Cold Opening – R. Kelly Interview
R. Kelly (KET) is unhinged during his interview with Gayle King (LEJ)
- Leslie is good as Gayle King, but I really cannot buy her in the role. I feel Ego Nwodim would’ve been a better fit, to me, but I guess she was too new back then to co-lead a cold open. (Then again, JAJ has been dominating cold opens since his very first episode, but I digress.)
- While Kenan isn’t exactly my pick for an R. Kelly impersonator (Chris would’ve been a better fit), he is already hilarious in this cold open, continuing his fantastic season in general and is doing a dead-on imitation of how R. Kelly behaved in this interview.
- Kenan’s various thoughts to himself, complete with red lighting in the background, are priceless in such a Kenan-y way that only he can nail. Him also insisting to be called a victim in this situation is worthy of some guilty laughs.
- The part where Kenan stands up from his chair, ranting about the accusations, mentioning that he left clues in his songs’ titles, such as Trapped in the Close and Age is But a Number is fantastic and one of Kenan’s funniest moments in this whole season.
- Very solid & memorable cold open.
Rating: ****
Monologue
host recounts his 20-year career arc from bouncer to successful actor
- Great suit on Idris.
- Yet another calm, relatable monologue from this season with Idris talking about his career path, especially his start as a bouncer. Seeing him here with his natural accent, after loving him on The Wire where I first discovered him, is a bit of a whiplash feeling to me. He sounds and acts so different than that show.
- Sad how the response after mentioning The Wire, isn’t the biggest, but I guess the SNL fanbase and The Wire’s are rather separate.
Rating: ***
Can I Play That?
actors (BEB), (CES), (host) assess role suitability
- Kenan’s strong night continues, as he now plays yet another gameshow host. As much as I enjoy Kenan in such roles, I often hoped they would give some of these to other cast members such as Beck (who is a contestant here) or Cecily (who, funny enough, also often plays contestants in these sketches). I’m happy in more recent seasons, the role is often rotated between Kenan & (boy, I’ve been mentioning him a lot lately) JAJ. Even Bowen Yang played a gameshow host decently a few times.
- What’s with the wig Kenan is wearing? Is it part of the joke? As it certainly looks fake to me.
- Solid premise for a gameshow sketch, and one that is timely. Kenan is also just perfect for the role of a host in such a sketch.
- Loved the whole “Blind Person” part, especially Kenan talking about God taking their sight and now Idris taking their jobs.
- Cecily and Beck are solid here, continuing rather strong years for them, though I’m not finding their moments to be as standout as the Kenan/Idris parts. I do like the mention of Cecily playing the president only in comedies, though.
- Loved the whole Black Bond part with Idris, even when it’s the usual wink wink from SNL, and to be honest: Idris would be a fantastic Bond in my opinion, so why not have him?
- Yet another solid gameshow sketch from this season.
Rating: ***1/2
Bok Bok’s
mascot of Bok Bok’s chicken restaurant looks suspiciously like Momo (KAM)
- This is a piece I remember really enjoying back when this episode originally aired. But now, a few years removed from it, I became more and more disillusioned by it, especially after hearing fan critiques of it, so we shall see what I’ll think of it now.
- Kate is very solid & expressive in this part, and it shows her fearlessness as a performer to be routinely so game to do these roles. However, her character now being compared to Momo kills this piece already, as she doesn’t really look like her.
- I’ve seen fans saying this could’ve been a Cluckin’ Chicken-type classic, had it went really dark, and I agree. And also, stopped the beating down of the same joke of patrons being scared, as well as had Heidi or other cast member in Kate’s role, as I feel she’s playing this one too familiar to me.
- Anyways, sadly, this is as disappointing as I remember.
Rating: **
PowerPoint Workshop
inept Henriette (AIB) & Nan (KAM) create incoherent PowerPoint slideshow
- Two Kate McKinnon showcases in a row?
- Alex Moffat stuck in his typical bland, boring straight role that he’s often been in throughout his tenure. On the other hand, it feels absolutely surreal seeing Heidi in such a role, considering what a big utility star she would become in recent seasons on the show.
- Another Kate/Aidy team-up sketch, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this one. Despite its cutesy nature, there’s fun relatability here with the PowerPoint presentation going wrong.
- I do like the stupid visuals, especially the pie chart and the Wayne Brady photo randomly being in this.
- Despite it not being needed, I cracked up in spite of myself with the crude turn near the end. Aidy can make me laugh saying anything with her great delivery.
Rating: ***
The Impossible Hulk
Bruce Banner (host) becomes angry white lady (CES)
- Cecily’s been having an awesome season this year, and this has always been one of my favorite pieces she did this season.
- This is clearly a variation of the excellent Inner White Lady short from season 40. A criminally cut piece from a season filled with ones that deserved to air.
- The transformation of Idris to an angry white lady, complete with classic comic book panels, is very fun and out-of-the-ordinary for SNL. In fact, this feels like one of those classic comedy shorts on stuff like Key & Peele or an obscure British sketch comedy show. David Mitchell could’ve made this piece a classic in the UK, for example (which reminds me of the excellent The Age of Discovery piece from the latest season).
- While her voice and characterization might feel a bit old-hat by this point (then again, this is her 7th season), Cecily is priceless here with her very Karen-y behavior and bitterness. This is a role I feel Cecily could milk big laughs out of in her sleep.
- The whole apartment scene is fucking hilarious! I absolutely love Cecily’s acting in general throughout this short.
- I laughed out loud at the ending sequence with Idris transforming into Cecily, complete with her filming Mikey with phone (love her facial acting during that moment).
Rating: ****1/2
The Gold Diggers Of The WNBA
guys pursue modestly-wealthy athletes
- I completely forgot about this sketch till I mapped out the sketch order for the review. I’m not an WNBA (nor sports) viewer, but SNL routinely seems to get in trouble when doing these types of sketches (such as that wretched WNBA sketch in the season 46 premiere).
- Very solid performance by Kenan and Chris as usual. Idris, as much as I love him, has been displaying some nervousness throughout the night, but is good here at least.
- Very poor utilization of Cecily Strong. Reminding me of how often she would be cast in roles that just do not fit her in the last three seasons of her tenure.
- That effect making Leslie a towering figure over the others is…. cool. But what’s the point of this sketch exactly? Kate also feels thrown in for the sake of it and is mugging a storm.
- Anyways, this sketch just ended, and I have no idea what happened. The performances were fun, but this gave me unwanted memories to those typical Che-written pieces, so I assume he wrote this.
Rating: *1/2
Musical Performance – “Talk”
Weekend Update
Goop employee & her supervisor (Gwyneth Paltrow) lack product knowldege
Michael Jackson & R. Kelly sins lead PED to separate art from the artist
specs for LEJ’s naked-corpse funeral include eulogist, singer, cremator
- Heidi’s been having, like several others, a strong season this year, but I am certainly not excited to see this Baskin character of hers back. Not helping this one also a certain cameo coming out very soon.
- Heidi’s Vocal Fry: The Character routine is coming off rather grating in this character. (I believe it was fellow SNL reviewer Carson who termed it that way, but I might be forgetting something.) And while I “get” what Heidi is attempting with this role, the result isn’t impressing me much. I prefer the more one-off characters she would do in Seasons 46-present, even when they often become hit or miss to me in recent seasons.
- Here comes our surprise cameo by Gwyneth Paltrow, the owner of Goop, which this piece is supposedly skewering. Gwyneth, how should I put it without coming off mean, looks odd in this part, and while performing it as adequately as usual, it just rubs me off the wrong way.
- This ends up the second and last appearance of this Heidi character. Not going to miss her much, is all that I’ll say.
- Solid string of jokes post that piece, especially enjoyed the flight attendants & Ash Wednesday ones from Che & Jost, respectively.
- Yet another desk piece from Pete this season. This time, talking about the art and the artist – topic I go back-and-forth at times myself with.
- Some good jokes and lines from Pete per usual, even when it’s nothing outstanding. The R. Kelly discussion is pretty funny, and, while stupid, the talk about Charlie Chaplin (always fun bringing classic comedians to me, as a massive old-school comedy junkie) not speaking is very funny.
- Leslie after Pete? Their commentaries often blur to me as they sound and come off too similar.
- This commentary is a bit washing over me, which is a shame, as Leslie’s been having a strong year, though the JLo part is pretty funny.
- Another fairly solid edition of Update.
Rating: ***1/2
Soccer Broadcast
pro soccer player (host) joins broadcast team & makes unuseful comments
- As always, a solid British accent from Alex. It feels very rare seeing this solid performer actually utilized properly.
- In a night with surprisingly shaky performances from him, we get a hit, as Idris is just terrific here and nailing his line deliveries and making their crudity come off priceless.
- Love the straight man reactions from Mikey and especially Alex – the latter’s “WTF” face slayed me.
- Even the dick joke with the shape Idris draws in his commentary is killing me – he’s so selling this premise with total ease.
- While not the place to say this: Ego and Heidi look so stunning in this sketch.
- The best part to me, and many others here, is Idris’ fantastic response when asked about Beck’s player character, as having a “massive knob” for a white dude.
Rating: ****1/2
Magic Show
magician (host) uses casino owner’s (KET) wife (LEJ) as his assistant
- Leslie’s performance is rather grating in this. Yes, I understand her character is supposed to be broad and loud, but it feels like it’s relying on her worst traits as a performer.
- Kenan is very good in his part, at least. He always a fun presence, even in the worst of sketches, as God knows this mess needs some levity.
- Where is this sketch going?! This reminds me of the equally-baffling (though more polarizing) Sinatra Impersonator sketch from later in the season, but this one is a piece I do not see the potential in.
- The air blower ending did not work for me, which can be said about this whole sketch.
Rating: *
Musical Performance – “Better”
Supportive Friend
(BEB) poorly hides his jealousy toward fellow actor’s (host) success
- I believe this sketch got cut a few times before, as I recall reading reports about it from past seasons. I also think it is a rather personal piece for Beck, with how often he tried getting it on.
- Beck is being…. Beck. I love the guy, and I think he had a great tenure as a whole, but this screaming, OTT role of his here is hit-or-miss with me. He had me in stitches in the Bayou Benney sketch from earlier in the season, but here…. not so much.
- Alright, Beck got me with his screaming when his friends are discussing his career choices, but so far, I’m finding this sketch rather tepid and repeating itself over and over, but it is not too bad.
- All-in-all, I’ll give this the benefit of the doubt, as it feels trimmed at the last moment, but I’ve seen better 10-to-1’s from Beck than this.
Rating: **1/2
Cut For Time: New Cast Member
New hire Adam Zekeman (KYM) struggles to fit in
- Yet another cut Kyle Mooney backstage short. The one that aired in the season premiere was so disappointing to me, so I sure hope this one is better, as I already love its premise.
- Kyle is making me laugh out loud as this Adam Zekeman character, especially loving the quick montage of him in a few sketches, as well as the recreation of the opening theme sequence adding him.
- I’ll say, it is interesting how Ego Nwodim is painted here as being a breakout cast member, as while this rookie season of hers is quite underrated (and we’ll be getting another gem from her soon), I remember many fans familiar with her from CBB feeling she is being wasted or underused. Funny hearing that, knowing now how Ego’s tenure would turn out as a whole.
- The whole part between Mikey and “Adam” is hilarious, especially the very cringe-inducing and sad little sketch of “Adam” winning an Emmy being found in the trash pin.
- Love the worldbuilding in these shorts, especially the whole carnival part with the cast having fun. I’ve always believed this is the SNL era that I most known the cast in, which makes me a bit sad we are barely getting to know them in more modern seasons, besides the PDD backstage shorts and very few shorts, like the Bowen-starring ones.
- The fake desk piece with “Adam” as some drunk cowboy feels like an actual desk piece we would see in more recent seasons. I definitely can see Andrew Dismukes doing one like this in style.
- Very good ending with Beck as the new cast hire, particularly love the cringey expression he just made.
Rating: ****1/2
Goodnights
- A wonderful moment with Idris celebrating Ego’s birthday on the goodnights stage. Such endearing moments are a bit rare in recent years of the show’s history.
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
The Impossible Hulk
Soccer Broadcast
CFT: New Cast Member
R. Kelly Interview
Can I play That?
Weekend Update
Monologue
PowerPoint Workshop
Supportive Friend
Bok Bok’s
The Gold Diggers Of The WNBA
Magic Show
Final Thoughts:
- An episode that was rather all over the place, but it definitely had more good than bad, with several solid-to-excellent sketches sprinkled throughout the night. Idris Elba, much like the episode itself, was mixed, but the stuff he nailed, he did so masterfully, such as Soccer Broadcast and The Impossible Hulk.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
Up Next:
- Sandra Oh / Tame Impala
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
Another great review as per usual Blood! Fun to see you revisiting this era.
I agree this episode is a mixed bag overall. Some stuff is great and some stuff is a big miss. In short, a typical SNL episode. That said, what does work here works very well.
That R. Kelly cold open is hands down one of Kenan’s best moments on the show, and yet another example of the strong season he’s having. While the impression isn’t flawless, he manages to milk so many laughs by being so Kenan-y as you pointed out. The turns with him singing his thoughts out loud is an example of something that Kenan was born to do.
Likewise, the Impossible Hulk sketch is one of Cecily’s best ever sketches. She’s really the GOAT at playing these over the top Karen type characters and this is one of the finest examples of it. You hit the nail on the head: her and Kenan are the MVPs of this seasons.
The Powerpoint presentation sketch is one I go back and forth on quite a bit. On the one hand, you can see elements of the hammy and self indulgent Kaidy schtick that really became tiresome and formulaic. On the other hand, there’s an innocent charm to the sketch and some of the hammy line deliveries (especially from Aidy) are pretty funny. Still, this is a sketch I’m rather iffy on myself, as there’s both plenty to enjoy as well as plenty to be annoyed by.
Soccer Broadcast is probably Idris’s best sketch of the night. It’s a classic example of a sketch that only works with the right host and he delivers by making it come off as fun and silly as opposed to lazy and juvenile.
That said, I agree he showed some nerves in other sketches. I still think he was overall a fun and game host but would have come off better had he been more relaxed. Not that I blame him of course. Live sketch comedy is nerve-wracking, period, let alone when you’re the host and therefore the center of attention. All in all, despite some shakiness and a few duds, not at all a bad night.
Thanks as always for your reviews. Season 44 stands out to me mostly because of so many one-time hosts, dream hosts for a number of fans. Many weren’t that strong, but they all committed and had some moments to shine. I love the football match sketch and I am still not sure why it was removed from repeats. For me it is an example of Seiday gone right and such a good use of everyone involved.
I had totally forgotten about Momo – the pre-tape or the meme – until your review. You do a good job in showing the issues with this piece.
This is probably the end of Kyle’s great backstage pre-tapes. Hard to believe there are still three more seasons of them to go. This one is so incisive – the “break character” prize on the strength test is especially sharp when you think of all the Beavis foolishness.
Blood, did you see what’s coming to One SNL A Day 2.0 on September 1st?
Yes. I wish them the best of luck.
Have you read Leslie Jone’s book? On what she talks about that was difficult with being on SNL; she said it was during the Idris Elba episode that she made the decision not to come back for the following season (not sure what day in the week but I recall it was something that the host was aware of and I’m not sure she had said it to Lorne yet.
And that shocked me because I recall the R. Kelly CO being a particularly strong one for me (not even just because it was a topical CO, taking a break from all the political ones) because she had good acting and timing as Gayle King. But then I read here about the other sketches she did that I blocked out and it makes a lot more sense why this episode in particular. Between the one note jokes about her height or her being loud; it really isn’t a good representation of the talents that she does have or what was allowed to do on the show.
No, I haven’t, Monette. Despite being a self-proclaimed SNL fanatic, I’ve never read any SNL-related books.
It is unfortunate to read what Leslie thought of this week, as I think she had a good one and a strong final season, but we’ll never truly know what cast members feel about their time on the show till they leave it, I suppose.