do before so…whatever.

He's doing a really good job of “both sides-ing” this monologue, I'll give him that but once again his own insecure, self deprecating side comments are bringing him down.

The stuff about interracial dating may have been the most “nothing” part of this monologue.

I never would've guessed Shane Gillis has ever watched any historical documentary ever…but sadly the “Cosby/roofies” comment (*ugh*) and the Shelby Foote stuff are suddenly making this make sense.

I wish I could say ending the Civil War stuff with a callback to the interracial dating stuff worked for me…but it did not.

Jesus Christ, I mean, some things I have heard about Shane make him seem like he could be a semi-decent guy behind the scenes but I can NOT get into his standup AT. ALL. D-

Winery Tour

Hey, Ashley and Dismukes are getting prominent roles upfront. Cool.

Women ALWAYS be takin photos on their iPhones, am I right, fellas?

Heidi actually got a couple of chuckles out of me, actually. I liked her “I look like Michael Cera” joke and her “be a man” lines to Shane were…OK.

I wish I could say I could actually get into the new wrinkle to this being Heidi emasculating Shane and belittling/mocking her parents so suddenly…but nothing could really make this work for me. D+

CouplaBeers & aLilBump

This is a real basic-ass premise but it's actually the one thing Shane is making work for me. It's just like a lesser version of Rock Bottom Kings from his last episode.

I didn't quite like the reveal of beer and cocaine being a medical treatment after this seemed like it was lazily drifting in the general direction of an actual comment on the state of men's mental health…but I did like the ending reveal of a pantsless Shane stumbling in on his own intervention. C-

Mid-Day News

Uuuugggghhh…why the hell did they have to dig up this solid sketch from the season Shane actually got fired from only to suck the life out of it and add a low-key “punching down” feel to it by putting Shane, Heidi and Devon (to a much lesser extent) in Alex Moffat, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Chris Redds’ roles respectively?

I mean, yeah, I can see why this sketch would fit Shane like a glove, but come on.

I mean, I chuckled at the Shaboozey jokes but that's about it. D+

Dads’ House

Allright, another sketch that seems right up Shane's alley, I guess.

I like Dismukes and Sarahs’ performances in this sketch.

Jesus, these alimony jokes are coming off mean.

I do like the audience reacting to Shane's preparing the Vienna Sausages and Syrup dish and then “shooting the juice”.

Wow. They even made the sudden appearance of a Heidi voiced puppet more disappointing than I expected.

I did like Ashley & JAJs’ appearances. They each played off Shane well. They provided the best possible note to end this sketch on. C-

PDD: The Sound

I'm intrigued by the idea of PDD + Ego doing a knockoff version of “The Voice” where they play actual characters instead of themselves (maybe Ben & John could've switched roles though?)

I'm not crazy about the addition of Shane as a slightly more cleaned up Chris Chan type (yeah, sorry guys, I just…I couldn't be bothered to think of a better description of this character).

Did anyone else think this quickly became reminiscent of that “Pop The Balloon” short we saw in Chappelles’ episode from January?

I liked Ego somehow revealing her chair had a stick shift she could drive out on.

I will say though that Tate McRaes’ cameo felt…apt. Offputting, but still appropriate.

Hey, speaking of Tate…I caught the set design from her performances and I didn't know she was such a big Whitest Kids U'Know fan. Good for her! C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

Ok, I thought Josts Elon/Emilia Perez jokes were funny and Ches’ DeSantis crack was…fine. I giggled at his Cuomo and Silk Sonic jokes, though. Nothing else from them did much for me.

Nice to see Che just honestly and openly begging to get fired for once.

Marcello as “The Movie Guy”? Have we…seen this exact thing before?

Ok, Marcellos’ adding just enough dopey, goofy silliness to put it over for me.

I liked that brief beat where Marcello seemed to start breaking when his “Spongebob/plot is unlimited” joke bombed so bad you could hear it get an actual hiss. Too bad the kept breaking in a way that seemed to suggest he was thinking “shit, I gotta do something to save this.” I mean, compared to most of the rest of this episode…this needed the LEAST saving.

Side note: When was the last time a a movie theater employee actually dressed like a hotel doorman from the 1950s? What the hell was the look he was going for?

Yeah, I know Marcello is becoming the new “divisive” cast member but he hasn't quite pushed me personally to the point of wanting to hate him or just being annoyed by him yet (Domingo be damned).

Come on people, I'm grasping at straws here. I wanted to cling to SOMETHING in this episode that I could genuinely enjoy just for it not giving me the ick right away!)

…..aaaaaaaaand of COURSE we get a one-two punch of a “women's basketball/it's the 90s” joke from Che. SNLs’ 50th season is BACK, baby! Woo!

I may usually be more welcoming of a new Jane Wickline piano number, but compared to her previous two, this seemed to have the least going for it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wanted to see Jane do more than set “the trolley problem” to music.

Ok, I know Jane Wickline is enough of a divisive figure among certain posters on r/LiveFromNewYork so I don't want to just pile more hate on her unnecessarily. It's not entirely her fault that she came in midway through an already frustrating an disappointing episode but what she came in WITH wasn't exactly her best. C-

Wedding Interruption

Ok…this seemed like it would peak WAY too early. Good thing there were WAY more coupons.

I liked this a bit more than I thought I would. I guess my favorite part of this would be seeing Sarah on the verge of breaking. It's nice to see SOMEONE appear to genuinely have fun during this episode.

There's not much more I want to say about this sketch without potentially spoiling it, so…I'll just say seek this one out on YouTube at your own risk. B-

Doctor's Visit

Hey, a sketch where Emil has a lead part. All right.

…and it immediately gets real dumb. Whatever. At least Shane and Emil are as committed to it as they need to be.

This is another one I don't want to spoil aside from just saying I did like lines like “beef to teeth” and “me j” and “diy”. Again, YouTube at your own risk if you missed this one. C-

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
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)
Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
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

Well, I shouldn't have expected them to clear the low bar set by Gillis’ episode from season 49. I mean, I expected even LESS from this one and it somehow failed to deliver.

It seemed like both Shane and the writers deliberately spent the entire week thinking of new ways to play into the worst aspects of Shane's whole image.

I think the bigger problem with this episode was with how derivative nearly every sketch seemed.

Boy, Shane really wasn't kidding when he said he was “really more of a MADtv guy”, was he? I say that because whatever DIDN'T feel like something SNL had done before (The Sound, Doctor's Visit) felt quite a bit like something MADtv had done (Winery Tour, CouplaBeers, Dad's House)

I noticed that Longfellow and Fineman seemed to be entirely absent from this show. I understand Chloe had Covid (I wish her well) but Longfellow really seems to have drawn the short straw this week.

Everyone else made it on (even the three featured players) but I find it a bit odd that Bowen and Shane weren't in anything together after they seemed to hug it out and have a cathartic moment at the end of his previous episode. Oh well, I'm just gonna assume it was a coincidence and move on.

If you've made it THIS far, you may be wondering why I didn't rank this episode DEAD last in my rankings after I just spent so much time trashing it. Well, that's because the few episodes I ranked below this one aired earlier in the season. I went in (perhaps foolishly) hoping for a LOT more from Smart & Keaton episodes since they COULD have set a much better tone for the season. Sadly, they were both consistently dull and bogged down by some weak election related material.

This episode aired at a point in the season where the tone had already been set for the current show, but AFTER they had already pulled out all possible stops for their BIG anniversary celebration, so that combined with my general view of the host made this feel like the hardest crash back down to reality possible.

Man, the way these last two seasons have been playing out have been REALLY making me reconsider my general episode rankings from time to time.

Closing Thoughts

Next week, Lady Gaga returns to the actual show (coming off a couple of stellar performances at the SNL50 homecoming concert) for her second double duty outing.

Last time she did this was in November 2013 (back when she was barely taken seriously and seen as divisive of a figure as Jane Wickline, if my memory serves me well).

I remember my take on Lady Gagas’ first episode being that she wasn't much of an actress but the show knew how to pick the exact right spots to use her effectively.

Well, Gaga has had a lot more acting experience under her belt since then and season 50 of SNL seems to be going through a lot less “restructuring” than it did in season 39 (although there may be the same amount of distraction from the current shows’ shortcomings involving former alumni…and there's a good chance the show will be facing a lot MORE “restructuring” if it can push itself past season 50 and into season 51).

Next weeks’ show will be hosted by an entertainer who's been around long enough to be accepted and recognized for their talents as an actress and musician. This is, of course, all the more reason to be cautiously optimistic about next week's episode (a lot moreso than this one anyway).

Yes, I also see why a comedian would make a better host for SNL than a pop star (especially now) but Lady Gaga is a more appropriate host for the audience SNL (and most mainstream linear television programs) actually have now. Shane Gillis was another one if Lornes’ attempts to pander to an audience he may have lost 30 years ago (and may never actually attract again barring an extremely specific set of circumstances that wouldn't be worth the trouble).

After I review that show for this blog next week, I have a feeling I may post another blog entry tied into a future episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast, but I will update you on that further once Deej and I plan out what our next few episodes will be. See you then!