Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) & Hillary Clinton (KAM) debate a la town hall
— Cecily seems to be attempting much more of an actual Martha Raddatz impression than Kate did when she previously played this role in a debate sketch during the election four years prior to this.
— Pretty fun entrance from Kate’s Hillary Clinton and Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump.
— Alex’s Anderson Cooper: “Do you feel you’re modeling appropriate or positive behavior for today’s youth?” Alec’s Trump: “(bluntly and quickly) No. Next.”
— I like Kate-as-Hillary’s fake-out teary reaction to Alec’s Trump bringing out the mistresses of her husband Bill.
— A decent spoof of the much-talked-about moment from the real debate where Trump creepily loomed behind Hillary while she was speaking at one point.
— Some funny lines from Alec’s Trump, as usual in these early appearances of his.
— Ugh, the Ken Bone part. I never got people’s fascination with this guy at the time, and not even SNL’s spoof here of the media’s glorification of him is doing much for me. Bobby is at least fun in the role, though.
— Alex’s portrayal of Anderson Cooper is coming off much better than Jon Rudnitsky’s infamous take from a year prior, despite Alex flubbing one line early on and pausing a long time before delivering another.
— As usual when looking back at this election season of SNL, I have to ignore a lot of the poorly-aged “Hillary has already won this election” assumptions to enjoy this.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host & cast members implore audience to “Get Happy” with cookies & puppies
— An okay idea for a feel-good monologue during rough times. There’s certainly an air of corniness and sappiness here (even if that’s intentional), but it’s countered by my goodwill towards the good-natured intentions, as well the occasional humor thrown in.
— Oddly, Emily Blunt called Pete “Mikey” just now. I think I recall hearing that Melissa McCarthy makes a similar gaffe in her monologue later this same season, where she calls Mikey “Kyle” or something like that (I can’t remember the exact detail), but I myself have no memory of seeing that gaffe of hers.
STARS: ***
ESCORTS
in a hotel room, escorts (host) & (LEJ) lay out their unsexy ground rules
— Yikes. When the characters sit down after Emily and Leslie’s entrance, Alex completely blanked on his line, leading to a few seconds of awkward dead air, and then Emily, the freakin’ HOST, had to say Alex’s line for him to keep the sketch moving, and then, in an apparent ad-lib, she even tells Alex in character to relax. Wow. I like Alex a lot as a cast member, but between his occasional flubbiness in this episode’s cold opening and now this, Alex is definitely showing some “new cast member greenness” signs in this episode. That’s actually interesting to look at in hindsight, knowing how very good he would go on to be on SNL (even if SNL themselves don’t seem to be fully aware of that, from what I hear about how underutilized he’s been in the more current seasons). I’m not sure, but I think the botched portion of this Escorts sketch would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns and the online version of this sketch, but I might be wrong.
— A delayed camera cut kinda ruined Emily’s tongue-sticking-out gag.
— A good laugh from Leslie sultrily telling Mikey “I’m gonna rag-doll you, man.” I also like how, in hindsight, that part feels like a precursor to the married couple Leslie and Mikey would play on Update a year or so later.
— Very funny reveal from Leslie that Stewie from Family Guy is the only voice she can do during role-playing.
— This sketch isn’t bad so far, but something about the pacing of it feels a bit sluggish, making this sketch feel a little out of place in the post-monologue lead-off spot.
— Heh, Emily can’t ever seem to say that “Oopsy-doopsy, I muffed it up again!” line without cracking up.
— Good ending.
STARS: ***
MELANIANADE
Donald Trump’s (Alec Baldwin) women channel Beyonce in “Melanianade”
— When this originally aired, I thought for sure that this spoof of Beyonce’s Lemonade was written by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, especially since they previously wrote the Beyonce-themed Beygency and The Day Beyonce Turned Black pre-tapes. However, it would end up being revealed that James Anderson and Kent Sublette wrote this, which shocked me, as they didn’t usually attempt stuff like this.
— A very well-filmed, well-performed, and catchy-sounding Lemonade spoof, even if I’ve never seen the actual Lemonade video. However, if this is intended to make me laugh, it ain’t working much so far. Also not helping is the fact that, much like the “A Day Off with Kellyanne Conway” piece from the preceding episode, I can’t get behind SNL’s misguided attempt to make people like Ivanka Trump and Kellyanne come off as victims, and make us root for and feel sympathy for them. I could at least look past that TO AN EXTENT in the aforementioned “A Day Off with Kellyanne Conway” piece, because the humor itself in that was solid, but that isn’t the case in this Melanianade short.
— Okay, the whole bit right now with Beck’s Mike Pence is at least funny.
— Is it wrong that I’m starting to feel that Vanessa looks a little out of place in some sketches this season? Not to the same extent that Bobby seems a little out of place this season, and this certainly doesn’t mean that I’m knocking Vanessa’s (nor Bobby’s) performances this season (and I’m well aware that some of Vanessa’s all-time greatest moments are still to come this season), but I’ve sometimes been having a surprised “Oh, that’s right, she’s still on the show” reaction when seeing her in some segments in my rewatch of this season. Part of that could be because of the then-recent loss of her fellow “Class of 2010” members Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah.
STARS: **
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
short film festival attendee (VAB) is only person not in cast or crew
— I sometimes get this film festival sketch confused with the one from the season 44 Seth Meyers-hosted episode, even though I can’t remember the premise of that one.
— Hilarious reveal of the cast and crew of the featured short film being the ENTIRE audience, minus Vanessa.
— I love Vanessa’s smiley awkwardness when being the only person to have to ask the cast and crew all the questions. She’s always perfect for this type of role.
— Solid running bit with the cast and crew, one-by-one, having to pass the microphone down the line to the person who’s about to speak.
— Very funny how Vanessa has now gotten to the point where she asks her next question without even getting up, and instead just grabs the microphone stand over to her while she remains seated.
— During the sequence with all the cast and crew, one-by-one, stating that their next project is nothing, I got a laugh from Kate’s announcement being that she’s doing some grocery shopping later tonight.
— Great surprise reveal at the end that Emily was playing herself in this sketch all along.
STARS: ****
CHONK
women’s clothing store Chonk sends mixed messages about female body image
— Surprisingly, this is the first traditional fake ad all season.
— Yet another commercial featuring excellent voice-over work from Cecily. The different comical voices she delivers the word “CHONK!” in throughout this commercial are a riot.
— I really like Sasheer’s puzzled and offended delivery of “Unique?!?” in response to the voice-over’s line about “your unique body”.
— The extremely brief “Lil Chonk” part that Aidy angrily puts a stop to is priceless.
— A hilarious simplistic part with the “Normal Clothes” section for men.
— Overall, it was well worth the somewhat long wait for SNL’s first fake ad of the season, as I found this ad to be perfect.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “24K Magic”
— One of the absolute most uniquely-structured and fun musical performances in recent years, if not ever.
WEEKEND UPDATE
Olya Povlatsky considers impact of the election on USA-Russia relations
Laura Parsons is aware of the election’s motif of mistreatment of women
— I’ve noticed that one of the changes on Update this season is that neither Colin nor Michael say the usual “Here are tonight’s top stories” during their sign-on, probably because of the new style Update has adopted since the last third of the preceding season, where the first few minutes of every Update feature Colin and Michael taking turns doing long-form rants about one specific topic (usually about Trump). That “long-form rants about one topic” approach is just one of the things that refreshingly separates this Update era from most of the others, and is the style that they should’ve had Colin Quinn regularly do his ENTIRE Updates in back in the day, because, as likable as he always was, his delivery was not suited for the usual Update style of “simple set-up and punchline, move on to the next news story, lather-rinse-repeat”.
— This ends up being Olya Povlatsky’s final appearance on Update, though she has one more appearance in general remaining after this episode, in a Vladmir Putin cold opening later this season.
— I got a huge laugh from Kate’s Olya demonstrating the bizarre, indescribable noise she makes when she wakes up.
— While I’m definitely still enjoying this Olya Povlatsky commentary, I’m starting to think that they chose the right time to retire her from Update, because her routine is feeling quite been-there-done-that tonight.
— Yikes, a huge technical error with the photo graphic next to Colin while he’s doing the Nobel Prize joke. After a few seconds of this technical gaffe, the people in the control room just give up and remove the graphic, leaving no photo next to Colin while he’s still telling the joke (the second-to-last above screencap for this Update).
— Vanessa’s prominence in tonight’s episode is making her feel less out-of-place to me.
— The usual big laughs from Vanessa’s Laura Parsons so far, especially her line about how, in regards to the Donald Trump/Access Hollywood scandal, Billy Bush “might get 10 million dollars…..FROM THIS NETWORK!”
— A hilarious ending to Laura Parsons commentary, with the payoff of her clown story.
STARS: ****
DRIVE-THRU WINDOW
a long limo containing eccentric artists visits a Burger King drive-thru
— When this originally aired, I remember saying that this sketch was basically just the whole cast playing Kevin Roberts-like characters, particularly Mikey, who’s hair and costume here is quite Kevin Roberts-esque. Little did I know at the time that the following week’s episode would have a sketch that would go on to be the most well-known Kevin Roberts-type sketch ever, a certain Halloween-themed one.
— Also when this originally aired, I honestly thought Emily was Kate, until Kate appeared later in this sketch, confusing the hell out of me.
— Speaking of Emily, something about the look of her character seems very familiar, as if SNL previously used that same wig, glasses, and clothing for another character, perhaps one played by Amy Poehler or Kristen Wiig. Can’t put my finger on which character I’m thinking of, though. I don’t think it’s Kristen’s (dreadful) Trina character (a.k.a. the oddball lady who always says “Thomaaaaas!”), though I do see the physical similarities.
— Kenan’s mere look when his window rolled down cracked me up so much. Pete is clearly tickled by it, too.
— Like Kenan, Bobby is also very funny with his characterization, even if this feels like a role that he’s played multiple times before. (Another sign that he’s on his way out.)
— I like Kate and Cecily’s creepy characters oddly requesting “4 foods and a nibble.”
— Something about Beck’s delivery and pronunciation of “Peace!” (sounding kinda like “Payce!”) at the end of his scene tickled me so much.
— The writing of this sketch isn’t up to much, but the performances are making this fun for me.
STARS: ***½
THE SINK
host voices a self-aware & self-critical bathroom fixture
— A very unique use of a host, and this particular instance is very fitting for Emily Blunt.
— I’m loving the tone of this, and the humor is perfect.
— Hilarious interruption with the sink suddenly being used by someone when it was in the middle of its speech to us.
— A huge laugh from the visual of the comically brief ending credit scroll (the last above screencap).
— Overall, this was oddly brilliant. Yet another creative, very funny, and extremely strong Julio Torres-written pre-tape.
STARS: *****
HONDA ROBOTICS
Honda smartbots (MID) & (host) malfunction while serving hors d’oeuvres
— SNL continues to get mileage out of the vocal modifier that they’ve suddenly been using a lot ever since the homestretch of the preceding season. And as usual, there’s some minor glitches with the vocal modifier, where it briefly stops working and the performer’s natural voice is temporarily heard.
— This era seems to have a lot of robot sketches. The airplane stewardesses one with Scarlett Johansson and Vanessa, the “3D printed man” one with Matthew McConaughey, a sketch from the Casey Affleck episode later this season about stereotypically gay robots that…oof, let’s just say I’m gonna have things to say about THAT sketch, if it’s as bad as I remember.
— Funny back-and-forths between Emily and Kate, and at this point of Kate’s tenure, it’s rare seeing a host make HER crack up, when it’s usually the other way around (e.g. Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie).
— Solid comical acting from Mikey when his robot character is malfunctioning.
— Emily’s vocal-modified delivery of lines like “mini, ooey-gooey quesadilla” is cracking me up.
STARS: ***½
MELANIA MOMENTS
Melania Trump (CES) yearns for The Prince & The Pauper shot
— Yet another strong and very Deep Thoughts-esque Melania Moments piece.
— I just now noticed that even Beck’s tender voice-over in these Melania Moments pieces sounds rather identical to Jack Handey’s voice in the aforementioned Deep Thoughts.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Chunky”
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF
chavs (host) & (CES) wanted Big Brother gig
— Pretty funny dignified British accents from the supporting performers in this.
— Another “Cecily does an accent” sketch, which would’ve felt right at home in season 39, which felt rampant with those sketches.
— Very accurate crude British accents from Emily and Cecily, though perhaps TOO accurate, as my American ears are having a hard time understanding a lot of the words and British terms they’re saying. I’m still getting some chuckles from their performances and what little I can understand them saying, but I feel like I’m not enjoying this sketch as much as I should be.
STARS: **½
HAMSTERS
(KYM)’s hamsters (BEB), (KAM), (ALM), (host) ape Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
— An interesting oddball concept.
— Something about the tone of this sketch makes me wonder if Julio Torres wrote or co-wrote this. If so, man, for such a new writer, he’s been killing it this season. I feel like it’s rare in recent seasons like this for a new writer to be so prolific.
— Kate and (especially) Beck’s comically-tense acting is solid.
— A laugh from Emily’s line about a hamster being buried in a New Balance shoebox.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly good episode. After a nothing-too-special first 20 or so minutes, this episode seemed to take off starting with the Short Film Festival sketch.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
CHONK
The Sink
Melania Moments
Short Film Festival
Weekend Update
Hamsters
The Presidential Debate
Honda Robotics
Drive-Thru Window
Escorts
Monologue
The Great British Bake Off
Melanianade
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Lin-Manuel Miranda)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
SNL hosting legend Tom Hanks, in his second consecutive hosting stint that has followed a 10-year gap