September 27, 2014 – Chris Pratt / Ariana Grande (S40 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

STATE OF THE UNION
Ray Lewis (KET) can speak to NFL legal woes but won’t

— Very funny line from Aidy about how, as part of her relaxation routine, “a crack team of Korean ladies rehabilitate my feet.”
— Feels kinda odd seeing the host appear in the cold opening of a season premiere.
— Wow, Aidy is unusually stumbly with some of her lines throughout this. Season premiere jitters, I take it?
— Nothing much to say about the cutaways to Chris Pratt’s Roger Goodell, though the “We Fight 4 Women” confusion is fairly amusing.
— Pretty funny running bit with Kenan’s Ray Lewis constantly changing the uncomfortable subject by going back to his faux-noble talk about schoolbuses.
— Jay’s Shannon Sharpe impression is usually good for a laugh, but he’s going a little too over the top tonight, even for an impression of an inherently goofy-voiced person like Shannon Sharpe. I HATE that ridiculous, unfunny laugh Jay keeps doing at the end of each of his bits in this, which makes Jay come off like he’s trying way too hard to get a cheap laugh.
STARS: **½

OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage.

— SNL has a new logo for the first time in 8 years. The number “40” is an additional part of the new logo, commemorating this being the milestone 40th season. (Speaking of SNL reaching their 40th anniversary, I will make the one and only exception to my strict “Review only regular episodes and no specials” rule by reviewing SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special when I reach that point of this season, due to popular demand and some good arguments that were made for why I should do that.)
— Former cast member Darrell Hammond has taken over for the recently-deceased Don Pardo as SNL’s new announcer.
— Michael Che and Pete Davidson have been added to the cast.
— Nice touch with how the chyron of each cast members’ name follows their movement.
— Seeing this opening montage and SNL logo, as well as the arrival of Michael and Pete, all make me truly feel like I’m officially in the now-current SNL era, especially since this opening montage was the current one when I started this One SNL A Day project in June 2018.

MONOLOGUE
host plays guitar & sings about his SNL experience; Anna Faris cameo

— I love the meta “van down by the river” reference that Chris Pratt makes.
— (*sigh*) We already open the season with a musical monologue.
— Chris seems a bit nervous, but in an affable, likable, relatable way instead of a worrisome, detrimental way.
— Hmm, I had absolutely no prior memory of Anna Faris’ (brief) appearance in this monologue. Me having no prior memory of something in an episode is something I should get used to for these next handful of seasons I’m reviewing, for reasons mentioned at the end of my last review prior to this.
— Some of the lyrics to Chris’ song are kinda amusing, and at least SNL’s not going the “Bring out cast members as cheesy backup dancers” route they usually go for musical monologues in this era, but I’m still a little meh on this.
STARS: **½

CIALIS TURNT
Cialis Turnt raises sexual performance & bedroom excitement to extremes

— Blah, this “turnt” stuff is the type of modern pop culture thing that I don’t like, sometimes not even when SNL spoofs it, which is the case here. It also doesn’t help that it feels like SNL goes to the “erectile dysfunction” route for fake ads too often in the 2000s and 2010s.
— Beck looks very Jeff Richards-esque in some shots here.
— Some amusing lines, but yeah, this type of humor isn’t for me.
STARS: *½

ACTION FIGURES
life-size & alive He-Man (host) & Lion-O (TAK) action figures wreak havoc

 

— Something about those fake eyebrows make Taran resemble Will Ferrell, to me at least.
— Some good laughs from the various observations and discoveries made by the now-live-action toys.
— Lots of good destruction of the set throughout this.
— Some timing issues during this sketch, where it feels like people are late on their cues, resulting in stretches of awkward silence.
— I love Aidy’s “Oh, my sweet meats!” line when He-Man and Lion-O are getting hot-and-heavy towards her.
— Another funny Aidy line, with her responding “Oh, I know” after being told that patting your own crotch feels good.
— Yet ANOTHER great Aidy line, with her telling She-Ra, while heading towards the hot tub with He-Man and Lion-O, “She Ra, come on. I know you’re a freak.”
— More timing issues, as this sketch ends in a very awkward and empty manner.
STARS: ***½

ANIMAL HOSPITAL
(host) & fellow animal hospital workers are unfazed by pet mortality rate

— (*groan*) They’re really doing this tepid sketch a second time?!?
— Aaaaaand predictably, this is going the exact same route as the first installment of this sketch, repeating the “Your pet is dead” joke over and over and over and over.
— Kyle noticeably keeps staring at the cue cards in an awkward, unsure manner, but the reason for that is because he was thrown into this role after dress rehearsal. According to the dress rehearsal report that FeaturingEmilyPrager (a frequent commenter on this blog) posted online shortly after this episode originally aired, Kyle’s role was played by newbie Pete Davidson in dress rehearsal, but Pete was taken out of the role for the live show because he reportedly performed the role rather awkwardly in dress rehearsal, a total contrast to how smoothly he performs elsewhere in this episode (as we’ll see later on when he starts making appearances).
— Ugh, this sketch reprisal is insufferable. Never should’ve brought this back.
STARS: *

MARVEL
success of Guardians Of The Galaxy spurs more odd Marvel superhero movies

— Some okay laughs from some of the ridiculous premises being made into big-budget Marvel superhero movies.
— Aidy, who’s been on somewhat of a hot streak in tonight’s episode (minus her occasional line flubs throughout the cold opening), is very well-cast in this commercial as “Pam”.
— Okay, this commercial’s concept is starting to get kinda old and dull.
— Meh, a long way to go just for a “Chris Pratt dressed as Princess Leia” punchline.
STARS: **½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Break Free”

WEEKEND UPDATE
The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party is patronizing & dim

unlucky-in-love LEJ details the comforts & pains of being a single woman

PED is willing to go down on a guy as a means of financial responsibility

Cheer Up, President Obama- KET sings “Ooh Child” for COJ & MIC pep talk

— Michael Che has become the new co-anchor of Weekend Update.
— I love both the new Update opening title sequence and new Update set. Both of these things are also making me feel even more like I’ve officially reached SNL’s now-current era.
— Wow, they’re letting brand-new Update anchor Michael deliver tonight’s first Update joke, instead of letting the slightly-more-experienced Colin do that? That’s very rare for a new co-anchor in their very first Update.
— Oof, Michael is already showing how new he is, and showing that it probably wasn’t the best decision to have him deliver the first joke in tonight’s Update, as he stumbles really badly during his first joke, which hurts the audience response to the punchline. Michael at least remains completely nonchalant after finishing the punchline, not looking remotely flustered over his gaffe like most anchors would. I do recall his first few Weekend Updates having quite a number of line flubs, which drew criticism from some viewers.
— Much like the preceding season, Colin’s delivery is still very stilted-sounding. His jokes themselves have improved, though.
— Michael’s delivery sounds very different in this first Update of his. He’s using a more straitlaced delivery. Reminds me of how Norm Macdonald used a VERY professional-sounding, somewhat-stiff delivery in his first few Updates before resorting to his now-famous natural delivery.
— A fitting decision to have Cecily, in her first Update after either being removed or stepping down from her position as Update co-anchor, do an Update commentary as a character, which is where her strength on Update truly lies.
— Good to see Cecily’s Girl At A Party character back after a year-long hiatus, a hiatus that even gets acknowledged at one point of her commentary tonight, with Michael asking her where she’s been all this time, and her responding, “I went on my birthright trip to Israel”, leading to a funny back-and-forth between her and Michael.
— Girl At A Party: “There are babies in China…who don’t even know they’re adults.”
— Cecily hasn’t lost a step with this character after her year-long hiatus. I even love the detail of how, after trying to wow Michael with a supposedly-brilliant fact, she tells him “I just blew your brains out” instead of “I just blew your mind.”
— The punchline to Michael’s Derek Jeter joke, with Michael saying “and all the ass” at the end of the listed-off stats that Jeter achieved over his career, is our very first of what would go on to later be known as a trademark Che-like joke.
— Then-writer Leslie Jones appears in her second Update commentary, after her much-talked-about first Update commentary from towards the end of the preceding season.
— Like last time, Leslie’s performance is incredible here, and she is absolutely taking charge with her hilarious stage presence. So many laughs from her commentary tonight, even if it’s not quite on the same level as her famous previous commentary.
— I wonder if Colin threw that Kid Rock joke in as an intentional nod to his recently-fired castmate Brooks Wheelan, given what a huge Kid Rock fanatic Brooks is known to be.
— Pete Davidson makes both his very first SNL appearance AND his very first (of what will be a very large number over the years) Update commentary, notably being introduced by Michael as “resident young person”.
— Pete is impressively coming off as a total natural in this debut of his.
— Pete, on why he didn’t need to go down on a guy for money during his high school years: “I lived with my mom at the time. I had food, clothes, I had a TV in my room. I didn’t need to go down on a guy. My mom was already doing that.” Not only a hilarious line, but it comes off even funnier in hindsight knowing the close relationship Pete’s mom would later develop with SNL.
— Lots of laughs from Pete’s details and scenarios about the concept of going down on a guy for financial security.
— Pete’s overall commentary tonight really wowed me, both in 2014 and now. He came off poised, laid-back, and likable, he delivered his comedy routine with great quick pacing and a witty demeanor, and his comedy routine itself was strong enough to feel like something you’d expect to see from a long-time veteran stand-up comedian, not some 20-year-old kid like Pete was at this time. Very impressive.
— Boy, 2014 SNL sure loves that “Ooh Child” song, between the Lena Dunham episode and now this Kenan segment on Update.
— One of our first of many ISIS mentions this season. Hoo, boy. There’s going to be quite a number of…uh….interesting ISIS-related things that I’m going to have to review this season.
— I’m loving this “Cheer Up, President Obama” segment that Colin, Michael, and Kenan are doing. This format is very refreshing and new for Update (I can never in a million years picture it appearing in any Updates from the preceding season), and Colin and Michael have a lot of good lines here. Michael in particular is coming off very laid-back here, much like the fully-formed Update persona he’d later have.
— Overall, we have definitely entered a new era of Update. It felt very exciting and fresh just now to experience this. I’m really liking the new, different feel of this Update era. Despite the rough start with his first joke, Michael had a pretty good night. Even though there’s still some early-era kinks he has to shake out, you can still definitely see the potential in him. And even Colin’s jokes tonight were improved over his corny Seth Meyers-esque jokes from the preceding season, although, like Michael, Colin’s delivery isn’t fully-formed yet. While this new Update era would definitely improve later on (and eventually go on to be one of my all-time favorite Update eras, probably somewhere in the top 3 with the Norm Macdonald and Dennis Miller eras), tonight’s Update provided hope and let it be known that we were no longer in the corny, tame Seth Meyers-influenced years of Update.
— My reaction to this Update when this episode originally aired was interesting. Right from the announcement that summer that Michael would replace Cecily as Update co-anchor, I was IMMEDIATELY very onboard with that idea, having been familiar with some of Michael’s stand-up and his then-current stint on The Daily Show. However, I was very unhappy with the decision to have Colin remain on Update as co-anchor, as I strongly disliked him on Update the preceding season and felt that Michael was solid enough of a comic to do Update himself. Then when this episode aired, I was so ridiculously biased towards Michael and against Colin that I was very eager every time it was Michael’s turn to do an Update joke, whereas I would have a very dismissive, “Ugh, THIS guy…” attitude every time it was Colin’s turn to tell a joke. One of the things I liked back then about Michael as a new Update anchor was that I got a “Norm Macdonald/Dennis Miller hybrid” vibe from his anchorman approach, which had me excited, because (as I mentioned a little earlier) Norm and Dennis are my personal all-time favorite Update anchors. Now that I know in hindsight how Michael’s tenure as anchor would end up going, I’d say that the Norm comparison I initially made back at this time in 2014 was fairly spot-on, but not quite the Dennis comparison, even though Michael DOES have a similar laid-back, smug-in-a-likable-way, “Hey, I’m just gonna be me” approach that Dennis had. (YMMV on me describing Dennis as “smug in a likable way”, given how unlikable I know some SNL fans find him to be when watching his old Updates nowadays.) Anyway, back in 2014, I went through this season’s first few Updates feeling that Michael was knocking it out of the park while Colin was dead weight. However, Colin would gradually grow on me over the first few months of this season, to the degree that, by about December, I was absolutely fine with him as an anchor and felt that he complemented the already-good Michael well and that they both made a great team. And, as I said earlier, their Update era is now among my all-time favorites.
STARS: ***½

IN MEMORIAM
a photo of DOP marks his passing

BOOTY RAP
at a bar, shy (AIB) & (host) get to know one another with sexy rap lyrics

— Oh, no. I remember absolutely HATING this sketch when it originally aired, especially Aidy’s constant singing of the term “BIG FAT ASS!”
— In my current re-watch of this sketch so far, I will say that Aidy at least did a convincing job selling her first “swaggy” delivery of the term “BIG FAT ASS!” However, it still didn’t make me laugh at all. In fact, it kinda reminds me of the issues I had with the pop culture-centric Cialis Turnt commercial from earlier in this episode.
— Now it’s Chris’ turn at attempting “swaggy” singing, which is doing even less for me than Aidy’s did.
— Yeah, this sketch in general is NOT for me. When this originally aired, I looked at both the Cialis Turnt commercial and this Booty Rap sketch as pandering to the young crowd and trying too hard to be “hip” (I have these exact same problems with a similar sketch from the next season premiere, where host Miley Cyrus plays a modern-day rapping girl in a school dance from the 1950s), and I worried if it was a bad sign of what this new season might have in store for me. During pretty much all of my adult years, I admittedly have lived under a rock when it comes to current pop culture, mainly in music (as shown by the fact that I didn’t get the Harlem Shake reference in the season 38 Justin Timberlake episode I reviewed fairly recently), and stuff like the Cialis Turnt commercial and this Booty Rap sketch, and the lack of amusement I have towards them, always make me feel old and out-of-touch with the audience that recent SNL seasons sometimes seem to target themselves towards, even though I was only 30 years old when this episode originally aired.
— Blah at the ending of this sketch being the ol’ corny “Everybody dances” trope.
STARS: *½

BAD BOYS
sitcom drama tropes reign as (host) runs with the wrong crowd

— The first on-air installment of Beck and Kyle’s recurring nameless 80s/90s sitcom pastiche. A previous installment from the preceding season’s Andrew Garfield episode was cut after dress rehearsal and subsequently posted online.
— Only one minute in, and I am absolutely loving this spoof of typical 80s/90s sitcoms. Every little thing about this short is perfectly and hilariously nailing so many tropes from 80s/90s sitcoms (particularly “Very special episodes” of said sitcoms), with that lovable Good Neighbor absurdist touch added in. I also love how all of this is bringing me back to my 90s childhood, where I ate up corny sitcoms like this.
— The increasingly random and out-of-place establishing shots are very funny, especially the shot of a fantasy-looking castle (the fourth-to-last above screencap for this short).
— A very funny quick bit with one of the child actors getting the door shut on him when trying to leave through the door with the other child actors, resulting in him panickedly exiting the shot through the fourth wall.
— I remember being disappointed to see this short get a poor reception among online SNL fans when it originally aired. It made me feel at the time like I was the only one who liked this short. I’m glad to have recently seen appreciation for this short from a few SNL fans.
STARS: ****½

NFL ON CBS
players state their crimes while introducing themselves

— I love Michael’s delivery of the “at the Ohio State University” portion of his line. When this sketch originally aired, it initially had me assuming Michael was going to be a regular sketch performer in addition to doing Update, instead of being confined to Update like I had seen Colin be the preceding season. I was thrilled by the idea of Michael being a regular sketch performer, but then I saw the Update-only Colin also appear about a minute later in this sketch, and then I became confused, wondering “So are Michael and Colin only in this sketch because it requires all of the male cast members, and thus, Michael ISN’T going to be a regular sketch performer after all?” That question of mine turned out to be correct, as Michael (and Colin) would go on to rarely make non-Update appearances over the years, with Michael usually only doing so whenever an additional black performer is needed for a sketch that all of the other black cast members are already appearing in.
— Jay: “I punched a mailman. That’s federal, baby!”
— A great use of Colin’s comically-bland natural delivery, having him say an enthusiastic-but-monotone “And I’m the punter. Tax fraud!” That line wouldn’t have come off nearly as funny had any other performer delivered it. By the way, it feels so odd seeing Colin in a sketch after my recent re-watch of season 39 got me so used to him only appearing on Update.
— The concept of this sketch is very fun and topical, with NFL players one-by-one stating their crime during the introductions, made even more fun by how Chris and the cast members are playing multiple roles through quick costume changes. This is definitely the better of tonight’s two sketches about the NFL controversy going on at the time.
— Pete continues to come off as a total natural in his first episode and also be very funny and likable. When this episode originally aired, so many online SNL fans, including me, were VERY impressed by how Pete came off in this first episode of his, especially given his very young age at the time. He was the talk of the town on online SNL boards after this episode originally aired, with even some of the saltier SNL fans on those boards giving him lots of acclaim, saying stuff like “This kid is so ready” and glowingly declaring that he is “definitely part of the future.” I even made a prediction back at this time that, based on his comedic style and demeanor in this episode, Pete was going to be the young Norm Macdonald of modern-era SNL (odd how both of this episode’s new cast members, Michael and Pete, reminded me back then of Norm). I ended up being horribly wrong in that prediction about Pete. But even now having that knowledge in hindsight and knowing how much I would gradually go on to strongly dislike Pete over the course of these next few years (and, no, not just because he didn’t live up to my initial Norm Macdonald comparison, which is a comparison that I now admit was unfair to Pete and was expecting too much from someone so young) to the degree that I cite him as one of the main things responsible for driving me away from SNL in late 2018 and causing me to go on a (still in effect) hiatus from watching new episodes, I’m still finding myself impressed by him in my current re-watch of this first episode of his. He’s having a damn good first showing. As I enter his tenure in this SNL project of mine, I’m going into it open-minded, hoping to gain a higher opinion of his general tenure than I used to have. (It also helps that I hear he’s actually been doing much better on the show in the current 46th season, and has been putting a lot more effort into his performances.) There have been a number of cast members who I used to not care at all for, but have grown on me in my re-watch of their respective tenures during this SNL project of mine (don’t ask me who those cast members are, as I plan on mentioning them in one section of my special final post after I officially complete this SNL project). I’m hoping Pete can be one of those cast members.
— Why is Chris using the same fey, lispy, southern-accented voice for EVERY different football player he’s playing? It is making me laugh, though, just because it works in the fun and rapid-fire style of this sketch.
— Showing once again tonight how much she needs to be a part of the cast pronto, Leslie Jones absolutely STEALS this whole sketch with her hilarious brief appearance, which gets a huge audience reaction. When this originally aired, it just furthered my and other SNL fans’ opinion that Leslie not being in the cast while Sasheer is in the cast is a huge mistake on SNL’s part. In fact, not only are both of Leslie’s appearances in this episode far more noteworthy than ANYTHING Sasheer does in this episode, but Leslie’s Update appearance earlier tonight occurred before Sasheer even made her first appearance of the night! Nowadays, having recently started to find a likability in Sasheer during my re-watch of this SNL era while still acknowledging that SNL wasn’t the right venue for her talents, I now just feel bad for how underused Sasheer was in this episode and how overshadowed she was by someone who wasn’t even in the cast at the time (Leslie). Back on the topic of Leslie, after SNL would finally make Leslie a cast member a little later this season, I admittedly would go on to have mixed feelings on her tenure as a cast member (though I would always like her as a person), but even re-watching tonight’s episode while having that knowledge, I still can absolutely understand why I and everyone else were clamoring at the time for SNL to add Leslie to the cast, kinda like the aforementioned fact that I can still enjoy Pete’s strong debut in this episode even with the knowledge that he went on to be a cast member I strongly disliked.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & The Weeknd [real] perform “Love Me Harder”

VIDEO GAME
video game focus group dislikes incongruous eroticism of Puzzle World 6

— Poor, poor Sasheer.
— I have mixed feelings on the raunchy, romantic turn that Chris and Vanessa’s scene is taking. Something about that turn feels a bit cliched for SNL, and it’s not making me laugh all that much here.
— Listening to Pete’s voice throughout this first episode of his reminds me that an online SNL fan mentioned at some point this season that Pete has pretty much the exact same voice as Gilbert Gottfried’s real voice in season 6 (years before Gilbert adopted the “screechy voice” persona). Yeah, even today, long after I’ve become very familiar with Pete’s voice, I can still hear the Gottfried similarity in his voice now that I’m listening for it.
— Yeah, as the eroticism of Chris and Vanessa’s scenes goes on, I’m caring less and less for this sketch.
— Pete’s great night continues, as he got a pretty good laugh from me just now with his delivery of an unhappily-muttered “Ohh, man….” as it’s his turn to play the off-putting video game.
— The ending of the Chris/Vanessa portions of this sketch is actually good, with the “Ghost” reference.
STARS: **

GOODNIGHTS

---

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An underwhelming season premiere. There were some positive points, as well as some promising and exciting new things & people introduced tonight, but the amount of things I liked were far outnumbered by the amount of things I didn’t like. There was also a bit of a sloppiness at certain points of the show, sloppiness that I would normally cut SNL some slack for in a season premiere, as it’s understandable that there would be some rustiness from SNL immediately after a long summer break. However, I recall this mild sloppiness actually continuing for quite a while this season (which is just one of the things that sparked A LOT of comparisons that some online SNL fans made between this season and the notorious season 20), sloppiness that wouldn’t stop until about December. We’ll see if my memory of that is correct or not.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Bad Boys
NFL on CBS
Weekend Update
Action Figures
Marvel
State of the Union
Monologue
Video Game
Cialis Turnt
Booty Rap
Animal Hospital

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2013-14)
a mild step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Sarah Silverman