Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Hillary Clinton (KAM) lets Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) fumble debate
— An extremely rare sighting of Michael front-and-center in the LEAD ROLE of a sketch, no doubt due to Jay Pharoah no longer being in the cast, and the only remaining non-Che black male cast member being Kenan, who I guess SNL figured wouldn’t look convincing in this Lester Holt role. I remember that, right before this season began, a lot of online SNL fans predicted that we’d see Michael making lots of non-Update appearances this season, due to SNL only having two black male cast members left, but that ended up not being the case at all. Aside from another Lester Holt appearance that Michael makes towards the end of the season, I don’t recall Michael having any other really MAJOR roles in any sketches this season.
— I enjoyed the Willy Wonka-esque gimmick that Kate’s Hillary Clinton made her entrance with.
— The debut of Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump impression. Hooooooooo, boy, this is gonna be a long four years. Like a certain number of other SNL fans, I would go on to get VERY sick of Alec’s impression. However, I did enjoy this impression a lot when this season’s election period originally aired, back when Alec’s impression was new, fresh, and fun. It wasn’t until the second half of this season, well after the election ended, when my slow burn towards Alec’s Trump began, gradually leading to the seething hatred I’d eventually have towards it. All that being said, I will be fair and go into my reviews of the first handful of Alec’s Trump sketches with a clean slate, hoping to recapture the positive feelings I had towards Alec’s impression at the time.
— Oof, right out of the gate in his Trump debut, we get some sloppiness from Alec, as he doesn’t hit his mark properly during his entrance, causing half of his body to be out of the camera shot (screencap below), eventually forcing the camera to pan over a little so Alec is fully onscreen.
— I’m now a few minutes into this cold opening, and, aside from my minor quibble about his entrance above, Alec is actually 1) killing it in this cold opening, 2) capturing the spirit of 2016 Donald Trump much better than Darrell Hammond did the preceding season, and 3) having tons of funny lines here. I am definitely reminded of why I and many others praised Alec’s impression back when it was new.
— Michael’s Lester Holt, after a ridiculous rambly spiel from Alec’s Trump: “Senator Clinton, what do you think about that?” Kate’s Hillary: “I think I’m gonna be president.” Oh, man. When this originally aired, I remember finding that line of Kate’s to be classic, and assumed it would go down in history as one of those legendary debate moments on SNL (such as the moment in the 1988 presidential debate sketch where Jon Lovitz’s Michael Dukakis followed a ridiculous rambly spiel of Dana Carvey’s George Bush by bluntly stating “I can’t believe I’m losin’ to this guy!”) However…yeah, that line of Kate’s sadly hasn’t aged well, for obvious reasons.
— Despite her aforementioned “I think I’m gonna be president” line not holding up, Kate’s Hillary has lots of great lines here.
— Michael is a solid straight man. I particularly love the way he responded “Moving right past THAT…” after Alec-as-Trump’s disclosure of once kissing Sean Hannity in a private encounter.
— The energy in this cold opening has been great.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— Same montage from the preceding two seasons.
— Michael Che, Pete Davidson, and Leslie Jones have been promoted from featured players to repertory players.
— Mikey Day, Alex Moffat, and Melissa Villasenor have been added to the cast.
— Starting with this episode, the musical guest and host’s shots in this opening montage are now moving clips instead of still photos.
MONOLOGUE
host, KET, LEJ, CES, PED, AIB give themselves instant fact-checks
— Mixed feelings on the election-related concept of Margot Robbie fact-checking herself throughout this monologue. It seems kinda corny to me.
— Lots of applause breaks from the audience throughout this monologue.
— Love the meta bit with Kenan saying into the Fact Check camera, after telling Margot he couldn’t sleep last night due to the excitement of the season premiere, “This is my, uh, 14th season. I slept like a baby.”
— HUGE audience applause for Leslie’s walk-on. Heartening to see, after the rough summer she had with so much awful crap she had to deal with online.
— Leslie’s message into the Fact Check camera, after telling Margot she’s embarrassed over calling her “Kate Upton”: “I’ve done way worse. I called Kate McKinnon ‘Kate Middleton’ for a year.”
— Leslie’s second “message” into the Fact Check camera is even funnier, with her just sternly giving a very knowing look into the camera after lying to Margot about being born in 1990.
— Despite my initial reservations over the Fact Check concept of this monologue, it’s definitely working for me ever since the cast has gotten involved.
— A particularly good laugh from Aidy, after claiming Margot is her favorite host, delivering an emotional apology towards Drake into the Fact Check camera.
STARS: ***½
ACTION 9 NEWS AT FIVE
TV news team can’t get why hottie (host) married dweeb Matt Schatt (MID)
— Impressively, Mikey Day already gets his first lead role in the post-monologue lead-off sketch of his first episode as a cast member.
— A big laugh from Kenan immediately yelling “HE DOES PUPPETS?!?” after finding out Mikey’s character is a puppeteer.
— A very funny reveal of Mikey’s name being Matt Schatt. Kenan has great lines in relation to that, such as responding to Mikey’s clarification that “Schatt” is spelled with two t’s by telling him “It doesn’t make it any better!”, and reacting to finding out Margot’s name is Alexandra Kennedy-Shatt by saying in utter disbelief, “She’s a Kennedy…and she put a Schatt on it.”
— Very funny how the newscast is devolving into all of the so-called professional news team members making assumptions on why Margot’s character got with Matt Schatt.
— Alex Moffat’s very first SNL role reminds me of that of Bill Hader, in that Jet Blue Flight sketch from the season 31 Steve Carell episode.
— The surprising or embarrassing reveals about Matt Schatt keep getting funnier and funnier.
— Leslie once again gets huge applause from the audience, this time when she joins in on the news team’s speculation on how Matt Schatt managed to get a wife as hot as Margot’s character.
STARS: ****½
THE LIBRARIAN
male high schoolers get turned on & creeped out by librarian (host)
— The name of this short film’s fictional school, Villines Academy, is a tribute to Matt Villines, of SNL pre-tape directing duo Matt & Oz, as he passed away of cancer that summer.
— Very funny how the guys’ statements about Margot’s various actions are played in a slow-motion deep pitch to match the “Oh, yeah” part of that famous Ferris Bueller song that’s playing throughout this short.
— This is like a much more extreme version of Kristen Wiig’s “Sexy Shana” character, but I’m enjoying this more.
— I absolutely love the “Haley Joel Osment?!?” “Haley Joel Osment NOW?!?” bit with Margot’s two tattoos.
— Another particularly great bit, with how what seems like it’s going to be girl-on-girl action between Margot and Cecily turns out to instead be Margot violently cracking Cecily’s neck. I also love Kenan’s “Straight-up murder?!?” line in reaction to that.
— Funny appearance from Beck randomly accompanying Margot as a sleazy dancer, complete with a snake wrapped around his neck.
— Solid ending to this priceless short.
STARS: ****½
FAMILY FEUD
Bernie Sanders (Larry David) & Team Clinton meet Team Trump
— The debut of Kate’s Kellyanne Conway impression.
— Kenan’s Steve Harvey, to Margot’s Ivanka Trump: “Oh, you sexy. I know that might sound inappropriate, but if yo daddy can say it, so can I.”
— We now also get the debut of Beck’s Vladmir Putin impression.
— Our very first display of Melissa Villasenor’s knack for doing spot-on celebrity impressions. Not only is her Sarah Silverman voice very good here, but she facially even LOOKS just like Sarah with certain facial expressions she’s making here.
— Cecily playing Lin-Manuel Miranda one week before he hosts SNL makes me wonder how many other times a host or musical guest was impersonated on the show just one week before they appeared. The only example I can think of is Amy Poehler playing Avril Lavigne in Lindsay Lohan’s season 29 monologue, just one episode prior to Avril being the musical guest. There have been some examples of musical guests being impersonated the episode AFTER they appeared. I’m not sure of hosts in that regard, though.
— A funny prune juice analogy that Larry David’s Bernie Sanders makes to Hillary Clinton.
— The debuts of noteworthy political impressions continue, as Mikey and Alex’s Trump Brothers make their very first appearance, complete with Alex’s Eric introducing himself by saying a dopey “And I’m Eric!” Nice to see that some of the key aspects of Alec’s Eric characterization were already established right from its first appearance.
— Some good laughs from how creepily in-unison the three Trump siblings are, prompting Kenan’s Harvey to call them Children of the Corn.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Starboy”
WEEKEND UPDATE
undecided voter Cathy Anne would rather see Barack Obama remain in office
The Weeknd Update- musical guest got a haircut
on the cusp of retiring, David Ortiz (KET) lists more punny endorsements
— Several things about the style of the photo graphics that are displayed next to Colin and Michael looks very different this season, but I can’t put my finger on what all of the differences are. One difference I’ve noticed is that the preceding season’s blue color motif for the photo graphics has now been changed back to the burgundy color motif that Update used prior to the preceding season.
— Tonight’s Update is starting out HOT, with so many great Trump and election-related quips from Colin and Michael.
— Cecily’s Cathy Anne character makes her very first Update appearance, after previously only appearing in sketches.
— Right out of the gate, Cecily’s Cathy Anne characterization is coming off much funnier to me here than it ever did in those awful sketches she appeared in.
— A lot of funny election-related lines from Cecily’s Cathy Anne here.
— A big laugh from the National Anthem “choreography” that Colin says white people can easily follow.
— A very funny sequel to the “The Weeknd Update” bit from the previous episode that The Weeknd was a musical guest in.
— Colin, on the National Museum of African American History giving a detailed account of black history in the U.S.: “Or, for a different version of black history, give my grandpa scotch. (*audience ‘ooh’s*)” Michael: “Oh, now you on my side!”
— Ah, Kenan’s David Ortiz. His commentaries always slay me.
— I’m getting my usual huge laughs from Kenan-as-Big-Papi’s endorsements, especially the “Hepsi” one, which had me practically on the floor.
STARS: ****½
THE HUNCH BUNCH
girlfriend (host) doesn’t fit in with mystery team
— Since when does Nick At Nite air programs like this?
— Kinda charming seeing the cast play expies of Scooby Doo characters. Are Beck and Mikey both playing a Fred expy?
— Our first display of Mikey playing this specific type of straight man role, which is coming off fresh and funny in this first outing. Between the Matt Schatt sketch and this, Mikey feels like an established natural in his first episode, which makes sense, given the fact that he was a writer for several seasons prior to this.
— A lot of this sketch is a little on the meh side, though not awful.
— I did really like that ending, at least.
STARS: **½
MELANIA MOMENTS
Melania Trump (CES) speculates about life beyond 5th Avenue
— The debut of these Julio Torres-written Melania Moments segments.
— A short and sweet segment, and I absolutely love how very Deep Thoughts-esque it felt.
STARS: ****
WOMEN’S ROUND TABLE
veteran actress Debette Goldry (KAM) relays tales of Hollywood misogyny
— (*sigh*) Yet ANOTHER season premiere in which poor, poor Sasheer’s airtime is particularly rough, even for her standards. Luckily for her, this is the final season that she has to suffer through SNL’s poor utilization of her.
— The debut of Kate’s Debette Goldry character.
— Margot going all Ryan Gosling in her giggling towards Kate’s performance right now.
— A big laugh from Kate’s Goldry casually referring to Sasheer’s Lupita Nyong’o as “Little Peter No-no”.
— Lots of very funny lines from Kate’s Goldry lightheartedly disclosing how extremely rough it was for actresses back in her day.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “False Alarm”
MR. ROBOT
hacking victim LEJ enlists the help of Elliot (PED)
— I’ve never watched Mr. Robot, but I’ve still always enjoyed this spoof of it, and I absolutely LOVE the premise of Leslie appearing as herself to find out who hacked her photos that summer, which is something that really happened.
— There’s that rare Pete/Leslie pairing that I previously said I wish we got to see more often during their years on the show together.
— Interesting seeing Pete playing a role that feels much different than anything else he previously did on SNL.
— A funny “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts” line from the then-recently-co-starred-in-the-Ghostbusters-reboot Leslie, which gets a huge audience reaction.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong season premiere. High-quality material all throughout the episode, with the Hunch Bunch sketch being the only thing I didn’t care much for, and not even that was anything particularly bad. Another great thing about this season premiere was the energy in the air, helped by the very enthusiastic audience, which is a nice way to start a season.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The Librarian
Weekend Update
Action 9 News At Five
Melania Moments
Women’s Round Table
Mr. Robot
The Presidential Debate
Monologue
Family Feud
The Hunch Bunch
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2015-16)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
This fella:
Adding “Since when does Nick At Nite air programs like this?” to my list of Fantastically Funny Stooge Quips.
Only four more seasons to go before Stooge catches up and reaches the current season.
I’m thinking about this right now. Will he also review the upcoming seasons too?
Also the first show with more or less the current cast. 12 of these actors are still on the show, and 11 of them (sorry Mel) are still prominent in sketches.
Legend has it that Chris Redd was supposed to be hired for Year 42, but he couldn’t agree to terms. There was even a premature announcement on Facebook. Lorne wanted him, but he was making more money doing stand-up. I’m glad he finally came aboard a year later; unofficially, he was the highest-played first year featured player ever. Even so, I knew him in Chicago, and he deserves his success.
My realization that he had actually had a good-sized part in a Lonely Island movie several years before he joined the cast was when I figured he wasn’t following the usual featured player’s path. I’d say he was worth the extra money alone for the real improvements he made in the music pre-tapes (nothing against Pete but I don’t think I needed to see 3-4 seasons of him rapping and not much else).
Hey Stooge, long-time reader, first-time writer. To answer your question on what’s different about the Update graphics, it might be due to the fact that they got rid of the spinning globe that was shown below the graphics from seasons 26-41.
@Jesse, thanks.
I always enjoyed Baldwin’s Trump but I think it got less funny as the Trump Presidency got less funny. That and the cameofests.
Honestly it’s easy to look past the poorly aged parts of this season imo. Everyone’s already discussed to death how bad this debate CO and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s monologue come off nowadays, but it’s relatively easy to put myself back in the headspace of watching it live for the first time, so I’m glad to see that you did as well when reviewing that cold open.
Looking at this review, I’m remembering that this was a super strong premiere. Nearly flawless and it does have a slightly fresh feel, as much as I miss Taran and Jay. This was the first season I started watching the show live, as beforehand I had only been exposed to SNL through the best-of home videos and YouTube. Even with that four-year nostalgia removed, I’d say this is a very good season. It’s not perfect (no season is) and has three or four kinda dud episodes, but has plenty of classic episodes and an overall solid consistency. Obviously its success was a major factor in the quick downward spiral in quality that they’re still crawling their way out of, but at the time I was enjoying the show a lot and had pretty much no complaints.
I loved that Matt Schatt sketch so much when I first saw it. Kenan’s delivery of “Oh my GOD. Matt Schatt…is wearing crocs…WITH SOCKS” killed me. It sucks that Seiday’s repetitive writing style would go on to be what made me stop watching regularly as I did like their early material.
I remember this season. This was during my freshman year in high school. This was huge in 2016-17. Ratings actually grew because of the trump administration.
This is a real “I wish I had been there live” moment for me. I can see where some fans might have really been wowed at the time, without diminishing returns and some ugly political realities in the way of their enjoyment.
You can see right from the start some of the trademarks of the next 2-3 seasons, from Mikey reacts/Mikey news sketches, to Kate’s crutches, to Julio’s very distinctive pre-tapes. But they work here (well, most of them).
Right out of the gate you do get Mikey’s main two modes, which helps explain why some viewers have become very vocally negative about his work in the last few years. I will say that he did avoid the easy hook of bringing Matt Schatt back over and over – we never see the character again until season 45, in JLo’s episode, and Mikey and Streeter Seidell cared enough about the character that they actually had continuity worked out regarding his wives.
I have a difficult time knowing how to gauge the debate sketches for this season. I find all of them to be smug and overextended, if I’m being honest, but I am not sure if I feel that way because I know the outcome or if it’s just the type of hollow, headline-chasing material that I never watch this show for. Ditto for Alec Baldwin’s work as Trump here (it doesn’t help that I’m not really a big Baldwin fan, although I can acknowledge he’s done some great work on SNL).
Debette is one of those characters who works well in a one-off setting, even if this bit was done to better effect by Tracey Ullman as Ruby Romaine (it helped that Tracey did not go to the kooky old lady well anywhere near as much as Kate does). The character becomes very timely once we get to season 43, so I guess I can see why she returned. I think my main takeaway from this sketch is that Cecily is not only just doing her America’s Funniest Cats character in accent, but she is even wearing the same costume. Was that the resident French lady costume for wardrobe?
The librarian pre-tape is another part of this episode that doesn’t really work for me past the first viewing, but that first viewing is certainly a pip. In one of the Creating SNL videos, they say that it was Lorne who asked them to add in the final shot of the exploding heads.
There’s a very unique mix of confidence and delicacy right from the start in Julio’s work. It’s a fine line with the Melania pieces, because they could have easily just tried to make people feel sorry for her – instead, it’s a more distant observation of a woman who has chosen to live in a glass cage. Cecily also gets to show her strong acting skills. To Julio’s credit, he never tries to cash in with this impression – he was genuinely fascinated by Melania, but after the “I Don’t Really Care, Do U?” jacket fiasco, he lost all interest and never wrote for her again.
Cecily is also in superb form here as Cathy Anne – she is just raring to go right from the first breath. There are few Update debuts quite this strong. It’s Cecily’s talent and her rapport with Michael Che that keep Cathy Anne fresh for most of her run.
Alex Moffat’s Eric Trump is probably the most endearing interpretation of a really shitty person. It puts to use most of Alex’s biggest gifts as a performer, from his charm and sweetness and goofiness to his physical comedy abilities.
Sarah Silverman is one of the impressions Melissa was known for previous to SNL hiring her, although that version would not be able to make it onto network television:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVOphwPQ5Pc
Overall this episode does try to give all three newcomers their moments to shine, and allows viewers to leave wanting more. It’s a reminder of how often first episodes don’t quite end up matching the reality of a cast member’s arc.
The noticeable quality in Baldwin’s Trump in very apparent in the pre-election episodes and mostly continues throughout season 42, he wins the Emmy, publishes a book in character as Trump and then thought he was done after this season. Lorne kept insisting he come back even though I believe it was revealed that Beck was the Trump stand-in during read through.
Two things about Matt Schatt. First, in this appearance his first wife Alexandra says he was born without a penis but in his second appearance, Bowen Yang’s character grabs Matt’s crotch to verify that he does in fact have a penis. Second, Streeter Seidell tweeted that Mikey has a whole backstory about how Alexandra tragically died and how he ended up with his second wife Jacqueline, played by Jennifer Lopez.
I think they may have also tweeted about the penis continuity blip (saying that he had an implant).
Yeah, I remember the Matt Schatt sketch being an absolute killer at the time. A recent rewatch proved that it holds up. I have mixed feelings on Mikey Day’s tenure, but this sketch really nails every single element. Just perfect execution.
Also, welcome to the two of the more underrated cast members in SNL history.
Very annoying that 5 years in Mikey’s all over the show while the two far more talented players he came in with (Moffat can play things a little bland for my tastes sometimes, but for the most part those two can do no wrong in my eyes) STILL have to fight for airtime 5 years in. I was mixed on Day for his first 4 or so seasons (he’s not my favorite performer, but he has his moments, and he IS a good writer), but MAN am I not looking forward to 3 more seasons of him. I am pretty much fully burned out on Mikey.
Also part of my frustration with Mikey is I (perhaps unfairly) see him as a bit of a face for the reliably chuckle worthy but extremely unambitious nature of the show’s humor in the majority of his tenure.
I once read a comment which suggested Melissa, not Alex, was cast because Chris didn’t join this season. If true, that would make sense, I suppose, but sometimes I do feel like Alex’s trajectory suggests “not first casting choice.” Both he and Melissa, especially after their first or second seasons, never quite seem to click into the show’s machinery, whether that be down to the usual backstage issues, or the Bill Hader 1.0/Chris Parnell problem (not being able to properly write for themselves). Alex was brutally shut out last season; this season he’s had a more consistent presence, probably due to the likelihood of Beck being in his last season. Melissa has had a very odd trajectory where she is either completely absent from an episode or has a key role – she is probably one of the most anti-utility players the show has had.
It’s never a good idea to play psychic friends with SNL players, but I sometimes feel like even Mikey became burnt out on the Mikey trademarks – for whatever reason (that or personal things or his other writing projects) he wasn’t as active last season and not for part of this one either. Since he has become more active again, there’s been a very clumsy jerking between Mikey reacts/Mikey explains and a lot of character parts that he had not done all that much up to now. I’d rather see more of that side of him, but I do think that he’s probably burnt out and I hope next season they can more fully phase out some of the more tired aspects of his onscreen persona (and let him do more with Heidi Gardner, as they tend to work well together).
Watching some of the first debate, I am reminded of one of the things that tended to irrationally irritate me about Baldwin’s Trump impression – the overdone facial expressions that just his upper lip so far out, more than Trump himself ever did. I don’t believe that most comedians ever knew how to impersonate Trump, so I can see where this was a hit early on (especially since I think this is before Anthony Atamanuik went around complaining about Baldwin stealing “‘gina” from him, and so on), but it’s one of those little moments that immediately take me out of the sketches.
I also forgot to say that the show redoes (I’m not going to say ripped off because it was probably written by the same people) the Willy Wonka fall for Alex Moffat’s first (and possibly last) Biden appearance. Alex has a lot of physical background, so even as a repeat it should have been fun, but it’s pretty poorly blocked. The version with Kate is given more freedom, but mostly just looks awkward rather than funny (then again, maybe that was intentional). I come away thinking that should just be left to Gene Wilder.
When I watched this live, I was shocked by how accurate Alec was as Trump. In my opinion, he was at least great at it this season. It was until season 45 that it consciously stated to wear on me.
Personally, as someone who had a bad feeling since late summer that Trump would somehow win (which only went away briefly the following week because of the tape), Hillary’s “I think I’m gonna be President” line immediately seemed like a bad “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy” omen. (My other bad omen was seeing Dave Chappelle announced as the post-election host.)
IIRC, WU becomes a little weak this season, but picks itself up by 43. The only positive thing I remember from this season was that the school in the town adjacent made it in a joke (I forget which episode, but it’s the “mascot is a warm shrimp cocktail” one). Then again, I probably had a different attitude towards it then versus now. I’ll continue to be open-minded as I rewatch this season.
“Yet ANOTHER season premiere in which poor, poor, Sasheer’s airtime is particularly rough, even by her standards” This is how I felt about Melissa Villasenor’s airtime during her season premiere stint last fall (which I think only had her during the goodnights) and kept thinking at least until last weekend she could be done for after May of this year since she got more live and pre-tape minutes than during most of the rest of the year previously!
The Hunch Bunch is still better than that awful Will Forte Scoob.
Alec’s Trump impression worked during the 2016 election and only during the 2016 election. After that point, his appearances became lethargic, mainly because they wrote a clear ending for the bit when Hillary was still expected to win. Like OldSoul97 said, I was paranoid about the high possibility of him winning by this time, so there was little room to really enjoy these sketches (apart from the one in the next episode which of course, was ruined a month later).
The Hunch Bunch is interesting because I didn’t care much for it during the live airing, but after rewatching it several month later, I found myself laughing out loud at all of Margot’s lines. Side Note- This was the first year where the the entire episode was put on Youtube, starting in February when they went back to post the missing sketches from that season.
Mikey Day hits the ground running already feeling like an established cast member from the beginning. He holds the record for the most prominent featured player in their first year by appearing in 88 sketches this season (also the highest season in his tenure to date). It helped that he began in the writing staff, like Jason Sudeikis who was also prominent from the start after having a similar lead-in. You’d think this would ensure plenty of airtime for Andrew Dismukes, but he’s slowly getting there. The trajectory for each of the new players is really established in this episode with Mikey as one of the leads, Alex consistently playing supporting roles, and Melissa getting very little to do outside of the occasional impression.
I wonder…if Baldwin didn’t play Trump and Darrell Hammond didn’t…who would have, in this season’s cast?
Day really hit the ground running. I had seen that Matt Schatt sketch later and thought it was from much later, not Day’s first episode as a cast member. Obviously he got a boost from having been a show writer and presumably acting out a lot of his own material, but he was very much at ease on the show. As John alludes to, perhaps he was too at ease and burned himself out somewhat. I do think when Day is “on” and especially willing to try his hand on characters, he’s really good. I also thought he was very strong during the at home segments from last season.
Poor Alex Moffat is someone who seemingly would have filled in the void vacated by Taran. Unfortunately, Beck did that and Day very quickly grabbed those other spots, leaving Moffat in a kind of “lesser Bobby” type role–someone who was always dependable but never really a lead performer and frequently not the focus of sketches. As that one sketch with Sandra Oh kind of lampshaded, at times Beck, Alex, and Mikey really do feel like the same kind of performer.
Melissa is very talented but definitely as John said an “anti-utility” player for SNL. She is like an even more extreme version of Jay–someone who basically does a few random characters but mostly a lot of impressions. I like her on SNL, yet I kind of wonder if in earlier eras, she would almost be like a recurring guest type performer, someone who would come in and do an Update commentary here and there. Usually a featured player or new cast member has a turning point in which their screen time darts up or down and you know they’re gold or toast. Melissa has basically been booked like a featured player her whole run.
@Michael Cheyne, I see a lot of commentary about Mikey/Beck/Alex being difficult to tell apart. I am always torn between blaming that on writing, on lazy fan memes (along with the whole “the women are the only good part of SNL now” mantra), and acknowledging the truth of it. After a number of years of SNL not having much in the way of male physical comedians, it’s a bit perplexing that the ’10s decided to start doubling and tripling up (Beck/Taran, Beck/Alex/Mikey). I wish the show would use this properly, and give them something together to show off these skills. As it is, I mostly am just pleased when they manage to get any sort of good showcase – for a good portion of seasons 44-45 I felt like there was a period where both Beck and Alex were struggling to find a way into many episodes, Mikey was doing the greatest hits, and as a result many of the male hosts would end up taking on most of the burden of the male cast.
I agree that Mikey was a lot of fun in the at home shows – that pranking video he did with his son was a real highlight.
I think what makes Melissa difficult to categorize is that usually, someone with her performance personality and range does not last long on SNL. 1 season, 2 seasons at the absolute most. It would be like if Beth Cahill had lasted 5 seasons. What would you have said about her? I was very fond of Beth Cahill at the time, still am now, just as I am fond of Melissa, but much as I think SNL needs this type of unique and impossible to pigeonhole female voice (you have to go as far back as Laraine Newman to think of a similar offbeat female performer with a long run), she’s always going to be fighting against the system.
I have some fondness for this episode (and season) because it aired during the first semester where I lived in a college residence hall (an experience where I was holed up in my room for pretty much the entire first semester, but which I grew to love the more active I became beginning in my second semester), and this was the first episode I watched while there (and maybe the first thing I watched on my new TV). However, over the course of my seven semesters living there, the more I started hanging out with my hallmates, the less I actively watched SNL, due in part to an increasing lack of interest. I haven’t really caught anything from the last couple of seasons, although since I graduated, it’s now more due to a lack of access to NBC than anything (I could watch the stuff on YouTube, of course, but I haven’t really had the desire to, and besides, it’s not really the same).
The main thing I remember watching this live is being surprised to not see Leslie address the absolutely brutal horseshit summer she went through in her usual Update commentary, so that being the subject of the “Mr. Robot” pretape was a brilliant surprise twist.
If you go to Melissa’s YouTube channel on one of the earliest videos (ca. 2010. I think its the Zooey Deschanel sketch with her brother) there is a comment where somebody says she should be on SNL. Melissa responds to this comment (paraphrased) “I auditioned last year and made it to the second round, but they went with somebody else.” That would date it to Jenny or Nasim beating her out. Imagine her in the cast 6 years sooner!
Season Opening Sketches Ranked
*****
– First Bush/Gore Debate (S26)
– A Nonpartisan Message (S34)
****½
– The Wolverines (S1)
****
– Lily Tomlin’s Arrival (S2)
– Relatives Of The Rich And Famous (S10)
– Bush Address (S15)
– Wayne’s World (S17)
– Woody Allen At The Theater (S18)
– Clinton Auditions (S20)
– O.J. Today (S21)
– Oprah (S23)
– First Clinton/Trump Debate (S42)
***½
– I Love You (S4)
– Bush Address (S16)
– Clinton Address (S19)
– Oprah 2002 (S24)
– Bush Briefing (S31)
– GOP Debate (S37)
– Democratic Rally (S38)
– Obamacare Rally (S39)
***
– In The Oval Office (S3)
– The Pope (S5)
– Our Age Is Showing (S7)
– Live From Burbank (S8)
– Tartikoff’s Office (S9)
– White House Dinner (S13)
– Hanz & Franz (S14)
– Election Coverage (S22)
– Reform Party Headquarters (S25)
– Schwarzenegger Address (S29)
– Bush Rally (S32)
– A Message From Hillary Clinton (S33)
– RNC Headquarters (S36)
**½
– Drug Testing (S11)
– Cheney And The Bomb (S28)
– State Of The Union (S40)
– Message From The Trumps (S41)
**
– In Bed With Elliott Gould (S6)
*½
– First Bush/Kerry Debate (S30)
– Gadhafi Speech (S35)
N/A Rating
– It Was All A Dream (S12)
– 9/11 Tribute (S27)
It is mind-boggling that whatever sketches Vanessa Bayer was in got cut. A seventh-year veteran shut out of a season opener–terrible. She has a few showcases later in season 7, but mostly was marginalized IMO.
Stooge, wait until you see the Octavia Spencer ep. Yes, she has a Laura Parsons spot at the Update desk, but otherwise Vanessa is stuck doing straight-woman duty in no less than FIVE sketches,, four of which give her little to do but give exposition. In one of which she has a walk-on as a secretary with two lines, neither of which is remotely funny–I mean, that’s a part you give to a rookie! The fact that she delivered those lines with her trademark smile shows what a pro Vanessa is. But I wouldn’t blame her if she were seething.
And only one of those straight-person roles was in the Kenan/Mikey mode, where one gets to actually do something.
Stooge,
Season 48 will have the same montage as the last two seasons, the first since Season 42 to have the same one for three consecutive seasons. Are you sure?
Stooge,
Season 48 will have the same montage as the last two seasons, the first since Season 42 to have the same one for three consecutive seasons. Are you sure about that?
SNL Fan, please stop repeating the same question. I didn’t answer it the first time you asked because it’s confusing. I don’t understand what exactly you’re asking me. I should’ve spoken up earlier about my confusion over your question.
I’m probably not really the right person to ask anyway, since I haven’t watched the last few seasons. I have still been following news of what’s currently going on with the show, though, and I’m curious why you’re convinced the upcoming season will have the same opening montage as the last two seasons, especially considering the large number of cast members that have left.