Saturday, October 3, 2015

Louis C.K./Rihanna May 16, 2015

This is it. It’s the season finale of SNL’s 40th season. It still doesn’t feel like the season finale. Last week, Reese Witherspoon came back to host the Mother’s Day show with musical guest Florence + the Machine. Reese delivered a wonderful performance and Florence + the Machine also had two great musical performances. Some highlights from the last episode include:
            -A cold open about the Republican Presidential candidates.
            -A sweet monologue with the cast members and Reese bringing out their moms.
            -A sketch about the “Draw the Prophet Muhammad” contests.
            -The return of Leslie Jones and Willie and the appearance of Two Girls You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party.
            -The return of “High School Theatre Show” and “Whiskers R We”.
For the season finale, SNL brought back Louis C.K. who has hosted for now three consecutive seasons. Louis C.K. delivered a good performance for closing out this historic season. Here’s my take on the season 40 finale.
Sketch Rundown:
Summertime Cold Open:
I thought this was a good cold open and a great way to utilize the entire cast, minus Jost and Che. I loved that they were able to tie politics into the cold open with Kate as Hillary Clinton trying to get support from potential voters. I loved her jogging alongside the bike and the sandcastle bit. I loved seeing Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton and thought he was great. I loved the lines “Billary Rodham Clinton” and “Holy Mother of Chelsea!” Overall, I thought this was an awesome cold open and a great way to open the season finale.
Louis C.K. Monologue:
I did like Louis C.K.’s stand-up routine although I liked his monologue last season better. I thought the mild racism jokes were kind of funny. I loved how he talked about his daughters fighting and how he compared them to Israel and Palestine. The jokes about child molesters were a little uncomfortable, especially for me since I had watched a marathon of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit earlier in the day. I did think the way Louis ended his set was a little weird. Overall, I thought Louis C.K. had a good monologue.
The Shoemaker & the Elves:
I thought this was a weird sketch and a weird way to open the show. Some parts of this sketch were just so awkward to watch. I had the feeling of “What the hell did I just watch?” after watching the sketch. However, I did like the ending with the different phone numbers and I was really hoping they would do some kind of results at some other part of the show.
This Is How I Talk:
I did like this sketch and thought it was funny. Leslie was funny but her line flub was hard to watch. I truly felt bad for her but I know it was most likely nerves and because it’s a live show and things like that are going to happen. I also loved the different time jumps in the sketch and I thought that was a great comedic touch to the sketch. I thought this was a funny sketch and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
Wood PSA 1:
I loved the short and thought it was funny and I loved how they did short little commercials throughout the show.
Rihanna “Bitch Better Have My Money” Performance:
Rihanna’s no stranger to SNL as she has performed many times on the show before in the past. I thought this performance was okay but very weird. I thought the start of the performance was weird with the car and the girl tied up in the back seat. I was wondering if this was supposed to be like shooting a music video. Overall, I thought this performance was just okay.
Weekend Update:
I thought this week’s Weekend Update had a strong start. I loved Jost’s Apple Watch joke. I also loved Taran as Tom Brady and the cuts to Jost with the “Brady charm”. I also loved the “Brady flub”. I loved seeing Pete again and loved his jokes and Obama impression that was supposed to be a Hillary Clinton impression. I also loved the idea of Jost and Che each reading a joke that was cut. I loved Jost’s punch line of “jalapeño business”. I also loved the reappearance of Riblet and his “word bullets”. I thought this was a solid Update and I actually do like seeing Jost and Che as a duo. I can’t wait to see what they do next season.
Cabana:
I loved seeing Jemma again even though I’m surprised they brought it back for the finale. I’m also surprised that they used Kenan and Vanessa again as the other couple. As much as I loved the “Vacay” song, I still love the “Bananas” song more. Even though I love this sketch and I think it was funny, I feel like it didn’t work as well with Louis C.K. as it did with Dwayne Johnson.
Police Lineup:
I liked this sketch a lot more than I thought I would. I loved the idea of the actors treating the lineup like an audition. The headshot bit was hilarious. I loved Beck’s character asking questions about the “character” and wanting to try it again and thought it was hilarious. I also thought the vocal arrows bit was hilarious. Overall, I thought this was a funny sketch.
Wood PSA 2:
I love these PSAs and I loved that this one took place in a library.
Rihanna “American Oxygen” Performance:
I’m still not a Rihanna fan but I thought this was a good performance. I also thought the song was bearable.
Forgotten TV Gems:
I thought this sketch was funny and I loved getting to see Reese De’What again. I loved the show parody and felt it was very I Love Lucy-esque. I was also surprised to see this sketch as the last show of the night. I also loved the title of Whoops! I Married a Lesbian! I thought the kiss between Aidy and Kate. I loved how at the end Louis was pushing Aidy out of the show. I thought this sketch was a funny way to end season 40.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode and a great way to end this historic season. It’s hard to believe that this was the season finale. It feels like just yesterday season 40 was just starting. I also loved the tribute to David Letterman that Louis C.K. did at the end of the show since Letterman’s last show was the following week.

Some SNL news is that on May 11, 2015, Kenan Thompson confirmed that he is coming back to SNL for season 41. Also, SNL comes back October 3rd instead of September 26th, as most people thought. The whole cast from season 40 is confirmed to come back with the addition of Jon Rudnitsky on August 31st. Season 41 will open with host and musical guest Miley Cyrus, the next week is host Amy Schumer and musical guest the Weeknd, and the week after that is host Tracy Morgan with musical guest Demi Lovato. The documentary Live From New York! will premiere on NBC on October 3rd at 8/7c. SNL Vintage will also continue next season with the first one of the new season being the season 37 finale hosted by Mick Jagger.

This has been my take on the season finale of SNL season 40 with host Louis C.K. and musical guest Rihanna. I just want to take the time to thank all of you guys for reading. I didn’t think I would get a lot of followers and readers when I started the blog back in September. I’m forever grateful for all of you guys for reading. It means the world to me and I can’t wait to start blogging again when season 41 comes back in October. As always, please spread the word and subscribe to the blog as well as following the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger. Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way. See you guys October 3rd!

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Lauren

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