Posted in: NBC, Opinion, Peacock, Review, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: 21 Savage, nbc, Review, saturday night live, season 49, Shane Gillis, snl

SNL, Shane Gillis Left Us Wondering Why This Show Even Had to Happen

Setting aside his pre-show baggage, we're not sure what the point was of SNL having Shane Gillis host - but it missed the mark by a mile.

So before we slap this week's Shane Gillis-hosted edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live onto the autopsy table, let's start off with a few positives – cool? It wasn't the worst episode this season – that crown still rests comfortably on the head of Jacob Elordi. By the time the credits rolled, next week's host Sydney Sweeney was left with the satisfaction of knowing that Gillis left her with a very low bar to clear – like, it's on the ground, and she would just need to step over it. Musical guest 21 Savage laid down two impressive performances – we weren't sure what to expect, but we were impressed with what he had to offer. Other than that? It's rare when you can see the exact moment when you know a show is going to royally suck – but Gillis gave us just that during his opening monologue when he referenced the lights in Studio 8H being bright and how the audience wasn't responding to his jokes. Heading into the first sketch, Gillis was already "walking wounded" – and it didn't get much better after that.

Okay, let's get the ten-topic topic that's sitting in the corner cutting its toenails out of the way before we go any further. If you don't know, Gillis was originally set to join the SNL cast back in 2019 – alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. But after being announced, some controversial podcast comments and jokes resurfaced that resulted in SNL pulling his offer and issuing a statement where executive producer Lorne Michaels took responsibility for SNL's slacking when it came to checking backgrounds. Over the past few months, Gillis has been on a roll career-wise: successful stand-up act, a recurring role on SNL alum Pete Davidson's Bupkis, a Netflix comedy special, and a new endorsement deal with Bud Light. How those or any other factors may have played into Gillis being welcomed back to Studio 8H with open arms will probably remain unknown – but based on his opening monologue, we're curious to know what "growth" Michaels saw in Gillis over the past five years to have a change of heart.

But this is about last night's show and getting some sense of what Gillis would've brought to SNL since he was this close to becoming a cast member. And yet, he couldn't even nail the one thing tailor-made for stand-up comics – the opening monologue. As we said, it didn't improve when we moved on to the sketches, with Gillis coming across as himself no matter what character or situation they gave him – like he was just trying to survive each sketch while stressing over the next one. Again, if this was any other host, then I could understand… but Giles was almost an SNL cast member. We would and should expect better. And maybe this is just us reading too much into what was on the screen, but it also vibed like the SNL cast had very little interest in giving him any mid-sketch assists – almost like they wanted to leave him twisting in his own nervousness. Based on stories we've heard about SNL in the past, it wouldn't be the first time that the cast & writers sought to torpedo a troublesome host mid-show.

But it wasn't all "Jacob Elordi" (that's never going to get old), with "HR Meeting" having some funny moments and "Trump Sneakers" being another effective movie trailer parody. "Fugliana" has Sarah Sherman written all over it – a perfect example of a sketch that worked when you looked beyond Gillis. Michael Che & Colin Jost had another strong "Weekend Update," with Bowen Yang giving us their take on Truman Capote, so how can you go wrong? Other than that? It felt like we were watching Gillis' final audition for SNL, where he gets to be in sketches with the main cast before the final cut. We went into this weekend wondering why SNL would have Gillis back. We're leaving it wondering why Gillis deserved the opportunity in the first place. I guess that's something… right?

Saturday Night Live Season 49: Shane Gillis/21 Savage

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Review by Ray Flook

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6/10

So before we slap this week's Shane Gillis-hosted edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live onto the autopsy table, let's start off with a few positives - cool? It wasn't the worst episode this season - that crown still rests comfortably on the head of Jacob Elordi. By the time the credits rolled, next week's host Sydney Sweeney was left with the satisfaction of knowing that Gillis left her with a very low bar to clear - like, it's on the ground, and she would just need to step over it. Musical guest 21 Savage laid down two impressive performances - we weren't sure what to expect, but we were impressed with what he had to offer. Other than that? It's rare when you can see the exact moment when you know a show is going to royally suck - but Gillis gave us just that during his opening monologue when he referenced the lights in Studio 8H being bright and how the audience wasn't responding to his jokes. Heading into the first sketch, Gillis was already "walking wounded" - and it didn't get much better after that.

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