March 3, 2018 – Charles Barkley / Migos (S43 E14)

Cold Opening – Presidential Address

• Interesting seeing Trumpwin delivering an address to the nation, even when it isn’t from behind the Oval Office’s presidential desk.
• Cecily’s Dianne Feinstein is making me laugh with how excited she gets when Trumpwin mentions the possibility of taking the guns away from people.
• Ugh at the obligatory gay joke with Beck’s Mike Pence.
• I’m surprisingly getting laughs here. Much more than I expected early on. Trumpwin’s lines about running to stop a school shooter is very funny & a good spoof of Trump’s infamous comment.
• Ok, the whole rambling now devolving into a rant about Wakanda isn’t making me laugh much.
• Fantastic line from Trumpwin about him running the country like a Waffle House at 2 A.M.
• OH, GOD. Did we really need Kate’s freakin’ Jeff Sessions to take over this cold open??? It’s starting to immediately bottom out after how I was surprisingly getting laughs from some of Trumpwin’s lines.
• An overall average cold open, with few really strong lines, and if it weren’t for the awful Sessions takeover, I would’ve rated it a little higher.

Rating: **1/2

Monologue

• Charles is coming off as his very lovable & charming self right from the start.
• Good laughs from Charles’ talk about hosting the show for no reason. By the way, I did hear that Charles hosting this episode was a last minute decision. Does anybody know who was supposed to host instead?
• Che! So rare to see him outside the Update desk.
• Some good lines from Michael here, but I can’t think of any that I feel I should point out for the review.
• Good monologue overall, certainly being helped by Charles’ natural likability.

Rating: ***

The Grabbies

• A fairly creative & solid idea for yet another #MeToo sketch this season.
• Beck is a solid host here, and his energy is very welcome.
• A groanworthy, yet funny “Cecil B. Molestin” lifetime achievement award, which is an obvious play on the Cecil B. Demille award.
• Fantastic sudden gag with Beck being replaced by another host due to harassment allegations.
• Big cheap laughs from the various awards categories, the “Handsiest Actor“ & “Most Open Robe” are particular highlights here.
• Pretty solid sketch overall that took a different, yet creative approach with how to address the #MeToo movement.

Rating: ***1/2

Ned’s Roach Away

• I’m afraid this is going to be another very muddy & confused social commentary short from this season. considering that it is commenting about a recent tragic mass shooting.
• Very poor use of Luke Null, but what’s new here?
• Funny graphics of the roaches with guns, and I’m getting few laughs here even when the premise is a bit too obvious.
• The simulation of the roaches being brutally murdered near the stove made me laugh out loud.
• A good piece overall, and thankfully wasn’t as muddy & confused as I feared if would be. There were some good moments here, but nothing rose above being just ok.

Rating: ***

Homework Hotline

• Charles seems fitting in the role of a teacher, he’s coming off believable here.
• Great puppet voice on Bobo.
• I’m not sure if this comedic conceit is going to work for a full sketch, as it easily could grow very old fast.
• I’m not laughing much at these intentionally-sophomoric calls.
• Mikey’s whole bit here made me laugh out loud.
• Charles is doing a good job, and his face while trying to stay in character is funny.
• Average sketch overall, not bad at all, but it had barely any escalation outside of the sketch concept itself.

Rating: **1/2

The Champions

• A no-brainer having a sports-related sketch tonight, considering the basketball legend that our host is.
• Alex Rodriguez cameo.
• Kenan’s performance here is tons of fun & is helping me get through this sketch, as I’m not familiar at all with sports programs nor references.
• Funny reveal that Kenan only played for nine games.
• A good sketch, even when it didn’t escalate much aside from the aforementioned funny reveal. Kenan’s energy certainly helped in me enjoying it.

Rating: ***

Musical Performance – “Stir Fry”

• Jesse Nathan: Oh great, I get to review a musical guest who was involved in my least favorite performance of Season 42? Ugh, I don’t get young people.
• I like the red paper lanterns throughout the stage.
• Why are two of the members heavily autotuned?
• I’m not loving how these guys are hyping up too much with the frequent ad-libs.
• Not loving this chorus, though at the very least, it’s still a better chorus than “Bad and Boujee”. (*shudder*)
• I barely had anything to say about this performance. Safe to say it was pretty much a bust.

Rating: **

Weekend Update

• God, so many jokes here come off as sad now, knowing the trajectory of Trump’s presidency.
• Why was the audience shocked by a priest joke turning out to be about molestation? I mean, it’s SO obvious.
• Cecily’s appearance here as Hope Hicks feels a bit desperate for me and yet another moment that feel like a history lesson than actual comedy. Between her Update pieces as Ivana Trump, Stormy Daniels, and now Hope Hicks, Cecily seems to project her political beliefs and current frustrations into the audience with barely any actual humor or satire.
• Good line deliveries from Cecily as usual, but this commentary is not working, and feels yet again like a political statement instead of actual satire or entertainment.
• Not a single laugh to be heard from me throughout this entire commentary, overall.
• Some baffling jokes after the Cecily commentary ended.
• Seems promising to have Kyle doing an Update commentary as himself.
• An ok conceit to this commentary with Kyle wondering why he wasn’t invited to Colin’s Oscars party.
• Love how Kyle is so close to Michael. I always forget the underrated chemistry between them.
• Yet another Leslie Jones commentary, and it seems like a good idea to pair her with someone else, this time a cameo by Olympics gold medalist Hillary Knight.
• Good energy from Leslie as always & Hillary is coming off fairly likable, but where is the humor coming from?
• An overall fairly lethargic Update. Some good jokes, some baffling ones, and only one commentary that I liked, even though the one with Leslie wasn’t too bad, unlike the desperate one from Cecily.

Rating: ***

Hump Or Dump

• It feels like a while since we got an actual traditional game show sketch. Not counting the one with Jessica Chastain, as that one took a very different route.
• I love Kenan, and he’s a great game show host in general, but do we need him hosting every single game show sketch? What happened to Mikey?
• Man, Alex & Chris are looking damn good in these outfits.
• Charles looks just like Reverend Jesse Jackson in that wig & makeup combo.
• A huge laugh from Charles threatening to kill himself if Aidy doesn’t pick him.
• Charles: “I’m not depressed. This is a game show, and I want to win.”
• Was Melissa’s VERY brief appearance here really necessary? What a waste of her talents.
• Charles’ deadpan delivery throughout this sketch is slaying me.
• A bit of a flat ending, but what came before was strong enough not to hurt this overall sketch.

Rating: ****

Construction Workers

• This sketch is immediately reminding me of the solid one with Daniel Craig in season 38.
• A silly, but very realistic and simple dialogue-driven sketch concept with the construction workers discussing what to wear if they were women.
• Charles is fitting quite well with the other guys in the cast.
• Beck is absolutely stealing the sketch for me so far, his reliable deliveries are even more solid than usual here.
• Great bit about buying a daughter a shawl.
• Love Beck’s speech, and he’s yet again stealing the sketch for me.
• An overall great, low-key sketch.

Rating: ****

Musical Performance – “Narcos”

• Jesse Nathan: Pretty weak beginning. The chorus is generally weak, and these guys’ rapping is so boring.
• Like the first performance, I don’t like how these guys are so heavily autotuned. I believe I had a similar complaint to Future’s performances from Season 41.
• Another thing I don’t care for: the fact that the verses sound so indistinguishable from the chorus. In fact, I can’t even tell which part of the song we’re at.
• “Hottest album in the world.” I have a hard time believing that.
• Not loving Quavo’s ad-libs. They feel unnecessary.
• “Greatest group in the world.” Debatable.
• Okay, this song is going on waaaaayyy too long.
• Overall, much like the first performance, this was pretty much a bust. Safe to say Migos isn’t for me. I think they’re at their best when they have good beats to back themselves up, like Calvin Harris’ “Slide” and…Calvin Harris’ “Slide”.

Rating: **

Last Call

• Good to see the return of Kate’s Sheila Sovage, as it’s been a while since her last appearance.
• Strong line deliveries from Kate as usual even when Kenan’s REACTING shots are a bit much early on in the sketch.
• Charles is surprisingly fitting well into the sketch’s format, and his rapport with Kate is quite charming. Utilizing both’s very naturally likable personalities.
• Loved the line about getting tired of teaching English till leaving the country.
• Now, here comes the memorable dentist contraption bit which is the moment that I most remember from this episode from past viewings.
• Charles is executing this bit very well, especially for a non-actor. It’s getting a great audience reaction.
• Love the cutaway to a petrified Kenan. Probably my favorite shot of him in these sketches.
• Great sketch overall, and IIRC, it turns out to be the last great one for this recurring character. The next two are fine, but not as strong as this one or the previous ones.

Rating: ****

Cut For Time: Star Warriors

• Terrific production values on this short. Why in the world was this cut considering all the money put into it?
• Mikey’s looking very attractive in that getup & hairstyle.
• Boy, a Star Wars short. I hope this one works for me as I never saw a single Star Wars movie in my life.
• Great prosthetics on Kenan, but I’m not enjoying his voice & performance as much as I want. It feels like a reminder to how hammy & muggy he can be at times.
• I’m enjoying the turn that this short took, which I’m assuming is a commentary on the Star Wars universe. Charles’ personality is perfect for these lines.
• Alex steals the short for me with his over-the-top evil portrayal of an officer from the Galactic Empire.
• Funny ending that Charles sold easily.
• Solid short overall. It should’ve replaced Ned’s Roach Away in the live show, definitely.

Rating: ***1/2

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Construction Workers / Last Call (tie)

Hump Or Dump

The Grabbies

CFT: Star Warriors

Monologue

Weekend Update

The Champions

Ned’s Roach Away

Homework Hotline

Presidential Address

Final Thoughts:-

• A pretty good episode, and unlike the previous episodes, there was nothing in this episode that was particularly weak or awful. The post-Update half in particular was especially strong, with all three sketches in that half receiving a four-stars rating from me. Even when I barely had anything to say about several sketches, I was mostly satisfied with their quality. Charles Barkely was once again his natural lovable self & the show used his humorous personality quite well, especially in the post-Update half of the episode.

Up Next:-

• Sterling K. Brown hosts with musical guest James Bay.