SNL Season 41: Ep.15

Coming off of a dismal Jonah Hill-hosted show, all eyes were on Ariana Grande. So, how would she do? Onto the review

Cold Open: Carson Endorsement: SNL again went with the CNN recap in covering the news in the 2016 election of the week, but it worked out better this time around.  First, we got Jay Pharoah's Ben Carson again, as he endorsed Trump (Darrell Hammond). Then we got some more Larry David as Bernie Sanders. He talked about his Michigan upset, and mentioned that while he's good, he isn't  "5 posts a day good". Then, they went back to that Carson endorsement, and this is where the writers may have finally nailed it in regards to Trump. In the sketch, Ben Carson had been mistaken for a protester, and punched. He promptly had a "Trump Steak" to cover his eye, with Trump saying "No, he's one of the good ones". They finally got around to being creative in covering Trump and this 2016 election. (8.3)

Monologue: This week's monologue turned into a singing one, with Ariana wanting a "real scandal". In context with Jonah Hill's disastrous monologue, this one was significantly better.  She may have inadvertently done a mini-scandal openly saying "shit", whether intentional or not. (7.0)


Hillary Campaign Ad: SNL had a pretty good week in covering politics. Their writers must have had their Wheaties. They had previously hit Trump and Sanders, and now they took on Clinton (Kate McKinnon). In the ad, they had Clinton gradually morph into Bernie Sanders, both in rhetoric and appearance. This may have been the top week of the season in regards to their political coverage. (8.1)



Kids Choice Awards Pre-show: This sketch was basically about red carpet hosts and how they kick it off to the actual awards show. Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam really sold this, and Ariana as well as the host backstage. It was a kind of sketch where their faces just said it all, as they watched in horror as the countdown clock started counting up....and then just flashing "12:00". This was also a relevant sketch, as something like this happened with a preshow Grammy's host just a few weeks back. And now the review continues......"Right Now!" (8.4)

"This Is Not A Feminist Song" Short: SNL has been on a bit of a run when they've done these female ensemble shorts. The best was "On my twin bed", but they had a pretty good one this season with Elizabeth Banks' "1st got horny to you". This one wasn't quite up there with those two, but it was decent in its own right. There wasn't a big punchline, but it just grew, as they threw in some famous women in history, yet still trying to make it clear that this wasn't a feminist song.....until they realized it. (7.4)

Mermaids: This was a pretty out there sketch, yet it still worked. Taran Killam/Beck Bennett/Bobby Moynihan played three sailors who encountered mermaids who requested a kiss to walk on land (Ariana/Cecily Strong/Mckinnon). However, McKinnon was a mermaid who was half "blob fish". Huge props to the make-up team, as they made Kate nearly unrecognizable. She just sold this. I'm not sure this kind of sketch works in any other SNL era without Kate Mckinnon. (8.5)

(Ariana Grande) "Dangerous Woman": (9.5)

"Dangerous Woman"

Weekend Update: Colin Jost has finally found his own way. This was evidently clear with his "Mitt Romney turns 69...which for Mormons is a sin" joke. I didn't think it was possible, but Jost and Che are really finding a rapport, and are finally working this season. Update is slowly returning to that "must-watch" status it had with Seth Meyers.

The first guest was "The Drunkest Bachelor Contestant" (Cecily). Whether you've seen this season of The Bachelor or not (I haven't), this was still hilarious. I have no idea how she didn't break character. There also was continuity, as Colin said Leslie Jones would be mad at her kiss.

The Drunkest Contestant on the Bachelor

We got the long-awaited return of "Ribet" (Moynihan). To this point, this character has just been a delight. It takes the perfect amount of energy to allow this to play out. (8.3)

Riblet

Tidal: This sketch played out like the one from a few seasons back with Bruno Mars. The streaming service went down, and they needed Ariana to fill in. She pulled off impersonations of Britney Speaks, Shakira, Rihanna, Celine Dion and ultimately Whitney Houston.  Yes, this was used as a vehicle to show off her pop star impressions, but they were still really really good. (8.1) 




Family Feud: Unlike the Tracy Morgan Feud sketch, this one went back to celebrity impressions. It was pretty much the same old-same old, except for Ariana's impression of Jennifer Lawrence. If you closed your eyes, you would have sweared it was actually JLaw. A good host is one that can single handedly carry a sketch, and that's what Ariana did here.  (6.4)


(Ariana Grande) "Be Alright": (7.3)


Sound Of Music: Speaking of carrying sketches, Ariana did it again with this "10 to 1" sketch...although it played like a sketch that could have lead off the show. Maria (Ariana) walks into the nuns as they sing "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria", and then reads them off. This was a clever wall-breaking musical sketch. It was somewhat awkward in execution, but as I said, Ariana just sold this and made it work. (8.1)

Sound Of Music

 What a difference a week makes. Ariana Grande was just fantastic. She brought energy, humor, just everything that Jonah Hill didn't last week. She was really present throughout the show. SNL also had a good week in covering politics, so here's hoping that picks up when they return from another 2-week break.

Overall Score - 7.95

Ariana Grande - 7.95
Tracy Morgan - 7.94

Larry David - 7.73
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53

Adam Driver - 7.22

Chris Hemsworth - 7.20
Amy Schumer - 7.18

Matthew McConaughey - 7.13

Tina Fey/Amy Poehler - 7.03
Ryan Gosling - 6.92

Melissa McCarthy - 6.78
Miley Cyrus - 6.07

Ronda Rousey - 5.78

Jonah Hill - 5.13
Donald Trump - 4.92

SNL Season 41: Ep.14

SNL came back from a mini February break, as they seem to be on a 2 episodes on, 2 off  format this season. So how did Jonah Hill do...with nothing to promote? .........well....umm.....onto the review.

Cold Open - CNN Election: SNL started off with basically a homage to the past week of the election, from Trump (Darrell Hammond) and Chris Christie (Bobby Moynihan) in the background, Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon) talking about being the only option, and then a pleasant return....Jason Sudeikis as Mitt Romney. You never really realize how good or missed Sudeikis is until he makes a cameo like this. (6.6)

Monologue: This could arguably be the worst monologue in quite some time. First Jonah took a question from the audience, then he randomly brought out Future to rap "Jumpman". This felt like a slap-dashed mess. It was almost like they had forgotten to come up with a monologue before the show aired. (2.5)

Voters For Trump ad: Without context, this was a pretty good take-down of Trump and the type of racist support he's been attracting. But then you remember that he hosted SNL about 3 months ago...and pieces like this then lose their bite. I mean, you can't have it both ways, you can't invite Trump to host your show, and then come back and mock him and his supporters. (7.0)

Fond Du lac Action News: This was mainly a vehicle to make jokes about Wisconsin accents. There just wasn't much there (although Hill thought it was hilarious for some reason, as he kept breaking). Just not a lot to discuss here (which will be a theme throughout this show review). (4.0)

The Champ (Short): Here, Jonah Hill played this high school wrestler who won a big match. At first, I wasn't sure where this was going, but then he arrives back home and finds a local TV report about the "school loser" who won a charity match against the top wrestler. I was expecting this to really go somewhere, but it divulged to bathroom humor....and Kenan Thompson's hispanic accent. Besides from a throw-in Eric McCormack joke, there wasn't much here. (5.1)

School Auction: This maybe seemed like a good idea in the writer's room, but it didn't play off well. A representative from a middle eastern prince (Hill), is looking for local high school social media stars for a Prince's son and daughter. When the parents realize the money involved, they start to drive up the price (Leslie Jones particularly). As I said, this didn't play off really well. (3.7)

(Future ft/ The Weeknd) "Low Life": (8.0)

Weekend Update: There's something to be said for Colin Jost and Michael Che delivering a relatively solid Update amidst such a poor show thus far. Jost and Che seem to just take it easy, which works for them.

Cecily Strong appeared as "The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started A Conversation At A Party With", and she did what she usually does. It went on a bit long though.

Then Vanessa Bayer interviewed Flossie Dickey (McKinnon) on her 110th birthday. If you haven't seen the actual clip, here it is  

This bit really showed how good and under-valued Vanessa Bayer is. She worked really well with McKinnon here.

Vanessa Bayer/Flossie Dickey

And then came Jay Pharoah. He's been under utilized as well (we haven't seen his Obama impression in a while). He basically just did impressions of some comedians, related to a Katt Williams-Kevin Hart feud, but he's just so good at them. He really brought some energy to the show. (7.3)

Murder Mystery: This seemed like it was going somewhere, as Taran Killam played an investigator trying to solve a mystery.....but again.....it just resulted to bathroom humor, as it turned to be about Jonah Hill's character's tribulations in the bathroom. Not much going on. (5.0)

Inside SoCal Newer One: I legit had a problem with this. It was another Kyle Mooney-Beck Bennett bit, and it was about how Cecily Strong's character was having breast reduction surgery, which had the locals dissapointed. Okay, so where to begin? That it was devaluing women to just their bodies? The gross amount of sexism? Maybe this was trying to make a statement on objectification, but it failed on every level. (0.0)

(Future) "March Madness": (5.9)

Silver Star Catering: Maybe I was just annoyed at the show at this rate. On a regular night, this would have been an okay 10 to 1 sketch, as Jonah was really selling this character. But as I said, with this show falling flat, so did this final sketch. (5.9)


Woof.....what a trainwreck of a show. There were a few highs, but plenty of lows. Bits that failed to land just crashed and burned. The show was pack full of "bathroom" jokes, and some legit sexism with that "Inside SoCal" mess. Just a failure of a show this week, which can happen.

Overall Score - 5.13

Tracy Morgan - 7.94

Larry David - 7.73
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53

Adam Driver - 7.22

Chris Hemsworth - 7.20
Amy Schumer - 7.18

Matthew McConaughey - 7.13

Tina Fey/Amy Poehler - 7.03
Ryan Gosling - 6.92

Melissa McCarthy - 6.78
Miley Cyrus - 6.07

Ronda Rousey - 5.78

Jonah Hill - 5.13
Donald Trump - 4.92