So, as things would have it, I’m here posting another compilation recap post. Between the holidays, family commitments, starting a new job (and then resigning from that job), other personal matters, and a recent bout of COVID, the blog ended up being put on the backburner despite my best efforts to start posting regularly again. Nevertheless, I’ve never stopped posting midseason and I’m not going to start now.
I felt the second half of the season was very strong with many great hosts, musical guests, and memorable sketches. Instead of doing separate posts for each episode, I’ve listed each episode below and wrote some of my favorite sketches and Weekend Update segments. I did, however, write a separate review of the Christmas episode since that was such a unique situation with having to retool the episode due to the rise of the Omicron variant and the majority of the cast and crew being sent home. So here are some of my favorite moments from the second half of season 47.
Billie Eilish
- Fauci Holiday Message Cold Open
-Christmas Cards
-TikTok feat. Billie Eilish
-Lonely Christmas
-Weekend Update: Andrew Dismukes’ Amazing Animals
-Weekend Update: Punkie Johnson on Her Family’s Holiday Rules
-Hotel Ad
Ariana DeBose/Bleachers
-Monologue
-Urkel Reboot
-Winter Formal
-Eric Adams Press Conference
-Weekend Update: Elmo and Rocco
-New Governess
Will Forte/Måneskin
-Ingraham Angle Cold Open
-MacGruber sketches
-Kid Klash
-Cinema Classics: Gaslight
-Weekend Update: Chen Biao on the 2022 Olympics
-Weekend Update: Sarah Sherman Roasts Colin Jost Again
Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry
-Tenant Meeting
-Now I’m Up
-Dog Show
-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on the Latest Trends
-Good Morning Columbus
John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem
-Ukraine Cold Open
-Monkey Trial
-Blue River
-Please Don’t Destroy: Good Variant
-Five-Timers Club
-Subway Churro
-Cupid Shuffle
Oscar Isaac/Charli XCX
-Paw Patrol
-Inventing Chloe
-Weekend Update: Kate McKinnon on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill
-Weekend Update: Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour on Rihanna’s Pregnancy
-Aidy’s Dream
-Home Repair Show
Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía
-Monologue
-Amazon Go
-Porch Scene
-Please Don’t Destroy: We Got Her a Cat
Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna
-Fox & Friends Cold Open: Supreme Court Confirmation
-Post-COVID Show
-Short-Ass Movies
-Seat Fillers
-Weekend Update: Senator Marsha Blackburn on Judge Jackson’s Confirmation Hearings
-Baby Clothes
Jake Gyllenhaal/Camila Cabello
-Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmation Cold Open
-Dream Home Cousins
-Cabaret Night
-Chucky
-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on Today’s Most Popular Trends
-Couples Counselor
-Truck Stop CD
Lizzo
-Easter Wishes Cold Open
-TikTok feat. Lizzo
-Six Flags
-Weekend Update: Colin Jost’s Driver Cesar Perez
-Orchestra
Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire
-Mother’s Day Gifts
-Blue Bunny
-Just Like You
-Weekend Update: Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Overturning Roe v. Wade
-The Understudy
Selena Gomez/Post Malone
-A Peek at Pico
-Irish Play
-Inventor Documentary
-Weekend Update: Baby Yoda on His Spiritual Awakening
-Weekend Update: Field Correspondent Sarah Sherman Gives an SNL Studio Tour
-Baby Monitor
Natasha Lyonne/Japanese Breakfast
-Final Encounter Cold Open
-PSA
-Summer Gig
-Weekend Update: Pete Davidson Says Goodbye for Now
-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on Summer Trends
-Women’s Commercial
Up until the day of, the Christmas episode was scheduled to go as planned with Paul Rudd making his fifth hosting appearance with Charli XCX as the musical. But, as we’re still in a pandemic, COVID and the newer Omicron variant had to throw a wrench in the plans. It was clear that this episode was not going to be like others and maybe resemble more of the “at home” episodes from earlier in the pandemic. The show was mostly pre-recorded with Kenan and Michael being the only cast members on the episode. This episode also didn’t have a traditional cold open, the opening credits (the end credits scrolled the names of the cast members), have a musical guest, or say “Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night”. Tom Hanks and Tina Fey appeared in the beginning, along with a hilarious pre-recorded video from Steve Martin and Martin Short, to officially welcome Paul Rudd into the Five-Timers Club. It was planned for Candice Bergen, Jon Hamm, and Jimmy Fallon to make an appearance during the episode but that plan was scrapped. Jimmy would end up saying a month later that he tested positive for COVID the day of the Christmas episode. Tina Fey also did Weekend Update with Michael since Colin had also tested positive. Update was done at home base without the set, Tina and Michael sitting in director’s chairs, and with Paul, Tom, and Kenan as an audience. Since the vast majority of the cast and crew were sent home, there weren’t any live sketches. However, there were two sketches that were pre-taped that were shown, which were HomeGoods, An Evening with Pete, and The Christmas Socks featuring Charli XCX. The time was also filled by showing some past Christmas themed sketches introduced by Tom, Tina, and Kenan. These sketches included ones that are usually shown during the annual Christmas special, such as Dick in a Box, Naughty Elves, with Ryan Gosling, Steve Martin’s Holiday Wish, Now That’s What I Call Christmas, and Christmastime for the Jews. Some other Christmas sketches they showed were some of my favorites, such as Holiday Pageant with Paul McCartney and Martin Short from season 38 and North Pole News Report with Eddie Murphy from season 45. Another sketch they showed that wasn’t necessarily a Christmas sketch but nevertheless very funny was Dan Charles from when Paul Rudd hosted back in season 39 that featured the then-musical guests One Direction. They also showed a sketch from season sixteen when Tom Hanks hosted called The Global Warming Christmas special. I thought it was so cool that they brought back a really vintage sketch and this was a sketch that I know I’ve never seen or even heard of before.
Overall, with the situation they were dealt with, I thought this was a very solid Christmas episode. It was a great mix of pre-taped sketches from earlier that week and sketches from seasons past. Although I think everybody would have preferred the usual episode format, myself included, the health and safety of the cast, crew, and everyone else involved obviously comes first and, heaven forbid if this happened again, they would be able to pull off an episode like this again. I obviously preferred this episode to the alternative of scrapping the episode entirely but obviously I would have respected the decision if it had ever come to that.
Before the season finale, it was announced that Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney would be leaving the show. Months later, it was announced that Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari, and Melissa Villaseñor would not be coming back. Just within the last couple of weeks, Chris Redd also announced his departure from the show. This marks the first time since the end of season 20 that the show has had this many cast members leave the show either by choice or being fired. For reference, season twenty had twelve cast members leave, however some of these departures were midseason. It’s crazy to think that this is one of the biggest cast departures of my lifetime (I was born during the last couple months of season 20). It’s also crazy to think that, with the exception of Kenan, I’ve seen the debut of everyone in the current cast as a cast member. That being said, it’s made some of these departures hard. I know this is the nature of the show and cast members come and go but it doesn’t make it any easier when they leave. For example, Kate and Aidy’s departures have been particularly hard for me. I started really watching the show around the time the both of them joined. They were always these constants that I looked forward to seeing every Saturday night. I mean, if Cecily had announced she was leaving at the same time, that would have made it even harder (thankfully, we have Cecily for at least next season). Pete’s departure was probably the only one out of all of them where I pretty much saw it coming. His career outside of the show was starting to take off and he was only in a small handful of sketches in the second half of the season. I honestly thought he would have left sooner but eight years is a good run. I was a little surprised that Aristotle was let go but also not really because he did have some good characters, of course a lot of his stuff kept getting cut for time which happens when there’s a large cast. I also thought Kyle would have left last season when Beck left but I guess he wanted to go one more season. I was, however, really shocked to see Alex, Melissa, and especially Chris announce that they were leaving. I mean, I knew they weren’t going to stay for a super long time but I expected them to maybe stay another year or so. Even with these departures, I’m curious and excited to see how the new season goes with the new cast members who I’ll talk about more in my season premiere post.
This has been my recap of the second half of season 47. I plan on doing a better job of posting more consistently and do better planning so I don’t fall behind again. As always, thank you all for your continued support and for always live tweeting with me. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @SNLBlogger for SNL news and live tweeting every new episode during the season. See you for the season 48 premiere!
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
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