SNL 41 Review: Ep. 15 -- Ariana Grande & Ariana Grande

Ahh, I miss the time when I can title a Review with the host and musical guest's name is used twice. It's such a refreshing time to make a joke like that. See also: me posting a review closer to on time. (My apologies)

Former Nickelodeon starlet-turned-Pop superstar/occasional embarrassment Ariana Grande returns to Studio 8H for her second turn as musical guest and her first shot as host.


"It's too bad for them I didn't have my knife on me. I've been known to cut a bitch." -Ben Carson

--

Ariana took to the main stage to perform her Monologue. (Yes, perform--as in sing)
Ever since her incident where she licked a donut in a New York bakery last summer, she felt horrible about her and wanted everyone to shame her appropriately. At the same time, she wants to live a more grown-up life in the public eye and stardom. So she wants to commit a harder, stronger, gets-viewed-by-everyone adult scandal.

She was fantastic during this.
For starters, a discussion with Kenan about starting careers at Nickelodeon (Along with Tkill, but we'll get to that later) was really sweet, and the joke about why he hasn't reuniting with Kel Mitchell was hilarious.
As for the song portion I knew she had a great voice, but I didn't know she had the pipes made for standards music. At one point, I mistook her for Lady Gaga.
Oh yeah, and...she wants a scandal? Well, she got it.

Yes, she did say the word "shit" during that performance. Apparently, Lorne is much more looser with the Standards and Practices department than we thought. Seriously, it's Kanye all over again, accept this time we just do this. That was either planned and acted adorable or actually was real and adorable. Ether way, she's in (a tiny bit) trouble this week--next fewcouple days.

--

The Pre-Tape After is Hillary Clinton realizing that somewhere(--somehow), she's not the most popular Democratic nominee of this election. So she is accepting this...by changing herself to fit whatever can suit her at the moment to stay popular (specifically).

This has to be the most brilliant and satisfying attack on Hillary Clinton they've done yet. She's known during campaign season for changing her stories and stances toward certain things to stay on top.

--
Kids Choice Awards Pre-Show


I love this one. They knew what they were doing with this one.
The unrecognizable child co-hosts with the even more unrecognizable names, the annoying hype towards the show itself, the corny chemistry between them, and of course the wrong times to start the show--from throwing to it early, to the clock counting up, to it working like an alarm clock (the dreaded blinking 12).
This is just great not only for shading the show for the fuck-ups with the countdown time before the show starts, but everything else around it.

Also, those blimps behind Brynlee?

Yeah, they bear the original Nick logo.
Those have to have been given to the show for the skit by Kenan (as he had won some back during his days on All That and Kenan & Kel), so if so, that's awesome.

To say nothing about the fact that the skit took place hours after the actual show, which was obvis brilliant, and that Taran Killam also started his career on the network as Spaulding on the "Moody's Point" skit on The Amanda Show, all of this was on-point.

This is the Best Sketch of the Week, definitely hands down.
--
Mermaids: Oceanna, Cherelle and Shud

If anything, this was all Kate McKinnon being weird, this time as Shud the third mermaid. Everything about this was hilarious. Her getting horny with her saved fisherman, revealing that she has two mouths (one for shitting), and wanting to merge with her saved fisherman. All of this is laugh-out-loud creepy

This is exactly why Kate is so loved. She can do any role, no matter how creepy or weird, and knock it out easily.
--
Celebrity Family Feud! AGAIN!!
This time some of the best actors and directors face off in the classic game of asking the most creepy and sexual questions ever...that month.

(This is probably gonna get taken down, so let me know when it does)
This was hilarious. ALL OF IT.

Everyone gave their all as the impersonations.
But Special mention goes to:
-Ariana--knocking her mock-up of Jennifer Lawrence out the damn park
-Kate McK--doing Tilda Swinton justice
-Beck Bennett--killing his fake Javier Bordem
-And even Jon Rudnitsky with a fantastic version of Martin Scorsese
Also, Kenan is still fantastic as Harvey, who at this point can be funny fucking up any other thing under the sun--like Idris Elba's name or Old Country for Old Mens.

This is definitely the second best of the season's offerings.

Fave Lines:

Celebrities-
"They told me not to do a game show, but I was like, 'screw it, I can have fun. I'm a regular person'" -Jennifer Lawrence
"I just won a MAFTA. That's a BAFTA on the Moon." -Tilda Swinton / 2
"HELLO FOLKS! IT'S THE FATMAN ON BATMAN!! THANKS FOR HAVING ME ON THE PODCAST, STEVE." -Kevin Smith
--
Harvey-
2--"Whatever you say, David Bowie."
"For us, it's 10 in the morning, but for you, it's day three."
"I loved you as the grandfather in Up."
"Whatever you say, big love."
"Show me GOTTA GET DAT ASS!"
"I know exactly what you tryna say. Show me cocaine!"
--
Saving TIDAL

This is clearly pretty much the sketch where a computer glitch almost took down Pandora, but Bruno Mars the shy intern saves the day by singing Michael Jackson and others. This time she doesn't laughably pass away. But I'm cool with the recycle.

Like the original (which itself was brilliant), this was also a very good, very funny skit. Showcasing Ariana's incredible talent--mixing her nice vocals and great impressions with the wonderful talents of other female talents (except Rihanna, that one was meh), this pretty much cements her talent of impersonation. Bravo.
--
In the Final sketch, the nuns of the Nonnberg Abbey have a problem on their hands, named Maria. So they sing about her in criticism of her free, cheerful spirit. That is until Maria herself hears about it, and is furious. So she claps back at them. No, seriously.

My Goodness, I'm gonna hate myself for this, but...that was fierce, on fleek, FIRE and Gone with the Wind FABULOUS!!! Seriously, it's as if she stepped into a time machine, went to 2015, stumbled upon an episode of Maury and came back to put these witches in their place. And it was hilarious AND brilliant.
We all wanted to have something to say to the nuns while watching the film (and a lot more to say during the NBC televised musical, but not to them.), and the fact that the writers thought of putting them into this version of Maria was kinda brilliant.
I really liked this one.

--

Here's a little treat for you.
I've only posted a Cut for Time sketch once, and that was last season,
(I promise I'll do more about that during my move to WordPress)
and since there were two this week, I had to post them here. And both were brilliant.

One of which one again shows off her absolutely impeccable impression of the Judy Garland. Seriously, even the icon herself would be proud. I'm sure she would love anyone playing her.
Also, everyone else did great; Kenan, Rudnitsky and BeckBeen as the actors playing Captain Judy Garland's ship workers, TKill as the host Daniel O'Dance

--

Pre-Tape Time!
The female cast members (and guest host Ariana) are on a mission. A mission to write, produce and sing a song to unite women and provide comfort and solemness to prove that they are in it together for the long haul. But first, they need to write it...and that the song they're singing about isn't it. This is "This Is Not A Feminist Song".

This song may not be about feminism, but it's still everything.
I love how it feels like it, but it's not about it. How the video features all aspects of these songs, like a bunch of everyday women in everyday positions (even showing an old woman's hands). And I love how aware of it all is; "Hey, we've wanted to make a song about this certain thing, but we didn't anyway, so here's a bunch of stuff that are usually found in videos like this.". I LOVE THAT!! And I love how dismissive it acts to be of people who don't agree to feminists' more questionable beliefs. It's brilliant, creative and funny. Plus the female cast members get to sing again, and that's always a plus.
I love this a lot. One of my favorite Pre-Tapes this season.
--

In case you forgot (I don't blame you; these reviews are long as shit anyway), Ariana is also the Musical Guest this week. And with that is its own responsibility. Performing music that her fans have waited way past their bedtimes to watch, squee, fangirl and flood Twitter for in abundance (some of them lucky enough to get RT'd by the show).

Uhh...scratch that.

The two songs she's shilling around during Round 2 are tracks from her upcoming third album Dangerous Woman, which--

--if the artwork is of any indication, we'll be preparing for the invasion of...Discount Catwoman (called HareGirl)! or the goofiest Mariah Carey fan ever. or...the biggest fan of Halley from Astroblast by 10 years.
Seriously, that album artwork is ridiculous as fuck, and should not have been used to show off the record or create this era of mentality that we're supposed to see her as Dangerous.

She quoted of Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi's novel from 1975, Woman at Point Zero as follows:

"They said, 'You are a savage and dangerous woman.' I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous"

and had this to say on the title:

"'Moonlight' is a lovely song, and it's a lovely title. It's really romantic, and it definitely ties together the old music and the new music, but 'Dangerous Woman' is a lot stronger. … To me, a dangerous woman is someone who’s not afraid to take a stand, be herself and to be honest."

Really? Who are you kidding?!?

Janis Joplin is Dangerous.
Lil Kim is Dangerous.
Mariah Carey is Dangerous.
Hell, even Carole King is Dangerous
Fuck, even "Weird Al" Yankovic from the album cover of Even Worse is Dangerous!!!

I cannot take her words about the title or even the quote of Woman at Penn Zero--I mean Point Zero *sigh*--the book seriously with that artwork. It's just so goofy and adorable. Ariana, get out of here with that.

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the performances. Yeah, they were great.
Ariana brought some heat and seduction and charisma to the performance stage.
Okay, two out of three.
Her first song, "the title track" is ... Well...

One thing I can't get past is her wearing a bustier with a blazer hanging off her arm. Just goofy. Like Selena Gomez, she is attractive--but looks so young, it makes me feel like I'm watching something from Toddlers and Tiaras. But the difference between them is, Ariana has personality to her voice.
All I can say is, it's a better single to start with than "Problem", which is just a sucky rehash of "Problem" (Good luck being memorable in Japan! Konnichiwa!!).

I got a better time watching the second song "Be Alright"

which features male dancers dancing like in Chicago!
Or...like the dancers in Madonna's "Vogue" video. Either way, it rocks. Seeing these guys give all they got gave me chills. So much, that I just had to imitate some of what they did, and...I thought I did pretty good.
The production is light at the start and then picks up more as the chorus comes in. I like that aspect as much as that of "Dangerous Woman". Simple and soft, then rough and bouncier.

I enjoyed the hell out of these performances. I always knew Ariana was a very talented singer, but these performances were just great; on par with her last performances.

--

Time for an Update:
Jost & Che pretty much ripped apart Trump and his supporters during their extended joint-joke, which was no-holds-barred but brutally delicious from start to finish.

Cecily appears as a booted contested (or should I say, boozed) from The Bachelor

I love the little aside mentioning Leslie Jones, implying something more is going on between then.

RIBLET'S BACK!!!

I honestly love this guy. He always brings me joy every time I see him. Every time he says "jorb" gives me a perfect contact high

This was a great edition: non-stop laughs, brilliant biting humor, perfect performance from the anchors and a very-missed return from Riblet. I loved this one.
--
Wraparound:
I always thought of Ariana Grande as a very talented actress (yep, even on Sam & Cat) and musician (even on "Focus").
--
ConcluSLoN:
I really enjoyed this episode. This was a great one, indeed.

SNL will be going through yet another two-week hiatus. So

Tune in on April 2, when multiple-award winner--and coolest midget ever, Peter Dinklage hosts Episode 15, with music from Gwen Stefani (Because NBC just loves shilling The Voice.). For now, I'm just fascinated that the network got its logo out the safe area again (If you're a TV production nerd, you'll know what that means).
And with that geeky factoid, I'm Andrew, and I'll see you in a couple weeks. ...again.

SNL 41 Review: Ep. 13 -- Melissa McCarthy & Kanye West

The Cold Open this week features five friends discussing which Democratic candidate to vote for in the next goalpost of the election season. When Bernie Sanders is their choice, Hillary Clinton comes from nowhere to try to accept this.
IN SONG!

This sketch is filled with strange logic and absurdity—Puzzlement on choosing Sanders over Hillary tuned to agreement, Hillary appearing out of nowhere in grand fashion singing "I Can't Make You Love Me", Bill Clinton revealing he's NOT playing a piano, and Jeb Bush popping out of a table singing the same song. But it works. The absurdity is hilarious, the strange logic keeps the skit going without really going off the rails and it kept me on lock throughout.
My favorite parts were when Hillary touched TKill and KyMoo's faces—with the guys trying not to move in their states of not noticing her (and mildly failing); when Bill revealed he wasn't playing piano; and when Jeb! Tried to do what Hillary was doing and embarrassingly realizing that he failed.
Also, Kate McKinnon has a really nice singing voice, even if she forces it for comedic effect like she did here.
Now that that's over...

--

Melissa McCarthy. If her recent films are any indication, she's pretty much Kevin Farley with longer hair and tits. Wait, wrong analogy. She's Kevin Farley with longer hair and...a vagina? Much...better?
She hosted SNL this week with a bit of excitement and joy. She's a new member of the Five-Timers Club! No? Wait a minute...no, she's not.

This is actually her fourth appearance as host, and is technically not a member yet. But thanks to Kenan, she has a little more to smile from. Since she did appear at SNL's 40th Anniversary Special (specifically the Weekend Update segment), that can count toward something different. As in a sixteenth added to her host count, making McCarthy a four & 1/16-time host.
This aspect was hilarious, counting on the tried-and-true gag of the Club being mentioned in the Monologue, last used to hilarious returns in the Season 38 finale by Ben Affleck. All he got was Bobby Moynihan wearing a T-shirt with a large number 5 on it.

The banana in the FTC smoking jacket and 4&One-SIXTEENTH glasses were great touches as well.
That is one ice-cold, good-looking, best-dressed banana (to show scale) I've ever seen. (Which, I guess, makes Melissa...second banana?? [Heh? Heh? Eh.])
Anyway, this was a pretty funny song-and-dance number and great congratulatory introduction for Melissa into her own club of host count: The 4 & 1/16-Timer Club. Good for you.

--

Now onto the sketches of the week.
I thought these tried to be hilarious, based on the talents we've known of McCarthy (an abrasive woman with the knack of being doty and weird, and the inconsistent urge to jump around and break stuff)--and some of them are in some degrees, but others left me questioning my TV habits.

First, "Test Screening", where a group of people get a chance to watch a new horror/suspense film first and later get to watch their reactions to it. This goes as well as you expect.
These are their reactions.

It's clear that this sketch abuses McCarthy's physical comedy skills and basis to shout random stuff. And that...was pretty hilarious. In the way that that's most of the entire skit. There were a couple other great moments, a couple of which come from Leslie Jones ("Man, this bitch is pissing on herself!"), which I didn't expect but very well enjoyed.
--
In "Movie Night", a family (Pete Davidson, McCarthy & Bobby Moynihan) watch the original Terminator film. They later get stuck watching a sex scene.
This goes as well as you expect.

First off...longest. sex scene. ever.
Second, longest. awkward. family time. ever.
Third, their inside thoughts were really funny. The family trying to make the best out of an embarrassing situation and failing hard. All three (especially Pete) did great, along with the people who time the audio of the characters' inside thoughts between lines. That was also cool. This was one of the best sketches.

Fave Lines:
"So when's the last time you guys did that?" AND "Wow, she's getting railed!" -Son
(Also, while writing this on Windows Word, they mistook the sex slang "railed"...with another sex slang "nailed".

Good one, Word. Laugh of the week for me!)
"You know she has dark nipples for a white girl." AND "We are FARmers! Bum-didi-bumbum-bumbumbum!" -Jim
"So. Rubbers are rad, huh?" -Patty (her husband and son's reactions to this too)
The line the son says later about how hot his parents were and referencing Back to the Future. DAMN.
--
"Pick-Up Artist"
At a bar, four women are in training to become perfect pick-up artists. Things go as well as you expect as only one of them fails her teachings in the correct way.

This sketch was just hilarious. And it was all McCarthy's doing. Her creepy wannabe character stole the whole thing. I swear I couldn't stop laughing at her molesting KyMoo's character. (I feel sorry for him)
Also, while I didn't notice it live (I was in bed still reeling from Kanye), a few people pointed out on YT that Leslie broke character. I will agree that it was distracting and stopped the sketch from being funnier, but I just avoid it, and I found it hilarious nonetheless.
OTHO, the unsung hero of this was Vanessa. While almost everyone cracked a bit or straight-up broke, Nessa B kept it cool throughout the whole thing. While the guys (except Kenan, although he prob. Script-laughed) did well too, they only appeared in pieces. She was the hidden gem of the skit.
This was another great one.
--
In "Bus", a white woman wants to be nice and talk about Roots to a black woman sitting next to her. Things go as well as you would expect.

This was a strange sketch. Really strange.
It went from innocently racist humor sadly reminiscent of Rosa Parks to a dumbass reference to Speed. Except the passengers don't survive. There were some really funny lines from McCarthy's white woman passenger ("If this is Roots, which one is ?uestlove?"). And for that, this was one of the better skits.
--
And finally, Whiskers 'R We returns yet again. This time meow-ster of ceremonies Barbara DeDrew is joined by a good...friend.

---

It's time for the Pre-Tapes! And Oh, my God--"The Day Beyoncé Turned Black" is fucking hilarious!!

This is one of the best, most funniest and most genius Pre-Tapes this season.
This cleverly satires the reactions of white people who watched the music video of Beyoncé's latest song "Formation", in which she mentions her roots as an African American woman with her parents' heritage and that she'll never forget where she came from. While everyone was excited to see our Queen's reappearance to music, others (whites) weren't so hot about her return, namely the video which contains real-life issues, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement. Some people (who, again, are white) didn't like the parts of the clip where white police officers "surrender" to a young black boy, the piece of a local tagged "Stop shooting us" and Bey sitting on top of a cop car, which later submerges under flood water at the end. Then came her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. They didn't like it and cried foul, especially Tomi Lahren from Glenn Beck's The Blaze, Andrew Breitbart and any other host on Fox News. But it was clear that their criticisms were not only for naught, but also are very misinformed and embarrassing. Check out Lahren's attack in particular on YouTube and you'll see why.
Speaking of YouTube, if you ever look under the comments of the clip, you'll see some people still don't like it or get the satire of it. Funnily enough, they're white, but anyway...

I'm glad this came about to put the dumb white crybabies' whines in the spotlight and show how misinformed they really are. It's discerning and even pathetic that people like them just won't realize the real dangers and issues in front of them involving blacks and other ethnicities in this country, and just choose to ignore it, or even show their true colors when trying to give their own responses on this.
Oh, on the skit itself, it's balls-out hilarious. The satire is accurate on the subject, the humor hits the nail on the head, and the reactions by the blacks in the crossfire is perfect and also accurate.
The aspect of it being a movie trailer wasn't needed though; take that out, and it's the same thing, but apples to oranges, it's still brilliant either way. I LOVED this one.

"Honey?! [...] Beyonce...is Black!" - Wife (Aidy Bryant)
"Hot sauce in my bag/swag?? What does that mean!?" -Man (Beck Bennett)
"Maybe...this song isn't for us." -Other Man (Bobby Moynihan) /
"But usually everything is!!" -Other Woman (Cecily Strong)
...
"But what about The Pink Panther movie!?" -Another Woman (Kate McK)
"Okay, yeah, she was white in that." -Black Man (Kenan)
…
"What's goin' on out there?" -Black Man #2 (Jay Pharaoh)
"New Beyonce Video." -Black Man #3 (Michael Che)
(why is he still a featured member again?)
"Ohhhhh."
…
"Karen! That is MY daughter." -Black Woman (Leslie Jones)
"Oh, that's right. Thank God." -Karen
"Thank God?? Really!?"
--
There's also one where Kyle Mooney tried to challenge Kanye to a freestyle battle, but that was predictable (although that was the joke), and Kanye pretty much savagely killed Kyle.

Poor guy; never stood a chance.

Dammit, pretty much all of them.

---


Oh Kanye West. Sweet, sweet Kanye West.
You never stop finding ways of making us hate you:
ruining Taylor Swift's moment at the 2009 VMA's, almost ruining (and then spectacularly ruining) Beck's moment at the 2015 Grammys, by saying that Beyoncé is "the - of artistry" and that major award organizations should give major awards to her, the marriage to Kim Kardashian, the album Yeezus, that interview with BBC Radio 1 where you probably pissed off our Lord and Savior and everyone who believes is Him (again) saying that you are a god, and this recent single where you said you might have sex with Swift and that you called her a bitch, proclaiming that you could've made her famous (there is so much wrong with that one). And the creepy part about all of this is? All of this somehow is tied to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé (is he ... infatuated with her? Is he in love with her? He does know she's married to his mentor and best friend?)

There's always a moment where you make yourself the biggest douche in the world. Sometimes I think it all has to be an act to keep in relevant in the public eye, whether we like it or not. Or maybe this has something to do with the passing of his mother?
(If so, I really feel sorry for him.) But I just get too annoyed with him to continue thinking that.

Wait, what was I talking about? ...
Oh yeah, his SNL performance. Greeeaaat. So even more crap.

Oh wow, that first performance. That was shit.
I don't think I've felt more white people feel uncomfortable about a black performer performing nothing about the dark undertones of black history since Beyoncé released the "Formation" video(--dammit!). But if anything, I don't blame them.
The performance, contained a multitude of the F-word AND the N-word. When I was watching live, I honestly thought I was the only one hearing it. It's like it's the BET Awards but no one bothered to sloppily press the Censor button. I swore I was the only delusional nut thinking all that. But as it turns out, according to an article on Fuse.tv, everyone watching the performance heard the Multitude of Swears. And for that I ask...WHY, LORNE? WHY?? Why did this performance go uncensored? Did Kanye pay you, the producers, everyone on set, and the execs at NBC to let you perform this? If so that explains why he's $53 million in debt. But that's still no excuse! Also it's no excuse for him to suck so bad here.
On the upside, Kelly Price makes her first TV appearance in years (at least to me) and performing music in a long time (again, at least to me) during both songs.
And she was fantastic.
Her vocals were truly amazing, and proves that she was and still is one of the best R&B performers of all time. Also, The-Dream was another singer in both performances (I haven't seen him in the music scene in a long time also, although that's for the better). He did really good.

Speaking of fantastic, Chance the Rapper made a surprise return (why I said surprise because I haven't listened to The Life of Pablo--and after this, I don't think I will) to Studio 8H, performing his verse in "Ultra Beam Lights", which was FIRE.
And Kirk Franklin, El DeBarge, Young Thug and A$AP Bari also appeared in the live set. But I wouldn't be surprised if you all haven't the slightest clue who almost none of them all. And yet in the end, Yeezy himself steals the lime...light (heh)...from everyone else by being a delusional ass pretending he's still as holier-than-thou as the man Himself. Showmanship at its best.

And if that all wasn't enough to make your head roll like Reagan in The Exorcist, let's get to the songs themselves.
"Highlights" is just garbage.
At first, I thought the VO of this woman was Beyoncé--driving home his little "crush", then some of the worst lyrics of his career.
GoPro rhyming with Go Pro (the spacing matters here)? Fuckin'. Genius!
Then he drives home his bragging about bagging Kim K as his wife, by dogging Ray J. Of course, he's not rich, but is it worth shitting on each other when you two are fighting over a reality show ho nobody nobody likes, and it makes you two look like dumbassholes?
"Ultralight Beams" is just blasphemous.
It's about how he's like Jesus after his crucifixion. It has a great slow beat, and a wonderful choir performing with a "gives me life" vibe almost nothing else can duplicate. I freaking love Kelly Price's vocals and the verse by Chance the Rapper. I liked this song better than the other one.

If it wasn't for Price, The-Dream, DeBarge, Chance, Kirk Franklin or even Young Thug, this would've been an absolute fucking waste of time. Granted, anything with Young Thug is a fucking waste of time, but still.

Say what you will about Kanye being an asshole in real life (I mean, sure, go ahead-it's true), but like it or not, he does make some damn good music (These two songs are not). There's a reason he's still called a genius. And a dick, but a genius too.

Time for an Update:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Skipping Jost & Che's performance, since we know what they're like now, I really enjoyed the joint-joke on Donald Tramp's incessant interruptions of his fellow candidates at the Republican debate.

Leslie Jones returned yet again to verbally molest Colin and then give a story on her love life. Again. But hey, Valentine's Day!

This was pretty funny. Still some one-note elements thrown in to not make it hilarious, though.

Wraparound:
Melissa McCarthy was a great host previously, and is still a great host here. But the writing tries so hard to hilarious to her strengths. Half of the time...it works. But I got really annoyed with some of the jokes because of that, and it fails.

I hope to see her again next season or in another couple years, and then she will make the Five-Timers club, and there will be a celebration.

ConcluSLoN:
This episode was funny, but not really memorable. I wish another artist was performing and this would go higher in my list of favorite episodes. And I blame Kanye for that. And a lot of other things.

Well, it's probably gonna come after this comes, but in a few hours my review of Episode 14 is released, hosted by another four-time host (who probably also appeared at the 40th Anniversary Show) Jonah Hill, with music from Future, an artist I hate. Boy, this oughta be good!!
See you soon.

SNL 41 Review: Episode 12 -- Larry David & The 1975

Larry David is a rude old curmudgeon. And we love him for that.
When he appeared during this season as Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders, he pretty much not only fit the bill in every way (looks, voice, behavior and mannerisms), he blew us all away. He became one of the highlights of the season as Sanders.

--

The CO features nothing but Fred--uhh, Ted Cruz, despite being an unlikable, uninteresting, strange-looking creature, bragging about his recent success in the thing I shouldn't want to type anymore.

While this wasn't the best CO, this was still pretty funny and very enjoyable.
Taran Killam was still as great as ever as Cruz, laying on even more talent and charm into and out of the impression. So this was his funniest moment since "I have what doctors call a punchable face." Also, Kate McKinnon was just as (if not more) hilarious playing Cruz's daughter. All she did was come in with this weird, stilted-looking face and say "No." in a quick enunciation, of course as she wants to leave.
This was a really good start to a very damn great episode. (As if you thought it wasn't).

--

Larry came to the main set for his Monologue, and felt he had to talk about his life.
And...it's not really good.

It was very good (the Mono, not Larry's life; that sounds pathetic--and that's coming from ME). It was laugh-a-minute and very enjoyable as well. He kept us on our funny bones and never stopped until he mentioned The 1975. This was one of the best Mono's of this season.

--

And now to this week's sketches-which were [SPOLERS!] fucking gut-busting.
Starting with...

"FBI Simulator"
ALL HAIL KEVIN ROBERTS!

I'll start with a couple minor cons:
The timing felt off at times (but that's thanks to Live thing) and the acting at the start from Cecily and the cast playing the potential FBI operatives was pretty stilted (again, the Live thing), but it does give some really funny moments.

But the best parts came from the simulations. My god, that was side-splitting. The biggest laughs--of course--came from Larry David as Kevin Roberts. He clearly didn't sound like the regular schmutz who came out on stage earlier. It's someone spiked sugar and enthusiasm into his drink. And it helped a lot. It's clear that his part in the sketch has become the most meme'd part of the entire show all throughout the following week, and it has to be. That was fucking hilarious! (He needs to come back sometime. If he can appear as Bernie Sanders, he should appear again as Kevin Roberts
Also, I feel sorry for the female plant standing behind Kenan and Cecily. She was just dominated by everyone else. But it's all good. She's a (probably a writer) plant on SNL! Good for her.
Best Sketch of the Week. Hands. Down.

Fave Lines:
Simulations-
"I'M HIGH ON BATH SALTS!" -Old Female Threat (Leslie Jones)
…
"I'm Kevin Roberts, and I'm the coolest bitch in town!" AND
"I'm Kevin Roberts! And I got a very important question: Can a bitch get a doughnut?!"
AND "I just reached second base!...with a lady."-Kevin Roberts
"Have you seen my friend Kevin Roberts? Cause I got that bitch a doughnut!" -Friend of Kevin Roberts (Bobby Moynihan)
--
Trainees-
"I couldn't get a read on the man in a neon suit, holding a big ol' cell phone claiming to be the biggest bitch in town." AND "In my defense, I'm pretty confident that type of man does not exist in reality." AND "Why does Kevin Roberts have friends and a storyline!?" -O'Healy
"Did that guy just say 'Can a bitch get a donut?'" -Other Trainee (Pete Dave)
"Kevin Roberts got in my head." -O'Healy
Kevin Roberts got in all of our heads, dude. And we don't want him to leave.
--
A "Steam Ship" is about to go overboard...but one of the passengers has a problem with the format of the emergency escape plan.

This was pretty bare at the start. You can tell the guy had a problem with the escape plan from the moment you see David start talking. It was funny, yes, but it still wasn't memorable.
Then Bernie Sanders comes in. As ecstatic as it was to see him in the sketch (and this episode), it felt anti-climatic--thanks to both the hindsight from watching David's impression of Sanders during this season so far and the official announcement from his campaign team. He was great.
Some of the jokes were great satirical references to the policies he's mentioned during his campaign.
Seeing the actor and the real deal in the same place was certainly a bright spot.
I don't think this was the Best Sketch (obviously), but I really still enjoyed it.
--
At a "Songwriting Class", five potential singer-songwriters get lessons and advice from their teacher. One of them gives some...interesting choices in rhymes.

There isn't much to love about this. Or even like. Most of the jokes came from David as Russ, but they weren't laugh-out-loud great. Because they have little to say, the other cast members weren't really needed. At least one of them wouldn't have been written in, and nothing much would've changed.
This is definitely the Worst Sketch this week.

Fave Lines:
"In the creek, I see a frog/
Watch as he leaps, over a--" -Jason
"Frog house"
and
"Tall FROG BuilDING"
...
"Buzz, buzz, look up in the trees/
Uh-oh, it's a swarm of--"
"Frogs in tiny helicopters"
and
"The Rise of the Toads!"
--
Peyton Manning and Cam Newton have a special message for their fans hours before their storied rivalry at Super Bowl 50.

Wow, these two let themselves go.

Seriously, producers. Don't you have two skinny black guys in your cast to play Newton?? Hell, even the adolescent is a much better choice. Hell, even Sasheer Zamata is better!
I'm sorry, but that's the only gripe I have here.
The rest of this was really funny.
--
Finally here, a night at a bar turns into some smooches. Some disgusting, nauseating, truly-not-must-see-TV smooches.

I always loved this sketch, but it really feels formulaic (Weird, wasted woman says some dumb things with some drunk guy and then they kiss), but it was creepily brilliant the first time. This version feels like a one-trick pony. But thanks to David, it breathed some new life, which made me happy.

And that blindfold glasses prop is really cool. I so want one.

Fave Lines:
"Hey, Bartender. Give me a Kentucky Nightcap.
That's a Bourbon with a Tylenol PM floating in it." -Ace Chuggins
...
"The seat I'm on is wet, and it is my fault." -Sheila Sorvage
...
"What's your name, sweetie?" -Ace Chuggins
"It's Sheila Sorvage. You can remember that,
because if you mix up the letters, it almost spell Vagisil." -Sheila

...
"You're thinking of a different Ace.
I work as a before model for teeth whitening ads." -Ace
...
"Something is happening here."
"Oh, something is happening."
"Yeah, it's called an outbreak.
And it's time for you Zika viruses mutate on out of here." -Bartender
--
This week's sketches were consistently good and funny. There was one weak spot here, but all else was really good. The cast did great. The most memorable members for me were Kenan (during "FBI Simulator", and "Last Call"), TKill (for his Ted Cruz performance in the CO), Moyni and K
---

Now on to this week's Pre-Tapes, both of which show just how much a cynical and unreasonable grump David really is...again.
First off, "Bern Your Enthusiasm".

Bern Your Enthusiasm
Larry David stars as Bernie Sanders in "Bern Your Enthusiasm."
Posted by Saturday Night Live on Sunday, February 7, 2016

This spoof of David's own beloved HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" centers on his impression of Sanders at a rally in Iowa (seriously should've been New Hampshire, but hey, meh), where he faces some potential voters who don't have time for his honesty (because he doesn't have time for their crap).

I've never watched CYE very much (mostly because of HBO, but also even during its' very short lived stint in syndication). But I definitely get the gist of this.
Seeing David as Sanders is always a welcome sight, but mixing the latter him with the former's show is genius. Especially because we haven't seen New episodes of CYE in over four years.
--

This week's musical guest is The 1975, a British alternative band who...does things that make them popular, apparently. Seriously, I don't know much about them, other than their name, which sounds like a name they thought up during their formation when they got high on uppers and decided to stick with it because years in a name are good enough for originality and hipster-ality. Meh.
Anyway, they were pretty awesome.

I like their sound—clearly modern alternative rock with splashes of retro rock and new wave thrown in. It's
really relaxing even, as the smooth sounds even calm me down for the time being. Even during the choruses.

The title of their latest album, their second--and I'm not kidding when I'm writing this-- is I Like it When You Sleep, So You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It (Huh, charming and creepy), with two songs being performed here--"Love Me" and "The Sound"--being singles from the record.

"The Sound" is everything.
The funk production is brilliant, along with the fun, upbeat, happy vibe from it; the catchy-ness of the chorus (along with a backing choir singing it); and that guitar solo from . All of this make this song great in my mind, and makes me a fan of the band.


Then there's "Love Me", pretty much this decade's "Fame" by the late, ever-so-great David Bowie (at least in production). But according to lead singer Matty Healy, it's something more.

"It came from jamming. We're big Talking Heads fans, big Scritti Politti fans, and Japan as well. "Love Me" was just three years of being on the road and not wanting to soundcheck the same song every night. That riff just happened. "Love Me" sounded bombastic and ridiculous and a bit arrogant and I was like, "That's what it needs to be about. The rock star buying into his own self-constructed mythology." We found ourselves, as a band, being immersed in a world we didn't feel part of. So it's just… love me, if that's what you want to do."

Even though this is the first time I've heard their music, I could actually believe this.

The production is great, with the slick licks of Adam Hann's guitar especially being amazing and catchy, and wraps up the lyrics of cocky-yet-caring self-worth and growth within so perfectly. And Healy's vocals were just as great, as without the backing choir from "The Sound", he can do just as badass on his own. I love this performance as well.


These performances were awesome. Lead singer Matty Healy was superb; but for me, the unsung hero was lead guitarist Adam Hann and bassist Ross MacDonald, who really pulled me in with their performances on the strings, even with everything else being just as amazing for me. It's really the music from the band that makes me love them.

The 1975's second studio album (*sigh*) I Like It When You Sleep, So You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It is available now. I definitely suggest you go get it.
---

DEREK ZOOLANDER WAS ON UPDATE!! *cough* Excuse me.

Time for an Update:
Part 1

Part 2


I loved their "Braking News" jokes on the New Hampshire Republican debate that happened earlier in the evening where Ben Carson wandered aimlessly from the entrance to the area.

Kate McKinnon appeared as Turvy Barbie aka Barb, a discarded model of new version of Mattel's Barbie brand, in which the iconic doll is redesigned to many women's body types to reflect today's women--not just skinny and plastic. She had her thoughts on her being rejected.
This was hilarious. A genius take on the new body type Barbie dolls, McKinnon works the role like she is a Barbie doll--prefect, normal, ready to take on the world, funny and weird. She can do anything as any role, and this rejected Barbie--I mean Barb reflects this.

If you thought Bernie Sanders was the big surprise, you're mistaken. This was.

When I saw them during the goodnights, I was so shocked to see them I dropped my remote, forgetting that they were on Update. That was brilliant.

Best Sketches:
FBI Simulator (ALL HAIL KEVIN ROBERTS!)
Steam Ship
Best Pre-Tape:
Ben Your Enthusiasm

Worst Sketches:
Songwriting Class
dishonorable mention-
Super Bowl Greeting from Cam & Peyton

Wraparound:

ConcluSLoN:
This episode was fucking hilarious and brilliant.

SNL 41 Review: Episode 11 -- Ronda Rousey & Selena Gomez

Well, it seems I'm not a fan of Ronda Rousey and if you frequent my Facebook (and it's clear most of you don't), you'll see why. I never wasn't much of a fan; I usually don't watch any of the UFC events, and I didn't care much about her matches or achievements, the big one being beating Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in August 2015 via knockout just 34 seconds into the match. As cool as it was, she was never more than a blip in my radar.
Then came UFC 193, when she attracted attention for her cruel disrespect toward challenger Holly Holm. That's what gotten me to dislike her, and cheer for her loss to Holm during the event. Which is why I called her a hotheaded twat, and wasn't looking forward to this episode. And boy was I glad for that to end, because it was mediocre as hell. Partly because of her.



The CO features another one-two punch featuring Donald Trump (who at this point makes me forget that’s not the real person in those sketches.) introducing the biggest endorser to his campaign: the biggest embarrassment to modern-day American politics (and a top contender for all-time), Sarah Palin.

As much as it was a no-brainer to
-make a sketch of this
-invite Tina Fey once again as Palin, and
-poke fun at how scatterbrained and inescapable she still is
This still surprised me. Mostly because she actually got to get there despite Winter Storm Jonas blasting the East Coast, especially New York. (Yeah, that’s it)

This obviously was truly hilarious, not only because of Fey’s always absurd mocking of the already absurd Palin, and the (assumedly) fourth-wall breaking reactions from Trump, finally realizing at the end that this was a bad idea (finally, something we all can agree with him on). TFey has always been a revelation as Palin and brings laughs a minute like the biggest and most memorable characters this show has ever had. But now, she fully morphed into her: Not only matching the outfit she wore (shoutout to the wardrobe department for making a ripoff of the sold-out jacket Palin wore in real life by scratch. That is dedication), looking like her in face and hair, but also matching voice and mannerisms. It’s like the real thing is on stage. It’s baffling.

Favorite Lines: pretty much all of them from Trump and Palin. Here are a few.
Trump:
“She’s a firecracker. She's a real pistol. ...She’s crazy, isn’t she?”
"I hope nobody's allergic to nuts, 'cause we have a big one here."
"Dear God, she's still talking."
Palin:
“I’m here for all you teachers”
"...or a rock-n-roller, holy roller, pushin' stroller, pro-bowler with an abscessed molar..."
"...quote The Lorax."
"Thank you Iowa and God bless some of the United States of America."
"I don't think this guy should be President. I'm just here because he promised me a spot in his cabinet. And I belong in a cabinet...'cause I'm full of spice and I got a great rack."
This entire sketch was much more sensical and much less bizarre than the actual endorsement announcement. Which is strange.

--


The cast knows that Ronda isn’t great at comedy, but they know she’s a kickboxer. So, after her showing congratulations to ger former rival Holly Holm (which was very sweet), they made this hodge podge Monologue of different elements that could make the producers of Head proud.
First two commentators straight from a real UFC match (the SNL logo on the mics even look like the UFC logo), then a then throw in Justin Bieber (Kate Mc in a way they’re saying that they know her impression will make us laugh), and a song-and-dance number involving (most of?) the rest of the cast, with RondRous throwing it to Musical Guest Selena Gomez.

Ehh...points for creativity?? This was a pretty funny start.

It’s clear that they were going to do anything this week not to let Rousey do so much live (you know...like an actual guest host), so they give her a couple lines (but not in each sketch), and leave it up to the cast. Good idea, guys.


--

The Screen Guild Awards is underway, and the Award for Best Actor is revealed.
The Sketch After is a clear riff on the controversy surrounding this year’s Academy Awards nominations, known as #OscarsSoWhite. And it’s hilarious.

This was hilarious, seeing the nominees being white “actors” being in random, very obscure roles in films parallel to some of the films that barely got nominated (like Creed and Straight Outta Compton), some of which either never spoke or were never seen at all, and getting more and more obscure as the sketch progressed.
Also, I thought the “scenes” were even deeper slams toward the Academy members, which was also brilliant. (Listen closely to the dialogue of the “characters” to see what I mean) Plus, while it was an obvious part of the sketch, the black cast members gave great performances as “the black actors giving better, more noticeable performances“ than the “white actors”, sealing in such powerful satire towards award shows nominating mostly or only white actors.

You could say that the black actors didn’t do as well as the white actors in the categories. But even that is unfair.

Fave Lines...or Fave ”Reactions from the Black Actors who Didn’t Get Nominated for Reasons that are Somehow Racially-Related”
This secret silent jeer toward Drew MacKenzie

This side eye to Barry Peele

A rejected high-five for Alan Smickel

And Jacob Schultz getting a “what the hell?” look from afar.


This was a genius Take That on this year's Oscars nominations, in which--for the second year in a row--all nominees in the acting categories were white, causing controversy with the Black community.
I loved this one, so for me, it’s the Best Sketch of the Week.
Congrats, honkies. I’m proud of all of you.
--
It seems this episode is recycling a couple sketches; has anyone else noticed that?

One such sketch is the parody of The Bachelor--last utilized in the episode hosted by Blake Shelton last season, this time called “Bland Man”.
Hearing “Hmm...I like this” repeatedly was the red flag.

I’ll start off saying that this a very good poke on Bachelor, as the guys featured (almost all white) are dull, uninteresting guys who also happen to be smokin’ hot eye candy, with the long-haired, harried, questionable contestants vying for his heart being weird/ratchet.
I’ll also say that Taran is a better use of the main focus than Shelton, being a better mock on the show than the country superstar ever was.
Despite this and a couple good lines from the weird women (one of which is Rousey) fighting each other for his attention you’ll see below, this was a very boring sketch (at least when I watched it live), but a better, more meta and accurate reuse of a sketch that was barely funny the first time.
Also, Selena Gomez was in this too, but who cares?

Fave Lines:
“Hi, I’m Dan. I’m from Chicago or Denver--or something.” Dan, Bland Man
...
“I want a guy like my dad[...]...and with the same body and penis as my dad.”
-Contestant #1 (Nessa B)
…
“Can I wear jeans tomorrow?” -Contestant #3 (RonRous)
“Hmmm...no.” -Dan, Bland Man
…
“I’m sorry I got mad. That’snotme. Well,itisme--butI’mdoingabadjobofhidingit.”
-Contestant #4 (CecStrong)
…
“I wore a damp bikini all week. Now it hurts when I pee.” AND
“I have a son. And 5 daughters, and they’re right here.” -Contestant #5 (Baby Aidy)
...
“Well, I’m the black one.” -Contestant #6 (SaZam)
“Lemme walk you out.” Dan, Bland Man
“Oh, you have a sad past. Then you can stay one more week.”
…
“You’re the funniest person I’ve ever met, and I know 2 Jews” -Contestant #2 (Kate Mc)
…
“Okay, then I’ll stay and just be so insane” -Contestant #4
(even her face tells it all)

--
Another sketch reused from Season 40 (although it may be a true recurrence) is the “teacher rape trial” sketch, featuring Pete Dave as a young male student committing statutory rape with his teacher, played by CecStrong. Here, they’re joined by Rousey as another teacher he got it in with. The jokes here are that while everyone sees it as a horrible crime, Daly sees it as the best night of sweet monkey lovin’ every teen boy could dream of. BULLSHIT!!!

The fact that they tried it again didn’t sit well with me, and the jokes only improved slightly. Also, the pacing was crap. Watch the first few seconds after the ”trial” has begun; it’s cringing. I liked the “My Man” part and the GIF text with the quick cartoon bird.
Other than that, this was dreck.
--
Metro City is under attack! As giant metal roach robots are destroy town with the laser powers! It's only up to the Super Crew to destroy the monsters and save the day! But first, they gotta introduce themselves.

It's sad this skit about cast member wearing costumes, with wires, fake metal bending and a ceiling exhaust fan is crappy as hell. No jokes that land, and the pacing and acting was tedious. CecStrong had the humor with the snark to the two citizens about interrupting, but it didn't help. Also not helping, SaZam appearing; she got a line and it was good; too bad it didn't help much. Oh, and Rousey and Rudnitsky appeared...not that it matters.
--
Last but not least the Five-to-One Sketch, the third (or fourth; I wasn't paying attention) live sketch in which Rousey says a sentence. But here it's more than that. Too bad it was godawful.

The jokes were face-to-pavement weak, the timing was really off, none of the characters said anything memorable, and the plot was stupid. This was the Worst Sketch of the Week.
Such an extremely horrible end to pretty mediocre episode.

--

Now time for the more memorable part of any episode: The Pre-Tapes.
Both certainly featured Ronda's robotic acting and fiery kickboxing chops very well.
First one, "Love Struck", utilizes the latter in a super hilarious way.
A new girl is invited by the most popular guy on campus to lunch in the gymnasium. But it's a prank by the popular girl and her posse. Big mistake.

This...

...is the face of a badass.
While the great humor came those punches to the popular girl, the humor also came from the girl--Kendra--getting back up and trying to get deeper under new girl's skin. And failing. The comparisons to Carrie are also deserved.

Also, Rudnitsky didn't deserve to be here.

The last one features almost none of Rousey, but some great laughs from guys ()

Their rhymes are dope. Perfect raps to get into a woman's pants. Beck's, meanwhile are hilariously pathetic. He's not even trying.
I like this one a lot, but the edge goes to "Love Struck".

Also, ending the show this week was a re-air of a previous Pre-Tape: Settl.
Now I never mentioned it when I reviewed the episode it came with. So I'll give it the go-around here.
It's about a new app finding a new guy that isn't a smokin' hot gift from God.

It's a kinda funny app riffing on the apps we all know already: Tinder, Zoosk, OKCupid and Match. I enjoy the satire here, and had some good lines. It's not my favorite, though.
--


This week’s musical guest is one of the biggest pop superstars on Earth.
Such a shame that she’s not that really exciting or interesting to me. It’s Selena Gomez.

For years, listening to her music has been a constant state of question-ability for me. It’s not just her music-- which is cookie-cutter, by-the-numbers pop at best. it’s her. Her voice is good, but it’s also bland, too. It doesn’t give much emotion, substance or excitement. Just the same registers and vocal tones every time. Plus, her cookie-cutter, by-the-numbers pop music is mediocre pop nonsense that exists to either be played by anyone or despised by anyone. She's that divisive.
Her performances of “Good for You”, “Same Old Love” and “Hands to Myself” are proof.
Good”/”Same

“Hands”

The set-ups shows distracting sights to take away from SelGo’s mediocre-ness; a group of turtleneck-wearing guys snapping around her like it’s poetry night in the former two’s medley, and a nice circular-shaped bed she rolls around and sexes up on in “Hands to Myself”, with a male and female dancer joining in in the most creepy excuse for slipping in softcore porn on TV.
Speaking of the bed, I had one thought in my mind: it wasn’t on Selena, or the dancers, or even the fact that they’re touching all over each other. It’s this: “does that bed spin around? if so, that’s so cool.” So I was disappointed when that doesn’t happen.
Seriously, those two side attractions held my interest more than Selena herself. Hell, Selena herself (and her leg) would have boiled my blood too, had she not have the face of a 10-year-old child! I swear, looking at it make me feel like I deserve to get busted by Chris Hansen and get sent to maximum security for life!

Let’s get to the songs themselves.
All of them are pretty in-the middle. ("Good" is about a girl being sickeningly sweet and submissive to her lover while keeping the ego in check, "Same" is an uninspired heartbreak after breakup song, and “Hands” meanwhile has her trying way too hard to be sexual but coming off as stalkery.) Her vocals are dull as all hell, and the lyrics are nothing special.
But the best parts are the beats. Despite the slow nature, the near-minimalistic productions are perfect. vulnerable in “Good”; Soft synths, smooth sensual piano licks, and finger snaps throughout “Same”; and clicking percussion claps and nice dark guitar riffs from “Hands” make the songs tolerable.

All in all, this was a really forgettable performance. And I was on Twitter during the broadcast. I’ve never seen this show kiss up to an artist so much like they did to her, but that was obnoxious.
Clearly they know what they’re doing.
--

Time for an Update:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Jost and Che certainly nailed the jokes this week.
The best were the one about the travel ban across New York City thanks to Winter Storm Jonas, which says a lot about this episode being filmed during the middle of it; Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump, and Trump discussing his supporters' growing loyalty by saying he'd commit murder, which says a lot about him and the state of humanity during this election season; and the Oscars, which says...not much--I could care less about the Oscars now.
Plus, Che messed up a couple times, and Jost was a little slow. Only minor here.


Leslie Jones returned to desk to discuss getting Leonardo DiCaprio to sleep with her, and this is where I say "I think I'm getting tired of this". Her shtick of "loud, crazy, scary, sex-charged black woman" has already worn thin, and is reaching its death. And I'm tired of it. It's always the same pattern--She comes in, she verbally molests Colin, she says some crazy shit about something, she mentions sex, and she ends it with a another yell of something that's drowned out by the Audience. Every time I see her on Update, it gets less and less exciting for me.

This was a good edition this week, but not exactly memorable. The jokes were really funny and the edge just nice.

(Side note - Bobby Moynihan appearing as the “it’s not that bad” guy was good, actually going outside 30 Rock to try to prove his point in a live throw and ends up freezing to death (poor guy); and also making the quick B-line back to 8H later on in time for the “Teacher rape Trial 2” sketch. That was awesome of him there.)

Best Bits:
Travel Ban
Palin Endorses Trump
Oscars
(Pretty Much Everything But Leslie Jones)

Wraparound:
Ronda Rousey didn’t do much in this episode.
She wasn’t in the Sketch After, and she didn’t say any lines that get reactions from the studio audience in the sketches she did appear in. She wasn't as bad as I thought she would be, not messing up, and actually keeping the show going. Her performance was robotic though, and sounded that way too. Yet, it feels like the cast and writers knew of this, and just like the network’s slogan in the 80s, they let her be there. And actually, that’s kinda a good thing.

Because the jokes were actually hilarious--at least at the start. Whether with or without her in the sketch or saying something, the writers were able to churn out laughs then--and I mean laughs I can laugh to. While last week’s show had some great jokes, this week’s offering didn’t make me feel unsure of them, whether or not they were funny.
But I was damn sure it got less funny come after Update. The quality in jokes and sketches drained significantly and the performances varied. While Rousey got to talk a bit more in these sketch, that never helped (not that it ever would). Rousey obviously wasn't great a host, but good enough to reach over dislike.
Sports stars never do very well on this show, and there are a few major exceptions like OJ Simpson, Derek Jeter and the Manning brothers. It seems Ronda Rousey is not one of those.

--The cast did more than they usually did to be hilarious, to protect Rousey from the crap she would’ve received as host. And they did a damn great job in the process. Here are a few highlights:
-Beck Bennett as “Barry Peele/Dave” in “Screen Guild Awards”, the guy who can’t rap or get a girl in the “In the Club” Pre-Tape.
-Cecily Strong sure had my attention for better in "Screen Guild Awards", "Bland Man", and "Super Crew". Her acting is pretty much a Godsend for this show at this point.
-Kate Mc and Baby had some quirky characters to love here, especially in "Bland Man", . Also Aidy had a nice showing herself in the T area. Fuck Sarah Palin, she should be in a cabinet; she has spice and a great rack!
-Also, Michael Che got to be in a sketch--"Screen Guild Awards", which was really great. Such a shame he's still a featured cast member.
Looking at you, not-Seth Meyers.
Jon Rudnitsky was there. Not good enough.

--As for Selena Gomez...eh, got me talking; good enough.
--I don’t need to say much about Tina Fey as Sarah Pain-lin. Let’s just say “She’s still got it.”

Going on a bit about Winter Storm Jonas, it's amazing that this episode still went on as planned, let alone aired. I was shocked that everyone went ahead and got to 30 Rock, being the only entertainment in New York for that weekend. But I read a comment on AV Club that explained so much. Only half of the MTA rail system still went as scheduled, and one of the routes must have had a stop at 30 Rock, even founding a way to get to the offices without going outside. That's amazing. So thumbs up to everyone at the show, Rousey, Gomes and her crew, and even the audience (who must've been just staffers at NBC HQ, I guess) for braving the storm and making the episode as planned. You're all crazy--especially Lorne, but hopefully with Ronda there, Jonas didn't stand a chance.

How Was the CO?:
Like CBS on Monday night in the 80s--Oh yes! Or the lam--mainstream media, heads are spinning from the whip-smart humor, or "Jill" on Chill Pill, or...Danger Mouse--Oh eck. I'm sorry, I'm trying to think of something clever tied to the Open to write saying it was great, but Palin's stream of unconsciousness here is so screwed, it's impossible. And it's a parody. So yeah, it was great.

Best Sketches:
Screen Actors Awards (duh)
Bland Man (it’s really more funny and grown on me in rewatches)
honorable mention:


Best Pre-Tape:
"Love Struck"

Worst Sketches:
Super Crew
Break-Room Party Invite
dishonorable mention:
Teacher Rape Trial 2


ConcluSLoN:
I admit. I was right...and wrong. This episode was better than last week’s. The jokes were better feels to my eyes, ears and brain than the ones in the Adam Driver episode, since I can remember them. Such a shame that episode ended with a better taste in my mouth. I guess both has whiffs of unevenness. Let’s just stop with that.
Because come February 6, probably a better episode will air.

One where Larry David returns once again to Studio 8H, this time for much longer than the CO, as he'll be the host. And you better expect either a cameo from his impression of Bernie Sanders, or one from the man himself. Or both; I'm leaning toward the latter two. With music from British rock band The 1975. I'm just excited for them appearing because of the name. Apparently I have a sort of eagerness of bands named after numbers, one being this one. Weird, right?
I'm Andrew and I'll see you in a couple weeks.

SNL 41 Review: Episode 10--Adam Driver & Chris Stapleton

(insert long-winded paragraph about Star Wars: The Force Awakens with corny jokes and analogies and mention of Mark Hamill that not a lot of readers wouldn’t read anyway here)

This week’s host Adam Driver had a big year for him. After surviving 4 years of moping, whining, body problems and disgusting sex on Girls, along with starring in independent films not many people have heard of, he’s hit the cinema diamond mine starring in the most anticipated film of last year (and highest-grossing of all time in North America), playing the uber-menacing Kylo Ren--becoming a favorite in the eyes of fans, and a new hot commodity in the meme circuit. Just like Mark Hammi--Oh, well, that's it.

Now he’s hosting SNL, and just became a favorite of of this episode for me. Because he pretty much was a highlight of this mediocre episode.

The CO is on yet another Republican Debate (the sixth, actually). And while I haven't had enough of them just yet (just as I’ve had enough of them in real life), this isn’t exactly one I wouldn’t remember (or want to).

Ehh, this wasn’t as funny or strong as the last ones, even if it had the breath of fresh air that is Jon Rudnitsky not sounding like a gayer and slightly more fuckable Andy Dick during the CNN GOP Debates spoofs. I still get a kick out of Darrell Hammond playing Trump (which is probably now official, he’s taking over) and Taran Killam getting the load off instead playing a charming yet still very punchable Ted Cruz (I'm not from New York, so I won't say fuck him for saying their values are screwed up beyond oblivion). Other than that, the writing was weak, and this therfore unmemorable.
This started the episode on a so-so note, and it got more so-so as it continued.

Fave Lines:
“Thank you, Maria Tony Romo.” -Donald Trump
“Canadians are genuine and warm, whereas when I smile, it looks like I’m peeing.”
-Ted Cruz

Also, side note, if playing Justin Bieber hasn't taught us anything…

Kate McKinnon looks VERY convincing as a guy.
Her silent performance as Lindsey Graham was perfect.

--


During the Monologue, Adam is mentioning everything we already know. He’s starring in Star Wars (“and if it goes well, they might make another.”), he mentioned the NFC Conference-winning Arizona Cardinals, and now he's a big movie/TV star. Except that he also was a soldier in the military (I should thank him for his service) and claimed he was menacing.

“Look out terrorists. Adam Driver’s gonna take you down!” -Me

This wasn’t a really strong Mono, but it was still chuckle-worthy and enjoyable. Especially when Taran and Bobby (“Come on, it could be Kenan!”) come in trying to talk shop about Star Wars and getting shot down.
“Where’d you find that suit?” “I made it.”
“How much does that cost you?” “$65,00--$6,500.”
(Sounds like he flubbed it, but if he did, it sounds much funnier.)
and Leslie Jones mistaking him for Minnie Driver.
(You know, he kinda does look like her...)

--

Starting off this week’s sketches:
The Sketch After is a spoof of the NFL game that pushed the show’s start time a half hour later: the NFC Divisional Championship between the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.
The punchline: QB Nobody Jared Schleff getting the life knocked out of his knees. Over and over.

The writing was weak, but I enjoyed the performance by Driver as Cris Collinsworth. He was really good, sounded almost like him and lifted the skit for me. Plus, I thought that was TKill doing the impression, but then I thought “hey...his face is way chubbier than that”. So that was really good. Also good was Beck Bennett’s take on Al Michaels. While he sounded a little gruffer than the real guy, he was right on the money. And Cecily’s Michele Tafoya was probably better than the guys. I almost never look closely into her during an NBC telecast, but she pulled off everything about her presentation spectacularly. Other than that, this was a milktoast sketch which was mock of the game for taking over the timeslot.

Fave Line:
“Aww, Lord, take my eyes! [...] Blind me, Lord!” - Packers Doctor Louis Kavner
-
I’ll get to the funniest part of the episode later on. I’m tweaking the review style in which the Pre-Tapes go after the live sketches. You know to wade through the meh to get to the prize.
But first...
-
Aladdin and his new love Jazmine are taking flight for their first encounter as more than strangers on his flying carpet. But things go waaaaaay less than planned. (Poor Jazmine.)

This was a really strange sketch.
First, that bird flew too slow to be not noticed before hitting Jazmine. Chehh, that was crappy. (#PropDeptFail)
Second, this sketch went from...whatever time period in India the film took place in to our time really fast (granted, the film was anachronistic as hell, so that’s a good point).
Third, that airplane toilet sewage must’ve been toxic, since it caused a hole in the carpet. Don’t worry, it was hilarious. And that it made me think it caused the change in plans to land. Genius.

Mainly, this looks like something Lorne and the producers would save for the end just before 1am. But I think since this ep was held back from that NFL game, I’m sure they pushed it to the beginning. Also, Beck Bennett and Leslie Jones did great as the air controllers. They gave some really good performances and jokes, and Jones actually acts like her role, and not a crazy black woman.
This wasn’t great, but I liked it enough.
--
And now aversion of “America’s Funniest Home Videos”--with cats! With a quirky, yet manic host and his guests, French women wanting to do a French version. This oughta be good.

This sketch was hilarious, and the French hostesses made it extremely funny. The characterizations put together by Cecily and Kate Mc were spot-on, and exemplify the behaviors and mannerisms of most of the French--dull disposition and death humor. Plus, Cecily actually speaks French, so that’s a major plus. As for Driver, he did great acting like a weird, stymied host with a close-to-snapping.
The clash in nationality humor displayed here-America’s cute, quirky, super-sweet humor and France’s (assumed) dark, morbid death-minded humor-is spectacular; and the three members of the sketch played the representations very well and made me laugh so hard.
This is the Best Sketch of the Week.

Fave Lines:
“Hey there! I’m Finn Reynolds, not Raynal-Beads. I don’t know many times I had to throw a fit about that. I confronted so many people, someone’s responsible and that just doesn’t happen! HEY GUYS!!” and
“Yeah, those panties will look great on that pussy’s booty.”-Finn (traitor!) Reynolds
“This cat has neurological disorder. She cannot gauge distance between herself and the couch(window).” -FH2
“Boy-yoy-yoing. This cat is certainly dead. [???] That is death spasm.” -FH1
“Quite a workout. This cat is also [chuckle] dead. This cat is in his death costume.” -FH2
“[???] This egomaniac cat just walked into a TV(aquarium); will not go back to same.” -FH1
“Boy-yoy-yoing.” -Both Hostesses
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“Just pack your junk, Raynal-Beads!” -AFC Producer
“Boy-yoy-yoing.” -Both Hostesses
-
Chris Stapleton, Update and a tribute to David Bowie by Fred Armisen Coming Up.
-
But first…
At a high school, two representatives from a prevention group talk with some students about the worst kind of social and mental disorder...Social Puppeteering. The students are...more excited.

This wasn’t a particularly strong sketch, but there were a few jokes I really liked.
Also, Jon Rudnitsky appears here. But you probably wouldn’t notice much.
Oh and by the way, the stopsocialpuppeteering.org website mentioned? IT EXISTS.
This website exists by way of a subpage on the show’s website on NBC.com. It’s amazing.
Great job to the staff for making a great effort to make the sketch closer to a real-life entity.
-
And finally, another sketch I'm so glad is returning.
The sketch about porn where a girl pops up. In this edition, a doctor helps a Soccer player with an injury. But things get even more painful when...that girl...shows up.

The acting is still stiff and wooden (geddit?), and Baby Aidy's character is still hilariously blissfully clueless about the whole ordeal. While it's not as strong as the last one ("But that's still a D+" still leaves me breathless), this is still funny on it's own, and carries on the proud tradition . Plus, the "production" looks more improved here, with the crap lighting and camera work. I really want this to appear more; maybe one more time before the season ends. Yeah, that'l be juicy.

Fave Lines:
"Good point; I'm convinced. Let's do sex." -Soccer Player #69
-
"I graduated Best Top in my class." -Dr. Rockhard
-
"...She has Blue Cross." -That girl
"And I have Blue Balls." -Soccer Player #69
"Uh-Oh! You need 50 CC's of boner, stat." -Dr. Rockhard
"Wow. All this medical talk is going right over my head!" -That girl
-
"[...]so thanks for squeezing me in."
"I love to squeeze things in"
...
"I know you're jam-packed in."
"About to be." -Dr. Rockhard
...
"Okay. Well, I'll get out of your hair."
"I don't have any hair." -Dr. Rockhard
-
"Oh F" and "F Yeah" -that's just hilarious

--

And now for the Pre-Tapes of Episode 9, both of which were some of the most hilarious of the season so far. One was a worthy spoof of both Star Wars and Undercover Boss, and the other was a great take on time after the Golden Globes, with a nice balance of comedy and light drama.

First up, we all know Kylo Ren is the evil, menacing, diabolical (and possibly lemon-scented) villain of The Force Awakens. But what if he (and the producers) had the great idea of him pretending he was one of his workers, seeing what could be--as in what his workers think of him?
Well, this leads to this episode where Ren--ugh...Matt investigates the crew’s work and thoughts of him.

Driver give a perfectly hilarious take on Ren, showing him as a butt-hurt stick-in-the-mud when his workers reveal what we all know he was--a horrible villain, and a crap boss. Also, the reactions from Moyni and TKill’s characters were really funny as well, knowing that “Matt” is actually Ren.

And now to this:

I loved the main performances here:
Kate Mc and KyMoo give amazing performances of precocious kids bewildered of their parents disappearance and are closely awaiting return home. I loved the warm, homely feel from their segments and their chemistry is effervescent. It’s like they’re Dipper and Mabel Pines pre-Gravity Falls...if they weren’t twins.
On the other side, Nessa B. and Driver were hilarious as the couple getting a little too excited about the Globe wins, treating them as a better value to them than their children (although it has to be the coke, though) and getting to meet Liev Schreiber after the male sneaks a peek at his dick. This was a very hilarious take on already one of the most loose awards show of them all.
-

Okay, so I’ve mentioned before that I love when “SNL” invites relatively new artists to the stage, which is great so I can listen to new music I would love for years to come...and then forget as soon as the review’s posted. This time it’s Chris Stapleton, a rock-country artist, that I first thought was Bray Wyatt taking time off from beating up and creeping out people at the WWE and starting a side-job in music, like Chris Jericho. But nope, he’s his own person. But he’s still cool. And his performances were just awesome. The production has a great, country sound with a nice touch of rock. And Chris’ vocals sound perfectly rugged with a soft heart intertwined. And his sound is like country. And I’m talking real, true, genuine country, not like the crap we hear today.

Here’s “Parachute”, which has a very catchy production in the chorus with a rough exterior and a sweet humble interior, courtesy of the organ and other instruments in the background.

And finally, “Nobody to Blame”, a more slower and heartbreaking. I love this one here because of Stapleton’s performance, especially where he hits the high notes surprisingly well under his rough low vocals. And the sound is actually great for a song like this; the emotion is conveyed organically and genuinely. That is one thing that makes the song great.

I’m not a fan of country, but his music is great enough for me to get more into it more. This guy is an awesome artist bringing real country back to the genre, and I like him alot (and not just for that). His debut album Traveller, which is nominated for 2 Grammy Awards (Best Country Album AND Album of the Year), is available now. This is well-deserved.

Best Sketches:
America’s Funniest Cats
“...Stuck in My Butt 4” aka Porn Doctor
honorable mention:
Aladdin (wasn't a fan of Driver's singing, but that was the only gripe)
-
Best Pre-Tape:
Golden Globes
(for the perfect contrast of hilarity between the couple acting like idiots while coked up and wasted, while their kids are humbly resting, fearing f their lives and thinking about their parents’ return from the event. The background music helps. And Liev Schreiber making a cameo at the end was great.)

Worst Sketches:
NFL Playoff
Social Puppeteering

Wraparound:
Do you guys at least once mistook Driver for Taran Killam? I did. In Every sketch. Seriously, when he’s not talking normally (as in pretty close to deep), he really sounds like Taran, and I think that's him in the first few seconds.

Anyway, he was a really great host. He was game for whatever the writers threw at him and made the sketches entertaining...enough to watch without changing the channel. They were dull, but he was sharp. He doesn't have much range, but he made up for that with some really nice energy, charm, humor and charisma to pull us over until the end, even if the writers’ room weren’t exactly above solid this week. I really couldn't wait for the episode, but I never realized the reason was him, and I'm glad for that.

As for the cast:
Cecily was certainly the star of this week. She did the best in terms of performances: Her Michele Tafoya in "NFL Playoff"; The un-excited acting as Jasmine reaction to the titular character’s proclaims in "Aladdin"--along with her singing; and the dull, emotionless personality of one of the French hostesses in "AFC" and the performance in "Social Puppeteering". She really pulled the best out of the cast, and she deserved to be noticed,

Jon Rudnitsky barely appeared, and for all his worth, it wasn’t worth it.
Also, Sasheer Zamata didn’t appear at all.

Also, Leslie Jones appeared more than usual, and it was pretty good to see that.

Plus, I really enjoyed Chris Stapleton’s performances. While he is a relative newcomer I probably won’t remember as soon as I will have posted this review, his music surely was a pick-me-up. The country rock sound and lyrics are fantastic and are reason you should give him a try. Great artist.

ConcluSLoN:
While I enjoyed the episode, I feel like I was afraid to say this. I enjoyed almost all of the episode, but it felt too overwhelming to be great. The writing is really good, but felt not good at all; The performances were very nice, but the writing showed its true colors through that; and I really wanted laugh at this, but the material makes me strongly chuckle at best.
This was a pretty good episode. Just one I wouldn't remember a lot.


Maybe next week's episode would meet the same fate.
Ronda Rousey, one of the hottest new fighters of the UFC and one almost overrated woman is hosting. And Selena Gomez is the musical guest. ...see, forgettable.
See you next week!