Friday, June 26, 2020

SNL Reviews: SNL At Home 2 (4/25/20)

Cold Open: A Message from Dr. Anthony Fauci

Anthony Fauci (Brad Pitt) delivers a message to counter the misinformation that the president has been spreading.

• When this first aired, I had no idea who was playing Fauci. Then, at the end, he took off the makeup and revealed that it was Brad Pitt the whole time. Hard to believe that this is only the second time he’s ever appeared on SNL.

• I eventually found out that the only reason they cast him in this role is because the real Fauci said that he wanted to be played by Brad Pitt in a movie. I don’t know why he’d want that considering they look nothing like each other.

• Anyway, this cold open was extremely lame and I have no further comments.

0/5


Side Note: There is no monologue in this episode for some reason.


Sketch: What Up With That: Home Edition

A special Home Edition of What Up With That featuring Charles Barkley and DJ Khaled.

• What the hell? Now here’s a sketch that I never expected to see again! The last time they did this was in Season 38, back when Bill Hader and Fred Armisen were still in the cast.

• This is sadly missing Hader’s Lindsey Buckingham, the best thing about these sketches.

• Never mind, I forgot about Jason Sudeikis’s crazy dancing guy, Vance. Anytime Jason is in a role that requires him to dance is great.

• I certainly wasn’t expecting to see Charles Barkley here. He was pretty good, as usual.

• Mikey’s appearance as “Howie Hot Wheels” was okay, but I liked the dancing of his kid in the background better.

• Then the sketch turns into a random acid trip with shitty stock effects. Thanks, but I got my fill of shitty stock effects in that meditation sketch from the last episode.

3/5


Sketch: In Depth With Brian Sutter

HLN reporter Brian Sutter gets Snapchat filters on him while trying to do a report. You know what that means: HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS????

• They did a sketch like this when Adam Sandler hosted last year. That one sucked, and, hey, so does this one.

0/5


Short Film: Stuck In The House

A music video about going crazy while stuck in quarantine.

• I initially groaned when I saw that this was yet another Pete Davidson rap song, but then Adam Sandler showed up and this immediately got better.

• The best part was when Rob Schneider showed up as the “You can do it!” guy from The Waterboy. That actually gave me a good laugh.

3.5/5


Fake Commercial: Bartenson’s Grocery Store

An ad for a grocery store that sells less sought after products.

• ANOTHER unfunny McKinnon/Bryant sketch. I swear they keep doing these just to spite me.

• Random observation: The logo for “Bartenson’s” reminds me of New England grocery store chain Shaw’s.

0/5


Sketch: Big Dominican Lunch

David Ortiz hosts a cooking show.

• David Ortiz again? Do a majority of SNL’s viewers even know who he is? I feel sorry for poor Kenan having to do these lame cookie-cutter characters all the damn time.

1/5


Fake Commercial: AirBnb

An AirBnb guest overstays her welcome.

• Another annoying Chloe Fineman character showcase. My good feelings towards Fineman at the beginning of the season are slowly disappearing.

0/5


Sketch: Released Early

A former inmate FaceTimes a series of flings after getting released from jail.

• Chris Redd FaceTimes random people. Boring.

1/5


Musical Performance

Miley Cyrus sings “Wish You Were Here”


Weekend Update (featuring Pete Davidson)

• At least they’re using the Weekend Update background this time. And they’ve thankfully stopped using that fake laugh track from the last episode.

• More dumb Trump jokes suggesting that he wants you to inject bleach into your body.

• Michael Che is wearing a Madea shirt for some reason. I can’t believe that’s a sentence I just typed.

• Then we get more anti-white people jokes from Che.

• Pete Davidson appears via Zoom to give tips about dating during the quarantine. All I can say is that it sucked like all of his commentaries.

• Che’s Kelly Clarkson joke was actually funny, but then he ruins it with more “KILL WHITEY” jokes.

1/5


Sketch: SoulCycle Virtual Workouts

SoulCycle instructors document their most inspirational at-home workouts.

• Sorry to steal your catchphrase, Stooge. No, just...no.

0/5


Sketch: OJ Address

OJ Simpson (Kenan Thompson) delivers a message on Twitter about how he’s doing during the pandemic.

• I already have no faith in this sketch because it has Kenan doing one of his worst impressions, OJ Simpson. I did find it interesting that he appears to be doing this sketch in Los Angeles, judging from the palm trees in the background. I thought that all the show’s cast members had to live in New York?

• In my opinion, the only person who could get away with making OJ jokes on SNL is Norm. Anyone else just falls flat.

1/5


Sketch: FaceTime

Paul Rudd catches up with his cousin Mandy for the first time in years.

• A pointless cameo from Paul Rudd.

• Heidi Gardner completely destroys any potential this had with her decision to portray her character as mentally disabled.

0/5


Sketch: The Reveal

A detective (Beck Bennett) conducts an investigation via Zoom while also showcasing his songwriting abilities.

• An awful, awful sketch. Not only is it a lame Law and Order parody, it’s also just an excuse for the cast to sing some really awful songs.

-5/5


Fake Commercial: Pornhub

Uniting people during the coronavirus in a unique way.

• This had a relatively boring beginning, but then I lost it when they revealed it to be a Pornhub ad! Definitely my biggest laugh of the episode.

5/5


Sketch: Whiskers ‘R We

Barbara DeDrew showcases several new cats up for adoption on her website.

• Haven’t seen this sketch in a while.

• You know how last time I said that the highlight of that shitty RBG exercise sketch was Kate McKinnon’s cat? Well, now that cat is starring in its own sketch.

• While this was more of the same Snapchat filter bullshit, I will admit that I have a weakness for cats. So I enjoyed this slightly more than I should have.

• My only problem was that they made a Brett Kavanaugh joke. This isn’t 2018 anymore.

3.5/5


Short Film: What’s My Name

Kyle Mooney sings about forgetting his friend’s name.

• Can we please do a short film that isn’t musical for once?

• I liked the 80s aesthetic this was going for, and it was a treat to see Kyle playing two characters at once.

2.5/5


Sketch: Melissa Seals The Deal

Melissa seals the deal after a successful date.

• Three minutes of Melissa talking to herself. Yawn.

1/5


Sketch: Aidy’s Childhood Journal

Aidy Bryant shares pages from one of her childhood journals.

• A nice way to end the night. I can identify with this sketch because I used to have tons of journals full of my drawings as a child.

• The page dedicated to Rosie O’Donnell was hilarious.

• I’d really like to see more autobiographical sketches like this.

5/5


Final thoughts: A step up from the last episode. This benefited from less prominent celebrity cameos and more creative premises, but there’s still a lot of really dumb shit, namely Chloe Fineman and all the stupid rap songs.


Best sketches: Stuck in the House, Pornhub, Whiskers ‘R We, Aidy’s Childhood Journal

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Brian Sutter, Bartenson’s Grocery Store, AirBnb, SoulCycle, FaceTime, The Reveal


Next review: SNL At Home 3

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