Tag: The Weeknd

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October 1, 2016 – Margot Robbie / The Weeknd (S42 E1)

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:

Posted on

October 10, 2015 – Amy Schumer / The Weeknd (S41 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

FOX & FRIENDS
Jason Chaffetz (PED) & Debbie Wasserman Schultz (KAM) talk

— Surprisingly, this is the first time this recurring sketch has appeared in two seasons.
— Bobby-as-Brian-Kilmeade’s dimwitted comments are more obvious than usual tonight, but they’re still funny.
— Feels so weird seeing Pete in a Fox & Friends sketch, especially given how long this recurring sketch had been going on before he even joined SNL.
— Pete’s gleeful childlike portrayal of Jason Chaffetz is pretty funny, and I especially laughed at his initial facial reaction to finding out that, as speaker, he’d be third in line for the presidency.
— Kate getting her usual laughs in a role that’s fitting for her.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about female role models & hanging with Bradley Cooper

— I’ve never been much of a fan of Amy Schumer’s stand-up comedy, but SNL’s monologues do often have a way of making me like stand-ups who’s comedy I usually don’t like (Russell Brand is a prime example of that, as is Kevin Hart in his first hosting stint), so it remains to be seen how I’ll react to this particular monologue.
— There’s our obligatory Amy Schumer mentions of buttholes and vaginas. I do admit to at least getting a laugh from Amy’s comment about how she washed the baby’s butthole in the same careless way she washes her own butthole when she knows she’s not hooking up with anybody.
— I’m finding myself getting some mild laughs throughout this. More than I expected.
STARS: ***


DELTA FLIGHT
stewardesses (host) & (VAB) fall outside during in-flight announcements

— A huge laugh from the sudden turn out of nowhere with Vanessa falling out of the emergency door when leaning on it.
— I initially wasn’t sure we needed the “falling out of the emergency door” gag to be repeated, but it’s still working in this second instance, especially with how Vanessa closes the door while Amy is still hanging on outside.
— Good, convincing effects SNL is using for the wind that’s frantically blowing inside the airplane and for Vanessa and Amy hanging out of the airplane.
— Could’ve used a bit of a better ending.
STARS: ***½


HOT FOR TEACHER 8
actual kid (AIB) interrupts (KYM) & (host) in porno set in classroom

— The debut of these “Aidy plays an oblivious kid stumbling onto the filming of a porno” sketches.
— Kyle’s intentionally bad, stiff porn acting is pretty funny.
— Aidy’s innocence and complete unawareness of the porno taking place are providing some pretty good laughs.
— Amy: “(sultrily and suggestively) He got a 68 on his last test. Now I’m gonna show him how to get a 69.” Aidy: “Okay…but that’s still a D+, Ms. Dayworth.”
— Vanessa: “I was worried about sending my daughter to this new school ’cause it’s just an office building, but–”
— Amy, regarding getting into good colleges: “(sultrily and suggestively) Ricky’s about to go to F.U.” Vanessa: “Fordham University?!? *I* went there! Go Rams!”
STARS: ***½


GUNS
everpresence of firearms in American life means guns are here to stay

 

— As I mentioned in my review of SNL’s very first episode ever, the Show Us Your Guns film from that episode not only holds up surprisingly well after all these decades, but SNL would later do a pre-tape in 2015 that could be considered a spiritual successor to it. This is the pre-tape I was talking about, though I don’t know whether or not SNL intended this to be a spiritual successor to Show Us Your Guns. (This Amy Schumer episode’s original airdate is only one day away from the 40th anniversary of the first-ever episode’s airdate, however.)
— Not only does this come off as a very solid updated/modernized variation of Show Us Your Guns, but this is very sharp and timely social satire on gun control that, for me, makes this even better than Show Us Your Guns.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Nicki Minaj [real] perform “The Hills”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COJ & MIC debate the pros & cons of gun control

travel correspondent Solomon (JAP) is full of excuses & untruths

The Weeknd Update checks in on musical guest in his dressing room

Mrs. Santini reads passive-aggressive notes she wrote to her neighbors

— Lots of solid long-form news story breakdowns from Michael and Colin, especially the one they both do about gun control. These long-form news story breakdowns are the type of thing that separates this Update era from other eras, and is just one of the reasons why this is one of my top 3 favorite Update eras of all time.
— Colin: “Here are things that are easier to get than a gun: herpes…” Michael: “Alright, why do you say that all the time?!?” Colin: “I didn’t prepare a list! Anyway–”
— Michael, on the forefathers saying you have a right to own both a gun AND people: “Which, by the way, if I owned a whole field of jacked Africans, I’d probably want a dozen or so guns, too.” (*camera cuts to a close-up of a deadpan Colin looking into the camera and being taken aback by the camera being on him*) Colin: “It’s…not supposed to cut to me after that.” Michael: “Oh, no, it IS. I told them to do that.”
— Jay tries out a new Update character.
— Hmm, while I don’t find Jay’s characterization bad, I don’t know what to make of his commentary itself, despite a few laughs I’ve been getting.
— Ha, Colin does a callback to his American Apparel joke from the preceding season.
— Man, Colin and Michael have been on absolute FIRE tonight. And it can’t be said enough how much Colin in particular has grown as an anchor over the past year. Given what a lousy start he had in his first half-season on Update back when Cecily was his co-anchor, he has gradually shown so much improvement since then and, at this point in October 2015, has gotten to the point where he’s very solid and reliable as an anchor.
— The comically brief and pointless “The Weeknd Update” bit with The Weeknd was very funny, and would later become a running gag.
— Like the previous time she appeared, Kate’s Mrs. Santini character has some very funny passive-aggressive “friendly” notes to her neighbors, as well as some very funny salutations at the beginning of the notes (e.g. “Dear cast of the movie Friday–”). And also like last time, I like the little detail of her notes being written on the oddest types of paper.
— An overall VERY strong Update, aside from Jay’s iffy commentary. This has been one of Colin and Michael’s absolute best nights up to this point of their Update era.
STARS: ****½


FORD’S THEATRE
fill-in Mary Todd Lincoln (host) ad-libs in Ford’s Theatre reenactment

— Ehh, not too sure about this so far, two minutes into this sketch.
— I finally got one laugh just now, from how, after Amy’s character, acting as Mary Todd Lincoln, yells to John Wilkes Booth’s actor (Kyle), “You hate my husband just because he loves blacks!”, Kenan somberly tells the black tour group watching this play, “I’m so sorry.”
— Boy, this sketch is just plain dumb, and not the good kind of dumb.
— What kind of ending was that?
STARS: *½


HANDS-FREE SELFIE-STICK!
host & others enjoy using the anally-anchored Hands-Free Selfie-Stick

— A cheap laugh from the initial reveal of the Hands-Free Selfie Stick protruding from inside the wearers’ butts, but I hope that’s not the only comedic basis of this entire commercial.
— I liked Amy asking a surprised “It takes pictures???” regarding the anally-anchored selfie stick she’s proudly wearing in her testimonial.
— Meh, just as I was afraid of, most of the humor in this is just from the gag of the selfie stick protruding out of people’s butts, the comedic novelty of which has worn off pretty fast for me.
STARS: **


CITIZENS FORUM
Bakersfield city council hears extrajurisdictional requests from citizens

— Believe it or not, this is the first appearance Cecily has made all night. Wow.
— I got a laugh from Aidy’s initial way of saying “Jan KrAAAAaaang!” when her character states her name.
— Good characterization from Kyle.
— An okay format to this sketch, though something about it feels a bit like a poor man’s variation of that Wedding Objections sketch from the preceding season’s Martin Freeman episode.
— I’ve never seen Amy’s Comedy Central sketch comedy show, Inside Amy Schumer, but I recall hearing that the little girl character she plays in this sketch is from her Comedy Central show. I think Amy also reprises this character in that Lil’ Rent sketch from her next SNL episode in season 43.
— I love Pete’s sly delivery of “You guys see Bieber’s dong?” and “It was…it was alright, right?”
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Can’t Feel My Face”


BABY SHOWER
at a baby shower, overprotective (host) flips out over (CES)’s lost purse

— Two pregnant roles for Vanessa in one night?
— Funny line early on from Vanessa about how she’s “winging it” in her pregnancy. Speaking of Vanessa, it feels like she’s been very prominent in this episode. In hindsight, this is an early sign of what an exceptionally strong season she’ll be having this season.
— Not caring much for the main comedic conceit of this sketch, though the bit with Amy writing “Which one of you took her purse?” as one of the baby name suggestions was fairly funny.
— Apparently, this season is the point where SNL is allowed by NBC to say “goddamn” on the show, as Amy’s utterance of it here has reportedly been left uncensored in reruns. Miley Cyrus also said “goddamn” in her second musical performance in the preceding episode, but I’ve never heard if that was left uncensored in reruns or not.
— Sitting through this tepid “missing purse” sketch reminds me, isn’t there also a VERY similar sketch to this in the episode that Awkwafina hosts a few seasons later? Reportedly, both that sketch and this Amy Schumer one were written by James Anderson and Kent Sublette, which…yeah, explains so much. Plus, either both Anderson and Sublette, or just one of them (I forget), previously wrote a particularly horrid “missing purse” sketch prior to this: that Kristen Wiig-starring spaceship sketch from the season 33 Jon Bon Jovi-hosted episode.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently good pre-Weekend Update half, and Update itself was exceptionally strong, but the show really fizzled out in the post-Update half.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Guns
Weekend Update
Hot For Teacher 8
Fox & Friends
Delta Flight
Citizens Forum
Monologue
Hands-Free Selfie-Stick!
Baby Shower
Ford’s Theatre


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Miley Cyrus)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tracy Morgan makes his big comeback after recovering from a tragic car wreck