SNL returned for their first show of 2017. The last show before the inauguration, how would their political coverage evolve into the new year and administration? Onto the review.
Donald Trump Press Conference - Cold Open: What a wild week in politics. An unverified dossier on Russia and Trump was released by Buzzfeed in whole, and reported by CNN. It included some wild accusations.....such as,,,well....."golden showers". Lets just say this has been a gold-mind for comedy, SNL included. The lines were "flowing" so to speak, as it dominated the Trump presser in this cold open. There were some other good lines as well, including how he'll replace "obamacare" with "The Affordable Care Act", and how healthcare doesn't matter because we're all doomed under Trump. But maybe the most underrated portion of this cold open was Cecily Strong who played Trump's lawyer who was present. Her dead-pan delivery was spot on. (8.5)
Monologue: The monologue was fairly standard. Felicity played off her nervousness on her hosting gig, and then we got a hologram Tina Fey to guide her along. She brought along such messages, including how SNL is reviewed "far too much"........sorry I guess? Haha. (6.7)
Beard Hunk: Another Bachelor parody. Seems the formula for these sketches are the same, with the women of SNL just cycling through with awkward one-liners. Never really hits home. (5.0)
Shondra & Malik (short): Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson had great chemistry in this short. They played rivals, but car trouble brought them together. Maybe it didn't provide laugh out loud moments, but it was just well made (with a particular dark ending. Think "Farewell Mr. Bunting" a bit). (8.1)
Theater Donor: Mikey Day made this work. He plays an elderly man who's a top donor to a theater. Sitting through a play (featuring Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon), he constantly gets attended to by his nurse (Felicity). This was great physical comedy. A stand-out moment for Day. (8.3)
The Princess and The Curse (short): (5.7)
Susan B. Anthony: (7.0)
(Sturgill Simpson): (9.0)
Weekend Update: Update has been on a roll in regard to political coverage. Its when Colin Jost and Michael Che shine the brightest. Che in particular had a pretty good moment when talking about the Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing.
The first guest was Pete Davidson, providing his first impressions on Trump's cabinet picks. I'll admit, he made some good observations.
Beck Bennett then saw a guest spot, trying out his pop vocal abilities. (8.4)
Movie Interview: This was a good take on how pretentious directors and the like can get with trying to make political points in promotion for movies that really don't have anything to do with anything. That was the case here, as Felicity, Beck and Kyle Mooney did a faux interview for "Hot Robot 3: Journey To Boob Mountain". The seriousness they take in this makes this work.
(Sturgill Simpson): (9.2)
Corporate Retreat: (7.5)
SNL did relatively well getting back into the swing of things for the new year. It'll be interesting going forward to see how they handle the new administration. As far as this show goes, Felicity Jones did a decent job. I think her nerves did show however throughout the episode. Sturgill Simpson on the other hand was an amazing music act. (7.62)
Dave Chappelle: 8.83
Tom Hanks: 8.03
Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74
Felicity Jones: 7.62
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
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