Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
TRUMP’S PEOPLE
Donald Trump’s (Alec Baldwin) policies harm Kentuckians who voted for him
— Ugh.
— I’m currently three minutes into this cold opening, and I’ve yet to get ANY big laughs.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh just now from the very apt finger-in-chili analogy that Trumpwin makes to his own presidency.
— Overall, even for Trumpwin standards, this was mostly awful. Such a lousy way to open an episode. And I still have three more seasons of this crap to go through.
STARS: *½
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up on racist chickens & leveraging his white privilege
— Interesting how, unlike his previous monologues, where he dressed casually in a plain black shirt and (I think) jeans, Louis C.K. is dressed professionally in a suit in this monologue. That’s strangely fitting for what ends up being his final SNL episode, though he didn’t know it at the time.
— Hilarious beginning with the chicken-followed-by-a-black-guy joke, and Louis explaining how that’s not a racist joke.
— I got a big laugh from Louis’ “I’m not your soup yet, ya Jew!” line.
— Louis’ imitation of what giraffes must be thinking is hilarious.
— Lots of huge laughs from Louis riffing on cheap motels and his experience at fancy hotels.
— A priceless aside with Louis calling out how white people get preferential treatment, and how that’s “bad”. His asides like that towards the audience whenever he says something objectionable in this monologue is just one of the things that shows the appeal of his stand-up comedy in general.
STARS: ****½
LAWYER LASHES
prosecutor’s (host) distractingly gorgeous eyelashes upend murder trial
— A very solid sketch concept, and it’s being executed well.
— Hilarious delivery from Aidy when exclaiming “My gooodddd!” while being mesmerized by Louis’ eyelashes.
— Blah at that Maybelline ending. A poor way to end an otherwise great sketch.
STARS: ****
THANK YOU, SCOTT
armchair activist (host) does his part on social media
— A very good satire on social media activists.
— Love the bit with the hand clapping emojis.
— A really catchy chorus, especially when it goes up higher during the final round.
STARS: ****
SODA FOUNTAIN
soda jerk (host) & teen (CES) explore power dynamics during date fantasy
— A solid unsettling turn this sketch takes.
— When Vanessa says she’d go to the dance with Louis if he asked her, I got a big laugh from Louis responding, “Well, I didn’t ask ya, stupid, I asked Louise.”
— Louis: “The next time I kiss my wife will be at her funeral.”
— Sasheer’s worried delivery of “I don’t think he’s taking her to school” was great.
— Interesting seeing Pete do a cheesy 1950s voice.
— Another one of Leslie’s trademark awkward line flubs.
— Great ending with the jukebox-smashing/blood-on-hand gag.
STARS: ****
PEPSI COMMERCIAL
director (BEB) belatedly realizes folly of Kendall Jenner (CES) Pepsi ad
— I love Beck’s smile slowly fading when his sister over the phone responds to his description of the “great” Pepsi commercial he’s about to film.
— Hilarious how Beck’s second description of the Pespi commercial to a different person over the phone gets abruptly cut off by the person on the other line telling him all of the things wrong with his idea.
— A very funny touch with the brief cutaway to two dancers rehearsing while Beck continues to listen to the person on the other line.
— Beck’s performance in this is excellent, especially his conveying of how deflated his mood has gradually become when slowly realizing his commercial that’s about to be filmed is a huge, huge mistake.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Paris”
WEEKEND UPDATE
clip of Three Stooges’ mutual abuse reflects USA, Syria, Russia interplay
Cecilia Giminez (KAM) thinks the rictusy Cristiano Ronaldo bust is a masterpiece
— I think this is the first time in quite a while where Colin delivers the opening joke, which used to be a regular thing.
— If you know me (as commenter and apparent fellow Three Stooges fan Curly Joe evidently does, judging from something he said in the comments section of my last review), you’ll know that I love the fact that SNL uses a Three Stooges clip to represent the convoluted Trump/Syria situation. Even better, that clip is from the first-ever Three Stooges short made at Columbia Pictures.
— As always, Kate is very fun as Cecilia Giminez, and I’m getting good laughs from the details in her description of the Cristiano Ronaldo bust.
— Very strong jokes from Colin and Michael throughout this entire Update.
STARS: ****½
THE O’REILLY FACTOR
Bill O’Reilly’s (Alec Baldwin) sexual harassment woes chase sponsors
— Hmm, an Alec Baldwin-starring non-Trump sketch. Wish I could say I was excited to see this, but so many bad Trumpwin sketches this season have given me my fill of Alec Baldwin by this point of the season, plus this O’Reilly sketch is Alec taking further airtime away from the actual cast.
— Alec has Bill O’Reilly’s mannerisms down, at least, but certainly not the voice.
— Cecily having her face and voice distorted at the end of her interview is pretty funny.
— What was with that odd long pause from Alec when he was about to mention the new sponsors?
— The ridiculous new sponsors are all funny, especially Dog Cocaine.
— Now we have Alec talking to himself, as his O’Reilly interviews his pre-taped Trump via satellite. Blah. I will say, though, that this brings back memories of one of Chris Rock’s Nat X sketches where he as Nat X interviewed himself as a pre-taped Michael Jackson via satellite.
STARS: **
BIRTHDAY CLOWN
on his 53rd birthday, depressed (host) hires a children’s clown (BOM)
— I recall hearing that the people who wrote this short (the BriTaNick guys, I think, though I’m not sure if I got the spelling right) would later get called out on supposedly plagiarizing this short. I think I even heard that they would fess up to the plagiarism. A damn shame if this short was indeed stolen, because I recall absolutely loving it when it originally aired.
— Two priceless big reveals that Bobby’s character is shocked to realize: 1) that the “little birthday boy” is a full-grown man, and 2) that nobody else is coming to this birthday party.
— I absolutely love Louis’ very sullen, deadpan responses to Bobby’s jolly questions, establishing an excellent tone to this short.
— A particularly hilarious part with Bobby muttering “Jesus” to himself in shock when Louis reveals his age.
— Bobby, when Louis is confused over whether he should give Bobby his tip now or after his act is over: “Yeah, there’s no protocol for whatever this is.”
— I love Bobby continuing to pull the long paper coil out of his mouth when looking around confusedly after Louis has randomly walked off to take a pee break.
— A huge laugh from Bobby’s extremely blunt “You don’t want this” to the other birthday entertainers at the door.
— Readers, I need your help in the comments section of this review. Please let me know whether or not there’s been enough evidence that this short was indeed plagiarized. If so, I’m afraid I have to give this short a one-star rating, as I have to keep up consistency by following a “Zero-tolerance policy for plagiarized sketches” rule I set for myself in these reviews ever since season 40. It would be an absolute shame if I have to give this short a failing rating, because if this were an original piece, it would’ve earned an EASY five-star rating from me. Thanks in advance, readers, for your assistance in helping me figure out if it’s been officially proven that this short was plagiarized. [ADDENDUM (3/23/21): I’ve been given enough evidence that this short was plagiarized.]
STARS: * (for plagiarism)
SECTIONAL SOFA EMPORIUM
(host) shares his sectional couch obsession, but not the sofas themselves
— The extremely odd, absurdist tone of this commercial is right up my alley, and Louis is executing it wonderfully. His oddball deadpan delivery of his PARTICULARLY weird asides are pure perfection.
— The pre-taped footage of Aidy is adding to the hilarious, weird vibe of this sketch.
— Love the reveal at the end that this isn’t even a commercial, nor are these sectionals for sale.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Break Up Every Night”
TENEMENT MUSEUM
Tenement Museum actors (host) & (KAM) portray racist Polish immigrants
— Louis’ bizarre attempt at a Polish accent is absolutely priceless.
— I love how Louis’ accent has gotten to the point where it’s making Kate and himself crack up. One of the better instances of breaking in recent seasons.
— After Louis’ out-of-nowhere “filthy greasy Italians” line, we get a funny brief cutaway to Kenan’s smile quickly fading.
— Man, the more and more this sketch goes on, the more Louis’ increasingly exaggerated accent is absolutely SLAYING me. He has me practically on the floor by this point.
— Very funny how Louis and Kate’s lines within this play have just devolved into them doing anti-Italian jokes.
— Priceless bit regarding Louis giving Kenan the answer to the question he was about to ask.
— The increasing looseness of Louis’ performance is making this sketch so damn fun.
STARS: ****½
IN MEMORIAM
GOODNIGHTS
host marks Don Rickles’ passing
— Very nice words from Louis about Don Rickles.
— Ha, I absolutely LOVE how, after Louis’ aforementioned Rickles eulogy, Louis comically delivers his goodnights speech in the same goofy accent from the final sketch, which makes everyone onstage at these goodnights (especially Alec Baldwin) bust out laughing. One of my personal favorite goodnights moments ever.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— SNL does it once again with yet another fantastic Louis C.K. episode. Aside from an awful Trumpwin cold opening and another weak Alec Baldwin-involved sketch (The O’Reilly Factor), I felt very highly about EVERY segment in this episode, with none of those segments receiving a rating lower than four stars. [ADDENDUM (3/23/21): Even though it turns out that I had to give the Birthday Clown short a one-star rating for plagiarism, it still remains that I love everything in that short.] Since, as I said earlier, this ends up being Louis C.K.’s final hosting stint, he has gone down as having one of the best (if not THE best) track records that a recurring host has ever had. Every single one of his episodes was astoundingly strong.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: As usual for exceptionally strong episodes, since there are too many choices to pick for a “Best Of”, I’ll narrow it down to what I feel are the particularly best highlights)
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Sectional Sofa Emporium
Monologue
Pepsi Commercial
Weekend Update
Tenement Museum
Lawyer Lashes
Thank You, Scott
Soda Fountain
The O’Reilly Factor
Trump’s People
Birthday Clown
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Scarlett Johansson)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Jimmy Fallon hosts the first live coast-to-coast episode
Tomorrow’s episode makes history as this is the first SNL ever to air live in all 4 time zones. Previously West Coast Viewers were only able to see new episodes in delayed viewing. But since the Viewership of the show was on the rise at the time, fans would be able to watch SNL live just like those on the east coast and central zones. This experiment was so successful, NBC made it permanent for the following season and this coast-to-coast experiment is still going today as of this 46th season.
I wonder how much the show going live coast-to-coast contributed to the quality decline that starts in earnest the next season. Didn’t someone say that they had to be a little more “prime time friendly” because of that?
I think it’s that and the huge digital viewership it has that contributed to SNL’s success that season. The Quality has declined, but the show is still good IMO. The reason why it’s still on and might be for years to come is because of delayed viewing, live coast-to-coast, live+7/DVR, and digital viewership (SNL’s youtube channel has 11 million subscribers, three million followers on Twitter, 4 million followers on Instagram, 6 million followers on Facebook, 1.6 million followers on Snapchat and 2 million followers on TikTok. Combined they have a total of 30 million followers on digital alone. So those platforms combined would give SNL billions of views online.) SNL is here to stay for years to come.
Eh, 46 seasons still isn’t enough to convince the show’s escaped “fad” territory.
True. But it means a lot to NBC. So that’s why the show is still on. If Kate, Aidy, Cecily, Pete, Colin and Michael leave, I think the next season will be another season 6, 11, 20 or 30 (Poor Writing, terrible hosting choices, etc.). We’ll see
@Bronwyn, that’s an interesting point. I think you can see a lot of the flaws on the way even in this season, but a part of me feels like we won’t really know for sure until Che, Jost, Sublette, and Lorne have left (assuming SNL goes on without Lorne). I do wonder if the move is one of the reasons why NBC has stopped being as active in pushing for more changes (although I guess that may just be down to the ratings never reaching a level [yet anyway] to warrant more NBC intervention – either that or Lorne has become powerful enough to make them keep away).
The cold open for Fallon’s episode is pretty wretched so that’s not a great harbinger…
Sectionals is still a classic. It was one of those where I knew the moment I watched it that I’d be quoting it for years to come. And I do. “This is going to be long” is a line that will come out of my mouth more likely than I’d like to admit.
Louie CK is one of the biggest examples of great SNL shows happening to not-so-great people. I love all four of his hosting gigs, and I wish I didn’t feel guilty about liking him so much as an SNL host thanks to hindsight.
I’m not entirely sure if that clown sketch was plagiarized, but I doubt it. From what little I’ve heard, the original short ends with the clown getting chopped up into a million pieces.
Also, it’s a good thing you gave that Sectional sketch a five-star rating, as I too love it.
Jesse Nathan, actually the opposite. The SNL short ends with the reveal that CK is going to chop up the clown “into little pieces”, the Tig short is more sentimental and has them getting along and ordering a second clown to cheer them both up.
Huh. That’s not the way I remember hearing it back in 2017.
The best part about “Tenement Museum” is when C.K. has to say “my wife” and it’s painfully clear to everyone on screen who Louis sounds EXACTLY like.
Here’s the original clown short for those curious. I know Louis knew the writer/star of the short, Tig Notaro, personally, and was even an executive producer on her Amazon show, so it’s not unlikely he would have seen it.
Here are Tig’s comments and an interview on the subject. Also a glimpse into the by this point huge rift between her and Louis CK:
https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tig-notaro-louis-ck-snl-plagiarism-clown-short-1202029419/
https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tig-notaro-louis-ck-clown-service-snl-1202031250/
Yeah, definitely similar and yeah, I’m sure it was an inspiration. But the tone was different enough that it feels more derived from than plagiarized from. Everything created comes from something else.. for me, it was 5 star all the way
Man, I love the Stooges! When rewatching this episode recently, I forgot they did this and now noticed that Woman Haters was used. It’s one of my favorite shorts. And since it is my dream to head write for this show, I hope to air many sketches of mine that are centered around the Three Stooges. If possible, I’ll throw in a “hidden Easter egg joke” for you, Stooge.
What a fantastic episode. Such a shame that he did some terrible things. It’s heartbreaking to find out someone extremely talented has their dark corners.
Tomorrow’s episode, while okay, gives off a more “fun party” vibe than most episodes. Not the best of the season, but entertaining and exciting to watch.
I believe that’s the frenzy that occurs after the great Bud Jamison gives our boys their WH initiation eyepoke. In the screenshot, you can even see early supporting player Don Roberts in the background.
Bad of me to say and it doesn’t excuse it, but I find Birthday Clown funnier than what it’s plagiarizing.
There’s drips and drabs of this episode that I really enjoy. Sasheer is really good in the Soda Fountain sketch, Louis going full Borat in the 10-to-1 is funny, Cecily’s part in Sectionals and the turn it takes at the end are a lot of fun, and I like the one-sided phonecall scene in the Pepsi ad; some very solid understated acting from Beck there. But I dunno, I feel like the Pepsi ad and Sectionals are the only certified wins (can’t include Birthday Clown for the reasons you mentioned in the review.) Everything else left me kinda wanting. But it’s a decent one. Three great sketches is really all you need for a worthwhile episode and this one technically gets there.
But those Chainsmokers though ? I’m kinda glad that pop-EDM wave has pretty much left us because those guys were super cheeseball.
I don’t know. I actually liked the Chainsmokers. I remember prior to this episode airing, I bought their album so that I could prepare.
I mainly remember The O’Reilly Factor sketch which I remember enjoying but since it’s now dated, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much. Nice for the show to put up an “SNL” bumper from when Rickles hosted in ’84 when doing the In Memoriam pic for him…
This episode was actually an important moment in TV history, because it was when Scott ended racism. Thank you Scott!
So were these Louis CK episodes so good because he contributed a good deal to the writing? He is such a talented comedic mind that you would have to imagine he introduced or at least buffed up some ideas.
I also do not want to defend his actions, but based on what he did I felt it leaned more toward creepy behavior that should have been rightfully condemned then actually predatory sexual crimes ala Cosby/Spacy/Weinstein but since it happened right around the same time as those crimes he got linked to them. I kinda wonder does his punishment for those actions means he forever must lose his career…which essentially has happened.
Louis CK didn’t do anything criminal, but he did probably make the industry worse. He chased out talented female comedians out of the industry. I remember that he famously took off his clothes in front of female comedians and started masturbating in front of them. So the problem is that as good as good as comedy was, was it good enough to make up for the talent he chased away or overshadowed.
My answer is no! I would gladly trade away his four SNL episodes to get some talented female comedians to host instead!
How about we just say the best place to decide what consequences he should face isn’t an SNL fan page and leave it at that. We’ve got this far without getting into some big “cancel culture” argument, and I pray to God we make it to the end.
We’re saving that up for when we get to the Shane Gillis firing.
(kidding…I hope…)
Luckily that doesn’t really play out on air. It is an interesting discussion to have though.
Yikes, yeah I forgot that’s coming. I have a couple things to say about that when we get there, but yeah let’s remember now to keep a level head when talking about that one.
@Stooge When season 45 comes around, are you going to talk about Shane Gillis or just leave it alone? I hope I’m not coming off in a negative manner, I’m just wondering if that part of SNL history is something that you will cover when the time comes.
@Curly Joe, I wasn’t planning on talking about the Shane Gillis situation, since he never appears on the show. However, now that I think about it, when I mention who the two new cast members are in the opening montage portion of my review of the season 45 premiere, I’ll simply just mention that Gillis was hired with those two, but got let go shortly after his hiring due to a huge backlash over the discovery of controversial statements he made on podcasts. People here are free to talk in the comments section about the Gillis situation when we get there, as long as they’re very civil about it.
It would seem the birthday clown piece is definitely plagiarized based on what others have shared above. The fact that it’s an idea taken from one of Louis’ targets makes it even more upsetting. And having loved his work since I first saw him as a guest on Conan in the 90s, I have such “say it ain’t so” feelings when watching his SNL work. He was amazing — and I hate that.
The tribute at the end works as another bookend since Rickles, like Louis CK, is on that short list of comedy geniuses who come in and kind of take over SNL in a good way, inspiring the writers and putting out REALLY good shows. (Seinfeld is another, along with Chapelle, Jim Carrey, Richard Pryor, Zach Galifianakis, and some returning castmembers like Norm).
Wait, was Tig one of Louis’ targets? I’d not heard that. I know they have a very tricky relationship – he was producing One Mississippi while they basically did a show about him – but I didn’t know that she was a target.
@Carson good point; actually I’m not sure. I’ll gladly retract the word target. You’re right about their very tricky relationship… I may be confusing the coverage of that with some of the other allegations I read at the time. @Stooge feel free to delete my post if you’d like!
I guess the soda shop sketch does fit the general comedy style of Louis CK, but something about it gives the vibe of being rewritten late in the process – the part with her boyfriend and us being asked to believe this was all some game is much more rushed and doesn’t fit the characters up to that point. The first part also has the type of performance Cecily excels at (escalating shock/hysteria).
Sectionals is very good, but I can’t help wishing I’d seen Adam Driver in the lead role.
The “Scott Saves the World Through Posting” pre-tape is still very relevant now, although today there is probably as much sneering at that concept as there is people who actually spend their time this way.
The Pepsi ad pre-tape is one of the better examples in the last decade of SNL being able to jump onto a current topic and not seem like they see their involvement as perfunctory. This character, or concept, is brought back a few years later – an unnecessary retread, but the return works better than it should (partly because of a much more current ending).
I normally would say that the almost immediate breaking from Kate is self-indulgent, but it’s one of the occasions where Kate and Louis barely holding on helps the material, which is let down by how one-dimensional all of the “____ reacts!” characters are. The part where they start to ask Kate and Louis questions is an improvement, but is near the end of the piece.
With the exile of Louis CK, we probably have the last modern recurring host whose episodes tended to feel like they were in their voice. You could argue John Mulaney fits that bill, but this aspect of his episodes becomes much more hit-and-miss by the time he reaches #3 (which was very rushed).
I had forgotten that Baldwin’s dual role was in this episode, rather than when he hosted. Putting him in this episode in such a major role (even most hosts rarely get to just appear alongside themselves) when he wasn’t even the host is questionable but then given how hyped his impression still was at the time, I guess it’s not a surprise.
Promo:
https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/850151538160959490?lang=en
I would say the Dave Chappelle episodes are very much in his voice when he hosts.
The first one, for sure. The second one is all over the place (although it does fit that moment in time).
Yeah the second one was really him doing a long monologue and then a skit where he breaks the 4th wall make fun of Pete. He might have been in one more sketch the entire night. Weird show.
So I take it we’re not gonna get another review until the plagiarism problem is solved? ‘Cause if so, maybe that’s for the best.
I really doubt that’s the reason the review’s not up yet, to be honest.
Here’s a question: obviously it’d be more random than a host, but are there any recurring musical guests who have just happened to be part of a really good episode every time they were on? I can’t think of any, but thinking of possible answers made me realize that, up until Chappelle dethroned the Seinfeld ep, Annie Lennox was on Stooge’s highest and lowest rated episode.
I’d say Men at Work but they only were on twice within consecutive seasons.
Sting (Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Elle MacPherson, Jennifer Aniston…) and Beck (Kevin Spacey, Bill Paxton, Christina Ricci, Hugh Laurie…) are the closest to me, though even they have probably been part of a few middling episodes.
Foo Fighters and James Taylor come close but both of the last two times either of them were on weren’t great. Paul Simon comes very close too if it weren’t for the Catherine Oxenberg and Ed Helms episodes, imo.