SNL Season 43: Kevin Hart

 

SNL closed off its 1st half run with Kevin Hart. Onto the review

White House Tree Trimming Cold Open: This cold open reverted back to what hasn't worked with SNL's political cold opens. Baldwin's Trump is just sort of there, and it was more of a hodge-podge of lines (decorating the tree with ornaments of the fallen in trump's 1st year). (5.5)


Monologue: Stand-up comedian + monologue = a fairly solid segment. (8.0)


Holiday Jewelry (ad): This parody of Pandora bracelets was pretty spot on. Get a bracelet, and then every occasion just add a vague charm that sort of resembles the person. (7.5)
 

Office phone Call: (7.0)

Captain Shadow and Cardinal (short): This was a fairly good realistic take on superheros, as Kevin Hart gets pulled over speeding in his bat-like mobile. Chris Redd really stood out as his robin-esque sidekick. (7.8)

Inside The NBA: Jay Pharoah had a good Shaq impression....and so did Kevin Hart. He perfectly portrayed Shaq's, shall we say, oddball nature. (8.1)

(Foo Fighters): (8.2)


Weekend Update: We saw a brief appearance by Omarosa (Leslie Jones).

Alex Moffat returned with his character "Guy who just bought a boat". This character is really starting to come along. It won't reach Stefon heights of course, but i'm interested to see where its going to go. (7.2)
Nativity Play: (5.4)


Christmas Party: (5.1)

Active Jack: (7.4)

(Foo Fighters): Let me just say, what a great Christmas medley to close out the show. (9.2)




 Like of much of this season, this show had its moments, but not a whole lot showed out overall. Although the Kevin Hart goodnights were pretty cool, with the classic skating scene. (7.20)

Chance The Rapper: 7.83

Ryan Gosling: 7.63

Kumali Nanjiani: 7.48 

James Franco: 7.28 

Kevin Hart: 7.20

Saoirse Ronan: 7.16

Tiffany Haddish: 7.15

Larry David: 7.14

Gal Gadot: 7.08  

SNL Season 43: James Franco

 

James Franco made his 4th stop as a SNL host. Onto the review.

Visit With Santa (Cold Open): SNL has had some rough cold opens this season, often times unable to coalesce around a single subject. That wasn't the case this week, with a change of pace. We see a bunch of kid actors asking "Santa" tough real-world questions from Roy Moore to opioids. (8.0)

Monologue: (6.8)


Sexual Harassment Charlie: (7.0) 


Gift Wrap: Some of the best SNL sketches involve shock moments and over the top antics that work. This was one of those. James Franco just owns this, with blood continuing to spurt from his finger. Things even got a little haywire, like Leslie Jones not expecting a mouthful of blood from Franco to go into her mouth. From that, along with Kate Mckinnon's reactions, this was just fantastic. (9.4)
Scrudge (short): (7.1)


Spelling Bee: This was a sketch that just fit Franco like a glove. I'm sure some other host could have had a decent job with it, but Franco was totally into the character as this disturbed host. Just the way he delivers makes it all click. (9.3)
(Sza): (7.3)


Weekend Update: The first guest saw Cathy Anne return (Cecily). As usual, Cathy always speaks the truth. Throughout her appearances, this character just keeps growing.

Next saw a rarity, a genuine field piece. Michael Che "disguised" himself as Gretchen, a liberal white woman. I hope they do more of these style of pieces. (7.2)
Za: (6.5)


Christmas Charity (short): This short was a pleasant surprise. You think you know where its going, and then there comes the twist. (7.3)

(Sza): (6.4)


Reunion: (5.0)


 James Franco brought it to this week's SNL. He at times can be a wildcard, but he was fully invested. (7.28)

Chance The Rapper: 7.83

Ryan Gosling: 7.63

Kumali Nanjiani: 7.48 

James Franco: 7.28

Saoirse Ronan: 7.16

Tiffany Haddish: 7.15

Larry David: 7.14

Gal Gadot: 7.08  

Top 10: Fall Out Boy

 

Just dropping this out of the blue, but I decided to do a Top 10 singles list for Fall Out Boy.  This list is subjective (yada, yada). Anyway, here's my take on their top 10 singles.

(all music video rights to Fall Out Boy, Fueled By Ramen/Island Records)

10) "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

from Infinity On High (2007)

9) "Champion"

from Mania (2018)

8) "Young And Menace"

from Mania (2018)

7) "Irresistible" ft/ Demi Lovato

from American Beauty/American Psycho (2015)

6) "Thnks fr th Mmrs"  

from Infinity On High (2007)

5) "Centuries"

from American Beauty/American Psycho (2015)

4) "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)"

from Save Rock And Roll (2013)

3) "Dance, Dance"

from From Under The Cork Tree (2005)

2) "The Phoenix"

from Save Rock And Roll (2013)

1) "Sugar, We're Goin Down"

from From Under The Cork Tree (2005)

 

SNL Season 43: Saoirse Ronan

 

SNL returned, beginning its 1st half end run with an all-irish show pretty much. Onto the review.

White House Christmas Cold Open: SNL has had some problems with Trump featured cold opens. So in that respect, this one was actually alright. It ran on the concept of a Christmas Carol oriented sketch, with Mikey Day playing the "ghost" of Flynn to warn Trump. There was a nice surprise in the end, with the 3rd ghost appearing at first to be in the form of Bannon. (7.1)

Monologue:  Being a non-stand up, you could have had a good guess that they might go a musical route. With that being said, the musical approach was pretty clever, with Saoirse trying to tell the public the correct pronunciation of her name. (7.5)


Floribama Shore (ad): First off, yes, this is a real MTV show. Shocking I know. A nice twist to have this featured around a hurricane. And Saoirse's southern accent? Wow, she can do it all. (7.2)

American Girl Store: (7.0)

Welcome To Hell (short): We've seen a number of these female ensemble music videos in the past, so it was about time we got another one. This one was more topical, dealing with the #MeToo movement, and stating in general that this current environment we're in is really nothing new. (8.4)
Return Counter: This was a sketch geared towards the ensemble providing their best joke or character they've come up with. There wasn't any big punchline, but it provided some truth in what retail workers have to deal with, in regards to the people they face. (7.3)

The Race (short): I was a bit surprised this wasn't in the 10 to 1. This was a weird (yet entertaining) Kyle and Beck short involving a race in an office. Its so out there, I'm not even sure how to explain it. (7.5)
(U2): (7.7)

Weekend Update: This week's Update felt a little low energy.

The first guest saw Kate McKinnon as PM Theresa May. Kate can pretty much do it all in terms of impressions.

Then (in what was a very Mikey Day centric episode), we got the Duncan's (Mikey and Leslie). (6.8)
Bachelor Auction: (7.1)

Late For Class: (6.0)

(U2): (6.7)

Aer Lingus: (6.8)


Saoirse Ronan was a fine host, up to the task. The material often seemed like it didn't have her front and center that often (which is nothing against her). (7.16)

Chance The Rapper: 7.83

Ryan Gosling: 7.63

Kumali Nanjiani: 7.48 

Saoirse Ronan: 7.16

Tiffany Haddish: 7.15

Larry David: 7.14

Gal Gadot: 7.08