Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) & Hillary Clinton (KAM) debate one last time
— Nice seeing Tom Hanks moderate this debate.
— Just realized how interesting it is seeing Tom Hanks and Alec Baldwin, two SNL hosting legends, in the same sketch.
— A big laugh from Alec-as-Donald-Trump’s sudden, uncalled-for exclamation of “They’re ripping babies out of vaginas!”, spoofing something Trump infamously said at the real debate.
— Kate’s Hillary Clinton, on her and Alec’s Trump: “What two better people are there to talk about women’s issues: me, a woman who has had a child and has taken birth control, and him, a man who is a child and who’s face is birth control.”
— Love the “Trump Bingo” card that Kate’s Hillary holds up.
— The “Alright, settle down, entire planet” line (in response to the whole world laughing at Alec-as-Trump’s claim that nobody has more respect for women than him) is such a fitting line for Tom Hanks, who’s delivery just has a way of selling lines that are written the specific way this particular line was.
— An okay meta moment with Alec’s Trump calling one of his celebrity supporters, Stephen Baldwin, the best Baldwin brother.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
America’s Dad host gives country a confidence boost via a father-son chat
— Ah, so nice to see Tom entering through the home base stage’s door for his first time in 10 years.
— Feels odd hearing Tom say this is his 9th time hosting, because, even though I just pointed out this is his first hosting stint in 10 years, it feels like he’s hosted much more than 9 times. (I somewhat feel a similar way about Christopher Walken.) You’d kinda expect him to have Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin/John Goodman numbers in terms of amount of hosting stints, but maybe that just shows what a damn strong and memorable host he is that it feels like he’s hosted more times than he has.
— Very solid concept of Tom giving America a chat as “America’s Dad”, in response to him being named that by a magazine. This also, in an unintentional way, feels like a nice progression to Tom’s season 14 monologue, which was based on a magazine calling him the nicest guy in Hollywood.
— A lot of funny and warm things being said by Tom here. I especially love the little line about America having a summer birthday.
STARS: ****
BLACK JEOPARDY!
Trump voter (host) finds common ground with contestants
— Here’s a beloved classic, and the zenith of this recurring sketch.
— Feels a little odd seeing this recurring sketch without Jay Pharoah for once, but it’s nice seeing Leslie now being one of the contestants.
— A great initial reveal of Tom’s character.
— An absolutely fantastic change to this recurring sketch’s formula, with how Tom’s character is surprisingly-but-reasonably fitting in perfectly with Black Jeopardy’s sensibilities. And the bonding between him and Kenan is so damn great and charming.
— Tom, to his fellow contestants and Kenan: “You people are fun. (*pauses after realizing that sounded offensive*) Can I say that?” Kenan: “(after a long pause) We’ll give you a pass this time.”
— A particularly hilarious answer Tom gives to the “Skinny women can do this for you” question: “What is, ‘not a damn thing’?”
— A great little detail of how the sound effect signal to start the next segment is the sound of a broom hitting the ceiling below this show.
— A priceless turn this sketch takes at the end, with the knowing uncomfortable silence that follows Kenan revealing that the next subject they’ll have to talk about is Lives That Matter. I also love Kenan’s line to Tom after that silence: “Well, it was good while it lasted, Doug.”
STARS: *****
HALLOWEEN SHOW
(MEV) & parents (host) & (CES) demo Halloween block party musical routine
— I’m not caring for ANY of the random humor in the first minute of this sketch. As I said in a previous review, writers James Anderson and Kent Sublette are so bad at attempting random, absurdist humor, usually my favorite type of comedy.
— At least this Anderson/Sublette-written musical number sketch isn’t one of their interminable number of “Come on, join in, you know this song!” sketches (e.g. Debra’s Time). However, this sketch still has too much of the general aura from those sketches, and regardless, I’m still finding this musical number to be an absolute chore to sit through.
— Given her very distinct voice, Melissa has an impressively beautiful and pleasant singing voice (what little we hear of it solo in this sketch). I actually didn’t even catch that in the Crucible Cast Party short from two episodes prior.
— Blah at the turn with the guests admitting they actually liked the musical number that Tom, Cecily, and Melissa have just finished performing, despite the constant cutaways we previously saw of those guests’ frozen puzzled facial reactions (which itself a tired, overused gag) throughout the song.
STARS: *
BROKEN
CBS hopes depressing “comedy” will earn awards consideration
— Another instance of Vanessa’s presence in a segment reminding me “Oh, that’s right, she’s still on the show this season.”
— Out of all the segments in this episode, this is one that I had completely forgotten about.
— Cecily’s mock-dramatic angry outburst at Tom made me laugh out loud. She’s always great at doing that kind of acting.
— A very funny, spot-on, and well-executed bleak, melodramatic tone to this commercial, made even funnier by the conceit of CBS trying to present it as if it’s a wacky comedy show. I’m surprised that I had no prior memory of this commercial, given how damn strong it is.
STARS: ****½
HAUNTED ELEVATOR
unscary David S. Pumpkins (host) is an enigmatic haunted house attraction
— Needless to say, an extremely famous sketch that would go on to become very iconic.
— Am I crazy, or does that suspiciously sound JUST LIKE the then-recently-fired Taran Killam doing the voice-over at the beginning of this sketch? It sounds way too much like his familiar voice to NOT be him. Was this sketch originally cut after dress rehearsal from a previous season or something (perhaps the season 41 Tracy Morgan episode, which was that season’s Halloween episode……wow, imagine the David S. Pumpkins character being played by Tracy), and SNL possibly reused Taran’s voice-over from it? After all, that Chris Farley-starring Dante sketch from the season 20 Bob Saget episode had a “new” voice-over from the no-longer-on-the-show Phil Hartman, because the sketch originally got cut after dress rehearsal from the season 19 Nancy Kerrigan episode, back when Phil was still on the show. (Then again, Phil wasn’t fired, unlike Taran, so it IS rather odd that SNL would use a recently-fired cast member’s voice-over from a previously-cut sketch. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another example of that happening, though.)
— Beck and Kate play their second married couple for the second consecutive live sketch tonight. Kinda funny to imagine that Beck and Kate’s characters in both sketches are the same, even though I know that’s not SNL’s intention.
— A hilarious introduction to Tom’s David S. Pumpkins character in his first scene.
— Very funny and infectious silly dancing from Mikey and Bobby, who are making a solid pair here, which makes me kinda wish we saw them teamed up more often this season.
— I’m getting so many laughs from a perplexed Beck and Kate’s deconstruction of the concept of David S. Pumpkins (Beck is particularly great at that), even if Kenan previously did a similar thing in the preceding season’s Kevin Roberts sketch.
— Speaking of Kenan, he’s excellent in his role in this David S. Pumpkins sketch.
— Beck: “And the skeletons aaarrrreee….?” Mikey and Bobby as the skeletons: “…PART OF IT!”
— Tom’s David S. Pumpkins, in his usual catchphrase: “Any questions?!?” Beck: “Yes, several! I am so in the weeds with David Pumpkins!”
— Great fake-out with how Leslie’s scene ends up suddenly turning into a continuation of the whole David S. Pumpkins bit. Also, that gleeful look on Leslie’s face while she’s dancing with her chainsaw raised in the air is a riot.
— Beck: “Why did you go all in on David Pumpkins?!?” Kenan: “Hey, look – it’s 100 Floors Of Frights, they not all gonna be winners!”
— This sketch is all of the right kinds of silly, stupid fun, and has so many lines that I find quotable. While I can understand why some people find this sketch to be overrated (hell, I myself didn’t like this sketch when it originally aired, as I found it to be trying way too hard to recapture the magic of the Kevin Roberts sketch, and I didn’t like how it instantly became much more popular with viewers than Kevin Roberts ever did. It took me months to come around on David S. Pumpkins.), and while I do prefer Kevin Roberts, I definitely feel David S. Pumpkins is a perfect sketch.
— A perfect exaggerated startled look on Beck’s face during the freeze-frame at the end (the last above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Mark Ronson [real] perform “A-YO”
WEEKEND UPDATE
hacking victim LEJ is unfazed due to her inability to be embarrassed
The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party malaprops vainly
— As usual for the first few minutes of each Update lately, we open tonight’s Update with lots of great long-form ranting from Colin and Michael on the election.
— Rather unrealistic for Colin to claim he had no idea about Leslie getting hacked that summer.
— A very funny, heartening, and empowering speech from Leslie about how internet trolls can’t hurt her. One of her absolute best Update commentaries ever.
— I believe tonight’s Girl At A Party commentary is SNL’s very first mention of the modern term “woke”.
— While I went through tonight’s overall Girl At A Party commentary without finding any lines that I felt like quoting in my review, her commentary was strong as usual.
STARS: ****
COCKPIT
proud Sully Sullenberger (host) balks at being (Alec Baldwin)’s copilot
— Oh, hell yeah. After teasing us with having Tom and Alec in the same cold opening earlier tonight, SNL now gives us an outright pairing of them in the lead roles of this sketch. I’m in SNL Hosting Legends Heaven right now. Kinda reminds me of the joy of seeing Buck Henry and Steve Martin interact with each other in that Rise sketch from the season 5 premiere that Steve hosted.
— I got a big laugh from how, after being told by the control tower through his headset that Alec is the pilot of this flight, Tom’s Sully responds by awkwardly just stating “I’m uh…I’m Sully”, as if that alone will make the control tower change their mind about who should fly this plane.
— I love the dry, professional tone of the acting between Tom and Alec, and Tom in particular is fantastic here.
— Kyle plays his fourth kid character in just these last three episodes ALONE.
— I really like the structure to this sketch, with short scenes in the cockpit being interspersed with exterior shots of the plane in flight.
— Great bit with Tom’s Sully intentionally making the plane go awry so he can “save” it and then brag over the plane’s loudspeaker that “Sully did it again.”
STARS: ****
A GIRL’S HALLOWEEN
night of (AIB), (CES), (VAB) is a drunken disaster
— An entry in this era’s series of shorts that involve cutting back and forth between a tender scene and a related chaotic scene.
— Aidy’s drunken, gleeful delivery of “Awwww, pizza, biiiitch!” at the very end of one scene made me laugh even more than it probably should’ve.
— Out of all this era’s shorts with this “back-and-forth cutting between tender and chaotic scenes” concept, the concept is being pulled off particularly well in tonight’s short.
— The mere visual of Pete (making his first and only appearance all night, by the way) in that full-body green makeup is cracking me up.
— I was about to say this is also the first appearance Bobby has made all night, until I remembered his character in the David S. Pumpkins sketch. Tonight’s episode is another sign of how invisible Bobby is in this final season of his, sadly.
— I love how even Bobby’s character gets involved in the “back-and-forth cutting between tender and chaotic scenes” theme.
— Excellent ending, with the reveal of Pete’s full-body green makeup being all over Aidy’s mouth.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Hillary Lindsey [real] perform “Million Reasons”
AMERICA’S FUNNIEST PETS
Joelle, Noelle, Ron Howard (host) voice animals
— This is the second and final installment of this sketch, though this installment changes the original “American’s Funniest Cats” title to “America’s Funniest Pets”.
— The first installment of this sketch was strong, but it doesn’t feel necessary to do a second one, as I don’t see how it will work as well as the first one did.
— Tom’s Ron Howard impression is so much fun, even throwing in a meta, self-deprecating remark at one point about Tom Hanks being a pain in the ass to work with.
— Surprisingly, it actually turns out that Kate and Cecily’s voice-overs in this second installment of this sketch are working just as well for me as they did in the first installment. In fact, of the two installments, I’d actually give the edge to this second one, because I feel that the host portions of this one with Tom are more fun than the host portions of the first one with Adam Driver, even if this second installment doesn’t have Kate and Cecily memorably saying “Boi-oi-oing” throughout the sketch.
— Kate and Cecily’s voice-overs during the “puppy walking on its hind legs in a store” clip are particularly hilarious.
— What was with the awkward, empty, abrupt way this sketch ended? The show ran out of time, I take it?
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An absolutely fantastic episode. Almost the entire episode was comprised of strong segments, including THREE that I gave a perfect five-star rating to (Black Jeopardy, Haunted Elevator, and A Girl’s Halloween). And, after Tom Hanks’ last two episodes prior to this ranged from disappointing (his 1996 episode) to forgettable (his 2006 episode), it’s nice that tonight, SNL gave Tom the strong episode he used to regularly have back in the day. Oh, and he himself was a wonderful host in this episode as always.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
(Much like the preceding season’s Tracy Morgan episode, there are way too many things to pick in this episode, so I’ll narrow it down to what I feel are the particularly best highlights)
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Black Jeopardy!
Haunted Elevator
A Girl’s Halloween
Broken
America’s Funniest Pets
Weekend Update
Monologue
Cockpit
The Presidential Debate
Halloween Show
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Emily Blunt)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Benedict Cumberbatch hosts the last episode before the election
Anderlettedowns (Jost era episodes where Anderlette have the only sub-par material): 8
This episode is the quintessential Anderlettedown to me and why I started the tally. For shame, Anderlette.
@Anthony Peter Coleman Much agreed. This was the first season I watched as it aired, and though I wasn’t critical of SNL at all back then I remember always hating the Anderlette sketches and being able to recognize the repetitiveness and unfunniness of their tropes early on. The Halloween Show sketch was such a brick wall in this episode’s momentum and it’s even more of a shame than the Woody Harrelson episode.
The David S. Pumpkins only works because Tom Hanks is in it and he commits to the ridiculousness of the sketch from the beginning to the end when he when successfully scares the shit out Kate and Beck with “Any questions?”
It’s a stupid sketch, but the right kind of stupid, if you know what I mean.
The Black Jeopardy sketch was great as well.
I agree Hanks makes it work better than just about any else, but it IS a really tightly written sketch. Like Stooge said, just about every line is quotable.
“The David S. Pumpkins only works because Tom Hanks is in it and he commits to the ridiculousness of the sketch from the beginning to the end when he when successfully scares the shit out Kate and Beck with “Any questions?””
I don’t think it would have worked as well without Tom, but I give a lot of the credit to Mikey and Bobby – the way they move in time with the music adds a certain life to the sketch which helps distract from how much the parts with Kenan, Beck and Kate sometimes drag. It’s a great use of Mikey’s physicality, and Bobby is fun too.
“Melissa has an impressively beautiful and pleasant singing voice (what little we hear of it solo in this sketch). I actually didn’t even catch that in the Crucible Cast Party short from two episodes prior.”
In the back half of S44, she has an Update appearance where she sings Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” and cruuuuushes it. Girl’s got PIPES.
I think this ends up being the best episode of 2010s.
Even though Hanks isn’t in it, A Girl’s Halloween is the highlight of this episode for me. I agree with you that it’s a particularly strong use of the ‘cutting back to chaos’ format, arguably the best one SNL has done. I love Bobby’s quiet little “Spooky…” he says to himself as he’s hanging up decorations so much. The pretaped material is especially strong in this season.
Black Jeopardy is one of those classic sketches where I could tell it was a modern classic as it was happening, which is such a good feeling. I can’t think of a time where that happens after this season with a live sketch.
I’m in the weeds on David S. Pumpkins though. I still find that sketch a little too dumb and don’t entirely understand why it was so popular. I don’t like Beck’s performance in it either; it’s been complained about to death but I really find the audience surrogate characters in Seiday sketches to be a real chore. Though the sketch does bring back some energy after the Anderlette bomb that just dropped beforehand, which is always appreciated.
“Black Jeopardy is one of those classic sketches where I could tell it was a modern classic as it was happening, which is such a good feeling. I can’t think of a time where that happens after this season with a live sketch.”
The closest in broad public opinion may be the Chadwick Boseman Black Jeopardy appearance, although not to this level (this Black Jeopardy sketch is commonly used as an example of “the last time SNL was good”) .
For me, it would be Sitcom Reboot/Switcheroo from Mulaney #1 or possibly, in terms of the reaction the sketch got from a lot of fans and some outlets like the Atlantic, Mid-Day News from PWB’s episode, although I am aware those do not register with the public anywhere as much as this sketch (or even Diner Lobster).
You’re not alone. I also thought “Switcheroo” was a very good sketch! Too bad that shitty lobster sketch got more attention.
I think Tracy Morgan would have actually been a hilarious David Pumpkins. Tom of course was amazing and perfect, but Tracy as that character would have been just priceless – if not as memorable or iconic.
I remember thinking that voice-over sounded like Taran too. I’m pretty sure this sketch was not written before this season, but perhaps they used the setting (100 Floors of Frights) in an earlier cut Halloween sketch. Though I’ve listened again some times and it sounded more like Mikey on occasion. But I’m not sure.
Also here’s a cut-for-time Bruce Chandling feature on Update, with Tom Hanks getting in on the fun as fellow stand-up Paul Cannon: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MRRHjT8IxmY
An honest classic. I hadn’t seen the ep in a while so outside Black Jeopardy and David Pumpkins I didn’t remember much else. I even forgot Cumberbatch’s episode existed and thought this was the last before the election. Regardless of how much sense it made considering that was the release weekend of Doctor Strange
It’s great that you finally posted this review. I’m glad you love the sketches I remember. To be honest, though, I’ve never seen that Anderlette sketch nor was I aware of its existence. Words cannot express how much I prepared for this review. I read all of your Tom Hanks reviews for this occasion. In fact, full disclosure, there’s a chance I might watch one of his older episodes after I finish typing this. But then again, I don’t watch many episodes from the 20th century. (If I did, though, I’m not sure which one based on your reviews. I could go with his Season 14 hosting stint due to it having the highest rating average, but I could also go with his Season 15 and 17 hosting stints due to them having classics that you talked so passionately about. We’ll see.)
As for tomorrow’s episode, I don’t remember much from it other than the cold opening, the monologue, and the Why Is Benedict Cumberbatch So Hot? sketch. Maybe the next review will jog up my memory.
Also, “Melissa has an impressively beautiful and pleasant singing voice (what little we hear of it solo in this sketch). I actually didn’t even catch that in the Crucible Cast Party short from two episodes prior.” Is there a slight chance that it was my comment that made you notice that? And as Anthony Peter Coleman mentioned, she once did a Lady Gaga impression in Season 44, which is a coincidence considering that she was the musical guest this episode.
@Jesse Nathan:
“It’s great that you finally posted this review.”
Just to warn you and everyone else, my next review won’t be posted until tomorrow night at the earliest. I’ve been very busy with other things these last few days, and thus, it’s been a little hard for me to keep on schedule with these reviews.
(regarding Melissa’s singing voice) “Is there a slight chance that it was my comment that made you notice that?”
Yes. Thanks for that.
I’m happy with you taking as much time as you need with reviews – I’ll be sad to see this project end, and you may as well take some pauses so as to not feel like this is a duty.
Take your time Stooge. Love reading this, but don’t mind if it becomes One SNL every few days.
Agreed. I couldn’t even keep up on the watchalong without getting distracted, so I know having to review and catalogue every sketch must be a total bitch that’s super appreciated. Funny enough the reason I got sidetracked from rewatching these seasons is I’ve been watching the 80’s seasons for the first time, watching along with Stooge’s commentary. So thanks Stooge, you got way more into the show than I ever was before!
A reminder of the ORAL HISTORY of David S. Pumpkins…
https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/david-s-pumpkins-oral-history.html
Yeah, if this is the last time Tom Hanks hosts in-studio then it’s a great ep of “SNL” to go out on!
I think I remember Cecily or Aidy(?) saying Girl’s Halloween was based on them meeting some 20 something women at a bar or restaurant who were in tears after a wild night out ( I think it was Halloween) and they based the sketch on them
My friends and I (all gay men) like to watch this sketch and argue over which one we are. I’m usually Vanessa, who is fine being the cheese and then is crying later about never getting to be the sexy one.
Black Jeopardy is funny and also manages to say a lot too. A true SNL classic.
Stooge, Who Is Kevin Roberts ? Was He In Strange Things OR What Ever That TV Show Is OR Was He In A Horror Movie ?
“Stooge, Who Is Kevin Roberts ? Was He In Strange Things OR What Ever That TV Show Is OR Was He In A Horror Movie ?”
Kevin Roberts is a character that Larry David played when he hosted in season 41.
On the subject of David Pumpkins, are you aware that there was an animated special based on the character? And if you are, have you seen it? And if you have, what do you think of it?
I remember it being awful.
“On the subject of David Pumpkins, are you aware that there was an animated special based on the character? And if you are, have you seen it? And if you have, what do you think of it?”
I’m aware of it, but I haven’t seen it.
Agree that the VO on David S. Pumpkins sounds like Taran, but if you listen very closely I actually think it’s Mikey Day. When he says the word “enter” is when I realized it’s probably him
Interesting Hanks’ character in the cut-for-time Stand-Ups piece is named Paul Cannon. When they did the “Stand-Ups” sketch during Hanks’ season 11 episode, his name is also Paul (no last name). However, in-between, when they did the Stand Ups sketch in season 13, Hanks’ character is named Bill.
Five-Timers Individual Rankings:
8.5 – Tom Hanks/Keith Richards (14.01)
8.4 – Tom Hanks/Edie Brickell (16.08)
8.1 – Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga (42.04)
7.9 – Tom Hanks/Bruce Springsteen (17.19)
7.3 – Tom Hanks/Randy Travis (13.12)
6.9 – Tom Hanks/Aerosmith (15.13)
6.7 – Tom Hanks/Sade (11.05)
6.6 – Tom Hanks/Tom Petty (22.01)
5.8 – Tom Hanks/RHCP (31.17)