Amy Schumer/Kacey Musgraves (5.12.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. Given how low my expectations were for this episode, I was generally pleased with how it turned out. It seemed like they weren't bringing back so much recurring material as in previous because all the things they did recur were bought out of mothballs after a few years. Still, there wasn't as much of an aura of burnout as I thought there might be this week even if this episode didn't feel like it was full of original ideas. There wasn't as much political humor tonight either, but what was there was really pointed and strongly written. Nothing stood out as being too horrible which puts it a notch above Schumers' previous episode (along with the fact that Schumer herself didn't seem to dominate the spotlight or steal much focus from the rest of the cast). Speaking of which, cast airtime seemed pretty evenly balanced since Kate & Mikey were much more visible this week than they were over the past few months worth of shows. Of course, this means there would appear to be a decreased presence of Cecily, Alex, Melissa & Leslie but again...we still know that they are all there and we see there is a nice balance between the cast and the host. It probably helps that this show also had the fewest surprise guest cameos they've had in recent weeks. Anyway, lets' get to it, shall we?

A Mothers' Day Message From The SNL Caat - It's a little strange that they would do this cold open right after airing a "vintage" episode from three years ago where they (and Reese Witherspoon) did almost this exact same thing for the monologue but they obviously had to do this at the very top of the show since this weeks' monolog was obviously going to be reserved strictly for Schumers' act. Still, it's nice to see Jost & the newer cast members who have joined the show in that time being featured in this (along with the cast members whose mothers could make it to New York this week). Nice to see Null make the absolute most of what might be his second to last week here. Kenans' mother subtly roasting his extremely lengthy tenure in the cast was my favorite moment. Thankfully, they kept this from going on too long given how one note it turned out to be. While this does have some references to the shows penchant for topical/political cold opens and just the vague concept of political comedy in general, it was nice to get something of a break from blatant reenactment of White House events. It's especially nice to get a break from Alec Baldwin tonight as well since him being there this week with Schumer hosting would be like putting a hat on a hat in terms of sheer mediocrity. B-

Montage - Is Darrell Hammond sick this week? Something seems to be affecting his voice to where it seems lower than normal. I almost thought some other announcer could've been filling in for him at first.

Monologue  - This was pretty much duller than Kevin Harts' monologue from this seasons' Christmas show and at about the same level of quality, so...pretty much part for the course for Schumer. It should've been a given that Schumer would discuss her recent marriage since it was obviously the biggest change in her personal life since the last time she hosted this show three years ago. Still, ones' own wedding doesn't make for good standup comedy. Whether or not you happen to be a white celebrity whose career is (somehow) still going strong, weddings seem like they would be next to impossible to mine quality jokes out of. I now have to admit Patton Oswalt was really on to something about how marriage and relationships can nearly destroy a comedians' career in stand up (and since its' Schumer we're talkin' about here, you know thats' REALLY saying something). The only thing that really stood out to me here was the "gaping" size tampons joke. Boy, that plug for her movie seemed really desperately jammed in, didn't it? The best thing I can say about this is that by now, season 43 may have just tied (if not beat) season 20 (and possibly 40) for the record of most stand up monologues in a single season. While part of me hopes this trend does continue, I hope that they maybe showcase some newer, fresher talent from the top echelons of the stand up comedy community. I also realize they may have just burned through just about all the top tier stand ups who have big enough careers to be invited on SNL by this point, (maybe not restrict it so much to people who have even the most tenuous connections to the show) but lets' hope it doesn't take to long for any other rising comics to come up and join those ranks. Ah, who am I kidding? Someone I'm describing might be better off just joining the cast if they are just starting out. D+

Mother Knows Best - I couldn't really get into this game show sketch since it came off as very telegraphed and  so much of it seemed like the exact type of thing SNL has already been doing for years with little to no variation. If Mikey & Streeter wrote this one, I have to wonder how many times it previously got cut? The only genuinely funny parts to me were Leslie and Pete breaking at the worst possible moments when the camera cut to them. Also, Schumers' line about being both "a YouTube sketch comedian and a very serious musician" was so oddly specific it left me wondering who exactly that was supposed to be a jab at. Also, while it didn't seem to have much of an ending at least they took this to its' logical conclusion in a satisfying enough way. C-

Handmaids In The City - These type of easy pop culture crossover premises (i.e. "Real Housewives of Disney", "The Office: Middle Earth") usually leave plenty of room for some solid writing and execution. I was expecting much more from this sketch once I realized it would also be in that vein but for some reason it just failed to deliver. Not even the obligatory fake reviews added much to this. Maybe I just wasn't familiar enough with the Handmaids' Tale to be able to appreciate it or maybe there was only so much they could do with this in execution as opposed to filming it but it just didn't land with me. Speaking of filmed sketches, I have to wonder if Amy bought any of her old  "Inside Amy Schumer" writers with her? While watching this, I for some reason flashed on the parodies of "12 Angry Men" and "Friday Night Lights" they did on that show (which I only saw because they were the only sketches from her show strong enough to go viral) and thought this could be something they would be doing if the show was in production now. C-

The Day You Were Born - This was allright. It rounded out to not be too predictable after they established what the entire joke behind this was. At first, I genuinely couldn't even venture an educated guess as to who may have written this as I couldn't think of anyone on the current cast or writing staff who has given birth. Then, I thought of the possibility that this could have been one of the writers I just hypothesized Schumer had bought with her this week in my blurb on the preceeding sketch. Finally, I saw where this was going and realized that whoever wrote this obviously also wrote the Girls Halloween short from last seasons' Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga episode and the high school drama production of Legally Blonde film from the Jimmy Fallon/Harry Styles episode. All of those films made strong use of jarring contrasts setup by quick back-and-forth jump cuts. B-

Gospel Brunch - I still don't quite know what to make of this one. It seemed a little too meandering and low-key for its own good. It took a detour too many to get to its central premise. The only real laughs, again, came from Kenan, Leslie and Amy breaking and adlibbing to cover for the blender just not working. They covered that quite nicely. I'd say either Che, Gary Richardson or Wil Stephenson & Bryan Tucker wrote this if I had to venture another educated guess. C-

Update was very strong throughout. Jost, Che and the rest of the team that puts Update together really seemed to hit it out of the park tonight. Not everything was laugh-out-loud hilarious but they displayed some real sharp joke writing abilities tonight. The only real groaned was Ches' "one-legged woman" joke and I'll admit I thought even that was pretty solid. It's nice to see Heidis' teen YouTube movie reviewer return in a NOT completely by-the-numbers rewrite but they still need to change the ending a little bit so she doesn't always end up having a near panic attack over her high school problems when Che reveals one of her movie crushes. I liked Melissa McCarthys' cute cameo just for the fact that it was the first (and seemingly only) genuine surprise of the whole show (maybe not so much when you consider she also just essentially made a "cameo" on Colberts' show the previous night rather than be interviewed as a guest). Strangely, McCarthy actually hosted last year around this exact same time when she DIDN'T have a movie out and seemed to be coasting on her slightly increased profile from being involved in thr shows' political humor. Boy, she must be grateful that she got to make "Life Of The Party" when she did because that gig dried up pretty fast, huh? At least it was short enough that she got to bow out gracefully, unlike some other five-timer hosts, right? Even stranger, she seems to be on the biggest media blitz to promote a movie I've seen while giving the fewest actual interviews doing so. Anyway, I don't mind how long this bit seemed to go on because it was pretty grounded for a Melissa McCarthy sketch character. The only thing that could've really improved this Update would've been to let Jost handle a guest commentary instead of making Che the focus of one of the two. B-

Wake Up Denver - Okay, first off...I do still appreciate the Denver shout out even if the setting seemed completely irrelevant to the rest of the sketch compared to the animal photographer/pornographer sketch from last years' Scarjo episode (also framed as a segment on a Denver based morning show but as a remote from the Denver Zoo). As for the substance of the sketch, it seemed like they really spread the basic premise of this too thin over a little too long of a sketch. I could immediately tell this was going to be some kind of "Rent" parody when I saw Kyles' costume during the brief commercial break setup preview. I could tell immediately that Kyle would be playing the character of "Mark" because he seemed to be wearing almost the exact same costume that Neil Patrick Harris wore when he played "Mark from Rent" in the "Save Broadway" sketch when he hosted back in '09. Speaking of which, Kyle and Amy really did stick out like a pair of sore thumbs among a sea of extras who were actual children (especially Amy who was quite distractingly unconvincing kneeling behind an oddly placed puppet wall). Speaking of Amy, I couldn't help but notice that she played the same "Amy Merriwheather-Sherman" character that she played in the "Toddlers & Tiaras" parody on her old sketch show and in the Town Hall sketch from the last time she hosted THIS show. Since they revived that town hall sketch later that season when Ronda Rousey hosted, I'm sure Schumer and her collaborators outside of SNL didn't write either of these sketches. I'm guessing this was a possible collaboration between Mikey, Kent Sublette and Julio Torres (shades of the latter are the most noticeable here). This feels like any of them could've written this previously and had it get cut from a past dress rehearsal/table read or two and hastily punched up this week to include Schumer character as her being a fierce conservative made so little sense it was probably tacked on at the last second. C+

Sheila Sovage VIII - Yeah, I happened to have my TV tuned to NBC during just the right portion of the hockey game where we got to see a brief glimpse of this from dress rehearsal. I noticed Amy was in this as the first woman Kate was ever paired up with in these and wondered if this might be the final "Last Call" sketch she was planning to do while in the cast since it looked like (and proved to be) such a substantial shakeup to this formula. Since we now know that Kenan isn't leaving THIS season, I suppose this gives us much more room to speculate whether or not Kate or Aidy are more likely to say goodbye next week. Speaking of Kenan, his obligatory "reactions" were the only other thing keeping this from being a complete carbon copy of the previous installment with Charles Barkley. I guess opening the ark of the covenant was the only way he could possibly follow magically turning to stone. C-

James Madison High School Graduation '18 - Its' pretty obvious that whoever wrote the "Christmas Mass Spectacular" short from the Martin Freeman/Charli XCX episode three-and-a-half years ago. This seemed like a more seasonal/topical rewrite of that (even down to Aidy possibly playing the exact same character but her jumbled, scattershot protest along with Chris chickening out of a backfill were two of the funniest moments in this) but much less grounded and realistic. The only thing that I can say I related to in this was the "literally everybody is dabbing" joke (since I attended my sisters' college graduation a year ago...yes, even among college graduates the "dab" has still managed to not go out of style in the slightest). Everything else seemed like they dug up (and then maybe watered down for network television) some old cliches from twenty years worth of teen oriented movies. I mean, even Becks' voiceover was way more hyped up than it needed to be. Still, that didn't make it any less funny than its' spiritual predecessor. B-

Now, for my updated rankings of the season so far...

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. John Mulaney/Jack White

3. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

4. Donald Glover/Childish Gambino

5. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

6. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

7. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

8. James Franco/SZA

9. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

10. Amy Schumer/Kacey Musgraves

11. Charles Barkley/Migos

12. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

13. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

14. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

15. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

16. Saoirse Ronan/U2

17. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

18. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

19. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

20. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was an all around pleasant surprise. Next week, Tina Fey returns for the finale. This will be Tinas' sixth time hosting the show since leaving the cast almost twelve years ago. I know the show likes nothing more than to have an old friend of the show (be they distinguished alumni or five timer level host) close out the season but it would have been nicer to maybe break that tradition and let another fresh faced first timer host before the season ends. Still, if this episode turns out to be at the same level of quality as the last time she hosted (when she cohosted with Amy Poehler for Christmas three years ago) I will be reasonably satisfied. See you then!

Donald Glover/Childish Gambino (5.5.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This was still solidly a top five show for this season despite some very minor flaws. Donald Glovers' comedy background served him well as a host. He was very comitted and definitely deserves to host again in the future. He made the absolute most out of every role he was given but at times it felt like he didn't really get enough of a chance to shine as a comedic actor. It felt like he was just lifeless coasting on some rather weak material at times throughout the show. I mean, I may be a little biased on this one because I've been a fan of Glovers since the time before "Community" even premiered when Glover was still very active with the sketch group "Derrick Comedy" (and writing for 30 Rock which I didn't even know he was doing at the time). I was even a fan of his music in college (although I haven't really kept up with his Gambino albums since "Because The Internet" but I'm glad people are still raving about his songs) and I've been waiting for this exact episode to happen for at least the past seven years. I guess I was just expecting a little more (like I'm sure all of us were with Ferrells' episode from January) but this episode didn't completely dash my hopes. I guess he has just matured quite a bit since I was following his early career so closely. I also think that maybe part of the problem could've been that what I thought should have been a showcase for Donald Glover to return to his roots for a night got washed away in a sea of either just plain tired or just plain pointless and unnecessary cameos. Boy, that sure sounded like a nice segue into my comments on this weeks' cold open, didn't it? Lets' start off  there, shall we?

Cohen Makes Calls - This cold open sure was a jumbled, distractingly green-screened mess. I think I'm kinda burnt out on stunt casting and cameos right now but still, the only real highlights to this were Martin Short as Dr. Harold Bornstien (the shades of his Jerry Lewis in that portrayal were a nice touch). Fallons' chirpy, aggro Kushner (nice continuity there) & Beck as Pence revealing he was calling a "party line". I'm sure I'm not the only one who was disappointed to find that they cast Kate as Gulianni but at least it was a fairly small role here (and strangely her ONLY role because for some reason.this and the goodnights were the only things she appeared in throughout the entire show). Personally, I thought Alex could've handled the role better instead of being relegated to a no-dialogue role as an FBI witetap agent along with Chris Redd. Speaking of, I wish we had gotten to see him or Glover as Kanye instead of the actual Stormy Daniels. I don't think that was the right thing for SNL to do in the moment (or any moment ever, really). It reminded me too much of those real life Monica Lewinsky cameos in the Cuba Gooding Jr./Ricky Martin episode from May 1999. I remember staying up to watch that one when I was eight years old and even then I could see how it reeked of shameless desperation (I mean, not as much as this, and it wasn't even announced or promoted ahead of time like Lewinsky was, but still). At the very least, we can now say that at least one actual, real life porn star has beem on SNL. C-

Monologue - This got the show off to a slightly better start. I mean, I was slightly disappointed that they didn't just let Donald do his own stand up act but I guess he legitimately retired from stand up to focus on acting and music and hasn't written any jokes in years. Yeah, I could tell SNLs' writing staff wrote all of these jokes for him. They were typical monologue jokes, but at least Donald had the sheer charisma and comedic timing to make them more genuinely funny than any other actor host would have. It kinda dragged in the middle when he started walking around the studio. At that point, it pretty much morphed into a cross between Justin Timberlakes' 2009 monologue & Tom Bradys' 2005 monologue. I honestly would've preferred he go into a Childish Gambino song than...whatever this was. Still, that walk around the studio at least built up to a reasonably satisfying payoff gag (no pun intended). C+

Jurassic Lawsuit - This sketch was okay. Glover was the strongest performer in it. My only criticism is that it could've been tighter and quicker paced. I get the sense that not only did Day and Seidell not only wrote this but resubmitted it after it got cut from dress a few years ago when the first Jurassic World actually came out. I guess the "Instagram story" was filmed just before Luke Null injured his leg? That wpuld explsin this being his only appearance in the entire show this week? B-

Friendos - I wasn't expecting Childish Gambino to participate in a Migos parody but I guess he is good enough friends with them in the rap community that he thought they would dig this. This seemed like a fairly simple idea but it had some really solid writing behind it and the whole thing was executed and performed perfectly. I found it to be very funny. The A$AP Rocky cameo didn't detract too much from this. I wonder whose office this was filmed in? I think I follow just enough of this shows' cast and writers on Instagram to notice the look of a writers' office on the 17th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Plus, I wonder if they reconsidered filling this so f Glover wrote any of these sketches himself, this stands out to me as the most likely to be his. B+ g. Thats' my only criticism of this otherwise well executed piece. B+

Raz P. Berry - This was very funny mostly for the building insanity of it. Kenan and Cecily also added to it and played off Glover well. If Glover wrote any of these sketches himself, this stands out to me as the most likely to be his. B+

A Kanye Place - I have to give them some credit for the somewhat creative angle of working their obligatory take on Kanyes' antics with an unexpected "A Quiet Place" film. Maybe I would be able to appreciate this more if I had actually seen the film but I still found the Kanye commentary a little heavy handed. Plus, it really didn't seem to have an ending. I do have to wonder who wrote this one. My gut tells me it might be Che but not all of this exactly screams him. I'm thinking it could've been Anna Drezen/Sudi Green since Aidy seemed so have such a noticable presence in it. There also seem to be shades of Julio Torres & possibly Stephen Castillo here as well. C-

More Bedroom Dirty Talk - It was nice to see that they gave Melissa another chance to get this on the air, but compared to the original with Aziz Ansari it was far too rushed and underwritten. It didn't quite capture what worked about the first one at all. Hell, she didn't even try to work in any of her impressions. Maybe the show was just running a little long and a big chunk of this got cut for time. Also, she's now done this sketch opposite both Aziz Ansari AND Donald Glover. Is is just a coincidence that both versions of this sketch starred guys whose named have been frequently tossed around by women and female centric publications as the most attractive males comedians? I genuinely have to wonder if this sketch got cut from Kumails' dress rehearsal. C-

Update was consistently strong tonight. Jost and Che had some surprisingly strong jokes about all the Trump scandals this week or maybe it just seems that way to me personally since I haven't been watching as much of Colbert, Meyers, Noah & Klepper as usual this week since I had to take care of quite a few personal items that came up on top of going to two Weird Al concerts in the span of two days (one I got a VIP meet & greet ticket to and another turned out to be a five hour drive away, so yeah, my week has been pretty busy and I'm going into this episode a little worn out here but I digress). I also liked a lot of the rest of their jokes such as Josts' 7-11 joke and Che simply saying g "pass" as a photo of Kanye appeared on screen. Pete roasting the fuck out of Jost & Che upon learning of their Emmy cohosting gig was the funniest part of Update. Leslies' commentary would've felt too much like all her others if it weren't for her shaking things up a bit format wise with the Sarah McLachlan commercial takeoff. Her comments to Colin pretty much made the whole thing for me. Was anyone else at least half expecting Scarlett Johansson to come out considering she was obviously in the building? B-

Galactic Black Human Summit - This was a little dry and thin premise-wise for me, but there were some things to appreciate about it. First off, I have to say I do like Glovers' subtle take on a young Lando Calrissian. He seems able to capture the essence of the character without trying to hard to just do a straight up Billy Dee Williams impersonation. Surprisingly, Kenan and Leslie had the funniest lines here. I feel kind of bad for Heidi and whoever was in the blue monster costume for being in such heavy makeup roles with no lines. Again, I want to say Che wrote this but I'm starting to think it was actually Sam Jay or possibly Bryan Tucker & Will Stephenson. C-

Barbies' Instagram Captions - This sketch seemed very unbalanced. While Pete had the funniest lines, Donald acted the hell out of his character and seemed to be the only one who fully realized what his character was supposed to be and should've been given stronger material to work with. Plus, Kenans' character was so similar in type to his it was almost distracting. This sketch genuinely could've used another rewrite. C+

Con Call Center - This seemed like they threw the Bill Kurtis sketch from the 2005 Jason Bateman/Kelly Clarkson episode with the "Ruff, Rugged & Roker" sketch from the 2010 Tina Fey/Justin Bieber episode along with all the prison sketches they've ever done in a blender and watered it all down before setting it to "puree". Becks' character didn't work as much as it should've for some reason and I personally would've liked to have seen more insane threats instead of going in a softer direction. C-

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. John Mulaney/Jack White

3. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

4. Donald Glover/Childish Gambino

5. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

6. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

7. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

8. James Franco/SZA

9. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

10. Charles Barkley/Migos

11. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

12. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

13. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

14. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

15. Saoirse Ronan/U2

16. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

17. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

18. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

19. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that wasn't quite what everything I expected it to be but there was still some fun to be had. Next week, Amy Schumer hosts again to promote "I Feel Pretty". I guess its' an unspoken rule that she must host whenever she releases a film with two or more current or former alumni as her costars? Anyway, I'm going to be sorely disappointed if this episode turns out to be more genuinely enjoyable than this one. See you next week!

John Mulaney/Jack White (4.14.2018)

Okay, here's my review. This show was just as consistently strong as Sterling K. Browns' episode was last month. Even if it didn't quite pack in the same amount of raw energy, you could tell everyone was easily able to keep their spirits up all week. John Mulan proved to be just as adept at performing live sketch comedy as hes' always been at writing it and performing stand up. He really gave this show the boost it needed as it headed into the final home stretch of its' current season. He seemed to be the most visible dominating force behind the show which is a very good quality for any type of host to have. As far as airtime of the actual cast goes, Pete, Alex, Cecily, Heidi and (shockingly) Luke Null seemed to be the most visible. Anyway, lets' break it down...shall we?

Muller Fockers - As much as Kates' Sessions is played out, I was intrigued to see a cold open that started out with just her and Becks' Pence seemingly in place of Baldwin. I was hoping they would give us something a little different and thankfully, they at least did that. Ben Stiller as Micheal Cohen was a great casting decision and he fit the role perfectly. DeNiro as Muller was okay, but probably seemed like a better idea on paper. I think he's at least a better visual fit for the role than Kate, but performance wise he kinda killed whatever momentum this was building since Stiller appeared onscreen. The only things of his and Stillers' that really got a laugh out of me were the "codenames" and the "hard drive/yikes" line. While the "Meet The Parents/Fockers" parody seemed incredibly dated and forced in 2018, it was a little more outside the box that SNLs' current attempts at political humor. C+

Monologue - This was as great as his standup usually is. There were too many great jokes to point out individually but the things that stood out the most to me were the "running for Mayor of nothing" line, his admitting he did coke just before his college graduation ceremony, how he proved he is the only comedian working today that can make robot/captcha jokes even remotely funny and how he chose to open with an entire joke on an obscure Patrick Stewart Salt-N-Pepa intro from February 12, 1994 that obviously stuck with him when he saw it in his youth. I definitely appreciate how he chose to call back to it during his first Jack White intro! My only complaint about this monologue would be that my sneaking suspicion that Darrell Hammond actually butchered his name introducing him as "John Mulvaney" was all but confirmed. B+

JonMuls' Drag Brunch - This seemed like another thing only Mulaney could make funny. In fact, as it progressed it seemed more and more like something only he would've written. I'm willing to bet this is something he co-wrote with Marika Sawyer and Simon Rich. It reminded me of that 50s' diner sketch from five years ago with Jennifer Lawrence as the waitress and Bobby Moynihan as the patron she was totmenting. This was much better however as it built to a much stronger ending that actually improved the sketch. B-

National School Walkout - This sketch kind of rubbed me the wrong way. For one thing, it almost seemed like it was either in questionable taste or just not the right way to address the current gun debate if they were even going to address it at all. Getting past that, Kate and Alex seemed to have the funniest parts in the entire show even though by the time they got to them, this sketch seemed to lose what little structure and focus it had. C+

Wild Wild Country - This was pretty much dominated by Kenan. Thanks to him, I didn't feel like I needed to have seen the source material to find this funny. I think I only became aware of what this was parodying once I saw part of it via either Sara Schaefers' or Stephanie Simbaris' Instagram story (or if not her, than one of the other female comics living in LA that I follow there whose reaction to this I'd like to see). Also, I never thought that Nassim Pedrad would be invited back for a cameo in a million years so its' nice to see that not only did we see that exact thing just happen, but that she also got some recognition applause upon her appearance! She must've really liked writing and collaborating with Mulaney during their time on the show together since she was on his sitcom. I'm guessing he also had a hand in writing this since theres' definitely some shades of "Documentary Now!" to be found here. B-

Lobster Miserables - This sketch was just silly enough to work. It was a decent showcase for Cecily and Mulaneys' singing. Kenan and Kate performed their goofy parts well but Pete and Chris counteracted their absurdity so well that I maintain that this sketch simply would not have worked without them. The biggest thing this sketch had going against it were how the timing on the subtitles got screwed up so bad. Also, Pete botched that Mean Girls Broadway plug so bad that they had to fix it in the repeat and it strikes me as very strange that Mikey first appearance of the entire show would be as a waiter in a non speaking role in this. C+

Update was pretty much the polar opposite of last week in that it was more worth tuning in for the jokes rather than the commentaries. As for the jokes, their best material seemed to be the non-Trump related stuff (aside from Ches' "germaphobe" comments) although his student/teacher sex joke shouldn't have been done at all. Kates' Laura Ingraham seemed a little off to me. It's like she went for a Carvey-level exaggeration there but took the exaggeration too far and the impression just got away from her entirely. Plus, I feel like SNL making fun of someone in the media who screwed up so badly that several of their sponsors had to bail out by portraying them announcing pitiful joke sponsors is a beyond tired trope on the show at this point. I mean, Jack Handy made joke sponsors in sketches his trademark for several years. Long after that, SNL created their own special episode of the sponsor-hemmorhagingly controversial ovelry sexed up MTV Teen drama "Skins" (a bastardized British import) with the cheapest product placements ever. A little over a year later, Taran Kilam depicts Rush Limbaugh gruffly rattling off new Handey-like sponsors which I actually remeber being funnier than tonights' retread of this trope mostly due to Tarans' performance. The only sponsors here tonight that really landed with me were "Reverse Mortages" & "Malaysia Airlines" as well as he line about bullying and the first amendment. I'm not sure we needed to see the return of Kenans' Lava Ball this week (as the real Lavar Ball wasn't exactly dominating headlines) but he was very funny when he was talking about his own "league" and their amneties and incidentals. C+

Hollywood Update/Switcheroo Reboot - This sketch worked more than it had any right to. Specifically, what made it work beyond the initial reveal of the joke was Cecilys' increasingly horrified reactions to Mulaneys' going into detail on the next-to-impossible logistics of pulling this wholly unnecessary "reboot" off and the damaging consequences of even doing the original show. B-

Horn Removal - Kudos to Luke Null for finally getting a leading role in a worthwhile sketch. I'm not sure this alone will guarantee him a second season at this point, but I'm rooting for him after seeing this. His and Heidis' description in his characters' other increasingly outlandish body modifications was what made this sketch for me. He seems to work best with Heidi and have a real chemistry with her from what I've been able to see thus far. If (and it's a pretty big IF at this point) he manages to come back next season it would probably behoove him to do more sketches with Heidi as his scene partner. I wouldn't mind seeing more of them together after this. Also, Mulaney was the best possible straight man thus sketch could've asked for. B+

The Real Intros Of Reality Hills - This was OK. Normally, I don't care much for reality TV parodies on this show but this was just rapid fire paced enough to keep me interested. The only people who stood out to me here were Mikey (because he had the funniest line), Cecily (because she was the only one who got to play two different characters for some reason) and Mulan (because he played twins and, along with Leslie, seemed to have the most dialogue out of everybody). I'm guessing Mulaney also wrote this because a fan of his who I recently started following on Twitter pointed out his resemblance to The Property Brothers here and I take it thats' a show he frequently watches with his wife given the amount of times I've heard him drop references to it in his stand up act and on his Instagram posts. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. John Mulaney/Jack White

3. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

4. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

5. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

6. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

7. James Franco/SZA

8. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

9. Charles Barkley/Migos

10. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

11. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

12. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

13. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

14. Saoirse Ronan/U2

15. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

16. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

17. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

18. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Wwll, that was certainly the return to form that the show needed right now. In two weeks, Donald Glover makes his hosting debut with Childish Gambino as his musical guest. It's about damn time they let Troy "Butt Soup" Barnes himself pull double duty on this show. It sure took them long enough. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is excited for this one. I've been wanting this exact lineup for at least the past six years. This also means we might get two stand up monologues  in a row if Donald wasn't serious about COMPLETELY retiring from comedy! As much as I'm a fan of his music, I'd rather just see him do some new stand up material for his monologues than a song or even a typical sketch/cast interaction type "monologue" they do with your average hosts. If they could get Larry David to do it, they could certainly get him as well. See you then!

Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B (4.6.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Thus show just about met my expectations but still left a lot to be desired. It was very "middle-of-the-road" for this season. It slowly got off to a promising enough start but had completely run out of steam by the time Update was over. From what I had seen in the weeks' promos and SNLs' social media, Chadwick seemed like he was going to be as solid and game and up-for-anything of a host as his "Black Panther" costar Sterling K. Brown was even with only abut a tenth of the enthusiasm. Thankfully, this monologue showed my preconceptions to be correct. He didn't do much to drag the show down but he did do the best he could when saddled with some fairly weak material. While it's pretty much a given that Kenan and Chris would get a lot of airtime this week, it was still nice to see. I also liked seeing how Heidi and especially Melissa are being allowed to come into their own and finally begin to make their mark on the show this week. This is good news for Melissa as Noel Wells and Abby Eliott were also hired mostly on their strengths at doing female impressions and this never happened to either of them before they were let go. It's also a nice change of pace to see Cecily and (to a lesser extent) Kate get put on the back burner for a bit in favor of Aidy. Besides them, Beck and Pete were really the only other people who seemed visible this week. Anyway, lets' break it down. Shall we?

Trump-Baltic Leaders Summit - This cold open sure seemed like a mess. Until now, I had no idea "Outnumbered w/Harris Faulkner" was an actual Fox News show. Still, they got some decent jabs at FNC as a whole here (especially "Mexicans" being blurted out as a "news alert"). I'm glad it didn't focus solely on the Baltic Summitt since that was far from the biggest news story of the past two weeks. I wasn't as glad to see this turned out to be just a random grab bag of throwaway jokes about the past two weeks' worth of Trump related news they almost missed. Baldwins' Trump appearances are officially a non-entity at this point but I'm glad they are limiting them to once a month at this point. I felt pretty bad for Heidi for having to appear in such a seemingly important role with zero lines. However, I did like Alexs' "this man is lying" line, the random "Stankonia" and "Mad Max Fury Road" references, the Amazon/Jeff Bezos jabs and the brief back and forth between Kate & Cecily. Those are really the only things that stood out to me here. C-

Monologue - This is what got this show off to a better start. I did appreciate the whole meta vibe of it and that the show was able to effectively poke fun at the quality of its own sketch writing (even though things are further away from season 20 levels than they were at the beginning of the season).  Thankfully it was JUST a straight forward monologue with Kenan as the only guest. Aside from the visual of him in that ridiculous Panthro costume, his appearance just didn't do much for me. Thankfully, his brief James Brown impression allowed the monologue to end on a slightly better note (even if he seemed too visibly nervous toward the end to really put his all into it). Speaking of Chadwick Borman as James Brown, the only thing this monologue could've done without was allowing the audience to applaud one by one for each name of a IRL prominent black figure he played in a movie. It kinda killed the pacing of the monologue. B-

Nike Pro-Chiller Leggings - To me, this basically came across like an all female reboot of the New Balance sneakers for chubby middle aged guys ad from Zach Galifinakis' 2013 episode that Bobby Moynihan and Tim Robinson costarred in with him. Other than that, all else I can say is that it was nice to see this was a more benign piece of female humor from Kate and Aidy than a strong ardently feminist soap box statement from Cecily (no pun intended). I'm guessing Aidy and Kate collaborated with Anna Drezen and/or Sudi Green on this one (or any of the other female writers I'm forgetting about). Also, is it just me or does it seem apropos that Heidi and Melissa are the women who have to put in the hard work here while Kate and Aidy are the ones who now get to rest on their laurels? C-

Black (Panther) Jeopardy V - I knew we would be getting a Black Jeopardy sketch this week since Leslie posted a photo on Instagram of her posing with some Girl Scouts on the Black Jeopardy set during what appeared to have been Thursday/Friday rehearsals. I was curious at first to see how they would be able to pull this off since they are usually only able to do this with white hosts (and Drake) playing the odd contestant out. At first, I thought they just might have Cardi B play the third contestant until I realized she probably can't act in live sketches. I have to admit though that "Black Panther on Black Jeopardy" was such a blindingly obvious premise it should have been staring us in the face for the past two weeks. It reminded me of sketches like "The Real Housewives Of Disney", "A Serial Christmas" and "The Office: Middle Earth" because it was a heavily pop culture based sketch where the simplicity and relative unambition of its not-at-all-overthought premise allowed the writers to explore fresh new territory. Sadly, they could've focused a bit more on Chadwicks' part. I'm glad Chris fit in to the black Jeopardy mold in the absences of Mr. Pharroh and Ms. Zamata but this sketch wasn't about them as much. They should have expanded the basic formula beyond just T'Challah (sp?) buzzing in every third question with an extremely reverent and idealistic yet very naive response only to be told by Kenan that he is very wrong. Even though it was a noble effort, it felt like a missed opportunity in some spots. B-

Male Pregnancy - This seemed like it was going to be much more ambitious than it was at first which was quite disappointing seeing how one note it actually turned out to be. Also, I'm not sure Chadwicks' role called for him to purposely do a bad Obama impression but it didn't exactly hurt this sketch (neither did the back and forth between Aidy and Cecily either). Mikey had to have written this since it follows a similar formula to other sketches he was responsible for such as Matt Shatt and American Girl Doll Store. C+

Aidy B Meets Cardi B - I could automatically tell exactly where this was going as soon as I saw the establishing shot of Rockefeller Plaza based on the sheer number of times they've done this exact type of field piece since season 39 but that doesn't mean I automatically discounted it. I had to watch it a few times in order to know what to make of it and make sure I caught all the jokes I missed the first time. It does hold up better on multiple viewings. Thankfully, Cardi B herself showed up at the end to lend some credibility to this piece as it would've made absolutely no sense had she not shown up. I'm positive Aid co-wrote this with Sudi Green since she actually shows up on camera in this. C+

Bodak Yellow/Barter Cardi/Be Careful - Speaking of Cardi B, I have a few comments on her performances since there were some things that really stood out to me there. I noticed she only performed part of her breakout hit "Bodak Yellow". I realize this was just so it could be included in a medley with another song but I wonder if the reason was mere time constraints or if there were just that many lyrics from "Bodak Yellow" she absolutely could not get away with performing on live television. As for her second performance, well...I didn't hate the song itself but let's just say I think that dress she was wearing should once and for all settle those rumors about her pregnancy. Also, I do have to wonder why the musical guest stage looks like it was specifically remodeled to look the way it did circa 94-95?

Update was saved by the guest commentaries tonight. Che and Jost had some great Chinese Trade War and Australian stabbing jokes but their unenthused delivery really bought them down. Alex as Mark Zuckerberg was really something. It was at once subtle and over the top. It was also nuanced and incredibly pointed while not treading a ton of new ground. It was also funnier than Sambergs' portrayal from the 2010-11 season of SNL but didn't make me forget about him in that role (probably because Alex is only the second person to have played that role). I'm genuinely surprised to see that Heidis' boxers' girlfriend could be more than a one shot character but its' nice to see they can adapt this role to whatever is in the news on a week-by-week basis. Still, even she must have been as burnt out as Jose and Che seemed tonight as she didn't perform it nearly as strongly as she did when she debuted the first character. Plus, "I'm taking my kids to my sisters" isn't an ideal catchphrase for a recurring SNL character. C+

R. Kelly Does Disneyland - Leslie and Beck made this much funnier than it really had any right to be. Chadwicks' R. Kelly was a little underwhelming. He performed his part well enough with the material he was given but his character could've been given more outrageous things to do. C+

Warehouse Fire - This was definitely the weakest sketch of the night. Did anyone else get strong 09-10 vibes from this or is it just me.? The premise was very convoluted and executed very awkwardly. It didn't really have an ending and it absolutely died with the audience. D-

Singing Restaurant Complaint - Kenan, Chadwick and Melissa really made this for me. I liked Chadwick and Kenan for the formers' raspy Louis Armstrong and the latter's wig and Melissas' characters' back story really added something of substance to it. I'm guessing Anderlette wrote this even though it doesn't meander as much as their other sketches usually do. C-

The Game Of Life: DACA Edition - This was quite a strong commercial that actually made a salient point successfully. I'm surprised this wasn't placed much earlier in the show. I'm guessing that Melissa cowrote this with Stephen Castillo since they seem to have gravitated toward collaborating with each other based on her Instagram. B+

Wakanda Salute - Chris and Leslie were pretty solid in this while Chadwick could've been playing himself and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. The only thing that made me laugh were Pete and Becks attempts at doing the Wakanda salute (especially the way Beck kept badly mispronouncing "Wakanda"). Kenans' part felt too tacked on. The audience seemed to view this similar to the way I did because they were pretty dead through this. I'm guessing Che wrote this since its' overly wordy and trips over itself in trying to make a much larger social point. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

3. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

4. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

5. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B

6. James Franco/SZA

7. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

8. Charles Barkley/Migos

9. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

10. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

11. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

12. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

13. Saoirse Ronan/U2

14. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

15. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

16. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

17. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, this episode certainly was a mixed bag. Next week, former SNL writer John Mulaney makes his hosting debut. He is only the third former writer to host without ever officially being added to the cast. Conan O'Brien and Larry David are the only others to have accomplished this. I say, good for Mulaney. It's about damn time this happened for him. He's certainly had a big enough career in comedy in general for this to happen. I'm excited to get to see HIS stand up monologue for a change. Speaking of which, this will be this season's fifth stand up monologue after Kumail Nanjiani, Larry David, Tiffany Haddish (all in a row in that order, too I might add) and Kevin Hart. This might actually be a new record for SNL. I mean, the last time they even came close to having this many stand up monologues in one season was season 20 with six (Bob Saget, Damon Wayans, Paul Reiser, Bob Newhart, Roseanne and Steve Martin depending on how you would want to classify his monologues from that seasons' premiere). I also realize he was a frequent collaborator with Bill Hader while they were both on the show but I'd sooner expect a Nick Kroll cameo than a Hader cameo since the latter just hosted and it would definitely be overkill and I'm hoping Mulaney would be willing to play Gil Faizon to the formers' George St. Geegland since those characters were actually big enough to have their own run on Broadway at one point. Anyway, see you then!

Bill Hader/Arcade Fire (3.17.2018)

Okay, here's my review. Despite being just a little inconsistent compared to last weeks' show, this was easily a top three show for this season just for Haders' sheer presence alone. Last week, I think we were more blown away by a first time host than anything. This week, we were pleased to see a seasoned veteran of the show return to their roots and show us that they still haven't list touch with their chops. This was obviously much better than Haders' first episode in 2014. The current cast was pretty unbalanced as far as airtime went. Heidi and Alex seemed to dominate the show but Mikey seemed practically invisible and Kate appeared do little in the show you'd think she was already eyeing the exits and the show knows it and are knowingly phasing her out and phasing  Heidi in to fill the void. Kenan, Leslie and Melissa also seemed strangely absent. Beck, Kyle, Cecily and Chris also seemed to dominate the show. Anyway, I have less to summarize here upfront t than I have to unpack in the body of this thing so let's get right down to it.

Anderson Cooper 360 -  Moffats' Cooper and Kates' Sessions really got this episode off to a slow start, (although I did like Kates' "Christian white" joke) but Goodmans' Tillerson, Freds' Michael Wolff and Haders' Scaramucci really helped build up some momentum. Goodman and Hader especially had the strongest performances here. At least this week, we can say that the cold open gave something a littlr more than just "a break from Alec Baldwin". B-

Monologue/The Californians VII - Hader made me laugh quite a bit in the monologue explaining what he "learned" from his time on the show. Recognizing his Californians costume as the thing he was quick changing into was another real momentum killer for me but I still appreciate the format breaking and the seamless transition. That really felt like some thing we haven't seen on the show in quite some time. As for the actual sketch itself, well...I do appreciate how much more restrained and subdued it felt especially without Wiig there even though this wouldn't be the first time they've done one of these without her. I also liked how seamlessly Alex fit into his role. Petes' fourth wall dissolving and Bill and Fred arguing the merits of Waze vs Google Maps really made this sketchange for me. Also, it felt really odd timing-wise that they would make a big deal out of Vanessa Bayers' maid character being "deported" considering Vanessa herself was just on last weeks' show. I can't believe it took me seeing her framed photo for it to finally register in my brain that Vanessa was no longer in the cast. Maybe she should have picked a better week to cameo. C+

Kiss Me, I'm Irish - This really gave me some odd vibes. I appreciate how they inverted the trope of one contestant bring the odd one out in these dating contests with Aidy (sort of like how they did the Dick In A Box/Chezch Bros edition of "It's A Date!" when Timberlake hosted five years ago but more subtle). Plus, I feel like it was far too soon for them to do a dating game show again since they just did one two weeks ago. They must have just wanted to jam this one in once someone remembered today was going to be St. Patricks' Day during the Monday pitch meeting. Also, I sincerely have to wonder if this is something they pitched to Saoirse Ronan in December that she turned down because that was her line as far as all the Irish jokes went? If so, she's a real trooper for even going along with the rest of the show that week. All I can say is thank god they waited until Bill Hader was available before they tried to do this sketch. He was the best thing about it. Thankfully, my fears from seeing this set up during the commercial that this sketch was going to be Hader playing another Italian tracksuit guy from Jersey hitting on Irish women for some reason we're immediately put to rest. Also, Kudos to Kate for successfully hiding her fake deformed claw that entire sketch.

Horace - This had some solid writing behind it for something the relied so much on broad, physical sight gags for laughs, but it still felt slightly out of place on SNL. I get the feeling that maybe a different group of sketch comedians, maybe on the Internet or on a late night cable show where they'they'd be free of NBCs' strict network standards and practices regulations, would've been had more success in pulling this sketch off visually. Speaking of which, I do have to wondered how they negotiated with NBCs censors to get this one on the air in the first place? Also, I REALLY want to know who wrote this one. This reminded me a lot of Haders' previous role as a wheelchair bound 126-year old Adolph Hitler on the FXX series "Man Seeking Woman". I know that one was created by Simon Rich who wrote for the show during Haders' years in the cast so I'm wondering if he was also a guest writer this week? B-

Jurassic Park Auditions - I could definitely see what this was going to be about a millisecond in. It looked like they tried to get in as many cast impersonations as they possibly could, which I liked, but I feel like I would have enjoyed this more had we seen maybe a different range of impressions that included less of the types of celebrities we've already seen cast members play in these types of pieces. Sadly, this seems to apply to Hader the most. I mean, he had some great lines as Pacino being disappointed to findthat he was reading for a PG movie but his Alda/Eastwood impressions (while usually great) felt too tacked on here as did Kyles' Joey Lawrence. Mikeys' Pee-Wee (which may have been hiso only appearance of the night). Alexs' Hugh Grant was a decent way to start this. He certainly didn't make me forget about Tarans' Pee-Wee from his first season. Kate as Ellen in any Era feels like something we've seen too much of with little variation. To her credit, she does a much stronger Clarice Starling/Silence Of The Lambs Era Jodie Foster than she does a present day Jodie. I did also like her Lisa Kudrow impression though even though it was something I was half-expecting Heidi to tackle if for no other reason than my dad once said to me out loud that she reminded him of "Phoebe from Friends". Speaking of which, Heidi and Aidy turned in pretty solid performances as Drew Barrymore and Roseanne, respectively. Chris and Kenan turned in some funny performances with some rather obvious jokes as well. I never thought that much of Kenans' Sinbad but I did like that "triceratops" joke. Nice way for them to sneak in Melissas' Gwen Stefani even if '92 was a few years before No Doubt even got that big. It was sweet of them to give Luke Null something else to do at this point in his tenure, but that may have been the weakest Eddie Vedder I've ever seen (especially when we've seen Hader do a much funnier one). Leslie does a near flawless Whoopi and it's quite fitting that Pete did Sandler since he seems to be currently filling the Sandler/Fallon/Samberg generational void on the show. As easy as a Sandler impression is for just about anyone, Pete really nailed it (especially considering he's gotta be pretty close in age now to how old Sandler was then). C+

Update got off to a weak start, but thankfully they were able to finish much stronger. The only memorable jokes were Stormy Daniels/NDA/Headlines, Trump/Astros & Walmart/robotic bees. It was nice to see Kates' Betsy DeVos character (only making her second appearance) more developed. Still, I can't shake the feeling that she didn't have much fresh ground to explore as takes on Betsys' outrageous levels of gross incompetence have been beaten to death by now. Still, I did get a kick out of her describing her likes and dislikes of her job. Petes' latest commentary was very funny. I like when Pete opens up to us like this and I especially liked the idea of him having a who's-more-mentally-ill-and-whos'-having-a-tougher-time-opening-up-to-the-public-about-it off. It's great to see Stefon is still as wonderfully whacked out and deranged a fellow as ever. I did like his nicknames for Jost & Che even if they were just tacked on current film references. To me, the top two funniest moments of the entire episode were the Stranger/Billy Joel/Springsteen joke and Stefon naming "STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS, PLEASE" as an actual club. John Mulaney as Stefons' lawyer/piss artist pretty much made the whole segment for me. It's great that he's now recognizable enough for Lorne to let that little in joke happen although I do have to wonder what specific thing he whispered back to Hader in that moment that made him break character slightly. I also appreciated the Seth/Closer Look reference. Considering this is the second time Hader has hosted the show while Jost and Che were the anchors of Update, I was hoping they would bring in some kind of guest cameo to shake up the usual Stefon formula a bit. At the bare minimum, I was hoping they'd have Seth come on and cameo so he and Stefon could discuss their "married" home life together, but I welcome Mulaney being allowed to add something a little less predictable to the mix. B-

Sacred Rock - Of all of the sketches they could have made recurring from Haders' Era in the cast where he was the focus, I would never in a million years have thought they would do this with the Yeti sketch from Bruno Mars' 2012 episode like they did Haders puppet class PTSD 'Nam vet from that same season. Still, I appreciate that they shifted the focus of this from implied softcover yeti rape to implied softcover reverse gender alien on human insemination. C-

CBC Expos-eh - This disappointed me for a couple of reasons. At first, when I saw this being set up during the commercial, I thought we were going to see Hader as Vinny Vedecci interviewing Cecily as Marion Cotillard. Then, I saw that this was parodying the #MeToo movement in a way that plays up the "Canadians are extremely polite and always overly apologetic" stereotype and immediately realized what a thin and misguided premise that was. Still, only Hader and Gardner could've made these characters more likable and watchable than annoying. Also, one might be tempted to take some comfort in the fact that this was the first and seemingly only sketch of the night to even reference the #MeToo movement. Additionally, I also appreciated the Dave Thomas/Dave Foley/Mike Meyers in jokes as well as the gag of every sungle person involved resigning. Arcade Fire were also good sports to participate in this. Maybe Canadians are so willing to take this stereotype in stride not because it may or may not actually true but because its' such a benign way to generalize an entire nationality (at least on the surface). C+

Undercover Office Potty - This was much funnier than it had any right to be mostly because Beck, Kyle, Bill and Chris were so seriously committed to such a juvenile premise that could've only spring from their collective mind palace (unless Che wrote this). I don't know if it was the immaturity or the production value or the fact that Hader was wearing a wig that resembled his actual hair from his first four seasons on the show, but I did get a strong Lonely Island vibe from this as well. It seemed like a direct cross between "Cubicle Fight" and "Office Meeting" with small but definitely noticeable traces of "Like A Boss" and "Japanese Office" more than amything. The spilling was pretty much the perfect way to end this. C+

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

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire

3. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

4. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

5. James Franco/SZA

6. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

7. Charles Barkley/Migos

8. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

9. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

10. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

11. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

12. Saoirse Ronan/U2

13. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

14. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

15. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

16. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show could've used right now. In two weeks, Chadwick Borman makes his hosting debut. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but for some reason, "Black Panther" is the only thing I can think of that I've even heard of him actually being in. Oh, well. I may not know about this guys' acting background (another person who seems to mostly be involved in either dramatic roles or parts in big blockbusters) but as long as he goes into it with the same attitude his costar Sterling did, he should do just fine. See you then!

Sterling K. Brown/James Bay (3.10.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This episode was definitely in the top five strongest of the season. It was a little inconsistent but what was good was very good and really stood out. Sterling K. Brown seemed like a very promising host going by his social media activity promoting this weeks' show and he certainly delivered everything he promised by being a standout host and performing the hell out of all the parts he was given. I could definitely see him being asked to come back and host again if he has something else to promote thats' as high profile as "This Is Us" or "Black Panther". As far,as airtime, Melissa had a real breakout night and Pete, Alex, Kyle and Aidy seemed to be dominating the show the most. Anyway, we do have a lot to unpack this week so let's just get right down to it.

Bachelor Finale - This cold open was probably the weakest and most baffling of the season. It felt like a real throwback to the types of pop culture parodies the show would do during Fallon, Kattan and Morgans' final seasons in the cast under Feys' reign as head writer. I do have to give the writers credit for trying something a little different for these past two seasons here. I do appreciate how they tried to blend their obligatory topical white house commentary with the type of pop culture parody they would often attempt to do during the Bush II/Obama administrations, but this ran a huge risk of alienating the portion of SNLs loyal audience who doesn't happen to also watch "The Bachelor" religiously. I'm still not sold on the basic premise of Kate McKinnon playing Robert Muller but I will admit it worked somewhat here. Her semi-dramatic take actually dovetailed well with the premise of this cold open. I also liked the Stormy Daniels/American Steel jokes. Those were the only things that even made me chuckle in this whole open. Plus, the split screen didn't hurt this as much as lacking any real ending did. At least they gave us a break from Baldwin tonight but I just saw a promo for Fallons' show that named him as a guest next week so I guess we can expect him again real soon. Overall, I didn't hate this. I just struggled to make sense of it. Personally, I would've much preferred a Sam Nunberg cold open. Frankly, I'm shocked he didn't even get a mention on Update. I mean, he really only dominated Mondays' news cycle but it was still a pretty big deal. I do have to wonder what conservative sites are going to make of this site seeing as it basically depicts Muller admitting his investigation is turning up empty? D+

Monologue - This helped get this episode off to a better start and build back up some of the momentum that the cold open really killed. I liked how Sterling showed the same raw enthusiasm he exhibited on social media all week and I especially liked how he was able to poke fun at his own emotions. That was the real highlight of this monologue. It really helped counterbalance all the jokes he delivered well enough but still didn't quite land. His Kenan impression made me laugh. The only real drag is that while Leslie was great in it, it seemed like Sterling was setting up for an appearance from his "This Is Us" castmates. Maybe it wouldn't have been totally necessary but at least it would've mixed things up a bit more. C+

Family Feud X - This wasn't greater than the sum of its' parts or anything but everyone got their individual chance to shine. Oscar winners and losers seemed like a thin premise but the performances really boosted this. Kate had good material as Frances MacDormand, but she seemed to be putting less into it than the last time she played her. Maybe she was basing the character more on her animated Oscar speech but it partly felt like Kate was playing herself. Beck did a solid G. Del Toro but his part ultimately felt underwritten. Heidi did a brilliant Allison Janney. Hell, at times she even bordered on channeling Kristen Wiig attempting an Allison Janney impression and despite tripping over her last line she really nailed it. It was great to see her debut another actual impression. Chris as Jordan Peele was a great addition. He really nailed the Jordan Peele impression. Kudos to him on being the first person to even play a former MAD TV cast member in SNL. His prompting Kenan to intentionally break character AND the fourth wall was the single most brilliantly executed moment of the entire show. Pete as Timothee Chalamette  (sp?) didn't do much for me. He seemed slightly miscast and it seemed like less an impression than a base observation about a celebrity. Alex as Willem Dafoe was great. He got solid laughs with just a look and a couple of lines alone. It was nice to see Melissa get to debut a new impression but it was such an obscure one and it was done entirely in sign language. It was the most spectacular way they've defeated the purpose of having her on the show at all so far. Sterlings' got bars but I still don't quite know what to make of his actual Common inpression. B+

This Is U.S. - Now, this was a more successful blend of politics and pop culture than whatever they were going for in the cold open. Still, also like the cold open it felt somewhat like a throwback to what they would do in a previous Era of the show. Scratch that, this actually felt like something MAD TV would've done but with writers who are more competent at tackling current political events. Sterling does a fine Ben Carson but he certainly didn't make me forget about Jay Pharroh. Pete as Jared Kushner was an interesting take (and one I wouldn't mind seeing again if handled the right way. Still,  I do have to wonder how Alex or Colin would also play him. B-

Shrek Vs. Coco - This family dinner sketch was much bett r than it had any right to be thanks to the increasingly heated tension between Beck and Sterling near the end. I can't imagine any other host making that sketch as watchable as he did. I do have to wonder if this sketch was written by the same writers who wrote the La La Land interrogation sketch from the Aziz Ansari episode last January since they both revolved around heated confrontations over grindingly banal film & pop culture minutiae. B-

Sasquatch - This film had a lot going for it. There were more reasons it worked than just it was filmed. It established it's premise quickly without letting it get too one note and it was just unabashedly silly and immature enough without getting too juvenile. C+

Update felt a little underwhelming compared to what surrounded it in this episode but the commentaries really sabed it. Right off the bat, Che had the better of the two sets of Trump-meets-Kim-Jong-Un jokes and Josts' Jong-Un/lesbian joke came off incredibly awkward. Nothing else really stood out and Ches' Gary Cohn/video game jokes felt derivative as did Josts' Amelia Earhart/Barbie joke. Che did get to redeem himself with his In-And-Out Burger joke. I'm glad to see that they decided to keep tweaking the formula if they're going to keep bringing out Mikey and Alex back as Eric & Don Jr. I'm really glad to see that they'really actually having a lot more fun in these roles (especially Alex) but most of all, I'm just floored that they could get away with saying "goddamn jews" on live network television. The thing I liked most about Vanessas' cameo was how genuinely unexpected it was. Seriously, I was expecting Bobby to come back for a cameo before Vanessa did at this point. It was nice seeing her again even if she came back to do the last character she left the show with and I almost thought it was Heidi impersonating her for a few seconds for some reason. C+

Black Panther Deleted Scene - This obligatory host sketch was worth watching just for Kenan. He pretty much carried this with several funny lines. Plus, the more you actually watched this sketch the more apparent it became that you didn't necessarily need to have actually seen Black Panther to actually get it. B-

Dr. Love - This sketch was all right for what it was. It was another premise that would only work with Sterling as a host. I liked how it didn't get too one note too fast. I liked how they let on more that Sterlings' Dr was medically uncaring than that he was just flat out medically incompetent. Most of all, I liked how comfortably and swiftly Beck and Sterling instantly switched the tone of this from simple comedy sketch to final act of a romantic comedy. C+

Script Supervisor - This sketch was more frustrating than anything else. I wanted to like it much more than I did since it seemed like it was going to go in a much different direction than it did early on. It seemed like it was going to be all over the place until it became obvious this was going to be a near carbon copy of the Arizona Evenings/Starfish sketch from Alec Baldwins' 2010 episode. Still, this was a superior sketch to that as Cecily wasn't playing as one dimensional of a character. Plus, this had Kyle in a decent role that he hadn't played before and the added gag of the script Cecily was reading becoming increasingly, gratuitously filthy. Also, I'm glad Melissa is being used a lot tonight but maybe she didn't need so many lines given how small her part was. C-

Rock N' Rap - I was really excited to see the return of Kyles' Chris Fitzpatrick character after a near four year absence. The thing I liked most here is how instantly my fears were put to rest that this character wouldn't work in a man-on-the-street interview setting. I liked how progressively odd and outrageous the interview responses were getting. B+

Nickelback Deathbed - This worked more than it had any right to. It was possibly the most endearing ten-to-one sketch in recent memory. It felt more like a Web video I would've seen posted by an Internet sketch group on Cracked.com. Kudos to Melissa for getting an elderly woman role over Kate for once, first of all and to Luke for getting in his one genuinely funny line per show here. If Melissa actually had a Chad Kroeger impression than this sure was an overly elaborate way for her to sneak it onto the show. Also, if they found out over the course of the week that Sterling also had a Chad Kroeger impression that would be a bit of an unusual thing for he and Melissa to bond over but it would explain how this got on the show. B-

Now for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay

2. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

3. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

4. James Franco/SZA

5. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

6. Charles Barkley/Migos

7. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan

8. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

9. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

10. Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Saoirse Ronan/U2

12. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

13. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

14. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

15. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was something the show needed right now. Next week, Bill Hader comes back to host for a second time. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying this, but this is the episode I've been looking forward to the most the entire month. I have to admit though, I feel a little less excited for it than I did for Ferrells' episode only because Hader hasn't been gone from the cast as long as Ferrell has so as much as I loved him then as a cast member then (and still do) it's a bit harder for me to be nostalgic for his Era of the show since it still feels so recent. Still, I have no doubt that he won't disappoint and I'm sure Hader can boost staff morale just as much as Sterling clearly did. Plus, this is only Haders' second time hosting and (counting his appearances at the 40th anniversary specials and the only two season 39 episodes he cameoed in) his fifth return to the show overall since leaving the cast. Speaking of which, someone here mentioned they had hoped he could get through this episode without any cameos from Wiig or Armisen. I agree about the former, but I wouldn't mind if we got another Armisen cameo if it also meant we get another Vincent Price St. Patricks' Day special. See you then!

Charles Barkley/Migos (3.3.2018)

Okay, heres' my review. This show had its moments, but it was a considerable let down from all of the previous times Charles Barkley hosted. He usually is funnier in a goofy, oddball Walken type of way but here he seemed like he was either  stumbling over himself or coasting on some rather weak material. It can't entirely be the latter considering he did liven up some sketches that would've barely been watchable with any other type of host. Maybe I might have been expecting too much since Charles Barkley is more likely to be unintentionally funny than intentiinally funny but this waa his weakest show yet. The cast seemed evenly balanced with only Luke and Melissa appearing the least. No surprises there, but at this point I think Melissa might just be in a slump and Luke is more likely to be in more real danger. Anyway, let us begin.

Bipartisan Gun Control Meeting - This cold open was just a bland mush of all the White House related headlines over the past month that the show hadn't responded to yet. Nobody besides Baldwin really needed to be there so making him the sole focus was a huge misfire. The only jokes that stood out to me were the lines about Jared Kushner being the hottest chick left in the white house and the entire waffle house bit. The "I hear you" and Black Panther references seemed the most tacked on. I'm surprised they didn't work in a reference to the real Trump's "Alex Baldwin/dieing career/bring back Darrell Hammond" tweet. On a more positive note, I do like how Baldwin has started incorporating Trumps' pouty crossed arm pose into his impression. D+

Speaking of Hammond, does anyone else think he might have been doing his announcements live in studio 8H tonight? He seemed to have some timing issues that made me think they might not have been prerecorded.

Monologue - This was marginally funnier than the cold open, but Barkley seemed to be giving it less than his all. He seemed to stumble over his cue cards at the start and he definitely shouldn't have been counted on to deliver a monologue with even that much of a preachy social message. He also shouldn't be counted on to do a straight solo monologue for that long either. Thankfully, Che showed up but I wish he was able to add something more than he did. I do appreciate him basically admitting he was hosting the show for no reason and how he, unlike Baldwin, managed to actually make a shoehorned in Black Panther reference actually funny. C-

The Grabbies - This felt like it had a derivative premise that wore thin pretty quickly. I don't know if impersonations of real life celebrities would've improved this at all, but I'll say I would've liked to have seen them. Pete, Kenan, Aidy & Barkley had the best parts. I'm guessing this was written by Cecily, Sudi Green and Anna Drezen. C-

Neds' Roach Away - This actually had a funny premise and something about Barkleys' performance actually added to it. Still, I think they could've taken it a bit further. I think Che may have written this as it appears to be the same short film he posted behind the scenes footage of in his Instagram stories because the set looks exactly the same. B-

Homework Hotline - This was incredibly juvenile but really only Barkley and Aidy could make it watchable. The periodic table and static electricity bits made me laugh the most. I'm sure Day and Seidell wrote this. C-

The Champions - This sketch was very funny due mostly to Kenans' performance. It really picked up once Kenan started mentioning which of his body parts were fake. I also laughed at "Every Kiss Beguns With Q" but that billboard/underwear joke felt a little too telegraphed to me. The A-Rod cameo seemed a little too tacked on to me but its' nice to see him finally make it onto SNL considering he spent the last several years of his career with the Yankees. My biggest criticism of this sketch is that the way it was written and structured made it seem like the sports version of Debette Golden but that didn't necessarily hamper it.  B-

Update was pretty inconsistent tonight. Che had quite a few well written jokes but his delivery dragged them down. Jost had great jokes on Kushner/Bannon, arming teachers and Ghandi's letter. As soon as Jost mentioned her name, I was fully expecting Cecily to play Hope Hicks. At least they put some effort into the look that they couldn't afford to after the last live show as I understand they switched to her from Natalie Portman playing her in the cold open. I thought the personal dedications at the end of her letter were the highlight. Besides that, it felt like I was watching a less preachy rewrite of her Stormy Daniels commentary from a month and a half ago. Kyles' commentary may have been the funniest thing in the entire show. It's nice to see a cast member besides Pete or Leslie (especially one with Kyles' comedic sensibilities) play themselves on Weekend Update. Speaking of Leslie, her Olympic recap wasn'the all that distinguishable from the Olympic reports she posted on social media. The only thing that stood out to me were the "penalty box" jokes. I suppose its' natural that an NBC show like SNL would want to get an Olympic Gold Medal winner to make a guest appearance after the fact but the Hillary cameo didn't do anything for me. B-

Hump or Dump - This waa about the second funniest segment of the night if you're in the mood for some very light, low level gallows humor. This is a sketch that only Barkley and Aidy opposite each other could make funny let alone endearing. Kenan, Chris and Alex were serviceable in their roles. Kudos to Melissa for getting a decent laugh out of me with her one line but I feel bad for her for this being her first appearance of the night. My only complaint about this would be that it seemed a little rushed in execution. B-

Repair Site - This sketch seemed like it was a more interesting premise on paper but it seemed a little too thin and wordy when performed. Still, I enjoyed it and my only real suggestion would have been to give Beck a few more lines leading up to his final speech. It reminded me a lot of the sketch from last seasons' Chris Pine hosted episode where a group of garage mechanics talk about RuPauls' Drag Race. I seriously have to wonder if both of those sketches were written by the same writers? C-

Last Call VII - This may have been the shortest Sheila Sovage sketch ever written. That's actually a good thing seeing as Barkley being Kates' "love" interest seemed like a better idea on paper until we saw how stiff he played his part. The funniest thing he did was almost break character when the Lady Speed Stick and dentist tools were busted out. Plus, I think they were expecting a bigger reaction from that crown/toilet joke that they didn't get for some strange reason. I waa thinking how they might have been better off saving this sketch fir two weeks frim now when Bill Hader returns to host but if Barkley couldn't get through it without break8ng just a tiny bit, Hader doesn't even stand a chance. Still, I have to say this sketch featured the best Kenan reactions of all time. I wonder how they actually pulled off him turning to stone since there seemed to be a delay that was longer than they were expecting? Also, did anyone else get the impression that Kate may be leaving this season and only the show knows right now so they wrote this specifically to be the last one of these sketches ever? I'd bet if that were really the case there may be a whole season worth of speculation leading up to this point like there was with previous cat members. C+

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

1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift

2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem

3. James Franco/SZA

4. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa

5. Charles Barkley/Migos

6. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan

7. Sam Rockwell/Halsey

8. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

9. Saoirse Ronan/U2

10 Larry David/Miley Cyrus

11. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk

12. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith

13. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters

14. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z

Well, that was a bit of a letdown but it had its moments for those willing to look for them. Next week, Sterling K. Brown makes his hosting debut. I figured it wouldn't be too long at this point before a cast member from "This Is Us" would host the show. It seems to be NBCs' biggest hit right now and the episode that aired after the Superbowl garnered a lot of strong buzz, so its' at least natural that NBC would push Lorne to get one of its stars to host. I'm sure SNL thought that Sterling would be a much better choice for host than Mandy Moore, Christy Metz or Milo Ventimiglia. I don't know him from much else besides "This Is Us" or "Black Panther" so I get the sense he is known more for dramatic roles than comedic ones. However, he seemed to express a lot of excitement on social media when they announced he would be hosting so at the very least he should be a game host (like Barkley usually was) who would gel with the cast and be up for just about anything. As long as the writers don't continue to rest on their laurels, this should be a fine show. See you then!