Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
NEW YORK SPORTS NOW
Asian stereotype puns inspired by Jeremy Lin are OK
— The format of this reminds me of the Inside The NBA sketch from earlier this season, and even has most of the same cast members in the sports anchor roles, including Bill as the lead anchor.
— A good spoof of the “Lin-sanity” craze going on at the time, and the guys’ performances as the anchors are a lot of fun.
— Funny running bit with Jay and Kenan’s characters hypocritically calling Taran’s character out on his inappropriate black stereotype jokes, after Jay and Kenan’s characters themselves made plenty of Asian stereotype jokes about Jeremy Lin.
— I love Bill’s throwaway line at the end about how their next discussion about Jeremy Lin will be with Don Rickles and a crotchety WWII veteran.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
MAR sings “Do You Want To Funk?” to conquests including Paul Simon [real]
— To me, it feels kinda odd seeing Maya Rudolph hosting, though not odd in a bad way.
— Seems to be a thing for SNL to have some former female cast members jokingly mention in their monologue that their SNL tenure was filled with lots of behind-the-scenes sex, as Molly Shannon did the same thing in her season 32 monologue. The difference is that the sex thing was just a small portion of Molly’s monologue, whereas it’s the main premise of this Maya Rudolph monologue.
— It’s a given that Maya would do a musical monologue, but at least it has a fun vibe.
— A rare non-Update appearance for Seth.
— Speaking of rare non-Update appearances, we get freakin’ Stefon hanging out with Lorne and Paul Simon.
— I always like monologues like this where the host sings around the entire studio & backstage, especially when the host doing that is a former cast member (Mike Myers, Jimmy Fallon, etc.).
STARS: ***½
BRONX BEAT WITH BETTY AND JODI
crew members (ANS) & (Justin Timberlake) reciprocate flirting
— Much like Maya making a cameo in the preceding season’s Amy Poehler-hosted episode to do a Bronx Beat reprisal, we get Amy making a cameo in this Maya Rudolph-hosted episode to do a Bronx Beat reprisal.
— The usual funny banter from Amy and Maya in the pre-interview portion of this recurring sketch.
— Great ad-libs from Amy and Maya when Maya unintentionally starts literally getting choked-up when doing the crying routine she usually does in these sketches.
— Random Justin Timberlake out of nowhere.
— We actually get a change of pace in this recurring sketch, with the guests played by Justin and Andy basically being male versions of Amy and Maya’s characters, and hitting on them in the same manner that Amy and Maya’s characters usually do to their guests. I’m finding this to be very solid.
— Hilarious comment from a horny Amy about putting her phone on vibrate and calling herself over and over again.
STARS: ****
MAYA ANGELOU’S: I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD LAUGHS!
Maya Angelou (MAR) has a prank show
— Maya is playing Maya Angelou to utter perfection here.
— It took SNL three tries, but they FINALLY got a strong sketch out of the “prankster has friendly conversations with their victim after pranking them” concept. (The previous two instances of this concept was with Tim McGraw and Jeff Bridges.)
— A big laugh from the following exchange between Kenan’s Cornel West and Maya’s Maya Angelou, delivered in their usual noble, poignant, slow-paced manner: “Sister Maya, was this an act of malice?” “No, Brother West, it was an act of whimsy.”
— Bill was born to play Stephen King, given their natural facial resemblance to each other.
STARS: ****½
BABY BLUE IVY
Prince (FRA) & other celebs visit new parents Jay-Z (JAP) & Beyonce (MAR)
— A pretty good laugh from Maya’s Beyonce casually telling Andy, “Thank you, white butler.”
— Feels kinda weird seeing a reprisal of the “Prince whispers his statements into Beyonce’s ear” running gag from the old Prince Show sketches being done in THIS sketch.
— Nasim as Nicki Minaj?!?!?!? I…I have no idea what to say.
— Taran’s goofy “Bdaaaah!” portrayal of Brad Pitt is growing on me.
— Kristen’s speechless, humble portrayal of Taylor Swift always makes me laugh, especially in this particular context.
— The Bon Iver part is going on awfully long (gotta milk that sweet Timberlake airtime, I guess), but there are a few funny jokes within it.
— Not sure what happened, but somebody seemed to miss a cue at the end of this sketch, as Maya was forced to say “Byeee!” to us in a goofy voice TWICE, the second instance coming after a long stretch of silence, all the while Fred and Kristen’s Prince and Taylor Swift popped up in the background outside the window. Then, right before the screen fades to black while the audience is applauding, Maya laughs out of character at the awkwardness of what just happened. Again, not sure what went wrong, but this whole gaffe amused me.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Comeback Kid”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to reactionary birth control talk
— The return of the Seth-and-Amy-helmed version of the recurring “Really?!?” segment.
— The funny Transvaginal/Lady Business bit from Amy during the “Really?!?” segment feels kinda Tina Fey-esque.
— Tonight’s overall “Really?!?” segment wasn’t all that memorable as a whole. It was carried by Seth and Amy’s always-fun chemistry with each other.
— A pretty funny transition regarding Seth “making” Amy stick around to tell Update jokes.
— Wow, a rarity, with tonight’s overall Update having no actual guest commentaries at all. As far as I know, as of November 2020, this is the last Update to feature no guest commentaries.
STARS: ***
WHAT UP WITH THAT? PRESIDENTS’ DAY EDITION
Bill O’Reilly & Kate Upton [real] for Presidents’ Day
— After retiring this recurring sketch with the special installment that appeared in the preceding season’s Ed Helms episode, SNL already brings it out of retirement. As I explained in my review of the Ed Helms installment, the reason for SNL un-retiring this recurring sketch so soon is because when Maya came in this week, she reeeaaaaallly wanted to do a What Up With That, so they brought it back, despite all the closure they gave it in the Ed Helms installment.
— Uh, what the hell happened during Taran’s intro of the three guests? He stumbled over a word at the beginning of it, then awkwardly paused for a long time while just staring at the camera, before finally continuing. Very odd. Did the cue cards accidentally get dropped on the floor during this part or something?
— No comment from me regarding Bill Fucking O’Reilly being one of the guests in this.
— A fairly fun and fitting character for Maya to play in this recurring sketch.
— Overall, as a whole, this What Up With That installment was fine and, as always, certainly fun, but it was just a standard installment, which feels a little forgettable compared to 1) all the special things they did in the last installment prior to this, and 2) the noteworthy things that happen in the next (and final) installment from the following season’s Martin Short episode.
STARS: ***½
SUPER SHOWCASE
game show models (KRW) & (MAR) present prizes not won
— A sketch well-known for featuring a laughing meltdown among the performers.
— Aaaaand there’s the point where things famously start going off the rails, when Maya and Kristen make a delayed entrance in a golf cart.
— Despite what a mess this sketch has unintentionally become, it’s a pretty fun mess. I’m not always forgiving of when sketches go off the rails (especially not when, say, Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz are involved), but I have no issues with this instance. While this laughing meltdown is no Debbie Downer-level classic for me personally, it’s infectious.
— Props to Vanessa for being the only performer managing to stay in character the whole time.
STARS: ***½
THE OBAMA SHOW
Barack (FRA) & Michelle (MAR) Obama copy The Cosby Show to fight obesity
— A great concept, doing a hybrid of the Obamas and the Huxtables.
— The recreation of the Cosby Show opening credits is absolutely spot-on and a lot of fun, right down to the very funny detail of Jason’s Joe Biden being credited as “Joe Jamal-Biden”.
— This is only the second of a mere THREE appearances that Fred’s Obama makes all season, and it’s easily one of Fred’s better Obama performances. He’s doing a solid mixture of Obama and Cosby’s voices.
— I always love Maya’s spot-on imitation of Clair Huxtable’s patented rants, which we previously saw Maya do in a Weekend Update commentary from season 30 where she and Kenan played Clair and Cliff Huxtable.
— Jason’s Biden entering in that trendy 90s outfit is hilarious.
— I like Maya’s ad-lib about eating the rice cake that’s unintentionally on the floor.
— Fun use of Amy’s Hillary Clinton at the end.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “End Of The Line”
HOW’S HE DOING?
black voters will unconditionally support Barack Obama
— The debut of this occasionally-appearing recurring sketch.
— Good to see Jay getting a lot of airtime tonight, which is rare for him this season.
— The “What Would It Take?” segment is particularly solid.
— I like how stumped the guests initially are over the question of if Obama would lose their vote if he was arrested for the 1996 shooting of Tupac Shakur.
— The black-centric humor in this sketch feels refreshing and much-needed for this SNL era, and this sketch is succeeding at that type of humor more than the White People Problems sketch (from this season’s Charles Barkley episode) did for me. This How’s He Doing sketch feels a bit like a precursor to the black-centric humor that SNL’s current era (mid-2010s to present) is really good at doing.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty solid, fun, and very consistent episode. There were no segments I disliked, and several segments stood out as strong. Maya Rudolph’s performances added to the fun atmosphere of this episode.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Maya Angelou’s: I Know Why The Caged Bird Laughs!
The Obama Show
Bronx Beat with Betty and Jodi
How’s He Doing?
New York Sports Now
Monologue
Super Showcase
What Up With That? Presidents’ Day Edition
Weekend Update
Baby Blue Ivy
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zooey Deschanel)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Lindsay Lohan
Nasim as Nicki combined with this being the only times this season the show got to portray Michelle Obama or Beyonce (two figures all over the news at that time) just show how desperately SNL needed a black female cast member, and how weird it is they waited another 2 seasons after this (and then gave her literally nothing to do, though we’ll get to that when we get to that).
How’s He Doing? is great. I remember liking the Kerry Washington installment even more, though its been years since I rewatched that one.
This is a good episode, and the Obama/Cosby match-up is my favorite usage of Fred’s Obama.
While it’s a harmless sketch in a good cheer atmosphere show, the game show sketch does make me think of a number of modern sketches in which the people appearing in the sketch seem to be having more fun than us. This can be forgiven, I think, if the atmosphere is loose and the sketch is funny (like last episode’s Dave Chappelle/Aunt Jemima sketch), but there’s some folks who need to do better at not breaking (Kate has seriously become awful at this).
Kate’s breaking a lot especially this season. Definitely feels like a case of “senioritis” (AKA I was supposed to leave in fall and am staying on as a favor to Lorne syndrome).
The first 3-4 episodes of last season had several cast members breaking heavily through the night, which quickly became too self-indulgent for me to have much good will for. I tend to wonder if either Lorne or negative fan comments got to them as it mostly cleared up after that. (but yes, Kate is very much in her own bubble at this point)
I will say, when the writing’s there, Kate can still deliver like no one else in the cast. She knocked the fortune teller sketch (and, to a lesser extent, “Noon Normal”) out of the park.
I want to appreciate SNL booking a band like Sleigh Bells on *principle* but those performances were wack. this comparison probably makes no sense but they almost felt like some sort of effed up millennial version of Timbuk 3
oh thank god this show holds up. I was worried for a moment, cause I’m not sure how the SNL fanbase feels about Maya now vs. 8 years ago, but yeah, this is still a good show.
I remember somebody, EW I think, doing a ‘one classic sketch from every season’ sort of deal, and ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Laughs’ was their pick for S37, which initially puzzled me…but it’s a tremendous sketch, so even if it’s not the showiest pick, they weren’t wrong. It does represent the heights of S37 in a positive way.
…the next show, on the other hand, barely even held up in 2012. Poor Jack White.
I guess this is around the time Maya and Christina Applegate (who has her own hosting gig up soon) were on a sitcom together.
As someone who never felt that Maya’s time in the cast matched her potential, I found her to be very enjoyable in this episode, as I do in most of her cameos (aside from Kamala, but I’ll get into that when we get there…). There’s something about Maya where as she matures, she can wring so much out of one line or one gesture. I suppose that is one of the reasons why, similar to Jan Hooks, Lorne was so reluctant to see her go and so happy to bring her back.
I’ve never been too sure about why Stefon is in this monologue – is it because Stefon was very popular with fans, but Bill and Mulaney had (wisely) decided to limit his appearances? Is it because they wanted a laugh about a gay man having sex with a woman? It’s not a big deal…I just kind of wish they’d just let Bill be himself with the rest of the cast. As for the monologue itself, the idea is kind of silly to me, not entirely in a fun way, although at least it is energetically put across.
I love this Maya Angelou pre-tape. David Alan Grier’s hilarious performance seemed to give the idea that sticking a man in a dress is all you need for the laughs, only for that to be proven very wrong, twice. Maya manages to bring a whole new approach, and it pays off. So much goodness here, but my favorite part is the caged bird saying “so honored!” And shout out to Steve Higgins for his wonderful voiceover work.
Other highlights are Bronx Beat, which has an inspiring use of the Timberlake and Andy rapport, and the game show sketch, which, as you said, is the type of breaking that I can enjoy. Why something like this makes me happy but The Californians leaves me stonefaced is a mystery I am never going to solve. How’s He Doing? is another quiet gem – I enjoy all three of these (and the recent variation with Issa Rae), but this is my favorite, due in large part to Maya’s cadence…the bit where she hesitates about supporting Obama if he becomes involved with Ke$ha is particularly amusing.
(on another note that likely no one but me would care about, it makes me smile that Maya’s character is named Althea Davis – a longtime heroine on The Doctors, the NBC soap that was filmed in 30 Rock and went off the air in late 1982 [and in its last years starred none other than Alec Baldwin], was also named Althea Davis)
The christening sketch is just another of the impression parades where I spent my time wondering about the quality of the impressions (and Maya’s Beyonce still doesn’t really work for me), but the bit with “white butler” Andy jamming out to Bon Iver is amusing. I guess by this point they knew Andy was leaving – I wonder if they brought Timberlake back because he wasn’t going to be able to host so this and the bit in the Beyonce sketch are a way to let fans have the chance say goodbye to “Jandy Simtamlake”
The cold open is a very clever idea, very well-performed, but it’s difficult to separate the attempts at pointing out racial hypocrisy from SNL’s own hypocrisy in the very same episode, with not one, but two cast members pretending to be black. Speaking of that, is it me or is Fred MUCH darker here than he usually is as Obama? It’s very distracting and sort of overshadows the rest of the sketch for me.
Reading a few articles at the time, there was some questioning about whether or not Maya would reprise her Whitney impression one last time. All I can say is thank goodness she didn’t.
You mention What Up With That’s final appearance is in the Martin Short episode. It actually comes back in one of the newer seasons you haven’t watched since starting this series.
James Anderson wrote the game show sketch. Iirc, Bill said Anderson changed some of the dialogue before the sketch and Hader got caught off guard and helped induce the breaking. Ala Mulaney with Stefan I guess.
Bill once said Supermodel Showcase had his favorite opening line from a sketch: “when we left you said the answer was beef. And the answer is…nine.”
What’s funny about that is it’s so much funnier the way Bill remembered it, as one line, then how it plays out in the sketch, as about 5-10 lines. The audience must have agreed with me, because there’s practically no reaction to the “nine” reveal.
My friends and I are *obsessed* with Showcase Showdown, but I can’t even pinpoint when the breaking starts. They all try their best, and Rudolph doesn’t seem to really lose it until Kristen almost runs her over with the golf cart. Even without the breaking, I think it’s a brilliant absurdist sketch (save for the weird dark joke at the end).
Peacock has the SNL reruns but does not have this monologue OR the Christening, even though the Christening is on SNL’s YouTube!
Love the character work that you mention in Bronx Beat. I think it’s why that sketch has always worked for me. Yes, they like being flirted with: they don’t know how to react to it. “You two are going to leave and go home to your girlfriends, and we’re going to go to Panera and talk about you.” “Do it now before we change your minds!” And that ad-lib is hilarious, especially Amy noting that there’s no real water in the prop coffee cup!
Jakey, Peacock is missing so much from some episodes. The Catherine Zeta Jones episode from Season 31 is fucking 9 minutes long!
I think the Beyonce sketch got taken off Peacock cus of Nasim as Nicki, I know all those corporations were scrubbing away all the black/brownface scenes from shows back in June.
The monologue they probably couldn’t clear the music, which is a shame, because I remember it being fun. Would appreciate a link from anyone.
Also, strangely, the Peacock version of this episode ends the Obama Cosby sketch about a minute early.
“Peacock is missing so much from some episodes. The Catherine Zeta Jones episode from Season 31 is fucking 9 minutes long!”
Those bastards! I’m sure that excludes the Charles Rocket bumper, as well.
“Also, strangely, the Peacock version of this episode ends the Obama Cosby sketch about a minute early.”
Probably due to music rights with the song.
Jesse, it’s definitely that. I was watching the Peacock version, I had to look up the sketch after so I forgot they sang at the end. Shame they cut that too, as Amy’s lip syncing is a riot.
I wasn’t too impressed with this show. What Up With That did not need to be brought back, Cosby/Obama mashup was “meh” and the Blue Ivy sketch would have been a lot better without Timberlake. (His support during the goodnights increase my dislike)
Maya herself, though, made a good host. Perhaps she could have been a five-timer in place of several hosts who should NOT have appeared on the show.
Abby wasn’t there the first part of the week because she was auditioning for Ben Fox Is My Manny, later renamed Ben & Kate. She got the part the week after this episode. During the break between the Jonah Hill and Sofia Vergara episodes, Abby was recast with Dakota Johnson when she was deemed too young for the role after the table read for the pilot.
I went back and read your old review for this episode, which I’ve only done once or twice before. Man, you really hated this era at the time. The most surprising to me was What Up With That? getting *1/2 stars. You’ve mentioned being harsher on them back then, but I didn’t realize you legitimately hated them. Update also got *1/2 stars, with you saying “‘Really’ has lost all of its spark and needs to stop.” You hated the show so much back then, you have been called Scrooge (patting myself on the back there).
Lol I wonder if I hold the record for most posts on a single episode…
Maya did a guest commentary as Oprah in dress. NBC put some edited clips up on their site – mostly enjoyable for Maya, Seth and Amy breaking up and bantering, rather than the usual weak Oprah impression.
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dress-rehearsal-bonus-clip-oprah-stops-by-the-update-desk/2751946
Hey Stooge. First OF All, I Was Just Looking AT Your Pictures, But I Don’t Think That Looks Like Justin Timberlake ! The Shape OF The Head Looks More Like Jason ! Second, Was Justin Playing The Maya Male Part ? I Think Justin Would Cry About His Wife More Than Andy Would Cry About His Wife ! I Think Andy Should Play The Amy Male Part !
Hello Stooge. They Had ONE Final What’s Up With That Episode In Season 45 With The Pandemic AT Home Episode ! There Were THREE AT Home Episodes, But This Was During The Second AT Home Episode ! This Was During April 2020 !
Maya’s hosting again on March 27th.
Maya hosting for the first time in 9 years tonight. Really hope we aren’t bombarded with the usual cameos (Fred, Wiig, etc). Hopefully not a bunch of singing either
I don’t think we’ll get the cameos, due to COVID. I do think we’ll get singing, camp, and probably a good portion of Kate/Cecily/Aidy…I’m mostly curious to see if she feels out of place the way Kristen sort of did. She has worked with this cast for a while, so maybe not.
If we do get cameos though, maybe we’ll see Amy and Kristen and even Andy and Fred. But we’ll see.
I really want to see a new Bronx beat so badly or maybe a new what you up that. When she last hosted, they did that. Like I said, we’ll see.
I’d never say no to another Bronx Beat. I feel like Amy isn’t likely to want to come to New York for that during the pandemic, but I will be happy if we get one.
Yeah i would too. But like I said. we will have to see.
Am I just in a shitty mood, or was that a really bad episode?
Maya’s episode from tonight I mean. This S37 one is really good.
I will say the final couple of sketches were solid, though, but a lot of the stuff before (NFTs, Kamala, Dance Studio) was * to ** territory for me (probably *1/2, ** & * respectively).
No, you’re totally right. This was one of the worst episodes of the season (maybe only above Chris Rock and Bill Burr). The only thing that really worked for me was the Shining pretape at the very end, everything else ranged from mediocre to outright terrible.
I liked the awards show sketch too, but before that I don’t think there was a single sketch I’d have given above *** all night (besides Update, which had a pretty strong night despite a pretty lame Cecily character. How do we feel about Update right now, by the way? Jost & Che are still reliable, but this is far from their strongest season IMO).
Loved the .Shining parody at end but that’s about it. Funny they kept all the cameos till the final sketch of the night
Also according to SNL stats the Kamala Passover sketch was originally the cold open. Sorry if this mentioned in other thread
I wasn’t looking forward to this episode because I knew they couldn’t repeat most of what worked in her last hosting gig (Bronx Beat, Super Showcase [which was apparently cut from Wiig’s last episode…], How’s He Doing?, the Maya Angelou prank show), and instead would have to rely on two Maya flavors I have little use for – broad camp and Kamala Harris.
Fortunately, other than the really awful dance sketch and the poor Kamala sketch (which was co-written by Emily Spivey, probably why Kamala’s characterization was strong [too bad about the rest…at least Martin Short seemed to be enjoying himself), I was alright with most of the night. Everything else had the usual poor focus and execution problems modern SNL tends to have, but none of it was bad (I do see why people hated the NFT pre-tape for the message – I just mean in execution). The boomer vaccine one annoyed me due to how hacky it felt, but the performances were vibrant enough to go a long way. (I do wish they’d trimmed it a little).
I actually liked the Hot Wings sketch with Maya’s newer, more improved Beyonce take quite a bit – I just wish it had had a better ending.
The lack of focus annoyed the hell out of me but there was a sizeable amount of material in the monologue I appreciated – I liked that unlike the hazing rituals of the Tina Fey monologues, Maya seemed to be trying to spotlight the newest cast members, and share a bonding moment with them to help connect viewers to the strangers while playing up the diva persona.
(this episode seemed to be trying to finally put Lauren into more supporting roles, putting her a bit more on a par with Dismukes’ status – I hope we get more for Punkie soon)
Update was mostly fine (to answer the above question, I think Che and Jost have clearly reached the end and feel lost in the current scattershot post-Trump-Trump-never-leaves-us era), helped by some tough jokes, Bowen’s challenging segment, and Cecily at least adding some life to her performance (even if it just felt like greatest hits).
The best part came with the last two sketches. I thought the barfly sketch was very strong and a good use of most of the cast (this era of SNL seems to handle awards shows much better than past years). And while it wasn’t perfect, the Maya-ing pre-tape was a very strong mix of nostalgia, melancholy, and the screwed-up reality of life at SNL. It was a blend of Tina Fey and Tom Schiller, and had an atmosphere that I wish we saw a bit more of with the show’s pre-tapes.
Jack Harlow was pretty forgettable…even in the NFT pre-tape, Pete Davidson’s crotch shots were more memorable than Jack’s rap. And Adam Levine – ugh!
So yeah, this one mostly continued the confused season 46 path, but had plenty I could either enjoy or pick apart. I’d probably put this one in the middle of my season rankings. I was pleasantly surprised with Maya’s use, overall, which helped me from giving a lower ranking. I just wish they would move more away from politics (and if not, find a better handle on Biden [at least Alex Moffat seems to be trying but there’s a ways to go], stale attempts at camp, and most of all, tighten up their writing.
I forgot to say that I was very glad the audience was dead when that poor Ted Cruz impression was wheeled out for the fourth episode in a row. SNL seems to be trying to find their new cheap seats political boo hiss bit now that Trump and Rudy are less relevant. This is not going to fit the bill – not that the show even needs that crutch in the first place.
Was anyone else besides me bothered by Maya putting her arm around people last night? You do have to be careful with that closeness now more than ever. At least they have everyone wearing masks during the goodnights.
Someone on Reddit pointed out that Maya honored her mother Minnie Riperton, who passed when she was 7, in both episodes by recreating album covers of hers during the bumpers. I thought that was sweet. It also lead me to this performance of Riperton singing her signature hit “Lovin You” (which was written as a lullaby for Maya), where she starts singing “Maya Maya Maya” at 3:25, which may or may not have made me cry a little.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uukmn2juvLc