SNL Reviews: Harry Styles (11/16/19)

Cold Open: Days of Our Impeachment

The Trump impeachment hearings get a soap opera twist in order to keep bored Americans watching.

• Random Jon Hamm cameo because WHY THE FUCK NOT?!??? Why couldn’t they get him to host?

• Kate McKinnon plays a man for the FIFTH EPISODE IN A ROW!!!! Talk about overkill!

• Bennett’s frog-faced take on McConnell is back. Still not funny.

• Kenan’s appearance as Myles Garrett saves things by assaulting Giuliani with his football helmet.

1.5/5


Monologue

Harry Styles plays the piano while taking the time to stop and muse about a few things.

• I went into this episode expecting the worst from Styles, but he ended up winning me over with his charming performance in this monologue.

• I got a huge laugh when he said SNL hasn’t been funny since the cast stopped using cocaine.

3.5/5


Sketch: Lunch Run

An overeager intern (Styles) decides to get Popeyes chicken sandwiches for the entire office.

• One of the dumbest sketches I have ever seen. The main joke of the sketch got old very fast, and the “twist” at the end that this was supposed to be a parody of Jordan Peele’s Get Out fell flat on its face.

0/5


Short Film: Doug

Aidy Bryant sings a song about her dog, Doug.

• Another musical short, but this one was surprisingly good. Aidy has a nice singing voice, and the voice she was using in this one was funny.

• I loved the part where she clarifies that she doesn’t have sex with her dog, followed by the word “sex” appearing on screen and getting crossed out. Something about the sound effect in that part made me laugh for some reason.

• And then the dog randomly morphs into Harry Styles to sing a few lines. This was extremely out of nowhere, but I won’t deny that it made me laugh.

4/5


Sketch: Childbirth Class

Two Icelandic parents (Styles and Heidi Gardner) brag about how well they’ve been raising their unborn child.

• Something about this one made me feel uncomfortable. I guess I don’t like the fact that they’re treating pregnancy as a big joke.

• In addition, this is also a “funny accent” sketch, so, not only is it a pain to watch, but it’s also a pain to listen to!

• I did NOT need to see Gardner shaking her ass.

0/5


Sketch: Airline Pilots

Two pilots (Styles and Mikey Day) have a raunchy conversation that the entire plane can hear.

• More bland and overused sex jokes. Why can’t this show come up with material that isn’t about sex, dicks, poop, or farts anymore?

• Bowen Yang’s quest to become the Asian Terry Sweeney continues as he plays his record 8,578th gay character. Come on, SNL, give this guy something else to do!

1/5


Short Film: That’s the Game

A gang member (Chris Redd) plans a mutiny against his boss (Kenan Thompson) that doesn’t go as planned.

• Yawn, another boring-ass short film.

0/5


Musical Performance: “Lights Up”


Weekend Update (featuring Jeff Sessions and Scooter Reinholdt)

• Blah blah blah, orange man bad, Giuliani bad, Republicans bad.

• Michael Che actually made me laugh when he said that all white supremacists should look like Colin Jost.

• UGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Kate McKinnon’s creepy take on Jeff Sessions is brought out of the mothballs. This makes it her SIXTH drag role this season, and the second one in this episode alone!

• As usual, the dumb “lol he’s inbred” jokes terrified me more than they amused me. I hope this is the last we ever see of this impression.

• Side note: I was disappointed that they didn’t make a Debbie Downer reference when she brought up feline AIDS. “Meooowww-meoooowww!”

• Kyle Mooney debuts a character called “Scooter Reinholdt”. I can see why they don’t give him more desk commentaries because this was awful.

1/5


Note: After Update, a dedication is shown for former NBC exec Rick Ludwin, the man responsible for taking a chance on Seinfeld and giving it a slot on the schedule.


Sketch: Sara Lee

The manager of Sara Lee’s Instagram account (Styles) is confronted by his superiors after some odd activity on the account.

• This was cut from Season 44’s John Mulaney episode.

• For a sketch about something as benign as Sara Lee, I was not expecting this to turn into a “LOL GAY” sketch.

• Somehow, James Anderson had nothing to do with the writing of this. The actual writers were Julio Torres and Bowen Yang. Ah, now that explains why it’s about gay stuff!

• This felt like a rip-off of that Barbie Instagram sketch from a couple seasons ago. That one was actually funny, while this one makes me want to kill myself.

0/5


Sketch: Baby Faye and her Newsboys

Vaudeville performers have outgrown their old act.

• Nothing too offensive here. It’s not funny at all, but at least there’s some nice choreography.

2/5


Musical Performance: “Watermelon Sugar”


Sketch: Funeral DJs

Two DJs try to spice things up at a funeral.

• A pretty ballsy idea for a sketch, and it actually works. I think Bronwyn Douwsma brought up on her SNL blog that funerals seem to make for good sketches, and I’d have to agree with her.

• Chris Redd’s “Rest in Peace, bitch!” was the best line of the night. I also liked his deep-voiced “Because your grandma’s dead” right before launching into a dubstep tune.

4/5


Final thoughts: Styles was better than I thought he would be. This episode was a HUGE step up from the dismal Kristen Stewart episode that preceded it and the horrendous Will Ferrell episode that followed it.

Best sketches: Monologue, Doug, Funeral DJs

Worst sketches: Lunch Run, Childbirth Class, That’s the Game, Sara Lee


Next review: Jennifer Lopez/DaBaby

SNL Reviews: David Harbour/Camila Cabello (10/12/19)

Cold Open: Equality Town Hall

The Democratic candidates discuss LGBT issues on CNN.

• Before any of the candidates show up, we get a gratuitous cameo from some guy named Billy Porter. I had no idea who he was when I first saw this, but then I found out that he’s a guy who likes wearing dresses. Yeah....

• The applause for Kate as Warren is sickening. Are there really that many NPCs and soyboys in the audience?

• Media darling Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Julián Castro. That makes two gratuitous cameos!

• Woody Harrelson returns as Biden. This was somewhat surprising to me when it happened, but, now that I know they bring him back once more in the Will Ferrell episode, I think the plan was for him to play Biden every time they needed him, only to fall back on Sudeikis and Mulaney when his schedule conflicted with it. Anyway, he was pretty much the bright spot of this sketch. Also, that’s THREE gratuitous cameos!!!!

1/5


Monologue

David Harbour gives a backstage tour and ends up in the Upside Down.

• I must confess that I have never watched Stranger Things, nor will I ever.

• Despite my lack of knowledge of the show, I thought this was a very unique monologue. I’m always a sucker for backstage stuff on SNL, and the combination with Stranger Things was a nice touch.

• Pretty impressive special effects considering this is live TV.

• Kate’s brief appearance in the monologue results in cheers from the crowd. Why the hell is she so damn popular?

• Pete Davidson makes his “triumphant” return after being absent for the last two episodes. I can’t say I missed him, but I like how they wrote his absence into this by saying he was trapped in the Upside Down the whole time.

• In the background of Pete’s scene, you can see the llama that usually appears in backstage sketches. No sign of the Abe Lincoln guy, though.

• Cameo appearance by Lorne at the end. I feel like we don’t see him that much anymore.

• My only complaint is that they could have made this a little more accessible to people who haven’t seen Stranger Things.

3.5/5


Sketch: Little Miss Teacher’s Friend

Students compete in a pageant to be crowned “Little Miss Teacher’s Friend”.

• There was a similar sketch in Season 44 where Aidy Bryant hosted a “Nephew Pageant”. This is easily explained by the fact that she wrote both of them. This wasn’t much better than the Nephew one, unfortunately.

• Bowen Yang’s excitable audience member would have been funny if they cut to him only once. But they had to keep repeating the same joke over and over like in all modern SNL sketches.

1/5


Short Film: Grouch

The next gritty antihero origin story.

• This was a pleasant surprise. Easily the best sketch of this episode.

• Part of the reason I liked this so much is because I’m a big Muppet fan, so I was able to get all the jokes. And it also helped that I saw Joker a few days before this episode, so I was able to get all of those jokes, too.

• Kenan playing Snuffy as a pimp was great. Those are the kinds of roles that he is best at.

• I loved the Ernie and Bert scene! Alex Moffat’s Bert was spot on, and just the way they looked was hilarious. Bonus points for them not doing an “Ernie and Bert are gay” joke.

• The fake Variety and New York Times reviews got a big chuckle out of me.

• Melissa Villaseñor’s Elmo had the best line: “You’re only arresting Elmo ‘cause Elmo Mexican!”

• I should have pointed this out earlier, but David Harbour does a phenomenal job as Oscar.

5/5


Sketch: SoulCycle

Two SoulCycle riders take a class led by people auditioning to be an instructor.

• OMG at that disgusting wig Cecily is wearing. I take it this is an Anderlette sketch?

• After the last two episodes went surprisingly light on her, we’re back to the oversaturation of Kate McKinnon.

• Yang plays another gay role. And this is only his third episode. Is he going to be the next Chris Kattan?

• This sketch sucked, moving on.

1/5


Musical Performance: “Cry for Me”


Weekend Update (featuring Bailey Gismert and Pete Davidson)

• After about 800 “ORANGE MAN BAD” jokes, we get a joke about Abe Lincoln being gay because he died in a theater. Stay classy, guys!

• No comment on Bailey Gismert’s return, except that her joke about Michael being married to Leslie Jones was funny.

• The joke about an African-American news channel being called “CNN-word“ got a laugh out of me, as did Che’s joke about looking up sex dolls on his computer. But then they have to ruin it with an anti-Catholic joke.

• *sigh* Pete Davidson returns to the Update desk. This commentary was boring and didn’t make me laugh. End of story.

1/5


Sketch: Folk Of The Past

Peter, Paula, and Murray, a famous folk group, sing about time.

• Kate McKinnon singing? God, please no. This is giving me bad memories of the “Hallelujah” sketch.

• Harbour’s singing voice was so bad it was funny.

• The material isn’t helping matters. Just more of the same sex and penis jokes that have plagued this season.

• I will admit that the song was pretty well composed, musically. It’s just that the lyrics were awful.

1/5


Fake Commercial: Father-Son Podcasting Microphone

A new product that will help father and son finally open up to each other.

• Why have the ads this season been so uninteresting? This one felt like it had the potential to be a heartwarming slice-of-life kind of thing that the show hasn’t done much of since the 80s. But they have to ruin it by making it about a podcast, because, you know, everybody’s doing podcasts these days.

• The only positive was that Harbour and Kyle Mooney gave very convincing performances.

2/5


Sketch: Sauce

Italian grandparents have an argument about sauce.

• After an initial chuckle at the sight of Harbour in drag, they immediately ruin it by having Kate McKinnon do the same. This is the THIRD episode in a row where McKinnon plays a drag role, fourth if you count her appearance as Wilbur Ross in the Season 44 finale.

• McKinnon’s over-the-top and hammy routine is not helping this one bit. There are many actors who are great at going over-the-top. She is not of them.

• The sketch itself is full of broad Italian stereotypes that were seemingly ripped from an old issue of MAD Magazine.

-5/5


Musical Performance: “Easy”


Sketch: Dog Court

Dogs go on trial.

• When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a dumb cutesy sketch with the cast in bad animal costumes. But then they showed live animals, and I got interested.

• I did not need to see Kate flashing the camera.

• I thought this was surprisingly tolerable. None of the cast annoyed me too much, and the dogs were pretty cute.

• In the end, it was all worth it when that pug started licking Cecily in the face while she was trying to deliver her lines. I expected them to replace that part with the dress rehearsal version, but I’m happy to say that wasn’t the case.

3/5


Final thoughts: A slight upswing in quality. There were three sketches I liked in this one, compared to a combined total of zero in the last two.


Best sketches: Monologue, Grouch, Dog Court

Worst sketches: SoulCycle, Folk Of The Past, Sauce


Next review: Harry Styles

SNL Reviews: Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift (10/5/19)

Cold Open: Impeachment Strategy

Mike Pence meets with Rudy Giuliani, William Barr, and Mike Pompeo (Matthew Broderick) to strategize their options for the impeachment investigation.

• For the second episode in a row, we get McKinnon and Bryant in drag. Bryant in particular doesn’t even attempt to sound like a man. Please stop doing this.

• More lame “Giuliani is creepy” jokes. Remember when this show used to respect him?

• HUGE groan from the “joke” about Pence going to see a Judy Garland film with his wife.

• Then, Matthew Broderick shows up as Mike Pompeo, because WHY THE FUCK NOT?!!? There’s nobody in the cast who needs more screen time! I didn’t even realize it was him when I first saw the episode until they mentioned it in the goodnights.

• It seems that the only reason they cast Broderick in the role was so they could do a lame “Bueller? Bueller?” reference. Not even the Pompeo dummy was enough to make me laugh.

• No comment on the ending where Pence starts talking to a snake. What the hell is that all about?

0/5


Side Note: Pete Davidson is still absent from this episode while he’s away filming The Suicide Squad.


Monologue

Waller-Bridge reveals the secrets behind her hit shows Fleabag and Killing Eve.

• I’m not familiar with either Fleabag or Killing Eve. I mostly know the host for playing that awful SJW droid in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

• She makes a lot of anti-men jokes in this. Now I know why they cast her as that SJW droid!

• And she closes with some jokes about her genitals. Ummm, yay?

1/5


Sketch: What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Contestants have to figure out what’s out of place in each picture.

• This sketch from the Season 44 finale becomes recurring.

• The previous installment was perfectly fine, but I knew it would get old if they brought it back. Sure enough, the answers in this installment weren’t as funny.

• The only things I laughed at were Aidy’s character introducing herself simply by saying her name, and the Ellen DeGeneres joke.

• I should also point out that there seems to be a problem with the buzzer sound effects; the “incorrect” buzzer keeps stuttering. This was surprisingly not fixed for the rerun version.

2.5/5


Fake Commercial: Love Island

Meet the stars of the newest British reality show sensation, Love Island.

• The only joke in this one is, “lol British people talk funny”.

0/5


Sketch: 7 WANU Mid-Day

News anchors report on the latest stories while trying not to react to the race of each subject.

• Another one-joke sketch. This time, the only joke is that the black reporters get excited when the stories are about white people getting in trouble. I was not surprised at all to discover that Michael Che was one of the writers of this sketch.

0/5


Sketch: The War in Words

Letters between a housewife (Waller-Bridge) and her husband serving overseas (Mikey Day) take an unexpected turn.

• This sketch from last season’s Claire Foy episode becomes recurring.

• The joke with Phoebe’s letters being extremely short compared to her husband’s got old very fast, just like in the last installment.

• I did get a laugh out of the brief scene of her inserted into a vintage Hitler newsreel.

2/5


Musical Performance: “Lover”


Weekend Update (featuring Elizabeth Warren, Chen Biao, and Mort Fellner)

• Let’s see...Trump jokes, emoji jokes, comparing Giuliani to a vampire jokes. That’s right, it’s all of the things I really hate wrapped into one!

• They compare Trump to Lenny from Of Mice and Men, who, in case you didn’t know, is a character with a developmental disability. Ah, yes, jokes suggesting that Trump has a disability never get old!

• An actually funny joke from Colin about Bernie Sanders’ heart attack.

• McKinnon’s Liz Warren impression is the first commentary for this episode. Except for the creepy doll of herself that she briefly showed, nothing she did made me laugh.

• Another good joke from Colin about Pete Davidson’s absence.

• Bowen Yang gets his first showcase as a cast member, playing that Chen Biao character that I brought up in one of my earlier reviews. This perfectly sets the tone for the rest of his season: playing characters that are gay and Asian.

• This was my first exposure to Mikey Day’s “supercentenarian” character, Mort Fellner. He reads about centenarians in the news, with the twist being that they all died. Too bad this joke is funny for about 15 seconds before it gets old (heh, see what I did there?).

1.5/5


Sketch: Royal Romance

Looking back at the lesser-known interracial romance between the Duchess of Clerkenwell (Waller-Bridge), and Jimmy Jay Robinson (Kenan Thompson).

• This sketch was extremely long and boring, like most of the short films from this season. The sad thing is, it had an extremely clever concept that probably would have worked if it had been someone other than Kenan in the sketch. They should have saved this one for Eddie Murphy’s episode. Can you imagine what he would have done with this sketch?

• Absolutely dreadful Prince Charles impression from Beck Bennett. He looks nothing like him!

• As much as I hate to say it, Kenan’s fast-talking black guy routine is getting extremely stale by now. He should really start thinking about leaving.

0/5


Musical Performance: “False God”


Sketch: State Line Bar

Four biker girls at a bar get rowdy while talking about their mutual ex-boyfriend.

• Nothing to say about this one, except that it was extremely boring and didn’t make me laugh once. This really could have benefitted from Jenny Slate swearing.

1/5


Final Thoughts: Another lackluster episode. While Phoebe Waller-Bridge was an okay host, they gave her nothing to show for it.

Best sketches: Colin’s Bernie Sanders and Pete Davidson jokes (you know it’s bad when Colin Jost provides my only big laughs of an episode)

Worst sketches: They were all pretty bad, but Impeachment Strategy, Love Island, 7 WANU Mid-Day, and Royal Romance were especially bad.


Next episode: David Harbour/Camila Cabello

SNL Reviews: Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish (9/28/19)

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

SNL Reviews: Daniel Craig/The Weeknd (3/7/2020)

Cold Open: The Ingraham Angle

Laura Ingraham discusses the coronavirus with her guests before interviewing Elizabeth Warren (played by herself).

• More of the same Ingraham bullshit that got old a long time ago. I can’t believe I actually praised this impression the first time I saw it, but that’s only because I didn’t know who she was.

• Please stop with the fake sponsor plugs. If I wanted to see fake sponsor plugs in a sketch, I’d watch something written by Jack Handey.

• I did get a chuckle out of Bernie’s running mate being the ghost of Fidel Castro.

• I’ve already told you how much I hate Cecily as Jeanine Pirro, and the awfulness of Alex Moffat’s Eric Trump, so I won’t say anything further.

• Darrell Hammond returns as Chris Matthews! Now here’s a cameo I can actually get behind! It’s nice that they let Darrell play him one last time.

• Already, Matthews’ lines are better than anything else in this cold open. I love that laugh he keeps doing.

• But then, something horrible happens. We get a cameo from the REAL Elizabeth Warren. Would they ever let a Republican candidate on the show these days? I don’t think so! The last one I can think of is that Dan Crenshaw guy, and that was only because they were salty that he criticized them.

0.5/5 (the .5 is for Matthews’ appearance)


Monologue

Daniel Craig shares a deleted scene from No Time To Die.

• Craig starts off pretty promising, but then he throws it to a “deleted scene” from the newest Bond film that lasts FOREVER. And, of course, it has aged extremely poorly given that the film’s release date was delayed for over a year not long after this, but that certainly isn’t SNL’s fault.

• Since Darrell was in the building, they should have let him do his Sean Connery and interrupt the monologue like he did when Pierce Brosnan hosted. That would have been miles better than this “deleted scene” bullshit.

• Not to mention, the “joke” that they’re trying to tell in this (“HURR DURR LAS VEGAS CASINOS ARE ROWDY!!!”) was something that the Bond series already addressed in Diamonds are Forever, where a specific point is made about how Bond’s style makes him stand out in a casino.

1/5


Sketch: The Sands of Modesto

A soap opera must take precautions in order to prevent its actors from catching the coronavirus.

• This was kind of a lame and one-joke sketch. Everyone and their grandma had made these jokes by then.

• Kenan’s character voice was amusing.

• The only laughs I got were when Daniel used a fake arm to stroke his wife’s hair, and the use of dolls during a fight scene.

2/5


Short Film: On the Couch

An R&B song about men sleeping on the couch instead of in bed with their lovers.

• ANOTHER FUCKING MUSICAL SHORT FILM?!!?? I think I’ll pass on this one.

1/5


Sketch: The Deirdre Show

Two guests clash on a daytime talk show.

• This was cut from the previous episode. I’m assuming Mulaney played Craig’s role.

• You know, I think I’m starting to see why they cut this in the first place. The only joke is that they don’t want to eat the cooking utensils.

• Apparently, this is based off of an incident on The Tyra Banks Show where Patti LaBelle didn’t want to eat a paper plate. The only way you are going to enjoy this sketch is if you’ve seen what it’s parodying. Since I haven’t seen it, I found this extremely dull. They definitely should have left this in dress.

1/5


Sketch: Debbie Downer

Debbie Downer appears at a wedding to express her grievances about 2020.

• This was a huge surprise. I was totally not expecting to see Debbie Downer again, especially since it’s been 14 years since she last appeared (not counting her cameo at the 40th Anniversary Special).

• Playing the original Debbie Downer theme song shows just how much Rachel has aged since she was on the show. She looks like she’s almost sixty years old.

• Maybe the long absence did this character some good, because I found this to be the best sketch of the night. For once, they make it through a Debbie Downer sketch without breaking.

• I like how they shook things up a bit by playing the “wah-wah” sound effects over the other party guests’ reactions to Debbie asking what their thoughts are about Trump. They even threw in a twist when they instead played a “sexy” variation over a shot of Aidy’s character raising her eyebrows up and down with a big grin on her face.

5/5


Musical Performance: “Blinding Lights”


Weekend Update (featuring Bottle Boi and The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party)

• We start with a painful deluge of “haha Trump and Biden are old” jokes.

• Then we get a joke suggesting Trump has brain disease. Stay classy, guys.

• Bowen Yang debuts a character called “Bottle Boi”, who’s here to talk about NYC’s plastic ban. Forgive me if I sound a little harsh, but this character is FUCKING AWFUL. Not only is it Yang’s 8,000th gay character in a row, but he also speaks in a severely annoying voice that induces suicide to those who hear it. I haven’t visited the Reddit thread about this episode, but I’m sure those morons gushed about it like they do with all of his shitty characters.

• Another anti-white joke from Che. Is that all he ever does?

• That annoying Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party character is back. Not even gonna bother talking about this one.

-5/5


Sketch: Accent Coach

Daniel Craig brings his vocal coach with him to a rehearsal for Knives Out.

• Now we get another “funny accent” sketch.

• Like most funny accent sketches, this one completely sucks. The majority of this one is just Beck Bennett talking in annoying Southern accents.

• It randomly turns into a “fake vomit” sketch at the end.

0/5


Sketch: Deep Quote Game Night

Game night goes off the rails when two players (Craig, Heidi Gardner) play a new game.

• Any attempt by SNL to do a “game night” setting will automatically pale in comparison to the amazing sketch from Season 28 with Rachel Dratch’s sore loser character destroying the house in a fit of rage. This one definitely pales in comparison to that classic sketch. 

• It feels like the concept for this one was based on some kind of backstage joke. Does Heidi Gardner (assuming she wrote this) have some kind of talent for quoting movies that she just had to write into a sketch? If so, then I’m not laughing.

• That being said, I did laugh at the part where Daniel coughed, and Heidi correctly guessing it was from Philadelphia. 

2/5


Musical Performance: “Scared to Live”


Short Film: Overnight Salad

Aidy Bryant sings about making an “overnight salad” for her husband (Craig).

• Yet another damn musical short, but this one was actually pretty good. The set design and props were great, as well as the visual of the salad that Aidy makes.

• The song itself is pretty catchy. I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but Aidy has a really nice singing voice.

• Great twist ending where it’s revealed that she died after eating the salad.

4/5


Final thoughts: Another mediocre outing. Daniel Craig was a good host, but he didn’t have much to work with. Unfortunately, he turns out to be the last regular host of Season 45. A few days after this episode aired, it was announced that SNL would be halting production due to the coronavirus. The cast went on to make three special “At Home” editions of SNL to finish out the season.


Best sketches: Debbie Downer, Overnight Salad, Darrell as Chris Matthews

Worst sketches: Elizabeth Warren’s cameo, Bottle Boi, Accent Coach


Before I look at the At Home specials, I’m going back to the beginning of the season to cover the episodes I skipped. So, my next review will be of the season premiere, hosted by Woody Harrelson.

SNL Reviews: John Mulaney/David Byrne (2/29/20)

Cold Open: Press Conference

Mike Pence holds a press conference regarding the coronavirus, and takes questions from the Democratic candidates.

• One of the first jokes is about how Mike Pence doesn’t believe in science. We’re in for a long night, folks.

• Fred Armisen’s awful Bloomberg impression is back. I did get a chuckle out of the part where he says that he gained access to the conference by pretending to cough on everyone, though.

• For some reason, Mulaney takes over as Joe Biden. Was Sudeikis not available or something? They do the same “You look different” joke that they did with Sudeikis in the Eddie Murphy episode, but it wasn’t as funny here.

• Sadly, we can chalk up Biden as another celebrity Mulaney has no business portraying. He’s a great comedian, no doubt, but he’s a terrible impressionist. In fact, his delivery kind of hurt the dialogue. Sudeikis would have made it funny just by the way he talks.

1/5


Monologue

Mulaney talks about being the first person to host SNL on a Leap Day, having a dad with no friends, and his Make-a-Wish experience.

• Already we’re off to a promising start with his Louis Farrakhan joke.

• Interesting bit of trivia that he’s the first person to host on a Leap Day.

• Then he ruins it by making a joke about wanting Trump to end up like Julius Caesar.

• He saves it at the end with his heartwarming story about an experience he had with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

• The weakest of Mulaney’s monologues so far.

3/5


Sketch: The Sound of Music

Rolf (Mulaney) and Liesl (Cecily Strong) sing about their age difference.

• I’m glad they didn’t give Liesl’s role to Kate McKinnon.

• This one was just okay. I don’t have much else to say other than the fact that Mulaney’s singing voice was funny.

3/5


Sketch: Uncle Meme

Uncle Ron (Mulaney) is upset about his nephew Tyler (Pete Davidson) turning him into an internet meme. In other words, HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?

• Yeah, I know this is another “let’s be hip” sketch, but I wouldn’t be complaining if they were all this good.

• “WHEN SHE WANNA SMASH BUT THE PEE-PEE TOO SMALL”

• I love the random reveal that Ice-T retweeted one of Tyler’s memes.

• My favorite of the memes has to be either the Joker one or the angel one, both featuring hilariously bad Photoshop.

4/5


Short Film: Kyle’s Transformation

Kyle Mooney transforms his body so he can get into a sketch about male strippers.

• Finally, a short film that’s actually somewhat good! Too bad it took them 14 episodes into the season to do it!

• This sketch is automatically made better by the fact that they play the song “Last Resort” by Papa Roach in the background. Unfortunately, it seems to have been taken out of the version available online. BOOOOO!!!!!

• For some reason, I find the fact that Kyle wants to be in a sketch about male strippers very funny.

• Kyle’s “fit” makeup is hilarious.

• We get a Lorne cameo, too, which is always a good thing.

3.5/5


Sketch: Say, Those Two Don’t Seem To Like Each Other

Two sisters (Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant) battle with their brother for the attention of a respected admiral (Beck Bennett).

• This sketch from the Jennifer Lopez episode earlier in the season becomes recurring.

• I hated the first installment, so my expectations for this one were rather low. For the first minute and a half, we get much of the same routine from before.

• Thankfully, things pick up when Mulaney enters as the sisters’ annoying (and somewhat gay) little brother. His performance saves this sketch from being a total misfire.

3/5


Musical Performance: “Once in a Lifetime”


Weekend Update (featuring Chris Redd)

• They make a cringeworthy and desperate Thanos reference in this one. PLEASE GIVE US FREE STUFF, DISNEY!!!!!

• After a long stretch of dumb jokes about Trump and the coronavirus, Michael Che makes an extremely tasteless Steve Irwin joke. Does this twerp have any shame?

• Finally, we get a funny joke when Colin follows up the phrase “coming back from the dead” with a picture of Joe Biden.

• Another really good joke about Hilary Clinton starting up a new podcast, followed by Colin saying “Maybe we should lock her up”.

• Chris Redd has a commentary about all the things that annoyed him during Black History Month. I don’t understand why they don’t give this guy more screen time, because this was some hilarious shit. All of his complaints about Visa cards and Barnes and Noble were great, especially the black Frankenstein Monster looking like a Soundcloud rapper who’s about to get beat up by the police.

• After Redd leaves, we get another “haha Eric Trump is retarded” joke. What the hell do these guys have against Eric Trump?

• We end on an awful note with an anti-Catholic joke.

3/5 (this was mostly for the Redd commentary)


Sketch: Airport Sushi

A man (Pete Davidson) learns why you should never order sushi at LaGuardia Airport.

• DEAR GOD, NO!!!! Not this musical crap again! I was hoping we’d get through the episode without another one of these, but the “geniuses” at SNL disappoint me yet again.

• This is probably the worst one of the bunch. While the other two at least stuck to parodying a single musical, this one is a confusing mishmash of songs from The Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, and more. Once again, the “parody” lyrics are HORRENDOUS. The jokes are all about things that only people living in NYC will understand. I do not live in NYC, so I found them all unfunny.

• McKinnon shows up to make my ears bleed as Little Orphan Annie, singing a song about Mike Bloomberg to the tune of “Tomorrow”. I bet Stooge is going to love this sketch.

• I did NOT need to see Beck Bennett dressed as a baby.

• Random Jake Gyllenhaal cameo, because why the hell not? Can we get through at least one episode without resorting to a random celebrity cameo?

• David Byrne appears as a baggage handler. When was the last time the musical guest appeared in a sketch?

• Overall, JESUS CHRIST, this was awful. If they bring Mulaney back to host, they better not do this crap again.

-3,000/5


Musical Performance: “Toe Jam”


Sketch: Jackie Robinson

The story of the first black person to boo Jackie Robinson.

• For the last sketch of Black History Month, couldn’t they have done something a little more, I don’t know, respectful? All we get here are lame jokes about people with heart defects.

1/5


Final thoughts: Definitely the weakest Mulaney episode so far. To be fair, it was still pretty good for Season 45 standards, but it wasn’t as consistent as his first, or even his second. The good stuff was really good, while the bad stuff was HORRENDOUS.


Best sketches: Uncle Meme, Kyle’s Transformation, Chris Redd’s commentary, David Byrne’s performances

Worst sketches: Press Conference, Most of Weekend Update, Airport Sushi, Jackie Robinson


Next review: Daniel Craig/The Weeknd

SNL Reviews: RuPaul/Justin Bieber (2/8/2020)

Cold Open: Democratic Debate

The remaining candidates face off in a debate.

• Nice to see Mikey Day get a big role as George Stephanopolous.

• Rather cringy joke about Trump going “Super Saiyan”. HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?

• Sudeikis’s Biden is a riot once again, especially the “creeping up from behind” joke.

• I don’t understand why there’s such heavy applause for Kate’s Elizabeth Warren. It’s one of the worst impressions the show has ever had.

• Pete Davidson takes over as Tom Steyer. While I admire that they didn’t get Will Ferrell to come back to pad out the cameos even more, they still forgot to make anything he says funny.

• Probably the best debate sketch so far by default. It still sucked, but I found it a lot more tolerable than the rest.

2/5


Monologue

RuPaul shares his philosophy on drag.

• It’s rather surreal seeing RuPaul not in drag. He actually appeared on the show back in the Season 19 premiere, where he was in a game show sketch where you had to guess people’s genders. Of course, that sketch would probably never air today.

• While I must confess that I think RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the dumbest TV shows ever, I really like how energetic he is here. And I have to admit that some of the words he says are automatically funny because of his voice.

3/5


Sketch: Family Charades

The Johnson family faces off against another family in an intense game of charades.

• As far as charades-related sketches go, nothing will ever beat the one from Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s 2006 episode.

• This one isn’t too bad, but the main joke got old very quickly.

• Ego Nwodim gets a lead role. Can you please promote her to a full cast member for Season 46, Lorne?

2.5/5


Short Film: Chad & RuPaul

RuPaul discovers Chad (Pete Davidson) on stage, and tries to give him a makeover.

• These Chad films continue to be the only thing I can tolerate Pete Davidson in. Something about his bored and uninterested delivery is hilarious.

• That being said, this was pretty boring, and not as good as the one I reviewed in the Mulaney episode from Season 44.

• I could have done without seeing Davidson in drag, thank you very much.

2/5


Sketch: Check Splitting

Two employees (Cecily Strong, RuPaul) make a big fuss about splitting the check at lunch with their coworkers.

• Another really boring sketch, not helped by the fact that Cecily’s character was extremely annoying. And, big shocker here, it was an Anderson/Sublette sketch.

• Kyle Mooney’s voice was pretty funny, though.

• This was surprisingly the first appearance of RuPaul in drag in a sketch (not counting the short film).

1/5


Fake Commercial: Boop-It

A new toy that is in no way like a Bop-It.

• What was the point of this one? Do you know anybody who still plays with a Bop-It? I sure as hell don’t. Maybe if they made this sketch back when Bop-It was popular it would have worked.

• Then again, no it wouldn’t. The “Boop-It” isn’t really a parody of the real thing as much as it is the same toy. What’s the point of making fun of it if you’re going to make it work the exact same way?

• I thought Beck’s role as the drunk father would help save this, but he only ended up making it worse.

0/5


Sketch: The Library

A library invites RuPaul to teach kids how to read.

• SNL takes on those “Drag Queen Story Hour” events that have been plaguing our country for a few years now. And, surprisingly, it actually turns out to be pretty funny!

• RuPaul’s offensive comments towards the characters in the books he’s reading are great.

• The only way they could’ve made it better is if they had him get arrested at the end for being a child predator, like many other people at those Drag Queen Story Hours have been.

4/5


Musical Performance: “Yummy”


Weekend Update (featuring Cathy Anne and Chloe Fineman)

• We start off with more horrid Trump jokes, including one comparing his acquittal to the OJ Simpson acquittal. Was Trump accused of murdering two people? No, so where does the comparison come from?

• Absolutely ghastly joke about Rush Limbaugh trading in his Medal of Freedom for a bottle of oxygen.  If they made that joke about a Democrat, they would have been fired.

• We get another montage of Trump slurring his words edited together to make it seem like he’s losing his mind. Enough with these!

• Chloe Fineman shows up to give her thoughts on the Oscars. While we (thankfully) don’t get any jokes about “WHITE MALE RAGE” this time, we unfortunately get Fineman doing annoying impressions of all the movies. This marks a turning point for my opinions of Fineman. Once I reach the SNL at Home episodes, I quickly lose my patience with her.

• I genuinely laughed at Che’s joke about the black display figures being placed behind bars. But then he ruins it by immediately cracking up at it.

• Cecily returns as Cathy Anne. Once you’ve seen one Cathy Anne appearance, you’ve pretty much seen them all.

1/5


Sketch: Thirsty Cops

Two thirsty cops make their moves on a driver they’ve pulled over for speeding.

• This sketch from last season’s Seth Meyers episode becomes recurring.

• The character that Leslie Jones played in the last installment has been replaced by a character played by RuPaul.

• I didn’t really like the last Thirsty Cops, and, surprise surprise, this one’s pretty bad too. Hope they don’t bring it back again.

1/5


Sketch: The Old New York Show

Madge and Dickie host a talk show from their hotel room featuring special guest, Mr. Tarry Teats.

• Ugh, yet another self-indulgent McKinnon/Bryant pairing. Even worse, they made this one a talk show, one of the most overused premises in SNL history. Expect this sketch to become recurring in Season 46!

• McKinnon’s performance is really over the top and annoying here. Season 45 has been surprisingly light on her so far, but this sketch reminds me how much I hate her.

• Aidy Bryant isn’t much better. I’m slowly beginning to lose my patience with her, too.

• RuPaul’s character added nothing to this, but what’s up with the name they gave him? “Tarry Teats”? James Anderson’s influence must be rubbing off on these two.

0/5


Musical Performance: “Intentions”


Final thoughts: A slight step up from the JJ Watt episode. The sex and potty jokes were thankfully reigned in, but there are still several problems. There were some strong ideas in the first half of the episode, but after Update, it all went downhill. As for RuPaul, he didn’t do too bad, considering how much I hate his show. I’d be alright if he hosted again.


Best sketches: Monologue, The Library, Joe Biden’s lines in Democratic Debate

Worst sketches: Boop-It, Weekend Update, The Old New York Show


Next review: John Mulaney/David Byrne