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For the final show of the year, SNL "Weekend Update's" Colin Jost and Michael Che unleashed a brutal edition of their annual joke swap.
Posted in: NBC, Review, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL: Michael Keaton, Billie Eilish Help Make It 4 For 4 for Season 50
Host Michael Keaton and musical guest Billie Eilish helped the SNL cast and writers make it four-for-four for Season 50 in a number of ways.
After last week's show's wobbly ending, we were a wee bit concerned about this weekend's edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live—the fourth and final new Season 50 show—and how it would leave things heading into the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series' one-week break. Thankfully, host Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), musical guest Billie Eilish, and the SNL cast and writers put those concerns to rest by playing up the fun and the goofiness while still finding the time to get some knife-twisters in there along the way.
Between the flow of their performances and their past track record with sketches, Eilish should be considered an honorary SNL cast member at this point – with "Wildflower" and "Bird of a Feather" showing off not only Eilish's skills as a singer but also how skilled SNL's production team is at making small stage spaces look impressively massive. With Keaton, you have a comedic actor whose strengths are equally strong in terms of comedy and acting, and that allowed us to "lose" Keaton within his sketch characters. Once again, SNL works when a host makes it about the sketch and the ensemble and trusts the writers – and Keaton's respect for the words and his co-stars was evident from his Opening Monologue.
SNL 50: Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish – So How Was It?
Though we went into more detail on Saturday night, I just want to quickly say that the "FOX News/Kamala Harris Interview" Cold Open was the opposite of last week in that it felt necessary, and it played to its strengths by keeping the focus on Alec Baldwin's FOX "News" host Bret Baier (in an impressive SNL return) and Maya Rudolph's VP Kamala Harris. Keaton's monologue has vibes of William Shatner telling "Star Trek" fans to get a life (only nicer), with Mike Day, Andy Samberg, and Sarah Sherman joining him as Keaton confesses to finding it weird that adults dress up like Beetlejuice. "Forbidden Romance" worked because of Andrew Dismukes' commitment to his performance – and in driving it into our brains just how wrong of a song Train's "Hey, Soul Sister!" truly is. Bonus points to Kenan Thompson, who continues his masterclass in how silent facial expressions can bring serious laughs.
Please Don't Destroy (John Higgins, Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall) return with "Skydiving," a cautionary tale about the importance of embracing laugh, letting those around you know that you love them – and making sure that your skydiving instructors (Keaton and Marshall) aren't dealing with their own issues as you get ready to jump. "Uber Game Show" sees two friends (Bowen Yang and Sherman) on an impromptu game show hosted by their Uber driver (Ego Nwodim) and his friend (Keaton). Think of it as every NYC cabbie, bus, and subway conversation you've had – with a chance to win prizes (just remember that pigeons aren't real) – with Nwodim adding another character to her lineup that we hope to see more of down the road. Thanks to "Horror Choreographer," I won't be able to watch any "Halloween" films this season without imagining Michael Myers entering a room with Day's free-flowing moves in play – seriously high praise.
Keaton and Heidi Gardner deserve high marks for "Tableside," with the two demonstrating a chemistry that saw them up each other's games as it went along. No disrespect to those in the sketch, but Keaton and Garnder had my full attention. "Shop TV: Halloween Cookies" continues what's becoming one of my favorite running SNL sketches, and that's because Day and Garnder's Rhett & Lindy are all that stand between getting us the things that we really need (that we probably don't really need) and total chaos. Keaton does a fine job as the cookie maker dropping ten-ton visual sexual innuendos while showing off his "jumbo zombie eyeball cookies." Speaking of favorite running SNL sketches, "TikTok" was back, overflowing with as much comedic greatness as ever before. I know I'll need to watch it a few more times to catch everything, but based on social media reaction afterward, it looks like it scored some direct hits.
No, I didn't forget "Weekend Update," with anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che dialing it back a bit this week – but still scoring with "news" about the contrast in campaign styles between VP Harris and Donald Trump. Some serious points go to Che for getting Jost with that Bath & Body Work candle/KKK joke – wonder if Jost saw it coming. New featured cast member Emil Wakim was given a segment to discuss voting this fall as a young person, which also involved Wakim discussing what it's like being Christian and Lebanese. It was an interesting spotlight, with Wakim scoring some solid laughs at times and a quiet uncomfortableness from the audience during other moments. And while she was there to call out the newly-returned Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for not choosing real enough women for its show (and offering a very detailed rundown of who else should be considered – some I'm still not sure I understand), watching Sherman go after Jost again just felt right – especially those moments when both of them couldn't keep from breaking.
Saturday Night Live Season 50: Michael Keaton / Billie Eilish
8/10
After last week's show's wobbly ending, we were a wee bit concerned about this weekend's edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live—the fourth and final new Season 50 show—and how it would leave things heading into the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series' one-week break. Thankfully, host Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), musical guest Billie Eilish, and the SNL cast and writers put those concerns to rest by playing up the fun and the goofiness while still finding the time to get some knife-twisters in there along the way.
Between the flow of their performances and their past track record with sketches, Eilish should be considered an honorary SNL cast member at this point - with "Wildflower" and "Bird of a Feather" showing off not only Eilish's skills as a singer but also how skilled SNL's production team is at making small stage spaces look impressively massive. With Keaton, you have a comedic actor whose strengths are equally strong in terms of comedy and acting, and that allowed us to "lose" Keaton within his sketch characters. Once again, SNL works when a host makes it about the sketch and the ensemble and trusts the writers - and Keaton's respect for the words and his co-stars was evident from his Opening Monologue.
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