SNL Top 15 Sketches of 2016

As the year comes to an end, its time to look back at some of the best sketches of the past calendar year at SNL. They certainly had their hands full covering a wild and unpredictable election (and some of their debate pieces don't look that great in hindsight, as they portrayed Hillary Clinton on a victory lap pretty much). But they still had some prescient political pieces, among other original works.

15) Brie Larson - "Quiz Whiz"

Taran Killam and Brie Larson struggle to come up with the runner-up to Trump among the GOP primary field. There were a couple nice added twists at the end of this.

Quiz Whiz

14) Ariana Grande - "Tidal"

This was a similar sketch that Bruno Mars did, but Ariana's impersonations are just so spot on. I included this more for her pure talent than the sketch itself. Just amazing what she's able to do here.

13) Emma Stone - "Wells For Boys"

Emma's delivery in her lines in this ad really makes it shine. This was also a good semi-political piece that SNL was able to do without being directly linked to the 2016 race. 

12) Melissa McCarthy - "The Day Beyonce Turned Black"

This short was just so good. The beginning of 2016 Beyonce took over the pop culture world with her release of "Lemonade". An album dealing with infidelity, but also with larger issues of equality and feminism. 

11) Peter Dinklage - "Mafia Meeting"

The title of this may have been "mafia meeting", but it was all about Peter and his "transcendent" performance of "Space Pants". Just so out there, yet really fun.

10) Adam Driver - "Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base"

Adam brought Kylo Ren to life in this undercover boss parody. Such good writing.

9) Lin Manuel Miranda - "A Day Off"

This was the beginning of Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Kellyanne Conway. She's pretty much nailed it (though the sympathetic tone of SNL's version hasn't played out).

8) Larry David - "Bern Your Enthusiasm"

Larry's take on Bernie Sanders was just spot on. He pretty much just put himself into the Democratic candidate.

7) Dave Chappelle - "Walking Dead Chappelle's Show"

What an episode this was. I could have put 2 or 3 sketches from that show into this list, but I felt like this was the top one. Chappelle brings in some of his original characters into The Walking Dead.

6) John Cena - "Through Donald's Eyes"

This was a pretty fascinating take on a world view from Trump's POV. There's a good chance there's some accuracy to this actually.

Through Donald's Eyes

5) Casey Affleck - "Jingle Barack"

Kenan and co. celebrate the last Christmas with Obama as POTUS in this appreciative short. 

4) Larry David - "FBI Simulator"

What would we have done without Kevin Roberts. I wonder if he ever got that donut.

FBI Simulator

(The behind the scenes video is also just as good, seeing Larry's transformation)

3) Tom Hanks - "Black Jeopardy" 

This iteration of "Black Jeopardy" may be the best one yet, as it changed the format. Hanks plays a Trump voter who can recognize some of the other contestant's struggles (to a point). 

2) Tom Hanks - "Haunted Elevator"

Kevin Roberts and David S. Pumpkins in the same year. What did we do to deserve this much awesomeness in one year. 

1) Fred Armisen - "Farewell Mr. Bunting"

A take off of "Dead Poets Society", the set-up to the main gag in this short was just put together perfectly. It was totally unexpected.

SNL Season 42: Casey Affleck

SNL wrapped up its last show of the year with "Manchester By The Sea" star Casey Affleck. So how would SNL end a politically wild 1st half? onto the review.

Donald Trump Christmas Cold Open: Alec Baldwin returned portraying Trump (without any mocking tweets from Trump himself this week). He goes on to meet Putin (Beck Bennett) coming down the chimney. SNL really hit on the ongoing Russian hacking story this week. Secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson then shows up (John Goodman) to show off his special handshake with Putin. It seems like SNL is going with the view that Trump is the last in line to fully grasp anything (at least when it comes to his team around him). Should be interesting to see how this develops in the 2nd half of the season. (7.4)

Monologue: Affleck got a little advice from Bladwin and Goodman on how to host a show. And Casey made it known that he would not sing for this Christmas show monologue. All in all, this was a surprisingly decent monologue, considering some of Affleck's late night appearances. His sort of dry delivery worked. (7.0)


Dunkin Donits (ad): This ad portraying a "real Bostonian" played by Affleck was so on the money. Yeah, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but not over the top like those sketches with Jimmy Fallon/Rachel Dratch back in the day. (8.6)



Robot Presentation: They seem to really want to make these "humanoid robot" sketches become a thing. Isn't happening yet. (5.9)



Jingle Barack (short): There was a lot happening here, and it was all brilliant. Played off like a early 90s rap music video, Kenan and Chance The Rapper celebrate the last Christmas with Obama as president. Even "Jesus" (Affleck) was getting down with it. Leslie Jones had her own special section with appreciation for Biden. There was just some great writing here. (9.0)



Christmas Miracle: Another one of these Kate McKinnon/Cecily Strong sketches where Ms. Rafferty (McKinnon) shares a slightly different experience than the others. This time around, there was just something missing. (6.0)


(Chance The Rapper): (8.4)



Weekend Update: Jost and Che pretty much were laser focused on Trump and the transition this week, with some good lines by Jost on Russia.

The only update guests were "Putin best friends", played by Vanessa Bayer and Fred Armisen. (7.2)


New York Now: (5.5)


Hillary Actually (short): A parody of Love Actually, Hillary tries to sway an elector with a last minute plea, via cue cards. In the moment this was pretty creative, and hit the nail on the head with some of the worrying concerns with a Trump presidency. (9.2)

However, it seems a bit odd to still be doing Hillary Clinton sketches at this point in the game, a month past the election now. Maybe SNL did have a "Clinton problem", as an article from "The Ringer" pointed out.



(Chance The Rapper): (7.5)



Mrs. Claus & the Elves: A return of this recurring sketch, where a bunch of elves seem to really be into punishment. I'll admit, for some reason I chuckled a bit at this one. (6.9)


Christmas Bar: (7.6)



Casey Affleck didn't seem fully present in this show, but I guess that's to be expected for a Christmas show, where you usually do see some guest appearances. With such a wild and hectic schedule, I imagine the writers could use a good holiday break. Overall this was a really decent show, where the taped material out shined the live sketches. (7.40)


Dave Chappelle: 8.83

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Emma Stone: 7.56

Casey Affleck: 7.40

Margot Robbie: 7.38

John Cena: 7.19

Kristen Wiig: 7.09

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42: John Cena

SNL keeped up its December run with pro-wrestler John Cena. Could he match "The Rock's" hosting prowess? onto the review

The Lead With Jake Tapper Cold Open: Jake Tapper (Beck Bennett) interviews Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon) about some of Trump's questionable cabinet picks. One memorable line here is Conway's on how they're "alt good". Then his future cabinet pick....Walter White (Bryan Cranston) made an appearance, however brief it may have been. This felt a little off, with how sudden this cold open ended. (6.5) 

Monologue: Overall this was a better monologue than most. While Cena wanted to sing, a bunch of cast members showed up as made up wrestlers. The best was Bobby Moynihan's "the waddler". And then Leslie Jones just showing up as herself. (8.0)


Dating Show: On the surface this seemed like just another game show sketch (though there would be one of those later on). But this actually developed into something. Cecily Strong plays a contestant who just wants the host (Cena). As they flirt, two of the prospective dates (Bennett and Kyle Mooney) start to connect, and kiss. It may have taken a while to build, but the payoff was worth it. (7.5)



The Karate Teen (short): Not much to say here, other than it was just "The Karate Kid", but turned on its head. (6.2)



Science Presentation: There was something here, talking about the NCAA and college's infatuation with football, but it just fell flat, and never really made that connection fully. (6.7)


Dyke & Fats Save Christmas Special (short): It was nice seeing these two characters, played by Kate and Aidy Bryant. We learned that Aidy's character's full name here is "O'Malley", which is a fun little tidbit. I honestly hope these two get the "Macgruber" treatment and gets turned into a movie. (7.6)



(Maren Morris): (8.4)



Weekend Update: Most of the hard hitting Trump commentary came here (and in a later short).

The first guest saw Angela Merkel (McKinnon) talking about Trump, and what could have been with a friendship with Hillary Clinton. There were a lot of good moments here, from Merkel's line on how in Germany the alt-right is known as "the reason grandpa lives in Argentina now".

Cecily then came back as Cathy Anne talking about "pizza-gate" and fake news. This character is still pretty iffy....and a pretty big stereotype, there was a good moment where she pointed out how Trump was probably watching at that very moment. (7.5)



Where'd Your Money Go?: (5.5)



Joanne & the Tree: (5.0)



Through Donald's Eyes (short): This may have been one of the best Trump features SNL has done, and it didn't even have to include Alec Baldwin. The viewer just saw a first person POV of how Trump likely sees the world. It was predictably dark, but fascinating all the same. (9.0)

Through Donald's Eyes


(Maren Morris): (7.3)


Romance Bookstore: This was a good timeless sketch. Whenever a customer asks for a book, Aidy and her "worker" Cena go to the back-shelf and act like they're straight out of a romance novel. These two just had such good chemistry with this. (8.5)

Romance Bookstore


Talent Competition: (7.0)



This show was a bit of a mixed bag. John Cena had some delivery issues with a few of his lines, and some sketch concepts just didn't land (however good they were on paper). But the show was saved in the end by the back-half of the show. (7.19)

Dave Chappelle: 8.83

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Emma Stone: 7.56

Margot Robbie: 7.38

John Cena: 7.19

Kristen Wiig: 7.09

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42: Emma Stone

SNL came back after a week off for Thanksgiving. How would they start this final 3 week stretch before the holiday break? Onto the review

Classroom Cold Open: It seems anytime "Trump" is in the cold open, the real thing is going to be angrily tweeting about it. In this case it was about how in security meetings Trump couldn't stop......tweeting. Sort of ironic, isn't it? Alec Badlwin as Trump RTs random teenagers and other miscellaneous shady characters in this cold open, while Kate McKinnon as Kellyanne Conway tries to bridge the gap with him. Even better was Steve Bannon emerging as the grim reaper. (7.5)

Monologue: (6.0)


High School Theater Showcase: I wasn't sure whether we'd be seeing this recurring sketch without Taran Killam, but here it was, without missing a beat. It doesn't matter the material, this sketch just seems to always hit. Its how they deliver the lines that makes this great, like Aidy Bryant during her "aids" monologue, making a somewhat salient point before heading out of bounds. (8.5)






The Christmas Candle (short): From the early 90s music video lay-out, to the ever true premise of the "gift you have to give away", this short was incredibly relateable. It seems an easy and out gift for the holiday season....when you're plain out of ideas, is indeed a candle. Now some may find that they have a family member who is mildly obsessed with...oh, say Yankee Candles, but this idea of the perfect "idk" gift is so so accurate. (7.7)



Posters: (7.0)



The Hunt For Hil (short): A popular meme on twitter has been pictures of Hillary Clinton in the woods near her Chappaqua house, so this premise was really creative. It was sort of depressing in a sense though, as the host says their goal is to "find her, trap her...and thank her". (8.5)



(Shawn Mendes): (8.6)



Weekend Update: The first update guest saw Leslie Jones talking about Women's satisfaction. This was one of the first times that she actually broke during her annual appearances.

Vanessa Bayer then showed up as Rachel from Friends. Man is this ever a good impression, cutaways and all (which always baffles Jost). Then in a surprise, Jennifer Aniston showed up to confront Vanessa's impression. (7.5)



Cleaning Crew: (6.5)


Film Screening: It looks like Kate's "Debette Gouldry" character is going to be recurring. (8.0)



Wells For Boys (ad): Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Diego calls home" sketch, this was a nice subtle take on politics. Emma is especially great as the mother here, with the way she whispers how her son is whispering "a secret" into the well. That, and her rant to the brother who doesn't get it. (8.8)

(Shawn Mendes): (6.7)

Nativity Scene: (7.0)

A 3-time host now, Emma Stone is one of those people who was meant for SNL. She just fits right into any role, committing to everyone no matter what. A perfect host is one you could easily envision being among the cast (think Justin Timberlake or Alec Baldwin), and Emma Stone is becoming close to that group. (7.56)

Dave Chappelle: 8.83

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Emma Stone: 7.56

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Kristen Wiig: 7.09

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42: Kristen Wiig

SNL wrapped up another run of 3 shows in a row with alumni Kristen Wiig. Onto the review

Donald Trump Prepares Cold Open: Alec Baldwin returned as Trump. Who knows how long he'll stay on as that role. They mocked the rocky transition team with this cold open, as Trump appears wildly unprepared, searching google for how to defeat ISIS. This predictably drew the ire of Donald Trump on twitter, meaning SNL is doing something right. The humorous/scary thing is, who knows how much of this cold open was actually truthful. (7.5)

Monologue: Kristen sings a non-factual song about Thanksgiving, with help from Steve Martin and Will Forte. This was just sort of there, and didn't go anywhere. (6)

The Bubble (short): An advertisement for non-Trump voters to live in a literal bubble to "save themselves", this actually hit at a lot of different levels. In a Brooklyn-esque area, its shows voters looking to pay up to go into their own echo chamber. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it displayed a message of not just retreating into surrender, but in continuing to be active in the coming months and years. (8.1)

Secret Word: Of all the recurring characters for Kristen, they had to pick this one...ugh. (5.5)

Anderson Cooper 360: This was so great, and pretty close to the truth. We see Anderson Cooper and a typical panel including Dana Bash, David Axelrod, Kayleigh Mcenany, among others. They basically just cycle through Trump story after story, repeating the same lines on how its worse than the last without going into any further detail. It really showed how pundit driven coverage works, especially during this election cycle. The twist comes that they were robots malfunctioning. (8.6)

Anderson Cooper 360

Target (Commercial): SNL has done a few thanksgiving-esque ads like this about going back home, but they just keep working. Here we see Cecily Strong moping in a target parking lot. The voice-over really makes this work. (8)

QVC Auditions: (5.8)

(The xx): (5.5)

Weekend Update: Update was merely average this week. They rolled out the punches for some of the early cabinet picks and appointments, though had a big swing and a miss on a joke about how tinder being more inclusive was why Democrats lost. Just a tired and lazy joke.

Pete Davidson talked about Donald Trump, and it was fairly forgettable in the long run.

For some reason they keep forcing Willie (Kenan Thompson) on us. This character is fairly hit or miss. (6.7)

Thanksgiving Parade: This sketch was very well done and quite creative. Beck Bennett hosts a family to his nice apartment to watch the parade outside. We then see a variety of balloons, from a clown to Raggedy Ann creeping up on them from outside. This premise could make for a pretty decent horror movie now that I think about it. (7)

Parade

Whiskers R We: A common late show recurring sketch, these just always seem to work. Kate and Kristen had a lot of chemistry here. (8.3)

(The xx): (6.8)

Surprise Lady - Thanksgiving: Aunt Sue is a very underrated Kristen Wiig in my opinion. Here she tries to contain herself as Pete Davidson plays a solider making a surprise return home for the holiday. Its just how Kristen builds up this frantic and manic character trying to keep everything in, yet in the same way letting it all out. (8.4)

More of a middle the road episode, especially coming off of Dave Chappelle's episode, but this was a pleasant episode nonetheless. This was certainly better than the last Wiig hosted episode, which whiffed pretty badly. Luckily we didn't get Gilly....though it would have been nice to see the Target lady. (7.09)

Dave Chappelle: 8.83

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Kristen Wiig: 7.09

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42: Dave Chappelle

So, did anything happen this past week? Fairly quiet news-cycle for SNL to cover, right?......(onto the review)

Election Week Cold Open: A powerful opening, as Kate McKinnon (dressed as Hillary Clinton, but singing as herself), sits at a piano, playing the late Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". It felt sort of similar to when Paul Simon sang "The Boxer" after 9/11 on SNL. Now of course, totally different events, but there is a vast amount of division and uncertainty in this nation right now, so this felt poised and needed. (10)

Monologue: Always seems to be the case, stand up comics have the best monologues. This week was no different, as Dave Chappelle made his return, riffing on the election. It felt very conversational, like he was speaking directly to you. What's getting the most buzz is the final 2 minutes or so when he talks about a BET party he went to the White House, and the history of African-Americans who met Lincoln and FDR there. He closed it offering President-elect Donald Trump a chance, but demanding that he give the historically disenfranchised a chance as well. A very poignant opening. (10)

Election Night: Cecily Strong, Beck Bennet and others host an election night watch party, seeing how the tides slowly turned that night. I imagine this exact scenario was playing out across the country as the results unfolded. Dave Chappelle acts as a realist, trying to comfort the group, and then in a surprise twist, Chris Rock arrives. There were some great lines to unpack here, such as Chris and Dave laughing at the notion that racism had just now caused an impact. (8.7)

Walking Dead Chappelle's Show (short): Many were expecting some sort of Chappelle Show influence, but how he brought it about was pretty genius, infusing it into the Walking Dead season premiere episode. Now, I haven't seen a lot of the Chappelle Show, but even with that the humor was just so good here. Honestly, there just isn't much to say except watch it for yourself, and enjoy. Classic SNL (9.5)

(A Tribe Called Quest): (8.5)

Weekend Update: With the energy up, Jost and Che were nice and loose in their deliveries, which is when they thrive. Che even turned a botched line about a "Mexican-American voter" when he meant Puerto Rican which played off well. And Jost had a great moment with a "Fight Song" montage on the record 4 female diverse senators which were elected.

The only guest was Ruth Bader Ginsburg (McKinnon) roasting Trump and Pence like a stand up comic, as she does. This is a very underrated McKinnon character. (8.6)

RBG

Jheri's Place: At first this came off like a really, really bad sketch, but then was played out like an "Inside SNL" breakdown, where the cast members answered questions from reporters on what went wrong. A really meta idea that worked. (7.5)

Kids Talk Trump (short): This started off really well, with Vanessa Bayer talking to children about the election. This could have been really fantastic, but went way too short (a shocker for SNL, I know). But good nonetheless. (8.5)

Kids Talk Trump

Last Call: A common recurrent sketch for McKinnon, there was something that made this one pop. As usual, Kate plays this woman at a bar, who always hooks up with the last guy there (Chappelle this time around). Kenan Thompson as the bartender really brings this sketch around. There was just a lot of chemistry with Dave and Kate here. (8.9)

(A Tribe Called Quest): (8.8)

Love and Leslie (short): Another meta piece, as Leslie Jones navigates around a relationship with Kyle Mooney, whose upset about Leslie and Jost's "playacting" on her Update appearances. It seems that Kyle can work with just about anybody on SNL, not just Beck. (8.5)

Football Party: This is one of the most out there 10 to 1 sketches SNL has had in the last few seasons. Chappelle is living with his mother (Leslie), hosting a football party. I'll just leave it there and let you discover the twist for yourself (though the best thing here was how calm Kyle was throughout this whole ordeal, and that's all I'll leave). (8.4)

Football Party

This was simply one of the best episodes of the last few years...and possibly ever. Coming off of the election results, this was very needed. Dave Chappelle was the perfect host for this type of show. We needed to be able to laugh again. (8.83)

Dave Chappelle: 8.83

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42: Benedict Cumberbatch

SNL got in its last episode before the Presidential election. So how would they handle it? Onto the review

Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump Cold Open: The final cold open before the election saw Hillary Clinton and Trump in a side by side interview on CNN, with the focus on the Comey letter as Clinton looks to pivot and spin away. It sort of felt like it was just trudging along, but then something amazing happened. Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin both break character, seemingly sick of the election. They then run outside, greeting and hugging people while still in character. It was sort of like this alternate universe, or utopia. It was just a nice moment to see. (8.3)

Monologue: The monologue took a bit of a step back this week, as Benedict sang about how good looking he is. Really nothing else there. (6.5)

Koohl Toilet (ad): This was sort of out there, but it worked. Its an ad for a reverse sitting toilet.....so yeah. Sure, it was kind of idiotic, but it was amusing as well. (7.3)

Why Is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?: There isn't much to say about this, other than it seemed pretty predictable. It started to seem like writers really didn't know what to do with Benedict (which is unbelievable, considering how talented he is.) (6.2)

Office Hours (short): Benedict plays a professor talking to Pete Davidson as a student. He goes on about his personal life, and admitting that he has feelings for Pete. What makes this work is how serious Benedict plays it off, while Pete consistently gives short monotone answers. This just all came together fairly well. (7.5)

Office Hours

Surprise Bachelorette:  This one another one of those idiotic, yet fun sketches. Aidy Bryant plays a grandmother getting re-married, and as she arrives to a surprise bachelorette party, she dies of a heart attack. The party keeps going, including members of the Chicago Cubs as strippers giving her a lap dance. On paper this just seems like it shouldn't have worked, but those involved just sold it well. (7.0)

(Solange): (5.5)

Weekend Update: Update felt a little flat this week. There were still some good lines, but the energy wasn't quite there with Jost & Che, which can tend to happen when a show isn't going its best.

The first guest saw the Church Lady (Dana Carvey) talking about the election and the candidates. This kind of sent off an alarm that the well had run dry for the writers in terms of covering this election.

We then got those same members of the Cubs (plus Bill Murray) celebrating the historic world series win by Chicago, singing "Go Cubs Go". Much like the world series itself, this was a nice little escape. (6.8)

         

Gemma & Ricky: (4.7)

Criminal Mastermind: Now this was one of those sketches that should have worked on paper. Benedict plays this villain who likes to use riddles for his messages, but he keeps on running out of them. However, things just didn't really click all the way. (6.5)

(Solange): (6.9)

Meeting With Mr. Shaw: Just one of those bizarre 10 to 1 sketches. On a good night, these really hit, but when a show is sort of trudging along as this one did, you're just waiting for the show to end. (6.0)

This show fell surprisingly flat before the election. Benedict really tried, but a lot of the sketches were very one-note. It really felt like the writers just ran out of gas in covering the election. (6.6)

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42 - Tom Hanks

SNL closed out their opening 4 week stretch with Tom Hanks. Would he give the show a much needed jolt? onto the review

Third Debate Cold Open: The last of the debates, at last. The last 2 debates had just gotten so ridiculous that's it been tough for SNL to cover them, though they've done their best to basically just stay on script with the actual debates themselves. I thought they might do more with the "no, you're the puppet" line from Trump, but maybe that would have been too predictable. All in all this was pretty alright. (7.3)

Monologue: This week's monologue seemed more thought out than last week's. Hanks gave America a "dad chat", trying to talk to calm us down from the election. While amusing, it also felt honest and sincere. Felt like needed given the closing stretch of the campaign. (8.3)

Black Jeopardy: This took a turn from previous iterations of this sketch. Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones played contestants...along with Doug (Hanks) sporting a "Make America Great Again" hat. At first I was curious where they were going with this. But then Doug starts answering the questions correctly, showing  commonality with the other contestants in their economic struggle. Things are going swimmingly until the final jeopardy final question "lives that matter". This political sketch perfectly showed the similarities and differences between the political system. In a divided and partisan campaign, this hit all the right points. (9.0)

Halloween Block Party Song: (6.2)



Funny New Comedy(short/ad): This took on shows like "Transparent" with dark and/or serious topics, but which play off as labeled half hour sitcoms. I could legit see this parody show "Broken" as an actual HBO or Showtime sitcom....that would win tons of awards. (8.4)

Funny New Comedy

Haunted Elevator: Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon were on a haunted ride and met some curious and spooky characters.....including none other than David "S" Pumpkins (Hanks). How did we ever live in a world without Pumpkins? This was from the same writers as Kevin Roberts last season. It was pretty easy to tell, but just as brilliant. This is just something that needs to be witnessed. (9.4)

Lady Gaga: "A-Yo" (8.0)

Weekend Update: Jost and Che got back on track, doing their usual riff on the election. 

The first guest saw Leslie Jones discussing her website/personal accounts being hacked over the summer, along with the other trolling she had to face online. This was a better vehicle to deal with this issue overall than that "Mr Robot" sketch.

Cecily Strong then did her thing as "That girl at a party that you avoid having a conversation with". At times this character can get a little old, though it worked with the election underway. (8.7)



Cockpit: (6.0)



A Girl's Halloween (short): (7.4)



Lady Gaga: "Million Reasons" - Lady Gaga can just bring it. Her performance here was near perfection. (9.5)

America's Funniest Pets w/ Tom Hanks: Who would have thought that we would gotten these 2 characters back, as Cecily and Kate play french hosts who help out on an American pet clips show....with their own unique analysis. We first saw them in the Adam Driver episode last year. (8.2)

Funniest Pets

This was a much improved show from last week where it just seemed that the energy had seeped out. Tom Hanks just brought a lot of pep to the show, as he usually does. He's one of those incredibly reliable hosts. 

SNL continues its creativity, beyond just the cold opens in covering this election. From "Day off" to now "Black Jeopardy". They're less about mocking or parody and actually trying to find a connection to elements of this wild presidential election. (8.03)

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

SNL Season 42: Emily Blunt

SNL continued its opening stretch, with its 3rd of 4 straight shows. Would they be able to keep up the pace? Onto the review.

Town Hall Debate Cold Open: Following an anticipated and nasty debate last Sunday, all eyes were on SNL on how they would cover it. This was more or less just the best hits. They didn't really add anything new, but basically painted it by the numbers. They had Trump (Alec Baldwin) creeping behind Hillary (Kate McKinnon), and of course Ken Bone (Bobby Moynihan). This was probably the weakest cold open yet of this young season, but still enjoyable overall. (7.2)

Monologue: Given the road this election has turned down, this monologue was pretty necessary. Emily Blunt tried to pep up the audience with a song, featuring puppies and cake. I mean, how can you go wrong with that? It was a little sloppy in execution, but pleasant still. (7.9)

Monologue

Escorts: It always felt like this sketch was going to take one of those classic turns, but it just never hit that stride. Nothing much to say beyond that (set up the tone for the first half of the show). (4.0)

Melanianade (short): This was an interesting concept for a short. A parody off of Beyonce, we see the women of the Trump and campaign with a tear-down of Trump given the recent accusations and the Access Hollywood tape. This should have really worked, but unlike "Day Off", something just felt a little off with this (though the Tiffany Trump line in the end was really good). (6.5)

Film Festival: Its nice to see Vanessa Bayer being more prominent, given her absence in the season premiere. Here she played an audience member who was forced to ask question after question at a short film festival. Now this was a sketch that was executed well, from the mic passing down the lineup, to Vanessa trying to leave, only to have to answer more questions. You could imagine a scenario like this actually happening. (7.8)

Film Festival

Chonk (ad): This played off like a classic snl ad parody. Mocking a woman's clothing store, this was just well done. From Cecily Strong's delivery of "Chonk!", to the reactions of the cast as they show off in the ad. Even better was the hit at the end, where men can find a perfectly fitting shirt at "Normal Clothes". (8.4)

(Bruno Mars): "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars was just made for flashy and entertaining performances, whether it be at the super bowl or award shows, just the perfect performer. (9.2)

         






Weekend Update: The energy for Update just felt really flat. Jost and Che just seemed to lack the pep that they had the previous couple of weeks. That was something that was noticeable for the show in general though.

Olya was the first guest, played by McKinnon. While you can make the argument that this character gets a bit repetitive, its still really enjoyable.

Olya

Vanessa then brought back Laura Parsons to "talk about the news". While probably the weakest segment of this recurring character, the writing was still brilliant, especially the dig at NBC and their settlement with Billy Bush.  (6.9)

Laura Parsons

Drive Thru Window: This appeared to be one of the first marketing ads that SNL is going to do this season (along with Honda Robotics). And to put it lightly, they weren't great. This one was character driven, as an eccentric art group in an incredibly long limo keep going through the drive thru. Here's hoping these type of sketches are minimal for the rest of the year. (5.0)


The Sink (short): Give a raise to whoever wrote this. It played off like a short film....about a fancy existential bathroom sink, wondering why its so fancy. What made it even better were the end credits, making sure to list Emily Blunt as the voice of the sink. Just one of those bizarre ideas that SNL does well. (8.6)

The Sink 

Honda Robotics: (4.5)



Melania Moments #3 (short): I'm so glad that this is becoming a running piece to start the season. They're starting to get exponentially darker however. Here, Melania wonders if she could get her maid (who looks oddly like her) to take her place, as she longs to feel sand beneath her feet again. What makes these work is that they aren't mocking Melania directly.

Melania Moments

(Bruno Mars): (8.1)

British Bake Off: (6.5)

Hamsters: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe", but with pet hamsters. Classic 10 to 1 sketch idea. (7.0)

This show felt a bit bogged down, especially given the current atmosphere of the election. Maybe it was the current stretch they're on, but there lacked energy. The back half of the show picked it up though with some odd-ball ideas that worked. (7.07)

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

SNL Season 42 - Lin Manuel Miranda

We thought the premiere was highly anticipated, and then comes out Trump's Billy Bush tape. Wow. All eyes were once again on SNL to see how they would take on a wild few days in the 2016 race.

VP Debate Cold Open: At first I was concerned this was just going to be the VP debate straight up. It starts with Melissa Villasenor playing the "asian moderator'...because "baby steps". But while Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) discusses whether Trump appreciates women, we get a breaking news report on the tape. This was a pretty fast turnaround for a cold open. Brooke Baldwin (Cecily Strong) questions Trump (Baldwin). Trump mentions that he can do "more than just grab 'it' ". We then hear him say a few crewd things off camera. From that, to Clinton HQs in a full on dance party, they pretty much hit this one out of the park. (9.5)

Monologue: This week's monologue was a high mark, and would have been one of the best among last season's. Miranda breaks out into a version of "My Shot", about his desire hosting SNL, and then getting into the current race. The moment of the song was when he goes by the pictures of last year's hosts, and stops at Trump's, stopping with saying "This piece of s---", and going into "never gonna be president". It shouldn't have been a surprise that he would come away with a good monologue. (9.0)

Pine Ridge Camping: (6.9)

Crucible Cast Party (short): They keep trying to recreate "doing it in my twin bed" with the female cast, but nothing has been able to reach those heights, this included. Really the only good part was when Lin steps in with his verse. (6.5)

Substitute Teacher: (7.0)

A Day Off (short): In the same vain as last week's "family feud", SNL brought out another unique political sketch, but this one really hit home. We see Kate McKinnon as Trump manager Kellyanne Conway on her day off, but getting continuously interrupted by breaking news by Trump remarks. It was just clever and creative, especially the background song. (9.7)

(Twenty One Pilots): "Heathens" (7.1)

Weekend Update: Update started off really hot, with Jost and Che firing off on the Trump Tape. There was a particular biting line where Jost says "what locker room is he at, Penn State?". He could have said Baylor, but I think more people know of the Penn State scandal, regardless if you're a sports fan or not. 

The guests were a bit disappointing. Pete Davidson did his thing, talking about hair loss medication.

And then we got Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon as undecided PA voters. This had all the right ingredients to be good , but Jimmy's incessant giggling just stalled it. And then Tina tousled his hair, in a flashback to Jimmy's panned Trump interview. It felt kind of like a cheap ploy to lessen the pressure off of him. We get it, Jimmy's Tonight Show isn't going to be a hard hitting show that goes into political comedy. But when you have that access, you can't just throw softball after softball like he did. I guess we just have to really lower expectations for him.  (8.5)

Music Man - Wells Fargo: A clever way to cover the Wells Fargo scandal, with the wagon scene from The Music Man. Its always just fin to see so much of the cast put on a sketch like this, where they're singing and dancing and just having a blast. (8.0)

Wells Fargo

Diego Phones Home: (short): This didn't really have you "laughing out loud", but it was a very interesting piece nonetheless, as Lin plays an immigrant calling his mother about his time in America. It left you both hopeful, and a little embarrassed out our current culture. (7.7)

Diego Calls

Stranger Things: I have yet to see Stranger Things, so I didn't really get much of this sketch in context. With that being said, I thought Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson were excellent as the parents, and Sasheer Zamata was really present as well. (7.0)

Stranger Things

(Twenty One Pilots): "Ride" (7.3)

Melania Moments (short): The second installment of Melania Moments, I hope we see more of these now that they appear to be a recurring theme. Melania thinks of going to Latvia to save her successor from herself. It was both humorous, but also sort of touching. (8.0)

Melania Moments

Degree of Valor: (6.1)

SNL is having a pretty fantastic election season thus far. They really nailed it with the Trump tape cold open, along with the first half of Update and the Conway short.

One concern though, is that it seems the regular writing may be struggling a bit with the election pieces in process, but that's to be expected I imagine, as they work on their coverage. (7.74)

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38