We DVR SNL. We blow through it, i.e., fast forward through bad monologues, off skits, and bad musical acts as needed, watch Weekend Update then keep going if we are feeling it.
This SNL with Tom Hanks and Gaga we watched end to end. It wasn’t, like, one for the ages, but man it was consistently funny.
Intro Debate - not as good as the others, but I liked Hillary marketing Nasty Woman merch.
Monologue - pretty funny and Hanks had the chops to pull off the America’s Dad peptalk
Black Jeopardy - really funny, with insightful commentary on how much folks are likely to have in common, even in this divisive age.
David S. Pumpkins - I have no idea what that was, but found myself laughing at the absurdity, something really rare on SNL these days
Lady Gaga - I like the songs, love her voice and commitment to the vocal, but wish she wouldn’t wear those awful tight shorts. Its not attractive, and distracting but not in a good way. Mark Ronson played some great guitar licks during the first song.
Weekend Update - nice and reliable, with an especially poignant bit by Leslie Jones about getting hacked. I find her humor hit or miss at best, but damn I root for her hard. Her making eyes at Colin Jost is one of the few sexual predator-for-laughs bits that can work in this day and age. When she smiles big at Jost and Colin gets shy, it is just too damn funny.
Post WU - the Sully sketch was funny with Alec Baldwin back for a cameo, and the silly cat videos with mordant French narration was fun. I was surprised that Tom Hanks was doing an imitation of Ron Howard that didn’t necessarily come off as nice, but the bit was cute.
So - yeah, solid. So a shoutout for a job well done.
Hanks is a phenomenal actor, and it really showed. He was great in his sketches, even the crazy “David Pumpkin” thing (loved the very end of that bit). And Doug on Black Jeopardy was spot on! (FJ being “Lives that matter” was perfect.) Hanks is almost too good to be true.
But… I thought Weekend Update was mediocre. I especially don’t care for Leslie Jones’ character. And… I always fast-forward thru the musical parts because they inevitably sound awful. If Gaga was good, good for her. I didn’t see her in any of the sketches, though-- did I miss her?
Normally I don’t like the SNL musical performances when they’re debuting new material (new to me anyway), but Lady Gaga was great. I’ve read stuff that her new album is “toned down” and not her usual “performance” type songs-- more “real” and less over-the-top. But these struck me as being just as over-the-top as her previous stuff, just a different style of music. She’s totally playing a character. But I dug it.
ETA: You can tell they got new writers/head writers this season. The sketches just have a different tone. They actually have endings that are funny (the David Pumpkins sketch, for one) and don’t just carry on until everyone’s bored with it.
I’m not sure what you mean by this, but I disagree. I’ve heard plenty of musical parts that sounded just fine, even when I didn’t like the songs or the performers. And I’ve seen performances that I appreciated enough to understand why the performer was popular, and to appreciate the level of talent or at least theatricality involved, without really liking the artist or the genre—and Lady Gaga fell into that category for me.
You missed the Halloween night before & after filmed sketch which was also incredibly good. Bobby Moynihan carefully taping up the little ghosts with a look of innocent satisfaction sent it over the top. “so spooky!”
Also missed the how-much-will-you-pay-us-for-performing-at-the-block-party sketch, with the virgin vampire. Which wasn’t incredibly good. (Or, y’know, good.)
I thought the sketch was good, but not amazing. The thumbprint question/answer was actually quite brilliant. I know a fair amount of black people or Trump supporters who would give the same answer Doug gave. “That’s how they get 'ya” is just dead on.
Loved it. Otherwise, I thought a lot of it was kind of obvious stuff. Still, the observation that Trump supporters and many African Americans might have more in common than they realize is quite good. More a premise than a full sketch idea, but I did like it.
Tom Hanks was essential for this. He played that role quite well. I don’t think the “jump back” when Darnell approached him was necessary. Trump like racism is better managed typically. Or I’m wrong and that was spot on.