January 14, 2017 – Felicity Jones / Sturgill Simpson (S42 E11)

Cold Opening – Trump Press Conference

• (*groan*) I see that SNL is sticking with Alec as their resident Trump impersonator.
• Blah, I’m not caring that much with the whole pee euphemisms that Trumpwin is using, nor that I’m getting that many laughs from the reporters asking him about the pee tape. As I said previously, all of this political writing & hyperfocus on Trump for ratings makes these episodes age much more than the actual older episodes, and makes them more of a history lesson than actual entertainment.
• Showing what an unprofessional jackass he is, Pete can be seen making faces behind the performers after his brief scene ended (*groan*).
• A huge laugh from the visual of the Trump brothers, Alex in particular steals the entire open for me.
• Great to see Beck in this open, and his facial expressions as Putin are quite funny.

Rating: **1/2

Monologue

• Man, Felicity is nervous as hell early on in this monologue. She is coming off more likable to me though, even when the jokes she’s given are nothing special.
• A very random Tina Fey cameo, in what I’m assuming is a Princess Leia-like role. Mind you, I’ve never seen Star Wars, but I’m familiar with its characters.
• A big laugh from the Steven Seagal mention.
• Yeah, Tina is handling this entire monologue on her own while Felicity is standing next to her, and the latter is doing a fine job here.

Rating: ***

Beard Hunk

• Our annual The Bachelor sketch returns.
• This feels like a role that Cecily could play while asleep by this point in her tenure.
• Vanessa’s scene is easily the best so far into this fine installment, even when it feels, yet again, like a role she could do in her sleep.
• I’m not sure about that American accent attempt from Felicity, it feels off to me.
• Aidy’s whole scene is hilarious, and is easily my biggest laugh so far.
• Kate’s whole bit about being a judge is good, elevated even more by her always-excellent line delivery.

Rating: ***

Shondra & Malik

• This seems to have the potential of being a pretty solid, semi-dramatic piece, and the pairing of Kenan and Leslie here is promising.
• Vanessa is doing a solid job in this short, with her playing against type yet again in her final two years.
• I’m enjoying the tone of this short so far, and the aforementioned semi-dramatic feel is now enhanced with a solid slice-of-life feel as well. And Leslie & Kenan are both great here, especially Leslie’s surprisingly solid dramatic acting, which I forgot about despite her showcasing it in the SAG Awards sketch from last season.
• Great running bit with Leslie & Kenan’s helpful advices to each other while maintaining their rivalry.
• What’s with that ending? It hurt this overall solid short for me and it will make me lower my initial rating for it.

Rating: ***1/2

Theatre Donor

• Mikey’s very strong season continues, as he now gets to display his underrated physicality in a sketch.
• By the way, I really love how this sketch is filmed, and the set design is complementing the material.
• Some solid laughs from Mikey’s wealthy donor character interrupting the play that he funded. In a way, this sketch feels old-school, like a classic comedy bit from several decades in the past. I won’t be shocked if this was an improv bit that Mikey used to do for over a decade back at The Groundlings before joining SNL.
• Great physical comedy from Mikey throughout this sketch, especially him falling from his chair and Felicity trying to make him sit straight.
• Mixed feelings about that ending, even though I’m sure that I liked it more than some.

Rating: ***1/2

The Princess And The Curse

• While Kate’s evil laugh here is not that far from her infectious & hilarious Hillary Clinton laugh, I still got my expected laugh from her brief scene.
• Casting Felicity as a fairytale princess is an obvious no-brainer in my view.
• I absolutely love Beck’s impressive jump when meeting Felicity’s character; a detail that I always remembered from this short.
• A blah reveal of this short’s conceit, as everything after it is nothing special, despite Beck’s solid reactions. This could’ve been much better than it is. What a waste of a solid concept.
• Was that “ending” even an ending? Boy, they didn’t even TRY with this one.

Rating: **

Susan B. Anthony House

• A very random premise of Kate appearing as Susan B. Anthony to warn modern-day women.
• I get what this sketch is trying to tell us, but the execution so far is not working as well as it could, possibly the too on-the-nose take of this sketch is the problem.
• Kate is performing the hell out of the material she’s given and is helping in elevating this pretty repetitive sketch with her energy.
• Yet another ending that is leaving me scratching my head at it.

Rating: ***

Musical Performance – “Keep It Between The Lines”

• Jesse Nathan: Already off to a good start with the horns intro.
• Ooh, I’m loving the way the bass complements the horns.
• Why is Sturgill strumming his guitar when it’s not even audible?
• Sturgill sounds great here, reminding me of how much I liked his performance with Chris Stapleton in Season 43.
• Kinda having a hard time understanding what Sturgill’s saying.
• I love how the organ builds up and then drops.
• The way the organ interjects between each line in the second verse is pleasing to listen to.
• Now we hear a guitar, and the way it mixes with the horns and organ is pure ear bliss.
• I love how each individual horn gets its own solo. This is epic in the best way possible.
• I’m having a hard time coming up with stuff to say about this song while I’m jamming.
• The saxophone solo in particular is great, and serves as a great accompaniment to Sturgill’s vocals.
• That was way better than I thought it would be.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Once again, all of this Trump-related material already feels tired to me, and make these Update editions more of a history lesson than actual entertainment or fun.
• Pete returns to the Update desk for the billionth time this season.
• Really? Having Pete Davidson making fun of other people’s appearances?? Has he ever looked into the mirror? I’m also getting really sick of seeing him & Leslie in almost every single Update these past few seasons, as I said before: I can’t wait for Alex, Mikey, and Heidi to be regularly featured behind the desk.
• Ok, I did get a good laugh from the visual of Wilbur Ross looking like a puppet.
• Shockingly, this is Beck’s very first appearance behind the Update desk. I recall how surprising it was to online SNL fans to see him finally being featured here, halfway through his fourth season. And IIRC, he returns again during season 44, skipping next season in its entirety. A real shame, as Beck is perfect for Update pieces. It is either that he got cut frequently, or tended to mostly focus on sketches & shorts most of the time. I’d say myself that it is a combination of both.
• This silly singing by Beck is giving me some good laughs, and it feels like a bit that he would perform back in his improv/YouTube days pre-SNL. Yet, his comments afterwards and his interaction with the audience is actually funnier than his intentionally-bad singing.

Rating: ***1/2

Fandango All Access

• Wow, a huge night for Beck, with him being in almost every single segment tonight. I’m not complaining at all, considering how much I love Beck and consider him to be a model cast member & real trouper. I cannot be happier for him to be honest.
• I’m absolutely loving the low-key, classy, serious discussion by the cast of the movie about their dumb, low-brow comedy. This is such a solid parody of these types of pretentious people in Hollywood.
• The title of the movie alone is worth some pretty cheap laughs.
• A funny movie clip, and Beck’s dumbfounded facial reaction has always stuck with me since I first this sketch, such a lovable, goofy look from him.

Rating: ***1/2

Musical Performance – “Call To Arms”

• Jesse Nathan: I like how this has more of a Southern rock feel to it, which is actually what I was expecting from Sturgill Simpson, after that aforementioned Season 43 performance.
• I love the opening guitars, and the organ is also a nice addition.
• Sturgill’s vocals are perfect for this instrumental.
• Okay, looks like we get the addition of the horn section. Not exactly what I thought would be included here, but the horns used here surprisingly add a lot to this instrumental, and give it more of a 60s vibe.
• Sturgill’s vocals are a tad bit more intelligible than they were last time, but that’s not saying much.
• The guitar lines further add to that aforementioned 60s vibe.
• That one trombone player sure seems like he’s having fun.
• Oh HELL YEAH to that guitar solo.
• And now we get an organ solo, which is somehow even more awesome than the guitar solo.
• The drummer is really having at it.
• It’s very fun to watch this band jam as the song nears its end.
• I love Sturgill’s jumping during the ending portion. Man, this is a blast.
• Great ending.
• Overall, wow, that was awesome. I did not expect to love this as much as I did.

Rating: ****1/2

Corporate Retreat

• Ah, here’s Beck once again tonight. This has to be one of the biggest nights of his tenure, and I do recall him dominating the finale as well.
• Interesting seeing Melissa co-starring in another sketch so early into her tenure (and she’ll be starring in a very famous one in tomorrow’s review). Let’s just hope it is better than the dreadful previous one, even though the badness of that sketch was not her fault at all.
• I’m not caring much for this sketch’s conceit, with it revolving around telling sexual jokes, as this is a conceit that could easily turn hacky immediately.
• Felicity is, surprisingly, doing a solid job with the material she’s given here, which sadly cannot be said about Melissa’s character, with how meh the material she’s given so far. Yet, like the pro that she is, Melissa tries her best with what she’s given.

Rating: **1/2

In Memoriam – a photo of Tony Rosato marks his passing

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Theatre Donor

Shondra & Malik

Fandango All Access

Weekend Update

Beard Hunk

Monologue

Susan B. Anthony House

Corporate Retreat

Trump Press Conference

The Princess And The Curse

Final Thoughts:-

• An average episode, but a pleasantly average one, where most of the night ranged between average to pretty solid. I know this episode is not regarded to be amongst the season’s best, and I totally understand and agree with that sentiment, yet it is not as bad as some made it out to be, unlike the awful previous episode. Felicity Jones, while a likable presence on her own, wasn’t the best choice for host, as shown by her nervousness throughout the night, yet she didn’t derail any sketches or bring the episode’s quality down.

Up Next:-

• Aziz Ansari hosts with musical guest Big Sean.