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Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL 50 Review: Lady Gaga Made March a Much Better Month for SNL
With Lady Gaga doing double duty as host and musical guest, NBC's SNL Season 50 got back to showing us why the show's celebrating 50 years.
Okay, so here's the thing. I usually don't like to do heavy comparisons between shows. More often than not, I'm more than happy to move on and focus on the show that's currently in play. But after Lady Gaga pulled off doing double duty as both host and musical guest during last night's edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live, I can't help but compare what went down this week with what was served up last weekend by Shane Gillis. It's not my fault – it's EP Lorne Michaels who keeps trying to sell us on Gillis being given a raw deal and how he was an SNL-worthy talent despite Gillis failing to prove Michaels right after two hosting gigs. But if Michaels is right and Gillis was more than worthy of joining the cast, then Gaga deserves to be named an honorary SNL cast member and an automatic "Five-Timers" jacket.
Since the anniversary weekend, SNL has been a tale of two shows – returning on a rough note, only to be saved this weekend by the award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress, and an SNL team that met her vibe and energy with some wonderfully twisted and obscenely funny sketches and jokes. Why did it work so well? Because Gaga respects what SNL does and immerses herself in the madness that leads up to the cold open, and SNL's writers and cast members respect the talent that Gaga brings to the table. Spoiler? We had no misses and a whole lot of hits – and quite a few hard hits – this weekend. Here's a rundown of some random thoughts I had during the show:
SNL 50: Here's What Hit, What… Actually, It Was All Hits This Weekend
"Trump, Musk, and Rubio Meeting Cold Open": Mike Myers' Elon Musk is becoming a must-see impression, nicely fine-tuned since his debut (with the "Dr. Evil" reference being an especially nice touch).
Lady Gaga Monologue: A nice combination of laughs and applause in all the right places, Gaga came across as excited and in the moment – owning that stage in a very personal way by being willing to go self-deferential in some very funny ways.
"Wonderful Tonight" and "No More Slay": While both were great sketches in their own rights, Gaga and Bowen Yang's musical team-up won the day. Someone needs to seriously consider casting them together in a "buddy cop" film in which they sing.
"A Long Goodbye": Along with some great chemistry between Gaga and Marcello Hernandez, the sketch nails it by being another example of how taking an absurd concept and really running with it will save the comedic day time and again. Bonus points to Gaga for utilizing pretty much every square inch of Studio 8H during the sketch and her musical performance.
"Weekend Update": Colin Jost and Michael Che were hitting hard with the headlines on Saturday night (still expecting someone to whine on social media about the Trump/Bin Laden joke), but the duo may have had their spotlight stolen by two great segments. Kenan Thompson's Kendrick Perkins discussing the NBA Playoffs was exactly the ranting madness I wanted – and then there was Mikey Day's Lord Gaga. Do we really need to explain the premise? Day's Lord Gaga worked because Day committed hard to it – and it was wonderfully goofy in all of the right ways. But the best part came at the end when Day took over for Sarah Sherman in terms of making Jost the focus of some brutal fun. In this case, Lord Gaga went on a rant about how "humiliating" it must be as a man to know that his wife makes more than him (with Jost being married to Scarlett Johansson, who makes more than him).
"Abracadabra" and "Killah": Using all of Studio 8H as her stage, Gaga f***ing destroyed it with both performances – and something to keep in mind. Along with both performances, Gaga appeared in pretty much all of the sketches – and spent the week leading up to the show doing major press for her new album, Mayhem.
"Birthday at Friendly's": Speaking of going absurd to the extreme in some pretty great ways, we were treated to a sketch/cautionary tale about why you should think twice about lying about your birthday at Friendly's (or anywhere else) to get some free food. Gaga, Day, Yang, Sherman, Thompson, Andrew Dismukes, and Ego Nwodim were all on point – but it was Heidi Gardner's reactions that had me locked in and laughing.
"Pip": In no way, shape, or form could I do justice to Dan Bulla's latest edition of "Saturday Night Live Midnight Matinee" other than to say that we hope this is just the first chapter of Pip's journey. Otherwise you really do need to experience it for yourself. Bulla has something really special going on with this series of shorts, adding a comedically darker and more sinister vibe to the show that never loses sight of getting the good laugh. On a night filled with sketches that worked, this might be my favorite.
Saturday Night Live Season 50: Lady Gaga
9.5/10
Okay, so here's the thing. I usually don't like to do heavy comparisons between shows. More often than not, I'm more than happy to move on and focus on the show that's currently in play. But after Lady Gaga pulled off doing double duty as both host and musical guest during last night's edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live, I can't help but compare what went down this week with what was served up last weekend by Shane Gillis. It's not my fault - it's EP Lorne Michaels who keeps trying to sell us on Gillis being given a raw deal and how he was an SNL-worthy talent despite Gillis failing to prove Michaels right after two hosting gigs. But if Michaels is right and Gillis was more than worthy of joining the cast, then Gaga deserves to be named an honorary SNL cast member and an automatic "Five-Timers" jacket.
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