S45.E05: Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

[Princess Sparkle]

Kristen Stewart hosts, Coldplay is the musical guest.

[Phishbulb]

It's funny that this exact same host and MG lineup could've happened in 2009. 

[JZL]

Looks like she's pimpin' Charlies Angels* and a smaller project called Seberg.  Not being a Twilight person, my favorite movie of hers is the Joan Jett one, The Runaways, also with Dakota Fanning an Michael Shannon.

She's no comedic powerhouse, but she seems to do well on SNL, so this might be good.  I blow hot and cold on Coldplay.  [insert my standard A1A bitch about SNL musical guest selection here]  I like that SNL has taken a break from hip hop and bubble-gum, but Coldplay?  Really!?  Can't we have someone like Jay Som or The Tracks?

* Jeest, a Charlie's Angels reboot-- what's next, Josie and the Pussycats?

Edited November 2, 2019 by JZL

[Pete Martell]

[Galileo908]

On 10/30/2019 at 3:49 PM, Phishbulb said:

It's funny that this exact same host and MG lineup could've happened in 2009. 

I'm reminded of the two times John Goodman hosted with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Starting with an Elizabeth Warren sketch. "I work for Kamala Harris's campaign and I'm still undecided" was probably the biggest bite of the whole thing. But other than that...light on the actual comedy this time. Trump jokes just write themselves. I love Kate, but I feel like her Elizabeth Warren is just her Hillary with shorter hair.

Monologue: Jeez, it feels like there's been no energy so far. I don't think Kristen Stewart was kidding when she didn't want to do a monologue this time.

Rosie The Riveter: Aidy, Kate, and Kristen were fun, but this didn't do much for me.

Duolingo for Talking to Children: Oh I need this so bad. "Do you wear clothes...to school?" is right up there with Ralph Wiggum's "So do you like...stuff?" 

Farrows & Ball: I love it whenever people talk like they do in commercials in real life. This just kept getting stupider and stupider as it went on...in a good way. "Do you want me to live in squal-our?!" They had me at "LOOK AT THE COLOUR OF HIS EYES!" 

Dog Translator: Oh boy, a sketch about that dog that "received" the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And who would've guessed the dog wouldn't cooperate? The writers seemed to have learned nothing about using dogs in late night sketches with Cecily. Dog was adorable, I liked how silly it was. Was anyone else expecting Cecily to jump into a "Live from New York" the whole time?

Corporate Anarchy: It's like a music video right out of 2007. It's like what the Sum 41 guys are probably doing right now. Mikey was Green Day, Pete was Simple Plan, Kyle was Sum 41, and Kristen was Paramore. Kinda sad that I knew who each of them were supposed to be.

WU: Trump is a 76 year old man that moved to Florida. That's what New Yorkers his age do. "If you can't drain the swamp, live in it." That kid genius bit was weird, the mother was by far the best part. Loved Che's whole bit about the 67 year old woman giving birth. Loved seeing the Ripe Meat ladies again.

Jury: The belly sounds just got funny. And then it turned into everyone singing Ginuwine's "Pony" was just weird. We needed more Bowen Yang. He had like three lines but stole the entire scene. I'm a sucker for sketches that use the entire cast, and I think Pete was the only one not in this.

Club: Kristen Stewart awkwardly hitting on a married couple at a club. And it turns out they were waiting for Bowen Yang in leather to have a threesome with HIM. Okay...

"How long have you been married?"
"Since birth."

Pansexual: means she likes having sex at breakfast. Definitely my favorite joke of the sketch. 

I just wanted Kenan to enjoy his crab cakes, is that so wrong?!

Stargazing: As soon as they drew in the Little Dipper, I knew we were getting a 69 joke. I can't believe they got away with that. And a constellation giving Colonel Angus on another.

Low energy host, low energy musical guest, low energy show in total. Harry Stiles does double duty November 16th. Yeesh.

[Mystery]

Yeah, "low energy" is a good description. I liked the "talking to kids" one best I think. Too bad the UFC stuff was too close to airtime; I would've loved to see Alex Moffat as an oblivious Eric. 

[vb68]

Yeah, this one was just a'right for me. I find Kristin Stewart so incredibly awkward to the point that it's distracting. I do not think she was kidding when she said she'd like to just say she had fun making Charlie's Angels and ok bye. But having said that, the show got better as it went along. It pretty much started for me with the talking to children commercial. Kristin seemed much better in taped pieces.

My only thought with the Cold open was it was a cop out because they don't really know how or want to deal with the impeachment mess. But it really did feel like a cop out to me.

Monologue seemed like it was written five minutes before the show started.

My favorite sketch was probably the dog press conference. This cast loves to work with those animals.

Speaking of awkward though, what is going on with Che the past couple of weeks?  He seems a little off. I liked his riff on the jokes he wasn't going to tell, but when he mumbled something about "nope. Can't say that on air", I thought he was trying to avoid another Kanye-Caitlin Jenner moment.

I thought Coldplay's first song brought the energy and was a lot of fun. Sue me.

It is obvious that Kristin Stewart likes the cast and vice verse.

55 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Mikey was Green Day, Pete was Simple Plan, Kyle was Sum 41, and Kristen was Paramore. Kinda sad that I knew who each of them were supposed to be.

 Thanks.  That went straight over my head.

Edited November 3, 2019 by vb68

[Ms Blue Jay]

I think that Kristen Stewart is a pretty talented actor and I think that was well showcased.  AND THEN I SAW THAT "PONY" BY GINUWINE SKETCH AND I WAS LIKE ??????????????????   everything was incredibly juvenile and weird after that point.  Like the fact that somebody actually wrote that.  They rehearsed it.  They acted it out.  And put it on the show.  I mean.  Wow.

52 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Low energy host, low energy musical guest, low energy show in total. Harry Stiles does double duty November 16th. Yeesh.

I honestly didn't mind Kristen at all.  Kristen can only be herself.  But I thought she was fine.  I love that she's so out and proud and that's rare for SNL hosts.  I minded the writing for the last half!

And Harry Styles new song "Lights Up" is fantastic.
I'm looking forward.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Annber03]

45 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I thought Coldplay's first song brought the energy and was a lot of fun. Sue me.

I liked it, too :).

I thought they were going to play "Arabesque" as well, since that was the other song of theirs that got released recently. Shame they didn't, 'cause I'm curious how that one would sound live, but I did like the other song they went with, too. 

[SHD]

Positives: The taped pieces. Coldplay’s first song (for the staging uniqueness). Kid genius on WU.

Negatives: Pretty much everything else. Oh, Kate and Aidy have to try to read their lines around smelly food again. I’m glad THEY seem to like that bit.

Edited November 3, 2019 by SHD

[possibilities]

I thought this week's show was much better than last week's. I thought WU was a mess, but I loved the cold open. I think if you are following the primary closely, maybe that makes a difference? They were right in there on a lot of sore points, and I thought it was really funny.

I liked the idea of turning the monologue questions around so the host asked the audience, but the execution was terrible.

I loved the commentary involved in the Rosie the Riveter sketch.

Talking to children was great.

The Farrow and Ball paint sketch was a classic SNL "weird shit in a normal looking living room" and I was fine with it. I did think that ending it with the baby having a different father came across like they didn't have an ending, so they just threw a bomb-- which is another SNL staple. But again, I was fine with it.

Mixed feelings about "corporate nightmare.

Dog hero press conference was fine. I liked the bit about how you don't give a human soldier a medal of a foot. Also, how the human hero wasn't of interest to the media. It was awkward because the dog seemed distracted by the sound effects, but basically I liked it fine.

They do feed juries who have long-lasting deliberations. I was meh on this.

I don't know why, but I knew very early in the sketch that the couple was waiting for someone ELSE for a threesome. I thought Kristen's character was just too awkward to make the sketch work.

I was surprised the constellations sketch made it to air, even at 1 am. I don't really object, I was just surprised. They've been trying to do sketches lately about old couples having sex and younger people being grossed out by the subject. I am not sure what to make of that. Is it supposed to be funny because it's the reverse of stereotype? It seemed credible to me when it was kids and their grandparents in a previous show, but tonight I just didn't find it credible that all of the rest of the hikers were grossed out. I don't really think they're doing anything to undermine expectations here. I would rather see sketches where old people being sexually active is not considered gross. I agree the acting out in public is annoying, but it seems like the joke is supposed to be that it's gross because they're old. They aren't doing this with young couples grossing people out. So it annoys me, as a person closer to old than young. All y'all might want to celebrate the lack of sexual death, since if you're lucky you'll get to be old someday, too, SNL writers!

[vb68]

56 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I thought Kristen's character was just too awkward to make the sketch work.

I genuinely couldn't tell if it was written that way, or if that was just her. I was thinking it was more the latter.

It was also curious that  they finally stopped the parade of All-Star cameos for this episode. One or two guest stars could had helped tonight and brought the energy up a little bit. I'm also surprised I didn't see Chris Martin in a sketch.

Edited November 3, 2019 by vb68

[futurechemist]

Irony of living on the west coast. At 9:50, the constellation sketch airs with no problem. Then at 10, there's a big parental warning about how the 10pm SNL originally aired at a later time.

I thought the host was too dull. If sketches were funny it was in spite of her.  

[Peace 47]

I liked the corporate song sketch because (1) the entire Green Day/ Sum 41/ Paramore vibe was absolutely my musical aesthetic circa 2004-2009 and (2) now I work for “The Man” so... yeah, relatable.  It wasn’t lol-worthy, just both nostalgic and relevant.

I also liked the Duolingo sketch.  The dog press conference was mildly amusing.  I liked the bit about how he’s not racist because he doesn’t see color (oh sorry, col-our) because he is literally colorblind. 

5 hours ago, vb68 said:

Speaking of awkward though, what is going on with Che the past couple of weeks?  He seems a little off. I liked his riff on the jokes he wasn't going to tell, but when he mumbled something about "nope. Can't say that on air", I thought he was trying to avoid another Kanye-Caitlin Jenner moment.

 He has been coming across to me like he really resents his job.  I get this impression that he feels held back and like he can’t unleash how awesomely funny he *thinks* he is because of “political correctness.”  It’s getting tiresome.

[Pete Martell]

I read that apparently two of the sketches in tonight's episode (the paint sketch and the jury sketch) were originally written for Emma Stone's last episode and cut in dress. Somehow that fits, as I think both episodes (although I preferred Kristen's episode) had the same problem - the host felt so laid back and so much like a part of the 'family' that the show didn't seem to put in as much effort as they probably could have. 

There were three sketches I wish they'd cut...others I wish they'd shaped up a little more. 

Cold open: I've seen a lot of comments about this being Warren propaganda. I suppose I can see why, but I thought this was the first time they tried to address some of the criticisms about Warren. On the positive side, this had much more energy than many cold opens of recent years, some good lines, and used the cast instead of cameos. It's just my amount of interest and entertainment found in any political material on SNL has been limited since somewhere around 1994.

Monologue: This felt very low-energy in execution, but I loved the idea of Kristen turning the usual Q&A around by awkwardly asking questions of equally awkward writers...er...cast members. Roasting Pete Davidson for his constant talk of his personal life was amusing. I'm not sure what Beck and Kyle were doing there, but it was nice to see them together again after so rarely having any real material together in the last few seasons. 

WWII poster: One of the umpteenth Kate and Aidy pieces that I just don't have any real interest in at this point because there have been so many. It was nice to see Chloe and Heidi (Melissa played Rosie the Riveter a few years ago so I'm not sure why she didn't get the role tonight). I wish they'd cut this.

Duolingo: Boy did I relate to the idea of having no idea how to talk to kids. This one used Kristen very well and hit all the right notes. 

Paint: "Crazy Aidy" is probably my favorite Aidy persona, and she and Beck had a good building of tension. I watched this a few times and enjoyed it each time. I wish the ending had been stronger. 

Dog: I'm just getting a bit fatigued of all the animal-heavy, dog-heavy sketches. I love dogs so much, but I feel like using them so much this season is becoming a way to bypass having to write stronger material. I wish they'd cut this.

Corporate: I thought this was great. One of my favorite pieces of the night. I'm glad the show is continuing to move away from the same rap songs week in and week out, and I liked the way they combined the music with an all-too-believe story. A good showcase for Kristen, but also for Kyle - this has been a surprisingly effective season for him so far. If he's leaving it's not a bad way to go. 

Update: Colin's jokes get cheesier, but his goofy demeanor makes them work. Che's jokes get more and more close to the line, but I thought they were funnier this week. I don't see them lasting on Update much longer, especially with their obvious dislike of Trump jokes. As said above, not that interested in more Kate and Aidy material. I wanted to be more into Melissa's appearance than I was because she gets so few chances. This was well-acted, but as is often the case with Melissa the humor isn't quite there. This felt like a nicer version of a Stephnie Weir-era Mad TV piece, especially when Heidi Gardner came on as her aggressive mother. 

Jury: This one's gotten a lot of negative comments, and I was there too when the material was just building to a fart joke, but once they got into singing "Pony" I began to enjoy this. We don't get very much of a larger cast having fun this way. I liked getting the opportunity. 

Club: It felt like the older couple were in a sketch of their own, then Kristen was from another sketch. The balance wasn't quite there. I still liked this sketch - Ego was very good, Kristen's range was perfect for her character, and the "shock" ending actually worked for me. These last two sketches were some of the few of the night that had endings which worked for me. SNL always has such a problem with this. 

Stargazing: I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, because Beck gets so few leading sketches, but this just felt like a newer and more unfocused version of "luvahs" with Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch. I always hated those so I didn't need a revival. I wish they'd cut this.

Cut from dress:

Cut for time sketch. This was a good use of some of the lesser-shown cast and has the weird humor I would like to see more of on the show.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Pete Martell

[Spartan Girl]

Hero dog press conference should have been the cold opening.

[Ottis]

I don’t pay much attention to politics, so I haven’t seen Elizabeth Warren aside from a few clips. But if she is a tenth as annoying as Kate’s impression, I can’t vote for her. 

As someone old enough to have seen the original Charlie’s Angels, and who has seen the prior movies, I have no idea what the new one is about except apparently Charlie isn’t a man. That was one quick cutting, confusing trailer. 

”Shove his head right up my ass until he was dead.” Heh.

Until I had kids, I needed that duo lingo. 

Didn’t get the point of the paint colour skit. Seemed random. 

Poor dog. Also, poor timing given the Washington Post story last week that the US used to kill its military dogs when it pulled out.

The corporate skit thing was The Truth.

No thanks, Coldplay.

What is SNL’s fascination with portraying kid characters on WU? They are never, ever funny. Especially when you add a mom. Though choosing a southern accent was an interesting choice. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Ottis

[DEL901]

I always enjoy dog sketches but I expected this one to end by accusing the dog of being an imposter since he was a German Shepherd and Conan is a Belgian Malinois.    

[TiredMe]

This episode was terrible. I think Kristin Stewart is a terrible actress, very monotone. This episode did nothing to change my mind. So far the worst this season.

the dog Sketch was ok as well as the Duolingo. Otherwise I didn’t crack a smile. 

But I did really enjoy the first song Coldplay sang. 

[vb68]

Kid Genius seemed like something Vanessa Bayer would had totally rocked and made hilarious.

[sempervivum]

I only tuned in to look at Kristen; I'm a straight girl, but she's just so interesting-looking, and her fashion choices are really adventurous. 

That said, she would benefit from some live theater experience, imo. Her default setting seems to be 'mumble', and I could barely hear her lines in most of these skits.

[JZL]

It took them 45 years but they finally came up with sketches about house-paint and constellation pr0n.

I was a little disappointed by Stewart.  I agree with whoever said she needs some theater time (and maybe some therapy-- she just seems sad).

I too enjoyed the first Coldplay song but later had to wince at the obligatory half-octave ballad.

Harry Styles next?  [Scratching head again]  What demographic are they after with that?  Do grown-ups like teeny-bopper pop now and I just missed it?

[helenamonster]

Kristen's outfit in the monologue was butt ugly and the shoe-gazing, mumbling, uncomfortably twitching persona she apparently can't shake after doing it for five Twilight movies gets less and less appealing as she ages.

I love that Cecily has carved out a niche as the go-to cast member for dog sketches.

The set-up they had for the constellation sketch was fantastic. I'd love to see what it looked like in the context of that tiny studio. Seriously, no matter how dire the writing is on any given episode, the production design team is always bringing it. And they have less time to get things together since they have to wait for the sketches to be written and picked, and also design things for sketches that never even make it to air. They're incredible.

Coldplay's first song was great and it's always fun when a musical guest tries something different. I like to think that Billie Eilish inspired people to step up their game in that department for this season.

13 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Pansexual: means she likes having sex at breakfast. Definitely my favorite joke of the sketch.

It reminded me of Schitt's Creek. "My son is pansexual." "Oh, I know what that is. It's that cookware fetish."

[Ohwell]

I didn't watch SNL last night but saw the Elizabeth Warren bit on Youtube.  I thought it went on too long and it got annoying.

[oakville]

I think SNL should have a skit with a dog on every episode. My Pugs loved it !

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

I don't know why, but I knew very early in the sketch that the couple was waiting for someone ELSE for a threesome. I thought Kristen's character was just too awkward to make the sketch work.

Agree on both counts. I actually dreaded that it was going to end with them hooking up with someone else because that seemed like lazy writing. I was enjoying the couple and thought that Kenan and Ego were fun characters. Kristen's awkward character was annoying.

Quote

They've been trying to do sketches lately about old couples having sex and younger people being grossed out by the subject. I am not sure what to make of that. Is it supposed to be funny because it's the reverse of stereotype? It seemed credible to me when it was kids and their grandparents in a previous show, but tonight I just didn't find it credible that all of the rest of the hikers were grossed out.

I didn't even think about their age being part of the joke. I agree that it was unbelievable that the others were grossed out. That the couple saw sex in every constellation was weird and inappropriate, not gross. 

The only thing I thought Kristen was good in was the taped Duolingo sketch. That was good.

I loved the paint sketch. Aidy was hilarious with every line reading of "co-LOUR" as well as "lay-BOUR" and "squaw-LOUR." The whole thing was weird and wonderful. I didn't care for the bit about the baby having a different dad.

I also kind of liked the jury sketch, but it wasn't executed all that well.

The best thing about the women in factory sketch was Aidy saying, "I'd shoot Hitler eight times in the leg, and I'd say, 'Do you want some more?' and he'd say, 'Nein!' and I'd say, 'Comin' right up,' and BAM! one more right in the pork and beans!"

I enjoyed the press conference with Conan the dog. Cecily was great, as usual, and had a lot of funny lines.

The best part of WU was the bit about Rudy Guiliani and his Apple phone. Love the line about its facial recognition software not working because it didn't recognize the man he's become. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by peeayebee

[SomeTameGazelle]

11 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

Cut from dress:

Cut for time sketch. This was a good use of some of the lesser-shown cast and has the weird humor I would like to see more of on the show.

The list of sketches cut from dress seems long. Do they rehearse for an extra hour or was the show 75% different?

Farrow & Ball was my favourite sketch. 

I am so tired of Che and Colin. Ready for new anchors. Actually I wouldn't mind a new frame to the whole segment. 

[Pete Martell]

1 hour ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

The list of sketches cut from dress seems long. Do they rehearse for an extra hour or was the show 75% different?

Farrow & Ball was my favourite sketch. 

I am so tired of Che and Colin. Ready for new anchors. Actually I wouldn't mind a new frame to the whole segment. 

I'm not sure but I think I saw someone say that it was longer than usual (the dress).

Speaking of random comments, I also saw someone asking if Beck's boss character in the music video was meant to be the same character he played in Do It On My Twin Bed. They don't have the same accent, but the idea does amuse me. Maybe the boss was the younger version of the character...

[JZL]

1 hour ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I am so tired of Che and Colin. Ready for new anchors.

I've been a defender of Che's with some reservations, but now I'm growing tired of him, too. 

It isn't that he can be controversial.  That is sometimes a part of comedy.  I didn't care about his Kaitlyn Jenner joke because I'd seen her on the Alec Baldwin roast where she was scorched by some of the best in the business by far worse, and she took it all in stride. 

A big part of it is he laughs at his own jokes and comments on them.  Thus he makes it about himself and not the joke or material.  At least he stopped putting his goddamned tennis shoe up on the desk at the end.  I hated that.

For maybe the first time, as I sat watching I began to wonder who might be a good pairing for Jost.  Leslie Jones perhaps?  I also wondered about Heidi and Melissa.  Heidi is probably out because she does so many characters for WU.  Melissa, who is more an impressionist, does surprisingly few of these bits.  Then I wondered about Kyle Mooney, mostly because he doesn't do much anyway.  Then came Kate, for whom a stint as WU anchor may be a way for her to prolong her tenure, like a DH in baseball.

[vb68]

I just realized that they usually have players from the World Series winners come on to celebrate. Not this year. Sorry Nationals.

[Prairie Fire]

Possibly dumb question but I have to ask...

The first Coldplay song featuring what looked like the studio audience awkwardly dancing with Chris Martin and then holding up cards...I think it was actually the studio audience and that they were briefly "coached" in order to pull it off. My friend thinks all these people were extras or actors or Chris Martin's BFFs or some such because the regular public could not be trusted to pull that kind of thing off on live TV.

Who's right?

(Also: Kate McKinnon's Elizabeth Warren is quickly becoming my favorite "presidential candidate" impression by any SNL cast member in the last decade or so.)

Edited November 4, 2019 by Prairie Fire

[ebk57]

12 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I just realized that they usually have players from the World Series winners come on to celebrate. Not this year. Sorry Nationals.

The championship parade was Saturday afternoon.  It would have been difficult to get them there.  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

11 minutes ago, JZL said:

For maybe the first time, as I sat watching I began to wonder who might be a good pairing for Jost.  Leslie Jones perhaps?  I also wondered about Heidi and Melissa.  Heidi is probably out because she does so many characters for WU.  Melissa, who is more an impressionist, does surprisingly few of these bits.  Then I wondered about Kyle Mooney, mostly because he doesn't do much anyway.  Then came Kate, for whom a stint as WU anchor may be a way for her to prolong her tenure, like a DH in baseball.

I can't see Kate as an anchor -- either it would have to be a broad character or it would be too flat, I think.

18 minutes ago, JZL said:

A big part of it is he laughs at his own jokes and comments on them.  Thus he makes it about himself and not the joke or material.

I think the reason he does that is in order to try to cover up the offensiveness of the joke and make it about how "edgy" he is to be telling it. (Weren't several of the jokes this update presented as "And I am not going to say <potentially offensive joke>"?)

[helenamonster]

44 minutes ago, Prairie Fire said:

Possibly dumb question but I have to ask...

The first Coldplay song featuring what looked like the studio audience awkwardly dancing with Chris Martin and then holding up cards...I think it was actually the studio audience and that they were briefly "coached" in order to pull it off. My friend thinks all these people were extras or actors or Chris Martin's BFFs or some such because the regular public could not be trusted to pull that kind of thing off on live TV.

Who's right?

They were definitely hired dancers. It would be too much of a risk to expect regular people who thought they were just coming to see a comedy show to learn a routine (that included some quick timing with the flashcards) and not do something to ruin the performance like hog the camera, get too close to the talent, or wander off to a restricted area.

My two cents on Weekend Update: I've never liked Colin or Michael. Colin is such a bland, banal, forgettable wisp of a performer. As for Michael, when he's not busy acting like he's too good for the show, he's swallowing and stumbling over his punchlines. It doesn't help that they're also the head writers right now and have not been doing a very good job at that either. The show will be better off when they leave both positions and not a minute sooner.

[Prairie Fire]

1 hour ago, helenamonster said:

They were definitely hired dancers. It would be too much of a risk to expect regular people who thought they were just coming to see a comedy show to learn a routine (that included some quick timing with the flashcards) and not do something to ruin the performance like hog the camera, get too close to the talent, or wander off to a restricted area.

That definitely makes sense, although I could swear the first group featured an older guy who just sat there while everyone else was dancing. Which to me made them look more like an actual studio audience, but I could easily see the hired dancers throwing that in there to fool people.

[juno]

1 hour ago, helenamonster said:

They were definitely hired dancers. It would be too much of a risk to expect regular people who thought they were just coming to see a comedy show to learn a routine (that included some quick timing with the flashcards) and not do something to ruin the performance like hog the camera, get too close to the talent, or wander off to a restricted area.

My two cents on Weekend Update: I've never liked Colin or Michael. Colin is such a bland, banal, forgettable wisp of a performer. As for Michael, when he's not busy acting like he's too good for the show, he's swallowing and stumbling over his punchlines. It doesn't help that they're also the head writers right now and have not been doing a very good job at that either. The show will be better off when they leave both positions and not a minute sooner.

I sadly agree. I think in the past the WU team played characters of themselves and interacted in more of a skit fashion. This team sits, says jokes and leaves. I have a problem with two things; Che is starting to channel Bill Maher with his looks and comments to the crowd and his irritation that the audience doesn't get his jokes. The second is when they have guests on and if it is not funny it wrecks the WU. These days I am not enjoying the guests they have on.

[peeayebee]

I don't think I've ever liked Che. I think he has a terrible delivery and just comes across as thinking he's too good for the jokes or just bored and wanting to be anything else.

I don't mind Colin, but he is rather bland. 

I don't have any idea who I'd like to see do WU. I don't think two anchors are required. There were many seasons, I believe, where there was only one. Also, I think in the early years the jokes were very fast. I'd like to see a return to that. WU doesn't need to be very long.

[rmontro]

I enjoyed watching the show, but looking at the list of skits now, I'm not seeing many highlights.  Thought the dog sketch was the best.  With the way the dog was acting up, I kept wondering how it would have played with a fake dog head at the podium.  The animals causing problems are part of what makes it successful though, I guess.  

The dancing on the bar sketch that was cut from the show but was in the dress rehearsal sounds like it could have been funny.  Maybe with some rewriting.

Coldplay was Coldplay.

[Pete Martell]

18 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't think I've ever liked Che. I think he has a terrible delivery and just comes across as thinking he's too good for the jokes or just bored and wanting to be anything else.

I don't mind Colin, but he is rather bland. 

I don't have any idea who I'd like to see do WU. I don't think two anchors are required. There were many seasons, I believe, where there was only one. Also, I think in the early years the jokes were very fast. I'd like to see a return to that. WU doesn't need to be very long.

I think Che can be funny, particularly when he's trying to set Colin up as some kind of racist, but I have no interest in seeing him play out his bitter feuding with faux-woke social media types. That's all we're getting now. I don't know how this can continue, and I don't see why this should get a national profile. 

Jost can be gross and frat-ish, but most of the time I can laugh at him, because I think deep down he still sees this as his goofy dream job. I do think he should be winding down his time in the role. 

The show had no duos (and no female anchors) from 1982-1999. 

One of the problems with Update, and late night comedy shows in general now, is that they are expected to be serious, go in depth, and essentially be real news. Many people see these shows as real news. That's scary as hell. 

I prefer the co-anchor format when it's done right, but I'd be fine with one anchor if they get the right person. I'd say Mikey, Ego, or Alex.

Edited November 4, 2019 by Pete Martell

[Hanahope]

I didn't think any of the skits were particularly funny. Kstew did ok, but the stuff wasn't all that funny and she didn't really add anything.  

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

 I find Kristin Stewart so incredibly awkward to the point that it's distracting.

I attending the dress rehearsal of this show.  KS was as lackluster, bland and flat-lining  in person as on the show.  the only one where she was good was the Rosie the Riveter.

[lou ann b]

I WANTED to like the show,but Kristen rubbed off on me,and I was bored.Such a contrast to last week's high energy show with the charisma of Chance The Rapper.

[vb68]

The thing that covered up a lot the first time Kristin hosted was that it was the show where Melissa McCarthy debuted her Spicey impression. Kristin was fine as host, but somewhat overshadowed as it seemed everyone and their mother was talking about Spicey.  

There was no WOW moment in this show, much less something on the caliber of that impression.  Kristin is still more or less a good host. I don't think she was putting forth as much effort this time, though.

I still wonder why Chris Martin wasn't in a couple of sketches.

Edited November 4, 2019 by vb68

[pigs-in-space]

I wish Kristen could have just repeated her monologue from the last time she hosted where she talked about how Trump is/was obsessed with her and Robert Pattinson. Still topical!

[Pete Martell]

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

The thing that covered up a lot the first time Kristin hosted was that it was the show where Melissa McCarthy debuted her Spicey impression. Kristin was fine as host, but somewhat overshadowed as it seemed everyone and their mother was talking about Spicey.  

There was no WOW moment in this show, much less something on the caliber of that impression.  Kristin is still more or less a good host. I don't think she was putting forth as much effort this time, though.

I still wonder why Chris Martin wasn't in a couple of sketches.

Kristen's first episode also had the conclusion to Tontino's, which had built for several seasons and which was the perfect use for her talents. 

The pre-tapes, the club sketch and the monologue in this episode were the main times I thought they wrote for her rather than giving her generic roles. I suppose that isn't out of the ordinary for use of a host - it's just she seemed so anxious that it gave more of an impression she was unhappy. 

[Eyes High]

I loved the corporate nightmare song, and the sly hair/makeup/costume references (Hayley Williams, for example) were on point. And yes, the music/band references were way, way, out of date, but that was the point: the teenagers who screamed the "I'll never fall in line / Become another victim of your conformity" lyrics to Fatlip by Sum 41 almost 20 years ago are now well established in their careers in the corporate sphere.

Kristen's awkwardness worked for the Duolingo sketch. That was great.

[Pete Martell]

A short interview with the dog (and his owner) in the White House sketch.

https://www.insideedition.com/meet-the-dog-from-snl-skit-that-honored-conan-from-isis-raid-57059

Both Duolingo and Farrow and Ball replied to the free publicity they got on this show, although the latter's reply amused me a little more. 

Hayley Williams (Paramore) also enjoyed Kristen Stewart basically playing her, and made it into a meme. 

https://www.altpress.com/news/hayley-williams-paramore-snl-kristen-stewart/

It isn't on Youtube yet, but SNL has released Chloe's pre-tape (as mentioned in the dress cuts list) as a "digital exclusive." I'd describe it as if a Nora Dunn character went on a Kyle Mooney walkabout. 

[vb68]

I've been saying "Look at the co-LOUR"  all week!

[peeayebee]

I didn't know Farrow and Ball was a real paint brand.