The Democratic candidates discuss LGBT issues on CNN.
• Before any of the candidates show up, we get a gratuitous cameo from some guy named Billy Porter. I had no idea who he was when I first saw this, but then I found out that he’s a guy who likes wearing dresses. Yeah....
• The applause for Kate as Warren is sickening. Are there really that many NPCs and soyboys in the audience?
• Media darling Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Julián Castro. That makes two gratuitous cameos!
• Woody Harrelson returns as Biden. This was somewhat surprising to me when it happened, but, now that I know they bring him back once more in the Will Ferrell episode, I think the plan was for him to play Biden every time they needed him, only to fall back on Sudeikis and Mulaney when his schedule conflicted with it. Anyway, he was pretty much the bright spot of this sketch. Also, that’s THREE gratuitous cameos!!!!
1/5
Monologue
David Harbour gives a backstage tour and ends up in the Upside Down.
• I must confess that I have never watched Stranger Things, nor will I ever.
• Despite my lack of knowledge of the show, I thought this was a very unique monologue. I’m always a sucker for backstage stuff on SNL, and the combination with Stranger Things was a nice touch.
• Pretty impressive special effects considering this is live TV.
• Kate’s brief appearance in the monologue results in cheers from the crowd. Why the hell is she so damn popular?
• Pete Davidson makes his “triumphant” return after being absent for the last two episodes. I can’t say I missed him, but I like how they wrote his absence into this by saying he was trapped in the Upside Down the whole time.
• In the background of Pete’s scene, you can see the llama that usually appears in backstage sketches. No sign of the Abe Lincoln guy, though.
• Cameo appearance by Lorne at the end. I feel like we don’t see him that much anymore.
• My only complaint is that they could have made this a little more accessible to people who haven’t seen Stranger Things.
3.5/5
Sketch: Little Miss Teacher’s Friend
Students compete in a pageant to be crowned “Little Miss Teacher’s Friend”.
• There was a similar sketch in Season 44 where Aidy Bryant hosted a “Nephew Pageant”. This is easily explained by the fact that she wrote both of them. This wasn’t much better than the Nephew one, unfortunately.
• Bowen Yang’s excitable audience member would have been funny if they cut to him only once. But they had to keep repeating the same joke over and over like in all modern SNL sketches.
1/5
Short Film: Grouch
The next gritty antihero origin story.
• This was a pleasant surprise. Easily the best sketch of this episode.
• Part of the reason I liked this so much is because I’m a big Muppet fan, so I was able to get all the jokes. And it also helped that I saw Joker a few days before this episode, so I was able to get all of those jokes, too.
• Kenan playing Snuffy as a pimp was great. Those are the kinds of roles that he is best at.
• I loved the Ernie and Bert scene! Alex Moffat’s Bert was spot on, and just the way they looked was hilarious. Bonus points for them not doing an “Ernie and Bert are gay” joke.
• The fake Variety and New York Times reviews got a big chuckle out of me.
• Melissa Villaseñor’s Elmo had the best line: “You’re only arresting Elmo ‘cause Elmo Mexican!”
• I should have pointed this out earlier, but David Harbour does a phenomenal job as Oscar.
5/5
Sketch: SoulCycle
Two SoulCycle riders take a class led by people auditioning to be an instructor.
• OMG at that disgusting wig Cecily is wearing. I take it this is an Anderlette sketch?
• After the last two episodes went surprisingly light on her, we’re back to the oversaturation of Kate McKinnon.
• Yang plays another gay role. And this is only his third episode. Is he going to be the next Chris Kattan?
• This sketch sucked, moving on.
1/5
Musical Performance: “Cry for Me”
Weekend Update (featuring Bailey Gismert and Pete Davidson)
• After about 800 “ORANGE MAN BAD” jokes, we get a joke about Abe Lincoln being gay because he died in a theater. Stay classy, guys!
• No comment on Bailey Gismert’s return, except that her joke about Michael being married to Leslie Jones was funny.
• The joke about an African-American news channel being called “CNN-word“ got a laugh out of me, as did Che’s joke about looking up sex dolls on his computer. But then they have to ruin it with an anti-Catholic joke.
• *sigh* Pete Davidson returns to the Update desk. This commentary was boring and didn’t make me laugh. End of story.
1/5
Sketch: Folk Of The Past
Peter, Paula, and Murray, a famous folk group, sing about time.
• Kate McKinnon singing? God, please no. This is giving me bad memories of the “Hallelujah” sketch.
• Harbour’s singing voice was so bad it was funny.
• The material isn’t helping matters. Just more of the same sex and penis jokes that have plagued this season.
• I will admit that the song was pretty well composed, musically. It’s just that the lyrics were awful.
1/5
Fake Commercial: Father-Son Podcasting Microphone
A new product that will help father and son finally open up to each other.
• Why have the ads this season been so uninteresting? This one felt like it had the potential to be a heartwarming slice-of-life kind of thing that the show hasn’t done much of since the 80s. But they have to ruin it by making it about a podcast, because, you know, everybody’s doing podcasts these days.
• The only positive was that Harbour and Kyle Mooney gave very convincing performances.
2/5
Sketch: Sauce
Italian grandparents have an argument about sauce.
• After an initial chuckle at the sight of Harbour in drag, they immediately ruin it by having Kate McKinnon do the same. This is the THIRD episode in a row where McKinnon plays a drag role, fourth if you count her appearance as Wilbur Ross in the Season 44 finale.
• McKinnon’s over-the-top and hammy routine is not helping this one bit. There are many actors who are great at going over-the-top. She is not of them.
• The sketch itself is full of broad Italian stereotypes that were seemingly ripped from an old issue of MAD Magazine.
-5/5
Musical Performance: “Easy”
Sketch: Dog Court
Dogs go on trial.
• When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a dumb cutesy sketch with the cast in bad animal costumes. But then they showed live animals, and I got interested.
• I did not need to see Kate flashing the camera.
• I thought this was surprisingly tolerable. None of the cast annoyed me too much, and the dogs were pretty cute.
• In the end, it was all worth it when that pug started licking Cecily in the face while she was trying to deliver her lines. I expected them to replace that part with the dress rehearsal version, but I’m happy to say that wasn’t the case.
3/5
Final thoughts: A slight upswing in quality. There were three sketches I liked in this one, compared to a combined total of zero in the last two.
Best sketches: Monologue, Grouch, Dog Court
Worst sketches: SoulCycle, Folk Of The Past, Sauce
Next review: Harry Styles
-5/5
Musical Performance: “Easy”
Sketch: Dog Court
Dogs go on trial.
• When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a dumb cutesy sketch with the cast in bad animal costumes. But then they showed live animals, and I got interested.
• I did not need to see Kate flashing the camera.
• I thought this was surprisingly tolerable. None of the cast annoyed me too much, and the dogs were pretty cute.
• In the end, it was all worth it when that pug started licking Cecily in the face while she was trying to deliver her lines. I expected them to replace that part with the dress rehearsal version, but I’m happy to say that wasn’t the case.
3/5
Final thoughts: A slight upswing in quality. There were three sketches I liked in this one, compared to a combined total of zero in the last two.
Best sketches: Monologue, Grouch, Dog Court
Worst sketches: SoulCycle, Folk Of The Past, Sauce
Next review: Harry Styles
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