Season 40 returned this week with Kevin Hart and Sia. Did SNL continue with its consistent run of shows that the fall run saw? Well lets dive into the review and find out.
The cold open saw Martin Luther King appear to a student (Pete Davidson) working on a MLK-essay. Kenan Thompson was great as MLK looking bewildered at the current state of things (hashtag protesting for example). They also had a biting line on the Oscars with Selma only receiving 2 nominations. Overall, this was a pretty decent cold open.
Monologues always seem to be at their best with stand-up comics. Hart went into about animals he's scared about in his new community (raccoons,etc). It started to go on a little long, with Hart just rambling on, but it picked up in the end. (Hart must have been sweating buckets in that leather shirt).
For the parody ad this week, we saw a pair of Justin Bieber "Calvin Klein" ads. Anything that gives us Kate McKinnon as Bieber is fantastic, but this really lived up to expectations. McKinnon playing up Bieber's childish attitude in particular was hilarious.
The first skit was "Why'd You Post That", a show where Hart skewered instagram posts. This had promise, but the set malfunctioned on them (the screen). After that happened, this wasn't really able to get it back together.
SNL keeps churning out brilliant shorts this season. This week was "Bushwick,Brooklyn", with Hart, Kenan and Jay Pharoah talking on the side of the street. Just discussing what they're up to, the conversation shows how upscale the neighborhood has become. (Mayonnaise shops, painting parties,etc). I wasn't aware that wine/painting parties were a thing, but apparently they are very much so. The production value of this was fantastic.
The next skit saw "Get On Up" with Hart as James Brown asking his band if they needed more funk. This shouldn't have worked out, but it did. Taran Killam's straight answers added a nice element. The plot of this was different, but the start and stop singing/performing was similar to the "Red Boots" skit from Martin Freeman.
"Get On Up"
After back to back solid sketches, we were bound for a clunker. "Nancy" was some talk-show bringing back fake soap opera stars. They each get dramatic sounding music for their entrances, except for Vanessa Bayer (who gets fart sounds....haha....so funny). Their was some comic element here, but it was buried by the idiocy of the skit. Hart played a producer who could speak...but didn't understand English. This was drastically under-used, and could have brought this lifeless skit up.
I've only featured music acts here a couple of times,but I'm doing it again. Sia was fantastic. She truly gives that performance element to her music (being that her face is covered). It moves your focus to the dancers, or just to the lyrics and music itself. Some may not "get" or understand Sia, but that shouldn't take away from what were a pair of brilliant performances. Sia can make you emotional....yet you're not sure why.
Elastic Heart
Chandelier
Weekend Update was drastically short this week. We only had 1 guest, McKinnon as Colin Jost's neighbor "Mrs. Santini". She read letters about some of her annoying neighbors. It was humorous, but never really went anywhere. As for the actual jokes themselves, I felt it was improved from Michael Che and Jost. Che gave his monologue/rant, which is becoming a thing. And Jost seems to have found a bit of a niche delivering scathing/biting lines....and pausing to let it sink in. We'll see how this Update team continues to advance.
The post-update skit was about a castle under attack from a dragon....and they were singing. Everyone...except Hart. This kind of thing has been done (see ABC's Galavant), but Kevin Hart made this work. His insistence on fleeing without having to sing.....until his wife, Leslie Jones arrives. Overall, this was a slightly amusing skit.
Next was a vehicle skit to allow Pharoah to do a Kevin Hart impression. The premise was that after a show, Hart runs into Leslie, who says that Pharoah is his kid. Hart relents, until hearing how Pharoah talks and acts. This really worked (and we should really be appreciating Jay Pharoah more).
The closing "10 to 1 " sketch was a listening party for a rapper (Hart). This was the best live skit of the week. "pue pue, pop, pop, gunshot sounds". I was laughing hysterically....legit. Hart was rapping about the secrets of his crew...(including a "Weekend At Bernie's" reference). This is probably the best closing skit of the season so far...."pue pue, pop, pop...gunshot sounds".
SNL's midseason return could have been a downer....but it kept up the consistency of Season 40. Kevin Hart's had a much better time hosting his second time around. His frantic energy really played well with the top skits of the week.
Avg. Score: 7.51 (each segment was scored out of 10, and averaged, including the musical act).
Bill Hader - 8.06
Martin Freeman - 7.56
Kevin Hart - 7.51
Chris Pratt - 7.50
Chris Pratt - 7.50
Woody Harrelson - 7.42
Amy Adams - 7.19
Sarah Silverman - 7.15
Sarah Silverman - 7.15
James Franco - 7.07
Jim Carrey - 7.01
Cameron Diaz - 6.81
Chris Rock - 6.52
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