For Ronda Rousey’s monologue, they made it like a UFC match with announcers and a coach. This worked perfectly for her.
Next up was a parody of the screen actors guild only nominating white actors when there were black actors in more prominent roles for each movie. The best part of it was the similarity between the fake movies and the ones actually nominated this year. Their digital short was ‘Love Struck’, where a bunch of mean girls bully Rousey until she beats them up. Then they did a Bachelor parody called Bland Dan, which was the best take on how boring Bachelors are and how idiotic the women are made to sound. It was perfect. Following Weekend Update was aa sketch where Pete Davidson was a high school student whose female teachers had a threesome with him. They were at trial where he was clearly ecstatic about what had happened. Overall a great sketch, with Davidson doing a great job. Up next was a superhero sketch where each superhero had to introduce themselves before any of them could help stop the villain. The second digital short was a song where two guys rapped about how big their dicks are and one of them rapped about how he’d go down on you but kept his pants on. Then they did a town hall which was relatively boring and basic. They had one where two of Rousey’s coworkers had clearly never been to a party before. It was okay. I liked the premise of it but it felt a little flat. Then they replayed the commercial parody for the dating app Settl. Overall a very mediocre episode. Tune in February 6th for host Larry David and musical guest The 1975.
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'Saturday Night Live' Recap - Tina Fey & Amy Poehler with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band12/21/2015
For the first sketch of the night, Kate McKinnon played her Hillary Clinton trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. Where she is visited by Amy’s 2008 Hillary, and they’re visited by Tina’s Sarah Palin.
Next up was a game show called ‘Meet Your Second Wife’, where married men can meet the woman who can be their second wife. The contestants were all super young girls, that kept getting younger and younger. This was one of my favourites. Then there was a commercial for new hoverboards that now explode whenever they feel like. They did a sketch where Keenan was directing Amy & Tina and had them overact everything like they were on the Jeffersons. It was the only real stinker of the night. Amy and Tina of course made an appearance on Weekend Update, to say the last two jokes of 2015. Next was a show remembering their favourite Christmas clips of all time, and they had Maya Rudolph performing a song in a classic Maya character. Amy was a cocaine addicted singer. And Tina sang with Keenan’s Bill Cosby who spiked her drink. It was just ok. Then there was a digital short where Amy and Tina spoofed Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood to highlight their Dope Squad (which includes Gayle King and Amy Schumer). Thankfully Maya was around so her and Amy could do a Bronx Beat. We. Have. Missed. ITTTT. Bruce Springsteen played them out tonight, and Paul McCartney jumped on stage to play the bells for Santa Claus is Comin To Town. Overall an A+ Christmas episode. Tune in for new episodes in January, with host Adam Driver.
In his monologue Ryan tried to say he wasn’t from Canada because of America’s feelings towards immigrants, but Cornwall Ontario got a shoutout (heeeeey), and Mike Myers came out to support him and show what a Canadian Christmas was all about.
Next up was a commercial parody for a dating website called Settl, where women can settle so they can get married right away. Then they had a sketch where Kate, Ryan and Cecily were characters who had been abducted by UFOs, and Ryan and Cecily had beautiful experiences while Kate had a very disturbing experience. They had a digital short called Santa Baby, where Ryan and Vanessa were a couple at a Christmas party who truly believed in Santa. This was probably the best sketch of the night. Next up Ryan played a dorky dad at his daughters birthday party, and Aidy is the only one who thinks he’s a hot dad and tries to unsuccessfully flirt with him. After Weekend Update, Ryan was taking Cecily on a tour of his hometown for an interview. As someone who has family in Cornwall, I can assure you there is no bar with that many people in it there. They had another commercial parody, this time making fun of the George Clooney and Danny DeVito Nespresso commercials and how little sense they make. Of course there was a cut-for-time scene from the Wiz Live show that was on NBC earlier this week, touching on race. Finally there was a sketch where Ryan, Vanessa and Keenan played elves who weirdly flirted with Santa. Ryan seemed nervous throughout and the whole cast was giggly, but it made it endearing. Leon Bridges was great. And it was the most Canadian episode ever, which is nice for us up here. Tune in next weekend for host Chris Hemsworth and musical guest Chance the Rapper. First up tonight was a Fox & Friends parody, covering the Syrian refugee crisis. It really hit hard the way Americans are mistreating and misunderstanding Syrian refugees.
The best sketch of the night was about how Adele’s ‘Hello’ brings everyone together, no matter their beliefs. It was perfection.
Next was a sketch where McConaughey was a bad blues singer. It was boring and unoriginal. Then they did a sketch where a company finally printed a 3D printed a human man who tried to act like a normal human, but clearly didn’t act like a human. It was fine but nothing special. They had a sketch for Star Wars where they showed outtakes of failed auditions. This was a good character showcase for the actors while still being relevant, so good overall (plus they used some of the real actors and Emma Stone, who poked fun at the fact she was cast as a half-Asian woman in Aloha). After a standard ‘Update’ there was a parody of a game show called ‘Should I Chime In On This?’ (hosted by Keenan Thompson of course), featuring characters that all think they should chime in on things they shouldn’t. This one was typical of SNL, but also said what all of us were thinking. Next up was was the morning show with Taran Killam and Cecily Strong where Killam is clearly gay but Strong doesn’t notice. They’ve done this one before, and the Thanksgiving one was average and showing a ‘stereotypical’ gay guy like they usually do. Finally, we had a town hall sketch where McConaughey played a character who opposed a company coming into town to try to change things. It very, very lame. Overall, McConaughey wasn’t in many sketches, and that was really for the best. The episode wasn’t great writing-wise, too. The Adele sketch and the Star Wars one were the best of the episode. as for musical guest, Adele was Adele which is amazing and tear-inducing (and the highlight of the show). Tune in on December 5th for host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Leon Bridges.
For her monologue, Elizabeth Banks wore a dress that looked like she was going to a ball (which, luckily, she eventually ditched). They hit on the fact that she directed Pitch Perfect, and so then directed her monologue. It was cute and fun and she was confident which always helps.
The commercial parody was taking Angie’s List and making it Aron’s List, where you could hire Non-Violent Sexual Offenders to do handy work around your house. It towed the line of inappropriate, but overall was pretty funny. Then there was another edition of Black Jeopardy, which they’ve done before and is always fun. Up next was a digital short where the ladies were a girl group singing about getting horny for the first time in their lives. This was probably my favourite sketch of the night, and maybe the whole season so far. The girls are just slaying it lately. Then they did the student theatre showcase, which they’ve done before of basically pretentious young students who think they’re making real progress through their performance art. These can be funny but they’re also something that doesn’t need to be done over and over again. After Weekend Update they did a sketch where they portrayed a young Ben Carson, using real facts that he’s said to the media. Next was a sketch where Bobby Moynihan’s character wins a chance to be a guest star on a police procedural but they make him out to be a pervert. This one was pretty great. They had a Mike O’Brien picture where Elizabeth Banks played someone who got into an Uber who just wouldn’t take her where she needed to go. Finally there was a sketch where a group of girls kept calling everything ‘ghetto’ but they’re one friend (Banks) was actually living in the ghetto. It wasn’t too bad. Disclosure and their guests Lorde and Sam Smith were entertaining. Overall, Elizabeth Banks was a great host, and it was one of the better episodes of the season, with strong writing and performing all around. Tune in next week for host Matthew McConaughey and musical guest Adele.
The next sketch took place in a universe where Trump was President. Again, they tried to play on the way Trump is portrayed, but once again it fell flat. Ivanka Trump made an appearance to zero applause.
The best sketch of the night was a digital short with all the ladies where they were Bad Girls who lived fast, died young, etc. Their ideas of what a bad girl was were hilarious, and it’s this years Hometown Ballers. Next up they had a sketch that opened with Donald Trump saying that he wouldn’t be in the next sketch, but would be live tweeting. So his tweets, just demeaning the cast and writers, popped up throughout it. It wasn’t too bad, but mostly because he wasn’t actually physically in it. Next up was a parody of Drake’s Hotline Bling, where Drake (played by Jay Pharaoh) explains his dancing. This was a topical, funny one. Weekend Update was Weekend Update. Whatever. Next up was an absolutely horrendous sketch where everyone was a different band member and Trumps character didn’t get enough time for a solo with some sort of laser instrument. Honestly one of the worst of all time. Then there was a sketch where a teenage boy was having dinner at his girlfriend’s parents house and when they put music on, it was the dad singing the songs. It got weird, but still fun. I like when they try things like this. To introduce Sia for the second time they did this awful thing where they pretended to have back the musical guest from the last time Trump hosted, which apparently was some Jamaican duo. It wasn’t funny and was frankly disrespectful to take away from Sia’s performance with contrived bullshit like that. Sia still slayed her performances, as per usual. Finally they had a paid Donald Trump ad that was the former porn stars, played by Cecily and Vanessa. This one is way too overdone, and they seriously need to drop it at this point. Overall the episode was pretty poorly written (other than Bad Girls and the Drake one), and they played way too much on how shitty Trump is, we all know that and it’s why nobody wanted him to host. Tune in next week for host Elizabeth Banks and musical guest Disclosure.
During Tracy Morgan’s monologue they threw to an ‘episode’ of 30 Rock that had his character in an accident. So they had Alec (again), Jane Krakowski, Tina Fey and Jack McBrayer all there to welcome him back. It was really cute, and a different sort of monologue. It was really perfect to represent his comeback.
The first sketch was a Family Feud one where one family was a recently divorced mom and her kids, and the other family was her ex-husband with his new family. I really love the premise for this one, and it really played out well.Then they brought back Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet, one of Morgan’s most memorable characters from his time as a cast member on the show. Up next was a commercial for fake cocaine, to help you hide your bowel movements at parties. I really enjoyed that one. Demi Lovato slayed. Tina Fey made an appearance on Weekend Update to talk about Playboy no longer publishing naked photos. Naturally it was perfect. Then they had a sketch where all the townspeople were meeting in the town square and Tracy Morgan’s character was the only one who would speak his mind, and when he finally convinces others to join in it backfires. This one fell a little flat. Next there was a digital short called ‘The Standoff’ where Taran Killam tries to stand up to Tracy Morgan after he made comments to his girlfriend. But it turns out Tracy Morgan just wants to dance with him. Then there was a sketch with Tracy and Keenan where they hosted a show called ‘Where Is Jackie Chan?’ and they just asked where Jackie Chan is at now. This one was weird, but I liked it for that reason. Finally, they had a parody of The Martian but it was Astronaut Jones (another of Morgan’s popular past characters) that was stuck up there. Demi Lovato guested in this one (and did a great job). Overall, this was probably the strongest episode of the season, and was a fantastic welcome back for Tracy. The show is off until November 7th when the host will be Donald Trump and the musical guest Sia.
Amy did standup for her monologue, which of course was perfect. Next up was a sketch where Vanessa Bayer and Amy Schumer played flight attendants that ended up outside the plane. It was really well written and funny, very much impressed over here.
Then there was a Hot For Teacher porn parody, where Aidy Bryant kept interrupting the sex part of the porn with the realistics of schooling. They had a commercial parody up next for guns and how they’re here to stay. Nicki Minaj showed up for The Weeknd’s song, which was dope. He just killed it overall. Amy played a shitty reenactment actor who screwed up history. Next they had digital short about a hands-free selfie stick (that went up your butt). It was pretty spot-on. They had a community open forum sketch that fell pretty flat. Finally we had a baby shower where Amy’s character was the uninvited girl to the party. Overall, Schumer was a great host, and every sketch they threw at her she killed. I sincerely hope they ask her back to host soon. Tune in next week for host Tracy Morgan and musical guest Demi Lovato.
For her monologue, Miley sang a song saying goodbye to all the people who made the summer memorable (like Kim Davis, Pizza Rat and the Entourage movie). The first commercial parody of the season was about mental illness - but basically explaining that that is the only reason any of the Republicans have run for President. Now there’s help, with medication made only for 11 people. Then there was a sketch where they were all at a 50s school dance and saying Grease-type songs, except for Miley’s character who sang raunchy rap songs.
We got to see our first look at Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, with surprise guest the ACTUAL Hillary Clinton as a bartender who helps her figure things out (while making jabs at herself). Darrel Hammond also showed up as Bill, so our lives are basically complete. Kate McKinnon’s obvious excitement about doing a sketch with the real Hillary was palpable and made the sketch that much better. Hillary then introduced Miley’s musical segment (which she did very well). Weekend Update felt particularly strained. Michael Che and Colin Jost have never had great chemistry, but tonight the tensions felt high. Next up was a show parodying Millennials. Yes, we get it, anyone in their 20s is self absorbed and obsessed with their phones. Ugh. Then there was a sketch where a group of women were at the deli where Meg Ryan faked her orgasm in When Harry Met Sally, and Leslie Jones does her own version of a fake orgasm which is completely insane compared to the other women’s. It was funny at first but then got old pretty fast. Next up was probably one of the funnier sketches of the night (and reminiscent of the Beygency sketch), where they pictured a future where everyone has joined Taylor Swift’s squad and there was nobody left in the world. Then there was a scene about a black woman who hosted a late night show in the 50s in Atlanta. It was okay but the timing was off overall. Finally, there was a video where Kyle Mooney tries to get out of marrying Miley Cyrus. This one was one of my favourite. Tune in next week for Amy Schumer and musical guest The Weeknd. |
