November 7, 2015 – Donald Trump / Sia (S41 E4) 

Cold Opening – Democratic Candidates Forum

• A good Rachel Maddow impression from Cecily.
• A solid laugh from the very brief, pointless interview with Taran’s Martin O’Malley.
• Always good to see Kate’s Hillary back.
• As usual, Kate’s coming off solid and very likable in her portrayal of Clinton, and has tons of solid lines, elevated even further by her always-reliable delivery.
• Great to see Larry David’s Bernie Sanders impression officially become recurring.
• Such a spot-on and funny impression from Larry, and he’s basically slaying me with everything he’s saying here.
• Leslie’s tense stare to the camera steals this whole open for me.
• Fantastic LFNY subversion with Larry-as-Bernie saying instead “Live from New York… aaah, you get it” and waves off the camera.
• Solid cold open overall.

Rating: ***1/2

Monologue

• LORD. HAVE. MERCY.
• Trump’s walking rather slowly to the center of the homebase stage, yet not slow enough…
• OH, GOD. This bragfest by Trump is FUCKING. BRUTAL. TORTURE. Stop this NOW, SNL.
• Oh, and now he’s attempting stand-up comedy, with his ”hilarious” spiel about Rosie O’Donnell.
• Ah, hopefully Aidy will try and save me from this dreck.
• Sadly, not even Aidy cannot do anything to save this monologue, as Game Show Host President “hilariously” thinks that she’s Rosie, oh how original…
• I’m not caring for the whole bit with Darrell & Taran standing next to Trump as his impersonators, and I bet Taran is starting to feel dead inside for having to do this.
• Not even Larry David, being his hilariously lovable self, can do A THING to elevate this dead monologue, a harbinger to how tonight’s episode will go on.
• Overall, not a single fucking laugh to be heard from me in this entire monologue. One of the worst monologues in SNL history, and this one is somehow, for some reason, kinda “better” than his wretched first monologue.

Rating: *

White House 2018

• Oh, here comes an infamous SNL sketch, and one that will be a stain on Lorne and the show’s legacy.
• Wow, just WOW. Is SNL fucking kidding me with this sketch??! I guess the Trump dick-sucking truly begins with our very first sketch, a beginning of what is basically a 90 minutes campaign ad of an episode. The sycophantic, ass-kissing, and dick-sucking turn that this episode IMMEDIATELY took with the lead-off sketch of the night is almost impressive in how COMPLETELY detached from reality, immoral, and absolutely despicable it is. This sketch is basically showering praise to a man who calls any who disagree with him “losers” & “clowns”, women who stand up against his blatant sexism as “slobs,” and calling Muslims, immigrants, Africans, and anyone who doesn’t confirm to his “ideals” by the lowest insults and accusations. Absolutely irredeemable.
• Man, this sketch feels absolutely dead, this premise of a hypothetical “great” Trump presidency is not only morally reprehensible but also feels hollow, quiet and “off”. You could feel the dread in how the studio is quiet for long, uncomfortable portions of this sketch.
• As a proof of how dead and hollow this sketch feels: Ivanka Trump’s cameo is welcomed with TOTAL DEAD SILENCE from the studio audience, this is possibly the funniest moment in this entire episode. Boy, this sketch is absolutely sucking the life out of the studio audience, you could hear their souls dying as this sketch progresses.
• Ugh at the whole bit with Beck’s Mexican president giving Trump the check for the wall, who the fuck wrote THIS sketch?!
• Poor, poor Taran once again tonight, the theme of his poor soul slowly dying throughout tonight’s episode continues as his whole bit about his “worried” report turning out to be that America is doing EVEN BETTER than anticipated with Trump as president, with too much & endless “winning” for its people. (*sigh*) Words cannot express how disgusting this whole sketch is, and knowing how Trump’s presidency will turn out to be, this sketch somehow comes off as even worse than it already was back when this episode aired.
• Horrible ending with Trump’s direct speech to the camera about how his potential presidency will be even “better”.
• Geez, you can practically hear ONE person in the whole studio applauding at the beginning of Trump’s speech.
• Overall, a soul-sucking misery of a sketch, dead, hollow, and absolutely disgusting. A new low for SNL.

Rating: *

Bad Girls

• One of the many female-led musical videos from this era. This one also seems like a variation of the music video in the wretched Dakota Johnson episode from last season.
• This short seems to be part of the “hide Trump strategy” as he’s (thankfully) nowhere to be found here, and has a brief role at the end of the next two shorts later tonight. I guess they were either aware of how disastrous he would perform as the host, or were really scared of a full-on protest at the floor of 8H during the live show.
• I love the part with Vanessa and the ice cream, one of the more memorable visuals from this music video.
• Funny bit with Aidy and the trash bin.
• Solid ending to a solid short. Yet, the best is yet to come from this era when it comes to female-led music videos.

Rating: ***1/2

Live Tweeting

• The idea of a host live-tweeting a sketch is quite promising and chance-taking when used properly, yet these tweets are too close to the real-life disgusting shit that Trump would tweet, and instead of coming off funny, they come off as a variation of the typical bullying bullshit that Trump spewed at daily basis on his Twitter since he entered the political scene.
• Also, this is YET ANOTHER dick-sucking sketch that treats Trump’s tweets as a laughing manner, if not “cute” and “endearing” in a manner similar to the moronic “boys will be boys” mentality, with us expected to accept these mean-spirited tweets as a norm and something to laugh at. There’s nothing laugh-worthy about such a premise.
• Just as I feared, this sketch is fucking UNWATCHABLE so far. And just like the monologue and White House 2018, it feels hollow & absolutely DEAD.
• Poooooor Taran, you could feel his soul slowly, yet surely dying within each passing second in this episode.
• Oof at the whole “Kenyan” bit with Kenan, even the audience was taken aback by it. You can practically hear a SINGLE lady in the audience audibly gasping, cutting through the absolutely TENSE silence that this episode’s been having since Trump entered through the host’s door.
• Overall, a fucking wretched sketch, and widely deserving of its horrible reputation.

Rating: *

Hotline Bling

• A parody of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” music video, which I recall being a big hit in 2015.
• As always, solid Drake impression from Jay, but the laughs so far are quite minimal in this parody.
• Bobby’s bringing much-needed laughs with his whole scene, and steals this entire short.
• Yeah, this seems to be mostly an accurate recreation of the music video, without enough jokes to make it worthwhile.
• Aaaand here comes Motherfucking Donald Trump to hijack this fairly average music video and causing me to lower my rating by a full star. Is SNL expecting me to sit back and laugh my ass off at this asshole potentially dancing his way into the voters’ hearts?!
• WTF with Trump’s dancing?! Who the hell dances like THAT?!
• Poor Taran, his soul is slowly dying yet again throughout this night, and I cannot imagine Beck & Bobby being pleased in dancing next to this jackass.
• Man, tonight’s episode is getting BRUTAL with all of its bad sketches.

Rating: *1/2

Musical Performance – “Alive”

• Jesse Nathan: No comment on Donald fucking Trump introducing Sia.
• Interesting staging of this performance.
• Nice opening guitar tone.
• Sia sounds great here.
• What’s with the tattoo on Sia’s face that we’re able to see throughout this performance?
• I like the usage of gospel singers.
• I like Sia’s vocal delivery of “survive” right before the chorus.
• Odd usage of glaring synths as the chorus builds up.
• Sia and the gospel singers sound great together during the chorus.
• I like the Asian woman’s miming throughout the performance.
• Oof, Sia’s vocal delivery of the first line in the second verse sounded bizarrely unintelligible.
• Wow, the woman is really getting into her miming the more this goes on, and I’m all for it, unlike the dancers in her last performance.
• What the hell is Sia saying during the bridge?
• Great long note from Sia before the last chorus.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Colin and Michael, please save me!!!
• Solid anti-Bush joke with the whole “ANOTHER Bush presidency” bit with Michael. Although, knowing tonight’s host, this bit aged like milk which is a damn shame as I recall really loving it back when this episode aired.
• Another Leslie commentary this season, at least her energy is welcomed in tonight’s lifeless, lethargic, and dreary episode.
• Good laughs from Leslie’s rant about Emojis, even though I’ve never been a fan of most of her material, the previous episode and now this one, made me slightly soften my dislike of Leslie’s work in her early tenure. It’s only later on that she’ll be having some truly shining moments.
• Some solid anti-Trump jokes from Michael, I’m kinda floored how Trump didn’t throw a hissy fit about them during the table read.
• Great to see Drunk Uncle back, one of Bobby’s best characters, which is saying something.
• Jesus Christ. This whole Drunk Uncle spiel is about fucking Trump?! I don’t need to be reminded of the continuation of the horror show that awaits me in a few minutes from now Bobby!
• A funny bit with Drunk Uncle being handed another drink after crushing his first one.

Rating: ***1/2

Rock Band

• Aaaand tonight’s episode continues to sink further and further….
• The start of this sketch is very worrisome, with a whole bunch of “funny” names, Kenan hamming it up, and excessive mugging by the cast. Making this sketch an aggressively Anderlette one.
• Aaaand here’s fucking Donald Trump. This is one of the few sketches tonight where he’s supposedly playing a ”character”, but in a true Trump asshole fashion he plays this Gene character as totally himself.
• Why is Trump yelling through his lines? Does he not realize that he’s mic’ed?
• This sketch is so far just ooof. The HELL am I watching?! How did this get past dress?!
• UGH at Trump’s disgusting, excessive mugging while playing the laser harp.
• Terrible ending.
• Overall, good GOD, this was WRETCHED. One of the worst sketches in recent SNL history. What was this sketch even GOING for?! Absolutely unwatchable!

Rating: *

Mr. Crocker

• IIRC, this is a Tim Robinson-written piece, which is more than welcomed in tonight’s dreary episode.
• Beck’s performance is very solid here, reminding me of the number of frustrated, slowly disintegrating men that he’ll play throughout his tenure, especially in his final year, with the excellent Lexus & Picture With Dad shorts.
• Fantastic sudden angry outburst from Beck. And I’m loving how his karaoke fixation is the whole premise of this short.
• OH FUCKING NO. Here comes fucking Donald Trump to hijack this so far fantastic short with his halting, comedy-killing performance and delivery.
• Ughhhhhhh!!!!! Not only is Trump hijacking this short, but is ALL OVER it with his awful bit with Beck, why this short over everything else SNL?! It was going so incredibly well (*sigh*).
• Fucking UGH at the end with Trump’s “funny” mugging and smile towards the camera. Good god, this episode is DESTROYING me.

Rating: **** (if Trump never showed up to this short with his awful, disgusting, and obnoxious mugging it would’ve gotten *****)

Musical Guest Intro

• Wow, a big change of pace for modern-day SNL with us having a cold open pre our usual musical guest intro. It’s too bad that it’s happening with a host who is none other than DONALD. FUCKING. TRUMP.
• (*sigh*) Between Trump being Trump and Kenan hamming it up here, this is too much for me to handle.

Rating: N/A (unrelated segment)

Musical Performance – “Bird Set Free”

• Jesse Nathan: Unfortunately, the YouTube version of this performance I’m reviewing cuts off an intro with Trump and Kenan as Toots (the musical guest from Trump’s last episode). Now you could say this makes sense, but keep in mind that the upload of The 1975’s first performance leaves a brief interaction between Larry David and Bernie Sanders completely intact. I’ll just leave it to Blood to leave his brief thoughts on the Toots intro.
• I’m getting a little tired of musical guests always resorting to a serious piano ballad for their second performance.
• Interesting how the Asian woman is now standing in front of Sia instead of next to her.
• Once again, Sia sounds great here.
• The Asian woman’s facial expressions are amusing me.
• What the hell is Sia saying? It sounds kinda unintelligible and mush-mouthed.
• Oh, so the woman is actually moving while trapped in cloth. Kinda cool.
• Good piano and drums.
• Now the woman has gotten out of the clothing and is now crawling on the floor. Amazing!
• I love how the woman is now miming a conductor.
• The woman’s various mimings are pretty much gluing my eyes to the screen.

Rating: ****

Trump 2016

• Ah, much like the final sketch in Musk’s episode, we end tonight’s soul-sucking misery of an episode with a full-on ad campaign for Donald Trump. I ask once again tonight: Is SNL fucking kidding me with this sketch??!
• This ends up being the final sketch for these two characters, and boy, what an infamous one this will turn out to be.
• (*sigh*) This sketch is crumbling before my eyes, as these lines are no longer as funny as they usually are. A sign of how sad it is to realize this sketch’s magic is LONG gone by now. And not to mention that the subject of this sketch is none other than DONALD. FUCKING. TRUMP.
• A surprisingly good Trump voice from Bobby. I would say better than what ever the hell Taran intended with his voice.
• An awful, eye-rolling “Fist/Nixon” bit just now.
• Aaaand here he comes the man himself: Donald Trump. Isn’t it enough that Cecily & Vanessa were talking about him in this entire sketch, AND that this episode was basically not only a campaign ad for Trump, but pretty much was ALL about him, so we LITERALLY end it with a flat-out Trump endorsement?! Absolutely reprehensible.
• A horrible, HORRIBLE ending with Trump’s whole speech to the camera. This once-reliable recurring sketch has died an absolutely miserable death.

Rating: *

Cut For Time: Donald Trump’s Hair

• Once again tonight, I will ask: Is SNL fucking kidding me with this sketch??!
• I guess this is another sketch tonight that tries to humanize and make Trump “endearing” with this whole premise being about his stupid hair. If this nearly got to air, then what horrors were in dress?!
• I’m sure the cast is having tons of fun in that elaborate, expensive-looking set that’s supposed to resemble Trump’s hair, because I’m not.
• I’ve just realized that aside from the open, monologue, Hotline Bling, and this dreck, NONE of the other sketches are on YouTube. Gee, I wonder why…

Rating: *1/2

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Mr. Crocker

Democratic Candidates Forum

Weekend Update

Bad Girls

Hotline Bling

CFT: Donald Trump’s Hair

Trump 2016

Monologue

Rock Band

Live Tweeting

White House 2018

Final Thoughts:-

• Man, what a rough, ROUGH episode. Easily the worst episode of this entire season, and near the bottom in SNL history. A big reason for this episode’s horribleness is none other than Donald Trump, who was an absolutely wretched host. Even if I was oblivious to who he was and just watched this episode without prior knowledge of his personality and his politics, through purely non-judgemental eyes, I would conclude that he was comedy poison in this episode. Sleepwalking throughout the night and shouting his lines, playing himself, and having the show basically stroke his ego and produce a 90 minutes campaign ad about him. Even the sketches where he’s playing a “character” and not himself had to be aaaallll about him. Absolutely unwatchable. It seems like, this time around, Trump’s shtick of being this “alpha male,” alpha-Capitalist, blowhard, self-aggrandizing, bullying television billionaire has worn thin, unlike his “The Apprentice” era image where he was just a self-parody and worth a couple of quick, cheap laughs in jokes & punchlines delivered by the likes of Letterman & Leno. Now, this joke is becoming all too real for us to even smirk at it.
• Of course, this episode will later define the next four-and-a-half seasons of this era with tons of cameo orgies, pandering, and preachy discourse from SNL, in particular the embarrassing Mueller saga that aged like milk. All of these supposed acts of “resistance” are to simply try and make us forget that SNL had Trump on, and kissed his ass for 90 minutes with the some of the most reprehensible and irresponsible material in all of its history. Yet, I’ll go through that when I eventually reach that part of this era.
• I would at least say that Sia killed it tonight with some really great music, helping me to forget that DONALD TRUMP is the host of this episode for a couple of minutes till I see his disgusting, sweaty, orange face at the center of my screen.
• In conclusion, this episode is 1) THE biggest mistake Lorne has ever made in his entire career, 2) The ultimate NADIR for SNL in all of its 45+ years of history, 3) Contains three of the worst sketches not only in this season & era, but in the entire history of SNL (White House 2018, Live Tweeting, Rock Band).

Up next:-

• Season 47 returns with host Selena Gomez and musical guest Post Malone. My, GOD, do I need a good break from season 41 after reviewing THIS episode.