SNL Reviews: Dua Lipa (5/4/24)

 Cold Open: Community Affairs

Parents discuss college protests.

• “You’re watching NY1, which means your wi-fi is down.” UGGGHHHH!!!!

• Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Longfellow I see with a lead role????

• Kenan’s role here is another typical fast-talking Kenan role that he can play in his sleep by now.

• I’m also disheartened to see Longfellow fumbling over his lines. Maybe he’s just a little rusty since he hasn’t had a lead role in forever.

• Yeah, this cold open is just a bunch of nothing. Already a bad sign that we’re gonna have a rough episode…

Monologue

Dua Lipa takes questions from the audience.

• I like it when we see the host’s parents.

• Really? A Q&A monologue? Something tells me this was a rough week backstage.

• Bowen is the only person in the cast who doesn’t look funny in a mustache. He just looks gayer than usual.

• Random and pointless appearance from Heidi as the South Dakota governor.

Sketch: Young Spicy

An up and coming rapper needs help with his producer tag.

• This sketch from the Ana DeArmas episode is now recurring for some reason. The only thing I can remember about that sketch is that it had Kenan shouting like an annoying stereotype.

• Eh, this isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen all season, but it’s unremarkable.

• Ego: “Ooh, Spicy, why you DMin’ high schoolers?” Okay. I will admit that this line gave me a laugh.

• I also got a chuckle from Ego asking why he’s so limp-wristed.

Film: The Anomalous Man

A young lady’s Elephant Man-esque lover is sexting behind her back.

• Gorgeous sets and costume design here.

• Perfect casting of James as an English nobleman.

• This actually starts out pretty promising, but then we actually see the titular Anomalous Man, and it turns out to be Sarah in drag yet again. I don’t care that it’s “deformed” drag, it’s still drag!

• In all fairness, the makeup on Sarah is amazing. You’d swear they actually got Rick Baker or someone to do it!

• Ugh at the twist with the Anomalous Man somehow having a modern day cellphone for “sexting” people.

• I can’t believe they would ruin it like that! Man, Sarah just keeps disappointing me lately. There’s still two episodes left for her to turn it around, but it doesn’t look good.

Sketch: Good Morning Greenville

News anchors obsess over the Kendrick/Drake feud.

• James’ intro song is pretty funny, but that only gives you the false impression that this sketch will be good.

• Heidi and Mikey’s Southern accents are giving me bad vibes, as is the fact that Heidi’s name is “Gail Gohnson”. Despite the Anderlette-esque traits, this sketch was apparently written by Colin Jost and Bryan Tucker.

• I am not a fan of the focus suddenly switching to the Kendrick Lamar/Drake feud, something that I was totally unaware of when this aired, and I still have no idea what it was about, because I don’t give a shit about rap.

• None of the mispronounced rapper names from Mikey and Heidi are making me laugh.

• I did kind of chuckle at Mikey asking the black weatherman (Devon) what his thoughts were, with the implication being that since he’s black, he must like rap.

• “Wanda Wheems”??? This really does feel like an Anderlette sketch.

• Dua’s Southern accent is surprisingly good, but it feels disheartening to see her in this crap.

• Heidi brings back awful memories of the previous episode when she starts cracking up during her “diss track” about Mikey.

• The shot of the weatherman hiding is pretty funny.

• No comment on the scene where the anchors start using stick puppets of Drake and Kendrick.

• Overall, this episode continues to die a horrible death. Devon was the only saving grace here.

Sketch: Sonny Angels

A woman’s obsession with “Sonny Angel” dolls creeps out her new boyfriend.

• Finally, Marcello with a role that’s more like how he used to be.

• Oh no, all of a sudden we have Bowen as one of the dolls. And, unsurprisingly, he’s playing this particular role as you would expect: gay as hell.

• At one point, Marcello blatantly calls attention to the fact that they’re using music from Challengers. Whew, thank goodness they pointed that out, because I thought this was an advertisement for the movie!

• No comment on the bizarrely sexual churro eating scene.

 • This episode is just killing me so far!

SNL Reviews: Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (4/13/24)

 Cold Open: Close Encounter

Mrs. Rafferty and others have been abducted yet again.

• What. The. Fuck? NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Not this shitty sketch again!!!!! Why are they doing this to me??? Last time I checked, they already gave it a proper conclusion in Season 47! 

• So, yeah, that means we get an unwelcome return from Kate McKinnon and her dumb mugging face.

• The giggles from Gosling have started already…

• Fun fact: I came into this episode’s premiere late, and the first thing I saw when I turned it on was Kate getting between Ryan’s legs. Needless to say, it was a horrifying sight.

• What else is there for me to say about this horrid crap? If this ends up being the final installment of this sketch, I will be very, very happy.

Monologue

Ryan Gosling reminisces about starring as Ken in the Barbie movie.

• Jesus Christ, a musical monologue. I was kind of expecting one, but still, this is not the way I want to start an episode.

• Huge applause when he puts on a fur coat. I don’t get it. Does he wear one in the movie?

• Emily Blunt is now here for some reason. And then the two of them sing a Barbie number. I hope they weren’t trying to surprise us with that, because I could see the “Barbieland” sign when Ryan walked onstage.

• Oh, but it gets worse. Now they start to sing about, *sigh*, Oppenheimer. Get it??? Because it’s like those retarded memes that were popular last year!!!!

Sketch: The Engagement

A newly-engaged man whispers his escape plans to a friend.

• Not sure about this turn with Ryan whispering everything he says to Andrew. What is this, an ASMR video?

• Aw shit, the Gosling Giggles are back, complete with a long applause break when it happens.

• Yeah, this sketch is not for me. If you’re into ASMR or unprofessional giggling, you might like it.

Film: Get That Boy Back

A woman gets revenge on her boyfriend.

• Ugh, Chloe Fineman’s latest annoying Southern-accented character is the first thing I see. Thankfully, the other Chloe is here, too, so we might not be in for a bad sketch just yet…

• Nice to see Chris Stapleton involved with this.

• I’ve lost count of how many times Heidi has worn that wig and glasses.

• I’m surprised, this song is actually a lot of fun so far. But I feel like the reason it works so well is because of the visuals. If you only heard the song, you wouldn’t think it was so special.

• Nice prosthetics on Troast’s Romanian disguise.

• Troast’s unexpected appearance in a green bodysuit caught me off guard.

• Overall, probably the best musical piece in a while.

Sketch: Can’t Tonight

Two guys try to convince their friend to go out with them.

• Uh-oh, time for another Marcello sketch. It’s finally gotten to the point where seeing him in a lead role fills me with dread.

• Also worrying me is the sight of Kenan in that wig and the horrid voice he’s doing.

• Sarah’s bizarre “I love countries!” statement made me laugh.

• What is even happening? So far, the only joke is that Hispanic people talk funny. 

• This whole “Paramount Ploos” routine is extremely hacky,

• You know what this sketch feels like? It feels like an unironic version of Fericito, Fred Armisen’s stand-up comedian from Venezuela. The only difference is that Fericito was supposed to be unfunny. This, on the other hand, takes all of the overdone stereotypes that Fericito embodied and just plays them all straight. All that’s missing is an annoying catchphrase.

Sketch: Beavis & Butt-Head

A serious discussion on AI is interrupted by two suspicious looking characters.

• Hooooo boyyyy….this is a sketch I’ve been dreading to watch again…

• This sketch was originally written for Season 43, but Mikey wasn’t able to get it on the air until now. Why do I bring this up? Because we are then given the sight of Gosling in a shitty Beavis costume. That’s right! This sketch is a semi-sequel to the hilarious Google Talk sketch with Mikey as “Bert Sampson”. Unlike in that one, where they gradually reveal Mikey’s character, here they just drop in Beavis for no reason.

• It should be noted that Beavis’ shirt says “Death Rock” instead of AC/DC, just like on the toys. 

• In the original Season 43 version, Beavis was played by Alex Moffat. I definitely would have preferred his take.

• Heidi breaks a bit when she sees Gosling in that costume, but holds it together for the most part…

• The only laugh I’ve gotten so far is Heidi saying that she’s never seen the cartoon because she was busy being pretty.

• It should go without saying that I do not care for Kenan pointing everything out as it happens.

• Now there’s a Butt-Head lookalike too, and the whole routine repeats itself.

• Heidi takes one look at Butt-Head, and completely loses it. When I saw this live, I couldn’t believe what was happening. This isn’t the fun kind of breaking like in the original Debbie Downer sketch, this is just plain unprofessional.

• Even after Heidi is finally able to say her line, she just won’t stop chuckling. Was it really that funny, Heidi?

• The tweet asking if Cornholio needs TP for his bunghole is just a ripoff of the original Bart Simpson version.

• Ugh, now Gosling is laughing again.

• The ending with the King of The Hill lookalikes (complete with Molly as Bill because isn’t typecasting great?) was just awful.

• Overall, what a giant mess. They took one of my favorite sketches from the past decade and shit all over it. And the worst part is that this sketch actually became a hit! The shill media just went crazy for it, unaware that it was an inferior rewrite of a much better sketch from six years ago!

Musical Performance: “White Horse”

Weekend Update (featuring Michael Longfellow and Caitlin Clark)

• Since OJ Simpson died the week before this episode, we get some pretty good OJ jokes here.

• Jesus fucking Christ, enough with the “seen here” jokes!!!!

• For the first time in forever, we get a Michael Longfellow commentary. He was on every other week last year, so why are they afraid to use him now? Oh right, I forgot, they need more time for “wacky” costumes and Bowen acting like a stereotype!

• Something about Longfellow’s dry delivery is making his lines funnier than they actually are.

• “Hey, girls, it’s Longfellow. Don’t get excited, it’s just a name.”

• While this wasn’t terrible, it was kind of bland compared to the last one he did with the cigarette.

• Color me shocked! Michael Che just told a sexist joke about a WNBA player!!! I have never seen that before! 

• Oh, fuck, it turns out that the reason for that joke is because they were setting up a “surprise” cameo from Caitlin Clark.

• While it is satisfying to see this douchebag get put in his place, I kind of feel like it’s way too late for this to be happening. Maybe in his third or fourth season it would’v been cute, but not in his TENTH.

• Overall, another lousy Update. This season just gets worse and worse.

Sketch: Doctor

A doctor weirds out an entire family by munching on Cookie Crumbles.

• Why has James barely been in this episode?!? He made a three second cameo as Hank Hill earlier, but this is his only lead role! And, of course, it’s just a “reacting” role.

• UGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Bowen enters as that weird character he played in the airplane sketch from the Nate Bargatze episode. For some reason, he’s now been given his own sketch.

• And now Gosling enters as another crazy character? I am not liking this sketch so far…

• Oh shit, now the giggles are back! This time, it’s Bowen who’s being an unprofessional asshole.

• Now this sketch has degenerated into Ryan and Bowen feeding each other just so they can crack up about it. Please end this fucking shit!!!!

• Overall, one of the worst sketches of the entire season, and it encapsulates everything I hate about Bowen Yang and Ryan Gosling. But mostly Bowen.

Musical Performance: “Mountains Of My Mind”

Sketch: Erin Brockovich

A deleted scene from Erin Brockovich is shown.

• Ah, yes, the current and relevant movie Erin Brockovich. This sketch sure would have been a great idea…twenty years ago!!! What is it with this season and parodying out of date movies???

• Now Gosling is laughing for no apparent reason. Can someone tell him that this isn’t high school anymore?

• While a lot of my fellow reviewers like this sketch, I’m not really feeling it so far.

• Okay, I will admit that Kenan’s character is really funny with his random sound effects. I’m shocked that Kenan is my favorite part of a sketch for once!

“GO TO YOUTUBE, X, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK TO SEE PAPYRUS 2 LATER TONIGHT”

What? WHAT THE FUCK?!!??? I have never seen SNL do something like this before!!! What a fucking lazy and awful decision! But, hey, let’s do what it says and finish this review!

Cut for Time: Papyrus 2

After spending years trying to avoid it, Steven is finally confronted with his nemesis once again…

• A sequel to a very popular sketch from Ryan’s last episode. I must confess that I have never seen the original, but I’ll go into this with an open mind because I’ve heard so many good things about it.

• I like how they’re giving a recap of the original sketch for those who haven’t seen it, which is really handy for me! Now I’m all caught up!

• Great to see Kyle Mooney again!

• Nice special effects when Ryan starts to hallucinate seeing the Papyrus font everywhere.

• I like how his character’s name is “Steven Wingdings”.

• Kyle’s dramatic speech is actually kind of heartwarming. 

• I’m glad I was still able to enjoy this even without seeing the original. But what does it tell you that the best sketch of the night was cut at the last second???

Final thoughts: Jesus, what a mess. I feel like I’ve gone back in time to Season 30 or something. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it still made me feel dead inside. Words can not describe how unprofessional and unfunny a lot of this episode was, with most of the blame going to Ryan “Giggles” Gosling. I hope they never have him back as a host.

Best sketches: Get That Boy Back, Chris Stapleton’s performances, Papyrus 2 (Cut)

Worst sketches: Close Encounter, Can’t Tonight, Beavis & Butt-Head, Weekend Update, Doctors

Next review: Dua Lipa

SNL Reviews: Kristen Wiig/RAYE (4/6/24)

 Cold Open: March Madness Post-Game

The NBA on TBS crew discusses March Madness.

• Yippee, a sketch about something I have no interest in. At least it’s not a political sketch for once.

• JAJ debuts an impression of Ernie Johnson, and, knowing him, it’s probably spot on.

• I liked the part where Kenny Smith (played by Devon) starts singing “Benny and the Jets”, and Johnson informing him that they’ll have to have to pay royalties to Elton John now.

• Pretty funny line from Kenan as Charles Barkley talking about how many companies Caitlin Clark is doing ads for, and saying that he’s only doing ads for three of those companies. 

• Heidi’s actually doing a somewhat different Southern accent than usual for her role. I don’t know if this is because she’s imitating someone else or not, but I appreciate the switch up.

• The line about “resting QAnon face” was pure cringe.

• This was surprisingly tolerable for a cold open. If only the rest of this episode would grant me the same mercy…

Monologue

Kristen joins the Five-Timers Club.

• Rare speaking role by Lenny Pickett!

• It only takes a minute for this to become crowded with cameos, as Paul Rudd suddenly appears in the audience.

• “Awesome celebrity cameos”? Way to pat yourselves on the back, guys.

• Our second Paula Pell cameo of the season. She looks even more like a lesbian than usual.

• Matt Damon??!!?? He’s not even a Five-Timer!!! Oh wait, they have him do this lame joke about how his first time hosting was so good (I beg to differ) that it “counted for three”.

• UGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Fred fucking Armisen yet again!!! On a lighter note, though, we get the return of Will Forte for the first time since his awful hosting stint a couple seasons ago! Oh, and Martin Short and Jon Hamm are there too, for some reason.

• Please don’t remind us of your awful Brett Kavanaugh impression, Matt. 

• One last pointless cameo from Ryan Gosling, which reminds me that I have to review his horrible episode after this one.

• Does anybody really get excited for these Five-Timer sketches anymore? Nothing can beat the original, and that was 35 years ago!

Sketch: Jumanji

A woman hates board games because she’s afraid of being “Jumanjied”.

• The constant repetition of “Jumanji” is really getting on my nerves.

• Aaaaaaaand…this is still going on twenty minutes later.

• The only thing that makes sitting through this repetitive sketch worth it is the appearance of Will Forte as a creepy train conductor. Why couldn’t the whole sketch have this character in it???

• I did like Kristen’s character leaving everyone to die at the end.

• I know this sketch seems to be really popular, and to its credit, it is well performed. But I’ve never been a fan of sketches where they keep repeating a word or phrase over and over again. (See also: “Aw man, I’m all out of cash!”)

Fake Ad: Pilates

Two women try a Pilates class for the first time, not knowing the horrors that await them...

• Holy shit, Molly still exists!

• I love the announcer’s voice. Very dramatic and different from the usual Steve Higgins voiceovers.

• Great concept of treating an exercise program like a horror movie.

• Kristen is really, really good here. This is the kind of stuff I want to see her do, instead of her constant annoying “wacky” characters.

• Creepy visual of Ego stretching her leg to an inhuman angle.

• Figures that Bowen would be cast as the gay man with no underwear.

• My favorite creepy part is Molly calling in to inform them that they can’t come in today, only for the lady on the phone to somehow show up in Molly’s house.

• Punkie randomly shows up only to die immediately after. A perfect summary of how useless she’s been lately.

• I did not think I was going to like this as much as I did, but something about it just worked for me.

Sketch: Secretaries

Two wacky secretaries flirt with a lawyer.

• Why are we bringing this shitty sketch from the premiere back? Heidi has been doing pretty well so far this season, but this character had nothing to do with that.

• Nice to see Jon Hamm in this sketch. I mean, it makes sense, right?

• Heidi’s voice as this character is still very annoying.

• Now we have Kristen playing a second secretary??? This can’t be good…

• No comment on the scene where Heidi licks Hamm’s necktie.

• This is pretty much the same as the first installment of this sketch, except there’s two annoying secretaries this time instead of one.

• It looks like Kristen messed up her pratfall into the desk, as it doesn’t break apart right away, so she has to move around a bit to make it break.

• As if this couldn’t get any worse, Bowen starts cracking up at the lame jokes. Have I made it clear that I absolutely hate this man?

• I think that may have been worse than the last time they did this.

Sketch: Retirement Party

Jerry’s party is invaded by oddball characters.

• The return of these recurring “toast” sketches from Season 34.

• Surprisingly, this is the first we’ve seen of Mikey all night. Why in the world wasn’t this his last season?

• I love the headshot of Kenan in the background.

• Bowen’s character wasn’t necessary.

• “Gits n’ Shiggles” is a pretty good name for an improv group.

• Fred: “I wish we could talk about how much fun we’ve had over the years, but HR is here, a.k.a. ‘The Sex Police’”.

• Nice return appearance from Kristen’s oxygen tank lady.

• I even laughed at Marcello’s crude fart routine.

• YES!!! Will is back as Hamilton the creepy anti-Obama guy!!!! His new beard makes him look even more disturbing!

• By the time he got to the end of his speech and mentioned “Joseph Hussein Biden”, I was in tears.

• Definitely the highlight of this episode.

Musical Performance: “Escapism”

Weekend Update (featuring The Earthquake and The Eclipse, and Aunt Linda)

• Colin: “Well, yesterday, everyone in New York pretended they felt an earthquake.”

• Did you know that Michael Che hates women’s basketball??? What an unexpected and cutting edge joke!!!

• Ugh, time for another awful costume commentary, this time with Marcello playing an earthquake, and Kenan playing the solar eclipse. I liked this commentary better the first time…(assumes David Spade voice) when it was called “El Niño”! (Spade mode off)

• I swear, Che has laughed at every single one of his jokes tonight. Can we please get rid of him?

• Call it a hunch, but I think someone on the writing staff really really hates airplanes. As if we couldn’t tell from the one million airplane jokes we’ve had in the last few months.

• I had a feeling that we’d be getting an appearance from one of Kristen’s Update characters in this episode, but I wasn’t expecting it to be Aunt Linda, her first appearance since 2010. For those who don’t remember, she was that old lady who made rambling critiques on movies.

• She just called Colin “Seth”! What a hilarious and original joke!!!

• Colin, can you please stop explaining all of Aunt Linda’s jokes? Not that they were funny to begin with, but you don’t need to make them worse!

• Ooh, now they’re mixing it up. She just called Colin “Tina and Amy”! How original!

• I laughed at Aunt Linda saying that she thought The Bear was going to be about a hairy gay man raising kids.

• While Aunt Linda is definitely one of Kristen’s least annoying characters, I still didn’t want to see her come back. 

• I can’t tell you what the last commentary I actually enjoyed was. This has been an awful year for Update, and it only gets worse…

Sketch: Go-Karts

Parents try to delay a bad secret.

•  I love the look of James’ character.

• This is a really hard sketch to put into words, but it’s an excellent example of cringe comedy. It fills you with a sense of dread, but it’s also really funny.

• I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m really liking Kristen Wiig in tonight’s episode. More on this later when I wrap things up, but she hasn’t been annoying!

• James: “How would you all feel if I started drinking again?”

• Even the obvious twist at the end where we don’t get to hear the “bad thing” was well worth it.

Musical Performance: “Escapism”

Sketch: La Maison Du Bang!

PBS takes a look back at a pioneering French variety show.

• This sketch has been in the works since the Timothee Chalamet episode.

• I’m sick of when SNL has the hosts of their TV sketches say stuff like “I do this now” when introducing themselves.

• Making me worried is the fact that Chloe Fineman and Bowen are the two leads of this sketch.

• To Bowen’s credit, his French is really, really good.

• I’m loving all the Troast in this episode! Her scene here is really funny: she takes a drag off her cigarette, and her beautiful singing voice inexplicably gets rougher.

• I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying this sketch on my rewatch.

• Good use of Kenan’s sex offender routine.

• Mikey’s scene as the creepy mime is my favorite part, especially the music that plays.

• Even though this sketch is definitely not something I would normally like, the energy was so infectious that I just can’t hate it.

Final thoughts: Am I going crazy or what? For a Kristen Wiig-hosted episode, this wasn’t that bad! In fact, I think it might be one of the strongest of the entire season! As shocking as it is for me to admit this, the reason for that is Kristen herself! To quote Jeff Montgomery, “Whaaaaat?”

Best sketches: The ending of Jumanji, Pilates, Retirement Party, Go-Karts, La Maison Du Bang

Worst sketches: Secretaries, Weekend Update

Next review: Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton. Now here’s an episode I was dreading to see again…

SNL Reviews: Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott (3/30/24)

 I don’t think I ever saw this episode, so I’m going to keep an open mind here…

Cold Open: Easter

Trump advertises his new God Bless the USA Bible.

• The Biblical intro to this sketch is somewhat impressive.

• Unfortunately, this then turns into another one of those instances where Trump interrupts the sketch to promote himself. I hope this doesn’t become a trend for every Easter episode now.

• Ha ha, Trump just quoted an Eminem song! It’s funny because he would never do that!!!

• Basically the same as every JAJ Trump appearance, so what do I even need to say that I haven’t said before?

Monologue

Ramy does standup about religion, Arabs, and Palestine.

• When was the last time we had a Muslim host? Kumail Nanjiani back in Season 43?

• Some of his stories about growing up as a Muslim are really heartwarming. I like the part where he hesitates to specifically name Muhammad.

• While not too bad, this was way too long.

Sketch: Couple Goals

Couples compete to see who knows their partner the best.

• “Bob Dabilda” again? Of all the JAJ characters I wanted to see come back…he was not one of them. 

• I like the sponsor plug for Swiffer.

• So far, we’re getting the same formula as the previous installment. 

• I do like Ramy’s question asking whether or not the police will be able to read his text messages after destroying his phone.

• I like Mikey’s delivery of “I didn’t know we’d have to show our answers to everyone!”

• Hilarious bit from Ego about Ramy preventing her from jumping off of a waterfall until there were other people watching.

• While this was pretty much the same as before, I’d have to give this one an edge over the first one, mainly because it doesn’t end with Kenan bugging his eyes out like an offensive stereotype.

Please Don’t Destroy: We Just Got High

The guys sing a song about getting high.

• It takes about thirty seconds for this to suddenly turn into a rap song by Travis Scott. 

• For once, I’m not laughing at a Please Don’t Destroy short. Is that even possible? What’s been happening to these guys lately?

• If you think weed is the funniest thing ever, you may like this song. But not me! Probably the weakest PDD short since that one with Taylor Swift, which was also a musical sketch. I would say that they need to stay away from musical sketches, but one of my favorites from last year was the one where they were in the car with Jenna Ortega, and that one had a song in it.

Sketch: Immigrant Dad Talk Show

A talk show where immigrant fathers discuss their children.

• How many times has Marcello used this particular voice by now? It’s getting old. I generally still like him at this point, but he is slowly getting on my nerves…

• On the other hand, Ramy’s accent is amazing and spot on. I’m certain he’s imitating somebody in his family who probably talks like that.

• Kenan’s role is so unnecessary. Again, how many times has he played a character like this?

• I like Ramy’s character just casually using a hookah while Marcello is blabbering on.

• Okay, I did get a laugh from Marcello’s “thesis” pun, even if it was a little reminiscent of that sketch he did with Bad Bunny and Pedro Pascal earlier this year.

• Here’s Mikey playing his 1,000th awkward dad character.

• Mikey: “(to Marcello) Hola! And…(to Ramy) your thing!”

• Andrew’s parkour skills are really impressive. Unfortunately, his scene is then ruined by him and Mikey kissing, which is treated as something “shocking”. I cannot believe that in 2024, SNL still expects us to laugh at men kissing each other.

• Overall, I liked what this was going for, but too many things here annoyed me. Maybe it would have worked better if Marcello’s role was played by James?

Sketch: Team Captain

A basketball team’s captain tries giving a motivational speech, but it doesn’t seem to be working.

• Kenan’s delivery in this sketch is so annoying. I just wish he would leave already.

• Speaking of people who should probably leave, Mikey is WAY too old to be playing a high-schooler. I remember a problem in a similar sketch from Season 20 that had Kevin Nealon playing a high-schooler despite being one of the oldest people in the cast.

• Meanwhile, Ramy is giving this sketch his all, and somehow manages to keep himself from laughing at the lines about his coach wearing a leather thong and role playing as a cat.

• I like Marcello’s excuse as to why he posted a video of the coach using a litterbox: “I thought it was AI!”

• Some great facial expressions from Devon.

• Another sketch where Punkie shows up just to deliver a single line. In fact, that’s the only time she’s in this episode!

• Somehow, they even managed to make a newspaper headline ending hilarious!

Fake Ad: Ozempic for Ramadan

A brand new way for Muslims to use Ozempic!

• This is certainly an interesting concept.

• I got a big laugh from Ramy injecting himself with the product.

• Ego looks so weird in a hijab.

• I like how one of the side-effects of using this is going to Hell.

• Who is the old Muslim guy dancing with Andrew?

• Apparently, that’s Chloe Troast singing the jingle. I honestly had no idea, as I thought they had just used the actual one from the real commercials!!! That is really impressive!

• For a sketch about Ramadan, I’m amazed that they didn’t do any stereotypical Muslim jokes. Did Ramy himself have a hand in writing this?

Musical Performance: “MY EYES”

• What an appropriate name, because my eyes hurt just from looking at this awful performance!

Weekend Update (featuring Piper Dunster and Flaco the Owl’s widow)

• Trump selling Bibles? So that’s what the cold open was about?

• Again with the airplane fetish?!? This time it’s in a joke that otherwise has nothing to do with aviation!

• I did kind of chuckle at Che saying that Biden is just like that collapsed bridge in Maryland, because he’s “no longer connected to black communities”.

• ANOTHER airplane joke?!!?? What the fuck is going on???

• Our first commentary is from a TikTok influencer named Piper Dunster, played by (who else?) Chloe Fineman. I can tell I’m gonna hate this.

• Yep, I was right. This is fucking awful! 

• Just in case you needed more proof that SNL is behind the times, one of the TikTok videos has a joke about George Santos in it. You know, the guy who’s looooong out of office by now!

• Another joke from Che about how women’s basketball sucks. Yawn.

• That joke about a tree taking part in the January 6th riots was so stupid.

• Remember that story from a couple episodes ago about the owl’s death? Because SNL loves to pathetically chase trends, here’s a commentary featuring, ugh, the owl’s wife, played by Sarah. Gee, I wonder what’s going to happen…

• Oh, wow. What a surprise! Sarah starts roasting Colin again!!! You know, I really hate to say this, because I’ve enjoyed her for the most part, but I’m starting to hate Sarah Sherman with a fiery passion. These cookie-cutter commentaries she’s been in lately have not done her any favors.

• Of course, the blame isn’t entirely on Sarah. There seems to be a huge problem going on behind the scenes at Update. For the rest of this season, all remaining commentaries are all pretty much the same: A “wacky” character played by Heidi, someone dressed up in a retarded costume (usually Bowen, Marcello, or Kenan), or Sarah roasting Colin. That’s not even getting into how burned out and stale the anchors are at this point. 

Sketch: Murder Detective

A detective annoys everyone with his constant one-liners.

• I was immediately won over when Andrew turned to face the camera and delivered a cheesy Caruso-esque pun.

• Andrew’s constant repetition of the same joke has me in stitches.

• This doesn’t really have anything to do with the sketch, but I got a laugh from the fact that the victim’s last name is “Turkle”.

• Funny twist where everyone loves Ramy’s joke despite it being the same type of thing that Andrew did.

Musical Performance: “FE!N”

Sketch: Tiny Desk Concert

An annoying man interrupts a performance at NPR.

• Awesome! JAJ and Troast get to sing in the same sketch!!!

• Ramy perfectly captures the smarmy nature of this type of person.

• Even better than JAJ’s mere presence in this sketch is that fact that his name is “Goose”, which he then demonstrates by making a quacking noise.

• UGGGGGHHHHH!!!! Just when this is getting really good, here comes Bowen “Asian Terry Sweeney” Yang to ruin everything!!!! Surprisingly, this is his only appearance in the whole episode, and I didn’t even notice his absence.

• Okay, so this sketch is now about Bowen’s character being a wacky gay stereotype. Why would they change the premise like that?!??

• Well, that sketch turned out to be a huge disappointment. The first half was pretty interesting, but then Bowen entered and ruined everything. Fuck Bowen Yang and his dumb fucking face and his annoying fucking voice.

Note: There was a Cut for Time sketch here, but it looked like shit, so I didn’t even bother reviewing it.

Final thoughts: A bit of a mixed bag. While I liked Ramy as a host and he did some great things, he unfortunately couldn’t save a lot of the horrid material in this episode. And I don’t think this is a coincidence, but a lot of the really horrid material in this episode happened to star the same few cast members that I’m extremely tired of.

Best sketches: Team Captain, Ozempic for Ramadan, Murder Detective

Worst sketches: Cold Open, We Just Got High, Weekend Update, Tiny Desk Concert

Next review: *sigh* Kristen Wiig returns…

SNL Reviews: Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande (3/9/24)

 Cold Open: State of the Union 

CNN covers Biden’s address and Republican senator Katie Britt’s response to it.

• It still feels so wrong seeing Mikey as Biden. Now that I know in hindsight that even this casting choice won’t last, I hate it even more.

• By this point, it has become obvious that Punkie will not be coming back next season. Witness her pointless silent appearance in this cold open!

• Biden hoping that Kamala didn’t skip “Leg Day” is the type of shit I hate in these presidential pieces where they try to have the President come off as “hip” by referencing modern slang, even though he would never do that in real life.

• Heidi’s brief appearance as Marjorie Taylor-Greene was unnecessary, unfunny, and just plain stupid.

• I see we’re back to casting random celebrities as politicians that the writers don’t like. This time, it’s Scarlett Johansson as some senator named Katie Britt. Why is this necessary? Who is this for?

• Couldn’t they have cast somebody who’s actually on the show to play this woman? Chloe Troast really needs some airtime, why not let her do that? Then again, the last time she did a political impression was that in that horrid Elise Stefanik sketch, so maybe they didn’t want her to face all of that backlash again?

Monologue

Brolin reads poems he wrote about various people.

• Just to show you how long it’s been since Josh Brolin was on the show, the musical guest of that episode was Gotye. Anybody else remember that one hit has-been? I liked Josh referring to him as “someone that I used to know”.

• I also liked how he says that Thanos has a “scrotum chin”.

• Not a big fan of the turn this has taken with him reading various poems about Timothee Chalamet and Kenan.

• This was pretty tolerable for a Season 49 monologue, but it would have been even better if they did more with the whole passage of time thing.

Sketch: Bank Robbery

“Wacky” shenanigans happen at the bank as it’s being robbed.

• The look of Heidi’s character already has me afraid of what’s in store…

• JAJ is perfectly cast as one of the robbers. And it’s good to see Devon with such a big role at the beginning as well!

• *sigh* I am NOT caring for this new “wacky” character of Heidi’s at all. No different from a “wacky” Kristen Wiig character. Speaking of which, I am dreading having to review her episode that’s coming up soon.

• This sketch should have just been about James and Devon trying and failing to rob this bank. They could have them break in at night and accidentally set off all the alarms or something, and then make things worse by bumbling around. For God’s sakes, anything sounds better than yet another retarded Heidi mugfest!!!

• Oh, and just when you thought this couldn’t get any worse, Josh and Heidi strip themselves at the end. I did  NOT need to see that, thank you very much!

Film: Airplane Song

NOTE: This sketch seems to have been removed from YouTube for some reason. I find this odd, because I don’t recall it having any copyrighted music in it. It’s a shame, too, because I remember this being Chloe Troast’s last big showcase.

Sketch: People Pleaser Support Group

A support group for people who are obsessed with pleasing others.

• Mikey’s delivery of “I love it, but it’s stupid.” is pretty great.

• An interesting concept for a sketch, and one that I can really relate to, because I also have a strong urge to please other people.

• Surprisingly funny performance from Bowen.

• I like Josh’s character’s story about breaking up with his girlfriend, and then getting engaged with her right after that.

• Molly’s character is totally wasted.

• We get an obligatory appearance from Ariana Grande in this sketch. Her interplay with Bowen is nice.

• I love the awkward prayer they recite at the end.

Sketch: Wine and Cheese Night

A man has a fit when he gets dumped by a cat.

• That is one weird cat puppet.

• I honestly can’t remember the last time Michael Longfellow had a big role. He has a semi-important role here, but barely speaks.

• I had forgotten how great Josh was in this sketch. On the surface, his overreaction to the cat leaving is very stupid, but what makes it work is his performance. He even manages to make a fart joke hilarious.

Film: Shrimp Tower

At a fabulous party, a man shows off his own unique way of displaying shrimp.

• Perfect casting of JAJ as a smarmy British man.

• Yet another example of Mikey’s horrible British accent.

• Speaking of accents, the one that Josh is doing is hilarious.

• Molly in drag AGAIN.

• I love the various closeup shots of Josh cringing as Sarah keeps getting close to his shrimp tower.

• The part with Josh shoving Sarah out the window caught me off guard, in a good way.

• The best part is Josh knocking Sarah out of a tree.

• Kenan is just so out of place in this sketch. He’s not in most of it, but near the end, he materializes out of nowhere just to make a bad joke.

• Even when you know that the tower is going to get destroyed in some way, it’s still satisfying when it happens.

• Great ending, where Josh jumps out of the window.

Sketch: Shonda

A lady feuds with her paraplegic husband on a talk show.

• I feel like we haven’t seen a lot of Ego lately. I’m not sure this is the best use of her talents, though.

• Making me even more worried is Heidi’s over the top Southern accent.

• Okay, what is the deal with Sarah mugging for the camera in the background while Ego is talking? She does this for the whole sketch and it’s actually kind of distracting.

• Finally, Punkie gets a speaking role! Aaaaaand…it’s just a single line. I should have known.

• As Josh shows up as a paraplegic man, I immediately get flashbacks to an awful, AWFUL sketch from Season 39 which featured Aidy Bryant as a woman who broke both of her arms. That sketch also featured annoying Southern accents, and was written by, who else? James Anderson and Kent Sublette! Thankfully, this sketch turns out to not be as bad as that one, but it still isn’t anything special.

Musical Performance: “We Can’t Be Friends”

Weekend Update (featuring…nobody!)

• Did you guys know that Lindsey Graham is gay?!?? That’s the joke!!!! Also, they call him a “house elf”. Wow, you really got him there, guys.

• I’m amazed that the joke about stuttering over the word “Snickers” was allowed.

• Oh, wow, comparing Mitch McConnell to a turtle. Never seen that before!

• Another “seen here” joke, this time about Marjorie Taylor-Greene. It wasn’t funny in the slightest.

• I liked the joke about 30 Rock’s bedbug infestation.

• Another dangerous airplane joke? Who is the writer on staff that has a bizarre airplane fetish???

• Another laugh from the Rupert Murdoch joke.

• There were some surprisingly good jokes here, and the lack of a guest commentary for the first time since Season 47 was a breath of fresh air. Overall, this is one of the better Updates of this season by default. And considering some of the wretched Updates I still have to cover this season, that’s not saying much.

Sketch: Moulin Rouge

A look back at the 2001 version of Moulin Rouge.

• “You’re watching PBS.” This is going to suck.

• Mikey is playing a guy named “Ken Burnt”. You know, like Ken Burns!!! Aren’t we hilarious????

• You know, this sketch would have been a great idea…back in 2001. Why parody such an old movie? It’d be even more ridiculous if they were parodying the original version from the 50’s.

• This sketch taught me something new…apparently, Ewan McGregor is actually Chinese. That’s right!!! It’s time for yet another sketch where Bowen shows us what a silly gay stereotype he is!!! BARF!!!!

• Nicole Kidman’s character is played by Ariana, making another sketch appearance tonight. Unsurprisingly, she is doing a much better job than Bowen.

• Why is he singing “You Belong with Me?”? That song came out in 2009! I’m guessing they did this on purpose because “LOL TAYLOR SWIFT!!!”.

• 20 minutes later, and I haven’t laughed once. This is clearly just an excuse for Bowen to crack himself up, which he actually does at one point!

• Finally, it’s over!!!! Words cannot express how sick and tired I am of Bowen Yang getting free rein to do whatever the fuck he wants. And he wrote this, so there’s nobody else to blame but him!

Sketch: Sandwich King

A subs guy faces an existential crisis.

• As soon as Josh entered with a pedo mustache, I knew I was in for a treat.

• Another use of Ariana in a sketch, although it’s just her voice this time.

• The various closeups of Josh’s distraught face are hilarious, especially when it starts cutting to footage of his childhood.

• That one shot of Josh essentially deepthroating a sub is really funny!

• Josh, after being called out on his use of a Listerine bottle for a pickle jar: “God forbid I recycle!”

• Great ending where Sarah seemingly dies after eating a moldy sub.

Musical Performance: “Imperfect for You”

Sketch: Lisa from Temecula

Lisa causes havoc once again at a sports bar.

• Not this shit again.

• It’s sad to see Chloe Troast and Punkie get big roles here. This is the material you finally use them for?

• So far, this is exactly the same as the first two times, though I do detect a bit more of a response from the audience this time, compared to the one they did with Ana DeArmas.

• As if this couldn’t get any worse, now they have Kenan doing his overused shtick.

• Even worse, the other cast members are beginning to break. Please end this right now!!!

Final thoughts: This episode was all over the place. While there was a lot of really strong material, we also had a bunch of absolutely wretched shit, most of which courtesy of Jimmy Fowlie. It’s a shame, because Josh Brolin was an absolutely fantastic host. He gave his all to everything, even making potentially shitty sketches better with his presence.

Best sketches: People Pleaser Support Group, Shrimp Tower, Sandwich King

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Bank Robbery, Moulin Rouge, Lisa from Temecula

Next review: Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott

SNL Reviews: Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgreaves (3/2/24)

 Cold Open: CNN Inside Politics

Democrats try to hype up Biden.

• The top comment on the YouTube upload is “Probably the worst Gavin Newsom impression ever attempted”. It’s such a shame to see Longfellow stuck in these pathetic clout-chasing cold opens.

• While it is kind of refreshing to see them attempt to satirize Biden for a change, it’s still extremely boring. And in the end, it doesn’t matter, because he eventually dropped out of the race.

Monologue

Sydney Sweeney talks about her personal life and dispels Internet rumors.

• Nice jab at her role in Madame Web.

• More corporate synergy when she talks about rumors of her working at Universal Studios. 

• Pointless appearance from Glen Powell at the end.

Sketch: Detective Interns

Two “wacky” interns solve crimes within seconds.

• Already a huge groan from me upon the reveal of Chloe and Sydney’s characters.

• Has Sydney been taking lessons from Heidi? This character sounds exactly like a typical “vocal fry” role that Heidi would play.

• This premise is getting very old, very fast.

• I wonder whose photos they used to represent “Tony Benson” and his mother. Probably someone in the writer’s room.

• Ego’s line about liking “a little fruit in (her) salad” regarding Andy Cohen made me chuckle.

• What’s the deal with Mikey leaving the room after being told that you can take screenshots with Snapchat?

• At least the ending with Kenan’s OnlyFans picture was pretty funny.

Please Don’t Destroy: Gone Too Soon

The guys share their grief over a friend’s passing.

• Despite it just being a sketch, I like how genuinely upset they sound.

• Some laughs from the convoluted situation that resulted in their friend’s death. 

• Yet another example of corporate synergy with the random Kung Fu Panda reference.

• Big laugh from the reveal that the guy’s name was “Buttcheek P. Rosenthal”.

• Sydney: “So I guess the ‘P’ stood for ‘penis’”? Martin: “No, it stood for ‘pagina’!!”

• That’s apparently JAJ doing Buttcheek’s voice in the video of the accident. 

• The fact that we don’t actually get to see the video makes it even funnier. 

• I love the various comments from famous people, especially the one from Malala.

• Once again, a nearly perfect sketch is ruined by the overdone cliche ending where this turns out to be an advertisement for Chef Boyardee. UGGGHHHH!!!!! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT???

Sketch: Air Bud

The school’s new star basketball player is Air Bud.

• Really? We’re doing a “cute animal” sketch?

• Sydney: “You’re so hairy. I love that! Are you Italian?” I find that really funny because Italians are extremely hairy. Just ask my dad!

• Sorry, but I don’t buy Ego as a high school student.

• As far as cute animal sketches go, this one is relatively harmless, but it seems kind of wrong to me that the main joke of this sketch is someone hitting on a dog. Doesn’t that kind of promote bestiality? Or am I just looking too far into it?

Sketch: Big Bench

A court show is derailed by the large amount of judges.

• The amount of cast members in this sketch is impressive.

• Sydney’s character’s name is “Ashley Jerns” and has a Southern accent??? *checks writer’s guide* Yup, this is a Kent Sublette sketch.

• Another pointless instance of Marcello being tossed into a sketch to make the ladies happy. You can hear a gal in the audience scream after he says his line.

• Surprised they didn’t go the easy route and cast Bowen as the gay judge. But, hey, I’m not complaining about getting to see Andrew in a sketch.

• Thankfully, Andrew isn’t queering up the role like Bowen definitely would have done.

• I groaned so loudly when Chloe entered as another Southern-accented character. 

• How many times are we supposed to laugh at Kenan playing a sexual predator?

• What’s with the dog focus tonight? Apparently the Air Bud sketch wasn’t enough, because one of the judges is a sheepdog. PLEASE LAUGH AT THE CUTE ANIMALS, GUYS!!!! 

• Ego: “Okay, I think we ordering lunch now.” Gee, thanks for explaining the joke, Ego!

• What a huge mess this sketch was. 

Sketch: Bowen’s Straight

Asian Terry Sweeney reveals that his homosexuality was all just an act.

• A Bowen Yang showcase? You know how I feel about these…

• Interesting concept.

• Random Gina Gershon cameo. I would imagine it probably hurt him inside to have to pretend to kiss a girl.

• Big laugh from Bowen punching Marcello in the crotch.

• Bowen acting like a creep while he’s talking to Sydney is some of his greatest work in years. I wish we could see this side of him more often instead of acting like a stereotype.

• Pointless appearance from Marcello at the end, with predictable applause from the female audience.

• I’m surprised how much I liked this. It’s probably Bowen’s best sketch since, I don’t know, that one he did with Simu Liu in Season 47?

Sketch: Makeup Artists

Makeup artists have no sympathy for their customer’s feelings.

• The look of Sydney and Sarah’s characters is already making me worried. Sure enough, Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan are credited as writers.

• Half of the dialogue from these two is just them saying “Shoot.” 

• Surprisingly, Heidi is doing pretty well in this sketch. She’s actually making me feel sorry for her character’s situation.

• Aaaaand…the makeup ladies just keep saying the same thing over and over again.

• Ego: “I’m being respectful, but I’m feeling like I wanna kill you.” You said it!

• I think this YouTube comment sums this sketch up better than I ever could: “Shoooot. Shoooot. They forgot to write a punchline. Shoooot.”

Musical Performance: “Deeper Well”

Weekend Update (featuring Woman Who Is Aging Gracefully and Charlotte the Stingray)

• Michael Che and Colin Jost, seen here doing a joke format that was never ever funny, really need to find new material. This one starts off with numerous Godawful Mitch McConnell “seen here” jokes that get more and more hacky as they progress.

• Colin mistakenly says “NBA” instead of “ABC” while introducing the first commentary. I figured I would bring that up because it was far more amusing than the actual commentary itself. 

• So who is the first guest? Ugh…yet another annoying and WACKEEEE character played by Heidi and written by Jimmy “James Anderson, Jr.” Fowlie. Every second of this is pure cringe. Heidi is great and all, but I wish she would stop doing characters like this.

• The “Nick Cann Un” joke admittedly made me laugh.

• That joke about the owl’s death was just wrong. Why do these guys love making cruel jokes about animals dying?

• We follow that with another joke about animals dying with the “Puppy Grave, IN” joke, which is then turned into yet another slam at McConnell.

• As soon as I heard that the next guest was “Charlotte the Stingray”, I knew it would be Ego. Sure enough, there she is. I’m getting sick and tired of these stupid costume commentaries where they dress somebody up in a “silly” outfit (usually Bowen or Ego) and have them talk about their sex life or whatever. That’s basically all we’ve had in the past few months on Update.

Sketch: Hooters Waitresses

A new waitress at Hooters overshadows all the others.

• Yeah, that’s right. They’re actually resorting to putting the female cast in Hooters outfits to keep us from changing the channel.

• I groaned so loud when Bowen entered in a Hooters outfit, with thunderous applause from the audience.

• No comment on the scene where Sweeney pours beer down Andrew’s throat. This shit feels straight out of an All That episode.

• Is Mikey’s character supposed to be a reference to something? The way he says his lines about not wanting to be served by Chloe’s character are delivered in a very specific way, as if he’s imitating someone else.

• JAJ is perfectly cast as the Hooters owl. His dialogue, on the other hand? (“You are my Harry Potter, and this is your Hogwarts!”) All I have to say to that is READ ANOTHER BOOK.

Musical Performance: “Too Good to be True”

Film: Airbnb

Two gals promote their interior design company for Airbnbs.

• Been a while since Chloe Troast has had a showcase.

• A laugh from the creepy photo of the family “that actually lives here”.

• A lot of the humor here is kind of lost on me, as I’ve never been to an Airbnb before. Are any of these odd decor choices specific to an actual Airbnb?

• Chloe and Sydney waving at the camera in the toilet made me laugh.

• Nice example of “politically ambiguous” artwork: a sign that simply says “Lives Matter”,

• Pointless reference to that stupid Wonka Experience in Glasgow that everyone on Twitter was talking about at the time. Thank goodness they only did a reference to it here instead of making a whole sketch about it.

Sketch: Loud Table

A couple trying to have a nice date are constantly interrupted by noisy people at other tables.

• I already like where this is going as soon as I see Andrew with a lead role.

• Funny turn where it looks like Andrew is about to yell at the noisy assholes, but instead starts giving a sappy dramatic speech about how much he envies their friendship.

• I know this probably wasn’t intentional, but I’m actually finding this sketch kind of heartwarming. Who knew Andrew had it in him?

• Another random Glen Powell cameo, this time as Sydney’s character’s new boyfriend.

• The pathetic expression on Andrew’s face when Sydney leaves him is hilarious.

• Funny ending where Andrew is all by himself in the restaurant after he’s about to give another sappy speech.

Final thoughts: After last week’s surprisingly strong show, we’re back to basics here. Nothing too offensively awful here (except maybe the Heidi commentary), but unremarkable as a whole. Sydney Sweeney came in and did what she was asked, but didn’t really stand out a lot. You know things are bad when a Bowen Yang showcase was one of the highlights.

Best sketches: Gone Too Soon, Bowen’s Straight, Loud Table

Worst sketches: Makeup Artists, Heidi’s commentary, the sight of Bowen Yang in a Hooters outfit

Next review: Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande. I recall there being some absolutely horrid material in this one.

SNL Reviews: Shane Gillis/21 Savage (2/24/24)

 Cold Open: Trump Victory Party

Some of Trump’s cronies discuss him during a meal.

• This is a decidedly different cold open. Is it a parody of something?

• Trump himself thankfully doesn’t appear in this, but the only joke is that his associates say that they still support him even though he demeans them on a constant basis. Get it? Because Donald Trump is an asshole! Nobody’s ever made THAT joke before!

• Not helping matters is the dead audience. They lighten up every now and then, but for the most part, it’s like they’re in a Japanese movie theater.

Monologue

Shane Gillis does stand-up about sports, his family, and owning a coffee shop.

• Seeing Gillis finally appear on the home stage after what this show did to him in the past is so satisfying.

• Speaking of which, I’m glad he chose not to base his entire routine on that. He mentions it very briefly before telling the audience not to look it up, which I feel is the best way for him to go about it.

• He looks very nervous here, and part of me wonders if he’s afraid that he’s going to say something bad and get himself in trouble again.

• Always nice when the host gives a shout out to their parents in the audience.

• I was wondering if he was deliberately holding back his stronger material, but then he outright said he can’t do his usual routine on TV.

• This Down’s syndrome routine is the type of ballsy material I was hoping to see. He wisely sidesteps any potential offense by turning the joke back on himself.

• Funny joke comparing his sister’s diverse household to an Uber car.

• I’m amazed that they allowed him to say “retarded”.

• Overall, a great stand-up monologue, despite how nervous he clearly is.

Sketch: Church on Vacation

“Wacky” shenanigans happen at a Jamaican church.

• An immediate red flag when Ego enters as a man. That’s the second time in the last few episodes!

• Jamaican stereotypes galore here, but I like Ego’s energy.

• Do they even have Catholic Churches in Jamaica?

• I don’t really have much more to say about this sketch, so here’s a funny comment from the YouTube upload about Gillis: “Fired him for doing accents but then hired him to do accents. Love it 😅😅😅”

Fake Ad: Rock Bottom Kings

The new app where you can bet on how a guy will ruin his life.

• Longfellow still exists!!!!

• The writer’s guide I keep bringing up doesn’t say who wrote this, but some of my fellow reviewers have theorized that Shane himself came up with it. I have no familiarity with his podcasts, but this does feel very different from the numerous shitty shorts we’ve had this season.

• Some laughs from the various horrible outcomes you can bet on with this app.

• Shane: “Because gambling is serious…seriously awesome!!!”

Sketch: HR Meeting

The HR office holds a meeting about workplace relationships. 

• I’m not the first one to have pointed this out, but it’s really funny and ironic that Shane is in a sketch with the two cast members he was supposed to have joined the show with (Chloe and Bowen).

• Kenan is wearing his usual sex offender outfit here.

• I love Shane casually bringing up that his co-worker (played by Longfellow) is gay, and referring to it as a “condition”.

• Just as I was about to say that this was a nice little underrated gem, they had to ruin it with a completely unnecessary bit with Marcello showing off his “booty khakis” to thunderous applause from the gals in the audience. We’ve reached the point of the season where Marcello starts to be put in more sketches where the only purpose is to capitalize on his popularity with the female viewers. Another awful example of this is coming up later in the show…

Fake Ad: White Men Can Trump

A man turns his miserable life around once he finds a magical pair of Donald Trump sneakers!

• I wonder who the narrator is. It doesn’t sound like anyone in the cast.

• A unique concept of sneakers that make you act like Trump.

• Shane’s Trump impression is better than you’d expect. It’s not as dead-on as JAJ’s but it gets the job done.

• I love how whenever he says something in the Trump voice, people automatically believe him. This even extends to the numbers on his scale, which go down from 254 to 170 just because he says so. 

• Speaking of JAJ, I even liked the scene where his impression appears.

• The twist at the end with Mikey’s “Air Bidens” was a nice way to wrap things up.

• Overall, a surprisingly fresh take on Trump material. It’s just a shame that this is the only time I’ll be saying that for the rest of the season.

Sketch: The Floor

A contestant fails to recognize famous black people.

• “You’re watching FOX!” Uh-oh, this sketch is gonna suck…

• Longfellow doesn’t look or sound a thing like Rob Lowe, but it’s great to see him get so much airtime tonight.

• It’s kind of funny seeing Shane standing next to someone of Asian ethnicity. 

• Ugh, this premise of Shane failing to identify black people is so stupid. Is the joke supposed to be that he’s racist or something?

• The twist with Cleveland Brown being the one picture he correctly guesses is also extremely stupid. Oh, but they point out how dumb it is, so that makes it okay, right? No, it doesn’t!

• Then they do the same joke except it’s Ego failing to recognize famous paintings.

Musical Performance: “Redrum”

Weekend Update (featuring Frozen Embryo and Truman Capote)

• Apparently those shoes in that fake trailer are real??? I’m sure they don’t turn you into Trump in real life, but that sketch has been ruined for me a bit now that I know it wasn’t something they came up with.

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

• Remember what I said earlier about how Marcello is starting to go downhill? Well, we have arrived at that very moment, because he’s doing a commentary as a “frozen embryo from Alabama”. I am not kidding.

• This seems very much like a role that Bowen would play, and he probably would if it weren’t for the next commentary. But I’ll get to that in a bit…

• Anyway, there is not a single laugh to be had here. This was a total shock to me when it aired live, because I’ve loved Marcello up to this point. But between this, the shitty popcorn bucket song from last time, and the “booty khakis”, dark times are ahead…

• Yet another joke about the dangers of airplanes.

• I did laugh at Colin’s joke about the end of Black History Month, and the one about a guy getting hit by a subway.

• Okay, the punchline to that WNBA joke was just gross.

• UGGGGHHHHHH, yet another Bowen commentary. This time, he’s playing Truman Capote. Not only does he sound nothing like Capote, but he’s also doing that thing I hate where he delivers all of his lines as slowly as possible.  

• It’s a shame that the impression is so bad, because I kind of like the concept of exposing what a freak this guy was. This is really how they’re going to end Update? Come on!

Sketch: Forrest Gump

The Greenbow High School reunion goes awry when Forrest Gump shows up.

• That is the worst Forrest Gump impression I have ever seen. As much as I like Mikey, he is clearly not an impressionist. He has the look down, though.

• Not much to say about this one, honestly. If you thought this was bad, just wait until the Ryan Gosling episode…

Sketch: Fugliana

The average-looking sex doll for average-looking men.

• The pose Sarah is doing is really funny.

• Love the use of the “chika-chikaaaa” from the song “Oh Yeah” by Yello whenever they say Fugliana’s name.

• JAJ: “My old sex doll looked like a woman you’d have to wine-and-dine!”

• Mikey definitely looks like the type of person who would own a sex doll.

• I love Sarah taking out a magnifying glass when Shane says he’s going to show off his penis.

• More funny facial expressions when Sarah is lipsynching to the doll’s prerecorded phrases.

• After several surprisingly bad showings, this is more of what I was expecting from Sarah.

Musical Performance: “Should’ve Wore A Bonnet”

Sketch: They’re Listening

People are worried that their technological devices are listening to them.

• I’m sure we’ve all had that feeling of unease about whether or not our smartphones can read our minds, so I find this premise very relatable.

• I love this business about Shane ordering a Green Bay Packers buttplug.

• This is most likely another concept that Shane himself brought to the show.

Cut for Time: LiMu Emu and Doug

A Liberty Mutual commercial goes dark.

• The puppet for LiMu Emu is really funny looking.

• Nice abrupt twist with the emu randomly shooting a guy.

• Shane’s performance is really good. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was yet another sketch idea that he came up with.

• The ending was a little sudden. I wanted this to go on longer.

Final thoughts: After three abysmal episodes, we finally have another good one! The reason for this one’s success can be chalked up to our host. Shane Gillis totally won me over with his great performances and unique sketch ideas. Will this rise in quality last? Probably not, but I guess we’ll have to see!

Best sketches: Monologue, White Men Can Trump, Fugliana, LiMu Emu and Doug (Cut)

Worst sketches: The Floor, both Update commentaries

Next review: Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgreaves