SNL Season 41: Ep.6

SNL closed out their November run before taking a Thanksgiving break with Matthew McConaughey, so how did it go? Onto the review.

Fox & Friends (Cold Open): A very common cold open recently, Fox & Friends. The guests saw the return of Kate McKinnon as DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. But what made this cold open click was seeing Jay Pharoah as Ben Carson. That impression is so on point. Felt like something was missing though, as they decided to omit the end of show corrections that are usually pure gold. (6.9)

Monologue: In terms of monologues, McConaughey's was pretty fresh. It didn't include any singing, or Q&A sessions, it was just McConaughey talking about "Dazed & Confused" and how the catchphrase "alright alright alright" came to being. The story kind of rambled on, but as I said, in terms of monologues, it was alright. (7.0)

A Thanksgiving Miracle (Short): With Adele as the musical guest, there was bound to be a skit about "Hello", and low and behold, here it was. With that being said though, this was fantastic. It featured a family (Aidy Bryant/Cecily Strong/Beck Bennett/Jay Pharoah/Vanessa Bayer/Kate Mckinnon & McConaughey), bickering about refugees and ISIS over dinner. The only thing to bring them together? "Hello". The production value and the build-up was great, as everyone eventually just turns into Adele. Aidy and Jay were particularly great. Another Thanksgiving short done right by SNL. (8.7)

         

Blues Shack: An "introducing the band" type of sketch, this seemed like it was heading somewhere. Kenan was trying to get McConaughey to sing the blues, but to no avail as he went on to sing about his haircut, and other petty things. It ended with him saying that he lost out on millions on facebook....so he had a sad story after-all. The payoff just wasn't worth it in the end. (5.0)

3D Print Man: Well...this was a weird idea for a sketch. A crowd had to try and tell the difference between 3 men on who was actually 3D-printed. Despite Matthew really trying to sell this, this sketch never really hit into gear. (4.6)

Star Wars Auditions (short): Should have seen that this type of sketch was on its way too. This was mainly a vehicle for celebrity impressions, but what made this were the cameos thrown in there (Michael Buble, Jon Hamm, Emma Stone, and the Star Wars cast). Having J.J Abrams and some of the cast may have caused this to lose a little punch, but there were just so many great moments. From Taran Killam as David Beckham drop-kicking BB-8.....to Bobby Moynihan as George Lucas. (8.0)

Adele: "Hello" (9.5)

Weekend Update: Colin Jost & Michael Che may have figured it out (famous last words), but they just seemed to click. When they're loose is when they're at their best. The writing was also particularly edgy, which the crowd seemed to like in their own way.

The first guest saw Vanessa Bayer as a Disney actress, Laura Parsons, reading the news. I can see this being a popular recurring Update character in the future, it was just fantastic.

The second guest was Kenan as David Ortiz, talking about his endorsement deals as he announces his 2016 retirement. This bit was a little wild, but it worked in the end. (My only criticism is that....David Ortiz does know English pretty well..which this Update joke seems to think isn't always the case. So that's a little bizarre).

Overall, this was a Weekend Update for the ages. (8.8)

Should You Chime In On This?: A game-show sketch, this was taking on the myriad of opinions we see on social media and the like on foreign policy, politics, etc. While this was a good idea on paper, it just didn't play out that well. Maybe the contestants seemed a little too on the nose, but it didn't quite work, which is a shame. (5.8)

Right Side Of The Bed: Maybe this is the new "Girlfriend talk show", but this is the 3rd iteration of "right side of the bed" with Killam and Strong. The only thing that really saved this was McConaughey's character, who was high on fumes playing around with a turkey. All in all though, I just don't get why SNL is making this a recurring sketch. (5.5)

Adele: "When We Were Young" (9.9)

Town Hall Meeting: Another town hall sketch, this one was on a proposed Amtrak stop, but McConaughey's character wasn't feeling it. This sketch was a little wild (given the 10 to 1 spot), but much like the 2nd half of the show, it just kind of dragged without a real point. (5.8)

This week saw a rare feat, where the show was headlined by Update. Jost + Che were really in form, despite a mixed show. Overall, nothing was really bad, but a lot of the ideas just didn't hit quite right. But with Adele's brilliance, everything was just alright. 

Overall Score - 7.13


Tracy Morgan - 7.94
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53
Amy Schumer - 7.18

Matthew McConaughey - 7.13
Miley Cyrus - 6.07
Donald Trump - 4.92