Cold Opening – Pentagon Press Conference
Pete Hegseth (COJ) defends Venezuelan strikes
- Is Jeremy playing the same guy he played in the very first cold open of the season?
- I wasn’t hot on the season premiere’s cold open, even when I expected a Hegseth appearance in this cold open. Maybe parodying that bizarre cabinet meeting.
- Ugh at the literal “OK…..?” bit with Mikey. Some of Mikey’s roles this season genuinely feel like a parody of how some fans see him as.
- The whole booze jingle from Colin’s Hegseth made me laugh out loud. Surprisingly well-delivered from Colin.
- I did get a decent laugh from the back-and-forth between Colin and Ashley.
- I am puzzled at the reactions from the studio audience every time Hegseth makes a sexist or homophobic jibe. Do these people ever watch any news?
- Not really caring at all for the Gaetz portion with Sarah, especially Sarah’s sad failed attempt at breaking Bowen by looking at him afterwards.
- Colin is killing it in this cold open in general.
- Great cutaway to a sleeping JAJ-as-Trump. With that said, I didn’t really need the gay joke with him and Zohran Mamdani.
- This now turns into a standard Trump open with his typical random ranting and rambling. I love JAJ, but they are really overusing that part of his impression.
Rating: ***1/2
Monologue
host plays mouth horn and talks Christmas in NYC
- Feels so good seeing an absolute SNL hosting legend such as Melissa back. Wild in just a little over 4 seasons of live reviews, I got to review a good number of hosting legends again.
- A musical monologue with Melissa? Not that into those monologues, but I am sure Melissa would help this.
- A good laugh from the whole mouth horn part with Melissa.
- Really nice snow effect and the vibes are very festive as the monologue goes on. I also like how this monologue is reminding me of the type of monologues Adam Driver would get in his more recent hosting stints.
- A solid laugh from the massive snow falling over Melissa.
- Love the physicality from Melissa during the part with Marcello moving the piano, even when the latter was really playing it for the crowd (ugh).
- OK, now this turns into an actual musical monologue? I was really enjoying the oddball turns beforehand.
Rating: ***1/2
Free Samples
lonely (host) is touched by the free sample offered by clerk (JEC)
- Jeremy is already great from the get-go playing the typical cheesy supermarket clerk to perfection.
- Good character voice from Melissa, though I sure hope this isn’t a wacky character sketch. With that said, her great delivery and characterization is making me laugh.
- For a “weird” Melissa character piece, I’m enjoying this despite it being an odd pick for the leadoff sketch. Jeremy is certainly adding a lot to this role, as you know had it been a desperate performer, he would be breaking or mugging, much like a certain cast member in the monologue just prior to this.
- Jeremy is a great straight man in this sketch. Playing it just the right way, without going overboard or too straight. He’s been a given a bit too many straight man roles so far into his tenure, but showing his impressive versatility, he remains very believable in them.
- A great panicked scream from Ashley, even when it feels like a typical Ashley moment.
- I really appreciate, besides the sweet and subtle tone for what was originally could’ve been a wacky Melissa showcase, the sense of pathos in Melissa’s character and how she is genuinely touched by the free sample Jeremy gave her. This is a perfect sketch to have in a Holiday season episode.
- One of the things that make this sketch work so damn well for me, much like the brilliant New Haircut sketch last episode, is that the premise was built upon, there was clear through-line, as well as a real sign of confidence in letting this piece breathe and take its time to get there. This is absolutely refreshing. This season, in general, has been filled with such offbeat pieces that are very strong, going hand-in-hand, with the absurd sketches.
- A really sweet ending that actually fit the sketch’s tone.
- All-in-all, not sure what the consensus around this sketch will be, but I simply loved this. One of my favorite sketches this season. Jeremy continues to be quite the force so far into his rookie season.
Rating: *****
A Helping Hand
old lady (host) is a protective angel towards young neighbor (Axel Newville)
- Why can I already tell this wholesome short will be taking a dark turn? I guess, seeing the refreshing sketch prior to this, I should reserve my judgment and see where this will go.
- Feels fascinating seeing a child actor playing a major role in this short next to the host.
- A laugh from Marcello’s bully character being tied up by Melissa’s character for the kid to have his revenge.
- Who is that singing? Really nice tune to the song throughout the short. Unless this is a song I’m unfamiliar with.
- Melissa is absolutely fantastic in this short. This is so perfect for her style of performance.
- This short seems to be going a more realistic route than the tired “dark” turn. Really well-done so far and the kid actor is doing a great job playing off against a big star like Melissa.
- The subtle gags in general are absolutely perfect for such a premise. Not going OTT or shocking for the sake of it. Much like the excellent leadoff sketch, subtlety like this is rare for modern SNL, and makes me appreciate them even more.
- The whole pimp/prostitutes turn was a bit random, even for this short. With that said, it was still funny enough.
- A really adorable ending. I actually didn’t expect it.
Rating: ****1/2
UPS Driver
UPS driver (host) explains meltdowns
- This sketch already reminds me of that Pizza Business sketch Melissa did in season 38. I am not a fan of that sketch. Melissa is always great in her character work and commitment, but she needs writing to back her up.
- A decent laugh from the camera footage of Melissa having a meltdown.
- This feels like the most we’ve seen Mikey already in an episode this season. He is alright here, even when he played these roles way too many times. Frequent commenter Michael Cheyne had a spot-on comment about Mikey in these types of roles vs. comedic ones in one of my more recent reviews.
- This sketch goes on and on as I zone out of it. Not even Melissa’s physicality could save this with the whole “slowly leaving the room backwards” gag.
- Yeah, Melissa is doing her best, like the consummate professional that she is, but she isn’t backed by the writing here. This is just boring me by this point. I’m also sure this will go viral all due to Melissa’s sheer commitment, as the writing is certainly non-existent.
Rating: **
Musical Performance – “HIGHER!”
Weekend Update
Redhead (BEM) gives tropical tourism tips
drunk raccoon (SAS) explains their drunk behavior
- Weird how we are on Update already. This episode has to have one of the shortest first halves of an episode in recent memory
- Solid start with the talk about the ridiculous FIFA “peace” prize mess with Trump.
- Another baffling bit from this season’s Update, as I didn’t care about the Trump Home Alone cameo clip.
- Meh at the Dora/Franklin joke.
- Despite it being a “seen here” joke, which this era overdid, I did laugh at the Kristi Noem joke.
- Nice seeing Ben Marshall doing his very first Update piece. This episode has been heavy on the newbies so far, which is a treat.
- Ben is likable and solid as always in this, although this piece reminds me so much of Alex Moffat’s Guy Who Just Bought a Boat commentaries. Not sure what to feel about that right now.
- The bell ringing running gag is at least pretty funny and Ben is forming a good duo with Colin.
- The whole redheads choir ending was pretty different than usual desk pieces of late.
- I did love the Star Wars ponchos joke, even when Che ad-libbed liking it afterwards.
- A very sad desk piece so far from Sarah Sherman. Between the drag in the cold open and now this…
- It is just very sad, once again, how much this once-oddball, challenging performer has become a literal mascot for the show. Just drag, mascots or playing a dull straight man.
- And now she is ripping off her own black-and-white Nosferatu bit for this. Showing she really has nothing to show for. I am sure the stans would rave about this, as they eat up the shit their favorites do.
- I didn’t care for the fourth wall break with Sarah’s name being mentioned in-character.
Rating: *** (mostly for the jokes & Ben’s likability)
Truth or Dare
moms’ game occasionally turns sexual
- Totally not buying Sarah and Jane as moms. The latter is clearly thrown in this sketch due to it being female-centric.
- Ashley sounds like she has some cold.
- What’s with all the moms having Southern accents? It doesn’t make sense with this sketch’s premise.
- This sketch is dead so far. In fact, so much of the night has an “off” feeling. An indicator often we might be getting a rough show.
- Not sure I am caring for this sketch’s direction so far, especially not the occasional sexual turns between the moms.
- Where the hell is this sketch going? What is this attempting? Is this a slice-of-life or an attempt at an absurd piece? The very “off” feeling surrounding this one certainly makes it even more baffling to sit through. I won’t be shocked if Fowlie/O’Sullivan are behind this, as this certainly reminds me of that fucking horrible Heidi/Chloe sketch where they make weird-looking bowls (from the season 49 Emma Stone episode). That one was too very hard to figure out, and most importantly, completely laughless.
- Yep. Not sure if this will be a favorite sketch for some, but the vibes were simply OFF for me, and I am not sure what to make of the sexual turns throughout, especially that it didn’t lead to anything interesting or some reveal. An absolute waste of my time.
Rating: *
Sunday Supper
(AND) expects guests to have Sunday suppers with him
- Feels like a long while since we last seen a lot of the cast, besides Ashley and Sarah.
- A bizarre visual seeing Kam next to Ashley, for many reasons I don’t even need to get into.
- The whole “Sunday supper” thing with Andrew is doing nothing for me, and it feels like something Kyle Mooney would’ve done back when he was on the show. Andrew has the ability to make mundane premises funny, but it ain’t working this time around.
- I did get a laugh from the visual of lumberjack Andrew. With that said, I am not sure I am excited about this premise. It feels like a poor man’s version of various prior sketches Andrew did, such as BPT and Beanie Babies.
- Andrew is very committed, and while it pains me to pan yet another sketch of his, I am just bored, once again tonight, by this.
- This sketch even has the typical mock-dramatic speech some of the Andrew pieces have. In fact, between this, that raccoon mess, Mikey’s explaining/reacting and the way Ashley was used earlier tonight, the way they are used feels like a parody of how their archetypes are on the show.
- Overall, between this and the prior sketch last episode, I sure hope Andrew isn’t in some slump creatively, as I still really love him and still think he is a valuable and consistently strong cast member.
Rating: **1/2
Musical Performance – “Baby!/Another Baby”
Cousin Planet
siblings (JAW) & (VES) sing about cousin planet
- Oh Jesus. Talk about a whiplash seeing Veronika and then Jane co-starring in a musical short. Guess their backstage stuff this week was a tease.
- Feels so odd seeing a 100 gecs parody on SNL. This is so in Veronika’s wheelhouse, and despite my reservations, once again tonight, I’ll try to give this a fair shot.
- A fun and relatable “where do cousins go the rest of the year?” turn. I’m sure many of us thought that during the many months between holidays when we were kids. I certainly did.
- Veronika is freakin’ fantastic in this. Giving the exact type of performance and charisma that made me a big fan of hers, years before SNL.
- I’ll admit, despite getting into this with fears I’ll absolutely hate it, there is charm and genuinely fun oddball energy. I’m giving Veronika, who is having another star turn this half alone, a lot of credit, as she even making the often-awkward Jane feel fitting in such a piece.
- A cute turn with Melissa showing up as the mayor of the planet. The rules she’s giving being contradictory to each other is another good absurd humored part.
- The various cousins parts are cracking me the hell up. Veronika’s goofy expressions were hilarious during it. And boy, is this beat getting catchier and catchier as this short goes on.
- Surprised how tight and solidly-paced this whole musical short was.
- When this started, I was worried I’d absolutely hate it, but I sat back and relaxed, letting the oddball nature speak for itself and I ended up really enjoying this overall. This had a fun beat to it, a surprising and good duo between Veronika and Jane, as well as a genre of music that’s ripe for parody the show didn’t delve into yet. And hey, you know I gotta be fair in these reviews, even when I review a dumb, silly sketch comedy show, I do not take it too seriously (nor should those “professional” reviewers, too) and can still change my mind and enjoy dumb, silly pieces, such as this one.
Rating: ****
Christopher and Guillaume
couple (host) & (BOY) display their Christmas decorations
- Feels nice seeing Tommy playing such a role. Makes you wonder why Mikey is even on the show by this point.
- Ugh at the reveal of Bowen and Melissa. I can tell this will be a rough sketch.
- Man, after a promising start, this episode took a real nosedive in quality (excluding Cousin Planet, of course). It was nice while it lasted.
- “Star” Bowen playing this “weird” character the same exact way he played that doctor and many of his one-off characters. Same voice, tics, posture, etc. So much for versatility.
- Geez at this sketch so far. How can you follow that upbeat, creative pretape with such a lame, overdone SNL trope? I doubt it, but I sure hope those fans are correct Bowen is leaving by Christmas.
- Tommy is a pretty solid anchor to this sketch.
- Blah at the turn with Tommy mistaking Bowen and Melissa for a gay couple. A lazy and hacky joke I thought died out a decade ago.
- What was the deal with the ending spiel from Tommy? He delivered it well, but that was so unnecessary and added nothing to this sketch.
Rating: *1/2
Cut For Time: Green Flags
girl (ASP) is put off by date’s (MAH)’s creepy apartment
- Carson: Hey folks, long-time poster, Carson, here. Blood, who is the fastest and most-beloved writer in the SNL community, has thrown me, the slowest and least-loved writer in the SNL community, a bone by getting to review this cut for time Martin Herlihy piece. How nice! Hopefully this opportunity will give me enough clout to get that coveted Saturday Night Network invite I’ve always craved.
- Before I start, let’s chat about where we are with the Please Don’t Destroy boys in 2025. After a strong(ish) four-season run on the show, PDD has been dismantled and scrapped for parts. Ben is in the cast, Martin is on the writing staff receiving the odd bone throw and John is now a massive Hollywood star. What’s been interesting is being able to witness “PDD deconstructed” in 2025. From my vantage, it’s clear that Ben is the most natural actor, but maybe has the most pedestrian tastes. From what we can tell so far with Martin, he seems like the most conceptual of the three. His stuff isn’t, like, really out there, but there is a nice writerly touch to what he has been doing. And so we have these sketch…
- Some effective table setting right off the hop: Martin loves The Notebook, he has a massive apartment, he’s classy (casually taking Ashley’s coat), he runs a group of animal shelters but made his money in finance. These details very quickly get dropped in, but in 20 seconds we’ve established all we need to know.
- Ashley is very good at playing this kind of role of a woman being wooed, but still feeling insecure (“I’m basically addicted to food…what?”). She really does an excellent job of giving her performance all the actorly grace notes that they need. I know the praise of Ashley’s performances can seem over-the-top, but it’s really her subtleties that are earning the accolades and that stuff doesn’t go out of style.
- The reveal of a giant lego version of Bugs Bunny essentially twerking in a red thong is not necessarily cause for an uproarious laugh, but is just weird enough to sort of linger with the viewer, the absurdity slowly sinking in.
- Ashley is very good at delivering those classically too specific PDD lines: “He’s popping his booty and he’s looking back at me, like ‘Do you want this thang?'”
- I like the touch of Martin putting way too much vermouth in his martini, but we are entering into some classic PDD jokesplaining.
- Martin, who has a great comedy face, gives a great take questioning Ashley’s logic that Bugs Bunny looks like he’s about to bottom.
- The escalation is fine, but the sketch doesn’t need to narrate every visual (“And what is he doing???”). This is the kind of thing that burned me out on PDD.
- Tommy’s appearance as a “has this ever happened to you?” pitchman is a cheap out, but it does contain my favorite joke of the entire sketch: Tommy’s fast getting superimposed over his own face.
- Jeremy’s inclusion ups the absurdity, but doesn’t really make things any funnier.
- What’s the Wile E. Coyote lego set actually doing in the last shot? It’s not really registering for me.
- Lots of great work here, but also lots of the same tropes that have made the PDD shorts a bit of a slog. Like a lot of the group’s work in the best, you kind of have to put everything on a leger and check the balance out. The sketch has problems, but I think the good easily outweighs the bad.
Rating: ***1/2
Goodnights
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Free Samples
A Helping Hand
Cousin Planet
CFT: Green Flags
Monologue
Pentagon Press Conference
Weekend Update
Sunday Supper
UPS Driver
Christopher and Guillaume
Truth or Dare
Final Thoughts:
- While a bit of an uneven episode in parts, as often is the case with Melissa McCarthy-hosted episodes, most of what worked for me tonight was very solid and memorable, including some of the season’s best pieces thus far, and thankfully helped the rating average not dipping too badly. So, overall, I’m giving this episode a passing rating based on the strength of the highlights and not too much tanking – making this season 5-for-7 in terms of episodes I liked. Melissa McCarthy was still strong when utilized, although I felt she vanished a bit during the back half’s first few segments, before rebounding nicely with a refreshing use in Cousin Planet and getting another showcase in a 10-to-1 that didn’t work for me.
- This episode’s embrace of the newbies gave it quite a unique feeling, even with some misses. I have seen some fans saying this season is the start of a new era (much like S31 was a season between two casts), and this episode makes me think they could be accurate. The new kids took over tonight, with Jeremy and Veronika especially having what I feel is their best showcases so far. Real star turns to me. Just hoping, this time for real, we get much-needed turnover, as there is a young, hip, fresh show awaiting to come through and take over for a new era to be unleashed. You could see it all through this season in fact.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
Up Next:
- Josh O’Connor makes his hosting debut.
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
I was happy to see Jane doing something in her wheelhouse that allowed her to shine, while also having a much bigger energy that could keep her low-energy from making the piece slog. I’m excited to see Veronika and Jane hopefully continue on as a duo.
Personally, I loved every sketch and piece her but Truth and Dare and Christopher and Guillaume. Just blegh premises with bad execution. But I’m excited for what this season has become, and it’s day and night going from this to the Bad Bunny episode. I’m excited for the Josh O’Connor episode having seen his skills in the new Knives Out movie!
I feel like on the whole, we’re in half-agreement about the episode. I agree with you on the monologue and leadoff sketch being solid, but I don’t think I fully loved the latter, though I liked how it comprised mostly of the featured players. I’m a bit surprised as to how high you were on Cousins Planet, since I saw some people on Twitter saying it shouldn’t have happened. The first pretape, I can’t decide on the whole if I enjoyed it or not. Also, I don’t think I hated that Truth or Dare sketch. Then again, I don’t think I liked it, either.
So on the whole, yeah, I’m pretty split on this one. Solid review as always, though.
As always, another great review from you Blood!
Much of this night (predominantly the 2nd half) had a rather off feeling to me. Like, it wasn’t an awful episode, but a lot of the sketches (especially Andrew’s showcase and the Truth or Dare sketch) felt like first drafts that needed polishing. The ideas and the premises were there, but the execution was off and the escalation was rather poorly done or, in the case of the latter, nonexistent. It’s a recurring problem with the show the last few years as decent sketch ideas ultimately get weighed down by labored writing.
While Melissa is an absolute comedic legend, I run hot and cold with her sketches on SNL, as the show seems content with letting her carry sketches on her back just by being weird and wacky. When they deliver actual strong writing behind it, it’s great. When they just let the wackiness take over…not so much.
The Free Samples sketch is a good example of the former. There was great pathos and genuine sweetness in Melissa’s characterization and Jeremy was a great straight man. The UPS sketch on the other hand was an example of the latter. Take away Melissa’s commitment and what do you have? Nothing really. Just a typical “reacting to weirdness” type sketch.
Now on to Cousin Planet…I have VERY mixed feelings on it. I absolutely hated it when I saw it live and dismissed it as another sad pathetic “make Jane happen” short in the vein of Tiny Baby Shoe. Watching it again, I can concede that I was a little harsh. There’s a unique creativity and energy to this piece, the visuals are charming and fun, and Jane and Veronika make for a surprisingly solid duo. My problem with this short, much like Jane’s other songs, is that the idea is more cute and quirky than funny. The idea of cousins hanging out on a cousin planet when they aren’t with family is at least unique…but it’s not really funny. The visuals and the lyrics, while charming, didn’t provide me with any laughs. So, I’m torn. Sketches don’t necessarily have to provide me with laughs (ex. Schiller’s or Bulla’s shorts), but I just didn’t connect with this, even if I admire what it was trying to do.
Glad you panned that Sarah desk piece. I’m seeing her stans celebrate the return of “weird Sarah”. But this is not weird Sarah. Weird Sarah is stuff like Eyes, Chucky, or Pongo. This is just her going the route of Bowen/Marcello and putting on a goofy outfit and hamming it up. She’s better than this. I’ve stated this before, but I actually would prefer if this were Sarah’s last season. While her chumminess and eagerness to please the audience is definitely playing a factor in her decline, part of it is also the show itself, for turning down her Squirm type sketches and forcing her to become the one thing she isn’t: a normal run of the mill cast member. She should helm her own show on Adult Swim or something instead.
All in all, an inconsistent episode, but what worked worked very well so I guess overall I should be happy. Hopefully this was just a minor bump in the road and the show’s solid streak will ultimately continue.
Great review. I felt higher about the episode than you did. The Free Samples sketch was hilarious and my favorite sketch of the season so far. The Helping Hand sketch was great too. I liked the UPS Driver and Sunday Supper sketches, which you didn’t care for. The latter felt a bit like a Tim Robinson piece. As for the Cousins pre-tape, I wasn’t a fan. I haven’t been enjoying the cold opens much this season, but this was one of the better ones.
I loved the focus on newer cast members in this episode. The Free Samples sketch in particular contained almost only featured players, apart from Mikey’s appearance.
Melissa McCarthy was a great host as always. She’s one of those people who can make over-the-top roles work, that could be annoying when performed by someone else. All in all, I’d call this episode my favorite of the season so far, which isn’t saying much.
Great review! I always enjoy reading these reviews from you, Blood. Personally, I enjoyed 75% of this episode and I even enjoyed some of the bad sketches, like the UPS sketch and Andrew’s Sunday Supper sketch, but I agree with your opinion of the second half, it felt like the writing kind of fell off a bit despite committed performances by some of the cast members. And while I guiltily admit to loving Sarah‘s raccoon bit, I definitely agree on how much she lost her unique creative spark and is now stuck doing a repetitive cycle of jokes.
In fact, most of the senior cast members feel like they’re starting to fade to the background, even the ones that still have a bit of spark left like Andrew. And while that’s not a bad thing as it gives newbies like Ashley, Jeremy, Tommy, Kam, Ben and Veronika more chances to thrive and show off their own cool and unique creative spark, it still kind of hurts a bit to see some of my favorite cast members that I fell in love with years ago slowly become tired creatively.
P.S: By the way, I forgot to change my username from perfecta3de9788d3 when I made that comic earlier, so I just wanted to let you know that my name is Jesse Ramirez
Fixed it for you now, Jesse. Glad to see you commenting again, and thanks for the kind words.
Was so anticipating the review I’m only NOW realizing you been posted this lol.
This episode was really not anything to talk about to me as there’s was a few chuckles in stuff but nothing really left an impression on me. Melissa did well like usual with hosting even though we got the usual sketches of her playing a character hamming it up and making anyone around her uncomfortable which never really worked for me.
This was easily my favorite cold open so far of this season. Colin’s Pete I think was even more douchey here than the first and if fully worked for me as well as his interactions with the reporters. And the obligatory Trump appearance here was super quick it didn’t hurt the sketch at all imo.
Not much I have to say about the monologue as it seems super clunky to me but one thing I love about Melissa hosting is never having a regular monologue and always going all out with something.
Very stunned (respectfully of course) at the full on five of the Grocery Store sketch as really nothing at all was anything to me and Melissa came off WAY too annoying to me to find it funny. I will say the ending did kinda make me smirk and I’ll will give it some point for having a nice sweet ending.
While fun having Ben on Update (Twitter especially was over the moon) aside from the acting and vibe he brought this was kinda weak to me but a pretty decent showcase for Ben Marshall. Sarah piece I actually kinda enjoyed as her raccoon antics were cracking me up more than usual, easily the better pieces of “Sarah going bonkers playing a character in a costume”, I do too CRAVE Sarah Squirm to return to SNL ASAP.
Nothing I have to say on Truth or Dare as I completely agree with you even if I don’t think it’s that bad (1 1/2 or 2 is what I give this personally as them having accents for seemingly no reason tickled me) also not only did Jane have not much of anything to say on this she kinda easily looked uncomfortable here which I don’t think was intentional either.
Bizarre seeing Kam and Ashley next to each other? Interesting (also glad Kam showed at all as he’s another cast member, like Jane, who is just NOT showing up). And yeah this felt VERY Kyle Mooney like which I feel is super not Dismukes at all and was kinda a new version of him while I’m not against hope doesn’t become a regular thing for him.
Overall rewatching it at least I enjoyed it more (but that’s usually the case when I rewatch a full show) but still a whatever not gonna remember episode for to me the first time this season. Excited to see whatever the heck they do with Josh O’Connor. Great review as usual from you and see you next week Blood!!
I liked:
A Helping Hand/Kindness
Truth or Dare
Cousin Planet (OMG! Wickline can be in a song and RHYME! Veronika must’ve written this)
3 Sketches I like make it tied with Glaser as my 2nd Favorite episode of the season (Poehler is #1, But one was a Cold Open so it might go down to 3?)
Hey Blood. What do you think of this? Some people on the SNL subreddit think that it’s a good thing Sarah plays the straight role often. They think that she’s trying to show off her ‘acting muscles’ or that she has more range than expected. I kind of agree with them. I think she’s doing fine in those roles but what do you think of that theory?
I can see their point, even when I think they’ll try often to be protective and overanalyze the way some are used by the show. She is fine in straight roles, even when given nothing to do of weight. The problem is that the show completely stripped away all that made her such a unique cast member in her first few seasons that I lost my interest in her as a performer.
I wonder why last night’s episode didn’t have an additional moment of silence or any kind of tribute for guitarist Steve Cropper, considering he was a member of The Blues Brothers Band.
I thought it was top-to-bottom another really good episode of SNL. We’ve been on kind of a streak lately, which is exciting.
Oh also I’m wondering if the Truth or Dare sketch didn’t start out as a parody of, or homage to, Hunting Wives, which would explain the accents and the sexual stuff.
Just me or do a lot of Melissa McCarthy characters/sketches feel a lot like Kristen Wiig’s old sketches? Has that similar tone of awkward/strange person weirding out all the normal people around her. I guess thats a common Groundlings sketch template.
Too soon to be worried for Kam? Seems like the guy hasn’t really gotten much of a showcase since the debut episode with his piece on WU, hope he gets a chance to do something more substantial sooner or later.
He had a cut sketch in Glen Powell’s episode (which didn’t sound that great). I’m sure he will get on Update again. His biggest issue, beyond his seemingly being hired solely to try to appeal to fans who hate SNL and hate anything beyond themselves, is that he can barely speak his lines. They may be able to squeeze through in pre-tapes, but when he has to talk live…you get the airplane sketch, or his Update debut, garbled and nonsensical.
For now, he still has a good chance of returning as long as the show thinks he generates buzz. Once that fades, he’ll have a problem.
I don’t know John, I think you’re being a little overly harsh on Kam here. I get that you associate him with a certain world of comedy, but Kam is as representative of Kill Tony as Mikey is of Wild ‘n Out. To me, he really hasn’t presented as some edgelord oppressor to SNL’s neoliberal status quo. He’s just a comedian trying to find his place on the show. His skills have been rendered subtly, but I think he has done solid work.
And as for his speaking…let’s remember that the show made Tracy Morgan a bona fide comedy star. If my Canadian ass can understand his lines, I don’t know what everyone else’s problem is.
I never really had a problem understanding Tracy. If I take some time, I can understand Kam, but if I have to rewatch just to understand his lines then it takes away from the strength of the sketch. He has some screen presence, so if his readings improve or he has more silent roles, he can only benefit.
There’s always a chance he can have a great run, or a solid run, but up to this point, which is admittedly early, I haven’t seen his purpose on the show beyond trying to get Kill Tony fans. That seemed to be the main reason for his Update debut, and he’s barely had anything since. But we have about a half season ahead, so we’ll see.
I’ve always understood the accolades heaped Melissa McCarthy’s way, but I’m not sure if her “Coulda/shoulda been a castmember” status has ever been conducive to her being a great host. In her previous five episodes, it’s always been a lot of “this is what Melissa could have brought to the table” and it’s often been one long, exhausting vamp. It’s often impressive, but the episodes have lacked dynamism – unable to stray from the one mode. Melissa’s individual sketches feel incredible when separated from their episodes. Her cameo last year might have been her best ever moment, and those Sean Spicer sketches were undeniable highlights…but they didn’t suffer from being part of a glut of similar Melissa performances.
This week’s episode felt like a more subdued, tempered version of Melissa’s first five episodes. Yes, it started out vamp-y with some big dumb Melissa features, but then the show returned to the cast and conceptual pieces that parked the host for a bit. Was that to the show’s benefit? I guess it’s debatable. It’s clear Blood thinks it wasn’t, but I think I’m at the point where I’m more interested in the show exploring new terrain and digging into conceptual pieces more than turning back the clock 10 years and letting Melissa go nuts.
So in terms of the vamping…it was fine. The monologue tried some things that were fun, even if the tepid audience wasn’t giving much. By the time Kenan showed up to remind us he was on the show, it was clear the whole thing was a chaotic grab bag of vaguely broad and physical bits. There were some great visuals, but it felt a little cobbled. Better than the standard monologue, however.
The Free Samples thing was a more well-executed Melissa vamp piece that at least seemed to amount to more than just the vamping (something the UPS piece could not get past). Although I didn’t love it because big broad Melissa McCarthy sketches are just not my thing, I can understand why I proclivity to that sort of thing might induce a five star reaction. Melissa did her thing, but Jeremy had a really dynamic role as a straight man and the whole thing generally moved with purpose. The UPS was pure vamp and the pre-taped bits had no juice in them. I thought it was a flop.
As for the typical Carson hot take, I really liked the Truth or Dare sketch a lot. Not upper tier of the season or anything, but probably my favorite of the episode. I don’t know, I guess I’m really drawn to sketches that explore inanity and the desperation the lurks underneath inanity. And I love a piece that has a rhythm to it. I can’t deny it played weird with the audience, but going off of the audience’s standard is a waste of time. Other than Jane being severely miscast and sidelined, this one was flush with little details that I found largely rewarding.
And then I enjoyed Andrew’s piece. Was it lesser Dismukes? Maybe? But I don’t really begrudge it that. It’s maybe not the right piece for a Melissa McCarthy, but I though Andrew gave a really strong performance and there were just enough quirky details to make it hit.
Quick hits:
– Blood is right, while the Trump sleeping bit in the cold open was a good touch, they don’t always have to pivot to him being front and centre.
– I too got a “Guy Who Bought A Boat” vibe from Ben’s Update piece. Too much, in fact.
– After a season of basically just playing blond girlfriends, I don’t mind Sarah coming back with a sort of classicly Sarah piece. She’s at her most fun when she’s given room to be loose and chaotic. I can let one or two of these slide per year.
– Cousin Planet was nice. Inessential, but a good win for Veronika and especially Jane, who needs a couple things to hit.
– A Helping Hand was better than a Melissa vamp, but it also felt like the clock had been turned back a bit. I appreciate the performances, however.
– I thought the piece with Melissa and Bowen was a nice way to give Melissa a character without it being another one of THOSE sketches. For kind of a tossed of sketch, I found it neither a plus or a negative for the show.
– The real highlight of the show was Dijon.
Jost was solid in the cold open. I agree they didn’t have to go back to Trump to close it out.
as Carson mentioned the crowd was quiet at points during the show which surprised me as they’ve been lively all this season
I think they’ve had a number of dead spots through the season. It may have been more noticeable here because Melissa in the past was a host who got a bigger response.
I wanted to say thanks again for your hard work and very detailed reviews. I say that every time, but I mean it even more this week as I didn’t feel great Saturday, wasn’t really interested in watching the show (the show is improving a little but I think I’m just in an SNL malaise at the moment and I have zero trust in them to not backslide), and to be honest, I am still not that interested, outside of a few pieces I’ve heard good things about). I wanted to keep up because I appreciate all you do for us so my viewing this episode is entirely down to you.
Cold open – I didn’t like this. Even Steve Higgins sounded over it – and this was the start of the episode! Colin Jost was having a lot of fun…to the point of distraction. I don’t want to see SNL giving teary-eyed denunciations, but I also don’t need quite so much open smugness from someone who has made millions from Trump Inc. There was also some genuinely bad dialogue just clearly cut-and-pasting current online commentary about Trump, whether it be Jost’s MRI line at the end or, as you pointed out, the pathetic gay jokes. This material is beneath JAJ, in my opinion. It’s more suited to Trumpwin. And yes, you’re right, Sarah was awful, and sad. I don’t know how her legacy on SNL has become, “Pete Davidson did this better.”
Monologue – Seemingly any coverage I’ve seen of this has been focused on Melissa’s weight loss, which is partly because of sexist tropes, but also because there is little else to say. This felt very scattershot even by the grab-bag nature of SNL monologues in the last few seasons, and I got the sense Melissa didn’t have confidence in it. The heavy inclusion of two of SNL’s current “stars” is another reminder of what the show tends to push whether it works or not…and Marcello staring straight into the camera for any laugh he could find also sums up his tenure better than any Youtube compilation ever could. I know Ashley is getting too much hype (and backlash as a result) but the energy she brings to her thankless role at the end tells you why she stands out so much among the current cast.
Free Samples – A great sketch, easily the best leadoff of this season and along with Pinwheel the best sketch of the season so far. You say everything here, especially when talking about the proper build. You could see the Groundlings influence very heavily (so much so that initially I thought this was going to be like a Mad TV Mo Collins piece – luckily it went a softer way). I loved the ending choice to have Jeremy’s character return Melissa’s affections in spite of the horrible details (I’m not entirely sure we needed some of those, or Mikey’s part, which keeps it slightly below perfect for me). Jeremy’s “WAIT!” was utterly perfect, and once again reminded me of Bobby Moynihan, but with more vulnerability. Jeremy has so much to offer, the sincerity SNL never has enough of. I truly appreciated getting this type of slice-of-life moment back on the show, one that wasn’t trying too hard for the easy “laff laff” moments and instead had some trust in the viewers to embrace a storyline. More please!
Helping Hand – Overall, this was well-paced and performed, and better than I’d anticipated compared to a number of pieces in recent seasons. I kept trying to remember where the little boy had been in SNL before – looking at SNL Archives, his biggest role was as the son in the State Farm pre-tape from the Michael B. Jordan episode. He did a great job, as did Melissa. Mikey showed the fatigue of playing these parts too many times (it’s a little thing but I also did not believe he would think that was a Nerf gun – it took me out of the reality), and Kenan playing a pimp after over 20 seasons felt slightly embarrassing, as did Sarah and Chloe being trotted out for prostitute roles. I don’t think any of this segment was needed. Luckily the close was genuinely very good and layered. I hope they keep trying to take these kinds of narrative chances that can still keep the heartwarming element these pieces are seemingly mandated to have.
UPS Delivery Driver – I completely agree with you that this went on too long; we saw nearly twice as many ringcam moments as we needed to see (the only parts that amused me were toward the end when we heard a cat yowling during the bat invasion and when Mikey yelped that she’d spent so long going to the bathroom at their house that day had turned to night). However, considering the very familiar format, I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did, probably enough to go up to about 3 and a half stars. Melissa’s mix of fatigue and physicality was put to very effective use, The bit with Melissa “fainting” and trying to roll out of the room made me laugh, and while the moment with Mikey and Melissa was a little too low-key, I still enjoyed the interaction. The change to how they usually do the ad tag also worked for me.
Update: This all felt fatigued, aside from some cheap laughs from Jost’s Epstein Island jokes.
Ben – You’re right about the Guy Who Just Bought a Boat cadence with Ben. I thought this was all over the place. While I prefer a cast member trying something new to the pathetic mascot pandering to come, I was surprised at just how formless this was considering I’d think Ben had been waiting to get on Update for half a decade. The choir felt especially random, and the shirtless part felt a little beneath Ben.
Sarah – just endless, self-indulgent twaddle that, as you said, shows how there is nothing left for her. I know this type of material is what pops on Twitter or Reddit, but my tolerance is limited when I know how many cast members are sitting on the sidelines waiting for a chance they may never get, and how the success of these types of pieces just encourages more cheap seats. I also thought her timing was off repeatedly. I briefly saw SNN and they said they thought this was Sarah’s best work of the season – that says it all. At least we dodged having Kenan on for his own mascot (Pepe le Pew) that was cut in dress. I won’t be shocked if we get Marcello back in his animal costumes soon as that is clearly the crutch for has-been cast members.
Truth or Dare – I won’t lie – as soon as I heard those Anderlette-era accents, I was expecting to hate this. I didn’t love it, but…I liked it much more than I thought I would. @Carson explains why better than I could, but I felt like there was a surprising amount of structure considering what we normally get (hogwild accents and ham higher than the sky). I liked the ending where the question about bringing in a husband got shouted down. This felt like a better parody of Hunting Wives than the actual parody. The performances weren’t too bad. I thought Sarah was much better than her usual sketch work of late – she had a certain understated oddness. I was also impressed at how low-key Melissa was but still committed. I do wonder if everyone was subdued to try to match Jane. If so, I am not too mad as I didn’t need a return to when Aidy or Cecily would chomp scenery in these roles. Chloe has tried that route herself in some past sketches along these lines and it never works for her. I think SNN said this was her 400th (?) sketch appearance. By her standards, not a bad sketch to hit that milestone on. I wouldn’t rate this one super high but I might go somewhere between 2 and a half and 3 stars.
Sunday Supper – I appreciated Andrew giving such a subdued performance and this had an interesting idea (even if it has been done before by other comedians. I thought the ending was very good (especially Melissa’s “I hope not”). Something just felt incomplete – we didn’t need four guests (and as you could really hear Ashley’s cold I would say give her and Kam a break and write them out of the sketch [just write Kam out of the show entirely – wouldn’t make a difference]). and their part was probably the most lethargic. I’m glad this didn’t go OTT and I enjoyed this much more than the Taken/cucking sketch he did in the Glen Powell episode but this needed more than it gave. Andrew’s been one of my favorite cast members for most of his run (at times he was just about the only reason I was still watching) but I do think he’s reaching the point of giving all he can give.
Cousin Planet – I know not everything is born of Lonely Island but I did keep thinking of Lonely Island, especially when Melissa (reminding me of Kenan’s Reba, for some reason) started in about the rules of…loving your cousins. This also had the whole oh-so-relatable motif of the last decade. Fortunately, the mix worked much better than Jane’s other musical interludes. I’ll give Veronika a lot of the credit, but after throwing so much criticism Jane’s way I will throw some praise her way too. I also appreciated that extras played all the other roles instead of cast members.
Christopher and Guillaume – The thumbnail alone made me dread this. Luckily, I didn’t HATE the sketch, but it felt twice-warmed over, like Bowen and Melissa were doing Kate and Aidy doing Oh, Hello. I do think Bowen’s performance was better than some of the previous sketches you mentioned, he seemed more locked in (Melissa was probably a big help), but similar to Andrew, Sarah and Mikey, it gave the impression Bowen has nothing left to offer. The end with Tommy, seemingly dumped in from the long gone Seiday funny name sketches, came across to me as Lorne or someone else panicking that this wasn’t a funny sketch.
Aside from Update and the first two pieces of the night, I ranged from tolerant to pleased with the show. One of the best sketches of the season, co-starring a barely used new hire, was at the top of the episode – that’s a great thing. I was also pleased at how more of an overall effort and sense of competence went through the sketches, even the sketches I didn’t love – most of them had proper endings and seemed like someone had gone over them instead of just throwing them on the air and walking away.
There was a certain melancholy cloud over the night, either from how much more subdued Melissa was compared to her previous episodes or because of the newer cast all being much more introspective than the “stars” (Ashley seems to be the most vibrant, which is probably another reason they trust her as much as they do).
This was a decent enough episode, but I wonder how many would be calling it the best of the season, as several reviewers have, if not for Melissa, and if not for the “star” pieces with Bowen, Sarah and Jost. So that makes me wary that the show will, as it so often does (most recently around mid-season 48) learn the wrong lessons. Ideally some of the better steps will keep being taken instead of more mascots, stale camp, greatest hits, and hanging on to past glories while pushing away any future.
I can feel some of the worst elements creeping back in, so, while I did appreciate aspects of the episode, it’s not doing much to make me want to tune in. Luckily, I have your reviews for motivation.