[5.8/10] Sam Rockwell has a very specific comic energy, and it doesn’t necessarily jibe with what SNL was doing in this one, which is a shame, because with the right sketches, I could have easily seen him knocking it out of the park as a host. His monologue made use of his epic dance skills, and played off a somewhat tired bit about character actors winning awards, and basically exemplified the night. It was solid, and had all the elements to be enjoyable enough, but never quite crossed the line into something special.
In terms of the political stuff, the opening Morning Joe spoof was pretty DOA, despite an appearance from Bill Murray as Bannon. But Weekend Update had one of its strongest outings in a while. Che in particular had some cutting commentary, and Jost had some good one-liners. The Correspondent bits were hit or miss. Kenan’s Lavar Ball bit just never clicks with me; it was an easy gag, but Redd’s Steadman parroting Oprah was a good laugh, and Aidy Bryant’s bit about having the need to accommodate people instilled in her, with good commentary about how it contributes to gender inequality, was funny and sharp.
The “Science Show” sketch was full of easy “aren’t these kids stupid?” gags, and didn’t get much from Rockwell’s ersatz Bill Nye’s frustrations with them, but it was fine. Similarly, the “Fashion Panel” didn’t have any dynamite observations or anything, but at least mined the humor from catty fashion shows having to adjust to the TimesUp era.
The “Tucci Gang” song felt like half a joke coasting on weirdness, which about summed up the “My Drunk Boyfriend” sketch as well. The best you could say is that the skits were mostly punchy and short, not overstaying their welcome. For instance, the Captain Hook was just one joke, and one of those “what if we applied reality to fiction?” bits at that, but it hit its punchlines quickly and wrapped things up. And the “dog-headed man” experiment sketch had an “I Married a Monkey” vibe, but again, let the silliness/cuteness of the premise land and then bailed before it could get tiresome.
The only sketches that really clicked came late in the night and hit some different notes. The ATM pre-taped sketch does a nice job of doing subversions and reversals as Rockwell plays a guy uncomfortable about using the ATM when a black man follows him into the vestibule. It’s kind of a cynical sketch, but it has a point of view and some interesting layering going on, which is more than you could say for most sketches in the night. In the same way, the anti-smoking drug ad that played on Cecily Strong’s character’s desire to be an actress had multiple notes for Strong to play and had a fun energy. And the “uptight dad recognizes gay porn star” skit was a bit of a lame setup, but again, was a tight sketch, that takes things to loony places in the end that pay off.
Overall, not a great episode, but one that gained some momentum from a strong Weekend Update and found a few gems in the back half of the show.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-02-20T17:07:17Z
[5.8/10] Sam Rockwell has a very specific comic energy, and it doesn’t necessarily jibe with what SNL was doing in this one, which is a shame, because with the right sketches, I could have easily seen him knocking it out of the park as a host. His monologue made use of his epic dance skills, and played off a somewhat tired bit about character actors winning awards, and basically exemplified the night. It was solid, and had all the elements to be enjoyable enough, but never quite crossed the line into something special.
In terms of the political stuff, the opening Morning Joe spoof was pretty DOA, despite an appearance from Bill Murray as Bannon. But Weekend Update had one of its strongest outings in a while. Che in particular had some cutting commentary, and Jost had some good one-liners. The Correspondent bits were hit or miss. Kenan’s Lavar Ball bit just never clicks with me; it was an easy gag, but Redd’s Steadman parroting Oprah was a good laugh, and Aidy Bryant’s bit about having the need to accommodate people instilled in her, with good commentary about how it contributes to gender inequality, was funny and sharp.
The “Science Show” sketch was full of easy “aren’t these kids stupid?” gags, and didn’t get much from Rockwell’s ersatz Bill Nye’s frustrations with them, but it was fine. Similarly, the “Fashion Panel” didn’t have any dynamite observations or anything, but at least mined the humor from catty fashion shows having to adjust to the TimesUp era.
The “Tucci Gang” song felt like half a joke coasting on weirdness, which about summed up the “My Drunk Boyfriend” sketch as well. The best you could say is that the skits were mostly punchy and short, not overstaying their welcome. For instance, the Captain Hook was just one joke, and one of those “what if we applied reality to fiction?” bits at that, but it hit its punchlines quickly and wrapped things up. And the “dog-headed man” experiment sketch had an “I Married a Monkey” vibe, but again, let the silliness/cuteness of the premise land and then bailed before it could get tiresome.
The only sketches that really clicked came late in the night and hit some different notes. The ATM pre-taped sketch does a nice job of doing subversions and reversals as Rockwell plays a guy uncomfortable about using the ATM when a black man follows him into the vestibule. It’s kind of a cynical sketch, but it has a point of view and some interesting layering going on, which is more than you could say for most sketches in the night. In the same way, the anti-smoking drug ad that played on Cecily Strong’s character’s desire to be an actress had multiple notes for Strong to play and had a fun energy. And the “uptight dad recognizes gay porn star” skit was a bit of a lame setup, but again, was a tight sketch, that takes things to loony places in the end that pay off.
Overall, not a great episode, but one that gained some momentum from a strong Weekend Update and found a few gems in the back half of the show.