Cold Open
Anthony Fauci demonstrates different scenarios regarding the new mask guidelines.
• UGGGGHHHHHH!!!! Kate McKinnon’s horrible Anthony Fauci impression! I’ve been dreading having to cover this…thing.
• Her voice is just her normal voice but with a slight accent. She’s not even trying to sound like a man.
• Not too much for me to say about this sketch, except that it contained everything I hate about this season rolled into one.
Monologue
As a first time host, Keegan-Michael Key attempts to perfect his monologue.
• You can tell he’s really excited to be hosting. He relates a story about how he used to sneak downstairs when he was little and try to catch the show. I’m surprised that he didn’t mention his days on Mad TV.
• This is then followed by…*sigh*…a musical number. I will say, however, that he’s making this come off more tolerable with his surprisingly good singing voice.
• Pete shows up to give Key a tattoo. When he says that they should wait until after the show, Pete gets in a cheeky reference to last week’s host: “Aw, that’s what Elon said, man…”
• He even makes fun of pointless celebrity cameos when Cecily comes out to join him, saying that he was expecting a celebrity to help him with his monologue.
• Then, it randomly turns into a questions from the audience monologue. Thankfully, it doesn’t last too long.
• As much as I hate the direction he’s been going in lately, I was so happy to see Kenan again after the really bad week he had last time.
• Overall, surprisingly not too bad for a musical monologue. I enjoyed this a lot more than I did when I first watched it.
Sketch: Braxton High School Prom Red Carpet
Red carpet coverage of a school prom.
• The first two cast members we see are Asian Terry Sweeney and Heidi Gardner. I’m in for a lot of pain, aren’t I?
• I like how Key’s name in this is “Jacob Schneeb”. Also, OMG at that wig he’s wearing.
• Was the camera angle on Dismukes’ character supposed to be so awkward?
• Ego looks pretty damn sexy in that dress.
• Rather fitting casting of Mikey Day as a nerd.
• Yep, this sketch is a whole lot of nothing. But, Key is making the most of it with his performance.
Film: The Last Dance Extended Scene
Unseen footage from the Michael Jordan documentary highlights His Airness’s little-known intensely competitive side.
• Something I didn’t notice the first time I saw this was that they “deepfaked” Key’s face onto Jordan’s in the archive footage they show at the beginning. It looks rather creepy.
• Oh man, I totally forgot about Heidi doing drag in this film. She plays MJ’s head of security, John Michael Wozniak. And the impression is really really bad.
• I like Chris Redd’s Dennis Rodman impression, though. Can’t remember if he’s done it before.
• Speaking of impressions, at least Kenan’s Charles Barkley is here to liven things up. That’s one of the few impressions he’s done that hasn’t gotten old for me.
• I feel like I would like this better if I was a basketball fan. All of these specific people and references are just blowing over my head.
Sketch: The Muppet Show
Two security guards (Key and Kenan Thompson) deal with Statler and Waldorf’s heckling in a brutal way.
• Dear God, I’ve been dreading to talk about this sketch for a while now. For those who don’t know, I absolutely adore The Muppets. I hold them near and dear to my heart, and I get mad whenever I see them being mishandled by major corporations who don’t understand their appeal (ahem, Disney). So, uh, let’s dive in…
• Starting off on a bad note with that awful promo for “Hawkeye And His Boring-Ass Family”.
• Surprisingly good Kermit impression from Kyle Mooney. Also, I think that’s the same puppet that was in the classic Rainbow Connection sketch with Justin Timberlake.
• What’s with the Sesame Street-esque brick wall that Kermit’s standing behind? They never had that on The Muppet Show.
• That Lily Tomlin impression is really really bad. Everyone always says that Melissa “White Male Rage” Villaseñor is great at doing voices, but stuff like this makes me think otherwise.
• I think the voices for the Muppet characters are pre-recorded, because they occasionally don’t match with the mouth movements. There’s one moment when Waldorf says “Finally, something entertaining is happening!”, and his mouth isn’t moving at all. This also makes me wonder who the actual puppeteers are.
• I groaned so loud when Kenan and Key entered as security guards. It’s from this point on that the sketch dies a horrible death.
• Another big groan from me when Key calls Kermit “Kramer”.
• I lost all hope I had in this when Key shows up in the balcony and starts beating Statler to a pulp. I guess it’s supposed to be funny because “ha ha the cute puppet got beat up”?
• Who is the “dude with orange hair always blowing things up” that Kenan’s referring to? Is he thinking of Crazy Harry? That’s the only character I can think of that matches that description, and he actually has black hair. Maybe he was thinking of Beaker? This is then followed by a mandatory poop joke, because when I think of The Muppet Show, I think of poop jokes.
• This ends on a really bad note, with the security guards picking up Statler and Waldorf, only to realize that they don’t have legs. HA HA, GET IT?!!?? Because puppets don’t have legs!!!! Jesus Christ, I hate it when people make that joke! I’m kind of surprised that they didn’t go for another “hand up my ass” joke here.
Sketch: Gemma & DJ Balls
At TGI Friday’s, Gemma and her new assistant try to cheer up birthday boy Gene after a tough breakup.
• The first appearance of this character of Cecily’s since December 2018. I’m not too familiar with this character, but I am aware that she’s a creation of James Anderson and Kent Sublette, so I’m sure I’m going to hate her.
• They get around the fact that Vanessa Bayer (who used to play Kenan’s wife in these sketches) is no longer around by saying that the two of them broke up. I like when they actually address these sorts of situations. They even make it a part of the sketch, because Gene’s friends already prepared a special song for his birthday without knowing about the breakup.
• Nice to see Punkie Johnson in this sketch. They barely give her any lines, but, hey, at least it’s something!
• Holy fucking shit, Gemma’s voice is extremely annoying. And she has a British accent, too. Yep, that pretty much confirms this is an Anderlette sketch.
• Super lame reveal that Key’s character’s name is DJ Balls. Can they please go at least one episode without making any ball jokes?
• And while we’re on the subject of overused jokes, this reveal is immediately followed by a dick joke. I’m also getting really sick of them referring to dicks as “things”.
• Despite my gripe with his name, I think this sketch would work better if it was just him on stage without Gemma, because he is totally getting into it.
Musical Performance: “Driver’s License”
Weekend Update (featuring Liz Cheney, Andrew Dismukes, and Bob Baffert)
• YET ANOTHER joke about Mitch McConnell hating children! Please stop it!
• More pain follows as Kate McKinnon does a commentary as Liz Cheney. The impression is really bad, and she won’t stop mugging for the camera.
• Nice to see Andrew Dismukes get his own commentary.
• He’s coming off pretty well for a first-timer. I liked his brief comment about his “photoless Wikipedia page”, which has since had his image added to it.
• The portions where he talks about his great-grandmother are really heartwarming. I like when the cast takes time to talk about their family.
• Not a big fan of how his commentary inexplicably becomes an advertisement for some old Disney Channel movie called “Brink!”, but I’m willing to overlook that because the rest of it was so good.
• Beck Bennett does a commentary as horse trainer Bob Baffert, which ends up being his final appearance at the Update desk. All I will say about this one is that the impression sucked.
Sketch: Gershwin Celebration
Note: Due to music rights, this sketch is not available online. No big loss, though, because I remember it being pretty bad.
Musical Performance: “Good 4 U”
Sketch: High School Graduation
Disruptive parents keep ruining a graduation ceremony.
• I missed this sketch when it first aired, because I went to bed early. I’ll go into this with an open mind…
• Wow, another big role for Punkie Johnson! Her voice is funny, but the dialogue isn’t anything special.
• I should have known that they would cast Kenan as one of the disruptive parents. And, of course, he uses that damn voice AGAIN.
• I got an unintentional laugh from Key’s character telling his son to do a “blackflip”. It’s pretty sad when my first laugh in this sketch is from a line flub.
• Ego is killing it with her performance. I liked her insulting her son as a “no-backflipping-bitch”. The son’s blank stare in response to this is great too.
• Despite my complaining about him earlier, I liked Kenan’s incredulous reaction to finding out that there’s a white girl named “Letitia”.
• I’m pretty sure it wasn’t their intention, but I find it kind of cheap and stereotypical that most of the rowdy parents are black.
• Alex Moffat’s performance as the principal is brilliant. I feel like we haven’t seen a lot from him lately.
• It may sound like I hated this sketch, but I actually thought it was okay for what it was. A nice, goofy little thing that fits in well right at the end of the show.
Final thoughts: A major disappointment. While Key was a great host who blended in well with the cast, the writing is what ultimately killed this for me. If they ever let him host again, they’d better step up their game.
Best sketches: Monologue, Andrew Dismukes’ commentary, High School Graduation
Worst sketches: Cold Open, The Muppet Show, Gemma & DJ Balls. Gershwin Tribute
Next review: Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen
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