Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member on Saturday Night Live back in the day. While her most famous work came afterwards, it provided a training ground for her tremendous work on Seinfeld and Veep. Tonight she returns to 8H. She’s a killer comedian, familiar with the work of SNL. What could go wrong?
Like I always do, I’ll be writing the recaps “live,” meaning I’ll watch a sketch and immediately write a short blurb, reviewing and recapping it. For each segment, I’ll rate it on a scale of 0-5 stars. At the end of the piece, I’ll share some quick overall thoughts and the best/worst sketch of the night.
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Democratic Debate: * * ½
It’s official; Larry David is basically an SNL cast member at this point. Seriously, he’s gotten about double the screen time of Rudnitsky. But given our host and the recent debate, his return was kind of a no-brainer. Actually, low hanging fruit seems to be the mantra of this sketch, which used tired meta humor, Seinfeld references and the same Clinton/Sanders shtick we’ve been seeing all year. So, not a terrible cold open, but a very forgettable one. Oh, and I too love a good shvitz. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Opening Monologue: * ½
JLD was in Troll? Who knew? That’s about all I gleaned from this short and unfunny monologue, besides the fact SNL has no clue how to use hysterical comic actor, Tony Hale.
Heroin AM: * * ½
Drug commercial parodies are a staple of SNL. This was a fine, if not unremarkable, entry in that list. The idea was solid, but didn’t seem to go anywhere beyond the basic joke.
Huge Jewelry: * * *
Remember how every time Scarlett Johansson hosted, there was a sketch about gaudy New Jerseyans hawking chandeliers and marble statues? I have a hunch that sometime this week, an SNL writer found a dusty, unproduced ScarJo script and decided to just run with it. While this sketch didn’t add up to much, you can’t fault the performer’s boundless energy or the weird, stilted mode this sketch was in.
Chad The Pool Boy: * * ½
Last week was pretty much a train wreck. So far, this episode has been more bland than bad. Here we have another ho-hum sketch that has a solid premise, but feels like it could have used a few more rewrites. It needed to be darker or weirder or…something.
Cinema Classics: * * ½
I will say this; Louis-Dreyfus tried really, really hard to sell this clunker. There may be a funny sketch to be done about an actress hiding her lines in obvious places around the set, but despite Louis-Dreyfus’ best efforts, the long pauses between jokes just killed this long before it was over.
Mercedes AA Class: * * ½
This surely looked like a car commercial (kudos to the under-appreciated production staff who pull off spotless stuff like this in a moment's notice) and the image of a million batteries flying out of the gas tank is quite funny. But…that’s about it.
Weekend Update: * * * ½
I wonder where SNL got the idea that Shaq is a cross-eyed, lisping moron? It’s clearly not based on the real Shaq, but it was pretty darn hilarious. Also hilarious was Aidy Bryant’s new Animal Annie. It took a while to warm up to her, but Annie’s increasingly desperate facts kept getting funnier. Che and Jost have finally found their groove too and, man, WU is strong these days.
Weekend Update: Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal on Kobe Bryant’s Retirement
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Weekend Update: One-Dimensional Female Character on Screen Time
Match.com Event: * *
It’s nearly one in the morning and I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon after seeing McKinnon’s freaky alien lady. But while I like when sketches get weird, this one never quite owned its strangeness. It’s like a comedic version of Under The Skin, which is neither a compliment nor an insult. Also, another ScarJo reference tonight, not sure what that’s about.
God Is A Boob Man: * * * *
Now we’re getting somewhere. A great take-down of ridiculous Christian films like “God Is Dead” and just a solidly funny, well-written piece of satire, this faux trailer is the best thing on tonight’s show by a wide margin. Even the title, “Angel In Denim: The Kim Davis Story,” is perhaps the funniest joke in the episode. Is this a sketch that will come up in my end of year top 10? Probably not, but it’s a keeper nonetheless.
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Best Sketch: God Is A Boob Man
Worst Sketch: No real stinkers. But except for the final sketch, no real winners either.
Musical Guest: Nick Jonas
I can see why a lot of people would like Jonas’ new music, but it’s just not my cup of tea.
Overall Thoughts:
As I’ve already said, this was a fine and forgettable SNL that didn’t really use Louis-Dreyfus very much. Oh well.
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