S46.E17: Carey Mulligan / Kid Cudi

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Hosted by Carey Mulligan, with Kid Cudi.

Airing Saturday, April 10, 2021z

[Pete Martell]

 

https://deadline.com/2021/04/global-nominees-academy-awards-carey-mulligan-saturday-night-live-oscars-1234730752/

 

[formerlyfreedom]

Carey and Marcus were adorable. 

“I left the kids with the ‘Sons!’”

[vb68]

The show has been OK so far.

The monologue was starting to worry me but got infinitely better with Mumford.

I really enjoyed What's Wrong With This Picture and Tremfalta was funny.

Oh and they obviously don't have a host for the next show yet.

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by vb68

[vb68]

I liked Chris Redd's Obama. He showed a lot of potential with it. Too bad this is the first time he got to do it.

And Bowen's Titanic Iceberg is one of the most creative bits I've seen on the show in awhile. Good for him for getting that on.

The still of the legendary Anne Beatts choked me up.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Good episode so far.

The cold open was wonderful, with referencing DMX as the royalty that died this weekend.

Those Elliott Pants sketches are always a hit with me.

"Agree to misagree."

"Does a bear spit in the woods?"  "I don't think so, no."

"Timmy Chalamet likes the weird little flute."

Kid Cudi wearing a Chris Farley shirt.

The audience is very boisterous and happy, laughing at pretty much everything.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Ooh, opening with the Chauvin trial. Yeah...he's most likely gonna walk free. Like every other time this show's covered a trial like this. And this was also how they got the Matt Gaetz story out of the way, plus the death of royalty, DMX.

"Girl, Prince been dead" is an early front runner for line of the night.

Monologue: Okay, I don't know who Carey Mulligan is, but I liked her here. Oh, she's married to Mumford (of Mumford & Sons!), and he's here! They're not gonna bring up the racist guy in the band, are they? (Oh, she's from Promising Young Woman)

What's Wrong With This Picture: I just love how unnecessarily silly this is. They started with "Half-Vaccinated Host" and just went up from there. "I said CLOCK," and K-Y Jam was great.

Tremfalta: I'll never not laugh at an IBS/bathroom ruining joke. I just lost it at anything Kenan said. 

Jason: This was all an excuse for Kate to kill Carey Mulligan, right? God, I've been that awkward. Still am. But I didn't have an Aidy to call for girl advice. Fun, but just awkward as all hell.

Weird Little Flute: I need to listen to more rap, apparently there's enough flutes in them to make a whole song pointing it out. Song was great. They got Kid Cudi AND Timothee Chalamet for this. 

WU: Matt Gaetz is still in the news, and still sucks. He DOES look like all the American Pie characters put together. Putting Biden in Gran Torino is by far the best thing they've done with him so far. And I loved that bit with Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Chris Redd as Obama was...not the worst Obama this show's had. And my god, I couldn't take my eyes off of Beck's fivehead. Whichever makeup artist created that just earned an Emmy. 

I loved Punkie's bit, too. So good to finally see her on Update. And, okay, who had "Bowen as the iceberg that sank the Titanic" on their bingo cards tonight? Because that was weird. A good weird, but weird. 

Starcharter Andromeda: Star Trek(esque) sketch! So a sketch about rich, entitled white kids on the Enterprise. I would've tossed them out the airlock, too. I gotta say, I liked Ego in this sketch.

Lesbian Period Drama: Oh, someone watched a ton of these movies during lockdown. Totally nailed it. Starring two straight women that aren't wearing make up, has twelve lines of dialogue in two and a half hours, and a sex scene so graphic it reminds you "Oh right, a man directed this." Love that "The Wind" was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

The War in Words: Love seeing this sketch again. Mary had dinner with Nazis, and TOTALLY didn't murder Bertie's parents, wink wink. Totally saw Mary at his parent's grave coming, same with her being the nurse getting kissed by the sailor, but I still liked it.

Beat Buddies: Okay, I liked Aidy and Carey as the L'eggs ladies. I will never get tired of "How do you do, fellow kids" humor. Honestly, if I have to see sketches about sponsored content, I love seeing it as stilted sales pitches for products that no one knows still exist.

This was a fun one! Carey was just game for anything, which definitely helped the material. Next time is...umm...someone!

[HC87]

Mostly dreadful imo....this show really is in dire need of a major overhaul. 

[opus]

Best overall good beginning to ending episode in a while.

[Jody]

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

The show has been OK so far.

The monologue was starting to worry me but got infinitely better with Mumford.

I really enjoyed What's Wrong With This Picture and Tremfalta was funny.

Oh and they obviously don't have a host for the next show yet.

 

 

      They Had IT On The Screen Regina King So I Think Next Week Is A Repeat !

 

[vb68]

I thought this one was just alright. A couple of high points surrounded by a lot of Meh. I do agree the crowd was on fire tonight though.

18 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Jason: This was all an excuse for Kate to kill Carey Mulligan, right? God, I've been that awkward. Still am. But I didn't have an Aidy to call for girl advice. Fun, but just awkward as all hell.

The weird thing about this one for me was I kept thinking how much Kate's character looked he could had been "Sheldon" 's son from Wakeup, Wakefield.  I know, but that's who the character sorta looked like.

Edited April 11, 2021 by vb68

[formerlyfreedom]

I really enjoyed the show. Carey Mulligan was a willing host. Highlights for me:

• Bowen as an iceberg (Bowen will NEVER not be a highlight for me!)
• Chris Redd as Obama
• Lesbian drama - oh wow, this is a thing, isn’t it?
• Kid Cudi rocking that last outfit.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Carey Mulligan is just a really good actor, and that's partly why this episode is successful.  The cast was great, the writing was pretty good.   I'm impressed with how Carey fit in with this cast.

I really enjoyed Bowen's iceberg.  It really won me over.

They were trying something different with the Star Trek sketch, and I appreciate that, but maybe they should have gone harder.  I thought that Carey was going to try and ask for the manager, or something. The timing was a little off and it felt a bit unfinished.

We were JUST talking about how Ammonite stars straight actors in another thread, and how Kate Winslet claimed that she had to take the part for.... "reasons".

19 minutes ago, saoirse said:

Lesbian drama - oh wow, this is a thing, isn’t it?

There's also "The World to Come", too.

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-world-to-come/

Edited April 11, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[MrWhyt]

Solid show IMO. I thought the awkward kid sketch was the low point of the evening so good thing it went first. WU killed.

[Peace 47]

I learned so much during the monologue. I didn’t know Carey Mulligan was British (I’ve only seen her in American-accented roles).  I didn’t know she was married to Mumford.  I didn’t know Mumford was British, despite Mumford & Sons’ Babel being far and away my most played album circa 2012-2014 (continuing my superpower of consuming the music of artists and never knowing a single thing about them).

I think the highlights for me were tiny little flute, Bowen the Iceberg and Obama/Springsteen podcast.  The rest didn’t aggravate me or anything, though.

[SHD]

Carey and her husband should co-host SNL some day. They had great comedic timing together. 

This was the first time in a loooong time I’ve been really amused by the WU guests. Obama and Bruce, Pineapple, and Iceberg were all decent. I usually hate the WU guests, because a lot of times they just seem to be excuses for Cecily or Kate to be weird and loud.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 minutes ago, SHD said:

Carey and her husband should co-host SNL some day. They had great comedic timing together. 

This was the first time in a loooong time I’ve been really amused by the WU guests. Obama and Bruce, Pineapple, and Iceberg were all decent. I usually hate the WU guests, because a lot of times they just seem to be excuses for Cecily or Kate to be weird and loud.

This is true.  Tonight was different, in a positive way.

44 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Monologue: Okay, I don't know who Carey Mulligan is, but I liked her here. Oh, she's married to Mumford (of Mumford & Sons!), and he's here! They're not gonna bring up the racist guy in the band, are they? (Oh, she's from Promising Young Woman)

"Promising Young Woman", "An Education", and playing Daisy in "The Great Gatsby" (2013) are her most famous roles, I think.  She's been nominated for an Oscar for the first two of those movies.

[Irlandesa]

This show was decent.  I think I preferred the past few weeks but there were some good skits. 

I agree that Carey and her husband had great comedic timing.  I especially liked her response to him that she was surprised he thought they had a secret "break out the guitar" signal. 

The dress Kid Cudi was wearing in the last performance is gorgeous. 

[Psychobunny]

I was just going to comment on Kid Cudi’s dress. I really really love it. I thought it was a great show overall . Bowen as the iceberg was the kind of original bizarre humor that this show was founded on and he rocked it. I didn’t see any real clunkers tonight. Never get tired of What’s Wrong sketches.

[possibilities]

Love the iceberg.

Loved that they properly slammed Ammonite, and the whole "period Lesbian" movie genre. I ask the world for more lesbian movies, but they really need to be good ones, and that never seems to be the case, for all the reasons the sketch highlighted.

Loved the handling of the whiny, narcissistic brats on the spaceship. The world would be so much better if more people were incredulous and unwilling to put up with that particular variety of BS.

War Letters and What's Wrong With This Picture were fun, as usual. 

Appreciated the Cold Open, even though the situation makes me sick.

I thought the L'Eggs commercial was too much of a direct shilling for the product. The kids not knowing what the hell it was at first was funny, but then they were all on board and loving it, and I really wished I'd FF'd. I guess gentlemen prefer Hanes, but schoolboys like L'Eggs? Gross.

The other stuff was fine, too. I had no idea flutes were a thing. I also had no idea who the host was. I had heard the name of the musical guest (and the host's hubs), but had never heard any of their music. So I guess I'm officially out of touch. They were fine, I didn't hate them or anything. Just had no idea who they were. So... you can get off my lawn, but I won't sic my dogs on you if you take your time about it.

 

 

[Dr.OO7]

The "Lesbian Period Drama" bit was hysterical. It was around 2019 that I started wondering what was with the plethora of such movies being released.

So was the "War Letters" skit, as always. But shouldn't they be up to the Korean War by now? Why are they still on World War 2? And I'd love to see the roles reversed--have the woman away, with the guy at home.

[Pete Martell]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

This show was decent.  I think I preferred the past few weeks but there were some good skits. 

I agree that Carey and her husband had great comedic timing.  I especially liked her response to him that she was surprised he thought they had a secret "break out the guitar" signal. 

The dress Kid Cudi was wearing in the last performance is gorgeous. 

 

3 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

I was just going to comment on Kid Cudi’s dress. I really really love it. I thought it was a great show overall . Bowen as the iceberg was the kind of original bizarre humor that this show was founded on and he rocked it. I didn’t see any real clunkers tonight. Never get tired of What’s Wrong sketches.

Looks like he wore it as a tribute to Kurt Cobain. He was also wearing a Chris Farley T-shirt. Classy.

 

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought the L'Eggs commercial was too much of a direct shilling for the product. The kids not knowing what the hell it was at first was funny, but then they were all on board and loving it, and I really wished I'd FF'd. I guess gentlemen prefer Hanes, but schoolboys like L'Eggs? Gross.

I know SNL tends to get criticism about product placement. I am never sure how to react, because I feel like the current writing team just tends to want to use real product names (Streeter Seidell said as much, I think). This didn't really bother me because I thought having a positive ending made the sketch better for me - most of the time in sketches like this the other people are just there to react in confusion or disgust. Then at the end you had the "we're begging you" reveal and we learn it was a desperate ad. 

2 hours ago, Dr.OO7 said:

The "Lesbian Period Drama" bit was hysterical. It was around 2019 that I started wondering what was with the plethora of such movies being released.

So was the "War Letters" skit, as always. But shouldn't they be up to the Korean War by now? Why are they still on World War 2? And I'd love to see the roles reversed--have the woman away, with the guy at home.

I guess since these are mostly dusted off just for white British actresses, WWI and WWII are the go-tos. I do wish they'd switch them up a little.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Pete Martell

[SomeTameGazelle]

9 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

I thought the awkward kid sketch was the low point of the evening so good thing it went first.

I was actually really into the characterization of the awkward kids. For a long time I have felt as if Kate's characters are inevitably lazy rehashes of things she's done before, but Josh here and the corporal in Starcharter Andromeda felt crisp and intentional and I appreciated it. 

[khyber]

I can't believe that Leggs still exist. I wore plenty of them in my day.

[vb68]

4 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I guess since these are mostly dusted off just for white British actresses, WWI and WWII are the go-tos. I do wish they'd switch them up a little.

Hear, Hear. The WWII sketch hits exactly the same beats every time, and I've seen Mikey do it even before he was officially cast on the show. It desperately needed to be changed up somehow.

 

5 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I know SNL tends to get criticism about product placement. I am never sure how to react, because I feel like the current writing team just tends to want to use real product names (Streeter Seidell said as much, I think).

That's a very interesting point. Using the name didn't bother me at all. It was just so weird pitching that to high school students that I wasn't sure what to make of it. I did think it was funny when the kids were incredulous that "you thought we were nine??". They were acting very young. 

[helenamonster]

I thought this episode was strong from start to finish, and that Carey did a great job. The show usually doesn't know what to do with her "type" of host (conventionally attractive actress known for her dramatic work) and I hope this is a sign that they've gotten over it. She seemed up for anything and blended in really well with the cast.

I never expected a L'Eggs product placement in the year of our lord 2021, but yeah, they must be desperate, as you really don't see people wearing pantyhose anymore and it's no longer considered inappropriate for women to have bare legs in a professional setting. I always think of Claire from Six Feet Under, hunched over at her desk at her temp job from how tight her hosiery is squeezing her, and am happy it's gone out of style. So uncomfy!

Bowen as the iceberg that sank the Titanic was truly inspired. "They came to where I LIVE and THEY hit ME!"

Also loved the IBS ad. "Shut. The fuck. Up."

Marcus Mumford's charisma and comedic timing are great, and much better than any music I've heard from his band recently (bring the banjo back! It's the one thing that helped distinguish you from every other mediocre alt rock band out there right now!).

Surprised they don't have a host lined up for the next episode yet, with things opening back up and vaccinations on the rise. But I guess it's still a weird time in the industry with very little to promote.

[Pete Martell]

As soon as we saw Carey Mulligan's husband (I had no idea she was married to the Mumford guy; I thought he was one of those guys who had the beards that are half-emo, half-ZZ Top, not...adorable sitcom dad) join her for much of her monologue, I had a feeling they were telegraphing that she wouldn't be thrown into heavy roles. That turned out to be the case, although she was at least present through the whole night and did a fine job with what she was given. She said one of the main reasons she agreed to host was because she hadn't been able to act since the pandemic - I hope she was able to enjoy herself here. (I wish she'd had just one big role in a slice-of-life type of piece, but SNL doesn't really take that route very often now)

"Fine" is probably my best description for this episode. It was very much a product of an assembly line, whereas this era of SNL usually has more jagged edges (for better or worse). This episode reminded me a lot of a less exhausting late '00s or early '11s episode (probably because they have brought back the three Update guests format the last few weeks). This isn't really a complaint, per se - I thought this was an easily digestible episode, with nothing that I hated, nothing that I thought "I am so glad we're going on a month's break." But I tend to prefer SNL when it goes in a little wilder, more chaotic directions. This episode was instead the type I find easier to watch when cut up on Youtube.

I also thought Chris Redd was a great asset to this episode, ironically everywhere outside of the rap pre-tapes he is so known for. 

I wanted to get out of the way how, even though I appreciate that SNL does manage to use most use of their cast, in spite of being the biggest in the show's history, the continued shut-outs of Melissa and Lauren ends up casting a pall over the episodes. I think Lauren still has a chance at establishing herself if she can survive the likely exodus of much of this cast, but at this point it feels like it's too late for Melissa. Maybe next season, with some or all of Kate/Aidy/Cecily gone, she could, but the complete lack of even trying lately makes me see it as unlikely.

Cold open: Probably the best cold open of the season, faint of praise as that may be. I have to admit that I think the show has written itself into a corner with these types of specific political/racial sketches (starting around the election sketch in Dave Chappelle's first episode) as you almost always have the white performers stuck playing naive, oppressive figures, while the black performers always have to play the wise, fed-up voices. For that reason, I was glad Chris Redd was included to very much not be a worldly-wise voice  Otherwise, I give Ego, Kenan, Alex and Kate credit for wringing nuances out of the roles. 

Monologue: I can't help wondering how much of Marcus Mumford's appearance was damage control over another member of the band, but this was still an endearingly sweet moment that probably shouldn't have worked but somehow did, Oddly this is the type of monologue crashing I had expected when Emily Blunt or John Krasinski hosted, but...nope, never happened. 

WWWTP: This is where we start to veer toward, "Didn't Phoebe Waller Bridge host this episode?" the main difference being her episode had two standout moments (Mid-Day News and the monologue) and a lot of stuff I just shrugged through, whereas this episode had no real standout moments but was easier for me to watch. These sketches come off as the writers trying to see just how much crudity they can get on the air. Other than the PWB installment (which had a ton of crudity but little to no laughs), I enjoy these as guilty pleasure sketches. Kenan was absolutely great, and Chris was also hilarious. ("Look at the doctor's clock." "His robe is covering it." "I said clock!") While no host is likely to be as natural as Paul Rudd was in this format, Carey was better-served than PWB ("Yes, my king." "Are you mad at us?") 

IBS: You can always count on Kenan to give you some good laughs by reacting to who destroyed a toilet (this is the THIRD time he's had that role). Carey's intense dramatic work gave this much more life than it probably deserved, but I will save my biggest praise for Lauren Holt, who wrung every ounce she could out of her key supporting role. If they let Lauren to, my guess is she will end up like Casey Wilson, with many wondering why she slipped through SNL's fingers. 

Study Buddy: I thought this was a pretty well-written sketch. I complain about Kate and Aidy in drag roles because I often get the sense that the sole laugh is supposed to be from them being in drag. That wasn't the case here - they were in a more textured piece and they (particularly Kate) did try hard to play the reality and not just chortle for 3 minutes, the way Fallon and Sanz did, or the way even they have in the last few years. I also appreciate that they are probably two of the only cast members with enough clout to even get something so quiet on SNL now. It's just that after all this time, and especially after all their double acts the last 3-4-5 seasons, it was difficult for me to take myself out of just seeing Aidy and Kate being Aidy and Kate (it didn't help that Aidy nearly broke, although she did manage to stop). I feel like being critical for this type of reason is a little petty, but I can't help it. Still, I did like this sketch overall.

Flutes: This is the most Lonely Island-esque song since Lonely Island left, complete with the lack of focus of the last 3-4 years of LI's SNL output. I didn't hate this, but similar to Kate and Aidy, I'm just burnt out on Pete and Chris rap pre-tapes, and Pete rapping, period. Kid Cudi was a welcome addition, but once we got to Aidy, Timothee Chalamet (nice to see him again though) and working in Carey, I lost track and had already lost interest. 

Update: Che had some great jokes this week (only he could get laughs out of that "Averngers" joke), but Jost's few bits about Gaetz and Biden remind me why they are better off continuing to move away from the political headlines and instead use their very talented cast. Beck's Springsteen was a fever dream due to that makeup (he looked like a dehydrated Alex Moffat trying to play Kyle's Baby Yoda character), but it worked, as did the attempt at mimicking Bruce's current voice/personality. Chris isn't as good a technical impressionist as Jay Pharoah, but he had probably the first good hook on Obama that SNL has managed, trying to seem like the average joe and mostly just seeming extremely generic and out of touch as a result.  I was very happy to see Punkie Johnson finally get on Update (given her standup I had assumed she would be on much earlier this season). Unfortunately, similar to Lauren Holt's Update piece a few months ago, the material was middling at best - this piece seemed like something In Living Color would have done if they'd had a news broadcast. But Punkie had more confidence in herself than Lauren seemed to have - that, along with having a more supportive audience than Lauren, helped make this work better than it would have much of the time. They were saving the best for last with Bowen. When I see Bowen on Update, I never shake the feeling that he would be better off on the main SNL stage, lights dimmed, giving a performance piece. I still feel that way, but this was the first time I thought he was able to have a good connection with the Update anchors, helping to add to the comedy. If this episode had any successful attempt at trying to reinvent Andy Samberg, then Bowen is the one who succeeded - this appearance gave me flashbacks to Andy's absurd cast of Update characters, especially the Sully goose (who also bantered and bantered with the Update anchor). I wish he'd ended this before we actually heard the song, but this was still a hell of a watch, and probably the best example yet of the special gifts Bowen brings to SNL. 

(I'm glad SNL at least remembered Anne Beatts, but I wish they could have at least repeated that short sketch she did in the first season [Speed]. Unfortunately, the show seems reluctant to fully embrace its past outside of moments they know will be "events," like Sandler or Eddie Murphy hosting.)

Star Trek Spinoff: Mikey Day feels both younger than his age and much older, considering how much of his writing ends up in "get off my lawn!" territory. I thought he and Carey both managed to get laughs out of their snot-nosed caricatures, reclaiming their voices and power and so on - I saw someone say this was Mikey Day's version of the firehouse sketch where Bill Hader went into full screaming mode. I'd tend to agree (and Mikey screaming at the alien gave me a good laugh, along with his going on about the "toxic" people on the ship). But even with the good performances and support work (Alex in particular), this never really came together - the ending felt extremely tacked on. 

Lesbian Period Drama: SNL has not done as many of these savage takes on films or TV in the last few years. If I'd seen the films I would probably connect more with this pre-tape, but I still appreciated the effort and the performances (Heidi was made for this type of piece). I wasn't sure about Kate's involvement. I thought she was funny, but as much as I appreciate the choice to throw in some absurdity and not just go for a completely dry commentary, tonally her character was so jarring, I felt like I was watching two different films melted together.

War in Words: Two Mikey pieces back-to-back gave him a more dominant role in guiding an episode than he's had since season 44 (where at times he and Streeter Seidell were writing half the show), and probably helped contribute to the competent-but-fatigued vibes wandering in through the night. I sometimes imagine any white British actress who hosts having the script for this sketch thrown at her as she walks in the door. Carey tried to make this her own, but, even beyond how often she and Mikey had to keep flitting their eyes to the cards, this just felt somewhat leaden to me. The main problem is as good as Mikey is, it's difficult to make three different "incredulous husband reacts to mad wife" sketches seem fresh, especially since there was nothing that shocking in her actions this time around. Mikey's attempts at the "Mikey reacts" didn't really land for me at all. I did think the grave joke was amusing, and her repeatedly sending him coke ("YOU SENT ME COCAINE?!?") - the ending of him deciding to just go ahead and do a line after all the stress she'd caused him was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. 

L'Eggs: This didn't have the greatest writing, and the ending felt oddly hesitant and confused in performance, but it was still my favorite sketch of the night. This is the type of Aidy performance I connect with most - few manage to play incredibly delusional women you find pathetic but still root for to get the happiness she wants. This was Aidy's sketch, but Carey was solid support (reminding me of Joan Allen - if you haven't, go watch Joan's SNL episode, which is pretty damn good). I also loved the ridiculous close-ups of Aidy and Carey posing their legs. This type of sketch is very performative wackiness - if done wrong, it can shut the viewer out, and feel like comic death. I'm sure it did feel that way to quite a few people, but what can I say, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and this is what I would like to remember Aidy's last (?) season for, along with that wine mom sketch in Regina King's episode. 

So now I guess we have 3-4 weeks until the last few episodes of the season. I'm going to manifest a Jason Sudeikis hosting gig (OK, I'm not, but I do hope he or Bill Hader help close out season 46).

[xls]

6 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

 

Looks like he wore it as a tribute to Kurt Cobain. He was also wearing a Chris Farley T-shirt. Classy.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I didnt get what that was about.

[Blakeston]

I loved what Kid Cudi wore. I just wish I loved his performances!

Carey was good at what she was given, but I was disappointed that she wasn't given more. I felt the same way with Regina King. The writers seem to have a much easier time writing for male hosts.

Bowen wins for funniest bit of the night. I have to wonder, though, whether his material will keep being this funny long-term. It seems like so much of it falls into the categories of "annoying person with a victim complex makes everything about themself" and "someone says inappropriately sexual things in what should be a family-friendly environment." Both of those things can get old really quickly.

[cpcathy]

I really enjoyed this episode. It was light and funny and the cold opening was really smart. 
I normally can’t stand Mumford and Sons, but Marcus was really game and the comic timing was spot on.

[Pete Martell]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Bowen wins for funniest bit of the night. I have to wonder, though, whether his material will keep being this funny long-term. It seems like so much of it falls into the categories of "annoying person with a victim complex makes everything about themself" and "someone says inappropriately sexual things in what should be a family-friendly environment." Both of those things can get old really quickly.

That's why I never tend to agree with those who say Bowen needs more airtime, why aren't you showing Bowen, etc. I think he is incredibly talented, but I also think being in a huge cast helps to stagger out his appearances and makes it less likely he will burn out his skills and alienate viewers through overexposure. I think as long as he keeps to the appearance schedule he has now, he'll be fine. 

[Inquisitionist]

21 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I was actually really into the characterization of the awkward kids. For a long time I have felt as if Kate's characters are inevitably lazy rehashes of things she's done before, but Josh here and the corporal in Starcharter Andromeda felt crisp and intentional and I appreciated it. 

I loved this sketch!  And I'm now surprised we haven't seen those characters from Kate and Aidy before.  Absolutely nailed them. 

[peeayebee]

On 4/11/2021 at 9:50 AM, Pete Martell said:

I also thought Chris Redd was a great asset to this episode, ironically everywhere outside of the rap pre-tapes he is so known for. 

Chris ALWAYS makes me laugh. I love him in the rap pre-tapes and in everything else he does. I thought he did a great Obama here and was hilarious in the What's Wrong With This Picture sketch. Also as the weatherman in the Cold Open. He's probably my favorite performer on SNL right now.

I was so happy to see WWWTP again. The writers must have a blast with the stupid things the contestants say.

The IBS sketch was gross but great. 

I was impressed with how good Mumford was during the monologue. 

That iceberg bit was fantastic. Bowen was perfect. I also liked the Obama/Springsteen appearance. Beck didn't really look like Bruce, but somehow he did a great impression. He's really good at contorting his face to match the person he's doing, like Mitch McConnell.

L'Eggs -- or Luh-Eggs -- was another weird but funny sketch. I really appreciated that the kids wound up wanting to try the pantyhose. 

 

[VCRTracking]

I always love Carey Mulligan from that one guest appearance on DOCTOR WHO in 2007. If a non-fan is going to see one episode of that long running shoe it should be "Blink". It's like an anthology episode and it's scary.

Edited April 12, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Robert Lynch]

I wish they stay away from the old man jokes about Joe Biden. I know SNL has a history of making fun about every president from Gerald Ford to Biden, but it seems like these jokes are very much in poor taste. And it's not SNL doing it. It's other talk shows as well. I mean, they made fun of the previous president constantly. I don't think Joe needs to saddled with old man jokes. That's just me. A little light humor, but these old man jokes are just tasteless. They could do so much better.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Robert Lynch

[Tachi Rocinante]

This one was okay.  I can't stand Mumford and Sons, and the monologue bit fell flat for me because the guitar strumming was so bad (I don't know if this was intentional or a bad mic or what, but he sounded like a 10 year-old at a Guitar Center.)

Beck's Springsteen impression was abysmal - he looked like David Cassidy.  Redd's Obama was surprisingly well done.

 

[LuvMyShows]

On 4/11/2021 at 12:33 AM, vb68 said:

And Bowen's Titanic Iceberg is one of the most creative bits I've seen on the show in awhile. Good for him for getting that on.

On 4/11/2021 at 11:50 AM, Pete Martell said:

They were saving the best for last with Bowen.  I wish he'd ended this before we actually heard the song, but this was still a hell of a watch, and probably the best example yet of the special gifts Bowen brings to SNL. 

Loved the skit and loved the costuming...but totally agree about the song, especially since his description of the type of music in his album did not at all match the song he sang.

On 4/11/2021 at 1:40 AM, SHD said:

Carey and her husband should co-host SNL some day. They had great comedic timing together. 

Yes they did!  

On 4/11/2021 at 11:50 AM, Pete Martell said:

Study Buddy: I thought this was a pretty well-written sketch. I complain about Kate and Aidy in drag roles because I often get the sense that the sole laugh is supposed to be from them being in drag. That wasn't the case here - they were in a more textured piece and they (particularly Kate) did try hard to play the reality and not just chortle for 3 minutes, the way Fallon and Sanz did, or the way even they have in the last few years. I also appreciate that they are probably two of the only cast members with enough clout to even get something so quiet on SNL now. It's just that after all this time, and especially after all their double acts the last 3-4-5 seasons, it was difficult for me to take myself out of just seeing Aidy and Kate being Aidy and Kate (it didn't help that Aidy nearly broke, although she did manage to stop). I feel like being critical for this type of reason is a little petty, but I can't help it. Still, I did like this sketch overall.

 

Flutes: I didn't hate this, but similar to Kate and Aidy, I'm just burnt out on Pete and Chris rap pre-tapes, and Pete rapping, period. 

I thought Kate did a fantastic job, but Aidy just seemed like Aidy trying (very unsuccessfully) to play the part of a boy.

Loved Flutes, and will take Pete and Chris in the rap pre-tapes any day!

On 4/11/2021 at 11:50 AM, Pete Martell said:

Update:  Beck's Springsteen was a fever dream due to that makeup (he looked like a dehydrated Alex Moffat trying to play Kyle's Baby Yoda character), but it worked, as did the attempt at mimicking Bruce's current voice/personality. Chris isn't as good a technical impressionist as Jay Pharoah, but he had probably the first good hook on Obama that SNL has managed, trying to seem like the average joe and mostly just seeming extremely generic and out of touch as a result. 

On 4/11/2021 at 12:33 AM, vb68 said:

I liked Chris Redd's Obama. He showed a lot of potential with it. Too bad this is the first time he got to do it.

I did not think Beck's Springsteen worked at all, but Chris's Obama to me was so much better than Jay's.  With Jay, I was never able to get past that his Obama had a slight lisp, since I guess Jay has a slight lisp(?), and I preferred Fred Armisen's at the time.   

 

[Jody]

On 4/11/2021 at 10:50 AM, Pete Martell said:

As soon as we saw Carey Mulligan's husband (I had no idea she was married to the Mumford guy; I thought he was one of those guys who had the beards that are half-emo, half-ZZ Top, not...adorable sitcom dad) join her for much of her monologue, I had a feeling they were telegraphing that she wouldn't be thrown into heavy roles. That turned out to be the case, although she was at least present through the whole night and did a fine job with what she was given. She said one of the main reasons she agreed to host was because she hadn't been able to act since the pandemic - I hope she was able to enjoy herself here. (I wish she'd had just one big role in a slice-of-life type of piece, but SNL doesn't really take that route very often now)

"Fine" is probably my best description for this episode. It was very much a product of an assembly line, whereas this era of SNL usually has more jagged edges (for better or worse). This episode reminded me a lot of a less exhausting late '00s or early '11s episode (probably because they have brought back the three Update guests format the last few weeks). This isn't really a complaint, per se - I thought this was an easily digestible episode, with nothing that I hated, nothing that I thought "I am so glad we're going on a month's break." But I tend to prefer SNL when it goes in a little wilder, more chaotic directions. This episode was instead the type I find easier to watch when cut up on Youtube.

I also thought Chris Redd was a great asset to this episode, ironically everywhere outside of the rap pre-tapes he is so known for. 

I wanted to get out of the way how, even though I appreciate that SNL does manage to use most use of their cast, in spite of being the biggest in the show's history, the continued shut-outs of Melissa and Lauren ends up casting a pall over the episodes. I think Lauren still has a chance at establishing herself if she can survive the likely exodus of much of this cast, but at this point it feels like it's too late for Melissa. Maybe next season, with some or all of Kate/Aidy/Cecily gone, she could, but the complete lack of even trying lately makes me see it as unlikely.

Cold open: Probably the best cold open of the season, faint of praise as that may be. I have to admit that I think the show has written itself into a corner with these types of specific political/racial sketches (starting around the election sketch in Dave Chappelle's first episode) as you almost always have the white performers stuck playing naive, oppressive figures, while the black performers always have to play the wise, fed-up voices. For that reason, I was glad Chris Redd was included to very much not be a worldly-wise voice  Otherwise, I give Ego, Kenan, Alex and Kate credit for wringing nuances out of the roles. 

Monologue: I can't help wondering how much of Marcus Mumford's appearance was damage control over another member of the band, but this was still an endearingly sweet moment that probably shouldn't have worked but somehow did, Oddly this is the type of monologue crashing I had expected when Emily Blunt or John Krasinski hosted, but...nope, never happened. 

WWWTP: This is where we start to veer toward, "Didn't Phoebe Waller Bridge host this episode?" the main difference being her episode had two standout moments (Mid-Day News and the monologue) and a lot of stuff I just shrugged through, whereas this episode had no real standout moments but was easier for me to watch. These sketches come off as the writers trying to see just how much crudity they can get on the air. Other than the PWB installment (which had a ton of crudity but little to no laughs), I enjoy these as guilty pleasure sketches. Kenan was absolutely great, and Chris was also hilarious. ("Look at the doctor's clock." "His robe is covering it." "I said clock!") While no host is likely to be as natural as Paul Rudd was in this format, Carey was better-served than PWB ("Yes, my king." "Are you mad at us?") 

IBS: You can always count on Kenan to give you some good laughs by reacting to who destroyed a toilet (this is the THIRD time he's had that role). Carey's intense dramatic work gave this much more life than it probably deserved, but I will save my biggest praise for Lauren Holt, who wrung every ounce she could out of her key supporting role. If they let Lauren to, my guess is she will end up like Casey Wilson, with many wondering why she slipped through SNL's fingers. 

Study Buddy: I thought this was a pretty well-written sketch. I complain about Kate and Aidy in drag roles because I often get the sense that the sole laugh is supposed to be from them being in drag. That wasn't the case here - they were in a more textured piece and they (particularly Kate) did try hard to play the reality and not just chortle for 3 minutes, the way Fallon and Sanz did, or the way even they have in the last few years. I also appreciate that they are probably two of the only cast members with enough clout to even get something so quiet on SNL now. It's just that after all this time, and especially after all their double acts the last 3-4-5 seasons, it was difficult for me to take myself out of just seeing Aidy and Kate being Aidy and Kate (it didn't help that Aidy nearly broke, although she did manage to stop). I feel like being critical for this type of reason is a little petty, but I can't help it. Still, I did like this sketch overall.

Flutes: This is the most Lonely Island-esque song since Lonely Island left, complete with the lack of focus of the last 3-4 years of LI's SNL output. I didn't hate this, but similar to Kate and Aidy, I'm just burnt out on Pete and Chris rap pre-tapes, and Pete rapping, period. Kid Cudi was a welcome addition, but once we got to Aidy, Timothee Chalamet (nice to see him again though) and working in Carey, I lost track and had already lost interest. 

Update: Che had some great jokes this week (only he could get laughs out of that "Averngers" joke), but Jost's few bits about Gaetz and Biden remind me why they are better off continuing to move away from the political headlines and instead use their very talented cast. Beck's Springsteen was a fever dream due to that makeup (he looked like a dehydrated Alex Moffat trying to play Kyle's Baby Yoda character), but it worked, as did the attempt at mimicking Bruce's current voice/personality. Chris isn't as good a technical impressionist as Jay Pharoah, but he had probably the first good hook on Obama that SNL has managed, trying to seem like the average joe and mostly just seeming extremely generic and out of touch as a result.  I was very happy to see Punkie Johnson finally get on Update (given her standup I had assumed she would be on much earlier this season). Unfortunately, similar to Lauren Holt's Update piece a few months ago, the material was middling at best - this piece seemed like something In Living Color would have done if they'd had a news broadcast. But Punkie had more confidence in herself than Lauren seemed to have - that, along with having a more supportive audience than Lauren, helped make this work better than it would have much of the time. They were saving the best for last with Bowen. When I see Bowen on Update, I never shake the feeling that he would be better off on the main SNL stage, lights dimmed, giving a performance piece. I still feel that way, but this was the first time I thought he was able to have a good connection with the Update anchors, helping to add to the comedy. If this episode had any successful attempt at trying to reinvent Andy Samberg, then Bowen is the one who succeeded - this appearance gave me flashbacks to Andy's absurd cast of Update characters, especially the Sully goose (who also bantered and bantered with the Update anchor). I wish he'd ended this before we actually heard the song, but this was still a hell of a watch, and probably the best example yet of the special gifts Bowen brings to SNL. 

(I'm glad SNL at least remembered Anne Beatts, but I wish they could have at least repeated that short sketch she did in the first season [Speed]. Unfortunately, the show seems reluctant to fully embrace its past outside of moments they know will be "events," like Sandler or Eddie Murphy hosting.)

Star Trek Spinoff: Mikey Day feels both younger than his age and much older, considering how much of his writing ends up in "get off my lawn!" territory. I thought he and Carey both managed to get laughs out of their snot-nosed caricatures, reclaiming their voices and power and so on - I saw someone say this was Mikey Day's version of the firehouse sketch where Bill Hader went into full screaming mode. I'd tend to agree (and Mikey screaming at the alien gave me a good laugh, along with his going on about the "toxic" people on the ship). But even with the good performances and support work (Alex in particular), this never really came together - the ending felt extremely tacked on. 

Lesbian Period Drama: SNL has not done as many of these savage takes on films or TV in the last few years. If I'd seen the films I would probably connect more with this pre-tape, but I still appreciated the effort and the performances (Heidi was made for this type of piece). I wasn't sure about Kate's involvement. I thought she was funny, but as much as I appreciate the choice to throw in some absurdity and not just go for a completely dry commentary, tonally her character was so jarring, I felt like I was watching two different films melted together.

War in Words: Two Mikey pieces back-to-back gave him a more dominant role in guiding an episode than he's had since season 44 (where at times he and Streeter Seidell were writing half the show), and probably helped contribute to the competent-but-fatigued vibes wandering in through the night. I sometimes imagine any white British actress who hosts having the script for this sketch thrown at her as she walks in the door. Carey tried to make this her own, but, even beyond how often she and Mikey had to keep flitting their eyes to the cards, this just felt somewhat leaden to me. The main problem is as good as Mikey is, it's difficult to make three different "incredulous husband reacts to mad wife" sketches seem fresh, especially since there was nothing that shocking in her actions this time around. Mikey's attempts at the "Mikey reacts" didn't really land for me at all. I did think the grave joke was amusing, and her repeatedly sending him coke ("YOU SENT ME COCAINE?!?") - the ending of him deciding to just go ahead and do a line after all the stress she'd caused him was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. 

L'Eggs: This didn't have the greatest writing, and the ending felt oddly hesitant and confused in performance, but it was still my favorite sketch of the night. This is the type of Aidy performance I connect with most - few manage to play incredibly delusional women you find pathetic but still root for to get the happiness she wants. This was Aidy's sketch, but Carey was solid support (reminding me of Joan Allen - if you haven't, go watch Joan's SNL episode, which is pretty damn good). I also loved the ridiculous close-ups of Aidy and Carey posing their legs. This type of sketch is very performative wackiness - if done wrong, it can shut the viewer out, and feel like comic death. I'm sure it did feel that way to quite a few people, but what can I say, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and this is what I would like to remember Aidy's last (?) season for, along with that wine mom sketch in Regina King's episode. 

So now I guess we have 3-4 weeks until the last few episodes of the season. I'm going to manifest a Jason Sudeikis hosting gig (OK, I'm not, but I do hope he or Bill Hader help close out season 46).

 

         They Did NOT Have Cecily Either ! Also, I May Be Wrong, But I Think Phoebe Had War On Words Where She Switched Sides And She Was With Hitler ! ! Also, I Like When A Different What 's Wrong With The Picture Had The TWO MOONS ! I Can't Remember Who The Host Was On That Episode !