Posted in: NBC, Review, TV | Tagged: nbc, Post Malone, Review, saturday night live, selena gomez, snl

SNL Review: Selena Gomez Shines, Sarah Sherman Steals the Show & More

Published Sun, 15 May 2022 09:07:11 -0500

With Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) and musical guest Japanese Breakfast waiting in the wings for next week's wrap-up, this weekend brought the penultimate Season 47 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. So how did Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building) and musical guest Post Malone do? Well, let's just say that there was a little something for everyone in this one. If you love SNL, then there were some choice sketches & moments for you to appreciate. If you think it's run its course then there was a moment or two you could use to make your case. And then for me, there were two decisions that the writers and show creator & EP Lorne Michaels made that didn't sit too well with me. But as for Gomez herself, she came across like an SNL vet who's been doing this for a while, especially during her opening monologue. As for everything else, let's take a look:

Random Thoughts: "Inventor Documentary" was an excellent use of Steve Martin but it's Aidy Bryant who makes it work (as she did with "Bratz Dolls"); I love Kyle Mooney, hate Baby Yoda on "Weekend Update"; "Three Daughters" was a nice blend of silly with social commentary (and bonus points for Kate McKinnon mugging for the camera at the end); "Guidance Counselors" left me shrugging "eh"; "Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Trial Cold Open" was definitely a take I didn't see coming and it worked (though not to sound like I'm beating up on Mooney, but we might need a new Depp).

We Have to Ask…: I enjoyed the "Irish Play" sketch but didn't it feel like it was treading a little too close to making light of the news that someone posted a video of Jesse Williams naked during his performance in Broadway's Take Me Out when no one was supposed to be recording? And after the "Old Enough! Long-term Boyfriends!" sketch, can we declare a moratorium on the "all boyfriends are man-children that need to be saved by their more-than-understanding girlfriends" theme?

SNL Highlights: From an impressive opening monologue (that we're now glad didn't have Martin and Martin Short appear because Gomez didn't need any assists) and Gomez & Melissa Villaseñor offering "A Peek at Pico" that was spot-on to Gomez & Chris Redd feeding into their "Intuition" in the forms of Post Malone & Punkie Johnson and Bowen Yang & Sarah Sherman putting on one helluva show for the "Baby Monitor," here's a look at what worked for us:

The Greatest Moment from the Episode! But the best moment from this weekend episode came in at around the 2:15 mark in the clip below. "Weekend Update Field Correspondent" Sherman took viewers on a tour of the Saturday Night Live studio… and guess where she ended up taking us? Yup, to Colin Jost's dressing room for a scathing visual expose into the sick mind of Michael Che's co-WU anchor (and his co-head-writing partner). But when Sherman accidentally throws a photo for one of the jokes behind the mini-fridge, it's her reaction to it and Jost's reaction to the reaction that made that accidental moment work and demonstrated once again the magic of "live" (-ish) television. I've said this before but it needs repeating. More Sherman… please? And if there's ever an open spot on the "Weekend Update" anchor desk… just saying…

"Weekend Update": And speaking of "Weekend Update"? Look, I'm not going to keep beating the same old drumbeat after every episode. Jost & Che continue to offer the best late-night political & social commentaries (sorry, Jimmy, Jimmy, Stephen, Samantha, Seth, and anyone else we're forgetting)… at least until Showtime's Ziwe gets Corden's late-night spot on CBS). So while we can appreciate both of them looking to move on, we hope they do it because they feel it's time for them and not because they believe "they've had their run." You're having your run now, Jost & Che… run with it until you don't want to run anymore. Now with that said, here's this week's round of wonderful cringe:

As for Post Malone, we got performances of "Cooped Up" with special guest Roddy Ricch and "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol" with special guest Fleet Foxes that were exactly the level of live-performance excellence that we were expecting (and bonus points to Malone for his brief but hysterical guest appearance in the "Baby Monitor" sketch):