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Posted in: NBC, Peacock, Review, TV | Tagged: ice spice, nbc, Pete Davidson, Review, saturday night live, snl
Saturday Night Live: Pete Davidson, Ice Spice Lead Solid Season Start
With Pete Davidson hosting and Ice Spice performing, NBC's Saturday Night Live kicked off Season 49 with a solid opener. Here's a look...
NBC's Saturday Night Live host/alum Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice kicked off Season 49 with an opener that had a ton more extra pressure on it than what usually comes with a season opener. The long-running sketch comedy/music series found its 48th season cut short by three episodes by the writers' strike. Following that, there was the uncertainty of when the series would ever return over the summer as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes raged on. Thankfully, the WGA was able to ratify a new three-year deal in time for the season to kick off on Saturday night officially. But during the week leading into the show's return, Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel and the Israeli Government's response in Gaza have held the headlines, leading many to wonder how SNL would handle humor at a time when the world is mourning – and angry. And once again, the show wouldn't shy away from the issue – having Davidson address the very issue from a heartbreakingly personal perspective. The SNL alum was able to weave a story of personal loss in another terrorist attack into an understanding that sometimes, laughter can truly be the best medicine – even if only for a little while. And with that, SNL did its best to offer us some of that "medicine" with a season opener that wasn't perfect – but the sketches that worked hit hard, and even the ones that left us staring at our screens were "beautiful disasters" (artistic "swings-for-the-fences" that were more like "swings-and-misses").
Saturday Night Live: SNL Pros/Cons, Weekend Update & Ice Spice
Okay, let's get our annoying nit-picky bulls**t out of the way first. Davidson's stand-up monologue was "eh." He's better than the routine we got – with the incest/Game of Thrones topic going on a little too long. It depended too much on Davidson being a "cult of personality" with the viewers for it to work. Speaking of going on too long, the forensic team cleaning up after "Wired Autocomplete Interview" is still looking for the remains of the sketch's main joke – which was beaten to death for nearly four minutes. "Secretary" is a concept that needs to be revisited – the sketch was a little rough, but Heidi Gardner pulled that sketch through big time. Okay, we're out of our bitchy phase. As for "Beach Day," "Roadhouse Bar," and "Spaceship" (with props to the costume & effects team for making Gardner look great), it was nice to have a number of "After 12:30" sketches (those that tend to be more character-driven and personal) in the mix. As for what worked? Let's take a look…
Pete Davidson Cold Open: Once again, SNL finds the perfect way to address tragedy and the role of humor.
FOX NFL Sunday: A perfect knife-twister on the NFL suddenly becoming the "National Swifties League," highlighted by how Mikey Day hysterically evolved his Howie Long into a full-on Taylor Swift fan and a guest appearance from Travis Kelce. Of course, this wouldn't be the last time that Swift would play in the show that night…
I'm Just Pete: Look, Davidson has never backed away from discussing his personal life – warts and all – in interviews, during his stand-up, and in SNL sketches. But by using Barbie as the springboard, Davidson left us with an impressive piece of self-analysis that had us rollercoastering with feelings. But the best part? Even if you think that what you just read is bulls**t, "I'm Just Pete" works on a purely satirical level, too.
Please Don't Destroy – The Original Princes of Comedy: Who could ever imagine the trio from Please Don't Destroy starting out as a trio of white kids owning the stages at the Apollo and Dej Comedy Jam? Only Ben Marshall, John Higgins & Martin Herlihy could – and that's why SNL needs to keep these writing geniuses on the team. Because this might be one of the best filmed sketches in a long time – and not just among PDD sketches. Also, bonus points to Davidson for doing so much with less, allowing his facial expressions to bring the comedy for him this time.
Glamgina: As we're writing this, we don't know if Sarah Sherman wrote this sketch or just starred in it – but it has Sherman's signature all over it in the best way possible. Need an uncomfortable topic taken to an absurd level – then made even more uncomfortable in so many more hysterically mouth-dropping ways? Look no further…
WU: Che Gets Jost Early; Yang's Columbus; Thompson's Deion Sanders
Until we tell you otherwise, "Weekend Update" co-anchors Colin Jost & Michael Che can do no wrong – and they proved that again this weekend. The biggest surprise? Che nailing Jost with two race-related jokes in the season opener – not even giving Jost time to get back into the swing of things. Meanwhile, Bowen Yang continues to be a "Weekend Update MVP," this time tackling Christopher Columbus perfectly. But what do you expect from someone who can turn a talking iceberg into comedic gold? And Kenan Thompson's Deion Sanders was spot-on, with the old SNL footage of the real Sanders from the '90s being a nice, self-deprecating touch:
Saturday Night Live: Ice Spice Performs "In Ha Mood" & "Pretty Girl"
We were big Ice Spice fans before this weekend's show, so all she did was reaffirm why we're fans with two excellent performances. And with all due respect to Davidson – who introduced the first song – Ice Spot got a serious upgrade in that department when it came to the second song. Yup, her buddy Swift popped onto our screens for the second intro:
Saturday Night Live Season 49 Episode 1: Pete Davidson/Ice Spice
7.5/10
NBC's Saturday Night Live host/alum Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice kicked off Season 49 with an opener that had a ton more extra pressure on it than what usually comes with a season opener. The long-running sketch comedy/music series found its 48th season cut short by three episodes by the writers' strike. Following that, there was the uncertainty of when the series would ever return over the summer as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes raged on. Thankfully, the WGA was able to ratify a new three-year deal in time for the season to kick off on Saturday night officially. But during the week leading into the show's return, Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel and the Israeli Government's response in Gaza have held the headlines, leading many to wonder how SNL would handle humor at a time when the world is mourning - and angry. And once again, the show wouldn't shy away from the issue - having Davidson address the very issue from a heartbreakingly personal perspective. The SNL alum was able to weave a story of personal loss in another terrorist attack into an understanding that sometimes, laughter can truly be the best medicine - even if only for a little while. And with that, SNL did its best to offer us some of that "medicine" with a season opener that wasn't perfect - but the sketches that worked hit hard, and even the ones that left us staring at our screens were "beautiful disasters" (artistic "swings-for-the-fences" that were more like "swings-and-misses").
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