November 17, 2018 – Steve Carell / Ella Mai (S44 E6)

Cold Opening – The Ingraham Angle

Mark Zuckerberg (ALM) downplays Facebook abuse

• Didn’t we just get an Ingraham Angle cold opening? This ain’t no Hardball to have it as the cold open every two or three episodes, SNL.
• This is pretty much following the same tell-don’t-show approach that’s been plaguing a lot of SNL’s political writing in recent decades, especially the “Feel Facts” bit, even when it had one or two funny points in them.
• Ok, the whole Tyler Perry/Madea bit made me laugh in spite of myself.
• Boy, this SNL era sure loves the whole fake sponsors gag. Sadly, there were no standouts during Kate’s sponsoring of them, despite her on-point delivery.
• Alex’s Zuckerberg is usually very funny, but his whole scene here didn’t really work for me. I’ll say, however, the moment with his laughter and then Kate’s Laura cracked me up at least.
• The whole interview with Leslie was completely laughless, especially the tepid “roasting” bit, complete with Leslie holding a microphone. I *get* her jokes about Pelosi were supposed to be bad, but they could’ve been written in an anti-comedy fashion to make them work.
• Did we really need that whole interview preview with Pete as some vaping idiot, complete with him giggling and looking bizarrely off-camera? Blah.

Rating: **

Monologue

NAW, Ellie Kemper, Ed Helms, Jenna Fischer [real] want The Office reboot

• I am always surprised that Steve only hosted SNL twice before this episode. It always feels that he hosted more than that to me.
• The segue into the Q & A from the audience was awkwardly executed and immediately made me realize the really dead, quiet atmosphere this monologue has been in already.
• Writer Allison Gates is coming off likable and decent enough, at least.
• Ok, the successive cameos from the Office alums are getting a bit repetitive, though there’s charm in seeing them in this particular monologue, considering who’s hosting the show.
• I guess they forgot to write some actual jokes for all these cameos, as Allison Gates continues to provide me with my only laughs. This isn’t a terrible monologue or anything, but it could’ve been done much better.
• Ah, seeing the very underrated Nancy Walls in the audience, alongside her & Steve’s kids, is really helping this monologue, as her bit is the funniest part. It also reminds me of how much I enjoyed her in her sadly one-and-only season as a cast member back in the mid ‘90s.

Rating: **1/2

Dumb Dad

kids of dumb (host) fail to clue him in on their family’s dissolution

• The first of way-too-many dad roles for Steve tonight.
• Not caring at all for this one-joke, repetitive premise with Steve’s character’s complete obliviousness to his wife having dumped him and being way too dumb to get that. Yet, the sketch is beating that one joke to the ground like it would make it somehow funny.
• The sketch is DEAD so far. I do not know if it’s the way Steve’s playing his character or how literally quiet its whole atmosphere is. There’s certainly major “off” vibes here. A sign we may be in for a rough night.
• Yeah, I am getting no laughs at all; there’s nothing funny or entertaining happening in this sketch, especially how increasingly repetitive this whole sketch is as it continues beating to death its one, unfunny joke to the ground. Also, there’s some sad, almost-depressing aura all around this sketch for some reason. And, not sad in a funny way, but just sad & miserable. Steve’s trying and the cast is decent enough, even when Mikey & others are explaining WAY more than needed.
• Yep, having this D.O.A. sketch as our leadoff of the night should’ve been a HUGE warning sign back then.

Rating: *

A Message From Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos (host) repeatedly trolls Donald Trump via Amazon initiatives

• Casting Steve as Jeff Bezos is certainly an interesting choice. I don’t know why I feel his role in Despicable Me had something to do with it, but I digress.
• Where are the laughs supposed to be coming from exactly? Is it that an out-of-touch billionaire such as Bezos is shitting all over another billionaire and giving him a “sick burn” with this message of his? If so, there’s no comedic value nor potential to be found in such a premise. How the hell did such a piece get on the air? It reminds me of the infamous puff piece the show would do about Theresa May later in the season.
• WTF at Bezos’ photos with Trump’s pals Putin and Kim Jong Un? Is it to tease Trump that he is better friends with them than he’ll ever be? Again, there’s no laughs in such bits, and considering the pro-Amazon rant Colin would do in this season, I’m betting he championed this piece to “roast” Trump.
• I am not caring at all for this piece. Not even Steve’s commitment is doing anything for me. This is pretty much a D.O.A. premise, in my eyes.

Rating: *

Thanksgiving Song

(host) & (CES) sing odd & obscure Turkey Day song at Thanksgiving meal

• Man, as if the last two segments did not destroy me with their awfulness yet, now this episode throws at me a full-on motherfucking “What’s that song? Stop playing that song! Come on you know the song! No I don’t! Wait, it turns out we all know that song! Let’s all sing together the song!” sketch from non other than the “brilliant” Anderson/Sublette writing duo.
• I really cannot muster enough to say about these sketches anymore; if you’ve seen one of them, you’ve seen them all.
• This nothing role of Beck’s is probably the biggest waste of his talents by this point of his tenure.
• Aaaand here comes that tired ol’ ending with them finding out they knew the song all along!1!1!!1!!

Rating: *

RBG

rappers (PED) & (CRR) live & ride for resolute Ruth Bader Ginsburg (KAM)

• Three terrible sketches in a row and now I am getting a Pete Raps?! Yep, tonight’s episode is officially trying to murder me.
• I remember this one being the first of quite a number of Pete Raps! shorts these next few seasons that bizarrely worship some random celebrity, without any comedy or point being made; just a combination of Pete’s shitty “rapping”, unfunny visuals, and some really nauseating color grading. (I am not counting that Tucci Gang pretape as that one was actually, you know, FUNNY. Sam Rockwell also played a huge part in making it work as well.)
• Continuing her forever friend/security blanket route by this stage of her tenure, Kate now plays her RBG impression in this tepid rapping pretape worshipping her, without any comedic through line or jokes.
• Between that (horrible) part in the cold open and now this pretape, it feels this is the most Kate & Pete ever interacted in their respective tenures.
• What the holy fuck at that reveal of RBG’s stomach being jacked as hell and tattooed?! I sure hope I can block the hell out of that bizarre visual as soon as possible.

Rating: *1/2

NASA TV

space station accident makes NASA broadcast to schoolkids traumatizing

• One of the more popular sketches from this otherwise troubled, infamous episode.
• For once tonight, it feels that Steve’s comedic talents are actually being used. Although, even then, I do not feel he’s being given a lot to work with here aside from some terrified reactions.
• This is pretty fun so far, especially how more and more the mission is getting out of control, as well as the terrified reactions from the others. In some aspects, this sketch reminds me of Undersea Hotel from three seasons ago, though it isn’t as strong nor memorable to me, but still quite enjoyable.
• It is absolutely insane that this is the very first segment all night I gave a passing rating to and we are almost at Update.

Rating: ***1/2

Musical Performance – “Boo’d Up”

Weekend Update

congressman-elect Denver Riggleman (MID) reads from his Bigfoot erotica

boasting LaVar Ball (KET) thinks he should be the coach of the Lakers

• I am positive I did not need that whole Amazon joke from Colin, considering the confusing disaster I suffered through a few sketches ago.
• Considering how great his run has been so far, I am excited to revisit this commentary of Mikey’s, especially that I memory-holed it, like a lot of this season.
• Oh, I remember this guy Mikey’s parodying, especially the bizarre Bigfoot erotica that was brought up during this time. This is so absurd that it already feels like an SNL sketch to me.
• I am not getting any laughs from Mikey’s Riggleman reading from his Bigfoot book, though I am enjoying Mikey’s performance and appreciate the change of pace with the lighting and scenes from the book shown next to Mikey. This feels really dead as well, for the billionth consecutive segment tonight.
• A lot of these jokes are flying over my head or it is probably the string of wretched sketches earlier tonight that really soured me on what is usually the most consistent part of this SNL era.
• My reaction to Kenan’s LaVar Ball is usually the same as his David Ortiz: pretty funny at the start, before devolving into self-indulgent, inside-joke performance that goes on endlessly.

Rating: ***

Slumber Party

teen dropout’s (HEG) friend’s (AIB) dad (host) is guardian angel crooner

• I believe this is basically a now-forgotten SNL sketch due to the music rights preventing it from being posted on SNL’s YouTube channel, which is quite the theme with a lot of sketches from this season, especially in the Kit Harington episode.
• Yet another dad role for Steve tonight.
• Man, this is another sketch tonight that feels way too quiet for me, but the out-of-the-ordinary feel is really working strangely enough, and Aidy’s very solid in her role per usual. Considering the huge fan I was of her throughout her run and the great tenure she had, I am surprised I almost never remember this solid performance of hers.
• I’m not sure that ending really worked for me, but this was an offbeat concept that I feel had a decent execution and payoff as a whole.

Rating: ***1/2

Musical Performance – “Trip”

RV Life

(host)’s wife (HEG) eventually admits she hates their new RV lifestyle

• This is a sketch I recall hating a lot back when this episode originally aired. So much so that I don’t believe I even rewatched it since then. Considering how recently I’ve gained more appreciation for offbeat, calmer pieces, I am interested in revisiting this sketch for this review.
• I really appreciate the offbeat, semi-dramatic feel of this sketch. I remember dismissing this one in the past as being purely miserable with nothing else. I can now see what it is attempting, especially how Heidi’s character is trying to mask her sadness living in this RV away from her former life.
• The cute dog being randomly thrown in into the sketch really distracts from its performances, as they are what carry this sketch for me, which is such a shame.
• The ending with Heidi admitting she hates living here is good enough to end this sketch, though I feel the cute dog and how rushed the second half of the sketch really hurts it. Nonetheless, I really now have much higher opinion on this sketch than I used to.

Rating: ***1/2

Space Thanksgiving

sentient cornel of kern (PED) complicates outer space Thanksgiving meal

• Uh-oh. Here comes a confusing trainwreck of a sketch. One of the most notorious sketches in recent SNL history, if not of all-time.
• Things ALREADY go off the rails as soon as Melissa and Kenan enter the set, as the gun Steve’s carrying suddenly falls under the table; you can even hear Carell’s unmistakable laugh being quickly stifled as that happens.
• Needless to say, from the “funny” pronunciation of corn as kern, to the cartoonish gags throughout this mess, it is no surprise knowing James Anderson had a hand in writing this sketch, as it feels right in place with his other cartoonish, hacky sketches throughout his run.
• This sketch feels like it was pulled up right from James Anderson’s S30 cut-after-dress sketches folder. It would’ve felt right at home with his other horrific duds that dominated that season like Hot Plates, anal-probing aliens, Gays In Space, and Woo! The Musical, just to name a few. In fact, I can see this being amongst the billion other James Anderson sketches that dominated the wretched Johnny Knoxville episode from that same season; being between anal-probing aliens and that gay standups dud.
• My god, this is DEATH so far. The endless utterances of kern, the bizarre overacting by everybody, to fucking Pete Davidson as the screeching kern crop, there’s nothing to enjoy here.
• Oh boy, and now here comes the part where Steve improvises the ending by deciding to eat the kern instead of saving it; the completely shocked look on Melissa’s face (fourth-to-last screencap above) after he said that is both absolutely priceless and for the history books; the moment where this disastrous sketch went entirely off the rails.
• And now this utter disaster of a sketch is finally over as the cast feasts upon the defenseless kern and I continue to be completely baffled as to what the fuck did James Anderson even intend with such a premise and how did this eventually end up on the air.

Rating: *

GPYass!

navigation is drag-themed; Peppermint & Jiggly Caliente cameos

• In an episode rife with some of the most tepid, shittiest, hackiest premises in a very long time, we end the episode with a full-on “what if your GPS was recorded by drag queens & flamboyantly gay men [complete with Kenan lisping] instead of the usual deadpan lady!!11!!11!!” pretape. Man, just fuck this episode already.
• Unlike several atrocious sketches earlier tonight, I cannot find ANY alternate way to make this pretape come off funny, instead of how hacky, tepid, and embarrassing it’s coming off to me right now. Let me be clear, I have nothing against drag queens, nor using drag humor on SNL, if done right that is (and SNL would do an actual funny & charming sketch revolving around drag queens the next season), but this is STILL a complete flop with zero laughs.
• Knowing that not only James Anderson (gasp!) had a hand in writing this, but that Bowen Yang (who’s a devout James Anderson fanatic to boot) also co-wrote this, makes the typical shitty, hacky, OTT dreck Bowen’s been bombarding us with in more recent SNL seasons not too surprising, sad to say.
• WTF at the random “Yas Kween!” by Steve? And why are we now in a bizarre stage with strippers, complete with (of course) Cecily Sings?! God, you are killing me with tonight’s episode, SNL. Killing me.
• And now, this abomination of an episode is finally over.

Rating: *

Goodnights

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

NASA TV

RV Life

Slumber Party

Weekend Update

Monologue

The Ingraham Angle

RBG

Dumb Dad

Thanksgiving Song

Space Thanksgiving / GPYass! (tie)

A Message From Jeff Bezos

Final Thoughts:

• Man, what a rough, rough episode. Easily the worst I’ve reviewed since that Elon Musk episode over a year ago. There were actually a few solid highlights in this episode, especially surrounding Update, but they were pretty much cancelled out by all the awfulness that dominated the rest of the night; the pre-Update half in particular was almost entirely unwatchable, minus an average monologue and the fun NASA TV. I still remember how huge the fan reaction to this episode back in 2018 was, especially how many flat-out were broken by it and either quit watching the show or basically slept watching the rest of the season with no enthusiasm left. I remember being the latter, though I recall the second half having some good & underrated episodes, but we’ll get there in time. Steve Carell neither helped nor harmed this episode, but he certainly didn’t do anything to save any of the material given to him, especially given his comedic background. All-in-all, this episode still earned its reputation as one confusing, dead trainwreck.

My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:

Up Next:

• Claire Foy / Anderson .Paak. I’ll bet that one will cheer me up! /s

My full set of screencaps from this episode is here