As I said at the end of the last review, before I look at the SNL at Home specials, I’m going to backtrack and review the Season 45 episodes I skipped over for this site initially.
Cold Open: Impeachment
As the threat of impeachment looms, Trump calls for advice from those closest to him.
• Unsurprisingly, the first sketch of the season is a Trump sketch. Thankfully, this isn’t 800 minutes long like Season 44’s first sketch.
• Despite the shorter running time, this was still a load of garbage, like all of the other Baldwin-as-Trump routines.
• The first cast member we see is Kate McKinnon doing her creepy Giuliani impression. Then we see Aidy Bryant doing a creepy William Barr impression. Two drag roles in one sketch? We’re not in Season 30 anymore!
• After more idiotic reprisals of members of Trump’s cabinet, Bowen Yang makes his first appearance as part of the cast. He portrays Kim-Jong-Un as flamboyant. Right off the bat, I see we’re typecasting him into gay roles.
• Random Liev Schreiber cameo, because WHY THE FUCK NOT? This is giving me bad memories of his hosting stint.
• Overall, a shitty way to start the season.
0/5
Side Note: Pete Davidson is absent from this episode and the following one, as he was in Atlanta filming The Suicide Squad.
Monologue
Woody talks about becoming a fashionista.
• This was a horrible monologue. At least it wasn’t a musical or questions from the audience monologue, though.
• Part of me wants to believe that the part where he says he has to be careful about what jokes he makes was intended as a slam towards Shane Gillis, the guy who was fired before he joined the cast due to “offensive” comments he made a long time ago. This is the only joke they make about him in the whole episode, by the way.
1/5
Sketch: Impeachment Town Hall
The 2020 Democratic candidates discuss the impeachment of President Trump.
• Our first debate sketch of the season. And, boy, does it suck.
• This was the first appearance of Maya as Kamala Harris. If you’ve read my other reviews, you’d know how much I hate it, so I won’t say anything further.
• I admit to getting a chuckle out of them not letting Colin as Pete Buttigieg speak that much.
• The only jokes for Bernie in this one are about how old he is. That’s it.
• Harrelson’s Biden was the only bright spot here. It pales in comparison to Sudeikis’, but it’s funny enough in its own right.
1.5/5
Sketch: Sun’s Up Nevada!
The “World’s Largest Cheeto” is showcased on a local news program.
• For the third season premiere in a row, we have a sketch that only exists for product placement reasons. In last year’s premiere, it was Burger King, but now, we have a sketch that’s shilling for Cheetos.
• Even without the whole product placement angle, this was still a pretty dumb sketch.
• I did like the special effect of the giant Cheeto falling over and exploding into orange dust, but that’s about it.
1/5
Musical Performance; “Bad Guy”
Side note: I hate Billie Eilish, but the performance of this song was amazing, utilizing a rotating set.
Weekend Update (featuring David Ortiz)
• We start with a whole bunch of lame impeachment jokes, none of which made me laugh.
• Kenan shows up as David Ortiz. If you like jokes about hospitals delivered in a slightly offensive accent, then this is for you.
• I did get a laugh from Che passing off a picture of Jost smiling as a hate symbol.
• This Update was surprisingly short.
1/5
Sketch: Locker Room
A football coach (Woody Harrelson) tries to inspire his losing team, but keeps getting interrupted by his new wife Trinity (Heidi Gardner).
• They did a sketch like this the last time Woody hosted. I haven’t seen that one, but this one is totally terrible. Nothing but lame and juvenile dick jokes.
• I really hate Heidi Gardner in here. This sketch and the “Cooba” one from Seth Meyers’ episode last season made me realize how annoying she can be.
0/5
Sketch: Inside the Beltway
Pundits discuss the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
• Our third sketch about impeachment in this episode. This one might be the worst one of all.
• I’m guessing this was a James Anderson-penned sketch, due to the characters’ gimmicky names, like “Quincy Maddox”.
• They make a reference to the Stormy Daniels controversy, something that had been totally disproven by this point. But they treat it as fact, as always.
• Kenan’s “Ain’t nothing gonna happen” got very old, very fast.
• And then, the sketch goes off the rails. During a “flashback”, a stagehand can be seen running into view to fix something on Aidy’s outfit. This leaves the cast laughing for the rest of the sketch. I’d like to say that the sketch was saved by this moment, but it made an already awful sketch even worse.
-5/5
Fake Commercial: Downton Abbey Trailer
• Here’s another sketch where SNL tries latching onto something popular. In this case, the Downton Abbey film that was coming out at the time.
• This is a show that I have never seen, so I didn’t get any of the jokes, not that there were any.
• No comment on the “watching the sun set on white people as a whole” line. Did Michael Che write that bit?
1/5
Musical Performance: “I Love You”
Short Film: Dad
Scotty (Kyle Mooney) raps about his dad (Harrelson).
• The first of many musical oriented sketches this season. When I saw this live, I had no idea that a majority of the short films from the rest of the season would be exactly the same.
• This particular song was okay, but nothing special. I did like the cheesy 80’s music video aesthetic this was going for.
3/5
Fake Commercial: Chickham’s Apple Farm
Two sisters (Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant) advertise their apple orchard in upstate New York.
• This is the sketch that started all of those annoying Bryant/McKinnon teamups that I’ve been complaining about in my other Season 45 reviews.
• Here’s another sketch that will only make sense to people living in the area it takes place. In this case, upstate New York. While I must confess that I have lived in upstate New York for my whole life, I still didn’t find it funny.
• I missed this the first time I saw this, but there’s a Ukraine flag on the tractor in the opening scene. What was the point of that?
• I also didn’t get the joke about the apple orchard being located in the part of the state “that has Confederate flags”. But if I keep thinking about this sketch any further, I think I’m gonna go crazy.
0/5
Final thoughts: Blecch, another horrid season premiere. Woody tried his damnedest to save this one, but it was a futile effort. The one bright side was the lack of Pete Davidson.
Best sketches: Eilish’s first performance, Dad
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Locker Room, Inside the Beltway, and Chickham’s Apple Farm
Next review: Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
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