SNL Season 41: Ep. 9

SNL had its mid-season finale, as it welcomed back Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. So would they go out on a high? Onto the review

GOP Debate Cold Open: So far, SNL hasn't really know what to do with the GOP race. This was one of the first GOP debate parodies, and it didn't go all that well (at least not with vintage debate sketches). Darrell Hammond returned to play Trump, with Taran Killam sliding over as Ted Cruz. Hammond's portrayal was welcome compared to Killam's lukewarm impression. No matter how "meh" this cold open was though, Jay Pharoah's Ben Carson will always be hilarious. (5.7)

Monologue: As expected, being the Christmas show, Tina and Amy did sang a "new" Christmas song, with completely different tones. I'm not quite sure where this was going, but its fun to see Tina and Amy play off one another (even if this went on a bit too long). (6.7)

A Hillary Christmas: Current Hillary (McKinnon) meets late 2007 Hillary (Poehler) in this sketch. They discussed the similarities and differences on each's campaigns, and had a good laugh at Trump being the frontrunner for the GOP. What made this sketch great though was Tina Fey returning as Sarah Palin. Yeah, it might have made much sense with the sketch, but her Palin game is just as strong as ever. (8.3)

         



Meet Your 2nd Wife: There were some audio glitches that threw this one off, so I re-watched the edited sketch on youtube to accurately review it. Tina and Amy play gameshow hosts, where they introduce contestant's future 2nd wife to them (Killam/Moynihan/Kenan Thompson). The twist...their 2nd wives are much much younger. This is some of that edgy humor that SNL tends to do well. (8.0)
        




Hoverboard (ad): SNL got around to mocking those so-called "hoverboards" that seem to be all the rage this holiday season. They may not actually hover, but they do catch on fire quite often. This was enjoyable enough, although a little dated. (7.4)


Movie Set: This sketch made its return...for some reason. Kenan plays a director on a movie much like "Carol", but he wants Tina and Amy to act like its The Jeffersons. This sketch probably seems good on paper, but it just doesn't play well on camera. That, and it went pretty long. (3.9)


(Bruce Springsteen + The E-Street Band): (8.0)


Weekend Update: Jost and Che have formed a fairly solid partnership, but that partnership can be a little uneven as a whole at times. They were alright this week, but they weren't quite at their best.

The first guest saw McKinnon as "Somebody's Mom" Deenie. She ate some salmon, and talked about some soap opera or whatever she'd been watching. Kate is just a treasure. SNL fans should appreciate her while she's still here.

Deenie

Tina and Amy showed up to tell the last joke of Update. I wish they had gotten to do more. (6.9)


Special Offer: A sketch about a special offer on a variety show, this seemed like a vehicle to get a bunch of ideas on the show. Maya Rudolph showed up and did her thing, and then Amy sang a Christmas song while on crack....followed by Kenan's Bill Cosby doing "Baby, Its Cold Outside". The bits were fun, but it felt a bit scattered. (6.0)


Dope Squad (short): A takeoff of Taylor Swift's squad in her "Bad Blood" music video, this was really clever. It felt like one of SNL's more old-school digital shorts. Featuring Tina and Amy's squad of nannies and shared gynecologist (plus Amy Schumer), this just felt very real and down to Earth. (8.0)

Dope Squad


(Bruce Springsteen + the E-Street Band): (8.4)


Bronx Beat: Maya made another appearance with the oft-seen recurring sketch with Amy "bronx beat". It seems no matter the "guest" or the writing, Amy and Maya have just as much chemistry as Tina and Amy. While this wasn't the best version, it still was nice to see. (7.0)


This was more or less a consistent show to close out 2015. Maybe expectations were a bit too high, but this was an enjoyable show (especially the closing credits, where Paul McCartney showed up as Bruce and the band played 'Santa Clause Is Coming To Town'). The cast looked like they really enjoyed themselves.

Overall Score - 7.03

Tracy Morgan - 7.94
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53

Chris Hemsworth - 7.20
Amy Schumer - 7.18

Matthew McConaughey - 7.13

Tina Fey/Amy Poehler - 7.03
Ryan Gosling - 6.92
Miley Cyrus - 6.07
Donald Trump - 4.92