Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
FOX & FRIENDS
Ben Carson (JAP) gives his thoughts on Syrian refugees
— Didn’t they just do this sketch a few episodes ago?
— This ends up being the final installment of this sketch with the Taran/Vanessa/Bobby lineup. This sketch would be revived for one installment years later with a new lineup of cast members playing the three hosts.
— The usual good laughs from Bobby’s dimwitted Brian Kilmeade.
— Kate’s Debbie Wasserman Schultz again, after she appeared in the last installment of this sketch prior to this. She’s fine here, but nothing particularly special, and it’s making this feel too similar to the last installment.
— An impression I’m more welcoming towards seeing is Jay’s Ben Carson, making its first appearance in a sketch that’s set in present day.
— Jay’s Ben Carson: “Oh, I’m like a koala bear – on the outside, I may seem nice, but on the inside, I’ve never held elected office.”
— Wow, for once, we get a deviation from the usual list of fact corrections that this recurring sketch typically ends with. This time, instead of showing a fact corrections list, the camera cuts to Leslie as the show’s fact checker, who answers Taran’s “How’d we do on our facts?” question with a very funny response: “Bad! Ya’ll gonna have me up all night!” I wonder if the reason for this deviation from the usual fact corrections list is because whoever writes these sketches was sick of coming up with those lists.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host recounts Dazed & Confused origin of “alright alright alright” phrase
— Much like Matthew McConaughey’s previous monologue from his season 28 hosting stint, this features him telling a very long-winded story.
— Is it true what Matthew says here about only having three lines in Dazed & Confused? I’ve never actually seen that whole movie, just a few clips, but from everything I’ve heard about Matthew’s iconic character in it, I assumed he certainly had more than a mere three lines.
— I do like the punchline of this story, but it wasn’t funny enough to justify neither the long length nor the dullness of the story. I also don’t like how self-indulgent both of Matthew’s long-story monologues feel. Plus, at least in his season 28 monologue, the long story was only the first half of the monologue, and the second half (featuring him going backstage and getting high with cast members in his dressing room) redeemed that overall monologue. Tonight’s monologue, on the other hand, just concludes after the story ends, leaving me with an unsatisfied feel.
STARS: **
A THANKSGIVING MIRACLE
musical guest’s “Hello” soothes tensions during family Thanksgiving meal
— Some great realistic tension in the opening Thanksgiving dinner table conversation about social and political issues, featuring strong acting from the cast.
— Very solid turn with Adele’s “Hello” song immediately stopping the tension at the table and leading to the family lip-syncing the song dreamily.
— The recurrent “Hello” lip-syncing sequences are getting funnier and funnier the more extensive they become in emulating the music video for this song. These lip-syncing sequences are also a great commentary on how much that song moves people.
— I’m loving how very well-done everything about this short is. Prior to my current viewing, I had forgotten just how damn strong this short is.
STARS: *****
BLUES SHACK
trouble-free (host) sits in with blues musicians who have legit hardships
— Something about the upper chin area of Kenan’s fake beard is distracting.
— Blah, the comedic conceit with Matthew’s character’s bad examples of blues isn’t doing anything for me.
— I do admit to laughing at the so-dumb-it’s-funny bit where, when told to act like Kenan’s character, Matthew’s character just mostly sings the words “I’m black, I am black!” over and over.
— Overall, aside from the above-mentioned part and some funny straight man reactions from Kenan, this sketch was a flop.
STARS: *½
3D PRINTER MAN
audience easily identifies 3D bioprinted man (host) via a Turing test
— Matthew’s unnatural sentence wordings and robot-like actions are fairly funny.
— The physical actions from Matthew when he and the other guys are demonstrating moves are providing pretty good laughs.
STARS: ***
STAR WARS AUDITIONS
Star Wars Episode VII roles go to Daisy Ridley & John Boyega [real] & not celebs
— A twist to the usual formula of SNL’s screen test pre-tapes, by having this one involve some real celebrities, including some from the actual Star Wars VII movie. This is providing more of a fresh feel to SNL’s usual screen test formula.
— The mere visual of Aidy in that ridiculous huge wig is alone worth a big laugh.
— Taran’s David Beckham scene is particularly funny.
— A hilarious scene with Bobby as Danny DeVito auditioning for BB-8.
— Jon Hamm!
— Ah, Hamm’s being his usual funny and charming self here.
— Leslie steals yet another segment.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hello”
WEEKEND UPDATE
COJ & MIC give their comedic takes on immigration & America
guest anchor Laura Parsons brings spunky delivery to serious news items
for Thanksgiving, COJ & MIC write jokes for one another to tell
David Ortiz (KET) is retiring from baseball but has endorsements lined up
— The usual very solid long-form news story breakdown from Colin and Michael, this time on the topic of immigration.
— Laura Parsons, an established sketch character of Vanessa’s, makes her first of several Update appearances.
— Laura Parsons delivering very harrowing news stories in her usual upbeat, child actor-y delivery is absolutely priceless. This is a great way to reinvent this character, and I feel she definitely works better on Update than in sketches.
— Ah, an important moment, as we get the official debut of the well-loved tradition of Colin and Michael swapping jokes. In this inaugural outing, the occasion for this joke-swap routine is Thanksgiving. IIRC, the occasion for this routine would later be changed to Christmas.
— The bad or self-insulting jokes Michael and Colin have been given in tonight’s joke-swap are very funny.
— The second-ever appearance of Kenan’s David Ortiz, after making his first appearance all the way back in season 39.
— The ridiculous ads that Kenan’s Ortiz is doing are hilarious, especially the “Smidgeon of Pigeon” and the “Go Outside” ones.
— Overall, yet another damn strong Jost/Che Update. It used to be rare for Updates to earn a four-and-a-half-star rating from me, but at the rate the Jost/Che era of Update has been going lately, it seems to be becoming a regular thing.
STARS: ****½
SHOULD YOU CHIME IN ON THIS?
ignorant contestants can’t resist engaging
— Yet another game show sketch in this decade where the game show host has a similar-sounding name to a celebrity (this time Allen DeGeneres), which is such a tired joke by this point.
— Something about the atmosphere of this sketch feels dead so far.
— Boy, Kenan is hamming up a storm in this sketch. Half of that is working for me, while the other half is too reminiscent of Kenan’s weaker tendencies as a performer in his earlier seasons before he became a reliable veteran. My problem is, his hammy, broad performance in this sketch doesn’t seem right for this particular role he’s playing.
— Pretty funny reveal of a long braid on the back of Matthew’s head.
— A surprising walk-on from Kate’s Hillary Clinton, who I had forgotten appears in this sketch.
— Overall, while this had a promising concept, I was underwhelmed by the execution of it.
STARS: **
RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED WITH GRACELYNN AND CORY
oven cleaner fumes overcome turkey chef (host)
— The third and final appearance of this sketch. Feels odd seeing this sketch buried so late in tonight’s lineup, given how early in the show’s lineup it previously appeared.
— Like the second installment of this sketch, the fun and charming interplay between Taran and Cecily continues to grow on me, after I didn’t care for it in the first installment.
— What was with Matthew goofily calling attention to his very minor opening line flub (so minor, that I didn’t even notice it until he called attention to it) and pointlessly making himself repeat the whole line?
— The different flavor that Matthew’s character is adding to this recurring sketch is…uh, interesting so far.
— Taran’s line about brush blocking Cecily’s “backwoods” area made me laugh.
— Ehhh, the more Matthew’s scenes go on, the less and less I’m liking them. His performance is reminding me an awful lot of how annoying and bizarre I found his performances in his season 28 hosting stint, if you remember my VERY negative review of that episode (link here).
— Ugggghhhh, the unfunny running gag of Kate showing up as a male singer in each installment of this recurring sketch continues.
STARS: **½ (Matthew’s performance brought this down for me)
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “When We Were Young”
TOWN HALL MEETING
at a community forum, inferiority complex leads (host) to object to train
— Oh, God. Looks like I’m in for another annoying McConaughey character piece, judging from his performance so far.
— I did get a laugh just now at the reveal of Matthew’s ridiculous-looking fake hand.
— Matthew actually has funny lines here, but something feels wrong about the overly hammy, broad way he’s playing this role, similar to my complaint about Kenan’s performance in the Should You Chime In On This sketch. Matthew’s bad performance is hurting the humor of this sketch.
— Surprisingly, this is Pete’s first and ONLY appearance all night, and it’s not even a speaking role.
— The ending was pretty awful.
STARS: **
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly weak episode. Despite a few strong things in the first half, including the classic A Thanksgiving Miracle piece, this episode as a whole never fully took off for me, and there were a number of underwhelming pieces, especially in the second half of the show, where I didn’t care much for ANY of the sketches, despite all of them having potential. Matthew McConaughey is now 0-for-2 in good SNL episodes. And while I found him tolerable for a majority of his performances in this episode compared to his performances in his awful season 28 episode, the last 15 minutes of this episode sadly featured him relapsing into his annoying self from his season 28 stint. Might be a good idea to just keep him away from SNL from now on. I just don’t feel he and sketch comedy mix all that well.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
A Thanksgiving Miracle
Weekend Update
Star Wars Auditions
Fox & Friends
3D Printer Man
Right Side of the Bed with Gracelynn and Cory
Should You Chime In On This?
Town Hall Meeting
Monologue
Blues Shack
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Elizabeth Banks)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Ryan Gosling