SNL Reviews: Ayo Edebiri/Jennifer Lopez (2/3/24)

 Cold Open: CNN Town Hall

Trump’s latest speech is interrupted by Nikki Haley.

• Ugh, it’s Trump again. I can only imagine how many more times we’re going to be seeing him this season.

• Rare appearance of the host in the cold open. 

• Now we come to the most infamous part of this cold open. For some inexplicable reason, Nikki Haley makes an appearance. Yes, the REAL Nikki Haley! I was under the impression that they’d never let a Republican on this show again!

• Kind of like the way they’ve portrayed Liz Cheney in the past, Haley is depicted as a brave freedom fighter who’s going to stand up to Trump. I assume their rationale for getting her to appear on the show was, “Hey, she’s a Republican that hates Trump, so she must be cool, right?!?” 

• Needless to say, this pathetic attempt at stunt-casting was met with criticism from both sides of the aisle. Democrats were offended by the show giving Haley a platform, some Republicans were offended by Haley’s anti-Trump statements, and I’m offended, because this cold open is a piece of shit! (Give yourself a pat on the back if you know what that’s a reference to)

Monologue

Ayo shares some ideas she wanted to pitch.

• I haven’t laughed so far. Modern standup comedy is extremely bland and inoffensive to me.

• Ayo’s brief mention of the Black Jeopardy sketches made me realize that we haven’t seen it in quite a long time. I’m pretty sure the last one was in the Eddie Murphy episode.

• The aforementioned Black Jeopardy reference leads to a lame and pathetic joke about how she tried to pitch a sketch called White Jeopardy, but failed.

• I did like the suppressed anger in her voice when she orders the crew to burn her rejected ideas.

Sketch: Why’d You Post It?

Contestants are quizzed about why they posted certain things on Instagram.

• Of all the sketches to rehash…why did they choose “Why’d You Like It?” from two seasons ago?

• Even the exaggerated way that Kenan says the title of the show is the same as last time.

• The lack of Chris Redd in this one is a definite strike against it, because he was the only thing I liked about the first installment.

• Kenan at least has some funny lines here.

• Andrew’s series of horny comments about AOC are pretty funny, especially the one about how he accidentally wrote the post because he was sitting on his phone.

• I love Chloe’s disturbing song about how alcohol made her commit arson.

• Nice ending where Ayo comments, “What disease he have?”, on a picture of the host and his son.

•  Call me crazy, but I think that was better than the first one.

Film: Dune Popcorn Bucket

People sing about losing their virginity…to a bucket.

• Is it a requirement for each episode to have a musical number now?

• A lot of other fans have noticed how the show seems to be pushing Marcello as the second coming of Pete Davidson, and this horrible sketch right here is a prime example of that.

• First off, let’s talk about that bucket. Around the time of this episode’s premiere, there were a lot of memes about some promotional popcorn bucket for the new Dune movie, and its unfortunate resemblance to a certain part of the female body. I was totally unfamiliar with any of this because I have better things to do with my life (like review shitty SNL sketches), so when I saw the premise of this song, my reaction was “Huh?”

• Yeah, this is definitely not for me. Aside from all the juvenile sex jokes, there’s also Dune references that are going over my head.

• The various shots of people dancing with the bucket are so dumb.

• I was rather surprised to find out that this song was written by Dan Bulla and Steven Castillo, the same guys that gave us Tiny Horse, and, more recently, that hilarious sketch with the bowling pins. They can do so much better than this lame Pete Davidson pastiche.

Sketch: Drugs on Campus

Zack does shrooms for the first time, much to the consternation of his fellow students.

• Mikey looks so out of place here with all of the younger cast members. He also looks waaaay too old to be playing a college kid.

• What is even going on in this sketch? Is the focus supposed to be on Andrew’s character, or is it supposed to be focused on Mikey and Ayo’s characters?

• As if to prove my point from earlier, here comes Marcello in another role that doesn’t really suit him.

• Well, that just came and went.

Sketch: Bad Couples

A news reporter interviews random couples in New York about how they met.

• Do my eyes deceive me? Both Molly and Michael with actual screen time?!? 

• Ugh, please stop trying to make Bowen Yang a leading man. It always ends up the same: he derails the sketch with his campy shenanigans.

• Oh, and his name here is “Danny Love”. The writer’s guide I use doesn’t say who wrote this, but I don’t even need it to know that this was likely the work of Sublette or Fowlie.

• This seems to be yet another variation of the red carpet format this show loves doing lately.

• Who’s the guy with Heidi? SNL Archives doesn’t say, so he probably isn’t a crew member. Is it someone from Heidi’s family, maybe?

• Nice dark joke with Mikey confirming that the girl with him is both his sister and his girlfriend.

• Believe it or not, Bowen isn’t doing as bad as I feared, especially considering how terrible his last showcase sketch was.

• Another unidentified extra is seen with Punkie. Is that her dad?

• Extremely random appearance from Martin Herlihy of Please Don’t Destroy as Ego’s partner. He rightfully receives a huge round of applause from the audience. As someone in the comments said, it seems like it should be illegal for the PDD guys to appear in live sketches.

• Kenan’s character (who seems to be a pimp) saying “Pass” when asked how he met his girlfriend was pretty funny.

• Another very Pete-esque role for Marcello. It’s shocking how fast he has declined in the last few episodes.

• That was honestly better than I remembered. Probably the best of this type of sketch since, I don’t know, the one with the Halloween costumes?

Musical Performance: “Can’t Get Enough”

Weekend Update (featuring CJ Rossitano)

• Yawn, more bland Trump jokes, including one that tries to implicate him as being involved with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Fun fact: none of the girls on the island have ever claimed that they saw Trump partake in any of the “activities”.

• I liked the joke about Joe Biden’s only black supporter being Obama’s white half.

• It’s kind of an easy joke, but I still laughed at the joke about police shooting a Jackie Robinson statue.

• I’ve been going on all season about how bad Sarah has gotten, and we’ve now arrived at her absolute low point. In this commentary, she plays a fan named CJ Rossitano who has gotten tickets to the show. Even when I saw this episode live, I knew exactly where this commentary was headed once she started talking to Colin.

• The running “gag” where they keep showing closeups of Sarah mugging the camera while the song “Cat’s in the Cradle” plays is so bizarre. Like, I don’t even know what the point of it is.

• Is that James singing the song? What a huge waste of his talents. Ever since he was in the cold open, he’s been mostly underutilized in this episode.

• I’ve run out of things to say about this commentary. Were there no other ones during dress that they could have used?

Sketch: Trivia Quest

A game show host purposely gives away all the answers to a contestant.

• Two game show sketches in one night?

• Oh, wow, I forgot all about this truly awful gaffe. Ego gets the names of Sarah and Ayo’s characters mixed up when interviewing them, and she has to ad-lib to get her way out of it. What the fuck is happening to Ego?!? This is her first lead role in a while and this is what she has to show for it?!?

• Mikey’s mention of Ithaca College gave me a nice feeling inside, as I have a cousin who went there.

• Hoo boy, I am not liking Ego’s character at all.

• She flubs another line near the end, but I can’t even tell what she was trying to say. Some kind of insult, maybe?

Film: The Elevator

Stuck elevator passengers seize the opportunity to create a new society.  

• This is such a blandly-shot film. Not only is it not funny in the slightest, but it has that same ugly orange-blue color scheme that most movies have these days.

• “Why are you guys so obsessed with hooking up?” I’m with you, Kenan. That gag is so stupid. Also, is it just me, or have we gotten variations of that line in a lot of sketches lately? 

• I have little else to say about this horrible sketch, so here’s a hilarious comment from Jesse Nathan’s review, which I hope he forgives me for borrowing: “Y’know, I know I shouldn’t take this seriously, but honestly, I can’t help but tell everyone here ‘get out of the elevator, you morons! I mean, come on, the firefighters are right there!’”.

Sketch: Hypnotist

A boy is accidentally hypnotized into revealing that he is bisexual.

• The heavy amount of Andrew in this episode pleases me.

• Was it intentional to make Ayo look like Julia Sweeney as Pat?

• Another similarity this character has to Pat is that they both have extremely annoying voices. To quote Jesse Nathan once again, “Will someone tell this kid to SHUT UP already?”

• I have no idea what to say about this bisexual routine. Like that awful Grimace sketch from last year, I guess the “joke” is just supposed to be that he’s bisexual, because that’s apparently funny.

• Kenan’s janitor character is completely unnecessary. It’s a role he’s played way too many times by now.

• Predictable ending where Ayo reveals she was making this all up.

Musical Performance: “This Is Me…Now”

Sketch: The People’s Court

A lady sues her former hairdresser for exposing her brain.

• According to Blood’s review of this episode, this sketch is apparently based on some viral video I’ve never seen. I know I’ve said this a million times in the past, but SNL really needs to stop doing sketches based on viral videos that people will forget about in two months.

• Nice ghastly visual of Ayo’s exposed brain. Aside from that, there’s not much to laugh at here.

• Kenan’s mispronunciation of “Marge Simpsone” is all needed to know that this is a Jimmy Fowlie sketch.

• No comment on Ego blowing on the back of Punkie’s exposed brain.

Final thoughts: Yet another rough episode. These last few episodes since Christmas break have been absolutely terrible. I also didn’t really care for Ayo Edebiri as a host. There was something about her that kind of came off as, I don’t know, tryhard? Maybe that’s just how she is in her standup act.

Best sketches: Why’d You Post It, Bad Couples

Worst sketches: Nikki Haley’s appearance, Dune Popcorn Bucket, CJ Rossitano commentary, Trivia Quest, Hypnotist

Next review: Shane Gillis/21 Savage

SNL Reviews: Dakota Johnson/Justin Timberlake (1/27/24)

 Cold Open: NFL on CBS

Panelists lament the end of football season.

• Not too familiar with Jim Nantz’s voice due to my apathy towards football, but I’m sure JAJ is spot on. And, hey, nice to see Dismukes up front in a big role!

• Nantz’s brief sponsor plug for Boeing made me think of the ESPN Classic sketches with Sudeikis and Forte. Boy, I wish I could be watching one of those right now.

• Again, due to my apathy towards football, I’m not really finding this hilarious. Maybe my brother would get more enjoyment out of it? I dunno.

• I think they were trying to go for a meta-joke when Kenan says that there’s no live programs on TV that are worth watching, but his delivery is so bad that it ruins whatever humor was supposed to be there. I do agree with him, though, because SNL is definitely not worth watching anymore.

• All the simping for that Barbie movie is getting old.

• UGGGHHHHH, Molly as a man yet again!!!!! 

• I have no comment on the attempt at a “heartwarming” moment. This cold open is nothing but garbage.

Monologue

Dakota talks about her new movie Madame Web and being taken out of context by reporters. Oh, and Jimmy Fallon shows up for no reason.

• I am not exactly excited to see Dakota again, given how much of a train wreck her last appearance was.

• The joke about Trump and Taylor Swift was so hacky and unnecessary.

• HUGE applause when Timberlake makes his obligatory appearance.

• As usual, JT is coming off as a huge egotistical douche, saying things that he knows will get cheap applause.

• An even larger round of applause when Jimmy Fallon shows up in his Barry Gibb outfit. Ohohoho, just you wait….

Sketch: Waiters

Two WACKY waiters annoy everybody.

• As soon as Sarah showed up as a waiter, I knew I was in for a rough sketch. It seems that most SNL sketches with wacky waiters turn out to be horrible.

• This “chicken fongers” routine is hacky as fuck. It’s sad to see that Sarah is aping shitty Anderlette sketches now.

• The writer’s guide I use doesn’t say who was behind this sketch, but I’m willing to bet it was Sarah in collaboration with Jimmy Fowlie or Kent Sublette.

• Kenan’s loud, shouty role, combined with his “funny” word substitutions just add to my hunch that this is a Sublette piece.

• Horrible and predictable ending. What the fuck is happening to Sarah this season?!? We get another really bad example of her decline in the next episode.

Film: Home Videos

A son discovers a horrible secret about his parents’ relationship…

• This seems like it’s going to be a nice heartwarming slice-of-life sketch at first, but then Andrew finds an episode of a Maury knock-off that his parents appeared on. It seems a little too late to be doing a Maury parody, but I’ll keep an open mind here…

• Mikey is perfectly cast as the father.

• I’m ignoring all of the obvious Anderlette cliches here (the Southern accents and the focus on a talk show) and focusing on the sketch itself. It’s surprisingly not bad so far…

• Marcello’s character is great, as is the fact that his name is “Spooky”.

• Amazing stunt work when Spooky throws a Mikey stunt double against the wall. Even better is that this turns out to be the reason why Mikey’s character needs to use a cane.

• Even though I saw the twist coming at the end where Spooky shows up as the grandmother’s nurse and tells Andrew that he switched the test results, I still laughed.

Sketch: The Barry Gibb Talk Show

An old sketch is brought out of the mothballs for no reason.

• NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Why would you tease us, SNL?!!??!! They said in the monologue that they wouldn’t be doing this crap, so what is this on my screen right now???

• You know, I thought we were safe from ever seeing this again, given that the real Barry Gibb showed up the last time they did it, and the fact that Robin Gibb has been dead for about 12 years. But, no, of course not. As I said with the unnecessary return of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Jake Gyllenhaal episode, not even death can stop SNL from digging up tired old routines.

• Random return of Bowen’s Andrew Yang impression, something he hasn’t done since his first season.

• Seeing Jimmy and Justin perform this again is just so sad. Their moves are not as fluid as they once were, and it looks like what would happen if your grandpa tried to disco dance.

• I’m glad my mom was happy to see this sketch again (because she likes it for some reason), but I sure wasn’t. It had better stay dead this time…

Please Don’t Destroy: Roast

Dakota treats the guys like shit.

• I like how the audience response to these films has gotten to the point that they immediately applaud when the title card pops up.

• Interesting concept of Dakota roasting the guys.

• Nice nod to SNL’s past when she calls them “The Lonelier Island”.

• John: “Can you introduce me to Sydney Sweeney?” Give it a few episodes…

• I like the callback to the “Three Sad Virgins” film. Even though I wasn’t a fan of that one, it’s nice to see how far they’ve come since then.

• A great slam from Dakota about the Please Don’t Destroy movie that nobody saw. I can’t even remember what it was called.

• John: “I’m gonna change the cue cards so you say the n-word during your monologue.”

• Probably the best PDD film since, I don’t know, the Shrek one?

Sketch: Big Dumb Cups

Since hats are no longer in, the gals decide to advertise cups instead.

• Ugh, we’re really doing a Big Dumb Hats sequel? I thought the Garrett from Hinge reprisal was unnecessary, but this takes the cake!

• Some of the “jokes” here are straight out of a Nickelodeon show, specifically the running gag where Dakota’s cup gets bigger each time we see it.

Musical Performance: “Sanctified”

Weekend Update (featuring Ethan and Jan Janby)

• I kind of liked Michael interjecting “He didn’t even do it!” during Colin’s joke about OJ Simpson,

• I’ve lost count of how many jokes they’ve made this season about airplanes crashing. 

• UGGGGHHHHHH!!!! Yet another commentary from Bowen as a flamboyant gay stereotype!!!

• The running gag where this character constantly name drops himself isn’t as funny as they think it is.

• Bowen continues to get on my nerves with each passing episode. I wish the show would get the hint and stop shoving him in every sketch!

• Nice ballsy joke from Che about how he wishes certain people would be returned to Ghana.

• Oh, come on, SNL!!!! Now we get a “wacky” Heidi commentary!!! Did they really need two Jimmy Fowlie-written commentaries in this episode?

• One of the worst Updates of the season.

Sketch: Book Club

Some lady announces a multi-million dollar idea.

• Where has Ego been in this episode? Or Punkie, for that matter? It sucks that both of SNL’s black females are reduced to appearing in one sketch. 

• Dakota’s voice and appearance remind me of Kristen Wiig. Yeah…not exactly the person I want to be reminded of….

• People still care about Shark Tank? 

• This has devolved into the usual react-and-explain routine that we’re all so tired of at this point. I’m surprised Mikey didn’t write this.

• Just in case you didn’t get the hint earlier, they have some Shark Tank people show up at the end!!! For no reason!!!! Dontcha just love pointless cameos?

Musical Performance: “Selfish”

Sketch: Lost Bag

A lady comes to retrieve her lost bag, but has to prove that she owns it.

• Jesus Christ, SEVEN different writers?!? I can tell that this sketch is going to be an unfocused mess…

• Another very Kristen Wiig-esque role for Dakota.

• Devon’s lispy-voiced character seems out of place in this era. This seems more like something Fred Armisen would do back in 2009. Thankfully, Devon’s likability is making this particular character come off as less annoying than it would have back then, even if I’m still not laughing.

• Are we sure this isn’t a Kent Sublette sketch? The gay stereotype and “funny” word substitutions are right out of his playbook.

• And now Kenan comes out as another gay stereotype to further add to my hunch that Sublette had something to do with this.

• The ending with Sarah’s character was just awful. Believe it or not, we still haven’t seen the worst of her decline yet…

Cut for Time: Horny Little Dork

Various women discuss their husbands’…odd habits.

• The slow buildup to the introduction of Mikey’s character is well done, making it all the more hilarious when his “transformation” happens.

• This premise is so dumb…but I kinda like it. In fact, I think I like it more than most of the stuff that actually made it into the episode!

• James is almost unrecognizable in his role.

Final thoughts: Yeesh, that was a very rough episode. I don’t know what’s happened to this season all of a sudden, but these past two episodes have been absolutely horrible. On the plus side, Dakota was utilized much better in this episode than in her previous one, getting to play more than just bland straight roles.

Best sketches: Roast, Horny Little Dork

Worst sketches: Waiters, The Barry Gibb Talk Show, Ethan’s commentary, Jan Janby’s commentary, Lost Bag

Next review: Ayo Edebiri/Jennifer Lopez

SNL Reviews: Jacob Elordi/Reneé Rapp (1/20/24)

 Cold Open: Trump Courthouse

Trump speaks to the media after appearing in court for the E. Jean Carroll trial.

• Yawn, yet another boring cold open where Trump rambles about stupid shit for the millionth time.

Note: The opening credits of the live airing mentioned a Please Don’t Destroy film would be appearing in this episode, but no such film is seen. More on that later…

Monologue

Jacob Elordi takes some questions from the audience.

• I don’t know what to say about that censored movie clip he shows.

• Wow, this is the first time in what seems like forever that we’re getting questions from the audience. 

• The black guy who asks the first question is writer Alex English.

• The Stitch fan in me loves Jacob responding to English’s question about who his favorite Elvis is with “Lilo and Stitch Elvis”.

• Writer Rosebud Baker is the woman who says she just wants to look at Jacob, the first of many moments tonight where the joke is just “isn’t Jacob Elordi hot?”.

• Sarah gets a big round of applause when she shows up to tell Jacob that his movie was gross. Unfortunately, there’s a very distracting shadow during this scene of what appears to be some sort of microphone or fan.

• No comment on Kenan’s cliched old man character, a role he can play in his sleep by now.

• Bowen also makes a brief appearance (complete with an earring in his right ear because aren’t stereotypes great?) to tell the host that he was also born in Australia, then proceeds to do the worst Australian accent I’ve ever heard.

• While I’m glad we got a nice long break from this type of monologue, this one reminded me of why they’re so hacky and overused.

Sketch: Crown Your Short Kings

SNL tries to pander to Reddit.

• I have no idea what a “short king” is. The only people I hear use the phrase are Redditors, Tumblrinas, and Marcello in that one commentary from last season.

• The setting reminds me of those “Can I steal him for a sec?” sketches that were once an annual feature of January episodes from 2015-2020.

• Already a huge red flag with Molly dressed as a man yet again. Not even the fact that they’re wearing a mustache is enough to salvage this.

• Am I crazy, or is there a scar on Chloe’s arm? Please tell me that’s not what I’m seeing here.

• I did get an unintentional laugh from Jacob entering the sketch, as we get to see how much he towers over everyone else.

• Overall, this was extremely boring, and based on a concept I have little interest in. The audience apparently agrees with me, as they’re dead silent for most of this.

Film: Club Shay Shay - Extended Cut

Some scenes we missed from the latest Katt Williams interview.

• Why is Ego in drag a recurring thing now? This just shows you what a bad idea it was to get rid of Chris Redd, because now we only have two black guys in the cast. We’ll see an even bigger example of this problem later…

• As expected, Ego’s Katt Williams impression is nowhere near as good as Jay Pharoah’s.

• Boy, Jay Pharoah’s impressions are really getting a workout here, because Devon is in this as Shannon Sharpe. His impression fares a lot better than Ego’s, mainly for the fact that he is actually a man.

• This is apparently a parody of a real Katt Williams interview that I’ve never seen. Once again, SNL parodies something without taking into consideration that not everyone in the audience will be familiar with it. Due to that lack of knowledge, I’m finding this rather baffling and dull.

• Okay, I did get a laugh from Williams saying that Obama’s slogan used to be “Prolly, prolly.”

• I would imagine that the real interview is a lot funnier than whatever the Hell this is supposed to be.

Sketch: Lip Readers

In which SNL lamely tries to copy Bad Lip Reading.

• This bizarre focus on celebrity gossip we’ve gotten so far reminds me of a Season 29 or 30 episode. Not exactly the seasons you’d want to be emulating…

• I did get a slight chuckle from Heidi’s line about mixing up Sterling K. Brown and Michael B. Jordan.

• The arrival of Bowen and Jacob’s characters is making me worried about what type of sketch this is going to be.

• So far, I haven’t laughed a single time at this lip reading routine. Just another piece of garbage from the minds of Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan.

• The random appearance from Reneé Rapp is doing nothing to save this.

Sketch: Bowling Pins

Animations at a bowling alley become increasingly serious and violent.

• Ah, here’s a sketch I’ve been waiting to see again!

• We’re all familiar with those creepy animations that play at the bowling alley, right? What would happen if they suddenly got…creepier???

• The sudden dark turn these animations are taking is great.

• I love the twist where the “strike” animation is about a filthy WGA scab getting clubbed for not protesting.

• Even the “stuck ball” bit made me laugh.

• Jacob: “Just say ‘spare tire’, you stupid pins!”

• The “Have Sex” ending is a perfect way to cap this off.

Fake Ad: Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines embraces the cool aspect of in-flight mechanical failures.

• Another topical sketch, but I remember this one actually being good.

• I love the random cutaways to people getting sucked out of the airplane.

• Great brief appearance by JAJ as Capt. Sullenberger.

• I could have done without the scene of the guy getting his shirt ripped off by the wind.

• The in-flight photo of Bowen screaming with his hands in the air is hilarious.

• Wow, our second strong sketch in a row? This episode is starting to pick up steam!

Musical Performance: “Snow Angel”

Weekend Update (featuring Tim Scott and Deobra Redden)

• Not caring for any of the Trump or Biden jokes.

• More “jokes” implying that all Trump supporters are evil racists.

• I did get a laugh from Colin comparing a photoshopped picture of Hillary that Trump made to Mark Cuban in a wig.

• I definitely didn’t care for the pedophile priest joke.

• Devon’s Tim Scott impression returns. Hopefully this will be a better showcase of his talents than that awful cold open he was in a while back.

• That voice he does is hilarious. He compares it to what it would sound like if Bill Clinton was black. 

• Devon: “I sound like if Forrest Gump was doing an impression of Ja Rule!”

• I love the part with the “racist dogwhistle” where Colin is somehow able to hear it, continuing the running joke where he is implied to be a secret white supremacist.

• That was pretty good for a political commentary, helped by the fact that they kept it short and sweet.

• Ugh, now they’re putting Punkie in drag too? I know Devon can’t play this particular role because we just saw him as Tim Scott, and Kenan can’t do it because he’s too big for the part. This is just another example of why we should have more than two black guys in the cast.

• The commentary itself is just dull. All of the other late night shows had been making jokes about this guy for weeks, and SNL had nothing new to add to the table.

Sketch: AA Meeting

A women’s AA meeting is interrupted by a man.

• Uh-oh, another Jimmy Fowlie/Ceara O’Sullivan sketch…

• It’s nice to see a sketch with the entire female cast.

• I have no idea where this is going, but I don’t think I like it. I guess that brief upswing in quality earlier was just a fluke.

• Yet another sketch where the joke is just everyone fawning over Jacob.

Musical Performance: “Not My Fault”

• Random appearance from Megan Thee Stallion.

Sketch: Acting Class

A star actor can’t relate to other less-successful actors.

• Why is there so much Bowen in this episode? He’s not as diverse as SNL thinks he is.

• Mean Girls star Rachel McAdams is here for some reason, and the joke is that her character looks just like Rachel McAdams.

• Uggghhhh, another sketch where they do nothing but fawn over Jacob’s character?

• The only other thing I have to say here is that Jacob has been doing a great job hiding his natural accent in every sketch.

Sketch: Garrett From Hinge

Garrett struggles to restrain himself while interrupting a wedding.

• FUUUUUUCK!!!! Not this horrible character from the Travis Kelce episode again! Apparently he was cut from the Bad Bunny episode earlier this season, so his return has been in the works for a while now.

• So far, this is going exactly the same as the first one, except it’s even less funny.

• No comment on the organist wearing the same outfit as him.

• I have nothing to say about the part where they all start doing Family Guy impressions, except for the fact that James’ Cleveland impression is spot on.

• HORRIBLE ending where Garrett randomly disappears and ends up in a painting.

• Somehow that was even worse than the first time they did this! I can’t believe they accomplished that!

Cut for Time: Please Don’t Destroy: Pimp My Ride

The guys help a janitor at 30 Rock snazz up his ride.

• It’s been a while since we’ve seen these guys. They should have cut the retarded Garrett from Hinge reprisal and put this in instead.

• Mikey inexplicably acting like an asshole towards a janitor is hilarious.

• I love that accent Jacob is doing for the janitor’s voice.

• Sudden Pimp My Ride twist…

• I’ve never watched Pimp My Ride, but I’m aware of the basics, so I’m still finding this okay.

• It wouldn’t be complete without a cameo from Xzibit himself, looking strangely haggard.

• Even though I predicted it would happen, I still laughed at the car exploding at the end when they try to use it.

• Xzibit: “I am in no way associated with any of these [censored]!”

• This was okay for what it was, but it felt a little too bland for PDD standards.

Final thoughts: Hoo, boy. This is one of the weakest episodes of the season so far. While Jacob Elordi was a serviceable host, the writing for most of his sketches amounted to nothing but “wow, isn’t Jacob Elordi hot?” We also got the return of a fucking awful character at the end of the show, and a lot of wretched Jimmy Fowlie material. On the plus side, the Bowling Pins sketch was one of the best of the entire season.

Best sketches: Bowling Pins, Alaska Airlines, Tim Scott commentary

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Crown Your Short Kings, AA Meeting, Garrett From Hinge

Next review: Dakota Johnson/Justin Timberlake

SNL Reviews: Kate McKinnon/Billie Eilish (12/16/23)

 Cold Open: Christmas Awards

The 95th Annual Christmas Awards are presented for exceptional holiday foibles.

• Ugh, another award show sketch. If you know SNL, then you know this is gonna suck…

• On the plus side, it’s nice to see a cold open that isn’t political for a change.

• I got a slight chuckle from Bowen’s Ozempic joke.

• Chloe seems to be doing her Jennifer Coolidge voice for the old lady.

• The other Chloe gets to sing yet again. I sure hope they’re not going to typecast her in these roles.

• This sketch is just washing right over me.

Monologue

Kate McKinnon gets help from Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph to sing a song.

• If you know my older reviews, then you know that I am not particularly excited to see Kate again.

• Just hearing her voice again is filling me with dread, especially because I know what’s coming in this monologue…

• HUGE applause when she says she was in that Barbie movie, which I didn’t even know.

• If you remember my feelings on Kate, then you definitely know how I feel about seeing Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph show up for no reason. Three of my least favorite cast members, and all of them singing! Is there a worse Hell than that? I don’t think so!

Sketch: North Pole News

A killer whale attacks the North Pole, and North Pole News is there to cover the aftermath.

• A random return of this sketch from the Eddie Murphy episode…which was FOUR SEASONS AGO! What made them decide to bring it back here???

• Does anyone know where the stereotype of elves having “whimsical” names comes from? I’d really like to know, because I don’t understand it at all. At least we get some hi-larious names here like “Kirby Gigglemuffins” and “Poofy Sillybottom”. Barf!

• Kate only just showed up and I’m already tired of her character. She’s played this type of role way too many times in the past.

• I don’t see what the point of bringing this back was if they’re going to do it without Eddie Murphy. He was the reason that one worked so well.

• The social media posts from other holiday icons failed to raise as much as a chuckle from me.

• No comment on Kate throwing up Skittles.

Fake Ad: Pongo!

The world’s perfect pet is a bizarre animal of indeterminate species.

• Here’s a film I remember loving when it aired.

• Impressive stop-motion work on “Pongo”.

• Chloe: “Does he do tricks?” Narrator: “I dunno, you tell me!”

• Some laughs from the useless things that Pongo does.

• Yet another old lady role from Kate.

• I did laugh at Kate creepily staring through the window with Pongo.

• Call me insane, but I think Kate is actually doing pretty well here. She’s not doing her usual mugging routine, and it reminds me of her stronger performances from her first few seasons.

• Sarah’s breakdown during the climax is one of the best moments of her entire tenure. 

• A really sweet ending where it looks like Sarah is about to leave forever, but Pongo cheers her up by placing her paw on her hand.

• Overall, a really good fake ad. One of the best in quite a while, I think.

Sketch: ABBA Christmas

A long lost ABBA Christmas album is advertised.

• Well, after the highest of highs, we get the lowest of lows, with our latest piece of shit from the mind of Kent Sublette.

• Kristen and Maya again?!? Why is Maya playing one of the male members of ABBA? Couldn’t they get one of the guys to do it? Oh wait, that would probably mean giving someone like Andrew Dismukes a big role, and we can’t have that, so let’s have Maya singing for the 1,846th time!

• Bowen is here as well. I didn’t know ABBA had any Chinese members.

• None of the song parodies are making me laugh.

• This “Frostitita” routine is some hacky-ass shit.

• Hey, did you guys ever want to hear Bowen speak in a horrid Swedish accent? No, me neither, but that’s what we’re stuck with.

• Now we’re getting Maya trying to crack Kristen up for no apparent reason. Save that for behind the scenes!

• Listening to them take a dump all over “Waterloo” is particularly painful.

• I can’t believe something like this would make it on the air. This was just an excuse for everyone to crack each other up.

Sketch: Gifts From Mom

“Wacky” stuff happens at a family gathering.

• Seeing JAJ get so much airtime in this episode pleases me.

• This is kind of boring so far.

• Kate: “They’re disgusting, I’m an idiot, and a bitch.” Well, I can’t argue with any of that! 

• Overall, this was quite a snooze, but compared to a lot of stuff we’ve seen so far, it was almost brilliant.

Film: Tampon Farm

Some country gals sing about working on a tampon farm.

• Are you kidding me?!?? Now we have Maya and Kristen making their THIRD appearance in this episode!!! 

• A big groan from the reveal of what type of farm they’re on. 

• Random cameos from Greta Gerwig and Paula Pell. Why? I dunno.

• All of this is washing right over me. Maybe I need to be a girl to understand this.

• I get the feeling they were trying to recreate the magic of the “Lake Beach” song from a few episodes ago. That one was really good, and this is just a pathetic follow up.

Musical Performance: “What Was I Made For?”

Weekend Update (featuring Rich Auntie With No Kids and Dr. Hattie Davis)

• A switch up on the usual “seen here” joke, but it still wasn’t funny.

• Now they’re resorted to jokes about Giuliani pooping his pants.

• I chuckled at Michael’s joke about Chris Sununu.

• Yawn, another commentary with Ego doing her usual deadbeat mom routine.

• I laughed at the joke comparing New Jersey residents to pigs.

• Now we get one of the strangest moments in Che and Jost’s entire tenure. Their Joke Swap routine is back, but with a twist. This time, they have an alleged civil rights activist named “Dr. Hattie Davis” there to watch them. Who is Hattie Davis? Well, she doesn’t exist! That’s right, Jost and Che decided to play a trick on the audience and introduced some random old lady as being a civil rights activist. And it worked! I genuinely thought she was a real person when this aired!

• A huge laugh from Colin’s joke about wanting to send Obama back to Africa.

• Che: “In fact, Beyoncé looked so white, that I was finally attracted to her!”

• Nice slam from Colin towards his wife Scarlett Johansson.

• Overall, yet another solid joke swap from these guys, and the fact that they had some random old lady there listening to all of this made it even better.

Sketch: Boogie Woogie Santa

A man rejects the cure for sickle cell anemia in favor of a Boogie Woogie Santa toy.

• Andrew, Molly, Punkie, and Michael all get lead roles here? Am I in an alternate universe???

• The Boogie Woogie Santa is voiced by JAJ, yet another example of how important he is to the current cast.

• This type of performance is what I like to see from Kate, with no bug-eyed mugging or annoying voices to be found.

• Funny twist where Kenan’s character swaps the cure for sickle cell anemia for the Santa toy.

• Even Kenan isn’t as annoying here. See what happens when you make him cut back on his shouting?

• You can briefly see the cue cards in one shot of Molly and Andrew. This was surprisingly left in the YouTube upload.

• I love Andrew’s line about not needing the cure for sickle cell anemia because his whole family is white.

• The visual of a “tortilla blanket” is pretty funny.

• Even when you know what’s coming, Punkie’s tear jerking speech about needing the cure for her mother and then immediately grabbing the doll was great.

• Kenan: “Hey, look at me. I’m a little burrito! Hola, I’m so cozy!”

• A nice bizarre little sketch. I wish I knew who wrote this. I’m guessing it was Andrew because he’s in it and it seems like something he’d write, but I’m not sure.

Musical Performance: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

Sketch: Cinema Classics

• NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m not even going to bother with the description here, because I have no interest in watching another one of these godawful Cinema Classics sketches.

Sketch: Whiskers R’ We

The latest cats up for adoption during the holiday season.

• This is surprisingly the only recurring character of Kate’s to return in this episode. Not that I’m complaining, because I really didn’t need to see Collette Reardon or her many male politicians again.

• Billie Eilish: “A cat is a dog that’s a bitch!”

• Kate is already making Eilish crack up.

• While this isn’t one of my favorite recurring sketches, I am a cat person, so hopefully I’ll get to see some cute kitties.

• Kate: “Jeffrey here is an Abyssinian, as in, Abyss-seein’ him in Hell for scratching my couch!” A really lame pun, but I still laughed.

• I liked Kate referring to the cat in the Santa hat as a “home wrecking whore”.

• The usual “lol lesbian” jokes that these sketches bombard us with aren’t as annoying this time. It helps that they’ve been kept at a minimum so far. 

• I find the cats constantly interrupting the sketch with their meows to be really charming.

• Not a fan of the “Claw and Order” puns. At least the calico they’re showing is extremely cute.

• Random twist where it turns out that Eilish’s character is actually Kate’s daughter.

• Eilish almost loses it when a guinea pig won’t stop making noise.

• Overall, I’m surprised at how much I liked this. Did it really need to be five minutes long, though?

Cut for Time: Paperless Post

Paperless Post will take care of those who refuse to respond to you.

• Heidi is really good as the spokeswoman.

• Good to see Punkie with a lead role.

• “RSVP OR WE’LL KILL YOU” is such a great thing to put on a message.

• The various disturbing messages that are gradually popping up are amazing. My favorite is the “Paperless Severed Finger”.

• I love Marcello’s reaction to the “Paperless Your Car Explodes”.

• Funny sudden appearance from a bunch of wild dogs that come and attack James.

• Heidi, in the most cheerful voice ever: “Paperless Post; we can do this the easy way, or we can destroy you.”

• Overall, a great dark masterpiece. This should have been in the live show instead of that Cinema Classics bullshit.

Final thoughts: While not as bad as I was expecting a Kate McKinnon-hosted episode to be, it wasn’t anything special. I admire the restraint she had in not dressing up as a man at all, and she did impress me in a few sketches. And the less said about Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig taking up too much airtime with their tired and unfunny antics, the better. Overall, a big step down from the awesome Christmas episode we had last year.

Best sketches: Pongo!, Joke Swap, Boogie Woogie Santa, Whiskers R We, Paperless Post (Cut)

Worst sketches: Monologue, ABBA Christmas, Tampon Farm, Cinema Classics

Next review: Jacob Elordi/Reneé Rapp

This review is dedicated to my Aunt Amy’s cat Rocky. I miss you, little buddy…

SNL Reviews: Adam Driver/Olivia Rodrigo (12/9/23)

 Cold Open: Antisemitism Hearings

College presidents answer questions about antisemitism on their campuses.

• A big groan from the C-SPAN intro.

• After a promising beginning (including Molly with a big role!), things go south when Elise Stefanik is brought into the sketch for no reason.

• Boy, this is just plain awful. Instead of making the sketch about the college people’s attempts to cover up antisemitism on their campuses, they instead make it about Elise Stefanik being a KUH-RAYZEE racist weirdo. The show got a lot of backlash for this, and I completely understand why.

• As if you couldn’t hate this sketch more, you wanna know something else? Apparently, in dress rehearsal, Stefanik was played by former cast member Cecily Strong! Yep, that’s right! I forget the exact reason why she dropped out of the live show, but thank goodness she did, because we don’t need her tired antics making this even worse.

• Michael Longfellow is wasted with one line of dialogue. Geez, his airtime has been pathetic lately.

• It feels so sad seeing Chloe Troast being forced to perform this garbage. While she’s definitely performing this a lot better than Cecily probably would, the actual writing is as bad as it’s always been. 

• You know, I remember a time when SNL actually had something to say about politics. Everyone remembers moments like “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy!”, “Strategery”, or Bill Clinton stuffing his face with McDonald’s food. Those were the good old days. Nowadays, we get lame, baffling material like Joe Biden turning into a fly for no reason, countless male politicians played by women in drag, Cecily and Sasheer Zamata singing “To Sir, With Love” for Obama, and this bullshit I’m watching right now. In short…I just don’t like it.

Monologue

Adam Driver shares his Christmas list.

• I liked the line about Santa not liking SNL since Chris Kattan left.

• Adam: “(shouting) HEY SANTA!!!! Oh right, we’re on TV. (quieter) Hey, Santa…”

• Not a big fan of the random dick joke.

• I didn’t think I would laugh at the “wokeness killed Han Solo” line, but I did.

• I got a big laugh at Adam asking Santa to kill people who prank each other on TikTok. Unintentional foreshadowing for a sketch we’ll be getting later???

• Adam: “Hey, do you think the gingerbread man gets scared when he realizes his house is made of his own skin?”

• Overall, this was such a good monologue. It was miles better than his last two.

Sketch: We’re Trying

A couple is trying to get pregnant, and their friends all talk about it.

• Holy shit, Longfellow and Dismukes with actual screentime!

• Sadly, their only purpose is to act as straightmen to Bowen and Adam’s WACKY antics. As if I needed yet another reason to hate Bowen.

• What an ironic title, because SNL was clearly NOT trying when they came up with this sketch.

Film: Old Friends

A man is disturbed to find out that his old friend is really a psycho.

• This starts out as a seemingly heartwarming film, but then Adam’s character asks if the bar his friend wants to meet him at is more than 1000 feet from a school and I knew I was in for a treat.

• The funny twists keep coming, as it’s revealed that Adam’s character had a Netflix documentary made about how he switched over 600 sperm samples with his own.

• Great picture of Adam posing with a rifle.

• Nice callback to the school thing from earlier when he says he can’t renew his license because the DMV is near a school.

• Amazing photo of Devon as “Big Filthy”.

• Unfortunately, they had to ruin this with one thing: that stupid cliched ending where this turns out to be a commercial for Facebook. UGGGHHHH!!!! I wish they would stop doing that!

Sketch: Beep Beep

A dinner party goes awry as Mark (Driver) asserts his dominance.

• Rather odd gaffe where it looks like Molly is about to say something, but then the camera awkwardly cuts to Adam entering the room. I have no idea why this happened. Did Molly have a line that was cut from the online version I’m watching? 

• Both Adam and Andrew have amazing mustaches in this sketch. I think I’m in heaven…

• I probably don’t need to tell you how happy I am that Andrew has finally gotten another lead role. His airtime has been awful these past few episodes.

• Bowen’s performance here is surprisingly good. I love the delivery of his line comparing Adam and Andrew’s fight to two falcons.

• The fact that everyone is taking this “beep beep” situation so seriously is what makes this so great. Props go to whoever wrote this sketch for making such a dumb concept work.

Sketch: ShopTV

Dean Delaney shows off his suspiciously-shaped chocolate.

• The return of this awful sketch from the Jerrod Carmichael episode.

• I still can’t believe that Mikey is responsible for these sketches, because the Southern accents and “funny” names really throw me off.

• Cecily’s character from the first installment has been replaced by Heidi.

• The only “joke” in this one is that Adam’s chocolate looks like a dick. That’s it.

Musical Performance: “Vampire”

Weekend Update (featuring Marcello Hernandez, Chloe Fineman, and Julia Stiles)

• A pretty solid joke about Hunter Biden is ruined by Colin connecting it to Donald Trump.

• Yet another funny use of that picture of Colin giving a thumbs up, this time as part of a joke where Che claims he was at the Capitol riots.

• I laughed at the RFK Jr. joke.

• They’re still doing “seen here” jokes about Mitch McConnell.

• Marcello’s first commentary of the season. He’s been having a pretty strong year so far.

• This material is nothing special, but Marcello is making it work with his natural Latino charm.

• The next commentary, on the other hand, I don’t even know what to make of it. Chloe Fineman shows up and announces that she is going to do a dance from some Julia Stiles movie. Oh, and just so we don’t have to do any thinking, the real Julia Stiles is there too. I would say that it’s nice to see her on the show again, but I have no idea who this commentary is even for.

Sketch: Airplane Baby

A mother travels on an airplane with her baby for the first time.

• This looks like the same airplane set from the Nate Bargatze episode.

• A huge laugh from the initial sight of Adam as a baby with a full-grown man’s voice.

• Some good laughs from him watching Peppa Pig on his mom’s iPad, even though you can clearly see that he’s actually on the home screen.

• Adam’s “crying” is hilarious.

• Sarah: “He looks just like his father.” Kenan: “He looks like a father!”

• Even the ending where he poops in his diaper was pretty funny. But, once again, we have a twist where this turns out to be an ad for something else.

• Probably the best Sarah sketch we’ve had since that one where she gets decapitated.

Musical Performance: “All-American Bitch”

Film: TikTok Pranks

Elderly victims of TikTok pranks talk about their experiences.

• A promising concept…

• The look of Adam’s character is great. It reminds me of his Abraham Parnassus character from Season 44.

• Kenan and Punkie’s prank videos are kind of bland (I’m assuming they’re parodies of actual TikTok videos), but the one with Adam getting assaulted with basketballs at Walmart is hilarious. 

• I also liked the video where Chloe Troast pranks her grandmother by pretending to come out as gay.

• It goes without saying that JAJ is perfectly cast as an old man.

• Nice to see the return of the good ol’ pants pissing gag.

• I like how it ends with Kenan getting another sheet thrown over his head, followed by him going after that “little black bastard”.

Sketch: Tiny Ass Bags

Retail employees promote tiny bags.

• The look of Marcello’s character already has me worried about this.

• Yep, sure enough, this turns into another “two people advertise their product” sketch, a type of sketch that I absolutely cannot stand.

• Adam’s stern delivery of “If you don’t like it, kiss my rear!” gave me a laugh.

• You would be forgiven this was an Allison Gates-written sketch, but it was actually the work of Marcello and Ego, along with the Please Don’t Destroy guys.

• Some of Adam’s lines are the only laughs I’m getting here. He is way too good for this crap.

• I do like how one of the things you can carry in a Tiny Ass Bag is “the kids from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids”.

• I actually laughed at the extremely small backpack Adam is carrying.

• Adam: “You don’t need to bring anything. What are you, a bellboy?!?”

• Overall, while this was extremely stupid, I laughed a worrying number of times.

Cut for Time: Actor’s Journey

An actor’s panel is interrupted by random people from his past.

• It figures that Andrew’s only lead role of the episode was cut.

• Apart from Adam’s character, I am not getting much laughs from this so far. 

• The fact that everyone has oddly-specific outfits should clue you in that this was written by Jimmy Fowlie.

• Overall, I can definitely see why this was cut. This might be the first Cut for Time sketch I’ve looked at that I didn’t like.

Final thoughts: Wow, that was actually a pretty solid episode. I know I’ve trashed Driver’s episodes in the past, but with this episode, I can see why they keep bringing him back. 

Best sketches: Monologue, Old Friends, Beep Beep, Airplane Baby

Worst sketches: Cold Open, We’re Trying, ShopTV

Next review: OH NO. My nemesis Kate McKinnon is back!

SNL Reviews: Emma Stone/Noah Kahan (12/2/23)

 Cold Open: The Situation Room

George Santos resigns from the Senate in grandiose fashion.

• Already a big groan from seeing Sarah in drag as Wolf Blitzer. Why can’t they let James do it?!?

• *Bowen appears as George Santos for the one millionth time as I scream towards the heavens and proceed to break everything in the house*

• I refuse to say anything more about this Godawful impression, but at least this is hopefully the last time we will ever see it!!!!

Monologue

Emma is inducted into the Five-Timers Club.

• Emma Stone is the last person I would have expected to host five times.

• I was about to wonder if she really met her husband here, but then it cut to Lorne and I immediately knew it had to be a joke.

• Yawn, a Tina Fey cameo. She appears basically once a season at this point so it’s hard to get excited.

• Candice Bergen looks like a mummified corpse. I did like her joke about Martin Short peering into the Women’s Section of the Five-Timers Club.

• Nice tribute to Candice’s father Edgar Bergen when she claims she saw a creepy ventriloquist there, even if Tina somewhat ruins the joke by claiming it was John Mulaney (speaking of which, where the hell has he been?).

• Overall, not too bad, but I wonder why they only brought out two members this time. Where the hell is Steve?

Sketch: Question Quest

A game show host tries to pawn off his pet tortoise to contestants.

• No comment on the host’s name being “Joe Vibin”. Get it? Cuz it kinda sounds like Joe Biden!!! Herp-a-derp!!!

• Thank God Michael Longfellow gets a lead role as the host. Apparently he wrote this.

• I laughed at the joke about Heidi’s character being the oldest woman in the Navy, before she corrects Longfellow and says that she works at Old Navy.

• I absolutely love all the airtime Punkie has been getting lately! She has a really big showcase coming up later in this episode…

• Not sure about this twist where the host tries to pawn off his pet tortoise.

• I liked Longfellow’s line about how people who study tortoises die before the tortoises do.

• Pointless appearance from Molly as “Silent Lettuce-Throwing Lady”. 

• Apparently the trivia question about Charles Darwin and Steve Irwin owning the same tortoise is true and not just something they came up with for this.

• Overall, I liked what this was going for, and Longfellow gave a great performance, but it dragged in places and probably should have been cut down by a couple minutes.

Film: Fully Naked in New York

A group of people shares what cheers them up during winter…getting naked!

• Didn’t we just have Bowen singing earlier? Not exactly something I want to see twice in one episode.

• Oh. My. God. Naked Bowen Yang is something that I never wanted in my life…

• I think I mentioned this last time, but the heavy use of Auto-Tune in these musical films makes everything sound so fake. It’s hard to praise the vocals when you know that they don’t really sound this good.

• Speaking of vocals, at least Chloe Troast’s voice still sounds pretty good with enhancement.

• I’m sure the writers of this thought that the visual of everybody getting naked was enough to make us laugh. Well, they’re wrong.  It gets old after about twenty seconds and then you’re just waiting for it to end.

Sketch: Tree Lighting Gig

Treece Henderson performs at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

• Really? This guy again? This is the first time we’ve seen him since the Season 47 finale. Unsurprisingly, this also means that James Anderson (a.k.a. “The Gay Stepin Fetchit”) came back to write this sketch.

• Kenan’s line about his “coccyx” is a typical James Anderson “joke”. As in, it wasn’t funny. 

• More Andersonisms include “funny” names, which we get here with “Charlie Darken” and “Sheila Foods”. Ugh.

• Since Kyle Mooney is gone, the character that he usually played in these is replaced with one played by Bowen. And we get yet another Anderson trait with his character’s bizarre specific hairstyle.

• Man, Bowen is mugging up a storm. Also, he’s clearly not playing his keyboard, as his hand movements don’t match the actual sounds.

• I did get a laugh at this line from Kenan: “What are you,  a human dumbass?!?”

• Overall, I don’t mind this character compared to some of Anderson and Sublette’s other characters, but I definitely didn’t need to see him again. Hope he stays retired for good this time.

Please Don’t Destroy: AI

A hard drive malfunction means that artificial intelligence has to be used to complete the latest Please Don’t Destroy film.

• Interesting idea for a short…

• Punkie’s great season continues, as we now get a hilarious visual of Emma Stone’s face poorly mapped over her own.

• The fact that she’s not even attempting to act like Emma is what makes this particularly great. 

• The only thing that hurts this sketch are the constant annoying disclaimers. We can see what’s happening on our own, thank you!

• Now the AI face is having a hard time keeping up with Punkie’s movements, even being upside down at one point. You can even hear the crew telling her to stand still!

• Another great moment where we see that Marcello had to fill in for Ben Marshall. Great night for the featured players so far!

• Not a big fan of John Higgins “yassifying” his looks, but I do like the random backstage scene of him hitting a guy with a glass bottle.

• I like how they don’t even bother to cover up Punkie’s face at the end when she and Martin kiss.

• Despite the annoying disclaimers, I thought this was the best Please Don’t Destroy film we’ve had since the one in the season premiere.

Sketch: What’s in the Kiln?

Two pottery show hosts praise misshapen items.

• “Judy Frizz”? Whatever these writers are getting paid, it’s not enough.

• Anyway, the fact that this sketch stars both Heidi and Chloe is enough to make me worry.

• Yep, so far, this sketch is a whole lotta nothing. 

• Heidi hasn’t been too annoying this season, but her performance here is straight out of Season 48.

• Emma’s character is doing nothing to save this.

• Overall, that was one of the most pointless sketches I’ve ever seen.

Musical Performance: “Dial Drunk”

Weekend Update (featuring An Old Fashioned Cigarette)

• What the fuck is “Shantay You Stay/Sashay Away” supposed to be about? 

• Horrible joke trying to compare Rosalynn Carter’s death to being Donald Trump’s husband.

• I liked the picture of Biden used for the ice rink joke.

• First commentary for Michael Longfellow all season. I’m surprised it’s taken him this long after he was on every other episode last year. He’s playing a giant living cigarette, who’s here to talk about Australia banning disposable vapes.

• Colin: “I don’t smoke.” Cigarette: “What, are your parents watching tonight?”

• I like when he tries to egg Colin into saying the British term for a cigarette…which I’m going to leave for you to search up for yourselves. Even better is his response when Colin refuses to say it: “Relax, no one’s gonna take it out of context and make it into a meme!”

• Nice photoshopped image of Hitler vaping.

• I think this is probably Longfellow’s best commentary yet! So many great lines and zingers here!

• I love Colin’s joke about tuba music playing while fat people walk.

• Even Che’s WNBA joke made me laugh.

• A surprisingly okay Update once they got all of the political jokes out of the way.

Sketch: Make Your Own Kind of Music

Mama Cass discusses the potential of her new single.

• Thank goodness they chose Chloe Troast to play Mama Cass, and not the other Chloe. Can you imagine how awful that would have been?

• Cass’s backup band consists of writers Gary Richardson, Ben Silva, and Will Stephen, as well as production assistant Megan Stollsteimer.

• I appreciate the restraint in not making any fat jokes

• Ugh, Emma just showed up in drag as Mama Cass’s manager. At least it’s not Sarah again.

• Manager: “This song’s gonna be everywhere, Mama! And then everybody’s gonna forget about it for a long, long time.”

• Mikey does a great job pretending to get “shot”.

• I like how the framerate drops during the scenes where Emma is demonstrating the potential uses of the song. Almost like you’re watching a movie. It isn’t perfect, though, and there’s a few glitches that seem to have been corrected in the online version.

• I came into this expecting to hate Emma’s scenes, but I’m actually liking them a lot more this time.

• Nice hypothetical situation where the song is used to score a trailer about Joan of Arc’s dead body rising from its grave.

• Of course, the reason this sketch works so well is Troast’s beautiful performance. I hope they keep giving her meaty roles like this!

Musical Performance: “Stick Season”

Sketch: Posters

Living posters dispense advice on physics to a kid.

• Not this shit again. Why do they always have to do this sketch when Emma hosts?

• Marcello replaces Pete Davidson as the kid. He’s a lot more believable in this role than Pete ever was.

• I actually laughed out loud at Mikey’s horrendous David Beckham impression. It’s like he finally realized how bad he is at British accents, so he decided to camp it up to a comedic degree.

• Nice name for Kenan’s character: “Troy ‘The Toothtaker’ McCoy”.

• Emma’s character is still annoying.

• We at least get a satisfying ending where Ego assaults Emma.

Film: Diet Coke by Olay

The drink that’s also a facial cleanser.

• Nice to see a commercial featuring the female cast. Almost like this is the mid-2000s again.

• Interesting concept…

• Hilarious shots of the ladies gleefully splashing Diet Coke on their faces.

• I love Sarah’s expression after accidentally shaking the jar.

• One of the best commercial parodies I’ve seen in a while, plus I got some nice eye candy.

Final thoughts: Not too bad, actually. There were some weaker sketches here and there (looking at you, Bowen!) but the highs were really high.

Best sketches: AI, Cigarette commentary, Make Your Own Kind Of Music, Diet Coke by Olay

Worst sketches: Cold Open, What’s In The Kiln, Posters

Next review: Adam Driver/Olivia Rodrigo

SNL Reviews: Jason Momoa/Tate McRae (11/18/23)

 Cold Open: Press Conference

President Biden holds a press conference after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

• It still feels so wrong seeing Mikey as Biden.

• Hey, did you know that Joe Biden is OLD? That’s the joke!!!

• UGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Our latest annoying Bowen showcase! He’s been doing somewhat fine for the past couple of episodes, but now we get a reminder of how WACKY he is.

• This time he’s a panda, because that’s not stereotypical at all.

• I thought I was going to vomit when he talked about how “thicc” he is.

• I refuse to comment on that godawful Panda Express pun. 

• It especially feels wrong seeing JAJ as a reporter in this sketch, stuck as a straight man to the one who replaced him as Biden.

• Overall, this sketch encapsulates everything I hate about Bowen, and that’s not even the worst thing he does in this episode!!!

Monologue

Jason Momoa talks about living out his dream as a marine biologist.

• Jason, about his mom: “If you see her, be careful, she’s still recovering from giving birth to me!”

• Some nice stories about how he wanted to help save the ocean when he was young, and how he’s now living out that dream as Aquaman.

• To quote somebody in the comments, “You just can’t help but like Jason Momoa”. And, you know what, that person’s right!

Sketch: Masters of the Pen

Old footage of L. Frank Baum is interrupted by two wacky onlookers.

• The cringy banter between Heidi and Bowen has me worried about what awaits me.

• Michael Longfellow still exists! He actually has a big role in this sketch as L. Frank Baum.

• Just as I’m about to praise SNL for finally giving Longfellow such a meaty part, the conceit of this sketch is revealed to be these assholes getting in front of him and ruining the shot.

• Mikey is doing a great job matching the framerate of silent film footage. I’m guessing this is a sketch that he wrote, because Bowen and Heidi won’t stop explaining everything that happens.

• I got a genuine laugh at Kenan popping up to show off his hot dog.

• This was a nice and silly little sketch.

Film: Rome Song

Some guys sing a song about Rome or something.

• Good to see Troast get another singing showcase only a week after the last one. Too bad this is her only appearance in this episode.

• Something that really hate about these modern musical sketches is how heavily Auto-Tuned the vocals are. Can’t they just leave them as they are without any processing?

• I’m sure this has to be parodying something, but I’m afraid it leaves me quite cold. These hip-hop pretapes are so overdone, even without Pete Davidson being there.

Sketch: Nightclub Line

The adventures of two wacky bouncers at a Miami nightclub.

• Another lead role for Marcello! His role here kind of reminds me of that Towel Boys sketch he did with Kenan last season.

• It’s pretty funny hearing Momoa trying to speak in a Spanish accent.

• Longfellow’s back, only to be manhandled by Jason Momoa.

• I liked Marcello worrying about Longfellow’s character leaving a bad review on Yelp.

• Unfortunately, this comes to a screeching halt when Kenan arrives and starts talking in what is basically his David Ortiz voice. He’s been doing surprisingly well this season, and it’s a shame that he regressed to his unprofessional Season 48 self here.

• This was a little too long, but mostly harmless.

Sketch: Airport Parade

Two TSA agents introduce various travelers at the airport.

• A variation of the Halloween costume sketch and the Central Park cold open from last season. I don’t know why this has become a recurring theme lately.

• The opening show tune and the presence of Bowen are all I needed to know that this is a Jimmy Fowlie sketch.

• “Chartreuse Hamilton”? Who the fuck comes up with these names?

• Even in a small role, Chloe is playing her character way too big. 

• I like the voice Jason is using here.

• We get more of Kenan’s tired shouting shtick.

• HUGE applause when the little girl says “Screw you, bitch!” 

• Yet another role for Longfellow tonight in which he’s getting humiliated. Do they have it out for him or something?

• I’m guessing Sarah’s character is based on some kind of viral video. Whatever it was, it didn’t make me laugh at all.

• The gay flight attendants bit is straight out of Season 30. Yet another obvious sign that Fowlie wrote this.

• Overall, my least favorite of these parade sketches.

Please Don’t Destroy: Ramen Order

The guys attempt to order food.

• I liked Martin’s reference to the “More Cowbell” sketch.

• Didn’t they already do a film where their girlfriend breaks up with them over the phone?

• Not a big fan of this one so far.

• The mention of “baby bok choy” immediately made me think of Stefon.

• Well, that one just went by without me saying much about it. What is happening to these guys lately?

Musical Performance: “Greedy”

Weekend Update (featuring George Santos, Daymond Green, and Remember Lizards)

• I got a big laugh from the clip of Biden calling LL Cool J “LL J Cool J”.

• I’ll never get tired of seeing that photo of a smiling Colin holding his thumb up.

• NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Not George fucking Santos!!!!!! I refuse to say anything more about this terrible “impression” and the untalented idiot behind it!!!

• Thankfully, Devon is here to save the day. I have no idea who Draymond Green is because I don’t follow basketball, but I’m sure Devon is doing a good job.

• I laughed at the line about having a “seven-foot baguette” in his face.

• Devon: “Look, I had to kick him in the groin. That’s where his nuts at!”

• Not much to say about this commentary, but Devon’s likeable performance makes it fine with me.

• Ah, now here’s what I’ve been waiting to see again! Andrew and JAJ show up as “Remember Lizards”, an Imagine Dragons parody band. I’m getting Jon Bovi vibes from this.

• The way these characters look is amazing. I like the detail of Andrew’s shirt being black on one side and white on the other. Who does he think he is? Two-Face?

• JAJ isn’t trying to hide the fact that he’s not really playing that guitar. I find that charming for some reason.

• Whoever wrote this wisely gave both James and Andrew a chance to sing. James is unsurprisingly great, and I never knew that Andrew had such a good singing voice. 

• I love how all of these songs sound exactly the same. Kinda like Imagine Dragons! *ba-dum-tssh!*

• A big laugh from the Christian song at the end.

• Overall, amazing work from JAJ and Andrew! And we end this up-and-down Update on a high note!

Sketch: Cast Away

A woman invites her ex over for dinner.

• I cringed at Andrew’s “kinda sus” line at the beginning.

• Speaking of Andrew, it’s nice to see him with another lead role here. Also, he has a mustache, which automatically makes him a winner in my book.

• When this episode first aired, I distinctly remember my cats getting spooked when the doorbell rang in this sketch.

• Chloe is surprisingly acting like a normal person in this sketch instead of an annoying alien like she usually does. 

• The ladies in the audience go wild when Momoa pours his drink on himself.

• Surprised it took this long for Momoa to take his shirt off. He got that out of the way immediately in his last episode, so I appreciate the restraint here. This is then followed by Andrew taking off his own shirt, and we get to see his disturbing chest hair.

• How in the world is Momoa moving his chest muscles like that?

• Andrew’s pathetic attempts at push-ups are hilarious.

• I enjoyed this sketch a lot more than I thought I would. Andrew and Jason make a great team!

Musical Performance: “Grave”

Film: Battle of the Sexes

The forgotten story of Charna Lee Diamond is told in this Netflix documentary.

• An initial laugh from how Momoa’s character towers over the rest of his team.

• And then, the amazing gory twist, where a tennis ball goes right through Sarah’s body, followed by another one taking her head off!!! This is the hardest I’ve laughed at SNL in quite a while! 

• Nice running gag with a random black guy (played by Devon) stealing the ball after it goes through Sarah. Then, after her head comes off, he returns and takes that as well, only to drop it once he realizes what it is.

• Amazing “In Memoriam” card with Sarah’s headless body in a triumphant pose. 

• Overall, another delightfully bizarre sketch from Sarah!

Sketch: Cab Driver

A cab driver receives medical news while driving a passenger.

• Is this the same taxi from the “Friggin’ Giuliani!” sketch?

• Apprently this was cut from Kieran Culkin’s episode a couple years ago. I assume he played Jason’s role.

• This would normally be a sketch that I should absolutely hate, given that it has both Kenan and a poopy joke in it. But Jason playing this material straight is making it better than it has any right to be.

• Kenan’s tired reacting routine is actually getting some good use here. 

• Never thought I’d see the day that modern Kenan was my favorite part of a sketch.

Final thoughts: Better than I remembered, to be honest. While I’d still give the advantage to his first episode for having one of my favorite sketches in it (The Elf on the Shelf), this one was a little more consistent. Jason Momoa was a great host yet again, and he’s more than welcome to come back a third time!

Best sketches: Master of the Pen, Remember Lizards commentary, Cast Away, Cab Driver

Worst sketches: Cold Open, George Santos commentary

Next review: Emma Stone/Noah Kahan