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Posted in: NBC, Peacock, Review, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL Cold Open, Chappelle Monologue, Weekend Update Carry The Weight
Between the cold open, host Dave Chappelle's monologue, and "Weekend Update," SNL did a lot of comedic heavy-lifting - and it worked.
NBC's Saturday Night Live returned from its midseason break with host Dave Chappelle and musical guest GloRilla, giving us what might be the one show this season that I might end up rethinking my review on a few times before the end of the season. Whether or not this weekend worked for you depended pretty much on how you felt about three segments: the cold open, Chappelle's monologue, and Colin Jost and Michael Che's "Weekend Update." That's not meant as a disrespect to the other sketches – it's just that there wasn't enough time left for a whole lot more. Between those three segments and GlorRilla just f***ing killin' it with "WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME/LET HER COOK" and "Yeah, Glo!" (with serious props to the production team for making those performances look epic), you had more than half the show already accounted for (and that's not counting commercial breaks).
Thankfully, that time was well spent because all three segments elevated SNL's game in some very big ways, proving once again that the long-running late-night sketch comedy series is as relevant as ever when it comes to being in the conversation on important social matters. If I had one concern – and it's the reason I may end up resisting the episode – is that those three segments ate up so much of the comedic oxygen in the room that I'm not sure the other sketches had enough room to breathe on their own. Here's a look at some thoughts on this weekend's episode:
"MSNBC Special Coverage Cold Open"/Dave Chappelle's Monologue: I won't rehash what we covered last night (you can check those out later), but the cold open did an excellent job showing that it wasn't going to let up on Donald Trump anytime soon – and that it doesn't mind twisting the knife in-house like it did to MSNBC and its addiction to Trump's craziness (though MSNBC has been spun on from NBC News so think of it more as a "parting gift" from SNL.
I know that there are a lot of folks not thrilled that SNL had Chappelle back on as host, and they have very excellent reasons to feel that way. We've called out Chappelle for the previous comments and actions, too. But in terms of his monologue, it may have been his best on-stage routine and one the best I've seen on SNL in a very long time. When he said that he was tired of getting into trouble, I expected that to be followed by Chappelle going off – and he did. But this go-around from Chappelle was quieter, more personal, and very emotional – it was clear that the LA wildfires had an impact on him – yet still comedically powerful.
"Weekend Update": Jost and Che were back, hitting those headlines hard like there was never a midseason break. Was it just me, or did it feel like Jost was getting hit with an unofficial round of "Weekend Update Joke Swap?" While all of the jokes hit, Jost referring to Mark Zuckerberg as "Meta CEO and Puerto Rican gigolo Mark Zuckerberg" deserves special attention. Michael Longfellow nailed it during his segment where he makes the case for saving TikTok. I know we've found his previous segments to be a mixed bag, but this was the one that sold us on what this "Longfellow" is all about. As for Sarah Sherman portraying the original Nosferatu and finding new ways to jab at Jost, if that alone isn't enough to explain why it worked, then we don't know what to tell you. It's been nice seeing Sherman getting more of the spotlight in sketches (like portraying Rachel Maddow in the cold open), with this segment demonstrating her comedic versatility.
"Immigrant Dad Talk Show 2": Marcello Hernandez and Chappelle co-hosted the latest edition, once again spotlighting the differences in parenting styles. It was funny, but not in a way that convinced me that there needed to be a follow-up to the original.
"Evacuation Alert": Tackling the LA wildfires and evacuations in a comedy sketch is a tough tightrope to walk – not exactly "breaking news." Even though we knew where the sketch was heading, Chappelle, Ego Nwodim, and Devon Walker added a grounded sense of reality to the bloody absurdity going on around them as they prepared to evacuate – with threading in the theme of how truths come out at the worst moments a particularly nice touch.
"Police Station": Yeah, this was the one that I laughed at initially, but then realized that the premise we got early on was essentially what we would be getting for over four minutes. For their part, Walker, Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and Kenan Thompson keep it engaging, but the premise felt stretched a bit too thin.
"Pop the Balloon": Sherman, Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman, Jane Wickline, and Ashley Padilla play a lineup of women who must choose between eligible bachelors played by Chappelle, Thompson, Walker, Andrew Dismukes – and Donnell Rawlings?!? That's right – along with what was an excellent knife-twister on the balloon-popping dating set-up also included the return of Chappelle's Silky Johnson and Rawling's Ashy Larry from Comedy Central's Chappelle Show.
Saturday Night Live Season 50: Dave Chappelle/GloRilla
8.5/10
NBC's Saturday Night Live returned from its midseason break with host Dave Chappelle and musical guest GloRilla, giving us what might be the one show this season that I might end up rethinking my review on a few times before the end of the season. Whether or not this weekend worked for you depended pretty much on how you felt about three segments: the cold open, Chappelle's monologue, and Colin Jost and Michael Che's "Weekend Update." That's not meant as a disrespect to the other sketches - it's just that there wasn't enough time left for a whole lot more. Between those three segments and GlorRilla just f***ing killin' it with "WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME/LET HER COOK" and "Yeah, Glo!" (with serious props to the production team for making those performances look epic), you had more than half the show already accounted for (and that's not counting commercial breaks).
Thankfully, that time was well spent because all three segments elevated SNL's game in some very big ways, proving once again that the long-running late-night sketch comedy series is as relevant as ever when it comes to being in the conversation on important social matters. If I had one concern - and it's the reason I may end up resisting the episode - is that those three segments ate up so much of the comedic oxygen in the room that I'm not sure the other sketches had enough room to breathe on their own.
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