S48.E06: Dave Chappelle / Black Star

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Host Dave Chappelle with musical guest Black Star.

Airing Saturday, November 12, 2022.

[Ms Blue Jay]

[Pete Martell]

[Lethallyfab]

So the unspoken subtext of the opening monologue is, “I may be anti-trans, but at least I’m not anti-Semitic? But I’m still going to say some borderline anti-Semitic stuff in the name of humor!  Because jokes!  Again, at least I’m not Kanye, so who cares about all the other offensive stuff I’ve said!”

[vb68]

I didn't care for Chappelle's monologue this time.  He seemed overly self satisfied. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I came here to compliment Marcello Hernandez's bit on Weekend Update, but now I'm here to say that I unabashedly love Sarah Sherman 😄😄😄

[Galileo908]

Yeah, I watched it.

Cold Open: I find it funny that Bowen is playing Brian Kilmeade. As much as I’m glad she’s losing, I’m wish Cecily’s Kari Lake would stick around more. But yeah, she’ll be on Fox News soon enough.

That NY Post “Trumpty Dumpty” cover is real, btw.

Monologue: And now for no reason, I’m gonna get up and go to the bathroom for about ten minutes. Dave’s thanking his lucky stars that there were bigger elephants in the room to talk about.

P.M. in The Afternoon: “Potato Hole” seemed to be one of those phrases someone started saying around the writers room and they wrote a sketch around it. You gotta love white guilt playing out in real time when Dave talked about what a potato hole really was.

House of The Dragon: It took a long time for the Playa Haters (and Tyrone) to show up. Didn’t feel as good as the Walking Dead sketch. Yes, Ice T was in the original Playa Haters sketch, that’s why he was in this one. Rick Jamesf elt a bit forced.

Barber Shop: Michael Longfellow was good as the white guy in this. Of course the punchline was that he was (most likely) a narc. Yeah, white people love that Yellowstone.

WU: Graphics department hitting it out of the park with Tucker Carlson’s “no nut November” face.

I liked Marcello’s Jose Suarez character. Was this the first time the show made a chancla joke?

Loved Sarah’s bit so much. Apparently this was cut for time last week?

Black Heaven: I appreciate that there was no fourth wall to this sketch. That was 100% something that would’ve been on Chappelle’s Show.

Please Don’t Destroy: Molly was elected Secretary of State in Ohio?! That’s great. Hell, they got Steve Kornacki for this. That man probably hasn’t slept since Tuesday.

Despite the giant, giant elephant in the room never getting addressed, this episode certainly swung for the fences. The show’s off til December 3rd, and Keke Palmer’s hosting.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Galileo908

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Despite the giant, giant elephant in the room never getting addressed, this episode certainly swung for the fences. The show’s off til December 3rd, and Keke Palmer’s hosting.

Oh yeah, sometimes as a Canadian I forget about American Thanksgiving.

James Austin Johnson was great as Trump tonight by the way.

I have to admit I laughed harder at one of Colin Jost's jokes than anything Chappelle said, but now I've already forgotten it.  I was really skeptical for the first half of Chappelle's monologue, but I liked the second half better.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[vb68]

27 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

but now I'm here to say that I unabashedly love Sarah Sherman 😄😄😄

Her line that "she's as straight as Michael Che's Update Persona" had me howling.

I also really liked the last sketch with Molly. I couldn't believe they got Kornacki. When did he possibly have time to do it?

[Kimmmmmm]

Hate Sarah Sherman more than ever 

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Her line that "she's as straight as Michael Che's Update Persona" had me howling.

ME TOO

[Racj82]

Loved Dave's monolgue. Hit a lot of points people I know have been saying for a while. It will be unpopular obviously but I'm glad we still have Dave in comedy. I'm never going to agree with everything he or anyone else says but I don't watch comedy for that. I watch comedy to laugh and he often makes me laugh.

The house of the dragon sketch wasn't touching the walking dead one but was still funny. I miss my Chappelle Show characters.

That turkey waddle joke during weekend update made my jaw drop lower than anything Dave said.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Racj82

[Kaiju Ballet]

9 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

That turkey waddle joke during weekend update made my jaw drop lower than anything Dave said.

Me too! I kinda hope now the "big beautiful monster" will be recurring...that gives me hope for a fresh take on political commentary moving forward.

And Steve Kornacki!!!!! Wondered when he had time to film this. And what Leslie Jones has to say about it, lol!

Anyone know which writers supposedly boycotted this episode?

[LennieBriscoe]

Dave Chapelle is still brilliant, brave, and hilarious. 

ETA: Proud to have the "big beautiful  monster" as my Senator! 

Edited November 18, 2022 by LennieBriscoe

[sheetmoss]

2 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

~.

P.M. in The Afternoon: “Potato Hole” seemed to be one of those phrases someone started saying around the writers room and they wrote a sketch around it. You gotta love white guilt playing out in real time when Dave talked about what a potato hole really was.

~

https://www.potatohole.com/faqs

[SHD]

I didn’t realize it last night, but DC had a pretty light load as far as sketches. Other than the prefilmed House of the Dragon thing, he was in PM in the Afternoon (very few lines), and Barber Shop. He announced and also had just a few lines for Black Heaven. Of course he did do a much longer monologue than most hosts. 

[Pete Martell]

The gossip going around about writers boycotting (which Chappelle himself denied) cast a pall over the episode, because I saw people saying oh they quit and he sure showed them. That's one of the many downsides of chasing controversy with a host pick. 

I didn't want the show to have a bad episode, because I have a lot of fondness for the show, but I did go in expecting a dead vibe, due to how lethargic and forced the promos felt. 

I was surprised at just how strong the episode was, especially as there were no outside writers on most of the pieces. I guess Dave may have helped (as @SHD mentioned he had fairly light roles all night, but I felt his presence much more than I did the last time he hosted), but still, this episode had some strong concepts, well-executed, less padding, less incoherence, more energy. Black Heaven and Barber Shop were two of my favorite sketches of recent seasons, and Update also had a great deal of verge due to Marcello and Sarah (Sarah getting a spontaneous applause break at one point was oddly sweet). Other than the monologue and maybe the House of Dragons sketch, there wasn't anything I didn't enjoy. 

The downside is this goes along with a monologue that was queasily compelling to watch but also left me uncomfortable, and so many questions hanging in the air about cast use. Was his presence the reason we barely saw Cecily, Chloe or Bowen most of the night? Or why some writers didn't get pieces on? I was very happy the newer cast members got so much focus, but if they only did because of longtime names stepping back out of disgust, then it casts something of a pall. 

I was also curious about the Please Don't Destroy short, as there were rumors they weren't going to be around either. They were, yet we saw none of them with Dave, and instead Molly got a showcase, using their pronouns, dressed in male attire, I thought this piece was fine, but I wondered if it was a message to viewers to try to contrast the rest of the night. 

I'm glad the show is starting to trust its younger cast more, and trying to let on some different material. This was one of the better episodes of the last 3-4 years. I just wish we didn't have all the baggage and all the people hurt along the way. 

[Galileo908]

1 hour ago, Pete Martell said:

Was his presence the reason we barely saw Cecily, Chloe or Bowen most of the night? Or why some writers didn't get pieces on?

Them, Molly, and James Austin Johnson were all in sketches Dave wasn’t in (although JAJ was in House of The Dragon, but you can clearly tell Dave wasn’t in the same shot). And they were way in the back during the goodbyes.

[nickp1991]

Kari Lake is a joke and SNL nailed it

[greekmom]

Loved it. DC's monologue was great. First SNL this year that I watched all the way through and didn't FF to WU.  The only sketch I didn't like was the Please Don’t Destroy. Other than that it was a solid episode.

[rollacoaster]

With Meghan and Dave having hosted , and Keke Palmer coming up, looks like Black cast members are gonna keep getting more screen time. I love to see it. Also loved seeing newer cast members getting more screen time.

Sarah Sherman so unabashedly does her thing, you either love her or hate her. I kinda love her. 

I thought shoehorning the Chappelle Show characters into The House of the Dragons was unfunny and stale. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by rollacoaster

[SHD]

I thought the goodbyes felt a little awkward. Usually the cast members go to the host and hug/shake hands/chat right away and it seemed like they just stayed in the back and left DC up front by himself. 

[vb68]

12 minutes ago, SHD said:

I thought the goodbyes felt a little awkward. Usually the cast members go to the host and hug/shake hands/chat right away and it seemed like they just stayed in the back and left DC up front by himself. 

I was just about to say the same thing. Nobody was going up at to him at all in the goodbyes. It was very telling. And awkward.

The monologue made me so uncomfortable, mostly with how much it focused on Jews, that it was a little hard getting into the rest of the show. Sarah's bit in Update helped a lot. She really is her own thing. I don't think there's ever been anyone on the show like her.

[Guest]

I enjoyed both of the guest spots on WU, but WU (Colin in particular, it seems) really needs to stop relying on jokes that basically amount to "wow, that person sure is old!"

[xls]

8 hours ago, SHD said:

I thought the goodbyes felt a little awkward. Usually the cast members go to the host and hug/shake hands/chat right away and it seemed like they just stayed in the back and left DC up front by himself. 

I noticed that too.

21 hours ago, vb68 said:

I didn't care for Chappelle's monologue this time.  He seemed overly self satisfied. 

The sound was weird, like the mike wasn't even on, did anyone else notice?

[Crashcourse]

44 minutes ago, xls said:

The sound was weird, like the mike wasn't even on, did anyone else notice?

I thought the sound was weird, too.

I'd never watched any of Chappelle's monologues before last night.  I wasn't paying that much attention to what he said, but how he said stuff.  I thought his delivery was off and kind of bungled.   

[buttersister]

Quote

shoehorning the Chappelle Show characters into The House of the Dragons was unfunny and stale. 

Remember when you all really loved me?

[peeayebee]

15 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

As much as I’m glad she’s losing, I’m wish Cecily’s Kari Lake would stick around more.

I know what you mean. Cecily is to Kari Lake as Tina Fey is to Sarah Palin. 

14 hours ago, Racj82 said:

That turkey waddle joke during weekend update made my jaw drop lower than anything Dave said.

OMG, me too. That was too much for me.

The CO was pretty good. My one complaint is that JAJ's face was not orange enuf. Loved the line, "It's a red wave in terms of tree and in regards to leaf."

My favorite part of the monologue was Chapelle saying the early fighting in Ukraine was like Home Alone, with Russians stepping on rakes and grabbing electrified doorknobs.

I hadn't heard of the penis-shaped flight path. That is pretty hilarious.

[Pete Martell]

3 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I enjoyed both of the guest spots on WU, but WU (Colin in particular, it seems) really needs to stop relying on jokes that basically amount to "wow, that person sure is old!"

I take that as partly a sign of how gassed out they are. They aren't as openly tired (Colin seemed completely done to me last season), but it's still there. One of the positives of all the new people at the desk is they can balance the vibe more than, say, Baby Yoda appearing yet again (sorry, Kyle).

4 hours ago, SHD said:

I thought the goodbyes felt a little awkward. Usually the cast members go to the host and hug/shake hands/chat right away and it seemed like they just stayed in the back and left DC up front by himself. 

6 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Them, Molly, and James Austin Johnson were all in sketches Dave wasn’t in (although JAJ was in House of The Dragon, but you can clearly tell Dave wasn’t in the same shot). And they were way in the back during the goodbyes.

I think Andrew was too. This definitely seems like a week where there would have been a divide in the cast given that Chappelle is still loved by many...yet also disliked by many. I give Ego a lot of credit for having to be a backbone in a number of his sketches in some thankless roles, as I have no real idea what her opinion of the matter was. 

6 hours ago, nickp1991 said:

Kari Lake is a joke and SNL nailed it

Cecily is incredibly good as Kari. Maybe her best political work ever on the show. Oftentimes when she plays politicians she will go broader, but her Kari is restrained and terrifying in her delusions. This is how you take an impression and make it your own.  

(there was a Herschel Walker sketch cut last night - love you, Kenan, but I'm not sorry that was cut...I think Dave's monologue summed that part up well enough anyway)

[SoMuchTV]

40 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I hadn't heard of the penis-shaped flight path. That is pretty hilarious.

There seems to be a lot of crossover with weird news between SNL, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and the Pod Save guys. Depending on what I’ve heard first, I can be pretty smug about knowing about stuff on the others. 

[heatherchandler]

21 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

I have no real idea what her opinion of the matter was. 

Yeah but do we need to know?  I don’t need to know the politics of the performers.  I just care if they are funny.

[rmontro]

I was thinking this was the best episode of the season, even the musical guest was killing it.  Until Weekend Update brought it all to a screeching halt.  Sara's bit was all right though.  Dave Chappelle is a comedy genius.  The last half hour was weak.

[Pete Martell]

38 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Yeah but do we need to know?  I don’t need to know the politics of the performers.  I just care if they are funny.

I agree, it's just one of those weeks where I think speculation is inevitable because people were going around claiming so and so was boycotting.

[JeanJean]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

I know what you mean. Cecily is to Kari Lake as Tina Fey is to Sarah Palin. 

YES! You nailed it (as did Cecily).

[Avabelle]

I was glad to see him in more sketches but I still think Devon is behind the other featured players in terms of standing out.

Hated the Chapelle monologue - it was so boring.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

22 hours ago, Lethallyfab said:

So the unspoken subtext of the opening monologue is, “I may be anti-trans, but at least I’m not anti-Semitic? But I’m still going to say some borderline anti-Semitic stuff in the name of humor!  Because jokes!  Again, at least I’m not Kanye, so who cares about all the other offensive stuff I’ve said!”

The best thing about it was that he managed to get through it without a cigarette.

[Lethallyfab]

I’ll going to be mean and say that Sarah’s the *real* Girl I Wish I Hadn’t Started Talking To At A Party.  

[Peace 47]

16 hours ago, vb68 said:

The monologue made me so uncomfortable, mostly with how much it focused on Jews, that it was a little hard getting into the rest of the show. Sarah's bit in Update helped a lot. She really is her own thing. I don't think there's ever been anyone on the show like her.

I agree on the discomfort (and on the strength of Sarah’s WU bit), although I think part of my own discomfort stemmed from being on edge, worrying what Dave might say next.  I was so relieved when he at least didn’t mention gender or sexuality this time.  I was also trying to articulate my discomfort with one aspect of the monologue, and I guess this is one way I can frame it.  One subtext of Dave’s monologue that came across to me is that Kanye is right that Jewish people control media and entertainment, but you’re just not allowed to say it in “polite company.”  For example, how Dave said that you could observe all the people in show business and adopt the “delusion” (which was a good word choice to distance himself from the viewpoint) of a Jewish conspiracy, but then Dave also said it’s not crazy to think that, but it is crazy to say out loud.  It came up again in the barber shop sketch where the white guy remarks on the fallacy of Kanye’s anti-Jewish tirade, and the black patrons just look away because they don’t take issue with what Kanye said, just that he shouldn’t have said it aloud. 

There were some funny concepts in the monologue (that mentally ill Kanye would tweet something crazy about his revenge plot against Jewish people and then go to sleep, while sane Dave stayed up all night worrying what Kanye had planned).  And I liked that he said that a lot of black people in Ferguson doesn’t mean they control the place:  that was sharp and funny.  People who are fans of Dave might say, “Why so sensitive about any aspect of his monologue when he was overall taking Kanye and Kyrie to task for being so stupid?” But Dave hasn’t exactly earned the benefit of the doubt with me, either, so I don’t know.  I’m just glad it’s over.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Peace 47

[BC4ME]

Well, I liked it. But I was also scared to death the whole time at what he might say. I am a Chappelle fan in general though.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

One subtext of Dave’s monologue that came across to me is that Kanye is right that Jewish people control media and entertainment, but you’re just not allowed to say it in “polite company.”

Here's why so many Jewish people went into entertainment (spoiler; it was looked down upon in the early days, so it was open to them when many other careers weren't):   https://jewishunpacked.com/how-american-jews-built-hollywood/

In the past, one might have said that Jewish people "controlled" medicine, because there were so many Jewish doctors.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-calls-out-dave-chappelles-snl-monologue?via=twitter_page

[monakane]

On 11/13/2022 at 12:40 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I came here to compliment Marcello Hernandez's bit on Weekend Update, but now I'm here to say that I unabashedly love Sarah Sherman 😄😄😄

Me too!  That bit was hilarious.  I'll never look at turkeys the same way again.

[cinsays]

17 hours ago, monakane said:

Me too!  That bit was hilarious.  I'll never look at turkeys the same way again.

i loved marcello's bit on weekend update too - one of the best this season.  i am luke warm on sara and did not like that turkey comment.  but i'm old, so.....

[Avabelle]

I like Sarah on sketches but I don’t love the segments she does in weekend update.

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:49 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Here's why so many Jewish people went into entertainment (spoiler; it was looked down upon in the early days, so it was open to them when many other careers weren't):   https://jewishunpacked.com/how-american-jews-built-hollywood/

Speaking as a Jew, I think that's a somewhat superficial explanation, offered forth by the article for the sake of making people not hate us. The truth is that once Jews basically created the film business, they tended to hire other Jews into the business out of ethnic loyalty and generalized comfort level. Show business was a realm not only "open" to Jews but one in which Jews could have unprecedented power if they stuck together.  I enjoyed Chappelle's monologue because he found a way to tell the truth without offending. At least he didn't offend me. If anything, while I was laughing, I was also feeling pride in my fellow Jews for having created, from a bond with their Jewish brethren, the power base he joked of.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Milburn Stone

[LennieBriscoe]

On 11/13/2022 at 11:32 AM, rollacoaster said:

With Meghan and Dave having hosted , and Keke Palmer coming up, looks like Black cast members are gonna keep getting more screen time. I love to see it. Also loved seeing newer cast members getting more screen time.

Sarah Sherman so unabashedly does her thing, you either love her or hate her. I kinda love her. 

I thought shoehorning the Chappelle Show characters into The House of the Dragons was unfunny and stale. 

I didn't even know those "Chapelle Show" characters, so that segment fell flat for me. I did like the Rick James guy, though! 

Is Sarah Sherman being herself, or is she "Sarah Sherman as Sarah Silverman"? 

Not crazy about Marcello's over-accented, hyper Ricky Ricardo. What's next, he sings "I Like to Be in America"?

Edited November 18, 2022 by LennieBriscoe

[Pete Martell]

[wmdekooning]

On 11/13/2022 at 5:32 PM, rmontro said:

...even the musical guest was killing it.

That was some for real Hip Hop music! I liked the effect of the lyrics of the first song being projected in the back on a simple stage set. It made them more impactful and showed the true lyrical art with its' allusions, simile, double meanings and sheer rhyme.

The music was on point as well, with a backbeat that was so strong it made my subwoofer rumble. Black Star were one of the few musical acts that I truly appreciated as underground music that SNL used to champion and I watched both songs without fast-forwarding, occasionally laughing at the skilled and  clever wordplay of the two MCs...

[rmontro]

5 hours ago, wmdekooning said:

That was some for real Hip Hop music! I liked the effect of the lyrics of the first song being projected in the back on a simple stage set. It made them more impactful and showed the true lyrical art with its' allusions, simile, double meanings and sheer rhyme.

Nice to see a rare commentary on the musical guest.  I always watch TV with the captions on, so on a live show like SNL I get the lyrics, but they're delayed and often garbled.  All I remember of this was that I really liked the first song, but didn't care so much about the second one.