SNL closed out this 3-week run they've been on with Empire's Taraji P. Henson. So how did she do? Lets get to the review.
The Cold open saw the campaign announcement of SNL's Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon). She was trying to appear more natural in her announcement with the help of Vanessa Bayer. It was going pretty well...if not predictable, but then Darrell Hammond showed up as Bill Clinton and this got going. Hopefully we see more of Hammond as Clinton during this 2016 campaign season.
The monologue was a singing one. While the song wasn't the best we've ever seen for one (it was about how Taraji has made it and where she could have been following her breakout role on Empire). But this monologue really got brought up by the cast members testifying, like Pete Davidson "I could have been a well-adjusted sophomore". But Leslie Jones' was the best (and Taraji's reaction). A pretty well done monologue overall.
Next was an ad for "Depends: Legends", adult diapers with various hollywood legends on them. Some of the faces were completely random, but this was pretty great (and from the looks of it, had the same actor from 'Oops I Crapped My Pants', so that's a plus for continuity).
The first skit was a CNN Headline News special on a "Hot For Teacher" case. This was mainly just a Pete Davidson showcase. Davidson has gotten out there on Weekend Update as a correspondent and in some digital shorts, but if he can start shining on sketches, then he really could have a quick breakout. Being what this skit was (a showcase), it was pretty good.
Following was a behind the scenes short on "Home 2", but featuring more hip hop/pop stars. This was mainly just a method to get more celebrity impressions (like Taran Killam's Jim Parsons, and Taraji as Nicki Minaj), but this was alright.
Next up was a QVC skit featuring Taraji P. Henson as the host and Kate McKinnon trying to sell a "3 way poncho" (with model Aidy Bryant), yet she can't find a third way to wear it. This was a pretty weird and random skit, but it was one that seemed to bask in its weirdness, and for that it was actually somewhat humorous.
With the Game Of Thrones premiering its new season, SNL decided to introduce us to the "8th kingdom" , which looks a lot like "Boyz In The Hood". While SNL has the diversity now to do this type of thing, this really was a swing and a miss. A good idea that just wasn't executed right.
Weekend Update was a mixed bag again this week. Michael Che has really improved and seems to have his own style, but Colin Jost still comes off as bland. Its like there's just something about Jost when he gets in front of the camera, that he becomes stiff. Che had some really good lines (but Update did take a line from John Oliver on the fake picture gag, which didn't come off as naturally as it does with Oliver).
The Update guests were just okay this week. Kate Mckinnon returned as Cecilia Gimenez (the artist who ruined a fresco) to talk about the horrific Lucielle Ball statue. She showed her own statues of famous comedians.
And Bar-mitzvah boy Jacob returned to talk about Passover with Michael Che.....and Jacob's father showed up, portrayed by Billy Crystal. I was hoping for this to be better, but it was just fine (if not a little clunky at times).
Hollywood Game Night saw its return for some reason this week, with McKinnon as always playing Jane Lynch. There was at least some more writing here (and the return of Killam as Vin Diesel), but again, this was mainly just celebrity impressions. Have to wonder if the writers were just running out of gas this week during this stretch.
Looks like Sasheer Zamata has a recurring sketch now, with "How 2 Dance w/ Janelle". We last saw this during the Chris Rock episode. This time around, it felt like it had more substance. Taraji was really into this as the mother showing Janelle how to really dance (and Kyle Mooney was even better this time around). Is Sasheer finally starting to break out a bit? We'll see.
Next was a predictable "Cookie" Empire skit...involving Sesame Street. Cookie took over Sesame Street. Obviously they couldn't get too graphic with this, making sure it was family-friendly, so this was just fine.
SNL decided to do a "League of Their Own" parody, this time including Taraji P Henson and Leslie Jones who wanted to join the team. As Kate McKinnon said "with the men at war, we have to be the racists". While this was a very good skit, it felt like it was too short and ended right as it was hitting its stride.
I thought that League of Their Own parody was going to be the "10 to 1" skit, but then we got some sort of transformers/power rangers combo skit with "Connectatron". This skit lasted about 1 to 1.5 minutes....and made absolutely no sense. This would have been the spot for a Mooney interview segment or something like that.
This was definitely an awkward show. Nothing was really truly horrible (excluding 'connectatron'), but nothing really stood out. While Taraji P Henson was a pretty good host, the writers seemed to have stalled out of ideas during the close of this 3-week stretch. Hopefully they're able to rev up for the closing stretch in a couple of weeks.
Avg. Score: 7.09 (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
Michael Keaton - 7.45
Chris Pratt - 7.50
Michael Keaton - 7.45
Chris Hemsworth - 7.44
Woody Harrelson - 7.42
Amy Adams - 7.19
JK Simmons - 7.18
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - 7.16
Sarah Silverman - 7.15
Taraji P Henson - 7.09
James Franco - 7.07
Jim Carrey - 7.01
Dakota Johnson - 6.83
Cameron Diaz - 6.81
Blake Shelton - 6.60
Chris Rock - 6.52
No comments:
Post a Comment