SNL Reviews: Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire (5/7/22)

 Cold Open: Roe vs. Wade

A flashback to 13th century England shows the exact moment that abortion was outlawed.

• For those unaware, this was not long after it was leaked that Roe vs. Wade might be repealed. So we get a lame allegory for it in this cold open by setting it in the 13th century.

• Now I know this sketch is going to suck because it’s starting with a text crawl.

• Rare instance of the host appearing in a cold open.

• So, the point that they’re trying to make here is that, without abortion, it would be just like living in medieval times. Or something.

• I wish they’d stop adding “eth” to the end of every word. This isn’t Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

• Cecily’s reusing her Gemma voice for her character. As if I needed to be reminded of those awful sketches.

• *groan* Kate shows up as a ogre, which is giving me bad memories of that horrid witch character she played on Update last year. She’s even doing that annoying arm-waving thing that the other character did. 

• TLDR: this cold open sucked. What’s next?

Monologue

Cumberbatch takes a moment to wish his mother and wife a happy birthday.

• Ugh, another Will Smith slap joke. Are we done with those yet?

• I wish Cummerbund’s fanbase wasn’t so annoying, because he’s a very talented and charming actor. 

• I liked the photo of his awkward smile.

• As is usual for Mother’s Day monologues, there’s some nice heartwarming stories from our host. Best of all, there were no stupid songs or questions.

Sketch: Mother’s Day Gifts

A mother (Aidy Bryant) gets some unusual novelty signs from her family for Mother’s Day.

• This sketch feels familiar. In fact, this is a rewrite of that gift sketch from the Regina King episode.

• For once, Aidy is actually pulling this off well.

• I think the sketch would work better if she didn’t read what’s on the signs. We can read it for ourselves, you know!

• A laugh from one sign that says: “Were Your Ears Ringing? I Was In Therapy”.

• Cucumber’s attempt at an American accent is hilarious.

• Another problem I have with this is the length. This did NOT need to be five minutes long.

• I did like the twist at the end where one sign that has a genuine heartwarming message flips down to reveal “We Suspect Dad Had A Secret Family”.

• Despite some laughs here and there, this was overall mediocre.

Sketch: Blue Bunny

A focus group meeting goes off the rails.

• Alternate title: “Please sponsor us, Blue Bunny!”

• Another hilarious attempt at sounding American by Cantaloupe.

• I find it funny how SNL is insulting their potential sponsor by blatantly calling their ice cream disgusting.

• This sketch is coming off better on this rewatch than I remembered it being. Heidi and Crocodile are giving great performances.

• What was the point of having poor Melissa in this sketch if she didn’t have any lines?

• Not a big fan of the cliche ending where this turns out to be a commercial for something else, but this was a surprisingly good sketch.

Film: Just Like You

A family flashes back to their childhood when trying to discipline their children.

• I liked the brief flashback with Cecily and her friends dancing to “Tubthumping”.

• Okay, now the flashbacks are starting to get annoying.

• This is starting to remind me of that abusive family holiday film that Eddie Murphy did a couple seasons ago.

• Third episode in a row with Kate playing an old lady. What is she trying to tell us?

• Not even Condiment’s great performance is enough to save this.

• Overall, a fairly weak film. It’s a concept that was done better in the past, but is pretty stale now.

Sketch: Chain Gang

Prisoners in Georgia find out something unusual about one of their fellow inmates.

• Kenan doing THAT VOICE again. At least we got a break from it for a while.

• Alex’s performance as the warden is great. He’s perfect at this type of character.

• Suddenly this turns into a musical sketch. I’m a bit wary, but let’s see how this goes…

• The guys all have pretty good singing voices.

• Yet another funny accent from Copperhead, though it slips a little when he’s begging the warden not to throw Kyle in the box.

• Heidi is perfect as the warden’s wife, especially when she asks Cuttlefish if he’s a “naughty boy”.

• Chris Redd steals yet another sketch with his delivery of “What the hell?” Something about that reminded me of Tracy Morgan.

• Another strong sketch. Tonight’s episode is turning out better than I remember.

Musical Performance: “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)”

Weekend Update (featuring Amy Coney Barrett)

• We get a bunch of lame jokes about the abortion thing.

• Ugh, yet another outdated Kavanaugh beer joke.

• Even worse, Che compares abortion to the Capitol riots.

• Okay, Colin just gave me a chuckle when he wished Vladimir Putin would die of cancer. 

• *headdesk* Kate appears as Amy Coney Barrett. Thankfully, this ends up being the last time we ever see Kate at the Update desk, after years of annoying us with her terrible impressions.

• As is to be expected, Kate’s shtick is totally played out by now. *sigh* Two episodes left…

• The only joke I laughed at during this entire update was a joke about a lady wearing a penis costume getting stabbed. Other than that, it’s the same old shit as usual.

Sketch: Landsdowne House

A young man (Alex Moffat) delivers shocking news to his parents.

• “We now return to Landsdowne House.” This is gonna suck.

• This was cut from the Kieran Culkin episode.

• Something about Alex’s look in this sketch reminds me of Jim Broadbent for some reason.

• There goes Cecily breaking out her tired old cartoony British accent again.

• Cecily’s first pratfall would make Chris Farley proud.

• Sadly, pratfalls turn out to be the only joke of this sketch, all while Cecily keeps blathering on in that annoying accent. Why, oh why is she not leaving at the end of the season?

Fake Commercial: ReKhline

The toilet you can recline in.

• A variation of a fake ad called “Koohl Toilet” from Cockroach’s previous episode.

• I like how this starts out extremely serious and moody, only for Condominium to suddenly enter and unzip his pants.

• The mere visual of a distinguished British actor sitting on a toilet is funny.

• Unlike the Gift sketch from earlier, this was kept short, sweet, and to the point.

Sketch: Chuck E. Cheese

When the animatronic band isn’t working, Chuck E. Cheese’s patrons are treated to an unusual performance by a different band.

• I think this aired not too long after it was announced that the restaurant chain was getting rid of its classic animatronic characters and replacing them with a “modern” dance floor.

• I groaned when Asian Terry Sweeney entered.

• My inner New Wave fan loves the aesthetics of the song that Yang and Carburetor perform.

• Epic dance moves from Moffat! 

• Kenan almost steals the entire sketch with his AMAZING robotic arm movements.

• Aristotle makes his customary single appearance of the episode with his brief (but amusing) cameo as Pasqually. 

• It’s kind of funny how a sketch about Chuck E. Cheese is the best sketch of this episode. At least in my opinion, anyway. Who knows how I would have felt about this if I wasn’t such a big New Wave fan?

Musical Performance: “The Lightning”

Film: The Understudy

Chloe talks about being a full-time understudy for SNL.

• Ugh, here comes another Chloe Fineman vanity piece.

• Her impression of Kate is just as annoying as the real thing, which I didn’t know was possible.

• Okay, her Cecily isn’t that bad.

• Random cameo from Computer’s co-star, Elizabeth Olsen.

• Her impression of Aidy is spot-on. And I also like the exaggerated Jewish voice she uses for Sarah.

• Sarah: “Do I sound like a Jewish parrot?”

• Despite my hatred of Chloe Fineman, this wasn’t too bad for one of her pieces.

Final thoughts: This is one of the strongest episodes of this season. While not perfect, Cumberbatch (finally got his name right!) brought an amount of class to even the weaker material.

Best sketches: Monologue, Blue Bunny, Chain Gang, ReKhline, Chuck E. Cheese

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Just Like You, Weekend Update, Landsdowne House

Next review: Selena Gomez/Post Malone

SNL Reviews: Lizzo (4/16/22)

 Cold Open

The Easter Bunny invites some friends over to celebrate the holiday with him.

• Bowen is surprisingly fitting as the Easter Bunny.

• UGGGHHHH!!!! Kate’s “impression” of Dr. Fauci is back yet again! Thankfully, this is the last time we ever have to see it.

• As usual, this Fauci routine is leaving me completely stone-faced. 

• Fucking kill me, now we have an appearance by Cecily Taylor Greene. Is it just me, or is that a toy gun she’s holding?

• Horrid jokes about how “straight” Christianity is, citing how we eat the body of a shirtless dead guy.

• Chris Redd’s Eric Adams becomes recurring, and it still isn’t very funny.

• Mikey debuts a baffling Elon Musk impression that sounds more like Hans and Franz. I did giggle at his corny attempt at a laugh, though.

• Chloe’s awful Britney Spears is back. It’s official, this episode wants me to suffer.

• Kyle as Jared Leto totally fell flat for me.

• Just when it seems like this is wrapping up, we get an unwelcome return from Trump. I find it hilarious how the audience doesn’t even applaud when he shows up, as if they’re tired of his constant appearances as well.

• His rambling dialogue routine has gotten extremely stale. The real Trump is far more comedic with the shit he says than any parody of him could ever dream of.

• Yet another horrid cold open. When was the last time we even had a good one?

Monologue

Lizzo addresses rumors about herself.

• What the hell is she wearing?

• I wonder if her story about hosting a TED Talk about twerking is real.

• Despite not being a fan of her music, I thought Lizzo was really charming here.

Sketch: Guess That!

A trivia game show where one contestant (Lizzo) won’t cooperate with the rules.

• Ugh, the host’s name is “Clint Litoris”. Despite this not being an Anderlette sketch, that is very much something that they would come up with.

• SNL’s game show sketches are getting very stale, and this one is no exception. 

• Lizzo is still doing a great job despite the weak material.

• Kenan has to stifle back his laughter at one point during Lizzo’s tirade.

• I love Chris’s delivery of “And funky towels!”

• When Kenan asks if any of the contestants have ever been on a game show before, I like Ego’s response that she’s been on The People’s Court.

• The other contestants starting to side with Lizzo’s character is kind of lame and predictable.

• Were we supposed to see a cameraman at the end?

Film: TikTok

More scrolling through various TikTok uploads.

• Not this crap again! Why are they making this recurring?

• Hey, Aristotle still exists! At this point, the writing is already on the wall for him and it’s sadly obvious that he won’t be back next season.

• No comment on that makeup we briefly see Andrew wearing.

• As you can imagine, I’m laughing even less at this installment.

• Second episode in a row with Kate as an old lady. 

• Somehow, this TikTok sketch was worse than the original. It still baffles me that the Please Don’t Destroy guys are responsible for these.

Sketch: Black Eyed Peas

The singing group tries coming up with new song lyrics.

• Really? A Black Eyed Peas sketch in 2022? 

• I do not buy Cecily as Fergie AT ALL. Kenan’s will.i.am impression is at least funny in how bad it is.

• Chris Redd’s apl.de.ap is probably the strongest, though that isn’t saying much.

• This sketch makes me feel really old, as I remember when “Boom Boom Pow” was a new and relevant song. Where did the years go? I could’ve gone to college and got a diploma, but instead I’m stuck reviewing shitty SNL sketches like this one.

Sketch: Six Flags

A man finds out that his date’s grandfather is Mr. Six.

• Speaking of unwanted reminders of the 2000s, now we have a sketch about the dancing Six Flags guy.

• Sarah Sherman joins the drag club by playing Mr. Six. To her credit, though, her dancing is really on point.

• Thanks for explaining who Mr. Six is, Mikey! I couldn’t tell at all!

• Ego with a bald cap is not something I ever wanted to see.

• Of fucking course Kate had to be in this too. We all know how much she loves dressing as old men!

• And there’s Aristotle again! This has to be the largest amount of screentime he ever gets in an episode.

• Weak dance party style ending.

Please Don’t Destroy: Lizzo Has Writer’s Block

Lizzo gets the help of the PDD crew in writing new songs.

• Always nice to see the host get involved in these.

• The guys’ pathetic attempts at song “lyrics” are great.

• The best part is when Lizzo pukes after hearing Martin sing “My girlfriend dressed like SpongeBob!”

• Lizzo: “Guess I gotta go get killed by Andrew Dismukes.”

• A funny conclusion where, out of all the ideas they come up with, she picks the one about a horny zookeeper.

Musical Performance: “About Damn Time”

Weekend Update (featuring Cesar Perez)

• Funny to hear the audience’s boos and hisses after Colin’s joke about Kamala.

• I chuckled at Michael’s ghost guns/Ghostbusters joke, despite how lame it was.

• They just had to sneak in a “cops are bad” joke, didn’t they?

• Melissa appears for what I believe is her final time at the Update desk. This time, she’s Colin’s “driver”, Cesar Perez. This is the second week in a row that she’s played a man.

• Something about this character reminds me of Fred Armisen as Fericito, except nowhere near as funny.

• I like the goofy pictures he’s showing of his relatives, especially the one of his nephew.

• Despite my initial skepticism, this commentary wasn’t too bad. It’s always nice to see more Latin American representation on this show.

• Overall, one of the more tolerable Updates we’ve had in quite a while.

Side Note: We get a dedication to Gilbert Gottfried, who died not long before this episode. Even though he was only on the show for 12 episodes (and made a voice cameo in that “Titey” cartoon for Smigel), it’s great to see SNL acknowledge him.

Sketch: Throne Room

Two planners organize a party for their god-king.

• Ugh, another Cecily-starring sketch. This is gonna suck…

• Is that a real snake that Kenan’s holding?

• No comment on the scene where Andrew gets his ass slapped by Punkie.

• I have no words regarding Aidy’s character.

• Aristotle in his third sketch of the night! Too bad he has only a couple lines.

• Super lame twist where it’s revealed that the king is just a young child. It looks like the same kid who was in that Please Don’t Destroy sketch a while back.

• What a boring, unfunny sketch. I did like how nearly the entire cast is in it, though (except for Che, Jost, Pete Davidson, and JAJ).

Musical Performance: “Special”

Sketch: Orchestra

A twerking flautist attempts to join the symphony orchestra.

• Chris playing one of those “sleazy” roles of his that I love so much.

• Any promise this sketch had fizzles away as soon as Lizzo…*sigh*…starts twerking.

• Kenan seems to be wearing a wig of his old Kenan and Kel hairstyle.

• Even in a small role, Kate is mugging up a storm. Just three episodes to go before I’m rid of her…

• I feel sorry for poor Alex. He has to remain still while Lizzo twerks her fat ass in front of him. I don’t know how he isn’t breaking.

• Lame and predictable twist where she reveals that she has to twerk, or else her playing is terrible.

• I thought I was going to puke when everyone else started doing it too. What a shitty ending.

Sketch: Beanie Babies

Steve (Andrew Dismukes) learns that his Beanie Baby collection is worthless after trying to invest in them.

• This sketch caught my interest when I saw it was about Beanie Babies! For those who don’t know, I absolutely love these little guys, and we have a whole bunch of them at our house.

• The ones on Andrew’s dresser that we happen to have are Inch, Rocket, Echo, Batty, and Saffire. Most of the ones I don’t recognize are Beanie “BOOs”, and there’s another shelf of them that the camera doesn’t show us.

• I like Andrew’s slow-burn reaction when he finds out that his collection is worthless, followed by him angrily tipping the dresser over. Ouch, I feel sorry for those poor Beanies!

• Loved the random reference to “talking out of (his) butt like Jim Carrey does!” Even better is when he bends over and shows us what that looks like.

• Andrew’s shitty picture of Luigi is great, as is his insistence that it’s Mario.

• Lizzo’s “crying” looks more like laughing.

• Not a big fan of the “text crawl” ending, but this sketch was mostly solid.

Cut for Time: Food and YouTube

A song about watching YouTube videos while eating.

• The look of Chris’s character is hilarious.

• I liked the brief glimpse of a video called “White dudes that CAN jump”.

• This song is kind of catchy. It also has a nice Lonely Island vibe to it that I really like.

• Chris: “Did you know that George Washington’s real name is Malcolm X?”

• It figures that Bowen’s character would be interested in The Golden Girls.

• Even Lizzo is coming off pretty well in this song.

• Great final verse where the lyrics are indecipherable because they have food in their mouths.

• Overall, a nice little music video that should have been in the episode.

Final thoughts: Another mixed bag, but it was better than I thought an episode hosted by Lizzo would be. She made even the weakest material come to life with her enthusiasm. Would I be okay with her hosting again? Yeah, I guess.

Best sketches: Lizzo Has Writer’s Block, Cesar Perez commentary, Beanie Babies, Food and YouTube (Cut)

Worst sketches: Cold Open, TikTok, Black Eyed Peas, Throne Room, Orchestra

Next review: Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire

SNL Reviews: Jake Gyllenhaal/Camilla Cabello (4/9/22)

 Cold Open

Ketanji Brown Jackson receives advice from several other trailblazers.

• Ugh, now they’re trying to pathetically suck up to the new Supreme Court Justice. This can only end so well.

• I liked Ego’s reaction to JAJ as Biden comparing her to “wearing Crocs in public”.

• FUUUUUCK!!!!! Kate’s horrible Ruth Bader Ginsburg is back from the dead for no fucking reason! I thought we were safe from seeing it ever again, but not even death can prevent SNL from digging up tired old routines!

• To further prove how tired this impression is, she does that awful “Ginsburn” shit again. I am in Hell…

• The only line I’ve laughed at so far is Kenan’s Thurgood Marshall asking if Joe Biden is still in politics.

• Why is SNL even doing a Black History sketch in April? They’re two months late!

• Overall, this is one of the most pathetic cold opens I’ve ever seen. 

Monologue 

Jake talks about the last time he hosted, and how much he’s changed since then.

• Nice of Jake to put his last appearance into perspective and talk about some of the outdated things in the episode, such as a joke about the original iPhone. What I’m not a fan of is him saying it was “400 Marvel movies ago”. Does anybody know what the deal is with all of these lame Marvel references we’ve been getting lately?

• A big laugh from the photo he shows of himself in drag during his monologue, where he did a number from Dreamgirls.

• Normally, I’d complain about the ensuing musical number, but it’s actually a nice tribute to that first monologue of his. Plus, there’s no sign of Kate in it, which is always nice!

Sketch: Why’d You Like It?

Contestants are asked about why they liked certain photos on Instagram.

• Not caring for Kenan’s increasingly hammy delivery of the game show’s name.

• Who’s the black lady sitting next to Ego in the audience? I thought it was Michael Che in drag at first.

• I kind of chuckled at the random reveal that Megan Thee Stallion posted the painting that Chris’s character liked.

• So far, this is just a one-joke sketch where the only reason the contestants liked these photos is because they want to have sex with the ladies that posted them.

• Now they do something different with Chloe’s character liking a photo of her ex-boyfriend’s sister.

• Chris continues to provide my only laughs. I liked his cheerful delivery of “Pass!” after being told that Round 2 will be “Why’d You Follow Them?”

• Another laugh from Chris saying that he follows Joe Biden because “he knows Obama”.

• Jake’s character at least has an amusing resolution to his arc where he admits he can’t change after liking, disliking, and reliking a photo from the same lady he expressed sexual desires towards earlier.

• While still not perfect, this was a lot better than the last game show sketch we got.

 Film: Dream Home Cousins

A couple’s dream home gets ruined thanks to the Dream Home Cousins and an annoying relative.

• This is a parody of HGTV’s Property Brothers show, which my mom watches, so I get the basic gist of it.

• Mikey and Jake’s chemistry is great!

• After a promising start, this quickly turns sour as soon as Kate enters as an old lady.

• Kate’s character is totally ruining this for me. Also, I hate how she has subtitles, so you have to read her terrible jokes as well as hear them.

• I feel sorry for poor James and Heidi in this sketch. 

• Overall, this started out nice, but it got ruined by Kate and her tired antics.  Only four episodes left…

Sketch: Cabaret Night

A singing group performs for people who aren’t special.

• A slight chuckle from Mikey’s intro, where it seems like he’s addressing somebody to move their car, only for him to reveal that he has the same car.

• That’s, uh, quite a wig Jake is wearing.

• Uh-oh, it looks like we’re about to get a musical number from Asian Terry Sweeney. Also, Kate and Cecily are there, which is a bad sign.

• Jake’s character reminds me of some of Martin Short’s more theatrical characters, which is awesome!

• Unsurprisingly, Kate and Cecily’s parts are the worst. They’ve been on for way too long, and I’ve already seen all their tricks.

• Bowen’s flamboyant shtick is fitting for this sketch. This is the stuff where he really shines.

• I am beyond tired of Kate by this point of the episode. She’s been in half of the sketches, and she’s ruined all of them.

Sketch: Flowers

A garden of flowers get excited for spring, but bad things keep happening to them. 

• Kenan’s bizarre accent as the gardener is hilarious. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him do that particular voice before.

• Are you kidding me with this premise, SNL? Is this a rejected Laugh-In sketch? 

• I am not surprised at all to see Kent Sublette’s name as one of the writers.

• No comment on Jake’s name being “Jake Flowerhaal”. I am loving his voice, though.

• The “late bloomer” pun, with Jake having to clarify that it isn’t the sexual meaning, was kind of funny.

• I could have done without Bowen as a bee jerking off.

• Sarah: “It looks like you’re having sex with his head!” Yeah, thanks for explaining the joke, Sarah. I never would have been able to guess that.

• Chris gets a big laugh from me yet again with how eager he is to get his pollen sucked. Have I ever told you how much I love Chris Redd?

• For once, Kenan’s yelling shtick is working for me.

• Kyle’s voice as the weed is fucking horrible. What’s been happening to him lately? Has he started half-assing his performances because he knows he’s on his way out?

• I appreciated the lack of a marijuana joke.

• Now a dog pisses on them. I would normally criticize such a thing, but there’s something odd about this sketch that’s keeping me from hating it.

• Nice dark ending where the gardener grabs Jake so he can put him in a vase, leaving “blood” spurting everywhere.

• Overall, I love how bizarre this sketch is. It’s a delightful absurdity that we rarely get from this show anymore.

Film: Chucky

Janet’s co-workers get caught gossiping about her by the evil doll Chucky.

• After a dull beginning, it’s time for more corporate synergy when Chucky from the Child’s Play films shows up. Chucky currently has a series on a fellow NBCUniversal channel.

• Chucky himself is played by a puppet with Sarah’s head digitally placed on top. It looks terrifying, which is of course their intention.

• Sarah does a better Chucky voice than you might expect. She really nails his grim one-liners!

• I love the boardroom scene, although I could have done without Aidy’s brief part. She’s so out of place among all the newer cast members in this.

• Great ending where Chucky blows the whole room up, with a freeze-frame on his head flying by the camera.

• For a corporate synergy sketch, this was actually pretty good! Sarah continues to be a welcome new addition to the cast.

Musical Performance: “Bam Bam”

Weekend Update (featuring the Trend Forecasters)

• We’re still making “Kavanaugh likes to drink” jokes?

• Again with the bad “Mitch McConnell takes pleasure from other peoples’ suffering” material? This “gag” has gone on long enough.

• Colin gets in a nice dig at the time he and Che hosted an awards show. I can’t remember which one it was, but it was pretty bad.

• I hate to admit it, but I even laughed at Michael’s “tragically suspicious” joke about Lucky Charms.

• UGGHHHH! Not those “trend forecasters” again! I have nothing to say except for the fact that this sucked just like their first appearance.

Sketch: Lights! Camera! Achoo!

Presenting a 1992 film about a cowboy who tries to keep his illness a secret.

• Cecily’s bland intro is doing nothing for me. Could she give any less of a shit?

• This is surprisingly the first we’ve seen of Andrew all night, after the huge amount of airtime he got in the previous episode. 

• Alex Moffat in a cowboy hat is inherently amusing to me for some reason.

• Not a fan of Jake randomly sneezing blood all over Alex and Andrew.

• Jake is at least selling his role really well. It helps that he was in Brokeback Mountain.

• Now we get a fart joke? Ugh. I was hoping SNL had given up on those.

• A big groan at all the fake snot getting sprayed.

• I laughed at Kenan’s delivery of “Dis ain’t no CVS!”

• Aaaaand there goes another fart.

• What a horrible ending.

• Overall, this sketch is such an odd mishmash of ideas. Part of it is a traditional western sketch, while the rest of it is a horrid “bodily fluids spraying everywhere” sketch. Not helping matters is the fact that this apparently had SIX different writers, including the Please Don’t Destroy guys. I have a hard time believing that they wrote this, because it is so unlike their humor.

Sketch: Couples Counselor

A couple’s counseling session gets interrupted by an unexpected guest.

• This sketch was cut from the Kieran Culkin episode.

• Holy shit, Punkie with a lead role! That never happens!

• Melissa with a lead role too! She’s been getting fewer and fewer lately, another sign that her days at SNL are numbered.

• Jake: “It’s manga, sweetie. It’s only the most important art form of the 21st century!”

• Punkie angrily yelling at her partner on the phone is a great showcase of her talents. Why don’t we get to see more of that?

• I love Jake reading Punkie’s partner’s angry messages in a completely serious voice.

• Now things get epic when Ego shows up as Punkie’s partner, brandishing a water gun.

• I love how they keep asking Jake not to read the messages in a “black” voice.

• Surprisingly heartwarming part where reading the message causes Jake to reconcile with his wife.

• Funny ending where Punkie and Ego threaten the couple with violence if they don’t pay up.

• This is a great sketch, and a perfect example of why they should give Punkie more screen time.

Musical Performance: “Psychofreak”

Sketch: Truck Stop CD

A trucker shows off a collection of hits by her favorite singer, Johnny Goblin.

• I groaned as soon as Aidy showed up as a trucker.

• Jake is perfect in the role of a singing truck driver. Also, he has a mustache, which makes it even better.

• Cecily’s scene is surprisingly good. It helps that singing has always been one of her strong points.

• I like the lighting in the “ghost trucker” bit.

• Andrew’s singing voice is pretty good too. I didn’t know he had it in him!

• Melissa gets some laughs from her brief appearance as El Chapo. She didn’t even need to say anything, just the visual of her with a mustache was funny.

• Overall, this sketch was really dumb, but it’s a good kind of dumb.

Cut For Time: Serious Night Live

Jake and Michael Che uncover Kyle Mooney’s problems in a new, dramatic comedy series.

• Che in a sketch? This sounds interesting…

• Kyle: “I don’t need to listen to you, you jealous n****r!” LOL!!!

• I like the credits roll for Kyle’s new show, where most of the roles credit himself, while Gyllenhaal and Che’s names are in very small text.

• Ha, one of the segments listed is “Colin Kicks My Ass”!

• A quick laugh from all the children auditioning for the role of “Young Kyle”, complete with hair and glasses.

• I love the Three Amigos poster we briefly see in Lorne’s office.

• I howled at the brief glimpse of a “de-aged” Kyle saying “Let’s make a video!” in a child’s voice.

• While this wasn’t as funny as some of Kyle’s other backstage films, I still got enough chuckles from it.

Final thoughts: A mostly consistent episode. It started off a little rough, but by the end, we got that great counseling sketch with Punkie and the trucker thing. Jake Gyllenhaal was a really good host, even if this wasn’t as strong as his last episode.

Best sketches: Flowers, Chucky, Couples Counselor, Serious Night Live (Cut)

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Dream Home Cousins, Cabaret Night, Lights! Camera! Achoo!

Next review: Lizzo

SNL Reviews: Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna (4/2/22)

Cold Open

The FOX and Friends crew talk with Donald Trump and Clarence Thomas.

• “You’re watching FOX and Friends.” This sketch is going to suck. 

• First time they’ve done a FOX and Friends bit since 2018. 

• When Heidi mentioned Ted Cruz, I was afraid that meant we would be getting an appearance from Aidy’s “impression” of him. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

• Instead, we get an appearance from Kenan as Clarence Thomas, and Kate as his wife. Once again, Kenan is playing a celebrity he has no business as, and Kate is just there to mug and be annoying.

• Kate’s line about being “The Yoko Ono of the Supreme Court” was lame.

• Cecily’s awful Judge Pirro impression is back. Her first line is an incredibly unsubtle “Hello, my only friends!” Also, her whole drinking shtick has gotten so old by this point.

• *sigh* Another fucking appearance from Trump. Does this guy live rent-free in their heads or what?

• Jeez, we’ve approached the point where they start making a bunch of Will Smith Oscars jokes. These haven’t aged well.

• What the hell is all this Kevin James nonsense about? Is it just another “haha Trump is insane” joke?

• And just to show you how much this sucks, there’s no list of corrections at the end. That’s the best part! Why didn’t they include it?!??

• This cold open was a fuckin’ nightmare to get through. A candidate for the worst sketch of the entire season.

Monologue

Jerrod talks about coming out and the Will Smith slap.

• So far, he’s gone on a rambling speech about the Will Smith thing.

• It’s not until 3:15 into this that he FINALLY changes the subject to how nobody knows who he is.

• Some amusing self-deprecating jokes about coming out as gay and the special treatment that entails if you live in New York.

• I totally agree with him that hosting SNL is the gayest thing you can do.

• Once he got past all the Smith jokes, this monologue wasn’t too bad.

Sketch: Is My Brain Okay?

The game show where contestants see how much their brain remembers two years into the pandemic.

• Normally, I’d complain about the game show host’s name being “Lisa Something”, but it fits with this sketch’s theme about remembering things.

• Rare sighting of Kate as a game show host.

• Kate: “What do you do now?” Jerrod: “Mushrooms.”

• Aside from that exchange, this is just a pretty lame variation of What’s Wrong With This Picture, except it’s even less funny.

• Not helping matters is Kate’s baffling performance. I’m not sure if it’s part of the sketch or not, but she sounds extremely out of it. Only five episodes to go before I’m rid of her…

Film: Short-Ass Movies

A rap about watching short movies.

• Oh, that’s right, Pete Davidson is still in the cast. This is the first we’ve seen from Pete since the Dafoe episode, and it’s his only appearance all night. He won’t be seen again until the season finale.

• Apparently his long absence didn’t make him any funnier, because this film is a big snooze fest.

• I like the set of the hallway with all the clocks in it.

• This song is admittedly kind of catchy.

• Our musical guest and some other rapper I’ve never heard of make cameos. Don’t know why I brought this up. I guess I just ran out of things to mention here.

Sketch: ShopTV

A dollmaker shows off his creations on a home shopping channel.

• Jerrod’s name is “Kevin Lickitt”? UGGGHHHH!!!

• Despite all of the typical Anderlette traits in this sketch (the hosts’ Southern accents and the aforementioned “funny” name), this was apparently written by Seiday. Is Anderlette’s influence rubbing off on these two?

• Another huge groan from me when they take off the doll’s clothes to reveal rainbow pubes..

• I did like Ego as a caller referring to it as a “rainbow vag-afro”.

• More groanworthy material when Jerrod looks like he’s fisting the doll.

• If you wanna see an SNL sketch do a decent job of parodying home shopping programs, watch the “Shop at Home Network” sketch where they try to sell Mark Hamill.

Sketch: Seat Fillers

An Oscars seat filler gets interrupted while talking to Will Smith.

• Our obligatory Oscars sketch.

• I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kyle in a tuxedo before. He looks almost unrecognizable.

• Chris’s Will Smith impression could be better, but it’s doing its job just fine.

• I think this would have worked better as a quick minute-and-a-half sketch. Just have the intro play as normal and end it right after Smith slaps Rock.

• Instead, we have Smith shouting “KEEP MY WIFE’S NAME OUT YOUR *bleep* MOUTH!!!!” over and over again. That quote was funny on its own, but not when it’s repeated.

Musical Performance: “Banking On Me”

Weekend Update (featuring Marsha Blackburn and OJ Simpson)

• Man, these Oscars jokes are painful. That whole incident was fading from my memory until reviewing this episode brought it back.

• Che with a surprisingly good point about how everyone should stop pretending they knew about Jada’s hair condition.

• Cecily’s latest annoying Update character is an impression of Republican senator Marsha Blackburn. And it’s just as bad as all of Cecily’s other Republican impressions.

• Not the biggest fan of Che’s plug for his HBO Max special.

• Yet another appearance from Kenan as OJ. I’ve already made my opinions on that clear, so let’s move on.

Side note: A dedication to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is shown after Update. It’s kind of surprising that they didn’t show a clip from one of his many performances on this show with the band.

Sketch: Scattering Remains

Things go wrong when a family attempts to put their pop-pop to rest.

• Another non-impression role for JAJ. I’m glad they haven’t been relegating him to impressions only.

• Hilarious and ballsy part where “Pop-Pop’s” body takes a rough tumble down the cliff when they try to throw him into the ocean.

• James’ reaction to this is great! I’m loving his voice in this sketch.

• For such a dumb idea, everyone’s giving it their all.

• Andrew’s “Pretty goo-er, pretty cool!” gaffe was good for an unintentional laugh.

• I like how Andrew picks up a cyclist who he thinks is the grandfather, and then dumps him back in the water when he finds out it’s not.

• Great ending where Andrew falls in the water after getting an urn dropped on him.

• I enjoyed this sketch a LOT more this time around. It was kept the right length and I got some great laughs from it.

Sketch: Story

A man gets really excited about a story.

• First off, what a lazy title.

• This mediocre final season of Kyle’s continues, as his role in this sketch is extremely annoying.

• Also, I just noticed that this is Ego’s first physical appearance tonight, after her voice was in that awful doll sketch from earlier. Given how well her airtime has been this season, it’s quite a shock.

Musical Performance: “Pushin’ P”

Fake Commercial: Osh Kosh F*gosh

A new, more “inclusive” line of baby clothes.

• Wow, what a dumb concept.

• I feel sorry for the babies in this sketch having to wear such “funny” sayings as “Future Twink”, and “L’il Lez”.

• This is also the only appearance of Chloe in this episode. Thank GOD for that!

• The Harvey Milk pun was horrible, but I liked Chris’s delivery of his name.

• Overall, one of the worst fake ads in recent memory. At least I can say it was an original concept and not some thinly veiled advertisement for a real company.

Cut For Time: Three Normal Goths

The PDD guys live completely normal lives…as goths!

• Aw man, the PDD guys got cut from the live show again! The other Cut For Time sketch on YouTube was another Angelo bit, but there’s no way I’m bothering with that shit!

• The initial reveal of Martin turning around to reveal the goth makeup was funny. Apparently this is based on a video the guys did before they joined the show.

• I like how the theme song is broken up into little bits throughout the sketch.

• It feels sad hearing this without any applause. Then again, these barely get any applause when they actually make the live show.

• Excellent Peter Griffin impressions from all three guys.

• Speaking of great impressions, I love Ben’s Jimmy Cagney impression when he finds out that The Beatles aren’t on Spotify, which is then followed by another line of the theme song: “Sometimes their jokes don’t land!”

• Another funny use of a “slash” graphic after they criticize Jerrod’s fedora. I don’t know why I always get laughs from that, but I do.

• Overall, yet another great film from these guys, even if this one kind of suffered from the lack of audience response.

Final thoughts:  A step down from the last few episodes. While the excessive Oscars slap jokes didn’t help, there was a huge feeling of “been there, done that” to a lot of the material here, especially that god awful ShopTV sketch. On the plus side, Jerrod Carmichael did a pretty good job. I wish he had a better episode to appear in.

Best sketches: The second half of the monologue, Scattering Remains, Three Normal Goths (Cut)

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Most of the monologue, ShopTV, Weekend Update, Story

Next review: Jake Gyllenhaal/Camilla Cabello

SNL Reviews: Zöe Kravitz/Rosalía (3/12/22)

 Cold Open

President Biden holds a meeting with top TikTok creators to discuss how best to solve the Ukraine crisis.

• Note to self: if a sketch starts with Steve Higgins’ voice narrating over a text crawl, it’s gonna be bad.

• I groaned when I saw this was going to be about TikTok.

• None of these impressions of specific TikTok personalities are doing anything for me, not being familiar with most of them.

• I like Chris Redd’s Jason Derulo impression. Also, he’s the only one of these people I’ve actually heard of.

• Another appearance from Kate as Jen Psaki, and, like the first time, they don’t even make fun of her, instead making her a straight woman to Biden’s antics.

• JAJ’s Biden voice is a lot more whispery here for some reason.

• Kenan has some great facial reactions to Fineman’s annoying nonsense.

• I cringed at Biden excitedly gushing about “The BooBoo Boys”. I always hate when SNL tries to make presidents “hip” and “trendy”.

• Derulo is providing my only laughs in this cold open. The fact that he only says his own name is hilarious. I especially like his sad delivery of “Jason…” after Psaki says that they’re skipping over him.

• Wow, Aidy’s character is annoying. She reminds me of that little girl she played who kept stumbling onto the sets of porno films. Further proof that she’s already done everything she can and needs to leave as soon as possible.

• Kenan accidentally bumps against the table as his character leaves the sketch. Redd has to push it back in place with his foot. Is it sad that this blooper got a bigger laugh out of me than anything else?

• Melissa’s character is also extremely annoying. 

• A horrifying sight as we see Asian Terry Sweeney shirtless.

• Blah, yet another horrid cold open.

Monologue

Zöe gets visited by several former Catwomen.

• Full disclosure: I saw The Batman a few nights before this aired, and I thought she was great in it. 

• It only takes 55 seconds for Kate to show up and hijack this monologue. And she’s wearing ugly fetish gear and doing the worst Catwoman impression ever! UGGGHHH!!! Why won’t you leave already?!!???

• Man, Kate’s delivery here is so awkward and flubby. 

• On the bright side, we also get Ego as the Eartha Kitt Catwoman, and she looks pretty damn hot….forget I said anything!

• Super lame joke about latex outfits making squeaky sounds. Am I watching one of those “Leather Man” sketches with Jimmy Fallon?

• Ugh, Aidy shows up as a crazy cat lady. The amount of sketches she’s ruined this year just by showing up is worryingly high. At least the real cat that’s with her is very cute.

• Overall, I think this monologue would have been better if the other gals didn’t interrupt it.

Sketch: Maid Of Honor

A maid of honor’s wedding speech is full of revelations.

• Are those tattoos on Zöe’s arm?

• Kyle: “Did she shoot someone?” Thanks for explaining the joke for us, Kyle. 

• In case you needed more proof that this is a Seiday sketch, they won’t stop cutting to Kyle’s character explaining everything that’s happening.

• Any potential this sketch could’ve had is ruined by the insistence on spelling all the jokes out for us.

Fake Commercial: Amazon Go

A new grab and go shopping experience.

• When this first aired, my sister thought this was an actual commercial. I don’t blame her, because it’s way too bland for one of these fake ads.

• Ego’s skepticism is at least admirably performed.

• After being left out of last week’s show, Punkie finally reappears. Too bad this is her only appearance in the episode.

• Another non-impression role for JAJ. Note that this does not mean that he actually has any lines.

• Finally, I got a laugh, from Kenan, of all people. As he carries the bag of potato chips away, he makes this amazing and indescribable noise that I’ve never heard from him before. Even after almost 20 years on this show, Kenan still has some surprises left up his sleeve.

• Apart from that, not much to say about this ad. Way too slow and boring.

Sketch: Study Buddies

A nerdy teen tries to impress a popular girl.

• Aw fuck, not this again. A horrid sketch from last year’s Carey Mulligan episode is inexplicably brought back.

• At this point in her tenure, Kate’s drag routine is beyond played out, as is Aidy in drag. *sigh* Only six more episodes to go before I’m rid of them for good.

• LOL, Kate’s phone clearly has a single image printed on it! That’s the only laugh I’ve gotten here!

• My thoughts in this sketch in three words: No, just…no.

Sketch: The Princess and the Frog

Princess Tiana learns an “interesting” fact about frogs…

• “We now return to…” This sketch is going to suck.

• Also, I’m fairly certain that Disney Plus doesn’t have “We now return to” announcements, because, you know, there’s no ad breaks.

• Zöe is at least believable as Princess Tiana.

• Knowing SNL’s recent track record with Disney sketches, it’s only a matter of time before this degenerates into lame dick jokes.

• Yep, there we go. Chris Redd as the Frog Prince starts talking about how frogs don’t have penises.

• 20 minutes later, that’s the only joke of this sketch. What a fucking waste.

Please Don’t Destroy: We Got Her A Cat

The guys try to surprise Zöe with a cat, but it doesn’t go as expected…

• Good to see these guys back again after how awesome their last film was.

• Awwww, that’s such a cute kitty! It looks a lot like one that my Aunt Amy used to have.

• The joke about the “Man-Ant” they gave to Paul Rudd was kind of lame, but I still laughed.

• Random Paul Dano cameo. Again, I still laughed despite the dumbness of it, especially considering that it has him emerging from under a couch.

• Who are the guys on Dano’s fake movie poster? I feel like I remember them.

• Amusing fake-out where we get tricked into believing that Ben stepped on the cat, but it was really his LEGO set.

• I like how Dano just goes back under the couch when he isn’t needed anymore.

• Funny ending where the cat randomly speaks to them.

• The PDD guys deliver another solid film!

Sketch: Old Home Movies

A father’s secrets come to life when his family discovers an old video tape.

• A black screen reading “Old Home Movies House Ext.” briefly appeared before the opening shot of this sketch in the live airing. This was removed for the online upload.

• There’s one guy in the audience with a really obnoxious laugh.

• Amusing references to former writer J.B. Smoove.

• I like Kenan’s movements while the video is being “fast-forwarded”. It reminds me of the classic Video Will sketch with Jan Hooks.

• Kenan: “And I was just a struggling backup singer for The Commodores. I just wanna tell ya, I was never a backup singer for The Commodores.”

• Chris: “I can’t believe he have the erectile dysfunctions!”

• I like how, at the end, we see how this sketch was pulled off: Kenan was on a separate set just off to the right of the rest of the cast.

• A surprisingly good Kenan sketch at this stage of his tenure. For once his overused voice comes in handy. It also helps that this sketch reminded me of the aforementioned Jan Hooks classic, so I guess you could call this an unintentional sequel.

Musical Performance: “Chicken Teriyaki”

Weekend Update (featuring Terry Fink and Dan Bulldozer)

• I chuckled at the photoshopped picture of Che in an army uniform.

• Ugh, second episode in a row to have a stupid “Trump loves burgers!!!!” joke.

• Pretty good Jussie Smollett joke from Che.

• Not the LSD film critic again. They waited two and a half years to make him recurring, and now he appears twice in the past few months?

• I like him referring to The Power of The Dog as a “hysterical gay western”.

• Fink: “You say tomahto, I say *acid-induced gibberish*”.

• I don’t know why, but this routine is funnier than usual tonight. I especially like his claim about Encanto being hand-drawn by that “auteur” The Zodiac Killer.

• Not a big fan of him bringing up “Dogecoin”. That’s a phrase I never wanted to hear on this show.

• The best part is his “review” of Belfast, where he claims that it stars the cast of Jackass, and Dame Judi Dench as “Wee-Man”.

• I think I might have finally come around on this character. Too bad this is his final appearance before Alex leaves the show.

• Yikes, that joke about Queen Elizabeth moving out of Buckingham Palace has not aged well.

• Kyle Mooney debuts a new character named Dan Bulldozer, a “lifestyle influencer” who’s here to talk about social media’s impact on our lives. I assume he was named after writer Dan Bulla.

• Amusing artificially deepened voice for this character. 

• I laughed at the fake photo of him at his computer.

• There’s some glitches with the voice modifier that surprisingly haven’t been fixed for the online version.

• While I got some laughs from this commentary, it was kind of meh on the whole.

Sketch: Word Crunch

Contestants have a hard time understanding the rules.

• “You’re watching the Game Show Network.” This sketch is gonna suck…

• The host’s name is “Gene Baby”? Lame. I’m shocked this wasn’t a Kent Sublette sketch.

• Good to see Andrew in a big role. He is totally believable as a game show host.

• Holy crap, Aristotle in a sketch! And he actually has lines!

• Unfortunately, this has turned into a one-joke sketch where Zöe’s character keeps saying “momhole”.

• I admire Andrew’s performance, but this sketch is a bunch of nothing.

Musical Performance: “La Fama”

Sketch: Don’t Stop Believin’

A man annoys everyone by singing the marching band version of “Don’t Stop Believin’”.

• I like how Chris has been in almost every sketch in this episode! Which makes it even more sad that he only has a few episodes left.

• Ugh, now we have an Asian Terry Sweeney vanity piece.

• I like his energy here, but this concept is extremely stupid. Is there even a “marching band version” of this song?

• Overall, I agree with fellow SNL reviewer Jesse Nathan when he said that this sketch has a huge Anderlette feel to it. Imagine my surprise when I found out that neither of them had anything to do with it.

Cut For Time: Can I Talk To You

Two men struggle to flirt with women at a gas station.

• A huge initial laugh from the way Chris’s character looks.

• Not the funniest concept, but Chris is making it work with his delivery.

• Mikey’s appearance as a similar character is a little more forced, but still amusing.

• Mikey: “Are you a Virgo, or a Sagit-Terry Crews?”

• Chris: “You gonna let me take you out to Harry Potter World and drink some butterbeer?”

• Random (but funny) climax where Mikey gets hit by a car.

• This starts out kind of slow, but by the end, there’s enough laughs to make you wonder why it didn’t make the live show.

Final thoughts: Kind of a mixed episode on the whole. Some really good stuff, and some really bad stuff. Zöe Kravitz was kind of a bland host, but that isn’t her problem. It’s the writing’s fault for not letting her stand out more.

Best sketches: That hilarious noise Kenan made in the Amazon sketch, We Got Her A Cat, Old Home Movies, Terry Funk commentary, Can I Talk To You (Cut)

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Maid Of Honor, Study Buddies, The Princess and The Frog, Word Crunch, Don’t Stop Believin’

 

Next review: Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna

SNL Reviews: Oscar Isaac/Charli XCX (3/5/22)

 Cold Open

Fox News hosts a “Ukrainian Invasion Spectacular”.

• Huge groan from me once I saw that award show style intro. This is gonna suck…

• Another huge groan from me upon seeing Kate’s Laura Ingraham. Alex is there too, playing Tucker Carlson, who he bears NO resemblance to.

• Good lord, the “satire” is so obvious and pathetic. Can we please stop making every cold open a political one?

• Is it me, or has the Ingraham impression gotten even worse (not that it was ever good)? Did Kate just forget how to do the voice?

• JAJ’s Trump is back, which means it’s time for more of the same overused jokes about how he is racist and sexist, which are jokes that nobody has ever said about him before.

• An extremely baffling choice to make Asian Terry Sweeney play Steven Seagal. His voice is unsurprisingly terrible.

• Why are we still making “Trump loves fast food” jokes in 2022? No, scratch that, why are we still making Donald Trump jokes in 2022? The well ran out long ago, and it’s time to move on, SNL!

• Rare appearance of Don Jr. without Eric. I know the reason for that is because Alex is playing Carlson, but I’m so happy that they’ve stopped doing the same old Eric routine that was never funny to begin with.

• Overall, another horrible cold open. We got that extremely well done cold open last week, and now this?

Monologue

The host talks about his role in Moon Knight, and making a film when he was 10 years old.

• I’m curious as to whether or not Oscar’s story about being asked to host in 2015 is true or not, but the reference to the pandemic makes me think otherwise.

• What’s with the applause after he says his full Spanish name?

• I like how we’re now seeing a clip from a home movie he made when he was 10. It’s always fun seeing our hosts as kids.

• Priceless part where his friend’s dad can be seen cleaning the pool in the background.

• I could have done without the plug for Peacock, thank you very much.

• I’m surprised at how many monologues I’ve been praising lately. See what happens when we give the musical and Q&A monologue cliches a rest for a while?

Sketch: PAW Patrol

Concerned citizens demand the removal of funding for the PAW Patrol.

• Really? We’re making fun of Nick Jr. shows now? 

• The puppets of the dog characters are really well made, and I appreciate the use of an actual child actor to play Ryder.

• Amusing part where Ego as the mayor’s laugh suddenly slows down, revealing that this intro scene was just part of a commercial.

• Kate’s bug-eyed mugging routine has gotten completely stale. I can’t even muster my usual annoyed reaction towards it.

• Speaking of things that have gotten stale, Kenan’s doing my “favorite” voice again.

• For some reason, when we hear Ryder’s voice on a phone call, it’s Melissa doing his voice. Why couldn’t they let the child actor do it?

• I don’t know why, but the graphic of Ego’s face with the red slash mark on it makes me laugh.

• Not sure how to feel about the twist at the end where Oscar’s character reveals that the mayor is his wife. One part of me likes how unexpected it was, but the other part makes me think that they couldn’t come up with any other way to end this. But, in conclusion, this sketch was surprisingly okay.

Film: Inventing Chloe

Chloe Fineman reinvents herself to get whatever she wants.

• Ugh, a showcase for Chloe Fineman. I sense that we’re in for a lot of pain…

• So, apparently, this is based on some Netflix show called “Inventing Anna”, which is about a lady who convinces everyone that she’s a wealthy German heiress. I’ve never heard of it.

• Despite heading into this rewatch with more knowledge about this sketch’s origins, I’m not finding it any better. Chloe’s voice is just too annoying for me.

• My only laugh came from Che’s brief scene where Chloe tells him that she hosts Update now, and he just accepts it and leaves.

• The scene with Oscar mishearing Chloe just goes on FOREVER!

• No comment on the ending where Kate starts speaking in that accent.

Sketch: Sexual Harassment Seminar

A sexual harassment seminar exemplifies improprieties.

• I don’t remember anything about this sketch. Apparently the PDD guys wrote it.

• Now I know why I don’t remember this; it’s fucking boring. If this really is the work of the PDD guys, then it’s a rare miss for them.

Film: Meatballs

Alan’s girlfriend reveals a horrible secret…she has meatballs on her neck.

• Oh, fuck. I forgot all about this sketch.

• Look, I love weirdness as much as the next guy, but there are some things that are too weird even for me. That being said, I’ll try to go into this sketch with an open mind this time around…

• I appreciate the special effects. There’s a neat little stop-motion part as well.

• The song the meatballs sing is pretty catchy.

• I actually had to turn this off halfway through when it originally aired because my sister was disgusted by it, so I missed a cameo by our musical guest.

• It looks like I finally came around on this sketch. I guess I just needed to watch the whole thing this time.

Musical Performance: “Beg For You”

Weekend Update (featuring Kate McKinnon and Pauline)

• Shockingly good joke about Kamala Harris doing nothing for a whole year. 

• Kate McKinnon has a commentary about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, while wearing the dykiest haircut imaginable. Basically, it sucked like all of her commentaries.

• I love whenever they show that picture of Colin as a teenager.

• Ego has a commentary which is much more interesting. We get the return of that character she played in the Elon Musk episode (*shudder*), who’s here to talk about Rihanna’s pregnancy.

• Ego: “You know how I announced my pregnancy? I threw up on Martin Luther King Boulevard!”

• Hilarious line about how one of her cravings is for the barrel of a shotgun.

• I like how her “heels” are Bugs Bunny slippers.

• Then we get a funny twist where it’s revealed that Che is her boyfriend, and that he hasn’t come to any of her doctor’s appointments.

• Aside from Kate’s commentary, this edition of Update was surprisingly more tolerable than usual.

Sketch: Aidy’s Dream

Aidy ropes our host into a steamy sketch.

• Ugh, this looks like an Aidy Bryant vanity piece.

• Last time I watched this, I criticized the pre-taped scenes with Aidy as ruining the jokes. On this second watch, I now understand that these scenes are necessary to understand what’s going on.

• Oscar’s voice in this is amazing.

• I like Aidy’s alleged catchphrase: “Hey, you! Get your fat ass on my lap, bitch!”

• Call me crazy, but I think this is a lot better than I thought. Oscar gave a great performance, while Aidy actually gave a shit for a change and delivered one of her best sketches in years.

Sketch: In Over Your Head

A home repair show host interviews people who tried fixing their homes themselves.

• I love the theme song for this sketch. It reminds of the late 80s-early 90s recurring characters who all had their own themes (Pat, Toonces, Mr. Short Term Memory, etc).

• Kyle’s role felt very Dana Carvey-ish.

• Oscar’s voice reminds me of Fred Armisen for some reason. I love the makeup on him, too. 

• How many times has Ego played Kenan’s wife by now?

• Yet another twist ending tonight, where we find out that Kenan’s host character is not as experienced with tools as we thought.

• A short and simple sketch with some nice charm to it.

Musical Performance: “Baby”

• My station came in to this about halfway through Oscar’s intro.

Sketch: Fiction Workshop

A janitor shares his own story during a writer’s workshop.

• Rare non-impression role for JAJ in this sketch. I liked his character’s inappropriate story about Abe Lincoln at the theater.

• Interesting voice from Oscar.

• Oscar’s creepy, self-insert story about meeting Dua Lipa is hilarious. So many disturbing (but funny) details are slowly being revealed about his character. These sketches where it takes a while for the joke to be revealed are my personal favorites, because it makes the punchline more satisfying.

• The ending is great, where the two male students stay behind to hear the rest of his story, while the females leave.

Cut For Time: Aerotoilet

The inflatable toilet that’s perfect for guests!

• Some initial laughs from Oscar trying to adjust the firmness of the inflatable toilet.

• Kate has some good faces while using the “manual” inflation tube. For once, her mugging actually works in this context.

• I love how the toilet comes with an inflatable magazine.

• Amazing ending where Oscar empties it and all of the guests’ waste floods the room.

• For a sketch about a toilet, this was pretty damn funny! I can’t understand why this didn’t make the live show.

Final thoughts: This episode was a lot better than I remembered. A big part of that has to do with the host. Oscar Isaac is one of the best we’ve had all season. His variety of unique voices and his willingness to do anything was very impressive. I’d love to see him host again.

Best sketches: Monologue, PAW Patrol, Meatballs, Ego’s commentary, In Over Your Head, Fiction Workshop, Aerotoilet (Cut)

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Inventing Chloe, Sexual Harassment Seminar

Next review: Zöe Kravitz/Rosalía

SNL Cast News

 Following up on what I posted in the spring, more cast changes have been revealed. Melissa Villasenor, Aristotle Athari, and Alex Moffat will not be returning for Season 48. In Athari and Moffat's cases, I am not surprised in the least. Moffat's airtime has been decreasing since the Biden administration came into power, and they barely did anything with Athari. The one that surprises me the most is Villasenor. She was still getting regular lead roles in sketches, and her future on the show seemed secure. I guess maybe she wanted to do something else?