With the new year approaching, its time to look back at the 1st half of Season 40 and pick out the top 10 sketches. For this top 10, I only included sketches/shorts (no Weekend Update appearances). Many like to criticize SNL, but this season has been really good so far. It was hard to narrow down the list to 10, but I tried my best, and here we go.
10) Capitol Hill Cold Open
The political writing on SNL has been fairly subpar the past couple of seasons, but this cold open was SNL political writing at its best. The use of schoolhouse rock to try and explain executive actions was great. Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson were particulary fantastic here as President Obama and the "bill", respectively. This was easily the best cold open of the season so far.
9) Graveyard Song
Jim Carrey and Taran Killam were great here. Taran in particular has had a breakout season so far, in my opinion. This sketch was SNL at its best, not really relying on pop culture. As a lot of sketches have been so far this season, this one really is timeless. You could easily see this kind of skit working in the early 00s, 90s, etc.
8) Holiday Gig (Pine River Lodge)
The first of 2 entries from the Martin Freeman episode, this was a pretty wacky sketch. It first seemed sort of related to "What Up With That", but a story builds between Freeman and Kenan, and a mysterious figure called "Roman". The reveal of Roman was great, but the small things in this sketch really made it work; like Kenan singing completely off the beat, and his obsession with his red boots. This type of sketch is SNL at its finest.
7) Puppet Class
When Bill Hader hosted this past October, I wasn't expecting to see Anthony Peter Coleman again, but I'm glad it was brought back. "Coleman" was originally introduced during the season premiere of Hader's last season with Seth MacFarlane. Taran did a great job of filling in as the teacher. This sketch makes you wish that Hader had gotten to do more of Anthony Peter Coleman, but it was just good to see him again (with a puppet war reenactment to boot).
6) Grow-A-Guy
Remember Mike O'Brien last season? Besides his role in the "Monsters" short, probably not. That's why it was great to see this "Mike O'Brien Picture" short. Beck Bennett was particulary great as the bully character, messing with Mike. This short sort of felt like "Sad Mouse" with Bruno Mars. It was a short that really had an impact and it made you think.
5) Hobbit Office
This short was just a massive production. From Martin Freeman's hobbit, to Taran Killam's Gollum, the make-up and styling here was fantastic and award-worthy. At first I didn't even know who was playing Gollum, it was that good. Also, Bobby Moynihan as Gandalf really strung it all together as the boss. What made this stand out was that it was directly styled off of the British "office". I would legit watch multiple seasons of this.
4) 39 Cents
Kind of like "grow-a-guy", this was a commercial parody that really made you think. The interactions between Bill Hader, Shasheer Zamata, Jay Pharoah and Leslie Jones (before she became a cast member) were fantastic. It really shed light on how exactly is $0.39 a day supposed to feed someone?
3) High School Theater Show
Whatever writer came up with this must have gone to a lot of student run theater shows, because this was pretty spot on. What made this sketch work were all the finite details from the "student ensemble". Vanessa Bayer and Kenan Thompson really added a nice element here as the parents, kind of disgusted by it all. "I hate how they're trying to teach us", indeed. Indeed.
High School Theater Show
2) Singing Sisters (A Magic Christmas Wish)
This was sort of like "Holiday Gig", but it felt like an improved version of it. The chemistry all-around was great, from the old-time talk of Bobby Moynihan and Kyle Mooney, and the trio of Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon and Amy Adams. From the get-go, you can tell something is off with the sisters, and that latches you onto it to see what the twist is going to be. I can tell you, with the sell at the end, I was literally on the floor. This was another hilarious and timeless sketch.
1) "Chandelier" Dance Off
This may not have been the funniest sketch of the season so far, but it was certainly the most entertaining. Jim Carrey and Kate McKinnon really had this dance down, as they went all throughout that night's various sets. Even Iggy Azalea got involved on the music stage. If you've seen the actual video, you then see how on point this parody was. In my opinion, this was the best sketch of the 1st half of Season 40.
Chandelier Dance Off
(all rights to Sia Furler, Monkey Puzzle/RCA records)
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