The Class of 2020 receives a congratulatory message from Donald Trump.
• The first cast member we see in this is Kate McKinnon. Please kill me.
• Then she introduces Baldwin as Trump. I skipped over the Trump bullshit when I first saw it, but I’ll have to cover it for this review.
• Turns out that I didn’t miss much. Just more jokes about how full of himself Trump is, and a “hilarious” scene where he drinks Clorox.
• Among the graduates is writer Gary Richardson, a guy who bears a striking resemblance to Donald Glover.
• Worst cold opening of the season, which definitely isn’t saying much.
-5/5
Monologue: Kristen Wiig at Home
Kristen Wiig talks about Mother’s Day, and sings a childhood lullaby.
• Man, does this episode have it out for me or something? Within the first few minutes, we’ve already had appearances from McKinnon, Baldwin, and now, my least favorite cast member of all time, Kristen Wiig.
• Despite my initial anger at seeing Wiig, this ended being a surprisingly heartwarming sketch. There’s been a lot of those in the At Home episodes, for some reason. Not that I’m complaining, because I’ve been wanting them to do more heartwarming stuff.
• The fake picture she showed of her mom was pretty funny.
3.5/5
Sketch: Italian Vacation
A couple (Heidi Gardner, Martin Short) catch up with their friends over Zoom to talk about their recent vacation to Italy.
• Martin Short! The last time he appeared on the show was in that awful Stormy Daniels cold open, so I was really happy to see him again.
• Unfortunately, this turned out to be a reprisal of that retarded “Cooba” sketch from Season 44, the SECOND time they’ve brought it back. The only differences in each sketch are the actor playing the husband, and the place where they went on vacation. In other words, a typical James Anderson-written recurring sketch.
0/5
Short Film: Let Kids Drink
A song about letting your kids drink during quarantine.
• Now we have a song advocating the consumption of alcohol by children. I hope they’re not being serious about this, or I’m calling Child Protection Services.
• They made it seem like this was going to be a song about Mother’s Day at first, before they went into the whole alcohol thing. Talk about a bait-and-switch!
• Random cameo by Olaf from Frozen, voiced by Josh Gad. ARE WE COOL YET, DISNEY???
• Then we get another random cameo from Al Roker, dancing like a buffoon. Um...okay?
0/5
Sketch: MasterClass Quarantine Edition
Lessons in journaling from Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman), John Mulaney (Melissa Villaseñor), and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fineman again).
• Come on, not this again! Do we really need another sketch full of annoying Fineman impressions? The Britney Spears one was especially terrible. I don’t remember Britney sounding like an elf.
• This was just as annoying as the last, except for Melissa’s surprisingly spot-on John Mulaney impression. But why couldn’t they get a man to play him?
1/5
Sketch: Zoom Church
Church service on Zoom is interrupted by noisy children.
• One of the guests is Yvette Nicole Brown, who I know best from her role as Helen on Drake and Josh.
• This was boring. Moving on.
1/5
Short Film: Danny Trejo
Pete Davidson raps about Danny Trejo.
• Out of all the stupid rap segments we’ve had this season, this has got to be the worst. What kind of drugs was Pete taking?
• And in case we didn’t get the joke, they have Trejo himself show up!
0/5
Sketch: Hair Vlog
Hair vlogger PJ Charnt helps viewers with their hair problems.
• I knew this sketch was going to suck when I saw the main character was played by Wiig. And, guess what? It did!
• The only thing that made me chuckle was Kenan’s wig.
1/5
Musical Performance
Boyz II Men sing “A Song for Mama”
• Another performance that was so good that I had to comment on it. It was a little unusual in that the song played over footage of the cast with their moms.
• Random observation: Pete Davidson’s mom is way more attractive than he is.
Weekend Update (featuring Tina Fey and Jeanine Pirro)
• One of the first jokes is Colin saying that Trump has special needs. How classy.
• They go on to perpetuate the myth that only men can commit sexual assault. I’m sorry, I thought I was watching Saturday Night Live, but I seem to have stumbled across some geek on Twitter instead.
• Tina Fey shows up to deliver a Mother’s Day commentary. Most of it was kinda meh, but I had a good laugh at her mention of Andrew Cuomo’s “nipple ring”.
• I liked Michael’s joke about Space Jam being the first movie to be shot in space, but only because I’m a big fan of that movie.
• Colin and Michael try something different by reading jokes that their fans sent in (they have fans?). The one Michael read was pretty lame, but I loved the joke Colin read about hanging a “no blacks allowed” sign on his daughter.
• The last Update commentary of the season is from Cecily as Jeanine Pirro. I’ve said enough about this awful impression already, so let’s move on.
• Overall, this was a shitty season for Update. It was so bad that I was lucky if I got even one laugh in some of these installments. Worst of all, I’m sickened by the fact that these two buffoons are the longest lasting Update anchors we’ve ever had.
1/5
Sketch: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
A special Mother’s Day edition of the game show where all the contestants are moms.
• They’re bringing this back again? I feel like it was just on not too long ago.
• Easily the worst installment of this sketch. Almost every single answer the contestants give is sex or politics related.
0/5
Sketch: Eleanor’s House
Eleanor (Aidy Bryant), a children’s television host, throws an imaginary house party.
• A candidate for the best sketch of the season. Why? Because it’s just so damn bizarre.
• This sketch reminded me of a bizarro version of Blue’s Clues, with the greenscreen backgrounds and animated characters.
• Speaking of which, the CGI animation in this is terrifying, but that’s part of what makes it so great. I think it’s accomplished via motion-capture, seeing as the realistic characters seem to be based on who their voice actor is.
• I was surprised to find out that the purple dog was voiced by Bowen Yang, because it’s not a voice I’ve ever heard him do before. He’s spent so much time playing flamboyantly gay people that it’s refreshing to finally hear him play a normal character, even if said character is a dog.
• The ice cream, on the other hand, was rather obviously Beck Bennett’s voice. He’s not so good at disguising his voice.
• I love the part where the police invade the party and electrocute Kyle Mooney’s bearded midget character, while his wife begs them to stop because he’ll die if he doesn’t have sex.
• I really hope they don’t bring this back. But since this looks like it cost a lot of money to make, I don’t think it ever will. Prove me wrong, Season 46!
5/5
Sketch: Dad Pranks
Mikey Day’s son Brandon showcases various pranks he’s played on his dad.
• A spot-on parody of cringy YouTube prank videos. A good concept combined with a good performance from Mikey’s son.
• My favorite prank is the one where he replaces the background with a girl in a bikini during his father’s Zoom call.
3/5
Sketch: Lighthouse Keeper
Lighthouse keeper Phineas Gale (McKinnon) shares tips on isolation.
• Yet another sketch of McKinnon mugging for the camera while dressed like a man. Trust me, it sucks.
• I didn’t even care about the familiar stock background music I recognize from SpongeBob.
0/5
Side Note: A dedication for Little Richard is shown. I’m surprised they never got him as a musical guest.
Sketch: Beer Money
Kyle Mooney and his roommates (who are all played by him) find a treasure map, rob a bank, and learn the value of friendship.
• Another sketch with Kyle Mooney talking to clones of himself. Like the last one, it sucks.
1/5
Short Film: Dreams
The cast has dreams of returning to their normal lives in NYC.
• Here we go, the last sketch of the season....
• The production values for this sketch are really, really good, and I like how there’s no spoken dialogue in it. That being said, it was extremely long and not funny enough. A shame that a snoozefest like this has to be our last sketch of the season.
2/5
Final thoughts: Probably the strongest of the At Home episodes by default. The good stuff in this was really good while the bad stuff was as bad as it’s ever been. You know it’s bad when one of my least favorite cast members is one of the night’s highlights.
Best sketches: Monologue, A Song For Mama, Eleanor’s House, Dad Pranks
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Italian Vacation, Let Kids Drink, Danny Trejo, What’s Wrong With This Picture, Lighthouse Keeper
And with that, I’ve finally completed my Season 45 reviews! Stay tuned for a post where I analyze the season as a whole.
• This was boring. Moving on.
1/5
Short Film: Danny Trejo
Pete Davidson raps about Danny Trejo.
• Out of all the stupid rap segments we’ve had this season, this has got to be the worst. What kind of drugs was Pete taking?
• And in case we didn’t get the joke, they have Trejo himself show up!
0/5
Sketch: Hair Vlog
Hair vlogger PJ Charnt helps viewers with their hair problems.
• I knew this sketch was going to suck when I saw the main character was played by Wiig. And, guess what? It did!
• The only thing that made me chuckle was Kenan’s wig.
1/5
Musical Performance
Boyz II Men sing “A Song for Mama”
• Another performance that was so good that I had to comment on it. It was a little unusual in that the song played over footage of the cast with their moms.
• Random observation: Pete Davidson’s mom is way more attractive than he is.
Weekend Update (featuring Tina Fey and Jeanine Pirro)
• One of the first jokes is Colin saying that Trump has special needs. How classy.
• They go on to perpetuate the myth that only men can commit sexual assault. I’m sorry, I thought I was watching Saturday Night Live, but I seem to have stumbled across some geek on Twitter instead.
• Tina Fey shows up to deliver a Mother’s Day commentary. Most of it was kinda meh, but I had a good laugh at her mention of Andrew Cuomo’s “nipple ring”.
• I liked Michael’s joke about Space Jam being the first movie to be shot in space, but only because I’m a big fan of that movie.
• Colin and Michael try something different by reading jokes that their fans sent in (they have fans?). The one Michael read was pretty lame, but I loved the joke Colin read about hanging a “no blacks allowed” sign on his daughter.
• The last Update commentary of the season is from Cecily as Jeanine Pirro. I’ve said enough about this awful impression already, so let’s move on.
• Overall, this was a shitty season for Update. It was so bad that I was lucky if I got even one laugh in some of these installments. Worst of all, I’m sickened by the fact that these two buffoons are the longest lasting Update anchors we’ve ever had.
1/5
Sketch: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
A special Mother’s Day edition of the game show where all the contestants are moms.
• They’re bringing this back again? I feel like it was just on not too long ago.
• Easily the worst installment of this sketch. Almost every single answer the contestants give is sex or politics related.
0/5
Sketch: Eleanor’s House
Eleanor (Aidy Bryant), a children’s television host, throws an imaginary house party.
• A candidate for the best sketch of the season. Why? Because it’s just so damn bizarre.
• This sketch reminded me of a bizarro version of Blue’s Clues, with the greenscreen backgrounds and animated characters.
• Speaking of which, the CGI animation in this is terrifying, but that’s part of what makes it so great. I think it’s accomplished via motion-capture, seeing as the realistic characters seem to be based on who their voice actor is.
• I was surprised to find out that the purple dog was voiced by Bowen Yang, because it’s not a voice I’ve ever heard him do before. He’s spent so much time playing flamboyantly gay people that it’s refreshing to finally hear him play a normal character, even if said character is a dog.
• The ice cream, on the other hand, was rather obviously Beck Bennett’s voice. He’s not so good at disguising his voice.
• I love the part where the police invade the party and electrocute Kyle Mooney’s bearded midget character, while his wife begs them to stop because he’ll die if he doesn’t have sex.
• I really hope they don’t bring this back. But since this looks like it cost a lot of money to make, I don’t think it ever will. Prove me wrong, Season 46!
5/5
Sketch: Dad Pranks
Mikey Day’s son Brandon showcases various pranks he’s played on his dad.
• A spot-on parody of cringy YouTube prank videos. A good concept combined with a good performance from Mikey’s son.
• My favorite prank is the one where he replaces the background with a girl in a bikini during his father’s Zoom call.
3/5
Sketch: Lighthouse Keeper
Lighthouse keeper Phineas Gale (McKinnon) shares tips on isolation.
• Yet another sketch of McKinnon mugging for the camera while dressed like a man. Trust me, it sucks.
• I didn’t even care about the familiar stock background music I recognize from SpongeBob.
0/5
Side Note: A dedication for Little Richard is shown. I’m surprised they never got him as a musical guest.
Sketch: Beer Money
Kyle Mooney and his roommates (who are all played by him) find a treasure map, rob a bank, and learn the value of friendship.
• Another sketch with Kyle Mooney talking to clones of himself. Like the last one, it sucks.
1/5
Short Film: Dreams
The cast has dreams of returning to their normal lives in NYC.
• Here we go, the last sketch of the season....
• The production values for this sketch are really, really good, and I like how there’s no spoken dialogue in it. That being said, it was extremely long and not funny enough. A shame that a snoozefest like this has to be our last sketch of the season.
2/5
Final thoughts: Probably the strongest of the At Home episodes by default. The good stuff in this was really good while the bad stuff was as bad as it’s ever been. You know it’s bad when one of my least favorite cast members is one of the night’s highlights.
Best sketches: Monologue, A Song For Mama, Eleanor’s House, Dad Pranks
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Italian Vacation, Let Kids Drink, Danny Trejo, What’s Wrong With This Picture, Lighthouse Keeper
And with that, I’ve finally completed my Season 45 reviews! Stay tuned for a post where I analyze the season as a whole.
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