The Amanda Show reviews: Episode 1

Sorry for the delay of my SNL Season 45 overview, but I wanted to share something special I’ve been working on. You see, back when I was a child, one of my favorite shows was The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon. It helped me develop a love of sketch comedy (along with All That) and I’m surprised to see how well most of it has held up. So I thought I’d do a review of all the episodes of the show in order. I won’t be rating the sketches.



Cold Open

Fans try to get into the audience for Amanda’s first episode, while Amanda herself is running late. Johnny Kassir tries to open up the show in her stead, and the audience beats him up. Meanwhile, Amanda’s #1 fan, Penelope Taynt, tries to sneak in.

• A nice way for the show to begin. It gives you a sense of how highly-anticipated the show was when it first aired.

• First appearance of “The Swiss Guy”, a black guy dressed like a stereotypical Swiss man. I don’t know what made the writers come up with him, but he’s hilarious.

• We also get the first appearance of Penelope Taynt, Amanda’s #1 fan, please. She’s pretty much already fully formed in this appearance, though the tattoo of Amanda on her abdomen is never seen or brought up again.

• Amanda’s helicopter scene is a pretty funny way to introduce her.

• The pilot in this scene (played by the late Henry Gibson) asks if she is one of the Rugrats. Ironically, she later did join the cast of Rugrats in that show’s dying years.

• Johnny Kassir’s introduction, where he gets beat up by the audience, is a real blast.



Opening sequence

The first season’s intro is an animated sequence where Amanda, bored by what’s on TV (the program she’s watching is different in each episode), turns it off and jumps inside, where she sets up her own show. This was apparently animated in-house by Nickelodeon Animation Studios, and it’s a great way to start the show. The animated Amanda also appears in scene transitions throughout the first season and the first few episodes of season 2. It’s also worth noting that the theme was composed by the legendary Stewart Copeland, drummer of The Police. The theme is based on a composition he did for the first Spyro the Dragon game a year earlier.

TV Clips: Two rabbits, and a man saying the word “Fork” in a foreign language


Intro

Amanda gets pizza and flowers delivered to her by Josh Server and Kenan Thompson, who congratulate her on the start of her new show.

• A really charming appearance from Server and Thompson from All That, which Amanda was also on at the time. They’re even kind enough to give the Swiss Guy a muffin.



Fake Commercial: Pedestrian Airbag

A new airbag that gets you out of sticky situations, like bullies or unattractive boys.

• The first of many fake ads on the show, and it happens to be one of my favorites as well.

• Unlike a lot of the products shown in SNL’s fake ads, the ones on this show feel like they could exist in real life. I know I’ve definitely been in need of something like this in my life before.

• An oddity with this fake ad is that it was shot on film. Most of the show’s commercials were shot in videotape like the rest of the sketches, but processed with FilmLook.

• How in the world did they get away with “The Inflatable Friend”?

Sketch: Judge Trudy

Judge Trudy (Amanda) presides over two cases involving a boy (Drake Bell) who pushed his principal’s (Johnny Kassir) car into the school pool, and a girl (Raquel Lee) who got punished for playing baseball indoors.

• The first appearance of perhaps the show’s most famous recurring sketch. And there’s certainly a lot different about it in this first installment. For one thing, the bailiff is a different, skinnier actor, and he doesn’t have his usual over the top personality.

• The other big difference is when the “Dancing Lobsters” do their usual dance at the end. The generic music that normally plays is instead “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C+C Music Factory. This may be a reason why this episode is not available on DVD, although it still airs on TV.

• Other than those differences, all the usual Judge Trudy routines are in place. Although I must say that I found this one kind of empty.



Stop-Motion Amanda

Amanda battles her mean teacher in a fantasy sequence.

• A hallmark of Season 1 are these bizarre, stop-motion sketches (animated by Tom Megalis, who has also done work for KaBlam!) where Amanda gets into crazy situations. Some people find them creepy, but I find them hilarious.

• This one is a little different from the rest in that it has live-action bookends to establish that this is just a fantasy Amanda is having in class.

• Nancy Sullivan plays her first of many teacher roles. This is also the first appearance of the classroom set that will appear in numerous sketches (most notably the Mr. Gullible sketches).


Sketch: The Klutzes

A crazy family that is extremely clumsy tries to have a nice night at home.

• Another recurring sketch debut. I’ve never been a big fan of these characters, mostly because their catchphrase (“Not a problem!”) gets old extremely fast. It also might be because most of the humor revolves around pratfalls, in my opinion, one of the lamest joke premises ever.



Sketch: Cynthia Worthington

An attractive young lady (Amanda) has some disgusting habits, much to the disgust of her date (Drake).

• Speaking of characters I’ve never been a fan of...

• I LOATHE this character. I feel like she is just an excuse for Dan Schneider to insert his fetishes. Don’t believe me? Two of the things she does in this sketch are shave her armpits (ew) and sand a callous off of her foot (gross!). In fact, I think I’m going to keep a count of all the foot jokes in this show, because there’s a bunch. So that’s Foot Joke #1, out of God knows how much more.



Sketch: Mother Caboose

An extremely old lady (Amanda) reads a story about Katie Beth Sue, before she falls out of her chair.

• This sketch seems like it was set up to become recurring, but it never does. Good thing, too, because it was kind of bland.



Penelope Taynt

Penelope steals part of Amanda’s room, and shows Drake and Raquel her website.

• The first appearance of AmandaPlease.com, which was indeed a real website. In fact, it outlasted the show itself for a long time, until it was shut down in 2012.



Closing

Amanda names all 50 states backwards while punching an astronaut.

• This was amusing enough. And you’ve gotta love Penelope running across the stage at the end, as soon as Amanda leaves, mind you.


Final thoughts: A mixed episode. You can tell they were still experimenting with some things.

Season 45 overview

Let's take a look back at Season 45 of SNL. There were a couple of good episodes, a few horrendous ones,  but most of this season was painfully boring.

First, I’ll be looking at the cast members.

Repertory Players

Beck Bennett: I hate his impressions, and most of the sketches he wrote were awful. Overall, not a very good season for him. Would I be okay if he got fired over the offseason? Yeah, pretty much.

Aidy Bryant: This season saw a dramatic increase in her airtime. On one hand, we got all those awful sketches with Kate McKinnon, but she also was responsible for two of my favorite sketches of the season; Eleanor’s House and Aidy’s Childhood Journal. Even though she’s heading into her ninth season as a cast member, I’d like to see her come back. That is, if they keep her as far away from McKinnon as possible.

Pete Davidson: Until the At Home episodes, Pete barely did anything this season. While this was to be expected given that he was away filming a movie, he barely appeared even in episodes where he was actually in the building. Does this mean he’s on his way out? If so....THANK GOD!

Mikey Day: My favorite member of the current cast. Most of the best sketches of the season were written by him. If Colin Jost ever steps down as head writer, I’d love for Day to take over.

Heidi Gardner: In her first season as a repertory player, Heidi Gardner continues to get on my nerves. Any time she appeared in a sketch usually resulted in her annoying me.

Kate McKinnon: My least favorite member of the current cast. Her constant drag roles, mugging, and annoying voice continue to grate on me. Oddly, it seems as though this year went lighter on her. There were some nights where she only appeared in the cold open and one other sketch.

Alex Moffat: It’s a shame that Moffat’s awful Eric Trump impression has soured me on him, because he actually seems like he has some talent.

Kyle Mooney: Why is this guy still on the show? They’re clearly not interested in using him properly, and most of the times they do give him a lead role completely suck. He and Beck should leave together and go back to their YouTube channel where they belong.

Chris Redd: Redd continues to be underused in his first season as a repertory player. That commentary he did in the Mulaney episode made me realize that he isn’t so bad, so why do they never use him?

Cecily Strong: Still not the biggest fan of her, but she didn’t annoy me as much this season. So I guess I’d call that a step in the right direction.

Kenan Thompson: In his 17th season, Kenan is still a reliable presence. His airtime took a slight decrease this year, though, and now that he’s also co-producing the All That revival for Nick, I’m worried that he might be on his way out soon.

Melissa Villaseñor: The only notable thing she did all year was WHITE MALE RAGE. Other than that, I don’t see why she’s still here.



Featured Players

Ego Nwodim: She continues to impress me in her second year as a featured player. Hopefully, come Season 46, she’ll be a repertory player.

Chloe Fineman: She started out somewhat bland, but, around the time of the At Home episodes, she started to get on my last nerves. I hope she keeps herself restrained if she comes back.

Bowen Yang: SNL shows a lot of respect for their first Asian cast member by giving him nothing but stereotypical roles. However, if they had to get rid of one of the featured players, I’d definitely prefer it if he returned over Fineman.



Now, how do the episodes themselves stack up? Let's see...

Episode Rankings:

Best: Chance the Rapper, Eddie Murphy/Lizzo, and John Mulaney/David Byrne

Worst: Kristen Stewart/Coldplay, Will Ferrell/King Princess, Adam Driver/Halsey

And, lastly, we rank the sketches....

Sketches

Best: Grouch (from David Harbour), First Impressions Court (from Chance the Rapper), Tasty Toaster Tarts (from Chance the Rapper), Spooky Songs (from Chance the Rapper), Space Mistakes (from Chance the Rapper), Doug (from Harry Styles), Funeral DJs (from Harry Styles), Monologue (from Scarlett Johansson), I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (from Scarlett Johansson), Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (from Eddie Murphy), Holiday Baking Championship (from Eddie Murphy), The Masked Singer (from Eddie Murphy), Food Dudes (from JJ Watt), The Library (from RuPaul), Uncle Meme (from John Mulaney), Debbie Downer (from Daniel Craig), Overnight Salad (from Daniel Craig), Hal Willner tribute (from At Home 1), PornHub (from At Home 2), Aidy's Childhood Journal (from At Home 2), Eleanor's House (from At Home 3)

Worst: Inside the Beltway (from Woody Harrelson), WANU Mid-Day (from Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Sauce (from David Harbour), Hungry Jury (from Kristen Stewart), Stargazing (from Kristen Stewart), Lunch Run (from Harry Styles), Heinz Relax (from Will Ferrell), The First Thanksgiving (from Will Ferrell), Ventriloquist (from Will Ferrell), NATO Cafeteria (from Jennifer Lopez), Wisconsin Women (from Jennifer Lopez), Sexual Harassment Charlie (from Scarlett Johansson), A Conway Marriage Story (from Scarlett Johansson), DelTaco Commercial Shoot (from Adam Driver), WHITE MALE RAGE commentary (from Adam Driver), Big Willie's Pizza (from JJ Watt), The Old New York Show (from RuPaul), Airport Sushi (from John Mulaney), Bottle Boi commentary (from Daniel Craig), Whatcha Cookin' On? (from At Home 1), The Reveal (from At Home 2), Let Kids Drink (from At Home 3), Danny Trejo rap (from At Home 3)

SNL Reviews: SNL At Home 3 (5/9/20)

Cold Open: Virtual Graduation

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. Thankfully, this ends up being Anderson’s last episode as a writer. HOORAY!!!!!

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”, something that I thought was just a random non-sequitur until my dad informed me that he actually has one.

• 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.

SNL Reviews: SNL At Home 2 (4/25/20)

Cold Open: A Message from Dr. Anthony Fauci

Anthony Fauci (Brad Pitt) delivers a message to counter the misinformation that the president has been spreading.

• When this first aired, I had no idea who was playing Fauci. Then, at the end, he took off the makeup and revealed that he was Brad Pitt the whole time. Hard to believe that this is only the second time he’s ever appeared on SNL.

• I eventually found out that the only reason they cast him in this role is because the real Fauci said that he wanted to be played by Brad Pitt in a movie. I don’t know why he’d want that considering they look nothing like each other.

• Anyway, this cold open was extremely lame and I have no further comments.

0/5


Side Note: There is no monologue in this episode for some reason.


Sketch: What Up With That: Home Edition

A special Home Edition of What Up With That featuring Charles Barkley and DJ Khaled.

• What the hell? Now here’s a sketch that I never expected to see again! The last time they did this was in Season 38, back when Bill Hader and Fred Armisen were still in the cast.

• This is sadly missing Hader’s Lindsey Buckingham, the best thing about these sketches.

• Never mind, I forgot about Jason Sudeikis’s crazy dancing guy, Vance. Anytime Jason is in a role that requires him to dance is great.

• I certainly wasn’t expecting to see Charles Barkley here. He was pretty good, as usual.

• Mikey’s appearance as “Howie Hot Wheels” was okay, but I liked the dancing of his kid in the background better.

• Then the sketch turns into a random acid trip with shitty stock effects. Thanks, but I got my fill of shitty stock effects in that meditation sketch from the last episode.

3/5


Sketch: In Depth With Brian Sutter

HLN reporter Brian Sutter gets Snapchat filters on him while trying to do a report. You know what that means: HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS????

• They did a sketch like this when Adam Sandler hosted last year. That one sucked, and, hey, so does this one.

0/5


Short Film: Stuck In The House

A music video about going crazy while stuck in quarantine.

• I initially groaned when I saw that this was yet another Pete Davidson rap song, but then Adam Sandler showed up and this immediately got better.

• The best part was when Rob Schneider showed up as the “You can do it!” guy from The Waterboy. That actually gave me a good laugh.

3.5/5


Fake Commercial: Bartenson’s Grocery Store

An ad for a grocery store that sells less sought after products.

• ANOTHER unfunny McKinnon/Bryant sketch. I swear they keep doing these just to spite me.

• Random observation: The logo for “Bartenson’s” reminds me of New England grocery store chain Shaw’s.

0/5


Sketch: Big Dominican Lunch

David Ortiz hosts a cooking show.

• David Ortiz again? Do a majority of SNL’s viewers even know who he is? I feel sorry for poor Kenan having to do these lame cookie-cutter characters all the damn time.

1/5


Fake Commercial: AirBnb

An AirBnb guest overstays her welcome.

• Another annoying Chloe Fineman character showcase. My good feelings towards Fineman at the beginning of the season are slowly disappearing.

0/5


Sketch: Released Early

A former inmate FaceTimes a series of flings after getting released from jail.

• Chris Redd FaceTimes random people. Boring.

1/5


Musical Performance

Miley Cyrus sings “Wish You Were Here”


Weekend Update (featuring Pete Davidson)

• At least they’re using the Weekend Update background this time. And they’ve thankfully stopped using that fake laugh track from the last episode.

• More dumb Trump jokes suggesting that he wants you to inject bleach into your body.

• Michael Che is wearing a Madea shirt for some reason. I can’t believe that’s a sentence I just typed.

• Then we get more anti-white people jokes from Che.

• Pete Davidson appears via Zoom to give tips about dating during the quarantine. All I can say is that it sucked like all of his commentaries.

• Che’s Kelly Clarkson joke was actually funny, but then he ruins it with more “KILL WHITEY” jokes.

1/5


Sketch: SoulCycle Virtual Workouts

SoulCycle instructors document their most inspirational at-home workouts.

• Sorry to steal your catchphrase, Stooge. No, just...no.

0/5


Sketch: OJ Address

OJ Simpson (Kenan Thompson) delivers a message on Twitter about how he’s doing during the pandemic.

• I already have no faith in this sketch because it has Kenan doing one of his worst impressions, OJ Simpson. I did find it interesting that he appears to be doing this sketch in Los Angeles, judging from the palm trees in the background. I thought that all the show’s cast members had to live in New York?

• In my opinion, the only person who could get away with making OJ jokes on SNL is Norm. Anyone else just falls flat.

1/5


Sketch: FaceTime

Paul Rudd catches up with his cousin Mandy for the first time in years.

• A pointless cameo from Paul Rudd.

• Heidi Gardner completely destroys any potential this had with her decision to portray her character as mentally disabled.

0/5


Sketch: The Reveal

A detective (Beck Bennett) conducts an investigation via Zoom while also showcasing his songwriting abilities.

• An awful, awful sketch. Not only is it a lame Law and Order parody, it’s also just an excuse for the cast to sing some really awful songs.

-5/5


Fake Commercial: Pornhub

Uniting people during the coronavirus in a unique way.

• This had a relatively boring beginning, but then I lost it when they revealed it to be a Pornhub ad! Definitely my biggest laugh of the episode.

5/5


Sketch: Whiskers ‘R We

Barbara DeDrew showcases several new cats up for adoption on her website.

• Haven’t seen this sketch in a while.

• You know how last time I said that the highlight of that shitty RBG exercise sketch was Kate McKinnon’s cat? Well, now that cat is starring in its own sketch.

• While this was more of the same Snapchat filter bullshit, I will admit that I have a weakness for cats. So I enjoyed this slightly more than I should have.

• My only problem was that they made a Brett Kavanaugh joke. This isn’t 2018 anymore.

3.5/5


Short Film: What’s My Name

Kyle Mooney sings about forgetting his friend’s name.

• Can we please do a short film that isn’t musical for once?

• I liked the 80s aesthetic this was going for, and it was a treat to see Kyle playing two characters at once.

2.5/5


Sketch: Melissa Seals The Deal

Melissa seals the deal after a successful date.

• Three minutes of Melissa talking to herself. Yawn.

1/5


Sketch: Aidy’s Childhood Journal

Aidy Bryant shares pages from one of her childhood journals.

• A nice way to end the night. I can identify with this sketch because I used to have tons of journals full of my drawings as a child.

• The page dedicated to Rosie O’Donnell was hilarious.

• I’d really like to see more autobiographical sketches like this.

5/5


Final thoughts: A step up from the last episode. This benefited from less prominent celebrity cameos and more creative premises, but there’s still a lot of really dumb shit, namely Chloe Fineman and all the stupid rap songs.


Best sketches: Stuck in the House, Pornhub, Whiskers ‘R We, Aidy’s Childhood Journal

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Brian Sutter, Bartenson’s Grocery Store, AirBnb, SoulCycle, FaceTime, The Reveal


Next review: SNL At Home 3

SNL Reviews: SNL at Home (4/11/20)

Here’s something a little different. I’m going to be reviewing the SNL at Home episodes, the first time I’ve ever looked at special episodes on this site. The reason for that is because these are more like actual episodes than specials, so they fall within my criteria for reviewing.


Cold Open

• A very brief cold open, showing the cast turning on all their webcams. Brief, but it gets the job done and sets a nice tone for the rest of the episode.

3/5


Monologue

Tom Hanks delivers his monologue from home.

• Pretty daring move to get Tom Hanks to appear while he’s suffering from COVID-19.

• Even while suffering from a disease, Tom is still his old reliable self. I liked his “questions-from-the-audience” bit, where he talks with two people that are both him in disguise.

3.5/5


Short Film: Drake

Pete Davidson raps about Canadian rapper Drake.

• Pete Davidson appears in these At Home episodes more than he has all season. That being said, this was just as bad as I thought it would be as soon as I saw it starting up.

1/5


Sketch: Working Out at Home With RBG

Ruth Bader Ginsburg shares some exercising tips.

• UGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! The return of this awful impression after not appearing since that RBG rap from last season.

• The usual cringeworthy attempts to be cool that we usual get from McKinnon with this impression. I hope they stop doing these for good once the real deal dies.

• McKinnon’s cat is pretty cute, though.

0/5


Sketch: Zoom Call

A couple of receptionists (Aidy Bryant, McKinnon) have a hard time when their company holds its first Zoom meeting.

• A more traditional sketch, performed via Zoom.

• I was initially curious to see how they would pull this sketch off. But then, out of nowhere, we get another unfunny McKinnon/Bryant pairing for the 800th time this season. Their characters in this were extremely annoying and got old very fast. Even worse, this is apparently the SECOND appearance of these characters. I shudder to think what their first appearance was like.

1/5


Sketch: A Message from Bernie Sanders

Bernie delivers a final message to his supporters as he is dropping out of the presidential race.

• Yawn. Larry David returns for the millionth time. He had one or two funny lines, but I’m glad we’ll never see this impression again....at least until Bernie decides to run in 2024. (UPDATE: LOL THAT NEVER HAPPENED!!!)

2/5


Fake Commercial: MasterClass Quarantine Class Quarantine Edition

MasterClass advertises lessons in fashion from Carole Baskin, JoJo Siwa, and Timothée Chalamet (all played by Chloe Fineman).

• We now get an impression showcase from Chloe Fineman, playing three celebrities I’ve never heard of.

• I might be able to judge this better if I actually knew anything about the people she’s parodying, but, as it stands, I found her very annoying in this.

1/5


Musical Performance

Chris Martin performs “Shelter from the Storm”

• I don’t usually comment on the musical performances, but this was too good to ignore. Definitely one of the highlights of this episode.

• I’d also like to point out that this is the second time this season that Chris Martin has appeared. The first time was with Coldplay, but now he’s doing it solo. It’s very rare that we get the same musical guest twice in one season.

5/5


Weekend Update (featuring Donald Trump)

• This was the part of the show that I was anticipating the most. I was interested to see how they would do this type of thing from home.

• Unsurprisingly, it’s exactly like every other episode. But this time, it’s from home!

• That fake laughter they keep playing after every “joke” got on my nerves very fast. Even my mom thought it was annoying.

• Che takes the opportunity of Bernie dropping out to make another crack at white people. We get it, you hate white people! Tell some other jokes.

• Unfortunately for me, the joke they have in mind is an awful “phone call” from Trump (a.k.a. Alec Baldwin). I’ve already said enough about him, so I’m not gonna say anything further.

• They end on a surprisingly heartfelt note when Che reminisces about his recently deceased aunt. I wouldn’t hate these two buffoons if they did more stuff like this.

2.5/5


Sketch: Bailey at the Movies

Bailey Gismert reviews movies on her YouTube channel.

• I fucking hate this character. Why do they keep bringing her back so much?

• The change of scenery for Bailey doesn’t help one bit, as she’s still as insufferable as ever.

0/5


Short Film: Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles

What are the TMNT up to nowadays?

• The first animated segment on SNL in what seems like forever.

• Aside from that novelty, there’s nothing interesting about this short whatsoever. It’s the incredibly stale “WHAT IF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES WERE OLD?” joke that everyone and their grandma has made by now.

• It also doesn’t help that the animation itself is extremely shitty. Bring back Robert Smigel. He knew how to make some funny-ass cartoons.

0/5


Sketch: Cam Playz Dat

HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS????

• Why does SNL keep doing “trendy” sketches like this? Maybe they think that if they get “hip with the kids”, then more young people will watch. I guess it seems to be working, because the only people I see praising these types of sketches are dweebs on Reddit.

1/5


Sketch: Sky Sport Report

Sky Sports reporter Bob Tisdale (Alex Moffat) is forced to find other things to cover since the coronavirus has cancelled all sports.

• Do you like corporate synergy, guys? No? Well, too fucking bad! You’re getting it anyway! This sketch prominently features the branding of Sky Sports, which Comcast bought from Rupert Murdoch last year.

• Another colossal waste of time.

0/5



Sketch: Whatcha’ Cookin’ On?

• Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, and Fred Armisen make annoying noises. TLDR: this blows.

-5/5


Sketch: Visualisations with Aidy

Aidy Bryant does some weird meditation thing.

• It was around this point of the episode where I began to question the sanity of the writers. This sketch was so pointless and bizarre that it actually frightens me. Another one to throw into the shitpile.

0/5


Sketch: How Low Will You Go?

A game show for sexy singles getting out of quarantine.

• “How Low Will You Go?” I was about to ask you the same question, SNL.

• Another boring-ass sketch.

• The only positive is that I like all the screen time Mikey has been getting lately.

1/5


Sketch: Quarantine QT

Ego Nwodim shares some beauty tips.

• This was barely even a sketch. It feels like something you might see on someone’s Instagram or Twitter account.

1/5


Short Film: Andre $2000

Pete Davidson shows how to flex with $2000.

• You’ve gotta be kidding me. Another shitty rap song?!!?? I’ll pass.

-5/5


Miscellaneous: Hal Willner Tribute

Cast members commemorate longtime SNL crew member, Hal Willner, who died of COVID-19 the week before this episode aired.

• The highlight of the night. Like Michael’s story about his aunt earlier, this was clearly made with good intentions. SNL needs more heartwarming stuff like this. They haven’t had that much of it since Marilyn Suzanne Miller left the writing staff.

• I was very surprised to see Ana Gasteyer among the former cast members featured in this, her first appearance on the show since Will Ferrell’s 2012 hosting stint. Also appearing are Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Adam Sandler, Armisen, John Mulaney, Amy Poehler, Paula Pell, and Tina Fey. Not even Maya Rudolph singing for the six millionth time can ruin my enjoyment of this.

• Not gonna lie, I actually started tearing up myself when I first saw this. That’s something I’ve never experienced from this show before.

5/5


Final thoughts: An ambitious episode. Unfortunately, the novelty wore off pretty quick and most of the sketches started to resemble one another. And I’ve still got two more of them to cover....


Best sketches: Monologue, Chris Martin’s performance, Michael Che’s aunt story, Hal Willner Tribute

Worst sketches: Working Out At Home With RBG, Bailey at the Movies, Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sky Sport Report, Whatcha’ Cookin’ On?, Visualizations with Aidy, Andre $2000


Next review: SNL At Home 2

SNL Reviews: Scarlett Johansson/Niall Horan (12/14/19)

Cold Open: American Households

Households around the country react to the impeachment of Donald Trump.

• Aidy Bryant is following in McKinnon’s footsteps by playing Sam the Snowman. Hey, SNL! There’s a whole bunch of guys in your cast who need screen time, why not give this role to them?

• The only scene I laughed at was the one at Kenan’s house, where he is talking about Bad Boys 3 instead of impeachment. I’m rather surprised that they brought up Martin Lawrence in this scene. I thought they were forbidden from ever mentioning him on the show after his “pillypacker” incident in Season 19?

• It seems like the cold opens that don’t have Baldwin’s Trump in them are even worse than the ones that do. That’s quite an accomplishment.

• And we end with the worst Greta Thunberg impression ever, courtesy of Kate “Hillary’s Girlfriend” McKinnon. Is it sad that I prefer the real deal over this impression?

1/5


Monologue

Things start to go haywire when all the cast members start turning to dust.

• This was a surprise. Even though this is another “HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?” sketch, I was impressed by the ambitiousness of this monologue. The special effects were amazing, considering this is live television, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the scenes were pre-taped.

• I liked the scene where Alex Moffat turns to dust, but Ego and Chris are confused as to whether it was him or Mikey Day. Wow, a reference to how underused Mikey is? They don’t do that kind of thing that much anymore.

• A funny reference from Cecily about how she thinks “this is one of those weeks where Pete doesn’t show up”. And there’s another sighting of the backstage llama while she’s talking, this time joined by the Abe Lincoln guy as well. The llama ends up turning to dust.

• And then it becomes clear that the only reason they got Scarlett to host was because she and Colin Jost are dating.

• Kenan shows up as Nick Fury, and this is the worst Samuel L. Jackson impression I’ve ever heard. If only they hadn’t gotten rid of Jay Pharoah.

• Random twist where it turns out that Pete Davidson stole Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet.

4/5


Sketch: Singing Elves

Two elves at a department store sing a strange Christmas song.

• Another stupid rap song. I’ve lost count of how many of these they’ve done in Season 45.

• Kenan’s wig was kind of funny, though.

1/5


Fake Commercial: Children’s Clothing

A Macy’s ad showcasing new children’s clothes.

• I may be looking too far into this, but I found this ad to be somewhat disturbing. The shots of children struggling to get out of their clothes was more than a little creepy, at least in my eyes. I feel sorry for the child actors for having to suffer through this shit.

0/5


Sketch: Sexual Harassment Charlie

Two office workers apologize to their employees about previous sexual misconduct.

• Are you fucking kidding me, SNL?!? Why the hell are you bringing this shit back? For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, this sketch first appeared in the James Franco episode from Season 43. It got a lot of backlash from viewers that it was making a mockery of sexual harassment survivors, and essentially saying that if you’re an old, friendly black guy, you can get away with it. Based on that reaction, I was pretty sure that they would never bring it back. Imagine my reaction when I watched this episode live and saw this sketch come back. It was not pretty.

• This is exactly like the first one, except Franco’s character is replaced by Scarlett as a different office worker.

• Asian Terry Sweeney plays gay character #58,555. No comment, because I’ve already said enough about it.

• Not even Kenan’s performance made me smile this time around. They’d better not bring this back.

-5/5


Short Film: A Conway Marriage Story

Kellyanne Conway and her husband George are asked about why they love each other.

• SNL’s never ending vendetta against Kellyanne Conway continues. Why the hell do they hate this woman so much?

• This was the usual McKinnon as Conway nonsense that never makes me laugh. And they end it with a twist where it’s revealed that they are actually at a therapy session. It’s funny because she’s insane, right, guys?!!?? Guys? Why are you all turning the channel????

-2,000/5


Musical Performance: “Nice To Meet Ya”


Weekend Update (featuring Chen Biao and Baby Yoda)

• Nothing but dumbass impeachment jokes. Didn’t we get our fill of those in the cold open already?

• No comment on the return of Chen Biao, except for the fact that I’m tired of the gay shtick.

• What follows is probably the WORST example of SNL trying to be hip; Kyle Mooney appears as, ugh, Baby Yoda. I seriously thought about throwing my remote at the TV when this came on.

• Adding to the cringe factor is how disturbing Kyle’s makeup job is. I’ve never been frightened by anything on SNL, but this Baby Yoda commentary certainly comes close.

0/5


Sketch: Hot Tub Ghosts

Three ghostly strippers who inhabit a hot tub tell the story of how they died.

• What an....interesting concept for a sketch.

• The green screen effects in this are extremely obvious. I was wondering if they would fix it for reruns, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

• Other than those observations, not much I can say about this one, except that the inclusion of the slightly racist joke about black people having diarrhea surprised me.

2/5


Sketch: Hallmark Dating Show

A dating show created by the algorithm that makes Hallmark holiday movies.

• This was obviously a response to the controversy over Hallmark not allowing LGBT ads on their channel. That being said, there’s lots of jokes you can make about that sort of thing. So, what jokes do we get about it in this sketch? Just one, at the very end, where Aidy as the host reminds us to “stay straight”.

• Even the contestants being stock Hallmark movie stereotypes (i.e. the prince, the guy who looks like Santa because he actually is Santa, and the ghost) fell flat. Like I said, these types of movies are easy to make fun of, but they don’t even bother trying.

1/5


Short Film: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Cecily Strong puts her own spin on this classic Christmas song.

• Pretty nice graphics and set design here, and I like how the first shot was framed to look exactly like the classic Norman Rockwell image of Santa kissing a woman.

• This wasn’t too bad for a musical sketch. I got several laughs from it, such as the father (played by Mikey Day) just sitting there watching his wife get lucky with Santa Claus, and the creepy implications at the end with the singer wondering why she sat there watching them as long as she did.

4/5


Musical Performance: “Put A Little Love On Me”


Sketch: Celebrity Sighting

The guy from those choking posters appears at a restaurant.

• Another really odd premise for a sketch. Is it me, or does Streeter Seidell love doing sketches relating to posters? We have this sketch, and those ones with Pete Davidson’s dorm room posters coming to life.

• Unsurprisingly, being a Bowen Yang sketch, it completely sucked.

1/5


Sketch: Dog Translator

Three scientists give their dog translator another try.

• This sketch from Season 42 becomes recurring.

• I was surprised that they brought this back, especially since the last one was a rare case of them mocking liberal reactions to Trump. While it isn’t as refreshing in this second installment, there were still a couple of good lines here, mainly the dig at Rachel Maddow.

3/5


Final thoughts: A slight step up over the Lopez episode. Scarlett was somewhat bland of a host, and, like I said earlier, it’s obvious that the only reason she hosted is because she’s dating Colin Jost.

And with that, I’ve officially reviewed every regular episode of Season 45 on this blog. But, beware....I’ve still got the At Home episodes to tackle, so stay tuned!


Best sketches: Monologue, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Dog Translator

Worst sketches: Children’s Clothing, Sexual Harassment Charlie, A Conway Marriage Story, Baby Yoda commentary


Next review: SNL At Home 1

SNL Reviews: Jennifer Lopez/DaBaby (12/7/19)

Cold Opening: NATO Cafeteria

Trump is heckled by other world leaders in a cafeteria.

• The celebrity cameos start early with Jimmy Fallon as Justin Trudeau, Paul Rudd as Emmanuel Macron, and waste of space James Corden as Boris Johnson. None of them look or sound like who they are meant to be portraying.

• When Baldwin’s Trump entered, I immediately lost all hope in this sketch (not that I had much to begin with).

• They make a joke about how Trump refuses to sit with the other world leaders. GET IT? CUZ TRUMP’S A RACIST!!!

• What’s their biting satire of Justin Trudeau? Um, he has a funny voice and says “sorey” a lot. You know, because he’s Canadian. They almost certainly would have made a blackface joke about him if this cold opening wasn’t focused on Trump, or maybe they realized how ironic it would have been if Jimmy Fallon played someone who was busted for wearing blackface.

• And, of course, they make a Russian collusion joke, despite the fact that it’s been disproven by this point.

• This is undoubtedly the most painful cold open I have ever sat through.

-200/5


Monologue

Lopez reflects on what a great year she had.

• Yikes! A little too much cleavage you’re showing there, JLo!

• This started out boring, then it turned into our one millionth musical monologue. But at least we get a surprise appearance from none other than The Rockettes, doing what they do best!

2/5


Sketch: Surprise Home Makeover: Holiday Edition

Matt Schatt (Mikey Day) and his wife (Jennifer Lopez) are visited by Becker Cheeks from HGTV, who has a hard time understanding why the two are a couple.

• This character from the Season 42 premiere becomes recurring. The only difference is that the wife is now played by Lopez, instead of Margot Robbie like in the first one.

• Being unfamiliar with the original sketch when I first saw this, when they first said Becker Cheeks’ and Matt Schatt’s names, I was afraid this was going to turn into a “funny names” sketch. While I am happy that it wasn’t, the result wasn’t much better than one of those.

• Bowen Yang (a.k.a. Asian Terry Sweeney) makes his 47,448th appearance as a gay character. As I’ve said numerous times before, PLEASE GIVE HIM SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!!!!

1/5


Short Film: Chad and JLo

Chad joins Jennifer Lopez’s tour as a roadie.

• Not one of Chad’s better appearances. I still say his appearance in that auction sketch from Season 43 is his best.

• The random A-Rod cameo added nothing to this.

1/5


Sketch: What Do You Figure Is Goin’ On In That House?

Three sisters (Aidy Bryant, Lopez, and Kate McKinnon) fight for the attention of the corporal (Beck Bennett).

• The first appearance of those dueling sister characters that I complained about in my review of the John Mulaney episode from later this season.

• This was surprisingly Aidy’s only appearance in this episode.

• My initial reaction to this sketch when I live-blogged it on Facebook was that I hoped it wasn’t written as someone’s sexual fantasy. JLo makes a lot of moaning noises, and she talks about putting a sausage in her mouth. Then, they shoot the top of her dress off at the end. Creepy stuff.

• I actually thought the Mulaney installment was better than this first one, but I still hope that I never see these characters again.

1/5


Sketch: Them Trumps

A Trump campaign rally, but black!!!

• NOOOOO!!!!  Not the black Donald Trump again! This is the THIRD time they’ve done this awful sketch, but, if you ask me, they never should have made the first one. Kenan is a great cast member, but he needs to stay the fuck away from shit like this. I guess I should be thankful that he doesn’t play Jean K. Jean or Virginiaca anymore.

0/5


Musical Performance: “BOP”


Weekend Update (featuring Nancy Pelosi and Jules)

• Starting off with a “hilarious” anti-Catholic joke.

• We finally get a joke about Trudeau’s black shenanigans. Why did they have to wait until Weekend Update to do it, though?

• Kate McKinnon has a commentary as Nancy Pelosi, and GOOD LORD is that the worst Pelosi impression I’ve ever seen. I won’t say anything further, because I’m tired of complaining about McKinnon all the time.

• That Post Malone/“Pre Malone” joke was super corny. It sounds like something Amy Poehler would have done during her tenure.

• Absolutely sick joke about a dog microwaving a cat. As a cat person, I felt disgusted, especially since the cat they showed in the picture looked just like one of my cats.

• Che laughing at his own jokes is getting extremely annoying at this point of his tenure. When are they gonna fire this guy?

• I have no idea who this Jules character is other than the fact that he didn’t make me laugh at all.

1/5


Sketch: Hip-Hop Carolers

A group of singers put a hip-hop spin on holiday classics.

• A rare instance of the musical guest appearing in a sketch.

• I’m getting extremely tired of all the hip-hop shit on SNL lately. This isn’t In Living Color, guys!

1/5


Fake Commercial: Hoops

Custom-made hoop earrings made out of 100% metal.

• Blah. Another lame fake ad.

• Even worse, the only joke in this one is “lol Italian women talk funny”. While this is indeed true (I should know, my family is Italian), it’s not enough to base a whole episode on.

0/5


Fake Commercial: PottyPM

Introducing PottyPM, the new device that allows you to use the restroom without leaving your bed....unless you’re a woman.

• Two fake ads in a row? This is rare.

• Unfortunately, this is another lame potty jokes sketch. I’ll ask again; are there five-year olds writing this show?

0/5


Sketch: Wisconsin Women

Workers in a Wisconsin hardware store lecture their customers on life in Wisconsin’s bear country.

• Yet another “funny accent” sketch. This is, like, the third one in this episode!!!

• I was not surprised at all to find out that James Anderson wrote this one. Further proof that he needs to leave as soon as possible.

• This sketch was so bad that I had to turn the episode off afterwards.

-5/5


Musical Performance: “Suge”


Sketch: Barry’s Bootcamp

Two people take an exercise lesson led by people auditioning to be instructors.

• I missed this sketch when the episode first aired, because, as I mentioned above, I turned it off due to the last sketch being so bad.

• I’m happy that Mikey Day got the lead role in this one.

• Does the description I gave sound familiar to you? It should, because this is the exact same premise as the SoulCycle sketch from a few episodes ago. Only this time, it takes place at some kind of gay club or something.

• Asian Terry Sweeney is back, playing gay character #47,449!

• At least I got some nice eye candy from JLo in this.

0/5


Final thoughts: One of the worst episodes of the season. Jennifer Lopez was a pretty bland host, which is a shame because she wasn’t so bad the last time she hosted. I don’t know if the material is to blame for that or not.


Best sketches: The Rockettes’ appearance

Worst sketches: They all sucked, but I really hated NATO Cafeteria, Them Trumps, Hoops, Wisconsin Women, and Barry’s Bootcamp.


Next review: Scarlett Johansson/Niall Horan