Cold Open
Fox News hosts a “Ukrainian Invasion Spectacular”.
• Huge groan from me once I saw that award show style intro. This is gonna suck…
• Another huge groan from me upon seeing Kate’s Laura Ingraham. Alex is there too, playing Tucker Carlson, who he bears NO resemblance to.
• Good lord, the “satire” is so obvious and pathetic. Can we please stop making every cold open a political one?
• Is it me, or has the Ingraham impression gotten even worse (not that it was ever good)? Did Kate just forget how to do the voice?
• JAJ’s Trump is back, which means it’s time for more of the same overused jokes about how he is racist and sexist, which are jokes that nobody has ever said about him before.
• An extremely baffling choice to make Asian Terry Sweeney play Steven Seagal. His voice is unsurprisingly terrible.
• Why are we still making “Trump loves fast food” jokes in 2022? No, scratch that, why are we still making Donald Trump jokes in 2022? The well ran out long ago, and it’s time to move on, SNL!
• Rare appearance of Don Jr. without Eric. I know the reason for that is because Alex is playing Carlson, but I’m so happy that they’ve stopped doing the same old Eric routine that was never funny to begin with.
• Overall, another horrible cold open. We got that extremely well done cold open last week, and now this?
Monologue
The host talks about his role in Moon Knight, and making a film when he was 10 years old.
• I’m curious as to whether or not Oscar’s story about being asked to host in 2015 is true or not, but the reference to the pandemic makes me think otherwise.
• What’s with the applause after he says his full Spanish name?
• I like how we’re now seeing a clip from a home movie he made when he was 10. It’s always fun seeing our hosts as kids.
• Priceless part where his friend’s dad can be seen cleaning the pool in the background.
• I could have done without the plug for Peacock, thank you very much.
• I’m surprised at how many monologues I’ve been praising lately. See what happens when we give the musical and Q&A monologue cliches a rest for a while?
Sketch: PAW Patrol
Concerned citizens demand the removal of funding for the PAW Patrol.
• Really? We’re making fun of Nick Jr. shows now? This is definitely a Seidell/Day sketch!
• The puppets of the dog characters are really well made, and I appreciate the use of an actual child actor to play Ryder.
• Amusing part where Ego as the mayor’s laugh suddenly slows down, revealing that this intro scene was just part of a commercial.
• Kate’s bug-eyed mugging routine has gotten completely stale. I can’t even muster my usual annoyed reaction towards it.
• Speaking of things that have gotten stale, Kenan’s doing my “favorite” voice again.
• For some reason, when we hear Ryder’s voice on a phone call, it’s Melissa doing his voice. Why couldn’t they let the child actor do it?
• I don’t know why, but the graphic of Ego’s face with the red slash mark on it makes me laugh.
• Not sure how to feel about the twist at the end where Oscar’s character reveals that the mayor is his wife. One part of me likes how unexpected it was, but the other part makes me think that they couldn’t come up with any other way to end this. But, in conclusion, this sketch was surprisingly okay.
Film: Inventing Chloe
Chloe Fineman reinvents herself to get whatever she wants.
• Ugh, a showcase for Chloe Fineman. I sense that we’re in for a lot of pain…
• So, apparently, this is based on some Netflix show called “Inventing Anna”, which is about a lady who convinces everyone that she’s a wealthy German heiress. I’ve never heard of it.
• Despite heading into this rewatch with more knowledge about this sketch’s origins, I’m not finding it any better. Chloe’s voice is just too annoying for me.
• My only laugh came from Che’s brief scene where Chloe tells him that she hosts Update now, and he just accepts it and leaves.
• The scene with Oscar mishearing Chloe just goes on FOREVER!
• No comment on the ending where Kate starts speaking in that accent.
Sketch: Sexual Harassment Seminar
A sexual harassment seminar exemplifies improprieties.
• I don’t remember anything about this sketch. Apparently the PDD guys wrote it.
• Now I know why I don’t remember this; it’s fucking boring. If this really is the work of the PDD guys, then it’s a rare miss for them.
Film: Meatballs
Alan’s girlfriend reveals a horrible secret…she has meatballs on her neck.
• Oh, fuck. I forgot all about this sketch.
• Look, I love weirdness as much as the next guy, but there are some things that are too weird even for me. That being said, I’ll try to go into this sketch with an open mind this time around…
• I appreciate the special effects. There’s a neat little stop-motion part as well.
• The song the meatballs sing is pretty catchy.
• I actually had to turn this off halfway through when it originally aired because my sister was disgusted by it, so I missed a cameo by our musical guest.
• It looks like I finally came around on this sketch. I guess I just needed to watch the whole thing this time.
Musical Performance: “Beg For You”
Weekend Update (featuring Kate McKinnon and Pauline)
• Shockingly good joke about Kamala Harris doing nothing for a whole year.
• Kate McKinnon has a commentary about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, while wearing the dykiest haircut imaginable. Basically, it sucked like all of her commentaries.
• I love whenever they show that picture of Colin as a teenager.
• Ego has a commentary which is much more interesting. We get the return of that character she played in the Elon Musk episode (*shudder*), who’s here to talk about Rihanna’s pregnancy.
• Ego: “You know how I announced my pregnancy? I threw up on Martin Luther King Boulevard!”
• Hilarious line about how one of her cravings is for a barrel of a shotgun.
• I like how her “heels” are Bugs Bunny slippers.
• Then we get a funny twist where it’s revealed that Che is her boyfriend, and that he hasn’t come to any of her doctor’s appointments.
• Aside from Kate’s commentary, this edition of Update was surprisingly more tolerable than usual.
Sketch: Aidy’s Dream
Aidy ropes our host into a steamy sketch.
• Ugh, this looks like an Aidy Bryant vanity piece.
• Last time I watched this, I criticized the pre-taped scenes with Aidy as ruining the jokes. On this second watch, I now understand that these scenes are necessary to understand what’s going on.
• Oscar’s voice in this is amazing.
• I like Aidy’s alleged catchphrase: “Hey, you! Get your fat ass on my lap, bitch!”
• Call me crazy, but I think this is a lot better than I thought. Oscar gave a great performance, while Aidy actually gave a shit for a change and delivered one of her best sketches in years.
Sketch: In Over Your Head
A home repair show host interviews people who tried fixing their homes themselves.
• I love the theme song for this sketch. It reminds of the late 80s-early 90s recurring characters who all had their own themes (Pat, Toonces, Mr. Short Term Memory, etc).
• Kyle’s role felt very Dana Carvey-ish.
• Oscar’s voice reminds me of Fred Armisen for some reason. I love the makeup on him, too.
• How many times has Ego played Kenan’s husband by now?
• Yet another twist ending tonight, where we find out that Kenan’s host character is not as experienced with tools as we thought.
• A short and simple sketch with some nice charm to it.
Musical Performance: “Baby”
• My station came in to this about halfway through Oscar’s intro.
Sketch: Fiction Workshop
A janitor shares his own story during a writer’s workshop.
• Rare non-impression role for JAJ in this sketch. I liked his character’s inappropriate story about Abe Lincoln at the theater.
• Interesting voice from Oscar.
• Oscar’s creepy, self-insert story about meeting Dua Lipa is hilarious. So many disturbing (but funny) details are slowly being revealed about his character. These sketches where it takes a while for the joke to be revealed are my personal favorites, because it makes the punchline more satisfying.
• The ending is great, where the two male students stay behind to hear the rest of his story, while the females leave.
Cut For Time: Aerotoilet
The inflatable toilet that’s perfect for guests!
• Some initial laughs from Oscar trying to adjust the firmness of the inflatable toilet.
• Kate has some good faces while using the “manual” inflation tube. For once, her mugging actually works in this context.
• I love how the toilet comes with an inflatable magazine.
• Amazing ending where Oscar empties it and all of the guests’ waste floods the room.
• For a sketch about a toilet, this was pretty damn funny! I can’t understand why this didn’t make the live show.
Final thoughts: This episode was a lot better than I remembered. A big part of that has to do with the host. Oscar Isaac is one of the best we’ve had all season. His variety of unique voices and his willingness to do anything was very impressive. I’d love to see him host again.
Best sketches: Monologue, PAW Patrol, Meatballs, Ego’s commentary, In Over Your Head, Fiction Workshop, Aerotoilet (Cut)
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Inventing Chloe, Sexual Harassment Seminar
Next review: Zöe Kravitz/Rosalía
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