Well, everyone. The Christmas holiday is upon us.
The snow is falling (in the case of this year, not really), people are shopping for Christmas gifts, decorations are hung up and turned on in houses across the nation, and everyone's in the cheerful spirit. So leave it to Saturday Night Live 40 to give us a reason to be happy...and split our sides too (probably).
The Christmas episode has been a tradition with the show since its beginning in 1975. Basically, it's just another episode, with some sketches featuring decorations in the background, and the main guest host/SNL Band set and musical guest set get heavily decorated as well. So what makes this better than others? The decor...
AND THAT ONE DIRECTION IS PERFORMING THIS WEEK!!!! YES!! WAAAAHOOO!!!! YES!!
OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! (HYPERVENTILATING)
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! HA-HA-HA!! ...
...sorry, got a little excited. Also, Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams (almost alliterative)
is the host, so that's also great. So follow me as we reminesce in yet another good episode this season...and possibly the strangest.
We start with a special by soon-to-be British superstar Sam Smith (Taran Killam, who surprisingly almost looks like him) singing holiday versions --and then, static--and then, Dr. Evil appears. DR. EVIL!!! YES!! Evil interrupts the broadcast to deliver an attack on both North Korea and Sony for their actions in the "The Interview" shutdown scandal. You know what's happening here.
I don't care if it wasn't funny (yet it was), the fact that Mike Myers reprised his (second) role from the Austin Powers in this sketch was absolutely genius. I expected SNL to do a mocking on the matter, didn't expect this at all. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!
Monologue time.
Amy came to the stage to talk about the joys of the Christmas season, including taking your kids to Times Square and see Christmas Elmo; if you're lucky, the human inside will take off the head ans reveal himself as an ugly balding crank who wants a cigarette.
She later performed (don't worry, this one's good. She can sing.) the Holiday classic "We Need a Little Christmas", with a little help from Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, TKill, Sasheer Zamata
Kristen Wiig returns to help this a little more razzle-dazzle (and a more crazier
Asian-American Doll Pre:
Sick of white female dolls that have all the fun stuff just for being...white? Well, here's the Asian American Doll, a doll made by the makers of the Christie, Stacy and Stephanie dolls. She can do anything the other dolls also can do--as long as it's not stereo-typically Asian.
This pre-tape is so cringe-worthy and hilarious. It mocks all the foolishness of the people who create dolls, their ethnic group and the back-stories and accessories. It also makes fun of kids who unintentionally mention stereotypes about the Asian-American Doll--it's country, academic strengths, and what it put's in a house it lives in (like an Oriental rug). And they made this so brutally well-done. The Gong bang was a lovely touch.
Also, Vanessa Bayer was great as the mom who gave her daughter a doll she will love, but the daughter thinks too much...way too much. (Do these kids watch CCTV a lot? Do they have Dish?)
Christmas Serial:
Next, a parody of NPR series Serial. I've never heard of the show, but from research on Wikipedia (It premiered on October 3), I'm surprised it took SNL this long to make a mock of it.
This episode is about a boy who got a present from a mysterious guy named Kris (as Kringle, meaning--you-know-who). You pretty much know how this goes.
This is a genius take on the immortal story of Santa Claus giving presents to kids on Christmas Night, but makes it look like a cold case crime as seen on the show and 48 Hours. Cecily Strong does a great job as host Sarah Koenig and Kyle Mooney was hysterical as "Kris", among the the other cast members in this pre-tape.
Following is...*sigh* Girlfriends Talk Show.
This time, Morgan claims to be on the dance squad, so the guest is its captain (Amy). Morgan tries her best to prove she's on the squad but fails horribly. Also, One Direction appears as the guy dancers.
Now, I'm not saying it isn't funny (some parts here are). But it's really annoying. Kyra's voice is fucking irritating and Morgan is so creepily desperate for a segment to do (or pretty much anything else), that I can't help but feel sorry for her that she always gets dashed by her best friend for someone she just just threw in because they're more popular. And Kyra is pretty much a slut if her dating all the male dancing squad is any indication. On the other hand, Amy looked beautiful as the captain, and believable too.
I really don't want to see this again.
Office Christmas Party
At an office party, co-workers who came to have fun look ready leave bored out of their minds (mostly because their co-worker DJ Tom plays the Ghostbusters theme), waiting for the day they buy their kids' presents to make it much much less taxing. That is until two guys (Jay Pharaoh & Pete Davidson), pretty much the second-coming of The Dick in a Box Guys, make the wish of one of them (Moyni) come true.
And from there, the boring office party becomes a banging, awesome Office Christmas Party!!
This reminds me of "Boy Dance Party" from last season, also bright-lighty, banging and catchy. The things the co-workers seem mundane but is really funny in execution, especially Carol from New Media (Baby Aidy) getting wasted and crashing into the tree. Becky from Payroll (Adams) was just awkwardly funny.
This was just hilarious.
The next sketch is a holiday special in Cuba airing on NBC in partnership between the Peacock network and
Cuba's own Cuba Vision.
I don't want to say much, but this was more cringeworthy and creepy than funny, with the many Cuban stereotypes that even the writers and producers of the first 5 seasons would blush at (and of course respond by saying, "we can do better than that"). Throwing in Cuba Gooding Jr. (Kenan) just because his name is Cuba just wasn't funny to me. The funniest thing being some Cuban figures being played by clearly white cast members; thank God they look like them at least.
Singing Sisters/"A Magical Christmas"
Three women (Kate Mc., CecStrong & Amy A) are at a bar trying to impress a couple men (Moyni & Kyle Mooney), while the men get them a drink.
I assume those "women" were animals, since they kept talking about eating garbage. Also, because the description on Yahoo! said they made a wish (talk about Spoiler). This was a strange-ass sketch.
And so was the next one...
In the Ten-to-One, a store called Whiskers-R-We, the spokeswoman Barbara DeDoo(?) (Kate Mc) and her girlfriend (Amy) are showing off cats to give for adoption during a holiday giveaway. They also slip details of their dating life in very creepy ways relating to the cats.
This was really creepy, Barbara's voice/lisp is irritating, and the lesbian subtext is sick as hell.
AAAAAHHHHHH!!!
Sorry.
They performed two singles from their lasted album Four...(I won't judge them for the simple album title...Okay, I will; The title is smple, basic and boring. The genius of it all is that it's the fourth album.)
The first is "Night Changes", a song about a girl having fears about a relationship with a guy, but the guy assures her the ship will stay the same, even though night changes to day.
This was a beautiful song with beautiful vocals from the guys, so this was a beautiful performance.
And the second is "Ready to Run"
I love this one more for being more higher in tempo than the last one, but they're both great performances.
Also, I wanna talk about the guys for a sec. They've clearly grown up. Louis look less like a boy, Zayn has the rugged hipster Irishman look (whatever that may be), Liam's grown a nice beard, Nial looks even more polished--and doesn't Harry look like a younger, British version of Hozier?
You can really see a resemblance.
Anyway, great job from the boys, I can clearly say this with no restraint, regret or disgust. Their latest album is really good, and I wish them very well in the future. Now, I really wish they don't break, just so they end bitterly and Harry gets a solo career that crashes and burns as well. Although they can get rid of the skinny jeans; poor thighs need a breather. (okay, I regret typing that)
Time For an Update:
Part One
Part Two
Okay...I noticed some uneven work from Jost & Che this week, as there was a very terrible ying-yang going on at the desk. Michael got the great laughs, while Colin got the shitty laughs.
I feel sorry for Colin. He's getting better, but all I see in him is being a boring, grumpy, crumudgeon who does this job only to get through and go home (Literally, since that's the only thing he does here, since he barely appeared in a few sketches), even worse since it's the Christmas episode and he's gone off the Good list. (At least Sump'n Claus will hook him up for Xmas.)
Moyni showed up as (oh no.) Kim Jong Un...and almost got shot in the process.
Y'know, I get annoyed when a cast member appears on Update for an interview. I get that it's part of the joke, but this still annoys me for reasons I clearly cannot explain. Oh yeah, and Moyni was kinda funny as Kim Dong Um-he's-a-bitch-for-not-taking-a-joke.
Kenan appears as Michael's "neighbor" Willie, an old man who is clearly in the holiday spirit, and helps out Mike, who is a half-Grinch.
Even though it was lower in pace (and longer) than the KJU part, this one was also funny and sweet, and Kenan did a great job as Willie.
Garth & Kat are back! yay.
They are hear with another song involing the last-of-the-year holidays (this time Hanukkah) and of of course it's a weird-as-hell song about
I was only excited when Fred Armisen came back. I only laughed when they botched lines.
Favorite Bits:
"Look, Kimberly..."
Moyni as Kim Jong Un
Kenan as Willie
"...sorry, Ladies." (just kidding; that still sucked)
So, In Conclusion:
This was a weird episodes. Like, really weird. Some sketches But, surprisingly, that didn't stop it from being funny. There was some good laughs in almost all sketches.
Amy did a great job as host, she did keep me interested, and did her very best singing in a couple of them too.
Mooney, Sasheer, Pete Dave, Leslie Jones and Pharaoh barely appeared in a couple sketches (while Beck Bennet didn't appear at all), and everyone else gave really good performances in some sketches and "Meh." performances in others. But I'll give it to the performers for being so popular in the writing department to get so many sketches to appear in. I just find them repeat offenders. I do wish some of the other cast members get at least one sketch to perform in. That way, they don't coast for the season and have people forget who they are. And that they don't get a free pass to next season...
Well, guys this is the last review...for now.
Because on January 17, after Christmas & New Years' breaks and weeks of repeats, SNL returns Live with host Kevin Hart...The elipsis doesn't mean I hate his humor (although I don't love it either), it means there's no musical guest for that show. Which is extremely puzzling. Will they give him a slot for him to perform a comedy act? Did they forget to find an act to line up (which hasn't intentionally happened since...Walter Matthau hosted back in 1978)? Is HE the musical guest (I barely handled his comedy; I don't think I'll prepare for his singing) We'll see what happens then.
But until then, thank you for joining me for the first four Saturday Night Live 40 Reviews. it has been my pleasure spending all of my Sunday making these and and giving them to all of you for your enjoyment. See you January 17! Goodnight!
...and Thank You.
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