Cold Open: Press Conference
Mike Pence holds a press conference regarding the coronavirus, and takes questions from the Democratic candidates.
• One of the first jokes is about how Mike Pence doesn’t believe in science. We’re in for a long night, folks.
• Fred Armisen’s awful Bloomberg impression is back. I did get a chuckle out of the part where he says that he gained access to the conference by pretending to cough on everyone, though.
• For some reason, Mulaney takes over as Joe Biden. Was Sudeikis not available or something? They do the same “You look different” joke that they did with Sudeikis in the Eddie Murphy episode, but it wasn’t as funny here.
• Sadly, we can chalk up Biden as another celebrity Mulaney has no business portraying. He’s a great comedian, no doubt, but he’s a terrible impressionist. In fact, his delivery kind of hurt the dialogue. Sudeikis would have made it funny just by the way he talks.
1/5
Monologue
Mulaney talks about being the first person to host SNL on a Leap Day, having a dad with no friends, and his Make-a-Wish experience.
• Already we’re off to a promising start with his Louis Farrakhan joke.
• Interesting bit of trivia that he’s the first person to host on a Leap Day.
• Then he ruins it by making a joke about wanting Trump to end up like Julius Caesar.
• He saves it at the end with his heartwarming story about an experience he had with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
• The weakest of Mulaney’s monologues so far.
3/5
Sketch: The Sound of Music
Rolf (Mulaney) and Liesl (Cecily Strong) sing about their age difference.
• I’m glad they didn’t give Liesl’s role to Kate McKinnon.
• This one was just okay. I don’t have much else to say other than the fact that Mulaney’s singing voice was funny.
3/5
Sketch: Uncle Meme
Uncle Ron (Mulaney) is upset about his nephew Tyler (Pete Davidson) turning him into an internet meme. In other words, HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?
• Yeah, I know this is another “let’s be hip” sketch, but I wouldn’t be complaining if they were all this good.
• “WHEN SHE WANNA SMASH BUT THE PEE-PEE TOO SMALL”
• I love the random reveal that Ice-T retweeted one of Tyler’s memes.
• My favorite of the memes has to be either the Joker one or the angel one, both featuring hilariously bad Photoshop.
4/5
Short Film: Kyle’s Transformation
Kyle Mooney transforms his body so he can get into a sketch about male strippers.
• Finally, a short film that’s actually somewhat good! Too bad it took them 14 episodes into the season to do it!
• This sketch is automatically made better by the fact that they play the song “Last Resort” by Papa Roach in the background. Unfortunately, it seems to have been taken out of the version available online. BOOOOO!!!!!
• For some reason, I find the fact that Kyle wants to be in a sketch about male strippers very funny.
• Kyle’s “fit” makeup is hilarious.
• We get a Lorne cameo, too, which is always a good thing.
3.5/5
Sketch: Say, Those Two Don’t Seem To Like Each Other
Two sisters (Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant) battle with their brother for the attention of a respected admiral (Beck Bennett).
• This sketch from the Jennifer Lopez episode earlier in the season becomes recurring.
• I hated the first installment, so my expectations for this one were rather low. For the first minute and a half, we get much of the same routine from before.
• Thankfully, things pick up when Mulaney enters as the sisters’ annoying (and somewhat gay) little brother. His performance saves this sketch from being a total misfire.
3/5
Musical Performance: “Once in a Lifetime”
Weekend Update (featuring Chris Redd)
• They make a cringeworthy and desperate Thanos reference in this one. PLEASE GIVE US FREE STUFF, DISNEY!!!!!
• After a long stretch of dumb jokes about Trump and the coronavirus, Michael Che makes an extremely tasteless Steve Irwin joke. Does this twerp have any shame?
• Finally, we get a funny joke when Colin follows up the phrase “coming back from the dead” with a picture of Joe Biden.
• Another really good joke about Hilary Clinton starting up a new podcast, followed by Colin saying “Maybe we should lock her up”.
• Chris Redd has a commentary about all the things that annoyed him during Black History Month. I don’t understand why they don’t give this guy more screen time, because this was some hilarious shit. All of his complaints about Visa cards and Barnes and Noble were great, especially the black Frankenstein Monster looking like a Soundcloud rapper who’s about to get beat up by the police.
• After Redd leaves, we get another “haha Eric Trump is retarded” joke. What the hell do these guys have against Eric Trump?
• We end on an awful note with an anti-Catholic joke.
3/5 (this was mostly for the Redd commentary)
Sketch: Airport Sushi
A man (Pete Davidson) learns why you should never order sushi at LaGuardia Airport.
• DEAR GOD, NO!!!! Not this musical crap again! I was hoping we’d get through the episode without another one of these, but the “geniuses” at SNL disappoint me yet again.
• This is probably the worst one of the bunch. While the other two at least stuck to parodying a single musical, this one is a confusing mishmash of songs from The Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, and more. Once again, the “parody” lyrics are HORRENDOUS. The jokes are all about things that only people living in NYC will understand. I do not live in NYC, so I found them all unfunny.
• Kate McKinnon shows up to make my ears bleed as Little Orphan Annie, singing a song about Mike Bloomberg to the tune of “Tomorrow”. I bet Stooge is going to love this sketch.
• I did NOT need to see Beck Bennett dressed as a baby.
• Random Jake Gyllenhaal cameo, because why the hell not? Can we get through at least one episode without resorting to a random celebrity cameo?
• David Byrne appears as a baggage handler. When was the last time the musical guest appeared in a sketch?
• Overall, JESUS CHRIST, this was awful. If they bring Mulaney back to host, they better not do this crap again.
-3,000/5
Musical Performance: “Toe Jam”
Sketch: Jackie Robinson
The story of the first black person to boo Jackie Robinson.
• For the last sketch of Black History Month, couldn’t they have done something a little more, I don’t know, respectful? All we get here are lame jokes about people with heart defects.
1/5
Final thoughts: Definitely the weakest Mulaney episode so far. To be fair, it was still pretty good for Season 45 standards, but it wasn’t as consistent as his first, or even his second. The good stuff was really good, while the bad stuff was HORRENDOUS.
Best sketches: Uncle Meme, Kyle’s Transformation, Chris Redd’s commentary, David Byrne’s performances
Worst sketches: Press Conference, Most of Weekend Update, Airport Sushi, Jackie Robinson
Next review: Daniel Craig/The Weeknd
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