While Season 43 of SNL was another step downward for the series, it did have a few bright spots. In this post, I’ll be recommending some sketches that you should really check out. Please note, however, that this will not be including the 4 or 5 star sketches I included in my previous reviews.
1. Fresh Prince (from the Jessica Chastain episode)
What’s it about: An updated version of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.
Why you should check it out: What starts out as a normal sketch quickly turns into a bizarre tale of a drug deal gone wrong. This made me laugh so hard when it first aired, and it’s definitely one of the best short films SNL has ever made. Plus, we get another Akira Yoshimura cameo, which is always a good thing.
2. Google Talk (from the Jessica Chastain episode)
What’s it about: Google hosts a live seminar on the effects of bullying, but it is hijacked by actual bullies.
Why you should check it out: Immediately after the previous sketch, we get this underrated gem. It starts off pretty normal, until the seminar’s host casually mentions that some people have been bullied for looking like Bart Simpson. We then cut to a wide shot where a man who looks like Bart Simpson can be seen in the background. The man (played by Mikey Day) quickly becomes the focus of the sketch, as people start pranking the seminar just to bully him, such as a caller who plays Maggie Simpson’s pacifier noises over the phone, and someone in the audience insulting him with a Nelson Muntz laugh. But the capper on it all? The man’s name is Bert Sampson.
3. The Last Fry (from the rerun of the Gal Gadot episode)
What’s it about: Two rappers have an argument over a french fry, unaware that chaos is happening around them.
Why you should check it out: This sketch was initially cut for time, but was then added to the rerun of this episode to replace a controversial Safelite Auto Glass parody. With that being said, this sketch is much funnier. Specifically, it’s a send up of cheesy 80s rap videos, but with the added twist that while all of this is going on, the people in the background are panicking over the threat of nuclear war.
4. Stefon’s St. Patrick’s Day Tips (from the Bill Hader episode)
What’s it about: Stefon returns to Weekend Update to provide tips on the hottest clubs to visit around St. Patrick’s Day.
Why you should check it out: This was the first Stefon sketch I ever saw, and what a great introduction it was! Some specific highlights:
• Stefon mentions that “Farrahchauns” will be at the club. Michael Che asks if this means that Louis Farrakhan will be there, but Stefon clarifies that Farrachauns are leprechauns that look like Farrah Fawcett. He then adds that Louis Farrakhan will also be there.
• My brother and I lost it when Stefon started talking about “human squatty potties”, which he says is when you rest your feet on a midget’s head while you’re on the toilet.
• This is then followed by Stefon’s lawyer, Shy (John Mulaney), discussing with him a politically correct alternative for the word “midget”. Hader proceeds to crack up after Mulaney whispers something in his ear. Apparently the whispered phrase was “My girlfriend works at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl”.
5. Barbie Instagram (from the Donald Glover episode)
What’s it about: We take a look behind the scenes at the people who run Barbie’s Instagram account.
Why you should check it out: This 10-to-1 sketch was a brilliant closure to this particular episode (which opened with a particularly bad cold open featuring a terrible cameo by Stormy Daniels). The people in charge of Barbie’s account tell their three interns (played by Heidi Gardner, Pete Davidson, and Glover) to come up with ideas for captions on Barbie’s pictures. Gardner and Davidson’s ideas are extremely ridiculous, while Glover’s are verbose and emotionally charged, culminating in one where he suggests that Barbie has committed suicide. As good as Glover’s performance here is, Kenan Thompson steals the sketch as his increasingly exasperated supervisor, who also made me laugh with his random comment that Barbie has only one boyfriend. I also laughed at Pete Davidson’s “I’m Bawbie!” comments.
6. Homework Hotline (from the Charles Barkley episode)
What’s it about: A public access host (Barkley) and his puppet sidekick Bobo (Mikey Day) have a show where they take calls from people who need help with their homework, but none of the callers seem interested in homework.
Why you should check it out: This was another sketch that cracked me up hard when I saw it live. The joke in this one is that the callers are only interested in Barkley’s relationship with his puppet. For example, one caller asks him to write a chemical combination, but the periodic table symbols he uses end up forming the phrase, “BOBOS COCK”. Another person calls in about static electricity, and he asks Bobo to rub himself against Barkley’s leg, resulting in something that looks like a depraved sex act. But the best part is the ending, where they get an email from someone named “Ron Weasley”, who lives in “Hermoine’s Bush, CA”. Special mention must be given to Mikey Day’s performance as Bobo, which further proves that he is currently the most talented person in the cast.
All in all, Season 43 is not the comedy wasteland that I’ve been making it out to be. Try and check these sketches out some time.
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