Hey readers and fellow SNL fans!
We’re one episode into the new season
and it’s off to a decent start. Last week, the season started off with first
time host Chris Pratt and first time musical guest Ariana Grande. Some
memorable moments from last week include:
· 1) The return of
Cecily Strong’s popular Weekend Update character
“The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party.”
· 2) The NFL scandals
being a popular target with both a sketch and the cold open.
· 3) Pete Davidson
and Michael Che making their SNL
debuts.
This week, SNL included first time host and former cast member and writer
Sarah Silverman and fifth time musical guest Maroon 5. I knew this episode
would be funny but I didn’t know what to expect since I’m not familiar with
Sarah Silverman’s comedic work. Needless to say, I was impressed with what I
saw Saturday night.
Show
Rundown
60 Minutes Cold Open:
The cold open this week was pretty good
as it seemed to accurately portray the current situation with President Obama.
I had a feeling the cold open would either be about ISIS, Ebola, or the White
House security breech. It was a good cold open but I don’t think it was a very
strong cold open.
Sarah
Silverman Monologue:
As I mentioned before I know who Sarah
Silverman is but I’m not familiar with her brand of comedy. That being said, I
thought her monologue was funny. I loved how she was a little self-deprecating
when talking about some of her jokes being censored. I think she definitely
“kept it real” when she sat on the lap of an audience member. I thought when
Silverman did the Q & A with old footage of when she was on the show was a
nice touch. It was almost as if she was trying to pay tribute to what she used
to do as a writer and featured player by asking fake questions to the host.
Overall, Sarah Silverman had a great monologue.
The Fault in Our Stars Trailer:
Like every other person, I’ve read The Fault in Our Stars and loved the
book. I’m working on seeing the movie. I thought this parody trailer was one of
the funniest pre-taped segments I’ve seen on the show so far. I think having
Sarah’s character be diagnosed with Ebola was a great comedic touch and was a
little unexpected. Taran Killam’s performance as an Augustus Waters kind of
character was amazing. His dramatic performance was so beautiful it almost had
me in tears. Also, the part in the trailer where he was dressed in the haz-mat
suit and mask when he and Sarah Silverman’s character were about to have sex
was one of the funniest moments of the trailer. Since I love the storyline of The Fault in Our Stars, this had to be
one of my favorite sketches of the night.
Joan
Rivers in Heaven:
This sketch was one I felt was
unexpected but was bound to happen eventually. It was really daring because it
felt almost too soon since Joan Rivers passed away. I thought Sarah Silverman
did a great impression of Rivers and I felt Silverman really captured her
personality. After watching the sketch a few times, I think Silverman was a
little nervous about impersonating Rivers since Rivers was one of her greatest
mentors. I think this sketch could’ve gone a lot worse if a person who didn’t
know Rivers were to play her. This sketch, along with the picture shown at the
end of the sketch, made for a great tribute to one of the greatest legends in
comedy. Also, Adam Levine playing Freddie Mercury was a great addition to the
sketch.
Whites
Commercial:
I felt like this pre-taped bit
accurately portrayed the white dominance that goes on today. Mike O’Brien
makes his first appearance since going back to the writer’s room after last
season, which was an awesome surprise. This short wasn’t my favorite but it
wasn’t terrible either.
Forgotten
TV Gems:
I feel this sketch accurately portrayed
what soap operas would be like if the women weren’t always backstabbing and
bitchslapping everybody left and right. It was funny but it was a weird kind of
funny. Also, Kenan’s performance as Reese De’What was probably one of my
favorite parts of the sketch.
Maroon
5 “Animals” Performance:
I’m a big Maroon 5 fan but I’m not a big
fan of this song since it basically promotes
stalking. Regardless, it was a good performance. I figured they
would play this song since “Animals” is one of their newer singles and the
music video for this song was recently released.
Weekend
Update:
I thought this week’s installment of Weekend Update was better than last
week’s, thought nothing can top the return of “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t
Started a Conversation With at a Party” last week. Michael Che seemed to be a little more
comfortable at the desk despite a few line flubs, which can happen to anyone. Colin
Jost’s performance was better than last week, though there’s always room for
improvement. Although I’m loving Michael Che, it’s still tough for me to get
used to not seeing Cecily at the desk but I can’t wait to see if she brings new characters to the Update desk. Kenan always does a great impression of the Reverend
Al Sharpton though one line in particular made me think of one of his past
characters. When Kenan as Al Sharpton asked Colin if his name was Kevin or
Colin, it reminded me of Colin’s Update
debut when Kenan appeared as Charles Barkley, along with Jay Pharoh’s Shaquille
O’Neal, and asked about the pronunciation of Colin’s name. Though I said that I
liked this Update better, I still
think I’ve never face-palmed myself as much as I did this week. This has to do
with Colin Jost asking Michael Che what he could and couldn’t say. I agree with
Che that Jost completely ruined the word “cray-cray” for everyone. This proves
that Michael Che can say just about anything and Colin Jost can say almost anything
and ruin it for everybody. The last guests at the desk for the night were
Kate McKinnon and Sarah Silverman as the feminist girl group “Garage and Her,”
respectively, and their song that proves just about anything can be a woman.
These characters seemed like the opposite version of Fred Armisen and Kristen
Wiig’s group, “Garth and Kat,” and we were able to see Kate’s musical
abilities expanded with these characters. If this were a real group, I would buy their CDs and go to their shows.
River
Cruise:
This easily had to be one of my favorite
sketches of the night. In my opinion, sketches like these prove that the women
of SNL can do anything and
everything. This sketch also proves that there should be more musical sketches
and it’s a great way to combine music and comedy. I mean, what song other than
“Proud Mary” would be perfect for the girls wearing Tina Turner-style wigs and
dresses? Sarah, Sasheer, Cecily, and Kenan all did a great job with this
sketch.
Stuck
in Traffic:
Along with the River Cruise sketch, this sketch was another one of my favorite
sketches of the night. The sketch included the second Adam Levine cameo of the
night. The sketch also included this advice: if you travel, don’t cheat on your
boyfriend because he might be in the back of your brother’s car with an
engagement ring and your parents, which is the most awkward situation when
you’re stuck in a traffic jam. This sketch also proves that pizza can make
anything better and Adam Levine can do nothing wrong.
Poem:
Like I stated last week, the “Good
Neighbor” shorts aren't exactly my favorite. While watching this short, you
almost feel bad for Kyle’s character when he’s shoved around and hit by a car
while inside a trash can. Again, these shorts aren’t my favorite and this short
was just okay.
Maroon
5 “Maps” Performance:
Out of both performances, “Maps” had to
be my favorite performance of the night. I thought Maroon 5 would’ve performed
this song first since “Maps” has had a lot of radio play and they would’ve
chose a newer song during the second half of the show. Regarding the song, I
like how Maroon 5 performs this song live by starting off slow and then going
full tempo until the end of the song. It’s almost as if they are trying to
distance themselves from playing the exact recording live. I loved this
performance by Maroon 5 and I would love to see them on the show again.
Vitamix:
I felt that this sketch was the type of
sketch that was saved for the end of the show. I think if they were trying to
make an infomercial out of the sketch, it should’ve been done as a pre-taped
bit.
Overall, I thought this episode was a
lot better than last week. This episode proves that Sarah Silverman should host
more often and it’s surprising that this was her first time hosting. Also, I
was able to hear Darrell Hammond better during the opening. I think nerves
might have gotten to him last week since he wasn’t impersonating Don Pardo and
he was doing the opening as himself. One thing about this episode that surprise
me but also didn’t surprise me was not seeing Pete Davidson in a single sketch.
I know that new cast members aren’t featured in a majority of the sketches but
I’m thinking he was most likely in a sketch that got cut for time at dress
rehearsal.
This has been my take on SNL hosted by Sarah Silverman with
musical guest Maroon 5. I’ll be back next week with a review of what will
probably become my favorite episode of the season. Next week’s episode will be
hosted by SNL alum Bill Hader with
musical guest Hozier. Please subscribe to the blog and tell everyone you know
about the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram
@snlblogger. Also, feel free to leave comments in the comments section and try
to keep them clean. Again, please feel free to leave me some constructive
criticism so I can make the blog more enjoyable.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
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