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SNL and host/musical guest Sabrina Carpenter got off to a late start, but that was definitely the least of the show's problems last night.
Posted in: Current News, NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL, Sabrina Carpenter Get Off to A Late Start and Never Recover
SNL and host/musical guest Sabrina Carpenter got off to a late start, but that was definitely the least of the show's problems last night.
"We're starting a little late due to college football. We'll be live at 11:42!" That was the heads-up that NBC's Saturday Night Live offered viewers to let them know that last night's SNL would be getting a late start. Things would not get better from there. Just so there isn't any confusion, host and musical performer Sabrina Carpenter wasn't to blame. "Manchild" and "Nobody's Son" took advantage of SNL's production offerings and felt like watching two music videos playing out live, while Carpenter continued to prove that she can more than hold her own comedy-wise.
That said, there was something very off about this weekend's SNL; it felt uninspired, scattershot, and off its rhythm. Usually, you could put some of the blame on the delay, but when you've been around for 50 seasons, you should pretty much know how to deal with those things at this point. Normally, this is the part where I would offer a rundown of the show and offer some personal highlights. Unfortunately, that format won't work for this go-around because (a) I would be here all day digging into each and every sketch and why it didn't work, and (b) there was nothing that hit the level of being a highlight. Instead, let me throw out some quick thoughts/observations/questions?
Was "Domingo" always set to be the Cold Open? If it was, please don't do anything like that ever again. SNL is making its name from its Cold Opens, which hit hard on current political/societal issues. Also, either retire the sketch or move Domingo (Marcello Hernandez) onto another couple because that latest sketch felt less inspired and more like an obligation since Carpenter was hosting.
James Austin Johnson's Trump looks completely lost and out of place in "Boys Podcast," as if he were set for a Cold Open that didn't happen, so he was added to this at the last second. Still, Carpenter, Chloe Fineman, Jane Wickline, and Veronika Slowikowska were spot-on as 12-year-old boys hosting a podcast about snacks and deserve a second (and better) go-around.
Also, the cast and sketches were looking particularly "white" this weekend. I'm hoping EP Lorne Michaels and the team are stepping up their game to diversify the cast because it really showed this weekend.
Leave it to Bowen Yang to still make an impact, even though he couldn't be there live. "Grind Song" was the night's highlight, with Carpenter, Yang, Slowikowska, Hernandez, Sarah Sherman, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and others offering an ode to grinding at a middle school dance. That was one of those sketches that a whole lot of folks could relate to, whether they were the grinders or the grindees. The all-too-real "Plans" was a close second but suffered a bit from overstaying its welcome.
"Weekend Update" anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che did their best, but even the audience was off by that point, and you could see that they knew it. Hernandez's The Movie Guy has pretty much run its course at this point, and Tommy Brennan didn't seize the moment as much as he should have to introduce himself to SNL viewers.
Are farts jokes ever not funny? After watching "Surprise," apparently the answer would be yes. Ashley Padilla gets all the flowers for trying to make it work, and the opening shock fart was a pretty good opener. But after that? It felt like an improv class exercise with occasional blasts of gas.
Martin Herlihy's (Please Don't Destroy) "Social Experiment" was a beautiful disaster as far as filmed sketches go. It wasn't perfect by any stretch, but Herlihy's premise and delivery were more than enough for me to see what else he has planned. I hoped that Herlihy would continue to have some level of on-screen presence and not be just a behind-the-scenes writer. Here's hoping we can see more of what he has to offer.
Saturday Night Live Season 51: Sabrina Carpenter
5.5/10
"We’re starting a little late due to college football. We'll be live at 11:42!" That was the heads-up that NBC's Saturday Night Live offered viewers to let them know that last night's SNL would be getting a late start. Things would not get better from there.
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