Welcome to season 41! It was a long summer
(it at least felt like it) without new episodes of SNL but the wait is over. Season 40 ended with Louis C.K. and
Rihanna and it was one hell of a finale. Louis C.K. did a great job closing out
season 40 and Rihanna had two good performances. Some highlights from the
season 40 finale and news include:
-A
cold open about how it was finally summer and Hillary Clinton (Kate) was
campaigning for the presidency (and a special appearance from Bill Clinton
[Darrell]).
-Louis
C.K.’s monologue (enough said).
-A
very weird sketch about a shoemaker and elves.
-PSA’s
about a lumberjack.
-The
return of Taran’s Tom Brady impression, Pete, and Riblet.
-The
return of Jemma.
-A
show called Whoops! I Married a Lesbian!
As with the end of any season, we say
goodbye to either writers, cast members, or a mix of the two. Also, for the
start of the season, we also welcome new writers and cast members. Fortunately,
we don’t have to say goodbye to any cast members but we do have to say goodbye
to a few of the writers: Alison Rich, Claire Mulaney, Nick Rutheford from Beck
and Kyle’s Good Neighbor videos, and
unfortunately, we also say goodbye to longtime writer and one-time cast member Mike O’Brien. Out of all of the
writer departures, Mike O’Brien’s shocked me the most as it was unexpected even
though he had been a writer since season 35. The good news, however is that
they’re leaving the door open for O’Brien to come back and make his short films
from time to time. Also for the start of the season, we welcome stand-up
comedian and Groundlings alum Jon Rudnitsky. In addition, Kyle Mooney, Beck
Bennet, Colin Jost, and Sasheer Zamata were promoted to repertory players with
Michael Che, Pete Davidson, and Leslie Jones remaining as featured players.
Before the premiere of season 41, Mooney’s promotion was the only one that was
known. Nevertheless, it felt like it was time for some promotions.
For the premiere of the new season, Miley
Cyrus pulls double duty as host and musical guest. She hosted early in season
39 and did a good job and I was pleasantly surprised that she did a good job in
the sketches. The musical performances, however, are another story. In other
words, they weren’t my favorite. To be honest, though, I haven’t been a fan of
Cyrus’ since her Hannah Montana days. Here’s my take on the season opener.
Sketch
Rundown:
Donald
and Melania Trump Cold Open:
I had a feeling SNL was going to do something regarding Trump and I thought this
was a great way to portray Trump. I loved the impressions and I thought Taran’s
impression of Trump was spot-on and hilarious. I loved the jokes about the
Trumps having the same interior decorator as Saddam Hussein, Trump saying that
he loves immigrants and then points to Melania, Trump talking about his wall
and China saying “Now that’s a wall!”, Hogwarts School of Business, and “I got
the smartest guys” after Trump was talking about his plan for the economy. I
also loved the lines “I’m just like you. A ‘Regular Joe,’ but better,” and “He
puts his hair on one strand at a time.” I loved this cold open so much and I
thought it was a great way to start season 41.
Miley
Cyrus Monologue:
Surprisingly enough, I actually liked this
monologue. I loved how they made fun of a lot of the stories that happened over
the summer, since there were a lot of them. As soon as I saw Vanessa as Rachel
Dolezal, I couldn’t stop laughing. Some of my favorites include Kenan as “Pizza
Rat”, Taran as the dentist that killed Cecil the lion, Aidy as Kim Davis, and
Kate as the guy that raised the price of the medication for AIDS. I was
surprised that Cecily didn’t appear as Ariana Grande when they showed the
doughnut she licked. I actually liked the song Miley sang (“My Way” by Frank
Sinatra) and it really suited her voice well. Her outfit was, well, weird but
she was at least wearing clothes. Overall, I thought this was a hilarious
monologue.
Abilify
for Candidates:
I loved this commercial parody, especially
since Abilify is a real drug that treats schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
depression, and irritability associated with autism. This sketch had a lot of great lines, including
“It’s the only dementia medication prescribed for eleven specific people,” and “What
was I thinking? This is our future president.” I thought this sketch was very
funny.
50’s
Dance:
I thought this was a good sketch. I felt
like I was watching a parody of Grease.
I thought Miley’s character was weird, even though I knew that was the joke of
the sketch. This sketch was some way of welcoming Jon to the cast, especially
with Miley grinding up against him and licking whipped cream off of his face. I
loved the whole “She’s from Montana, right? I don’t think she’s been from
Montana in a long time.” At first, it didn’t register that it was a joke about
Hannah Montana but as soon as I realized it I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought
Kenan’s “Nasty Jack” character was funny as well as the line “I don’t know if I
wanna go all the way with you and Nasty Jack. I loved the hand jive bit near
the end and, I admit, I was doing the hand jive while watching this. I also
loved the piñata that Jon and Miley rode off on. I thought this was a funny,
yet at times weird, sketch.
Hillary
Clinton Bar Talk:
I loved this sketch so much! I loved
seeing Hillary Clinton as Val the Bartender alongside Kate’s impression of her.
I loved seeing Hillary be able to make fun of herself and I loved her Trump
impression. This sketch had so many great lines, including “I’ve had a hard
couple of twenty-two years,” “God I love a scalding hot vodka,” “I have a
one-year-old granddaughter. She calls me Madame President,” and “He must. I
wanna be the one to take him down. I will destroy him and I will mount his hair
in the Oval Office!” I thought the vacation bit was hilarious. I also loved
getting to see Darrell briefly as Bill Clinton and loved his line “Oh my God,
they’re multiplying!” I loved the “Lean on Me” sing-a-long and the ending with
Kate dancing around the bar holding the shoe. This sketch had to be my favorite
sketch of the night.
Miley
Cyrus “Karen Don’t Be Sad” Performance:
As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t been a
fan of Miley’s since her Hannah Montana days. I thought this was an okay
performance, especially from a song I’ve never even heard of. I thought her
outfit was weird and looked like really long dreadlocks. I was also surprised
Hillary Clinton stuck around to introduce the performance. I did think this was
an okay performance and I’m still not a fan of Miley’s music.
Weekend
Update:
I thought the first Weekend Update of season 41 had a strong start. I loved Jost’s
opening joke with the punch line about “big boy pants”. I also loved the joke
about the upcoming Democratic Presidential Debate and the punch line “The Human
Lorax and three mannequins from Joseph A. Bank.” I also loved Che trying to
name one of the other three Democratic nominees. I loved the Kim Davis joke and
how Che said she was like a “homophobic Forrest Gump.” I loved seeing Kyle as
Pope Francis (second appearance by his impression) and I loved the emoji bit
where he tried to act out the different emojis. I loved the Mars water joke from
Che as well as the banter between Jost and Che about the Burger King Halloween
burger joke. I loved seeing Pete again and thought he was funny. I loved the
Jost thumbs up bit and the Sanjaya/Trump comparison (I haven’t heard the name
Sanjaya since I was in sixth grade). I loved seeing Leslie and thought she was
hilarious. I loved how they brought up that she was filming Ghostbusters over the summer. I loved
how she was like “I wish I was Jost-bustin’. I ain’t ‘fraid of no Jost.” I also
loved one of her last lines, “I want to have sexuals with you Mr. Colin Jost!”
Overall, I thought this was a funny Update
and I really feel that Jost and Che are starting to get the hang of Weekend Update.
The
Millennials:
I thought this sketch was okay. I felt
like this was the typical sketch saved for after Update. I felt like this sketch was “The Californians” 2.0,
especially with the accents. I did, however, like the lines “Where is the nap
room?” and “I’m taking a break from social media.” I thought the sketch did its
job by exaggerating the stereotypes of millennials. This sketch wasn’t one of
my favorite sketches of the night.
Katz’
Deli:
I thought it was funny how this sketch was
referencing When Harry Met Sally (one
of the many movies I need to see). I thought Leslie was hilarious in this
sketch and I loved how she kept saying “Oh no the condom busted!” I loved Kate’s
“I’ll have what she’s having,” followed by “Oh, then definitely not. I’ll have
the soup. Hot!” I thought Vanessa was just adorable in this sketch. Even though
I’ve never seen When Harry Met Sally,
I still thought this was a funny sketch.
The
Squad:
I absolutely loved this short. I thought
it was a great way to parody Taylor Swift’s ever-growing squad. I know for a
fact that I would definitely join Taylor’s squad. I loved Aidy and Vanessa in
this sketch and the mention that Matt LeBlanc had joined Taylor’s squad. I also
loved how this sketch was a sequel to the “Beygency” sketch from season 39.
Overall, I thought this short was hilarious.
Miley
Cyrus “The Twinkle Song” Performance:
I thought this was a better performance
than the first, especially since I’ve also never heard of this song, except for
when she was screeching near the end. I did like the emotional connection she
had to the song as well as the tribute to her dead pets. Apparently, she also
got emotional during this song while in rehearsals. Although I did like this
performance, I’m still not a fan of her current music.
American
Voices:
I thought this was a funny sketch. I loved
seeing Leslie as a late night talk show host and I could definitely see her as
a host of a late night talk show. I loved the line from Kenan’s character “Make
sure my car’s running.” I really liked this sketch and thought it was funny.
Miley
Wedding Tape:
As soon as this started I realized it was
a sequel to the “Miley Sex Tape” short from season 39. I loved Kyle’s “beats”
and his Miley impression. I loved the name Baby Six Flags and Jon as Kyle’s
son. I also thought the funeral bit at the end was funny. Although I thought
this sketch was funny, it wasn’t necessarily my favorite.
Overall, I thought this was a solid
episode and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I thought it was a
surprisingly great way to start the new season. I was very impressed with Miley
because, whether people like it or not, she is very talented. I actually kind
of want her to host again in the future.
This has been my take on the season 41
premiere SNL episode with host and
musical guest Miley Cyrus. I’ll be back soon with a review of the SNL episode hosted by Amy Schumer with
musical guest The Weeknd. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe
to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger. I live tweet during
new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation.
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.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
No comments:
Post a Comment