February 16, 2019 – Don Cheadle / Gary Clark Jr. (S44 E13)

Cold Opening – Trump Press Conference

Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) declares a national emergency to build wall

• Heh, I actually remember this trainwreck press conference from Trump. I was also taken aback with how this cold opening was basically quoting Trump verbatim.
• Alec is actually livelier and more energetic than he usually is in these cold opens. And, seems to actually try with the impression, especially the spot-on looks to the side every once in a while.
• The Dinner for Schmucks line is great and probably the most memorable part here. This cold open is also helped by the good pace and energy.
• The cutaways to Beck as Barr are getting increasingly funnier and Beck’s panicked expression near the end was great. Sadly, this impression, much like his Ted Cruz, would be given to Aidy, so she can dress bravely in drag and resist the Orange Führer’s regime.

Rating: ***

Monologue

LEJ’s selfie encounter with host represents a typical NYC fan experience

• Great energy from Don as he enters the homebase stage. His delivery right now is also solid, though the jokes given to him are nothing special.
• I never knew Don started in television, with such shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air; the throwback photo was nice, but this monologue so far is pretty unfocused.
• And to make this monologue even more disjointed, we get a random Leslie walk-on trying to take a selfie with Don. Yep, this one was barely even revised before being approved. While disjointed monologues can be, at times, fun and energetic (e.g. the Timothée Chalamet monologue from season 49), this one was clearly written without any energy, which translated into a mess of a monologue, despite Don’s enthusiastic performance.

Rating: **

Fresh Takes

teacher’s (host) attempts to be cool are inappropriate

• Great seeing this charming sketch back. Sadly, this ends up being the final installment despite it being just its second.
• Like last time, Mikey and Alex are fantastic playing kids, and, both are so believable, likable and damn adorable being so.
• Very fun characterization from Don as the gossipy teacher. Much like Larry David last season, it is fun seeing a performer of Don’s caliber participating in such a silly sketch.
• The bit with Kyle asking Kate out, while cute and brings to me nice middle school memories (it also helps I am currently a middle school English teacher), feels like something the show did before and a part Kyle could play in his sleep. Harmless enough, at least.
• Predictable turn with Don incriminating himself on the air, but it was still funny. Mikey was also solid in his straight man reactions throughout this sketch and didn’t feel the usual Mikey Reacts as it fit his character’s age and innocence.

Rating: ***1/2

Extreme Baking Championship

cartoon-inspired cakes are many types of bad

• I remember absolutely loving this sketch back when this episode originally aired to the point where I declared it a modern classic on the night it aired. Let’s see if I’ll love it as much as back then.
• Loved the dead-on start with the contestants scrambling around the set and then getting to their positions; so dumb, but funny.
• The reveal of Leslie’s messed-up cake cracked me up, but not as probably as I feel they intended it to be.
• The whole section with Don’s Cookie Monster cake turning out to be some demonic monstrosity, complete with the name “Sean” is fantastic and probably the single most memorable moment from this whole episode.
• Heidi’s perfect cake not getting any response from the judges is a clever turn, before we get more escalation. I also always felt Heidi was a very underrated part in these sketches.
• Fantastic turn with Don’s Cookie Monster cake being demon-possessed and Kenan’s voiceover is not only great, but the icing on the literal cake.
• The turn at the end with Kyle’s Yoda cake turning into one with him holding his penis gave me back when this episode originally aired one of the biggest laughs I could remember from SNL and it still holds up as hilarious this time as well. The only other times I can remember after this episode that a moment gave me such a reaction are the Mr. Peanut bit with Mikey in the cold open from the season 45 Adam Driver-hosted episode and Andrew Dismukes holding up a messed up Mario/Luigi drawing in a criminally underrated gem of a sketch with Lizzo in season 47.

Rating: ****1/2

Pound Puppy

dog-shaped sex tent shields canines from owners’ intercourse

• I love the visual of the eager dog anticipating Don and Ego’s characters to have sex, after such a long romantic setup.
• Funny, relatable concept for a traditional SNL fake ad. Something also about this fake ad feels out-of-the-ordinary for SNL, but cannot tell what.
• Great visuals of the couples having sex inside the giant puppy tent; the part with Ego and Don inside of it is especially funny.
• Solid ending tagline.

Rating: ***1/2

Musical Performance – “Pearl Cadillac”

Weekend Update

builder of southern border wall (PED) accidentally created a ladder

Chuck Schumer (ALM) & Nancy Pelosi (KAM) gloat about outmaneuvering Trump

when it comes to the Oscars, Jules sees things a little differently

Mort Fellner (MID) reports on the inexorable demise of supercentenarians

• A strong string of jokes and ranting from Che and Jost with the government shutdown being the topic of this edition’s start.
• Man, I forgot how much of a fucking moron Trump was/is; the clips shown of his aforementioned trainwreck press conference are just…. wow.
• The escalation of the Build The Wall chant eventually turning into the wall being inside us the whole time is hilarious.
• I am all for silly quick gags during Update, but I am not sure what to make of the whole gag with Pete at the Mexican border.
• The return of Alex’s Chuck Schumer and Kate’s Nancy Pelosi. I enjoyed Kate’s impression, but Alex’s, while featuring a fun performance from him and a rare chance for him to display his comedic chops, for some reason never clicked with me.
• This is basically a smug-off piece for the Dems; the writing here entirely is resting on how well Kate and Alex are playing off each other and how they deliver such lines. They are both solid here, but these types of pieces usually do not work with me, even when I actually like the real Schumer and Pelosi.
• The string of jokes afterwards are pretty good, especially the R. Kelly punchline which seemed to have caught Jost by surprise judging from his reaction.
• The return of Beck’s Jules. I am a sucker for this character’s routine, as well as seeing Beck testing the audience and having fun without coming off indulgent.
• Beck calling Black Panther “Equal Panther” is hilarious and seemed to have the audience a bit taken aback, making me love the line even more.
• The blackface shoes being discontinued joke was already funny, but having its punchline involve Mrs. Potato Head killed me with how random it was. Easily my favorite joke from this Update.
• The debut of Mikey’s short-lived, but memorable Mort Fellner. I enjoy the anti-comedy feel this character brings, especially the intentionally repetitive gag with him always ending his sentences about supercentenarians by informing us they are dead.
• The part about a contestant winning sexiest supercentenarian alive prize posthumously is hilarious and my favorite line from this commentary.

Rating: ***1/2

Family Feud: Oscar Nominees

Spike Lee (host) & Lady Gaga (MEV) helm Oscar nominee teams

• I’ve grown extremely tired of both Kenan’s Steve Harvey impression as well as these Family Feud sketches in general. Not even this change of pace is doing anything for me.
• Glenn Close is my personal favorite actress of all-time and it’s great seeing an SNL impression of her; Kate’s imitation is pretty funny, especially the gag with the Glenn Close-esque dramatic monologue.
• Good seeing the return of Melissa’s Lady Gaga impression after its big debut the previous episode. This sketch also continues the growth that Melissa would go through over the course of the remainder of this season that led me and a lot of other fans fully convinced she’d go on to be one of the show’s stars by next season.
• Just as I predicted, this sketch is dying hard, especially when we get to the answers from the celebrity contestants. Even the dramatic monologue bit with Kate’s Glenn Close came off so tired the second time.
• I can tell Melissa is trying to save the sketch right now, especially with those dramatic, Gaga-esque facial expressions. But yeah, this recurring sketch’s best days are far behind it.

Rating: **

Lollipop

“Lollipop” on jukebox makes a dance party of (host) vs. (BEB) bar fight

• A fantastic biker girl look on Heidi. It is probably her versatility and talent, but Heidi looks and sounds like one of those in this sketch without much effort.
• A very fun turn with Beck and Don being taken aback with the song “Lollipop” playing during their confrontation. This is such a silly, solid, fun sketch concept that’s right up my alley.
• With this sketch and the fun Jules piece earlier tonight, Beck is having a better season than I remember, especially this second half in general. (On that same note, so is Heidi who’s been giving weekly strong showings ever since this half started.)
• This is such a blast to watch and one of the primary sketches I would often cite as an example of how much joy SNL can bring at its best. (The aforementioned Lizzo episode’s last two sketches [Symphony Orchestra & Steve’s Beanie Babies] are another example of such; current cast member Sarah Sherman would often display a sheer capacity of joy in her patented work that cannot be faked.)
• Great visual with Heidi and others dancing in the background and confetti being showered everywhere as Beck and Don conclude their dance.
• A fantastic, criminally underrated sketch overall.

Rating: *****

Musical Performance – “This Land”

Roach-Ex

Roach-Ex Plus ends family drama caused by a homewrecking insect (host)

• Big night for both Mikey and Heidi; their couple pairings are always great to me as well.
• Strong concept for a fake ad. This short is also doing a very dead-on recreation of the tone and look of these specific types of commercials.
• Great increasing tension, especially the great little part with Don having his hand on Heidi’s knee much to Mikey’s discomfort.
• The cutaway to a satisfied Heidi smoking a cigarette after having sex with Don is hilarious and a strangely memorable visual.
• The tense part between Mikey and Don is excellent; Don’s absolutely fantastic and intimidating in his interaction with Mikey here. This short is a great example of why SNL should book more actors of Don’s caliber: they can truly elevate and make shorts into mini-movies.
• An overall excellent piece. SNL would later do a similar short in the season 48 Michael B. Jordan episode. I probably prefer this one a little more, however.

Rating: ****1/2

The Regal Promenade Pavilion

The Regal Promenade Pavilion is the low-rent venue for your special event

• A worrisome sign with a Kate in drag visual greeting us.
• I always forget these wordy Drezgate sketches started in this season. I won’t be shocked if general fans thought they began with the season 45 premiere.
• Solid, relatable lines here and there between Kate and Aidy, and thankfully, there isn’t that sense of indulgence that would plague a lot of their collaborations in the aforementioned season 45.
• Don is lots of fun during the cutaways to him, especially as he is performing various roles. While there are good lines here, it is Don’s fun presence and looseness that are making this sketch really click for me.

Rating: ***

In Memoriam – a photo of Joe Disco marks his passing

• Sadly, not in my copy of the episode

Goodnights

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Lollipop

Extreme Baking Championship

Roach-Ex

Fresh Takes

Weekend Update

Pound Puppy

The Regal Promenade Pavilion

Trump Press Conference

Monologue

Family Feud: Oscar Nominees

Final Thoughts:

• A solid, consistent episode as a whole. While not completely flawless, a lot of what worked in this episode was especially great; three excellent pieces and lots of other solid material, add in the powerful musical performances by our excellent musical guest, Don Cheadle being as fun and game as expected, and you got yourself a pretty fun show.

My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:

Up Next:

• John Mulaney / Thomas Rhett.

My full set of screencaps from this episode is here