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During tonight's 97th Oscars, host Conan O'Brien could resist dropping a Kendrick Lamar/Drake joke, adding that he's already "lawyered up."
Posted in: NBC, Peacock, Review, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL: Shane Gillis Did Little to Justify Lorne Michaels' Faith in Him
Comedian and actor Shane Gillis's return to NBC's Saturday Night Live should've been an improvement on his last hosting gig. It wasn't.
Just so no one can accuse me of being a "Debbie Downer," let me kick things off on a positive note. We've got Lady Gaga hosting and singing next week! As for this weekend's Season 50 return of NBC's Saturday Night Live with host Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae? Yeah – it wasn't good. At this point, I'm not sure I want to hear any more from EP Lorne Michaels about what a great talent Gillis is and how he would've been a great addition to the SNL cast because Gillis hasn't offered us anything that would have us seeing what Michaels sees. This wasn't just a bad outing for Gillis – it was a step backward from his first hosting gig.
Gillis's opening monologue – which should've been where the stand-up comic's moment to really shine – was a run of topics that just didn't hit. It felt more like an open mic night – and Gillis trying to write off the crowd's lack of laughter as having to do with them being "liberal" didn't help his cause (especially considering the Donald Trump and Joe Biden rants equally earned crickets). A number of the sketches felt like funny jokes from a stand-up routine stretched out way too long, but even that would've been salvageable with a host who wasn't leaving it to the cast to do the comedic heavy lifting. Instead, Gillis offered a blandness to his segments, as if he was focusing on just reading the cue cards and getting through it instead of being in the moment. And just so there's no confusion here? We know that Gillis is funny, and he's done some solid work on Netflix's Tires – but in terms of how close he came to becoming a cast member, we're just not seeing it – and we're glad SNL dodged that bullet.
SNL 50: Shane Gillis & Tate McRae – What Worked & Random Thoughts
While Gillis may have been the problem with this weekend's show, the SNL cast definitely wasn't. Here's a look at some of the highlights that hit our radar throughout the night that were deserving of attention:
Tate McRae: With live performances of "Sports Car" and "Dear God," returning musical guest McRae held it down and then some with a combination of raw power and the resources that the SNL team has at its disposal.
"Elon Musk Cold Open": The way Bowen Yang expressed VP JD Vance's growing anger towards Ukraine President Zelensky (Mikey Day) was excellent, and I find myself fascinated by Mike Myers' Elon Musk impression (with bonus points to Myers for rockin' the "Canada Is Not For Sale" t-shirt at the end of the night as a dig at Trump)
"Winery Tour": Heidi Gardner's self-absorbed psycho-social influencer who drops her pleasant demeanor over not being able to get the perfect shot to post screams to be a recurring character.
"Mid-Day News 2": The best all-around sketch of the night, with Gillis, Gardner, Kenan Thompson, and Ego Nwodim in perfect sync as newscasters who compete to guess the races of the people in their news items.
"Weekend Update": Michael Che and Colin Jost's headlines were strong, and Jane Wickline is winning me over with that keyboard, but Marcello Hernandez's The Movie Guy (who actually loves "Spongebob SquarePants" a whole lot) was the headline-grabber. Hernandez and Jost are a fun pairing, and Hernandez's near-breaks only added to the segment.
"Please Don't Destroy – The Sound": Welcome back, Please Don't Destroy. In this blatant knife-twisting on NBC's The Voice and other similar singing competition series, four judges (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, Martin Herlihy, and Nwodim) are dedicated to bringing the best voice to light – until they meet Gillis's Reggie. As twisted and "wrong" as we wanted it to be, with bonus points for the moment when Nwodim's judge wheels herself off the show.
Saturday Night Live Season 50: Shane Gillis / Tate McRae
5.5/10
Just so no one can accuse me of being a "Debbie Downer," let me kick things off on a positive note. We've got Lady Gaga hosting and singing next week! As for this weekend's Season 50 return of NBC's Saturday Night Live with host Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae? Yeah - it wasn't good. At this point, I'm not sure I want to hear any more from EP Lorne Michaels about what a great talent Gillis is and how he would've been a great addition to the SNL cast because Gillis hasn't offered us anything that would have us seeing what Michaels sees. This wasn't just a bad outing for Gillis - it was a step backward from his first hosting gig.
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