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SNL Second-Guessing: Wiig, Dismukes Absurdly Great in "Jumanji" Sketch

In this edition of SNL Second-Guessing, we look at the absurd greatness of Kristen Wiig & Andrew Dismukes in the "Jumanji" sketch and more.

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Welcome back to this weekend's edition of "SNL Second-Guessing," with this go-around taking a look at Season 49 Episode 16, with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest Raye. Here's how it works. With NBC's Saturday Night Live only months away from its milestone 50th season, there's going to be a lot more going on than usual, so we're keeping our coverage active. In between the updates, we're running a weekly series where we look back at the episode that's being repeated that weekend and note a sketch that we've either grown to appreciate more since we first checked it out or a sketch that maybe we loved but didn't show enough love to in the review.

We're not rethinking our episode reviews or anything like that – those are locked in. We're also not second-guessing anything that SNL did – it's more about us "second-guessing" ourselves. To kick things off, we looked at the "Moulin Rouge" sketch from March 9th's Josh Brolin-hosted and Ariana Grande-performing show. Following that, we looked at the "Please Don't Destroy – We Got Too High (ft. Travis Scott)" sketch from March 30th's Ramy Youssef-hosted and Travis Scott-performing show. This time, we rewatched just how amazing Wiig and SNL star Andrew Dismukes were in the "Jumanji" sketch.

What starts out as some friends (Dismukes, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, and Chloe Fineman) getting a chance to meet their friend's (James Austin Johnson) new girlfriend (Wiig) becomes a showcase for the absurd when a simple offer to play the game "Ticket to Ride" exposes Wiig's character's deeply-buried fears of being caught in a "Jumanji" trap – based on the Robin Williams & Kirsten Dunst-starring 1995 film of the same name – which was based on Chris Van Allsburg's 1981 children's book. I can think of a dozen ways this shouldn't work, and yet, it does – mainly due to Wiig and Dismukes, who committed to a sense of truth behind the absurdity, matching each other's growing anger & frustration step by step. Throw in a surprise appearance from Will Forte in a role that tips things over the edge, and what we have is a whole ton of surprising fun.

SNL Second-Guessing:
Image: SNL Screencap

And if you haven't had a chance to check out what Saturday Night Network has going on over at its YouTube channel, Jon Schneider and James Stephens are hosting a series that explores the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series season-by-season. Here's a look at Everything You Need To Know About Saturday Night Live: Season 1 (1975-1976), where Schneider and Stephens spotlight the debut season's cast members, sketches, characters, and backstage stories:

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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