Saturday, October 1, 2016

Chris Hemsworth/Chance the Rapper December 12, 2015

It’s the last episode before the highly anticipated Christmas episode and the second to last episode of 2015! On the last SNL, Ryan Gosling and Leon Bridges made their debuts as host and musical guest, respectively. Gosling delivered a stellar performance and Bridges delivered two soulful performances. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if both of them return to the show in the future. Some highlights from the last episode include:
    -A Christmas message from Donald and Melania.
    -An appearance from Mike Myers in the monologue talking and singing about Canadian Christmases.
    -Several sketches where Ryan Gosling broke a bunch.
    -The return of Anthony Crispino.
    -A sketch about “The Wiz! Live!”.

On this episode, Chris Hemsworth makes his return to the SNL stage with Chance the Rapper making his SNL debut. Hemsworth delivered a stellar performance on his second go-around. Chance the Rapper apparently made history tonight as the first independent artist to perform on  SNL, which means that he isn’t signed by a major record label. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them return to the show. Here’s my take on the episode.

Sketch Rundown:
George W. Bush Cold Open:
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting Will Ferrell to appear but it was an awesome surprise. I loved that he reprised his George W. Bush impression. I loved how he talked about the Republican candidates. I loved how he said Rubio and Cruz sounded like a Miami law firm. I also loved how he laughed at Trump and how he talked about Jeb. Overall, I thought this was a funny cold open. This had to be one of my favorite cold opens of the season so far.
Chris Hemsworth Monologue:
Since the last time Hemsworth hosted was back in March during season 40, I had a little bit of an idea of what to expect from the monologue. I loved how he poked fun at himself from his first time hosting. I thought the monologue was interesting but it was still funny. I felt really bad for Jost during the monologue but I thought Leslie was hilarious. Overall, I thought this was a good monologue.
Star Wars Toys:
I thought this was a funny ad. I loved Taran, Kyle, and Bobby in this sketch. I loved the display case bit. I thought this was a perfect ad parody to show at the beginning of the show.
On the Record:
When seeing this sketch, I thought it was great to see another Kate impression. I loved the impressions, especially Taran as Ted Cruz and Bobby as Chris Christie. I loved seeing Jay’s Ben Carson appear again.. I also thought the bridge jokes were funny. I thought this was a funny sketch and a great way to open the show.
Time to Bleed:
I thought this was a weird sketch but it was still funny. I loved seeing Sasheer as a leading character. Although I thought this sketch was funny, I thought the sketch felt redundant with the use of the same joke over and over again.
Brother 2 Brother:
I’m so glad they brought this sketch back even though I figured that they would bring this sketch back. I love their catch phrase, “Oh brothers.” I loved how at the end the credits read “Created by: Taran Killam” and “Written by: Not Taran Killam”. I thought this sketch was good the second time around but I felt it went on a little too long.
Deborah’s Time:
Even though this sketch was funny at times, I felt that it was just okay. However, I loved Cecily’s character and felt that her dramatic actress training really kicked in with this sketch. I loved hearing Cecily sing because she’s got a great voice. I also loved how she just kept going after messing up a word in the beginning of the song. I loved Cecily’s line “Jen, go alto.” I loved how everyone joined in singing near the end of the sketch. I thought the ending where they’re going to see the musical and the car swerves a lot due to the weather. Like I said, I thought this sketch was just okay even though there were funny moments.
Chance the Rapper “Somewhere in Paradise” Performance:
I’m somewhat familiar with Chance the Rapper because my brother listens to a lot of rap. Even though I’m not a huge rap fan, I thought his performance was okay.
Weekend Update:
I loved the joke about Ben Carson and the line “Donald Trump doesn’t have a soul!”. I loved the “Rescue Jeb Today” joke. I loved seeing Kate’s Angela Merkel again. I always love the jokes and the interaction between McKinnon and Jost. I loved seeing Leslie again even though I was expecting Jebidiah because of the topic. I loved the descriptions of “Breaking Bad” and I love seeing her tweets on Twitter when she live tweets shows. Overall, I thought it was another good Weekend Update.
Brunch:
I thought it was pretty funny to see Hemsworth in a wig and a dress. I mean, he makes a pretty woman. I was a little annoyed with how he was always saying “bitches” throughout the sketch. I thought the ending was funny even though I thought it was an okay sketch.
Pirate Ship:
I thought this was a funny sketch even though it needed some work. I thought Jon was hilarious as Mark. I really hope this becomes a recurring character for him. I loved how he introduced himself, “I’m Mark and I keep things fun!”.
Chance the Rapper “Sunday Candy” Performance:
I thought this was another okay performance. I think I even liked this song better than the first one. I think Chance the Rapper is very talented, no doubt. I’m just not a big fan of rap and I don’t see myself listening to his music.
Strip Club:
I thought this sketch was just okay but it was a little weird. I thought the guys were funny. I loved how Leslie was the only one of the girls that was into it. I thought Jon was hilarious in this sketch. The Chinese bit near the end was weird. I wasn’t surprised that this sketch appeared at the end of the show.
Aron’s List:
I was surprised that they used this ad parody again. It made me think that the show ran short if they had to use this sketch again, since it appeared the first time during the Elizabeth Banks episode last month. Regardless, I still found this sketch to be funny.

Overall, I thought this was a good, solid episode. I loved Hemsworth’s performance and thought Chance the Rapper did a good job for his SNL debut. Like I said before, I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them return to the show.

This has been my take on the SNL episode hosted by Chris Hemsworth with musical guest Chance the Rapper. I’ll be back soon with a review of SNL hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler with musical guest Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band. 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