April 9, 2016 – Russell Crowe / Margo Price (S41 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM HILLARY CLINTON
Hillary Clinton (KAM) panders to New York in order to break losing streak

 

— A pretty good laugh from Kate-as-Hillary-Clinton’s inability to say “lose”, no matter how hard she tries.
— When Kate’s Hillary is trying to figure out how many states she lost, we get a funny walk-on from Kenan as a repairman saying “I’m here to fix seven holes in your wall”, which answers Kate-as-Hillary’s question.
— Good conceit to this cold opening, with Kate-as-Hillary’s unnatural attempts to come off New York-y.
— A very funny pre-taped spoof of the real Hillary’s infamous failure to swipe a subway Metrocard properly.
— Kate’s Hillary, in regards to voting on Tuesday: “And to Susan Sarandon, who said Trump might be better for America than me, why don’t you take Tuesday to drive off ANOTHER cliff?”
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
host points out the comedic aspects of his dramatic film roles

— Russell Crowe, on his The Nice Guys co-star Ryan Gosling: “I watched him host in December, and I was like, ‘Wow, anyone can do that’.” Oh, don’t be too confident about that, Russell, ol’ boy.
— In addition to the above-quoted line of Russell’s, I’m also rolling my eyes at Russell’s joke about his family that lives in an Australian time zone telling him before the show that this episode went great, and his joke about his co-star Ryan Gosling being a pretty girl. Sure, they’re just jokes, but when delivered by Russell Crowe, given the negative reputation of his personality, those jokes just make him come off arrogant and unlikable. And speaking of his negative reputation, I’ve heard that he was a nightmare for the SNL cast and crew to work with all week, which is no surprise, given his notoriety for being difficult to work with on movie sets. (Online SNL fans even reacted to the initial announcement of him hosting by saying SNL’s making a mistake, because he’s likely going to be hell for them to deal with.) However, I’ve never heard any specifics of what exactly he did to piss off the people at SNL. Does anyone know? Was it just generic standoffish diva behavior, or even worse, like some Steven Seagal/Chevy Chase-level shit? Thanks in advance if anyone in the comments section of this review can answer.
— Also, man, you gotta feel bad for the cast for having TWO nightmare hosts to deal with in just this one season alone. (I don’t think I have to say who the other host is.) I wonder if stuff like this only added to Taran’s well-documented sour attitude towards his later years at SNL.
— Boy, the humor in this monologue is cringeworthingly lame, especially the reliance on the ancient “calculator spelling out ‘boobs’” gag, made even worse by Russell actually having to POINT IT OUT TO US (as if it weren’t already obvious) and show that clip a second time.
— Overall, in a word: ugh. One of the worst monologues in a long time. Russell Crowe’s already off to a rough start.
STARS: *

PREPARATION H ADVANCED GEL
(BEB) indiscreetly helps fellow hemorrhoid sufferer (TAK)

— While I’ve gotten used to seeing Michael occasionally make non-Weekend Update appearances, his appearance here is very surprising and random. Usually, he only appears if an additional black male performer is needed in a segment that Kenan and Jay are already appearing in, but that’s not the case here, as neither Kenan nor Jay are anywhere to be seen in this.
— Some good laughs from Beck loudly speaking to Taran about Taran’s personal hemorrhoid issues, causing Taran’s friends to hear.
— Beck’s increasingly rattled, needy demeanor here is funny, especially when he cuts off the commercial’s announcer at one point. Beck’s always good at playing characters like this in pre-taped commercials, such as in that Jack Handey-esque Fake Cocaine/Poop Spray commercial from earlier this season.
STARS: ***½

POLITICS NATION WITH AL SHARPTON
(Al Sharpton) rates candidates for Al Sharpton (KET)

— The final installment of this recurring sketch.
— The “celebrity impression meets the real celebrity” gathering that nobody was waiting for. If there was ever a right time for this meeting of Al Sharptons to occur, that ship had long sailed. SNL is several years too late to the party.
— No matter how many times I’ve seen Al Sharpton after his huge weight loss, I still can’t get used to his thin frame. It looks strangely unnatural.
— Meh at the meta bit with Sharpton pointing out of how Kenan’s Sharpton should be thin. Sharpton’s iffy delivery of that didn’t help.
— I did kinda laugh at Kenan’s wink-wink look into the camera when saying his extra weight makes him look younger.
— Aside from a few more funny lines from Kenan, I’m not caring much for this sketch, between the corniness, the meh humor, and Sharpton’s awkward delivery.
— Feels weird seeing a hostless live sketch leading off the show after the monologue, but that’s probably a good thing, given who tonight’s host is.
STARS: **

HENRY VIII: THE EXPERIENCE
hologram of Henry VIII (host) demands male heir from female museumgoers

— Blah at the “BEAR ME A SON!” turn this sketch has taken.
— Aaaaaand of course, the cry of “BEAR ME A SON!” is repeated over and over as the main joke of this sketch. (*grooooaaaaan*)
— An accidental brief glimpse of a stagehand handing Russell a turkey leg. Sadly, that made me chuckle more than the intended comedy of this sketch so far.
— A genuine laugh from Kenan, after preceding Russell’s “blackamoor” line with an innocent “Hello”, succeeding that line of Russell’s by saying “And goodbye!”
— Awful, awful ending.
STARS: *½

MATCH FINDERS
(host) woos bachelorette (CES) with his vaginal knowledge

— Love the meta bit with “White Jeopardy” being listed as an upcoming program.
— Ugh, so is EVERY SINGLE SKETCH that Russell appears in just going to be him saying crude sexual things?
— For the second consecutive sketch tonight, Kenan’s the only big saving grace, as he has funny straight man lines throughout this.
— Kenan’s ponytail reveal in the middle of this sketch makes me think this sketch was written by whoever wrote that Should You Chime In On This game show sketch from this season’s Matthew McConaughey episode, as the middle of that sketch had McConaughey revealing a pony tail (or long braid, rather) in the back of his head.
— Russell’s lines are PAINFUL to get through. And making them even worse is that annoying slow German accent he’s doing. We’re currently almost halfway through tonight’s episode, and I haven’t liked a single thing Russell’s done so far.
— A strangely long pause from Russell before delivering a line just now. During that long pause, Pete can be seen looking at Russell in a bit of a curious manner, like he’s thinking “Are you ever gonna say your next line, or…?”
— Oh, so now we’re making out-of-left-field digs at Michael Douglas’ throat cancer? Really, SNL?
STARS: *½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”

IN MEMORIAM
a photo of Merle Haggard marks his passing

WEEKEND UPDATE
Deenie eats while giving a rough recap of The People V. O.J. Simpson

clip of Charles Barkley’s Villanova win reaction suggests he bet on game

darkness subsumes Bruce Chandling during his stand-up on women & sports

— Man, even a Jost/Che Weekend Update is letting me down tonight, with Colin’s hacky Bernie Sanders bingo joke that tonight’s Update opens with.
— Thankfully, after that lame opening joke, Update has taken off and Colin and Michael are in usual top form.
— Michael’s rant about the subway is hilarious.
— Like last time she appeared, this Deenie character of Kate’s is funny and relatable, and has several good lines. Tonight’s commentary of hers is also helped by Kate not breaking like she kept doing throughout the previous Deenie commentary from earlier this season.
— That clip of Charles Barkley doing a wild celebratory dance after the buzzer shot at the NCAA championship game cracked me up. Sadly, Colin’s punchline about it afterwards was lame, and was far less funny than the actual clip.
— Hmm, Colin’s been having a number of clunkers tonight in general. Michael, however, is keeping this Update afloat with lots of solid jokes, including some long-form ones.
— When Michael was setting up a sports-related guest commentary by bringing up big things currently happening in various sports, I actually thought he was introducing Kyle’s “sporty” character from YouTube videos that Kyle used to do pre-SNL (and reportedly tried to bring to Weekend Update at least once, but it got cut after dress rehearsal). Michael instead ends up introducing a different Kyle Mooney character: Bruce Chandling.
— Standard Bruce Chandling stuff here, and he’s had some better, more standout commentaries in the past, but this is definitely still really working for me, and I love how engaged tonight’s audience is getting during Chandling’s usual depressed mood swing and subsequent upbeat attitude.
STARS: ***½

100 DAYS IN THE JUNGLE
(PED)’s uncle’s friend (host) visits reality show

— Pretty funny how the only loved one of Pete’s character that this reality show could bring on was his uncle’s friend.
— I want to like this fun, laid-back character of Russell’s, but I’m not sure how I feel about his execution of it so far.
— Beck, when Pete asks why neither of his parents showed up: “(in a deadpan, waving-off manner) They had a thing and couldn’t move it.”
— Pete’s a solid straight man here.
— At first, I thought the messages from family members on the TV monitor were pre-taped, but the puppy in Bobby’s scene unexpectedly yipping loudly and squirming around in Bobby’s arms briefly while Bobby’s trying to speak into the camera made it obvious that these messages are being performed live.
— Funny message from Leslie.
— I’m still iffy on Russell’s performance here, but at least I don’t flat-out hate it like I did his prior performances tonight. He’s still not bringing the laughs much here, though.
— Oh, wow. Russell’s character being overly willing to eat a disgusting animal part, after the two other contestants’ loved ones expressed reluctance towards doing that. Sure didn’t see THAT coming. [/end sarcasm]
— What was with Russell’s odd delivery of his final line? Well, in his defense, he was speaking with food in his mouth, so I guess he had a little trouble getting his line out.
STARS: **

POGIE PEPPERONI’S
(BEB) & (KYM) are stoked to be new employees at a kids’ pizza restaurant

 

— Great to see this, given the dishearteningly low number of Beck/Kyle pre-tapes we’ve gotten this season.
— Beck and Kyle are a blast here, and are so dorkily charming. It’s also impressive how, despite having played lots of oddball characters together during their SNL tenure so far, Beck and Kyle always manage to give each pair of those oddballs characters their own unique characterization instead of making them all seem derivative of one another.
— I love the little part with Beck greeting a group of running-by kids by saying a cheesy “Al-riiight!” while holding his hand up for a high-five.
— A solid visual of Beck and Kyle’s heads suddenly exploding confetti when meeting the owner of Pogie Pepperoni’s.
— A very funny ending In Memoriam montage of Beck and Kyle’s characters, as well as the reveal of just how briefly they worked at this restaurant before dying of excitement.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Since You Put Me Down”

SHANICE GOODWIN: NINJA
ninja Shanice Goodwin (LEJ) rescues (VAB) from Russian mob boss (host)

 

— Nice to see a childhood photo of Leslie (the first above screencap for this sketch), especially since we never got to see a childhood home movie of her in the preceding season’s Reese Witherspoon monologue.
— Oh, I’m already onboard for the very fun concept of Leslie playing a ninja.
— Russell apparently playing a lost Roxbury Guy, judging from that outfit. (It also resembles Goat Boy’s old outfit. Speaking of which, I remember when I was younger, I used to think it would’ve been kinda funny if, in the late 90s, SNL did some kind of Roxbury Guys/Goat Boy mash-up, given the fact that those characters dress the same as each other.)
— A worrying blooper with Kenan genuinely appearing to be choking on his drink (it probably just went down the wrong pipe), causing Taran to stop mid-line and, in an ad-lib, ask Kenan in a semi-amused manner if he’s alright. Even more worryingly, Kenan answers that question of Taran’s by repeatedly waving “No”, which you can tell concerns Taran, because Taran doesn’t continue with his line and instead just silently waits for Kenan to be okay, which he thankfully is after a few seconds.
— So many funny actions from Leslie, especially when she’s “discreetly” knocking out each villain. The part with her knocking out Taran is particularly hilarious.
— I absolutely love Vanessa’s mock-cloying delivery of lines throughout this sketch, such as “Somewhere in this room…there’s definitely a ninja!” That delivery of Vanessa’s is both funny and genuinely adorable.
STARS: ****½

OPRAH WINFREY: A LIFE OF LOVE
Oprah biopic stars oddly-cast MOB, plus features JAS as Whoopi Goldberg

— Sadly, this ends up being the final Mike O’Brien short film on SNL.
— A variation of the Jay-Z Story short that Mike did the preceding season.
— Much like the aforementioned Jay-Z short, Mike is hilarious in his very Mike O’Brien-y portrayal of Oprah, even if this short isn’t quite as amazing as the Jay-Z short.
— Kyle’s Michael Jackson impression has me on the floor.
— A big laugh from the “Before/After” photos of Mike’s Oprah.
— Funny how it’s become a running gag in Mike’s celebrity biopic shorts for Jason Sudeikis to randomly cameo as a famous friend of the celebrity that Mike is portraying.
— A particularly great bit with Mike’s Oprah stubbornly insisting on ALWAYS being on the cover of her magazines.
— Overall, another Mike O’Brien winner. I’m sure going to miss his reliable short films. He’s had what I’d argue is the best track record out of any of SNL’s regular filmmakers over the years. I don’t think he did a single short on SNL that received a rating less than four stars from me.
STARS: ****½

GOODNIGHTS

— After having nothing positive to say about Russell Crowe all night, I will at least say that I kinda like the part at the end of his goodnights speech where he says “God bless the ghost of John Belushi. Still think about you, man.” Kinda surprised to hear that from Russell.
— These goodnights get cut off very early, and thus, we don’t get to see if there was any tension, awkwardness, or flat-out avoidance between the cast and Russell during these goodnights, though during his goodnights speech, he did thank “this incredible, beautiful cast I had the pleasure to work with”. (Even Donald Trump had some cast members being friendly towards him during the goodnights of his notorious hosting stint earlier this season. As much as I’m sure people would rather not hear this, Leslie could even be seen laughing it up with Trump throughout those goodnights.)

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very mixed episode, though the string of exceptionally great segments towards the end of the show gave this episode a big boost. Any highlights this episode contained were of no thanks to Russell Crowe. The segments that relied on him carrying the comedy were mostly DREADFUL, but SNL pulled the right move in keeping his airtime to a minimum, which is why this episode as a whole didn’t turn out to be a disaster. I’m pretty sure this episode had just as many segments without Russell as it had with him, which is a huge rarity for hosts in the 2000s and onward. At this point in SNL’s history, he’s got to be the least-used host in years. I’d like to think that was SNL’s conscious way of sending him a hint on how difficult he was to work with, and how bad he is at sketch comedy.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Pogie Pepperoni’s
Shanice Goodwin: Ninja
Oprah Winfrey: A Life Of Love
A Message from Hillary Clinton
Weekend Update
Preparation H Advanced Gel
100 Days In The Jungle
Politics Nation with Al Sharpton
Match Finders
Henry VIII: The Experience
Monologue

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Peter Dinklage)
a big step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Julia Louis-Dreyfus