Cold Opening – Jeffrey Epstein’s Ghost
Trump’s (JAJ) friend Jeffrey Epstein (WIF) visits
- The “new era” vibes continue with a redone version of that S43 cold open with Trumpwin (shudder). You just cannot make this shit up.
- If the show is so nostalgic for the late ‘10s era, “my” era actually, then why even bother hiring a new cast and crop of writers? It is so clear how “precious” graying Colin Jost and Mikey Day are to Lorne. Why not emulate that’s era’s more structured writing and standout cast? I had my issues with that era (though mainly cold opens and a few cast members near its end), but it is late ‘80s SNL next to these past two seasons. Bland nostalgia is nothing at the end.
- Feels odd seeing Epstein in the cold open. Here somehow as sort of a Christmas Spirit. Is this yet another confused tonal take from SNL?
- As expected, Will’s Epstein impression is solid. And, as much as I love him and that cold open, Will put more effort into the impression than Adam Driver did.
- Despite the solid performances and rapport between JAJ & Will, this is just feeling the same dull way the late ‘10s opens made me feel. I’m so zoning out much of this. Derivative and hesitant.
- The audience is really dead in this, for the millionth cold open this season. They seem to only respond to the ones with JAJ up there riffing for 5 minutes.
- An interesting(?) turn with Ashley’s Kristi Noem on QVC. Sadly, despite her always on-point delivery, this just came and went.
- Ugh at the Hegseth/Patel part so far. Aziz Ansari really got absolutely NOTHING going on in his career, huh? Genuinely sad to watch.
- Colin’s pretty rough and stumbly in his to the camera sponsorship. And did he need him to smirk yet again at himself?
- Did we need a lengthy musical ending with Will and JAJ? Ending it also with both of them almost kissing?
Rating: *1/2
Monologue
Chad Smith [real] crashes WIF’s monologue
- A very fun and solid turn with Chad Smith entering the homebase stage and pretending to be Will.
- Chad is a riot pretending to be Will. He is giving a better, more lively comedic performance than several current cast members, who, last I checked, were supposed to be paid sketch comedy professionals.
- Loving Will entering the homebase stage and confronting Chad. This is very funny so far.
- Solid back-and-forth between Will and Chad. While both commented on the uncanny facial resemblance between them, this is still a fun and unique monologue. The only other time I could think of a monologue having a doppelgänger instead of the host is the Kevin Nealon/Kevin Kline monologue from the Season 18 finale.
- Fun cutaway to Paul McCartney in the audience, making yet another obligatory monologue appearance. And boy, that initial audience reaction damn almost destroyed my eardrums. Beatlemania alive and well, I see.
- As fun as Will & Paul are in their interaction, especially Will going on and on, listing the many iconic songs Paul wrote, this is going on a bit longer than needed, even when that’s the point.
- An overall reliable and fun monologue.
Rating: ***1/2
Post-Op
doctor (WIF) delivers bad news to patient (MID)
- Will as a mess of a doctor should be a riot, but considering this season’s dire leadoff sketches, I am cautious.
- The reveal of Mikey’s penis being removed is worth a good laugh, helped by Will’s always-masterful delivery.
- This sketch needed other than Mikey Day in the patient’s role. I know a lot of the time the writers cast him as such, being a senior cast member and all, but he has no energy in this part.
- The proceeding lines after Will’s reveal aren’t that funny, and I surely didn’t need Mikey to yell. Sick and tired of his yelping all season.
- We now get a quick character break from Mikey, for the second week in a row. This man so obviously not giving a shit (although, tbf, not on the level of Chloe & Kenan) and still being so dominant, 10 seasons in, is depressing. So much for change, SNL.
- All-in-all, this was decently performed, for the most part, by all involved. The problem is, this didn’t at all need to be the leadoff and its length hurt it more than it helped it. 5 minutes for such a premise when a gag or a shorter sketch would’ve sufficed? Why?
Rating: **
Bobbin’s Sacrifice
Bobbin’s (WIF) treason backfires
- I’m a massive Tolkien fan. So, this combo of both the Professor’s world and Dan Bulla already makes me onboard.
- I really like that Gandalf voice Andrew is using.
- JAJ’s look as the Gimili-esque character is awesome.
- Ben and Jeremy look great in that Middle-earth getup.
- Will is already looking perfect in the Middle-earth setting. However, not sure this musical turn is going to work for me, but I’m giving this a fair chance.
- A very funny turn with Bobbin switching sides casually to the orcs. I love Will’s upbeat singing as he shows us all the treasonous acts he will commit with the orcs.
- I always love JAJ’s singing in sketches and he is doing a great job sounding like a Middle-earth dwarf, as expected.
- Bobbin still being alive and killing off JAJ’s character is funny.
- Oh, a very gory visual with Will’s character’s head being chopped off while still singing.
- A pretty solid Dan Bulla film. Truth be told, I did not find this as melancholic and powerfully sad as his prior shorts, but I liked it enough. Impressively, the first film by him to get a rating lower than a four stars by me.
Rating: ***1/2
Cast List 2
Mr. Keonig (WIF) continues to torment his students
- Yet another sad remainder how this “new era” is just a naked ripoff of the late ‘10s, as we now get a sequel to a very famous cut sketch from Will’s prior episode.
- Will is still as excellent as he was last time. I loved his The Color Purple line a lot.
- The cutaway to Will looking at the students from the poster is nowhere near as funny as the priceless visual from the classic original.
- Also, 46 years-old Mikey Day as one of “the kids”? Seriously? He co-writes these sketches, so he doesn’t have the slightest hint of self-awareness how sad this comes off? Midlife crisis indeed. A fitting ending to both his season and the season in general.
- OK, tbf, Mikey is portrayed as one of Will’s favorites, as a callback to the classic first sketch. It still doesn’t make this less sad to me, but I like the worldbuilding.
- Very funny “group boner” line from Veronika, who is obviously beyond perfect for such a sketch.
- Was the “duo” moment with Marcello & Kam needed? I also barely understood a thing from both.
- Jeremy’s over the top meltdown was freakin’ hilarious. He is so perfect for these type of theatre kids’ sketches.
- Why the fuck did the audience (hesitantly) randomly applaud Kenan? Did they think he was making a cameo? Seeing the horrible season he’s had…. no wonder.
- Kenan’s moment isn’t as funny as the first time, where he broke the whole cast without much effort. Shows how much he lost “it”.
- Molly Shannon! Awesome to see the SNL legend next to her best co-star from her era, and her life and commitment brings such energy every time.
- Not to be that guy, but Molly looks incredible here. Even better than usual. Guess that massive crush of mine still is justified…
- A very funny part with Tommy and Molly. Tommy’s high notes were definitely one of my biggest laughs from the show in a good while.
- Great visual of both Molly and Will laughing through the Wicked masks.
- While parts of this were too similar to the classic original, I overall found this fairly solid and fun enough. Even its length worked for me and I did not at all feel its well over 7(!) minutes of runtime.
Rating: ***1/2
Musical Performance – “Days We Left Behind”
Weekend Update
Mr. On Blast (JEC) leaves no one safe
COJ & MIC trade jokes
- A long series of dull and formulaic jokes to start the season’s final edition of the desk. Besides the VP joke, nothing here worked for me. It doesn’t also help we are getting “hilarious” reactions from both Colin and Michael after practically every joke, increasing the length of Update (as always) and having it go off the rails.
- I will say I also liked that “Dumocrats” joke from Michael. Surprisingly, two decent jokes from him this week.
- Sigh, we get the usual laughs and awkward reactions from both of them after having an actual winner joke or two…
- Ugh at that Jamaica joke….
- Awesome to get Jeremy back on the desk so soon. Mr. On Blast was one of my favorite desk pieces of the season, so it is great seeing it recurring.
- Jeremy continues to have me in stitches as this character, and his wild physicality (now complete with fun props) is amazing to watch. His energy and life are adding so much to this dead season.
- The only gripe I have with this desk piece got nothing to do with Jeremy, as this fantastic performer has such a captivating energy and charisma. It got everything to do with Colin and his increasingly central role in all of these desk pieces. Do we NEED him to comment on every single thing Jeremy has to do and say? Why is so much of the show now centering around a graying man over 20 seasons into his time on the show? “New era” my ass.
- Sigh. Returning to the desk piece….
- I love the whole interaction Jeremy has with the version of him on the graphic. Very fun.
- A silly and very fun desk piece to end what has been a fairly rough year for Update and its correspondents.
- Yay! Joke Swap! Says a 40 years-old guy stuck still in season 40. New era, right? RIGHT?!
- The usual “OMFG, they said that?!” from both Colin and Michael. Actually, as stale and dull as these two have been, some of these jokes aren’t too bad on themselves. But, the problem is, it is genuinely hard to sit through both of them laughing their asses off at every single joke, complete with “clever” ad-libs and endless braying to the cameras. Also, more and more, these jokes aren’t exactly “outrageous” as I hear and see a lot of this hateful crap everywhere, both online and in real life. I am not asking the show to “step up”, but this is further evidence of how stuck in a bubble it is and how stale, old and terrified it is. So much for the season of change we were promised.
- I guess the barber being brought in is supposed to “heighten” the jokes here. He is a likable guy, but again, more braying and more screaming over nothing. This would have been a riot a few seasons ago, but how long am I supposed to laugh at two graying, wealthy, privileged standups who know this show will never fire them, no matter how hard they half-ass everything? Just how long? It is like they just know (much like Mikey and Kenan), they won’t really cut it elsewhere without trying and still staying because a certain showrunner is terrified and still stuck in the mid ‘10s. Why even bother hiring new cast members and then treat them like crap and fire them? Why not just have this whole show what it has become: Social Security for middle-aged comics?
- All-in-all: oof. I was about to give this edition of the desk a forgettable two stars rating, but I hated practically everything else going on here besides Jeremy, and what it symbolizes about the show and this season in particular. Get used to this rating folks, as I feel we have now truly entered a Dark Age for the desk, unless some major changes are made over the summer.
Rating: *1/2
What It Feels Like Talking to a Mechanic
mechanics (WIF), (MAH), (Paul McCartney) spout gibberish
- Uh-oh, a Marcello “showcase”. And I was impressed the episode was going fairly smoothly.
- After those fucking horrible “showcases” last week with Marcello, I am understandably worried what type of a sketch awaits me.
- Also, is it an obligation to have a sketch with this guy on a weekly basis? He is not popping. Not a star and never will be. Just give it up, Lorne.
- Also, Lorne, there are other cast members to have in sketches besides Ashley & Mikey. I love Ashley, so this isn’t a criticism towards her but more the show’s flop casting of women. Also, hey, Lorne, there is this great guy in your cast. I think his name is James. You should probably pair him more with Ashley. Instead of having Mikey who looks more like her dad (in their SECOND pairing tonight alone).
- I didn’t care for that random Spanish gibberish part from Marcello. This is a bit he did way too many times in the past and weren’t even funny then. I can also tell it was meant to get some laughs or even applause, but the audience, for the billionth time with him this season, is just dead.
- I can see this premise being a decent throwback-y piece, but the execution is just dull. I would have also liked a different straight men than Mikey & Ashley, especially the former with his lethargic reactions. Like his “duo” member Marcello, he did this type of role WAY too many times in the past by now.
- Ugh at Mikey making feminine orgasmic sounds after Marcello & Will. Just unfunny. By this point, I’m suffering an warranted assault on my ear drums. To think this performer has been selfishly touring press bragging about never leaving the show. And then, you would watch his performances on the actual show….
- I am a bit of a messy driver, barely checking my car’s oil and such, so I could see some slice of life in this sketch, but this sort of sketch works only as a fun, quick throwaway gag instead of a 5 minutes sketch with stale jokes and sluggish pacing.
- I love Paul McCartney, and he is doing a decent job in his obligatory sketch appearance, but the material given to him is the same old same old dull, unfunny lines given to others.
- Blah at the “pay in ass” line from Will towards Ashley.
- Man, this sketch feels endless. This had no need to be well over 5 minutes long. A minute cut, at least, would have helped this a little. Does the writing supervisors not care at all about the structure and length? Is everyone asleep behind the scenes?
- OK, so the ending with Mikey being forced to bend over and “paying in ass” to Paul, Will and Marcello in the back of the workshop…. was I supposed to LAUGH there?!
Rating: *
Musical Performance – “Band on the Run”
The Nudemans
family of half-nudes make (AND) uncomfortable
- Was that oddly passive-aggressive line from Veronika towards Andrew necessary? Solid delivery as always from her, but what was that about?
- A big laugh from the initial shock visual of Will in that getup.
- I was worried seeing Sarah’s broken legs earlier tonight that Ashley sneaked into her dressing room post-dress and made sure she isn’t in more sketches than her for the finale.
- Yeah, this sketch is just a different variation of The Rudemans from early in the season. While I can see why some fans might enjoy these types of sketches, they just aren’t for me.
- Now, we get another Marcello entrance to “pop” a sketch while the audience is silent. They seemed to have lost those stans this season. Marcello had so many of these “moments” that were met with dead silence, compared to Kate or Bowen in past seasons.
- At least they didn’t have Mikey instead of Marcello in this getup (still can’t get over how awful he was in The Rudemans). That would have been quite the horrifying sight, in a season finale nonetheless.
- The audience isn’t really at all into this sketch, despite the “outrageous” visuals and “energy”. This is plain awkward and sad to see. I guess a fitting ending to this season having such a sketch dying a miserable death to a fully packed studio.
Rating: *1/2
Cut For Time: Hormuz Jeff
Jeff (host) is perfect for traveling through the Strait of Hormuz
- This was clearly meant to air, as we had the usual awkward cutaway to the band and then commercial.
- Will is perfect as the usual laid-out surfer bro and he is making this decent enough premise work for me.
- A decent visual of the Hormuz boat. Will’s annoyed reactions and good mood swings are handled well.
- Of course, we get yet another appearance from Mikey. He looks funny here, but once again, it is a role he did endlessly before. He is a perfect case why most cast members should not stay beyond 8 seasons, outside of a few rare examples.
- This commercial is dying for me. It is running a bit longer than it needs to, though Will is pretty funny still.
Rating: ***
Cut For Time: Juicy Toobins
security guard (WIF) is rough during meet-and-greet with kids
- Two CFT’s uploaded so soon? Guess they realized the poor reception the episode received or maybe they’re trying to cash in due to Will hosting. They uploaded practically all of dress last time he hosted.
- Will is pretty funny as a no-nonsense security guard. This is a role perfect for his energetic style of performance.
- Jeremy is so good at playing these cheesy roles. Jane also looks adorable in that costume.
- This sketch is pretty thin, on paper, and seems to rest entirely on Will’s manic style of performance.
- At least it is a fun novelty seeing Will being mean with kids, as it gives me flashbacks to the classic Landlord short he did decades ago post-SNL. Him being clearly amused by the kids is endearing.
- All-in-all, I didn’t have too much to say about this, but this was fine for what it was. A lot of this I feel we’ve seen before so many times, but the laughs were decent. This, needless to say, should have aired instead of whatever the hell post-Update was all about.
Rating: ***
Cut For Time: Dad’s Birthday
Dennis (ASP) had to deal with rough son (WIF)
- John: Thanks to Blood Meridian for kindly letting me review these two pieces.
- I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but Ashley’s wig and mustache remind me of Hitler.
- Chloe doing her usual great work of breaking and sitting.
- Veronika’s role is completely pointless.
- I see that they dusted off Kyle Mooney’s other teenager wig for Will.
- Odd choice to have Tommy cast as Ashley’s boss. I would have put Mikey in this role and put Tommy in one of the roles Mikey was needlessly cast in (like the mechanics or penis sketches). If that lousy mechanics sketch only got on because of Paul McCartney, they could have put Paul in this as the boss.
- Tommy even has some very Seiday-esque reaction lines, which make me wonder if they wrote or co-wrote this sketch.
- Will isn’t playing this quite the way I had expected based on the description. He’s less boisterous and more Janet Reno’s Dance Party.
- Ashley breaks repeatedly throughout this. I assume, unlike, say, Chloe or Mikey of late, she would not have “broken” over and over in the live show. It doesn’t seriously hurt the atmosphere, as the dynamics of her character very badly pretending to be a tough parent to Will don’t entirely go against the pausing to laugh.
- I feel a little bad that Tommy, in what is probably his final sketch appearance, doesn’t get a bigger response to what was clearly intended as a huge laugh line (saying Will’s character “looks like Will Ferrell in a kid wig”). One of the drawbacks – or benefits – of the show steadily alienating their stans is that these types of red meat moments have repeatedly fallen flat with the live crowds this season.
- There are any number of physical comedy moments with Will throwing Ashley around, which are fun enough. Will and Ashley commit. I will say there isn’t a great deal of energy, which is inevitable due to Will’s age and just how dead the show tends to feel now. I wonder how Sarah might have done in Ashley’s role, as she has a more naturally weird vibe.
- Ashley’s pants falling down is a bit cheap as a writing choice.
- I know some fans had eagerly awaited a sketch starring Ashley and Will, which would further anoint Ashley as a “star.” I’m sure if Will and Andrew had been co-leads in a sketch together, I’d be thrilled too (I knew that wouldn’t happen because Andrew is not seen as a “star”), so I do understand why people want to see them together. The pairing interests me more than what I had to sit through with Mikey and Marcello earlier in the episode.
- While the sketch isn’t bad, it’s not great either. There’s no real escalation, and the overused gimmick of a female cast member being in drag isn’t justified enough in writing or performance. This also reminds me of better moments from Kate McKinnon, although Ashley has a more puckish energy which helps distinguish her work. The frequent yelping and jumping around would make her a natural for Peter Pan the next time the show brings that back (unlike Wendy, the show never fully lets go of Peter Pan).
- Anyway, I hope all the Will and Ashley fans enjoyed this.
Rating: ***
Cut For Time: Sarah Sherman Reflects on Season 51
SAS reflects on the season
- John: Sarah back at the desk for the first time in what feels like a while.
- It’s nice to see Sarah as herself, instead of with the increasingly forced costumes.
- My favorite part is when she says that upon telling Paul how much they look alike, he killed himself, and some of the Paul-loving audience has a genuinely upset reaction. Sarah’s response to this is priceless.
- Sarah proceeds to tell a series of self-deprecating jokes, complete with a montage of men throughout the season who haven’t wanted to kiss her. While I prefer modesty to arrogance in cast members, there’s something which feels off to me in Sarah still needing to do this type of presentation five seasons into her run. Sarah should be at her SNL peak here.
- Sarah and Colin have always had a very natural chemistry, but I didn’t need the whole break where he starts talking about how “bricked up” he is by her. Yes, I know the gag is that he was forced to say the words, but the whole thing just feels crass.
- I did laugh at Sarah’s response to the (clearly canned but still fun) boos when she decided she wasn’t going to get a new hairstyle.
- For the end, we have the latest version of Colin ascending so high up the 30 Rock ladder that he is no longer the butt of the joke, instead ending with “macing” Sarah. A few years ago I would have enjoyed this more than I do now.
- This was a pleasant enough segment, one of her better Update pieces in recent times, a better showcase of what appeals viewers to her than the Nudemans sketch she managed to get on the air…but if the choice was between this and Jeremy, I’m glad they went with Jeremy. (they could have just trimmed Joke Swap, but good luck making that happen)
Rating: ***
Cut For Time: Making Amends
father & son (JAJ) & (JEC) try to bond
- John: Thank you to Blood Meridian for asking me to review this cut pre-tape.
- This was cut from both the Matt Damon episode and the season finale.
- A nice start with JAJ and Jeremy doing some serious acting as an estranged father and son. JAJ has so much more to offer than Trump, and Jeremy has so much more to offer than Tucker Carlson catchphrases people will be sick of in about a week.
- The comedic shift loses me immediately as I realize this is nothing more than a scaled-down version of the Waffle House pre-tape (a concept which already wore out its welcome several years ago), with the focus intended to go to Ashley and Martin having a yelp-off.
- Tired as I am of seeing Ashley, she is, as ever, competent enough. Martin, on the other hand, is extremely grating.
- The attempts at escalation with jokes about Avatar or a censored apron aren’t doing anything for me. By the time we get to the standard dummy tossing joke it feels too little, too late.
- Mikey is there.
- A “twist” ending where Martin declares on television that he’s going to kill the owner, who turns out to be Mikey. Mikey does a Monty-Python-lady-voice in closeup, which I would say is embarrassing if I hadn’t sat through his last three seasons.
- Any positive rating I’m giving this is going only to Jeremy and JAJ, who do a good job throughout the pabulum. The rest is just reheated in as lackluster a manner as possible, and beyond the Waffle House comparison, this also reminds me of how many Martin or PDD pieces just end on a scream or some other forced moment.
- There’s been some talk that Martin should have been the cast member, not Ben. Even as someone who wanted Ben to be in the cast, I can admit I was wrong, but as Martin’s films wind down with what I feel are more misses than hits, I think it’s time for the PDD era of the show to draw to a full close.
Rating: **1/2
Goodnights / Musical Performance – “Coming Up”
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Cast List 2
Monologue
Bobbin’s Sacrifice
CFT: Dad’s Birthday
CFT: Hormuz Jeff
CFT: Juicy Toobins
CFT: Making Amends
Post-Op
Jeffrey Epstein’s Ghost
The Nudemans
Weekend Update
What It Feels Like Talking to a Mechanic
Final Thoughts:
- A very rough season finale. I know many fans would’ve expected that, as SNL finales aren’t usually too good and Will Ferrell-hosted episodes have a shaky history. But, man, this one did not even feel like a finale, let alone one hosted by one of the absolute best to ever do it. We barely saw much of the cast, and, as I sadly expected, there were some overlong segments that left us with a scant number of sketches for the night. Most of what aired, with that said, was on the underwhelming side, despite a good first half, with a few highlights (none I felt earned a rating above ***1/2), the lowlights vastly outnumbered them, with some of which being particularly brutal to sit through. That whole back half, starting with Update, practically killed whatever momentum this episode gained from the early highlights. We also barely saw much of the cast, besides Ashley and Mikey. The latter especially seemed shoehorned into every sketch possible.
- Will Ferrell was certainly a solid host as he always is. The problem is, this episode was so scant and a mess of a structure that he felt like an afterthought to the writers. I could have seen all of his roles tonight (besides the monologue and Cast List 2) played by half a dozen hosts this season. I will say, at least, his roles in the uploaded dress sketches felt like a good balance to that.
- I’m going to save my full thoughts on this season in general for my wrap-up post, so let me say this was a sad way for this season to end on, as it had a high amount of strong pieces. Stay tuned for that in a few days!
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
Thank you for pointing out all the flaws in this very underwhelming finale.
Yeah, this is not a new era. So unfortunate. The Update team, Kenan, and ESPECIALLY Chloe and Mikey should not be on this show anymore. It’s really fucking sad.
I do love JAJ, Ashley, and Dismukes and I want them to be the true anchors of the cast. I know Ashley is used a lot but the rest of the female cast don’t have the chops that she has.
Seriously, I know watching this show is emotionally draining, so thank you for your service.
Okay, I got a few things to say about this episode, though they’re more observation-wise than opinion-wise.
When Chad Smith first entered the stage, I thought, “oh man, Will has not aged well”. But then I took a closer look and realized that he is indeed Chad Smith. Honestly, the whole Will Ferrell/Chad Smith look-alike joke is an old one that dates back to…god, I don’t even know when. I mean, I saw it on Fallon’s show, and even I made a joke about it.
The Dan Bulla short was honestly kinda lame, probably his weakest to air on the show.
The Cast List sketch was fine, but honestly, I’d prefer it a lot more if there wasn’t a classic first installment. Also, I feel like Molly Shannon’s part went on a little longer than it should’ve, considered that Kate McKinnon’s part in the first sketch was only for a few seconds. And furthermore, it bugs me how someone on Twitter wanted her or Maya Rudolph over people like Tracy Morgan or Chris Parnell. Because the last time I checked, Molly Shannon and Maya Rudolph are NOT BETTER THAN PARNELL!
Also, I’m not sure if it was wise for Paul to play two songs that he already performed on SNL in the past. I don’t know, I feel like there should be a rule about that where musical guests can only perform songs that they HAVEN’T performed. Just a thought, though.
I think performing new songs is preferable.
Agreed on all counts, especially your last point Paul having done “Band on the Run” and “Coming Up” on the show before (albeit the latter in the form of a pre-taped music video). I was really disappointed by that, partly because the second single from his forthcoming album (“Home to Us”) is a duet with Ringo, so I thought that would have been the perfect excuse for the two surviving Beatles to finally grace the SNL stage together (Ringo hosted once before back in ’84, but he’s never been a musical guest or performed with one), which would have capped off the season in truly epic fashion and also been as ideal a way to promote and stir up more interest in – and press ink about – the upcoming album than simply playing “The Days We Left Behind” would. If we couldn’t have had been treated to that, though, it would have at least made up for it somewhat if he’d picked other songs from his back catalog – whether Beatles or Wings/solo tunes – that he’s never done on the show before. It always seems so very weird for any musical guest to do a song they’ve already performed on the show before, considering just how few songs anyone – even the most legendary of acts – gets to play on that show during their careers. It just always strikes me as a wasted opportunity.
They had a doppelganger in the 2002 Britney Spears episode.
Forgot about that, thanks.
And @Howard, thank you a lot for your kind words.
To be honest, I thought there was a pretty good finale! Sure not the best, but still solid enough. I guess the only thing I kind of disliked were the Midnight Mantinee (which arguably should’ve got a slightly low rating than the leadoff sketch, which should’ve been rated higher), and The Nudemans. The rest was pretty good. My favorite moments were the Doctor sketch, Cast List 2, Jeremy‘s Mr. On Blast segment, Hormuz Jeff, and Juicy Toobins. Overall, for someone who is watching this show for the last time as a high schooler before he graduates next week, this was a pretty good way to close things out. And thank you Blood for all the insightful reviews you’ve given about this season. Despite the fact we tend to have different views on sketches, I still enjoyed reading your reviews and hearing your honest criticisms. Thank you for making my high school experience better and I hope you have a great Weekend ❤️
Thanks for the wonderful work this season Blood.
Not much to say really. The Bulla short was just not my thing and kinda boring
Ferrell was energetic and fun but the material just wasn’t the best
Jeremy was great on Update at least
Honestly, this finale was about as weak of an episode as the season premiere. They used Will to the lowest advantage, it felt as though there weren’t that many sketches, and there were no clear indications on which cast member was clearly leaving.
I’m sorry but there needs to be an overhaul of writers over the summer because they’ve been hit or miss this season. There also needs to be newer cast members, especially a black female cast member, because I have a horrible feeling that Tommy might not be coming back next season.
I don’t know but this finale was definitely off for me. Not even joke swap could’ve heightened it. Definitely 5/10.
I pretty much agree this was decent enough of a finale. Nothing really bottomed out in my opinion, but had a few pretty spectacular sketches. Let’s get into it!
I actually liked the Post Op sketch, mainly just because the bafflement of Mikey‘s character, even if I understand why people get upset with it still makes me laugh just because of his delivery of all the lines he repeats, I also felt this was probably the best use of Will in the episode as this is a concept I’m sure he would’ve probably did do during his time as a cast member. I also found it very cool how all three performers in this were from the Groundlings. Also, Will unexpectedly calling Ashley a bitch gave me a good laugh.
The Cast List sketch I think while obviously the first one is better. I think the second one is also good in its own right. I felt this had a new twist and like the first one it gave everyone an opportunity to shine in which I felt everyone did great in and it overall had a lot of great moments with my favorite probably being the shot at Sarah’s character. I also felt Molly in this with her part with Tommy was an excellent piece to this as well and it truly worked for me.
I for the most part see eye-to-eye with you on the mechanics sketch, but I will say that Mikey’s moan did crack me up.
I don’t usually chime in too much on the cut sketches, but both pieces I really enjoyed and felt both should been in the episode as I felt both of them had better craziness to Will Ferrell and them than anything that actually aired, which, of course is what Will is best known for and what he succeeds in.
So overall, I definitely get your points on everything you said, but thinking about it I think I might like this episode a bit more than you and others too, but of course that’s not a bad thing at all. As always awesome review from you can’t wait to see your reviews for next season until then, see ya in September/October Blood!!!!
There were definitely some good moments over the course of the season, but this episode was a pretty good synopsis of many of the problems. Too much Mikey, too much Marcello doing weird voices and mistaking them for humor, Jost and Che have been there too long, Kenan needing to have gone years ago (how much did he make per second of screen time last night I wonder, given he was on screen in sketches for about 20 seconds). But the show’s not going to get a real shakeup I feel with Lorne still there. As a Syracuse guy this all reminds me of the final days of Jim Boeheim; we weren’t awful, but he hung around way too long and there was no real succession plan. We had to unceremoniously dump him and it’s been a rough couple years since, which probably would have been easier had we made the transition earlier.
The cast list sketch did show this group can work well together with an ensemble under the right circumstances. They played off each other pretty well
To me this episode was a tale of two halves. The first half was mostly solid if not exactly exceptional. Aside from the AWFUL Hegseth portion, I found the rest of the cold open decent enough if unremarkable, even though, I agree, it was way too much of a throwback to the cold opens of the late 2010s era.
The Penis Doctor sketch felt like the best usage of Will all night, at least in the live show. His delivery was great and he hadn’t lost a step. I agree, however, that Mikey was very miscast. Watching this guy’s decline the past couple of years has been sad to watch, and it seems like he can’t even do the basic “restating the joke” straight man stuff like he used to, even if it wasn’t all that great to begin with.
The Cast List retread fell into the same boat as the Mid Day News retread from last year. It gave off the vibe of “this is fine enough…but why bother?” Will was still great and Molly’s part was hilarious, but not every great sketch needs to be recurring. The original will never be topped, so again I ask: why bother? I suppose I should give them props that it was more solid than it had any right to be.
And then the episode took a turn at the exact midpoint. Right around joke swap. This segment has jumped the shark, as have Che and Jost in general. This, along with Mikey’s tired flop sweat shit, is exhibit A as to why 8 seasons is usually enough for most cast members.
The Mechanic sketch felt like every bad writing choice the show has made in this era crammed into one. When it started, I thought “okay, cool, this is a slice-of-life premise with potential”. But then it went the Chicken Fongers route of mispronunciations being one of the big gags. Transmission = trans person? What is funny about that? Who wrote this crap? The weird sexual noises felt so hacky and desperate and words cannot convey how sick and tired I am of Marcello playing thick accented characters. You’d think Lorne would hear the lack of response to these pieces but I guess his hearing aid is turned off during the show. The Paul cameo was cute at least, but he deserved to be in a MUCH better sketch than this. That “pay in ass” ending felt like something straight out of S20. Just a completely tasteless and borderline offensive turn out of the blue that was thoroughly unnecessary and desperate.
The Nudemans is the type of sketch that lives or dies based on the audience response. Done well, and you get a Bird Family or Massive Headwound Harry. Done poorly, and you get…well…this. Once the initial reveal of Will’s outfit was out of the way, this sketch died a slow, agonizing death. Watching Marcello come out in that “wacky” getup and rub his crotch on Andrew to almost total silence should be another sign that this dude needs to be kicked to the curb. If we’re gonna have a star outside of the vets, does it HAVE to be this dude? Come on.
Anyways, that sketch, and really this whole season, shows how inside and out of touch this show has become. Smug self-satisfied vets smirking their way through tired schtick to a dead audience is just sad to watch. Any normal person would look at this and realize a change is desperately needed. But of course, as long as we have Lorne’s geriatric ass in charge, that won’t change. He’s scared to death of rocking the boat even though the low moments of tonight show that change is desperately needed more than ever. Much like our country, term limits and an upper age limit both in front of and behind the camera would do wonders for this show.
But I digress. At least we get a break from these guys and we can always hope for the best, as foolishly optimistic as that almost certainly is. Goodbye S51!
I thought your first observation was pretty dead-on; the show is very similar to the weaker aspects of the 2010s seasons:
-the formula, overlong cold opens resting on “hilarious” cameos
-a lot of sketches that use recurring characters or more accurately “recurring premises”
-many cast members who have been on the show too long
That said, the 2010s cast was stronger and more likable.
This started out pretty good–the monologue was fun, the opening sketch wasn’t a classic but gave me some laughs (was too long, weak performance by Mikey, and didn’t know they should have stopped on “Happy birthday”), and as sort of derivative or obvious as they were, both the short and the cast list reprise were funny.
After the first song, the only thing I really liked was Mr. Blast.
Both the mechanic and Nudeman sketches were poor uses of Will (he’s always a solid dry performer, but ANYONE could have played the guy in the mechanic sketch). They also generally featured pretty overly familiar cast members doing overly familiar things (Day as a straight man, Ashley as a straight woman, Marcello babbling, Sarah doing something goofy). Both also went on too long for a one-note sketch.
I also don’t want to be THAT guy, but the mechanic sketch, at least Marcello’s portion, felt vaguely racist. I have NEVER been to a repair shop where a mechanic came out and talked in Spanish (they’re almost always just guys listing tech stuff). I’m somewhat more lenient of Marcello’s “funny foreigner” stuff than you, but this was both unfunny and gave me an uncomfortable feeling, like the ONLY joke was “ha ha, he’s speaking Spanish.”
The attacks on Mikey’s appearance are getting to be a bit much. Constantly calling him “graying”, saying he’s too old to play a kid (in a sketch where he isn’t playing a student) and bringing him up in a sketch he isn’t in just to say you wouldn’t want to see him in a revealing outfit. I feel like you can argue that his performance style is getting repetitive without continually body-shaming him for no reason
Mikey is in a far better shape than me, to be fair to him.
You can say I am being harsh and you are obviously entitled to your own opinion, as everyone else is, but he is playing roles that are simply not anymore in his wheelhouse. I have said the same of Andrew, one of my absolute favorites in this cast, when he played a few roles he did not fit in (like some dad/grandpa roles). And he was stated as a graduate in Cast List 2. Meaning, he is supposed to be in his mid 20s at the oldest, if we consider the first sketch is 6 years ago.
Playing a role 20 years older than him warrants critique, with all due respect to your opinion. Thanks for your comment.
They’ve been way overdoing it with the school set sketches lately. I think 5 of the last 8 episodes of the season had a school set sketch. It’s an odd choice when only 3 cast members are younger than 30, but I guess it’s easy to write, reuse sets and gets more cast members in sketches.
Imagine all the comedic places you could go with the concept of Trump being visited by Epstein’s ghost. Here we get “They’re homos!!! They’re gay for each other!!!” because the writers are mentally stuck in 2002.
Thanks as always for your hard work on this review and all your reviews. I don’t really know how you’ve gotten through this season. In the back half it has taken me days, sometimes weeks, to watch the episodes. The attempts at pushing very select “stars,” especially Jost, Marcello and Mikey, has given the show an extremely narrow agenda, one which week after week of dead crowds suggest has alienated the stan contingent SNL is simultaneously trying to pander to with the return of the late ’10s cold opens. The increase in racist or homophobic material is seemingly yet another attempt at bringing in the conservative male audience who will never, ever go back to SNL, and are presumably too busy doubling over at Tony Hinchcliffe turning into a beet on Netflix.
I do blame Mikey for quite a bit of this season’s failures, as he is not only a very comfortable performer but a very high-placed writer, but much as I want him, Kenan, Chloe, Jost, Che and Marcello gone, I am aware that the problem is much higher. Before Mikey the same was being said about Pete, or Kate, and before that, Kristen or Fred. The rot is at the heart of the show – whatever tiny heart is even left – and that won’t change until someone at NBC gives a damn. Until then, we get more yelping to silent audiences who are trained not to expect better, because that’s just how SNL is, and as Lorne reminded us, if you want better, don’t even bother with the show you’ve been watching most of your life – just go watch the UK version!
To your list of suggested “buh-byes” I would add Jane to that list I don’t even know why she was even hired in the first place. Other than the fact she’s a citizen of Nepo-tamia
Hey I love Jane! She’s clever and funny and while not a star her songs are terrific…plus as part of the couple you can’t believe are together she really shines.
Thanks to Saturday Night Network for the cut sketch info.
Martin’s short from last week was cut in dress.
Also cut in dress:
KARAOKE: Kenan and Will don’t want to do the women parts of a karaoke song. Veronika, Sarah, Jeremy, Mikey as the emcee.
DENNIS’ BIRTHDAY: Dennis (Ashley) celebrates his birthday at home with his wife (Chloe), spoiled son (Will), boss (Tommy). Veronika too. Will would rather go to Brandon’s house, kicks the cake, makes a scene in front of the boss.
Will introduced Paul’s second song in costume from that sketch.
SNL is in a weird spot right now, as you get the sense they’re trying to appeal “all things to all men,” which obviously is nice in an ideal sense but just doesn’t work nowadays. Thus, you get things where there’s constant, constant anti-Trump jokes but all in the vein of “HAR HAR, HE’S KINDA FAT AND MAYBE HE’S GAY!” I don’t fully agree with John, but I do agree there’s an uptick in the homophobic material and if not racist, more broad racial humor lately…yet at the same time a pandering attempt to appeal to Gen Z, terminally online folks by whole sketches riffing on some influencer. It’s hard to know who really goes for this–is there some anti-Trump, vaguely social conservative who loves Gen Z influencers? I’m sure there are! But that seems a precarious way to appeal to a TV audience.
I don’t think it’s really any coincidence that the stuff that has gotten the biggest reaction this year has been just silly shit. Think of Dismukes in the Oliva Rodrigo episode doing the Rasta stuff or Mr. Blast in this episode. However, I would also say that a fair share of the tired, played out stuff DOES get big reactions, like the Joke Swap this episode. So you still have SNL fans who basically just stan the tropes of the show.
I’ve rarely seen anything sadder this season than the cold opens SMASHING Jost-as-Hegseth and now Ansari-as-Patel. Jost was perfectly fine playing the role as a one-time joke. Ansari’s impression is terrible, but sure, he can play Kash Patel once. *Multiple times* in a season? In Ansari’s case, THREE TIMES IN A ROW? Like I don’t care if you have the funniest impression since sliced bread, why are you opening the show so much? This feels a lot like Lorne and Jost decided they didn’t have enough impressionists AND didn’t care to think of anything else.
From all the comments here, I can see that SNL is STILL whiter than chalk. Apparently, another campaign for more people of color (cast AND writers) is in order, am I right?
*social media or online in general, that is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IggicAlOTo
The SNL youtube page also posted this. Not sure if this was meant as for the show (doesnt seem to be a “cut for time” piece) or just meant as a web extra. A sequel to Chloe Fineman’s “understudy” pre-tape from a few seasons ago, with her imitating the other female cast members as their understudies, probably funnier than anything she’s done on the actual show all season. Her impressions are still good, but the show doesn’t seem to have much use for them anymore, as they don’t really do all that many impression-centric sketches much these days outside of political cold openings.
I might be looking too much into it, but I wonder if this video could be a sign she’s leaving? She does mention the whole “I’ve been on the show for 7 seasons” at the start, but I dunno, if she was leaving I would think she would’ve been in the show a bit more.
The current crop of female cast members aren’t as interesting to do impressions of as her previous video, but there’s some decent stuff there.
The Veronika one was excellent (makes sense, this feels like it would be in Chloe’s wheelhouse). She intentionally doesn’t do a Jane impression. The Sarah impression I wasn’t feeling, although some of that is because *actual* Sarah in the sketch is not talking in the same way. In contrast, the Ashley impression felt too over the top and required Ashley to basically lead her through the impression (I had no idea whom she was impersonating at first, lol). I got more laughs out of JAJ’s brief incisive impressions of the male cast members.
Hey, Blood. It’s been a while!
These past two months have been INSANELY busy for me (finna graduate high school) so I haven’t really had time to watch many episodes.
The Jack Black episode was the only episode these past two months that I watched all the way through. The rest I got tired and fell asleep due to being kind of exhausted.
This episode was another one of those that I fell asleep for, but the only sketch I missed was the 10-to-1, so I’ll just give my thoughts on the sketches I did see.
The cold open actually worked for me, despite not being on par with the mostly solid cold opens this season has had (at least in my opinion). There could’ve been some trimming though (something that I said to myself for the WHOLE episode)
Fun monologue. But I wish Will really could’ve gotten a monologue where he could carry the comedic material by himself (like many of his previous hosting stint monologues). It also (once again) went on too long in my opinion. Loved the Chad Smith cameo though.
The Post-Op sketch was my favorite of the night. This seemed like the tailor made Will Ferrell sketch that we needed for the night. I loved the first reveal and the escalation the sketch took throughout. My one complain though is what was with Mikey just NOT being able to keep it together?
Bobbin’s Sacrifice was another solid Dan Bulla short, with great performances from everyone involved, not much else to say.
Cast List didn’t need a sequel. I’m one of the few that found the original VERY overrated, so I was REALLY worried going into this one. But it thankfully wasn’t bad. I enjoyed most of it (especially Molly Shannon’s fun cameo), but it (ONCE AGAIN) went on too long.
I… liked this edition of Weekend Update. I feel like if I feel this same way next season about Update, I’m gonna be the black sheep for a WHILE. Mr. On Blast was wonderful once again. I’d love to see this character make a random appearance in a sketch once in a while. The Joke Swap was just sorta fine. I liked the barbershop appearance at the end but that was really it.
The Mechanic sketch was another one that I liked most of, but got tired of because it went on too long.
The Nudemans sketch was so dumb that it worked for me, I can’t really explain it.
Overall, a very flawed season finale but I thought it was fine enough.
Have a great summer everyone!
I want to say thank you for your time and trouble reviewing these week after week, Blood. Your insights are fun and mostly fair, even if I don’t agree with a lot of them. But I get the sense your critiques come from a place of fan, if not stan.
Not sure if it is just here in Canada, but we never saw 2 of the sketches you list above, and apparently your highest scores, so sucks to be us.
The INSUFFERABLY fake Che-Jost joke exchange—always introduced as some kind of annual fan favorite—are garbage. Nobody is laughing but them, and even they are fake-yukking. They have to stop.
I know you don’t critique any musical performances, but as I saw Paul McCartney live recently during his last tour, his solid 3-hour show sounded nothing like (sorry Sir Paul, you know I’ve loved you forever) what we heard Saturday. His voice had no strength and he really looked his age, which is fine, you’re allowed to look 80 when you’re 80, but it made me wonder how he can sound so strong live in concert compared to these 3 performances.
Blood, can we have a drinking game for every time you say/write ‘era’? *wink*
See y’all in 52.
Yeah, I certainly overused the “new era” critique, lol. I cannot help it but make fun of those who gaslit many of us earlier in the season with such a term. (Actually, the first few months did hint at change, before we regressed big time some time around January.) And, I now notice how silent they are the past few months when the show did the predictable thing and focused on just 4-5 cast members, a few of which been on over a decade and got nothing new to offer.
These Joke Swaps *used* to be a fun novelty, but the last 3-4 times have been absolute trash. The braying, yukking, and most of all having “shocking” jokes that aren’t really that anymore. You can tell the audience isn’t involved anymore, even when they laugh, but only to satisfy Jost & Che. Much like that Dolphins mess last week.
Thanks as always for your kind comments.
It’ll never happen, but man I’d like a Weekend Update revamp. I still think Longfellow would’ve been perfect, but it never got to happen because Jost and Che will never leave.
Hey Blood. New sketch just dropped. https://youtu.be/h87Nm6zMlfM?si=S4brKqneS8sS7CS1
Ha Chloe broke in that sketch too of course
They also posted a cut for time Sarah commentary, which I would have rather seen than the joke swap honestly.
Personally my dream WU cast would be Sarah and Ashley. Who knows ? they may channel the always terrific Fey-Pohler chemistry
I think about this all the time (over the past 51 years!) and I’m ALWAYS proven wrong. Other than Che and Jost getting stale, I’ve liked nearly every Update host(s) through the years, proving Lorne knows more than I do about Update Anchor potential.
Having said that?
I think I’d love a satirical “serious” host duet, with JAJ and Ashley playing it straight, doing their best Dan Ackroyd/Jane Curtin nod.
Late again. Forgive me, but it’s never a good sign when you fall asleep in the middle of an episode. I usually like to pop in after Blood trashes (“trashes”) an episode with something of a contrarian “not so fast.” That’s not going to happen this time. I won’t drop into any hyperbole because I don’t know if anything truly bottomed out, but in a season comprised of decent-ish episodes salvaged by one or two banger sketches, this one just didn’t have it. Nothing could really cross that threshold. And it was a Will Ferrell episode fer cryin’ out loud!
I don’t know how much I want to do a rundown of each sketch. It was all kind of whatever. Cast List 2 was probably as good as things got sketchwise, and, frankly, I was never really so big on the first one (this one was roughly its equal, I figure).
So first, I’ll talk about the host. I love Will Ferrell. Or at least I did. I never turned on him, but I’m no longer compelled to seek him out. I don’t know when that changed. My 16-year-old son expressed some sentiment along the lines of not really knowing what Ferrell’s comedic vibe even was. It felt weird to explain to him that Ferrell was THE MAN back in the day as if that was no longer evident. I think Ferrell has a lot of acolytes doing the insecure manchild thing that a new generation does not really understand the original iteration. But it’s weird to see Will Ferrell no longer at the center of what’s happening in comedy. That said, he was fine during this episode. Better than fine at times. He was absolutely terrific in the doctor sketch, but was undermined by the fact that the premise was so far short of quality (hell, 25 years ago we had a far more interesting “the doctor removed my taint” sketch) that it was kind of embarrassing. He was a bad fit for the Bulla short (Bulla puts the “mid” in “Middle Earth,” folks) and was basically left grasping for straws in the back half of the episode when the writing took an absolute nosedive. I still cheer for Ferrell, I really do, and I very much appreciate how he didn’t go the nostalgia route with this episode, but I want Ferrell to give a new generation a reason to love him. I’m ready for a new wrinkle.
Switching topics, one of the things that Blood has been really harping on is SNL’s old man problem. As a dude in his 40s (my birthday lands somewhere between Michael Che and Colin Jost), I don’t think I need this many middle aged dudes on my TV. We have seen all these guys in action for a decade now, we know what they have and there are no new wrinkles coming. Without stepping too much into “season review” territory (that’s for the next post) I think collectively, this was a bad bad season for the old heads and this episode was a microcosm of the issue. Che fares best because he largely stays out of the way and just resides in his hit or miss Update lane. Jost has become an overexposed meta-joke that has ceased being funny. Kenan is just cashing checks. And Mikey…ugh. Mikey just continues to be front and centre, overextending himself as his range diminishes and increasingly relying on cheap laffs. I’m probably higher on this season than most (the highs were delightful and well-distributed), but when we’re looking for the staleness that Blood and so many others here have been talking about, we need to start with these four. Yes, we have a few younger castmember who just can’t get the job done (Marcello, Chloe), but staleness is the biggest problem. As always, we need to start with the old dudes who just won’t get out of the way.
Quick hits:
– We got half of a good monologue. That probably makes it top five for the season.
– We fret, sometimes rightly, about the rookies. But Jeremy has nothing to worry about. The has two hit characters and the audience loves him.
– Lovely to see Molly return. I used to loathe her, but there is something about how she’s aged (more beautiful than ever, btw), that has kind of revealed her warmth and humanity in a really amazing way. She’s a gem.
– So often, the cold opens just happen. I can’t really tell the duds from the studs. I thought this one was adequate, I guess, but I have no more desire to see Colin or Aziz again.
– All this complaining about all these people, but it needs to be mentioned that the worst performer of the episode was Marcello in a walk. So many exciting combo possibilities for Ferrell and we get Mikey and Marcello in the most prominent spots. Kill me.
Carson, just wanted to say that I always look forward to you and John’s comments because you’re both so insightful and intelligent and often hit the nail on the head and sum up exactly what I and many others have been thinking but are unable to properly articulate.
And I admire how you’re often a bit contrarian (which, in recent times, generally means more positive) than others, even if I don’t always agree.
I fully agree that the biggest problems with the vets lie with Colin and Mikey. Both of them seem to be desperate to hold onto any sense of relevancy and star power they once had by overcompensating and overexposing themselves, which ironically is making them come off older than ever. Mikey is now older than Phil was when he departed the show. And while he was NEVER in the same league as Phil, he was at least solid and reliable enough (despite his straight man routine often involving restating the joke). But there’s been an increasing amount of flop sweat in his performances that’s become hard to ignore, not to mention his humor (which was never exactly the most sophisticated but was usually decent and at times intelligent enough) has increasingly become more immature, again a pathetic attempt at pandering to the youth.
Colin I’ve actually grown to have resentment for. I have no issues with an Update host also appearing in sketches/cold opens, but Colin seldom did that stuff until the tail end of last season. And his constant smirking/smiling in his appearances feels like a half assed attempt at winking to the audience like “yeah, I know this is outside my usual wheelhouse”. It’s smug and it’s totally unnecessary. And despite what he and the show may think, his Hegseth is nowhere near a Tina as Palin level impression.
If there’s one positive about the cast as it stands, it’s that the female side, as scant as it is, doesn’t have nearly as much trouble letting go of the past. Chloe has been such a nonentity these last two seasons that I honestly don’t think her staying for another year would make any difference whatsoever. They recognize her time in the sun has passed and have moved on from her. It’s just so disheartening how the male side continues to cling to a couple of “stars” from a whole era ago…and Marcello, who is probably my most hated cast member since Horatio Sanz.
I hate to sound morbid and cruel, but a part of me is glad Lorne is getting up there in age, because I believe that until he steps down or even dies at his desk, his sentimentality in allowing these “favorites” to stay year after year will only continue to hold the show back.
Appreciate the kind words James. I agree with your resignation about Chloe. I think she became something worse than a non-entity this year, but also see how she doesn’t fully get in the way. The show can throw her into generic girlfriend roles and I’ll live. That said, she is also the cast member who is least likely to do something that I enjoy. I mean, Marcello had Sebastian. He’ll always have that.
Mikey is game and really goes for it, but I think his sense of humor is just really base and and kind of insulting. I think he can get something over through sheer force of will, but I don’t think he ever really does anything that I think is especially clever or elevated. It’s all very Sketch Comedy 101 with him. He’s not an interesting enough performer to transcend it. Ten seasons of this is kind of insulting.
I wonder if we are putting too much on Lorne. He has overseen golden eras and nadirs alike. Sometimes it’s about the chemistry of the cast and writers. That said, he clearly tries to hold on to people, which goes against what I think is the most interesting value proposition of the show – the constant change.
I also generally liked this season more than most, but I was disappointed in how the season came to an end, especially this last episode.
Mikey just got worse and worse as the season went on (perversely, his screen time also increased). Just the same old crap over and over, plus lazily breaking more and more. For a guy who had some really damn good stuff last season (and even at the beginning of this season, some good things), he really stunk up the joint down the stretch.
Kenan and Chloe were even worse and Chloe’s case, more unprofessional, but they disappeared for large swaths of the season at least. Chloe was awful all season, but was basically rarely on.
Marcello, man…I feel like if he just got eased up in one or two episodes, people would dig him more. Like he seems like a chill dude, I like his physical humor, but some of his stuff is exactly the hack humor Fred Armisen would constantly parody. As Blood has correctly pointed out, he gets medium audience reactions at best, too, so it’s not like he’s some inexplicably popular guy like Fallon or whomever. He turned in a HORRIBLE episode in the season finale, which is a shame, because he DID have some bright spots.
Can’t agree more. In small doses Marcello is a lot of fun. The couple you can’t believe are together, his movie review update segments (“yeah I did not see dat one” is funny), Joaquin from The Immigrant Dad Talk Show.
Even the Sabado Gigante sketches were fun and filled with quick pops.
But Mikey Day saying “ohhkayyy” one more time might lead me to burning him in effigy.
Like you, Blood, I’m a nostalgic guy, so when watching this episode I instantly thought of the older better sketches from ago. Not long ago, just ago.
I have always imagined myself in a monologue where I say “I’m a big star so I can stand on my own for my monologue…not gonna need any of those old tropes to save the untalented host, no sir not me!” (Just then famous athletes step out behind me. Then four or five people in the crowd have questions. Three more famous cameos come join me, all while Taylor Swift and ScarJo start singing a hit). Hilarity ensues. Will jostled that in my mind by referencing how the show does Q&A when the host isn’t good.
The Nudemans = The Rudemans meets Will in the American flag speedo office meeting sketch.
I openly groaned at Cast List 2. “Hey guys,” says Mikey, “let’s redo this script!” Though I did laugh at Kenan wheeling Sarah away.
Mr On Blast has me repeating “And that’s a Ginsburn” cue music. Jeremy can dance/move tho.
Joke Swap? If Chevy and Richard Pryor went all the way, Joke Swap went 1/10th of the way. I did think the barber was gonna cut Colin’s hair because he might’ve been doing bald cap/wig prep because he Cold Opens and needs a wig to—Oh. That’s his own hair? Oh.
The medieval sketch = Office Bilbo + Chris as Gollum + Mikey as Zeus + every other Medieval sketch. I did laugh when Will turned traitor. But then they Oh Captain my Captain’d off his head.
Sarah on Update = Sarah on Update. Making fun of Colin in the most boring way yet. Give me Sarah News. Please.
There’s no new edge anymore. And now there’s no one we instantly laugh with like Edo and Bowen and Heidi on updates. There are no stars left like Kate (and Molly) and Kristin and Farley and Adam the Sandman and Pete (yes, Pete!) and Parnell and Hader and “No Mango for You!”
Unlike many, I’m not calling for cast changes.
There should be no SNL without Lorne. Lorne is worn.
So…there should be no more SNL.
But let the nostalgia continue as the next three years feature “Best of” programming. That nostalgia I’d tune in for.
Another great season of reviews Blood! The work you put into these really shows!
This season started out decent enough during the first half, even through January when the Skarsgard episode left things on a good note before the winter olympics break. Then it really took a nosedive once they returned, just doubling down on Marcello, Kenan, and Mikey Day, allotting at least a third of the runtime every week for The Colin Jost Show, 5-8 minutes up top and 20 minutes on Update with commercials, not to mention the decrease of Dismukes that settled in, among other issues.
I think what John said about how the show relies more on Kenan and Mikey as the season goes on rings true, and this year is definitely no exception!
Colman Domingo was probably the most successful of the final 8 shows, with episodes 2, 5, 6 and 12 rounding out my top five, This was the type of season where you can signal out individual sketches that were great, but not an complete episode.
Sarah was on Kimmel’s show last night and said she and Jack Bensinger wrote the Nudemans