S48.E15: Jenna Ortega / The 1975

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Jenna Ortega hosts "SNL" for the first time on March 11. Ortega stars in Netflix's hit series "Wednesday" and the upcoming "Scream VI," in theaters March 10.The 1975 makes their second appearance as musical guest. The band is currently on a sold-out world tour with their critically acclaimed new album, "Being Funny in a Foreign Language."

Airing Saturday, March 11, 2023.

[Pete Martell]

 

[vb68]

I was worried at first because the Cold Open was rather lame, and I didn't think it was ever gonna end. Then Jenna was reading the cue cards hard in the monologue, but the show really picked up after that. Jenna has great energy as the host. 

[vb68]

They should give James Austin Johnson more time for random impressions.

[Galileo908]

I wasn’t home tonight, I’ll watch it later. Just in case you were wondering where I was.

[vb68]

7 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

I wasn’t home tonight, I’ll watch it later. Just in case you were wondering where I was.

Looking forward to the recap.

Damn I thought Andrew looked so much like Bill Hader singing in that last sketch.

All in all, I enjoyed the show for the most part. Some misses of course, but there was  a pretty loose energy throughout this one that worked well. Jenna can come back. She had some problems with the cue cards but was pretty solid in character for all her bits.

i was surprised I didn't see more t shirts or signs of support during the goodbyes for the production editors about to go on strike. I think Andrew was in one. Maybe that was discouraged.

Edited March 12, 2023 by vb68

[MrWhyt]

kind of lacklaster show IMO, though I can't put my finger on anything particular bringing it down. The diner pre-tape was the great and I thought the jingle sketch was the best of the night. Will be interesting to see how many pretapes we get next new show as it is scheduled for when the editors go on strike. And though the chances of me ever having to refer to him in conversation are low Mario Lopez will now forever be Mario Luigi to me.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Some of this didn't do anything for me, but what worked for me, really did.  When the show was good, I was genuinely really laughing.  But if I didn't care, I just didn't care (The MTV Ridiculousness show.  The Game show sketch.  Waffle house.)   Poltergeist was okay I guess and jingle was okay only because of the breaking.  But for me, mediocre.

This was an interesting hosting stint because Jenna was more like a really good actor rather than a funny host.  That's fine, and the style worked for what it was, I guess.  The humour wasn't about her but rather everyone else. She's a 20 year old who looks even younger than that, so I think the writers felt a bit awkward about it and kept putting her in a child role.  She's really cute.  She was so cute in the jingle sketch, though it didn't really make me laugh.

Also, I'm a big Fred Armisen fan, so I'm already cringing in anticipation for the complaints about him, LOL, hope I'm wrong.

My favourite parts:

• I really really liked the cold open because it wasn’t the usual boring political bullshit.  For me that was a breath of fresh air.  And the Draft Kings betting on the Oscars was so realistic and relevant.  It reminded me of a conversation I was having with someone the other day.  
• Fred Armisen / The Parent Trap Sketch
• Please Don’t Destroy
• James Austin Johnson’s Short Impressions
• I hate giving Colin credit for anything, but his surprised laughter at the audience’s reactions and Michael were really cute today.
• Oh yeah, I forgot Molly as the Governor!  That was also good!
   

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

They should give James Austin Johnson more time for random impressions.

That was great.  Unexpected and he just really delivered.  Simple, to the point, and effective.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Ms Blue Jay

[Trini]

The Waffle House sketch was the only standout to me.

[possibilities]

I had no idea who the host or musical guest was, but that seems to happen a lot this season. I think they're cultivating a different demographic than whatever they used to be seeking before, which I usually recognized. But it was fine. I thought Jenna was a real professional. Impressive. She was more of a serious actor than a wild and wacky comedian, but I still found her likable.

I was howling at the Waffle House and Beige Carpet sketches. I'm very tired tonight and I probably missed a few laughs because I was also  multitasking, but I thought overall it was a good show. WU was rollicking. JAJ is a phenomenal impressionist and he's very funny doing them. I enjoyed seeing Molly featured more this week. Nothing really pissed me off, which is a feat these days.

The twist of who her dad was in the Waffle House sketch was genius.

Edited March 12, 2023 by possibilities

[Pete Martell]

3 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

kind of lacklaster show IMO, though I can't put my finger on anything particular bringing it down. The diner pre-tape was the great and I thought the jingle sketch was the best of the night. Will be interesting to see how many pretapes we get next new show as it is scheduled for when the editors go on strike. And though the chances of me ever having to refer to him in conversation are low Mario Lopez will now forever be Mario Luigi to me.

There was nothing bad tonight, but as keeps happening this season, also nothing I thought was especially good, other than the pre-tapes, maybe. I was happy to see Molly finally get onto Update, but I thought the piece was simultaneously cliched and also too much for them to work with for their debut. I enjoyed JAJ's impressions, but had hoped to get a break from Trump. 

I don't expect brilliant writing, but I feel like something has gotten worse with the quality of many sketches. An endless sketch all about Fred, who isn't a cast member now, and wasn't even the host, making faces. Two sketches that revolved almost solely around Mikey yelling. Another sketch that revolved almost entirely around Ego yelling. Then at the end, the sketch with James Austin Johnson and Andrew Dismukes became all about Bowen yelling. You can be funny while having sketches that are mostly about yelling, but it takes much more effort than I'm seeing now.

I don't think it helped that the host, while charming and competent, blended so far into the background and brought little to the material. 

The cold open probably summed up everything I'm so worn down by in the writing now. It had a nice enough idea, but just went on and on and on, cramming in people without knowing how to use them (I thought the Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson impressions were just plain bad, and I don't know what was going on with Kenan as Mike Tyson.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Pete Martell

[cpcathy]

Just “meh” episode for me. The diner was great though.

I keep hearing what a badass Matty Healy of the 1975 is, and was then surprised when both songs were pop songs about girls, lol.

[SomeTameGazelle]

I really liked Ego in the Exorcist sketch, but I was hoping the humour of Kenan as vessel for the demon would be something to do with personality and I was very let down by the head-spinning.

I couldn't take the Ridiculousness sketch at all. And it felt like Jenna brought nothing to The Parent Trap sketch, or rather it was written as if it didn't matter what was going on in her half of the performance because it was so hilarious that Fred was inappropriate. It could have been next  level if they had leaned into Bowen making Fred the star (as the end poster implied) and made Jenna's reaction to redoing the same scene over and over the escalation.

9 hours ago, vb68 said:

They should give James Austin Johnson more time for random impressions.

I think that will wear thin if they do too much of it without a frame for it. If they made it a sketch about the weakness of the pitches maybe that would work for me once or twice, but a minute at the desk with Colin feels too lazy.

I was surprised that there seemed to be no mention of the concept that some phone numbers jingles work because there is a word you can memorize. Maybe they chose 1-672-555-0136 (which I have now successfully memorized due to repetition!) because there is nothing much you can do with it but I wanted a joke about it.

[SomeTameGazelle]

6 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I thought the Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson impressions were just plain bad

The Jamie Lee Curtis voice was awful. I was trying to figure out whether any of the physicality was on point but that impression was probably the thing I hated most in the ep.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Pretty uneven but OK. Jenna was game.

Note to Fred Armisen: please go away.  You are not funny.  You have never been funny.  Who do you keep extorting to get gigs??

The PDD video was good and so was the Ridiculousness bit.  

The 1975 has 4 guys.  Why the need for 3 more musicians?? Both songs sounded like bad yacht rock.

 

[BC4ME]

I think I laughed more at the diner sketch than I have for years on SNL. Those people are pretty realistic in certain circles.

I kinda love James Austin Johnson. He's a real standout. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by BC4ME

[peeayebee]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

This was an interesting hosting stint because Jenna was more like a really good actor rather than a funny host. 

I felt the same. As I watched I thought, She's very good, but not very funny. I haven't seen her in anything else except for a clip of her and Aubrey Plaza at the SAG Awards. She's likable. Oh, and when she smiled in the monologue, I thought she could play Rosie Perez's daughter or maybe a young Perez in a movie.

Quote

Also, I'm a big Fred Armisen fan, so I'm already cringing in anticipation for the complaints about him, LOL, hope I'm wrong.

I'm a fan, too. I thought he was funny. But then, I always do.

 

3 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I really liked Ego in the Exorcist sketch, but I was hoping the humour of Kenan as vessel for the demon would be something to do with personality and I was very let down by the head-spinning.

Very disappointing. I thought that somehow he would be unaffected at all by the demonic possession. It's a shame that the show went to all the trouble to make a bust of Kenan for such a poor joke.

Although I was pleasantly surprised to see a non-political CO, I thought it was bad. I think Jamie Lee Curtis was fabulous in Everything Everywhere All At Once, but I haven't seen her recently as herself, so I wasn't so sure how accurate the impression was. The best part of this CO was George Santos being Tom Cruise.

The monologue was ok, not very funny. How many times now has the host shown an old clip of themselves? While I basically enjoy seeing these, it also comes across as lazy writing to me. Here, trying to turn the toothpaste commercial into a horror movie just didn't work.

School Vs School - I don't know why, but the only funny part to me was Mikey yelling. I don't know why I found that so funny. I've always liked Mikey.

Please Don't Destroy was pretty good. I liked how well-made the singing portions were. 

The Parent Trap remake was pretty boring. For some reason, I got a big giggle out of Fred saying, "So do you think we're twins yet or not?"

Ridiculousness was not funny.

I don't know about Varsity Valley. I was amused by all the crazy characters in the background and really wanted to have all of them in the foreground. I mean, yeah, that's the point, that what was going on in the back was much more interesting than the 'main' story.

I had not heard about Lt Gov Randy McNally. I'll have to google that to see if he has acknowledged that this was his real account (Instagram was it?) or if he's claiming it was a bogus account.

I don't generally find Che all that funny. I'm mostly annoyed by him. But I loved when he said about wanting to go back and tell his great-great-great grandmother, "Don't get on that boat!"

I enjoyed JAJ's mini-impressions. I think my favorite was Bob Dylan's phone vibrating.

The exorcist sketch was not good.

The best part of the phone number jingle sketch was Andrew Dismukes. I really enjoyed watching him dance and perform.

So, all in all a very forgettable show. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by peeayebee

[Fostersmom]

3 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I keep hearing what a badass Matty Healy of the 1975 is, and was then surprised when both songs were pop songs about girls, lol.

 

1 hour ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

 

The 1975 has 4 guys.  Why the need for 3 more musicians?? Both songs sounded like bad yacht rock.

 

I had never heard of The 1975 and yes, bad yacht rock was a perfect description but my main take away was the very, very obviously scripted every bit of body movement and facial affect of the lead singer. I made I about 45 seconds into the first song before I had enough and had to fast forward the DVR. It was just too overly precious and disingenuous, I noped out. 

The show was solid enough, the only sketch I didn't care for was the phone jingle, but I can't stand JAJ. I really liked the PDD pretape and the Waffle House sketches. 

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

47 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I had not heard about Lt Gov Randy McNally. I'll have to google that to see if he has acknowledged that this was his real account (Instagram was it?) or if he's claiming it was a bogus account.

I believe his publicist even said he's going to keep reaching out to constituents and refuses to stop.  It's a pretty funny story.

47 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I don't generally find Che all that funny. I'm mostly annoyed by him. But I loved when he said about wanting to go back and tell his great-great-great grandmother, "Don't get on that boat!"

Yeah, he is just one big I Don't Get It.  A bunch of sexist jokes that are (maybe?) supposed to be satirical, yawn!  I used to really dislike him because he'd always trip over his delivery and I thought he would be replaced but I guess not!  Colin Jost loves him so I guess Michael's just going to be there forever.  I really don't get what is supposed to be great about him and I still think he is not the right person for the job.  But now it's been so long I am just used to it and accept it.

At least Colin can deliver the lines without constantly messing up, and he doesn't laugh after all of his own punchlines.  He's able to do deadpan extremely well.

[Jody]

4 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Just “meh” episode for me. The diner was great though.

I keep hearing what a badass Matty Healy of the 1975 is, and was then surprised when both songs were pop songs about girls, lol.

 

       I Enjoyed Both Songs, But, I Liked The Second Song The Best ! ! IT Had More OF A Catchy Beat ! 

[possibilities]

Reading the thread, I'm realizing I must have been more distracted than I realized because I didn't remember half of what's being mentioned.

I thought the Road Trip was very funny. I have been on too many road trips.

[cinsays]

41 minutes ago, Jody said:

 

       I Enjoyed Both Songs, But, I Liked The Second Song The Best ! ! IT Had More OF A Catchy Beat ! 

I enjoyed the songs too.  Actually much more pleasant than the music people they've had on lately  who just seem to be trying to be as gross as possible.  Yes, I am old.

[Nellise]

This was the first episode I watched all the way through in a while rather than just individual sketches on YT and I remembered why I switched to doing that. It felt like every sketch was "Wouldn't it be funny if..." and they set up a situation but then forgot to add jokes beyond that.

They missed adding to the Ridiculousness sketch where Rob Dyrdek has picked up this tic where he says "You know what I mean" about 40 times an episode. I once counted him saying it 7 times introducing a single clip.

[lou ann b]

Based on some posts here,I'm wondering if I watched the same show. Because I enjoyed it.

I liked the CO because..no politics.i liked the school game show,especially Kenan trying so hard not to break at Mikey's yelling. The Waffle House pretape had me rolling. WU is my highlight every week. Jost and Che have such a rapport that when their era ends, I'll be sad. Ego was the highlight of the Exorcist sketch.She is very talented. Even the jingle sketch had a joyful silliness.

My only comment..why is Molly only seeming to be there to fill a "Addy Bryant dressed like a guy" space? Brendon Frazier and Governor Randy? In the same show. 

Was this the only reason they were hired!

Ending on the positive, Devon Walker has a joyful smile and appears to really be loving what he's doing. Hoping for more from him.

 

[Joimiaroxeu]

So Jamie Lee Curtis is still extra. Okay.

Fake Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were speakish Irish gibberish, right?

Bowen Yang as George Santos is still perfect to me.

I didn't think Jenna was doing so great with the cue cards in her opening monologue and thought she was noticeably nervous. Those gams tho.

Wow, is Michael Longfellow that tall or is Punkie that short? He was towering over her in the School vs. School sketch.

Meh, I could've used less Fred Armisen. 99.9% less.

Ridiculousness is actually a thing? It looks like AFV for people under 12, with the scripts written by a chatbot using Urban Dictionary as source material.

The Waffle House sketch was insane! Didn't see that ending coming. Well done.

WU Colin Jost: some psychotic bitch.

Eh, alleged thirst trap Franklynsuperstar needs to eat a sandwich or five. Thanks a lot for making me go look at those photos, SNL.

Yeah, there's no way 45 trying to order a Negroni in a bar wouldn't go sideways,

JAJ's imitation of Bob Dylan's cell phone on vibrate did make me bust out laughing.

I liked The 1975's second song. Had never heard of them before. They sounded similar to the Jonas Brothers but less manufactured.

Jenna was fine, if a bit hesitant to go all in IMO. I mostly liked her clothes. She has an excellent stylist.

[possibilities]

17 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Ridiculousness is actually a thing?

It is. Sad to say.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridiculousness_(TV_series)

[Crashcourse]

I had never heard of The 1975 before, but I liked their songs.  I kept making googly eyes at the man bun dude.

The Waffle House sketch had me rolling! 🤣

[Andyourlittledog2]

I'm not a laugher. The most I manage usually, even when I think something was super funny, is a chuckle.  And yet, JAJ's impression of Bob Dylan's cell phone on vibrate actually made me guffaw. An honest to goodness guffaw. I have never done that before in my life. Scared the cat.

It was a middle of the pack show with moments of genuine funny. Not memorable for the most part but this season has been like that for me. I miss too many cast members gone (and none of them is Fred Armisen). If Bowen or Kenan leave I will have to officially don black mourning clothes. I don't think I could take it.

[rmontro]

I thought when Ortega first came out for the monologue, she was speaking too fast, but she slowed the pace almost immediately (I wonder if the director signaled her?), and she was great the rest of the show.  

I liked the "X-Men" skit, the Parent Trap sketch, the Exorcist sketch, and JAJ's impressions - especially Bob Dylan's cellphone, that sounded perfect.  

It's interesting that to most people now, The Parent Trap is a Lindsey Lohan movie, when to me it is a Hayley Mills movie.

Didn't care for 1975's first song, the second one was all right.

[JeanJean]

I agree with the "middle of the pack" assessment of this episode.

Things that made me laugh: Ego in The Exorcist Sketch (to me, she's an MVP, like Cecily was, without the singing voice, and like Kenan is), Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleason in the cold open. The Waffle House was pretty funny.

The end of the Exorcist sketch sucked, though. Killed it. And the Jamie Lee Curtis impression was horrible.

I just never find Please Don't Destroy hilarious. They're not terrible at all, but they don't really make me laugh. It's kind of a "wow, I'm lucky my dad was on the show" situation. Again, they're not awful, far from it, but I see that as the only reason they would have stood out from other people that could have been hired.

Edited March 13, 2023 by JeanJean

[Jody]

On 3/12/2023 at 3:54 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

So Jamie Lee Curtis is still extra. Okay.

Fake Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were speakish Irish gibberish, right?

Bowen Yang as George Santos is still perfect to me.

I didn't think Jenna was doing so great with the cue cards in her opening monologue and thought she was noticeably nervous. Those gams tho.

Wow, is Michael Longfellow that tall or is Punkie that short? He was towering over her in the School vs. School sketch.

Meh, I could've used less Fred Armisen. 99.9% less.

Ridiculousness is actually a thing? It looks like AFV for people under 12, with the scripts written by a chatbot using Urban Dictionary as source material.

The Waffle House sketch was insane! Didn't see that ending coming. Well done.

WU Colin Jost: some psychotic bitch.

Eh, alleged thirst trap Franklynsuperstar needs to eat a sandwich or five. Thanks a lot for making me go look at those photos, SNL.

Yeah, there's no way 45 trying to order a Negroni in a bar wouldn't go sideways,

JAJ's imitation of Bob Dylan's cell phone on vibrate did make me bust out laughing.

I liked The 1975's second song. Had never heard of them before. They sounded similar to the Jonas Brothers but less manufactured.

Jenna was fine, if a bit hesitant to go all in IMO. I mostly liked her clothes. She has an excellent stylist.

       I Actually Burst Out Laughing When I Was Reading That You Burst Out Laughing AT Bob Dylan Because I Thought That Was Funny Also ! 

On 3/12/2023 at 5:52 PM, rmontro said:

I thought when Ortega first came out for the monologue, she was speaking too fast, but she slowed the pace almost immediately (I wonder if the director signaled her?), and she was great the rest of the show.  

I liked the "X-Men" skit, the Parent Trap sketch, the Exorcist sketch, and JAJ's impressions - especially Bob Dylan's cellphone, that sounded perfect.  

It's interesting that to most people now, The Parent Trap is a Lindsey Lohan movie, when to me it is a Hayley Mills movie.

Didn't care for 1975's first song, the second one was all right.

       Yes, I Hated Lindsay Lohan In The Parent Trap ! Her Mother Was In England Where Hayley's Mother Was In Boston ! I Liked The Way The California Twin Called Her Frankenstein ! They Did NOT Need To Do The Parent Trap In The 1990's ! They Should Not Re Do Every Movie That Comes Out ! I Thought The First Song Was Fine, I Just Thought The Second Song Had A Catchy Beat And The Piano So I Liked The Second Song The Best ! ! 

[Pete Martell]

25 minutes ago, cinsays said:

I enjoyed the songs too.  Actually much more pleasant than the music people they've had on lately  who just seem to be trying to be as gross as possible.  Yes, I am old.

It's funny because the group are very controversial, with the lead singer often saying offputting things. I was not expecting them to sound like so much pop/lite rock from the '80s (like if Bryan Adams had joined very late '80s Fleetwood Mac). I do like pop and lite rock from the '80s, so the performances were alright for me, but jarring compared to the image they present.

7 minutes ago, lou ann b said:

Based on some posts here,I'm wondering if I watched the same show. Because I enjoyed it.

I liked the CO because..no politics.i liked the school game show,especially Kenan trying so hard not to break at Mikey's yelling. The Waffle House pretape had me rolling. WU is my highlight every week. Jost and Che have such a rapport that when their era ends, I'll be sad. Ego was the highlight of the Exorcist sketch.She is very talented. Even the jingle sketch had a joyful silliness.

My only comment..why is Molly only seeming to be there to fill a "Addy Bryant dressed like a guy" space? Brendon Frazier and Governor Randy? In the same show. 

Was this the only reason they were hired!

Ending on the positive, Devon Walker has a joyful smile and appears to really be loving what he's doing. Hoping for more from him.

The writing for this episode, pre-tapes aside, was nonexistent to me, but I agree with you about the silliness and energy being benefits.

I think Molly suffers from what many in the cast this season are suffering from - there is little effort in trying to find what their best comic voice in. There have been so many comparisons between Molly and Melissa McCarthy that I wonder if they decided to just throw them in drag to recreate the viral appeal of Melissa as Sean Spicer. 

I don't know if Molly has the panache to play these types of parts, as the Update piece just stumbled, and had little bite. (it didn't help that one of the writers, Fowlie, has co-written a number of my least favorite pieces this season, from Bowen's "sucka" sketch from the past episode, to Heidi and Chloe having flat butts, to Heidi going on and on on Update about wanting to commit incest with her son).

Dress report:

 

[chediavolo]

This young woman was not ready for hosting SNL. I didn’t like Wednesday & she proved here that she is not that good of an actress nor does she have any charisma. I don’t get what all the fuss is about. 
waffle house skit was funny despite her blandness. 

[possibilities]

"Why Did I Walk Into This Room?", a gameshow where JAJ (as the host) and Jenna (as the assistant) were waiting in Ego's living room, and quiz her about why walked into the room. She cannot remember, but can recall who won specific seasons of The Bachelor (a la "What's That Name?"). Andrew walks into the room with two batteries in his hand and cannot recall why, the sketch ends with revealing that the house is on fire and Andrew removed the batteries from the smoke detector.

I love this. I wish it had aired!

[peeayebee]

Yes! It sounds great, as long as it was executed well.

[rmontro]

11 hours ago, chediavolo said:

This young woman was not ready for hosting SNL. I didn’t like Wednesday & she proved here that she is not that good of an actress nor does she have any charisma. I don’t get what all the fuss is about. 

I thought she was fine, and that it was one of the better episodes of the season (which isn't saying much).

[JeanJean]

11 hours ago, chediavolo said:

This young woman was not ready for hosting SNL. I didn’t like Wednesday & she proved here that she is not that good of an actress nor does she have any charisma. I don’t get what all the fuss is about. 
waffle house skit was funny despite her blandness. 

I think her and - was it Andrew's? - blandness was a purposeful part of the sketch. It made what was going on in the Waffle House behind them funnier. 

[JAYJAY1979]

Jenna is versatile, but she doesn't have comic timing... yet I'm seeing people rave about how awesome she was... and I'm like 'isn't the point of the host to be funny'?

 

[chediavolo]

10 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Jenna is versatile, but she doesn't have comic timing... yet I'm seeing people rave about how awesome she was... and I'm like 'isn't the point of the host to be funny'?

 

I do not see any versatility in her “acting”.  I don’t know how she even got this far. She is terrible, IMO.   

[Ottis]

On 3/12/2023 at 2:14 PM, peeayebee said:

Very disappointing. I thought that somehow he would be unaffected at all by the demonic possession. It's a shame that the show went to all the trouble to make a bust of Kenan for such a poor joke.

I think young writers don't have the depth, or have too much ego, to get to genuinely funny. Like the exorcism sketch, which felt like it was headed to "those silly old people? They actually have seen a lot, they have this and don't freak out about stuff that panics younger, less experienced folks." And indeed it initially looked that way. But they didn't bring home the "they got this" message, because I'm not sure they ever intended it because younger writers can't allow for "boomers" actually being capable. Instead, it played out like memories of someone's grandparents being sort of disconnected from the situation and slow, and in the end not actually being able to handle the issue (spinning head).

14 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Jenna is versatile, but she doesn't have comic timing... yet I'm seeing people rave about how awesome she was... and I'm like 'isn't the point of the host to be funny'?

I can see that, but my gosh, *6 years ago* she was touring the studio as a kid with her parents as a tourist and now she is *hosting* SNL? Good grief, that's something. She's so young, I give her props for doing it, period. She'll grow.

On 3/12/2023 at 4:11 PM, possibilities said:

Reading the thread, I'm realizing I must have been more distracted than I realized because I didn't remember half of what's being mentioned.

LOL. I don't either, though sometimes it is because people call a skit "the diner skit" and I think of it as the "background fight" skit.

[rmontro]

On 3/12/2023 at 2:14 PM, peeayebee said:

I thought that somehow he would be unaffected at all by the demonic possession. It's a shame that the show went to all the trouble to make a bust of Kenan for such a poor joke.

I kept wondering what they were going to do with the demon once Kenan took it home.  Were they just going to live with it?

[Pete Martell]

 

[LuvMyShows]

I was surprised that no one commented on the closing/thank-yous (or whatever it's called).  You guys here clued me in to looking to see if anyone greets the host, and absolutely none of the cast came within a mile of Jenna for as far as I watched.  She was only talking with The 1975 while the cast greeted everyone else.

On 3/14/2023 at 4:44 PM, rmontro said:

I kept wondering what they were going to do with the demon once Kenan took it home.  Were they just going to live with it?

Yes, the ending made no sense at all.  The upstairs neighbor comes down because of all the ruckus due to the demon, then voluntarily suggests having the demon come to her house (in the form of her husband)?

On 3/12/2023 at 11:54 AM, SomeTameGazelle said:

The Jamie Lee Curtis voice was awful. I was trying to figure out whether any of the physicality was on point but that impression was probably the thing I hated most in the ep.

What I wonder when there's these awful impressions, is why they made it this far.  Did the writers, cast members, and/or Lorne think it was a good impression?

[Pete Martell]

On 3/20/2023 at 9:17 PM, LuvMyShows said:

What I wonder when there's these awful impressions, is why they made it this far.  Did the writers, cast members, and/or Lorne think it was a good impression?

These are the types of impressions which get the show written up and get even more content because the celebrity being impersonated replies favorably. Chloe seems to like to do these, as it also helps her career-wise (not judging her - she's not there for art, she's there for career - I just don't get much out of the impressions).

[ajsnaves]

I would call this more a parody than an impression. I don’t expect realism from a sketch comedy show. The same show that had Dan Ackroyd portray Jimmy Carter with a mustache. And Chevy Chase putting no effort into his Gerald Ford, aside from the pratfalls. Obviously you have the other end of the spectrum with Hartman and Hammond’s Bill Clinton.  This though is more caricature than realistic. Like many of Kate’s characters. In the end though I understood the bit, and it made me laugh.  

[Jody]

19 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

These are the types of impressions which get the show written up and get even more content because the celebrity being impersonated replies favorably. Chloe seems to like to do these, as it also helps her career-wise (not judging her - she's not there for art, she's there for career - I just don't get much out of the impressions).

          I DO Think That Cecily's Impressions Are Different Like Jeanne Pirro And Kari Lake And Even Marjorie Taylor Green ! ! ! OF Course BECK IS  DIFFERENT AND BILL HADER Was Very DIFFERENT ! ! ! There Was Dan Aykroyd And Especially DANA CARVEY And WILL FERREL AS George W Bush And Alex Trebec Then, There Was DARREL HAMMOND ! ! Also, There was Phil Hartman As Bill Clinton And Phil Donohue ! !

7 hours ago, ajsnaves said:

I would call this more a parody than an impression. I don’t expect realism from a sketch comedy show. The same show that had Dan Ackroyd portray Jimmy Carter with a mustache. And Chevy Chase putting no effort into his Gerald Ford, aside from the pratfalls. Obviously you have the other end of the spectrum with Hartman and Hammond’s Bill Clinton.  This though is more caricature than realistic. Like many of Kate’s characters. In the end though I understood the bit, and it made me laugh.  

         I Don't Remember Dan Being Jimmy Carter With A Mustache ! BILL HADER WAS DIFFERENT ! I Don't Know How He Can Do Alan Alda And He Is Great With Al Pachino And His Other Impressions ! ! ! I Think Beck Is Different With Putin And Mitch McConnel And Mike Pence ! ! ! 

[SomeTameGazelle]

53 minutes ago, ajsnaves said:

I would call this more a parody than an impression. I don’t expect realism from a sketch comedy show. The same show that had Dan Ackroyd portray Jimmy Carter with a mustache. And Chevy Chase putting no effort into his Gerald Ford, aside from the pratfalls. Obviously you have the other end of the spectrum with Hartman and Hammond’s Bill Clinton.  This though is more caricature than realistic. Like many of Kate’s characters. In the end though I understood the bit, and it made me laugh.  

Yeah, but Chloe is promoted as a gifted mimic. Sometimes she gets the voice down but it's hit or miss and I don't think she's very good at the characterization, or at least not at integrating it into a sketch.

https://www.glamour.com/story/chloe-fineman-can-impersonate-anyone-snl-took-notice

[Pete Martell]

18 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Yeah, but Chloe is promoted as a gifted mimic. Sometimes she gets the voice down but it's hit or miss and I don't think she's very good at the characterization, or at least not at integrating it into a sketch.

https://www.glamour.com/story/chloe-fineman-can-impersonate-anyone-snl-took-notice

This has been an issue with those hired as gifted impressionists for some time now, as shown with Melissa Villasenor. There's much less attempt made at finding a character, which is what makes the impression stand out more. Mikey Day is not a gifted impressionist, but when he played John Oliver last season, it made me laugh, because he latched onto what I find tiresome when I watch too much of Oliver. 

I do think James Austin Johnson is better at finding a character in his impressions, but they are often of people I have no interest in seeing the show cover, like Trump (or Biden - not that he does Biden much at this point).

[lou ann b]

Agree totally on the parody idea.almost 50 years later and I giggle when I think of Chevy and his Ford.."give me the ball, Liberty!" It was the idea of Ford being a well meaning doofus that was funny, not an on point imitation. For the other side of the coin..Phil Hartman's scary accurate Phil Donahue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Galileo908]

Oh hey, they reran this episode tonight where Pete Davidson's was gonna be. Somewhere he's breathing a sigh of relief. I hope the writers get what they want. The last strike felt like yesterday, not 16 years ago.

Cold Open: Oscars sketch! The power of hindsight, that Oscars was okay and nothing went wrong. The impressions were kinda weak. George Santos disguising himself as Tom Cruise was the most likely bet to pay off. Man, that costume and makeup department went above and beyond for a ten second Pinocchio cameo.

Monologue: And now someone who'd rather be known for anything else besides Wednesday, Jenna Ortega! Fred Armisen is everywhere. He's someone who has an apartment at 30 Rock. 

School vs School: Yeah, normal school vs the X-Men was a great concept. There was a little too much screaming, wasn't it? Kenan reacting to all of it was the best part.

Please Don't Destroy: "We missed the exit" was a mood. Loved this.

Parent Trap: Now I can see why everyone here was saying cool it on Fred Armisen. This is totally a sketch he would've starred in back in the day.

Ridiculousness: I've never watched this, but man did I feel old. And very awkward.

Varsity Valley: Well, that's how they got a Waffle House sketch in there. Pretty fun.

WU: The Tucker Carlson stuff aged like wine, as did the Coronation joke. The Randy McNally bit was good. It was good to see Molly as a character like that. Che got a lot of groaners, and he just ate that up. Loved that. 

Loved JAJ's quick impressions. "Jay-Z, but he's downstairs" was pretty inspired. 

Exorcist: Ego was great this. The best part was that it was 9pm.

Soul Booth: Oh, this is riffing on Cellino & Barnes, and how their number kept changing, and especially when the firm broke up. It's like each firm took half of the jingle. Wasn't feeling this one.

All in all...it was okay. See y'all in the fall, or when this strike is over, whichever one comes first. I can finally free up space in the DVR.