Now, you know Taraji P. Henson is known as a wonderfully talented actress. She can act in comedy AND drama very well, and has done big wonders in both film and TV as well, being a breakout on Person of Interest and red-hot hit of the season Empire. If there's anyone who should be known for her talent (and sex appeal, too; let's get that out of the way), it should be her.
The Cold Open begins at the compound of Bill and Hillary Clinton, where the latter (Kate McKinnon, flawlessly and effortlessly), along with help from her assistant (Vanessa Bayer), prepare for her big announcement of becoming a candidate for President in the 2016 Election.
I won’t have much to say about Kate McK’s performance, but that it was awesome and that she nails the impression amazingly. I eagerly await what will happen in the next two seasons when she plays Clinton again during Election season. As for Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton, he really returned to form here and never missed a beat. It’s good that Lorne kept the current announcer handy just in case. Nessa B also did pretty good as the assistant. This was a great CO, so with that, LIVE FROM PHILADELPHIA, IT’S SUNDAY--i mean, MONDAY NIGHT!!
After the open, Taraji comes to the stage to do the Monologue. During it, she mentions Empire (as expected), and talks about how grateful she is to have been in show business for over 20 years. She then turns it into a song number about what would’ve happened had she not gotten the chance to act on the silver and small screens. And it was great
Man, Taraji can SANG! And has the talent to talk during a song like she’s in church.
I also liked some of the cast member’s responses (especially Kenan’s, in which he mentions Good Burger [which, to me, is not that bad of a film], Kate Mc (for some reason) and LesDogg’s [who really looks like she could make some woman her bitch in jail]). A really good Mono, and it makes me appreciate song number Mono’s now.
The Pre-Tape After asks the important question: Do you wear your Depends? If you refuse, will you wear Depends Legends? (Seriously?)
I honestly didn’t care for this one. It was too weird for me; and not the weird SNL has been known for (especially in the entire 2000s), but the weird that wouldn’t look out of place on MadTV.
In the next sketch, HLN is covering a courtroom case on an inappropriate sexual relationship between teacher Janet Johnson-Luna and her student Gavin Daly.
This was a really good sketch, parodying HLN for its over-reliance on courtroom cases. Also, Henson did great in a more dramatic role as Daly's mother's lawyer. Also, Pete Davidson fits the role of the teenage student well. Mostly because he's barely a teenager anymore.
DreamWorks Animation has hit success with its latest film Home. So of course the film is getting a sequel--Home 2. In this “First Look”, the cast (Jim Parsons and Rihanna with some other people) has expanded to include Hip-Hop stars including Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar and Rick Ross, along with Sofia Vergara and two odd choices.
Having Taraji play Nicki was a nice change of pace (mostly because Sasheer Zamata is already playing Rihanna), and she played really well; she emphasized on Minaj’s hyper behavior and voice and made it funny. Also, TKill and Cecily were also the best parts with their impressions of Parsons and Vergara. It wasn’t great, but still got the job done.
And another thing, you can’t make a film so quickly after the first one was released, unless you wanna make it look like something out of Video Brinquedo.
On QVC, actress-turned-designer Claudette Fontaine appeared with its host (Taraji P.) to talk about her clothing line: a 3-way poncho. But she can’t tell a thing about the three ways.
I’m just leaving this here.
If you wondering why I put this there is because when I read “the 3-way poncho” on Yahoo!, I immediately thought of this. Maybe some writers watched this one day on non-Big 3 stations, or on Ion Television late one night, or on YouTube, and immediately found funny. Was it the shirt, was it Suzanne Somers’ over-modeling of the shirt, or was it the background music that clearly sounds like the incidental music on Glee? Either way, had this happened, this was an interesting muse for the skit.
Back to the skit itself, Kate McK does a great job as Fontaine, a seemingly washed-up singer turned desperately-clinging-to-fame fashion designer with ease, along with Henson as the QVC host, in what I think is a parody of such, who acts a little too happy and excited to be around nice, expensive, sometimes un-needed products, and are only this way for the paycheck (and if they’re lucky, some of the products themselves). Another thing, did Montaine watched Miss Trash 2015 on TV and liked Miss Delaware’s performance so much, that she hired her as a model here? That’s what I see here.
No disrespect to Baby Aidy, but really, that’s what I see.
This was one of the weaker sketches of the ep, and would’ve be even weaker had Kate Mc not appeared in the sketch (although I can’t see how any of the other female cast members could pull off “old lady with a washed-up attitude and creepy leer” like Lori Beth Denberg on All That, there’s a plus.)
I’ll get to Mumford & Sons’ performances in a moment.
First, Hollywood Game Night is back!! And after so long (the last time was in Episode 3 Hosted by Bill Hader). This time around, host Jane Lynch tries to keep her sanity in check while around these celebrities: Vin Diesel (TKill), Wynonna Judd (Aidy) and Common (Pharoah), whom are playing against Nick Offerman (Beck Benn--YES!!), Marion Cotillard (CecStrong) and Wanda Sykes (Henson).
Because the celebrities matter more than the civilians here.
Kate Mc really returns to form as Lynch, as hot, funny and cross-dressing-ly as possible.
Also, my favorite part has to be Beck also returning to form as Offerman. Seriously, he does it so well, it’s like the real deal is there. Anyway, this was a fine sketch and everyone did great. It's great to see this sketch back after a while, and I enjoy it very much.
I do wish he was chosen to talk more than TKill's Vin Diesel, which wasn't all that impressive, as was Henson's Wanda Sykes. Woman tries so hard to yell like her.
They actually brought this back. I don’t know why, but they did. Somehow this makes sense.
Vlog Two/How 2 Dance with Janelle To
Anyway, this segment was pretty meh; pretty much so, compared to the last one in Ep. 5 Hosted by Chris Rock. At least that one was interesting. Janelle is fine, but not great character, even if it gives SaZam some screentime, Teddy (KyMoo) is dull, but he did get a few laughs out of me. I really hoped that Taraji would be the saving grace as Janelle’s mom, and she was. This was one of the weaker sketch of the show, but does beat out the QVC sketch by a hair..
Well. I knew this was happening. It’s still funny nonetheless.
If you’re not an Empire fan, you must admit, the Muppets’ reactions to Cookie was priceless.
If you are an Empire fan, you know this Laugh-Your-Ass-Off hilarious. And if you’re a Sesame Street fan...well, I don’t blame you for Elmo’s sudden and untimely demise, thanks to Cookie’s indulgence for out-of-style fashion sense.
I also want to praise the characters and puppeteers for appearing in the sketch. The participation was amazing. All of the Muppets that appeared really did put a smile on my face. Not bad for a show that at first hated Muppets for having their own sketch.
Cinema Classics returns with host Reese De’WHAT! (Kenan) presenting another film gem that not many really remember, "Their Own League", a movie made during the Baseball origin story boom of the 80s. In it, a group of women (pretty much all of the white female cast members...and Moyni...for the aforementioned reason) try to please their coach (TKill) in the hopes that they’ll play baseball. Then, two black women (Henson and LesDogg) ask to join.
You can see where this goes.
This was an alright sketch. It got some laughs out of it. It was also predictable, what with the obvious racism jokes, but they were pretty chuckle-worthy.
The Five-to-One (can remember the last time I used that) is an odd one, even by their standards. (But hey, SNL is known for odd, so this’ll pass). It’s called Connectatron, which pretty much looks like Video Brinqueto’s shitty version of Transformers, Megaman, Voltron and Power Rangers rolled together. But somehow, this had an interest on me.
The members of the crew (Usual Guys 1 & 2 Usual Girl #2 Cecily [Kate Mc is pretty much UG #1 at this point] and Pharoah) are ready for a fight from the evil Shark . But the fifth member Mavis (Taraji) doesn’t want to help, because she feels the others are treating her like crap, and becomes the biggest ghetto bitch ever with her responses.
I didn’t find this hilarious, but there were some good jokes. I found the ripoff elements to be absurdly delightful and the set was absolutely amazing for a tiny part of a studio in a New York City building high above the ground. I also found TKill’s voice absolutely annoying. But since this is the tone I hear every time he appears on screen (which is every week in every other sketch), I learn to get through it. So yeah, on paper this was a great.concept, and the execution of everything else was very good, but this still was a mediocre sketch to end the show on.
This week’s musical guest is Mumford & Sons, a folk-rock band that has been heating up the mainstream for the past few years with their hot tracks and impressive string work. I’ve heard a few of their songs, my favorite being “Little Lion Man”; and I’ve become really impressed with their music.
So for their first SNL appearance, they just had to start with a bang, right? HELL YEAH!!!
Their first song, “The Wolf”, is just freaking awesome. The guitar work just blows me away and their vocals is soothingly wonderful. Just from the top, it just gets me in the mood of bopping my head like I’m in the mosh pit at their concerts. I love this performance so much it makes me feel like I want to watch it every day for the rest of my life. But I won’t, because then I’d stop almost immediately. You can tell that it was a great performance when the Audience pops hard immediately after the last lick of music.
Their last song “Believe” is the complete opposite in the scale of sound. It’s a softer, quieter and soothing song that could take you to another world of bright lights and flying angels, even if you're still awake. I love this just as much as ”Wolf” for being completely different in sound and tone. I can't wait for their next album in a few weeks, and I should listen to more of their music. Seriously, it's fantastic.
Time for an Update:
Part 1:
Part 2:
You know, what’s the point of putting in 50 more words about this segment?
They’ve gotten much better and I actually laughed at the jokes. That should be enough, right?
Cecilia Gimenez, the woman who created the crappy Jesus painting, returned to give her thoughts on the Lucille Ball statue in Upstate New York that went viral for scaring everyone that comes in contact with. Her thoughts are just this: “I’m so glad my painting is so much better that that crap statue”. The mentions of the Comedy legends whose statue
Jacob the (Several-Years-Long) Bar Mitzvah Boy also returned for another long-arse list of thank you’s to, and jokes about, every who’s been a part of his family’s lives. And of course he ignores the anchor’s questions like a dick, before going back to them. But the reason he's here with his Jewish-stereotypiscal jokes is because he's here with his dad (BILLY CRYSTAL).
I’m sorry, but whoever online thought that Billy Crystal “stole the show” is a Goddamn liar. The jokes he had as Jacob’s father was just as corny as hell as Jacob’s. (But Jacob has the advantage of being a boy, so he’s fine.) I mean he reads like a child just barely illiterate. Plus the second time the Audience applauded was just pretentious. It’s no wonder Michael gets annoyed with them at his podiatrist office.
This was a fine Update. The jokes were really good, and Kate McK’s turn as Gimenez was way funnier than Jacob the Dry Shade bot and I-Think-I’m-Funny-So-Laugh-at-Me father, despite what the editors at the TV show website were paid to tell you.
How Was the CO?
Like Hillary Clinton, Ready for Elections
Best Sketches:
Cookie on Sesame Street
Hollywood Game Night
How 2 Dance with Janelle To (this one squeaked past for being really funny at the end)
Honorable Mention
Worst Sketches:
The Rest of Them
On my thoughts of Ms. Henson as host, she was very good, and did everything she could that the scripts told her to. But she wasn’t that great as I thought she would be. And I hope this episode would begin a big rebound by the writers to end the season on a higher note. But after watching this, it seems that it’s gonna take a while before they actually reach treble.
This was an overall middle-of-the-road episode. The were a few good sketches, but even then, they weren't really strong. But hey, after last week’s episode hosted by Michael Keaton, this is no way they could capture lightning in a bottle twice in a row. Taking that option away, it seems like some of the episodes I’ve reviewed this season. It was very mediocre and the hosts try their best, but it doesn’t help. Also, ironically, Weekend Update was the best of the best, and it’s clear that the writers have listened to everyone’s cries/whines (mine included) to be better and they have gotten better.
As for the cast, they've all did their best, but the writing just didn't help with their performances this week. Also, Kate McK clearly is becoming the Usual Girl of the sketches. But in this case, I really don't mind. The characters she play are hilarious, her impressions are mind-blowing and her delivery is just fantastic. Unlike Moyni and TKill (where outside of impressions, they could've gotten any of the other cast members to play characters), they have only one woman to play some of these characters right, and it's Kate, and she plays them very well. I really hopes she stays a long while, while also hoping Lorne and the producers doesn't treat her the same way the treated Kristen Wiig during her tenure as cast member.
Well, yeah. This was frustratingly mediocre and I don't think I'll ever see this one again soon.
SNL will return on May 2, when Scarlett Johansson returns to Studio 8H as host for the fourth time. Hopefully with another long-ass hiatus, the writers can recharge itself and pop out another hot one. That or the cast of Avengers: Age of Ultron will make a cameo in the Monologue and a sketch parodying the film. Either way, I'll be a very happy man. See you then!!
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