Cold Open: Biden Halloween
President Biden delivers a special Halloween message, and is visited by the Spirit of Halloween.
• What the hell?!?? What’s Mikey doing as Biden?
• Yep, that’s right. Once again, we have a brand new Biden impersonator. JAJ’s wasn’t perfect, but at least it was a step up from Fire Marshal Biden and Alex Moffat. I’ve heard a theory that they recast him because they need James to play Trump in the upcoming 2024 election sketches. Hopefully Trump will be kicked out by then so that doesn’t have to happen.
• After that initial shock wears off, we get some tired jokes about how old Biden is.
• I can see what Mikey’s trying to go for with the voice, but it just sounds awkward and whispery.
• Ugh at “Boo Back Boo-er”.
• Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker are wasted with brief appearances as Mike Johnson and his black son. Don’t worry, they tell us who they are and explain all the jokes so we don’t have to do any thinking.
• Then, out of nowhere, Christopher Walken makes his triumphant return!!! Fuck yeah!!!!!
• While it’s obvious that he’s gotten up in years, he’s still extremely funny. I love his explanation that he came out of the toilet.
• It’s hard for me to choose a favorite Walken line, so I’ll just put this one here: “After all, you can’t spell Halloween without ‘hello’!”
• The first half of this where it was just Biden was horrible, but it got way better when Walken showed up.
Monologue
Nate talks about watching his dad perform at country fairs and his mom going to the wrong house to pick up his sister.
• I still have no idea who this guy is even after seeing his episode for the first time.
• There’s some nice relatable material here about watching his magician father perform at the fair, and all of the crazy things he saw there.
• I don’t really have a lot to say here, but I like how quiet this guy is compared to other stand-ups. He’s not shouting in your face like Sam Kinison or making crass vagina jokes like Amy Schumer, he’s just normal.
Sketch: Chef Showdown
Two chefs face off to see who can cook the best soul food.
• Finally a TV show sketch where the people have normal names!
• An initial laugh from the sloppily made food on Plate 2.
• Nice twist where it turns out that the white chef (played by Nate) wasn’t the one who cooked the disgusting plate, and the judges frantically trying to figure how he did so good.
• Even Kenan is doing pretty decent here.
• Random appearance from Padma Lakshmi, whoever that is.
• I’m surprised at how much I liked this sketch this time around.
Film: A Stab At Love
Hallmark presents a brand new horror film.
• As I said in my review of that awful Hallmark game show sketch in Season 45, I find parodies of Hallmark movies to be kind of pointless, as they are already parodies of themselves.
• I don’t quite get the joke with the actors’ names being “almost human”, such as “Bren Cloebog”. Don’t most Hallmark movies have at least one big name in them so people will watch?
• I like how the announcer is JAJ instead of Steve Higgins as usual.
• Punkie at least has a great reaction to seeing Nate propose to Chloe with a dead person’s hand.
• Overall, I still didn’t really care for this, but I found a few positives this time around.
Sketch: Washington’s Dream
George Washington tells his troops about his dream for the country.
• Why is Bowen one of the soldiers? Pretty sure Washington didn’t have any Asians in his outfit back then. Why couldn’t this be Dismukes or Longfellow? Oh wait, that would mean giving them actual screentime.
• Nate is pretty good as George Washington.
• Despite my complaints about Bowen being in this sketch, he’s actually not doing too bad. He’s thankfully reined in his gay shtick here.
• The running bit with Kenan’s character getting ignored when he asks about slavery was a little too predictable.
• This sketch seems to be really popular for some reason, but I’m afraid I don’t quite get it. I don’t hate it or anything, it’s just not something I personally care for.
Film: Lake Beach
A country music trio sings about their favorite warm weather activity.
• Ah, now here’s a sketch that I actually do remember liking!
• This idea apparently came from James’ stand-up act.
• A spot on parody of “bro country” music. So many great details here! And that song is so damn catchy!
• Great to see Andrew get a big role here. I love the cheesy grin he gives the camera as he takes a piss in the woods.
• Dave Grohl is amazing as that dirtbag uncle nobody likes.
• Funny twist at the end where Grohl’s character turns out to be a pastor.
Sketch: Trick-Or-Treat with Fran Drescher
The star of TV’s The Nanny shows some SAG-approved Halloween costumes.
• Sarah doesn’t really sound a whole lot like Fran Drescher, or nail the laugh, but she’s not really an impressionist, so I’ll let it slide. Besides, she does capture the most important aspect of a Fran Drescher impression: the fact that she’s extremely annoying.
• A nice detail with the text that introduces Fran being the same font as The Nanny’s intro sequence.
• I like the look on the little girl’s face after Fran calls her an “adorable scab”.
• I’m not quite sure what this sketch is supposed to be making fun of. Was there really a demand from the SAG that people stop wearing copyrighted character costumes?
• I did get a laugh from the kid dressed as Hoda Kotb, complete with wine.
• Another laugh from Fran saying that Nate is dressed as a pervert from To Catch a Predator.
• That kid trying to attempt an Italian accent was pretty charming.
• The little girl dressed as The Nanny does a way better laugh than Sarah.
• Overall, this was a very confusing attempt at satire, and I don’t know what Sarah was trying to do, but I still got enough laughs.
Musical Performance: “Rescued”
• Walken introduces this one.
Weekend Update (featuring J.J. Gordon)
• They’re still making jokes about Eric Trump being a retard.
• The online version removes “Down With The Sickness” from a clip of two mice fighting.
• I noticed someone in the audience going “Whoo!” when Colin tells his joke about Mike Pence dropping out of the presidential race.
• Sarah appears in drag yet again as Colin’s “agent” J.J. Gordon, a piece that was cut from last week’s show. I sense some more Colin roasting…
• I really hate to say it, but I think Sarah roasting Colin is finally starting to get old for me. Between the Drescher thing earlier and now this, Sarah hasn’t been doing so good lately.
• Can Michael Che go an entire Update without stumbling or laughing at his jokes?
• I laughed at the Hitler kiss-cam joke.
• Horrid “joke” about Colin running over the world’s oldest dog.
• At least we end on a great joke about New Jersey residents being filthy.
• A surprisingly short Update.
Sketch: Airplane
People on an airplane get into an argument.
• Even while she’s supposed to be going into labor, Chloe Fineman can’t stop making her annoying mugging faces.
• This is another sketch that I find pretty boring, despite a lot of other fans liking it. I do like that it features a lot of the underused cast members, though.
• I did laugh at Mikey the pilot insulting Nate for assuming that nobody’s flying the plane.
• Pretty great cameo from Grohl at the end.
Musical Performance: “The Glass”
Please Don’t Destroy: Dawg Food
The guys try a new meal prep service.
• Are these guys going to appear in every single episode now?
• The face on the bag of dog food looks pretty familiar, but I can’t place him.
• So, yeah…we get a sketch where the only joke is that they’re eating dog food. This doesn’t really feel like something Please Don’t Destroy would do. The thing that attracted me to these guys was the fact that they didn’t really do grossout humor, but look what they’re doing now!
• I did laugh at the ending where John randomly dies.
• As much as I hate to say this, I think this is the first Please Don’t Destroy sketch that I would have to call terrible.
Note: A dedication to Matthew Perry appears before the goodnights.
Final thoughts: This was an okay episode. The pre-Update half had some great stuff in it, but I think it kind of fell off starting with that Fran Drescher routine. Nate Bargatze was a surprisingly good host for somebody that hasn’t been on before. I’d love to see him come back.
Best sketches: Christopher Walken’s cameo, Monologue, Chef Showdown, Lake Beach
Worst sketches: Sarah’s commentary, Dawg Food
Next review: Timothee Chalamet/boygenius
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