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S.49 E.14: Josh Brolin / Ariana Grande

Galileo908
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JeanJean

JeanJean

(edited)

Scarlett's Katie Britt was totally on point and very funny.

The other sketches were decent, not great, but the show had a really fun energy that carried it. The cat picking one person was funny because pets really do that.

I did like the Shonda sketch.

The end-of-show Lisa sketch is still entertaining and hasn't worn out its welcome yet.

And WU came back to life!

Edited by JeanJean
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Galileo908

Galileo908

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(edited)

Cold Open: Okay, everyone was expecting a sketch about the Republican rebuttal the SOTU...and then focus on Biden. At least at first. And then they brought in ScarJo for Katie Britt. I kinda wish I saw the real thing, because I missed a hell of a thing. Loved the Get Out reference with Kenan. And at least we got Heidi as MTG. Yeah, that actually happened.

And they showed the real footage on Update. My god, that really WAS The Sunken Place!

Monologue: Oh that's right, Josh Brolin wrote that weird poem about Timothee Chalamet. Love that he leaned into it. "Josh Brolin stripping down and taking an ice bath" was not on my Bingo card tonight.

Bank Robbery: Josh and Heidi were so into this, I liked this. 

Ad Astra: Great song, and I couldn't get over the wigs. 

People Pleasers Support Group: It's already a great premise, and that it's group therapy made it even better. I feel seen, as the kids say.

Wine & Cheese: Oh, the happiness when the cat that doesn't like people gets attached to you. And the audacity when it goes to someone else. Those black, beady eyes on the cat puppet weirded us all out, right? Oh man, that was great. Was not expecting it to be so bloody! Even caught the arm controlling the puppet at the end, and the blood hose. 

Shrimp Tower: Josh Brolin committed to this 1000%. I knew this was a Squirm sketch the moment she showed up. I laughed a lot in this one.

Shonda: Kenan and Marcello just NOPE'D out of that sketch so quick when they revealed Jerry was in a wheelchair lol. That was an adventure. Hell, you know this sketch went weird when SARAH nope'd out of it.

WU: Sleepy Joe woke the hell up. And of course they moved the "seen here" jokes to other people, like Krysten Sinema being "all the Flintstones at once." And the graphics department was having fun, like with Humpback Mountain. This was a strong one, and it was short! There were no guests! That doesn't happen very often.

Moulin Rouge: I was missing Reese DeWHAT here (even though that's Cinema Classics and not PBS). And I got a kick out of the jukebox songs going to the public domain well. (Happy Birthday wasn't public domain when the movie was made, but I liked the sketch regardless)

Sandwich King: Man, the editing and sound mixing was awkward in this one. This was a weird sketch, but that kept throwing it off for me. The moldy sandwiches, the refilled sodas, the pickles in the listerine bottle were all great, but this had to be the weakest sketch all night.

Lisa From Temecula: Out of everything for 12:55, they dust off this sketch?! At least they changed it up this time with something else shaking the table. Was "Negrodivergent" added for the live version? Because it made Bowen break.

 

Weird SNL came out to play tonight, and we were all thankful for it. The last two sketches were flat, but that was the best ep in a while, that's for sure. It's a low bar, definitely.

Edited by Galileo908
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Dirge

Dirge

Except for "Sandwich King," which just seemed off, and Lisa from Temecula which I just don't like, I thought this was a huge improvement over the last few months' worth of shows. I'd love to see Ariana come back to host. I agree with JeanJean about the fun energy. A lot of the cast did seem to be having a good time. 

Bowen and Ariana in Moulin Rouge had me smiling the whole time. 

I was expecting a Katie Britt sketch, but not Scarlett - she was great, and the "Get Out" moment was perfect. 

I'm sad that it will be a few weeks til the next new episode. 

  • Like 11
SomeTameGazelle

SomeTameGazelle

7 hours ago, Dirge said:

Bowen and Ariana in Moulin Rouge had me smiling the whole time. 

I was thinking that they seemed as if they knew each other really well and were having a lot of fun and then I remembered that Bowen is also in the Wicked movie.

7 hours ago, Dirge said:

Except for "Sandwich King," which just seemed off, and Lisa from Temecula which I just don't like, I thought this was a huge improvement over the last few months' worth of shows.

I enjoyed most of the sketches as well, even including Lisa from Temecula. 

Sandwich King went on too long and I hated the ending. I would have directed Sarah to play that final moment where she eats the sandwich not as if she was suddenly a brainless idiot but that she was bravely doing her best to show the Sandwich King that he was appreciated. And the kicker where he demanded an unreasonable amount of money out of nowhere just felt like they had decided to throw all the punchlines at the wall in order to get it over with. 

7 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Bank Robbery: Josh and Heidi were so into this, I liked this. 

It was a funny use of sex-obsessed Heidi which often doesn't work for me, but here she and Josh were great together and the bewilderment and annoyance of the robbers and the bank customers and employees were fun.

Was Mikey in anything? I feel like I don't remember seeing him.

  • Like 6
Mibbitmaker

Mibbitmaker

8 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Sandwich King went on too long and I hated the ending. I would have directed Sarah to play that final moment where she eats the sandwich not as if she was suddenly a brainless idiot but that she was bravely doing her best to show the Sandwich King that he was appreciated. 

I thought that her character went dead from starting to eat the moldy sandwich, myself. 

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SomeTameGazelle

SomeTameGazelle

2 minutes ago, Mibbitmaker said:

I thought that her character went dead from starting to eat the moldy sandwich, myself. 

That wasn't what I was referring to. Yes, she died instantly from eating the sandwich, but the moment before she ate it when she declared her sandwich looked fine had no characterization behind it, no indication that she knew it looked bad but was determined to ignore it. 

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peeayebee

peeayebee

(edited)

Galileo908, I just want to thank you for the mini-recaps you do. They help me remember stuff I forgot about. 

10 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Moulin Rouge: I was missing Reese DeWHAT here (even though that's Cinema Classics and not PBS). And I got a kick out of the jukebox songs going to the public domain well. (Happy Birthday wasn't public domain when the movie was made, but I liked the sketch regardless)

Yeah, I was pretty sure Happy Birthday wasn't yet in the public domain. Still, this was a great sketch. Silly and fun.

2 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Sandwich King went on too long and I hated the ending. I would have directed Sarah to play that final moment where she eats the sandwich not as if she was suddenly a brainless idiot but that she was bravely doing her best to show the Sandwich King that he was appreciated. And the kicker where he demanded an unreasonable amount of money out of nowhere just felt like they had decided to throw all the punchlines at the wall in order to get it over with. 

I absolutely hated the ending, too. I like your idea much better. It esp would have worked if Sarah's character had been even more apologetic toward Brolin thruout the sketch, and then at the end, just to make him feel good she eats the moldy sandwich but can't quite hide her disgust.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good show. That's due mainly to Josh Brolin. 

I liked the CO. I think many people were expecting SNL to do their version of Katie Britt. Did not expect Scarlett, who was great. My only (minor) complaint is that she didn't do a more babyish voice. (I read that the voice Britt was using is called a fundie baby voice.) But the whole thing was well done. It took me a sec to recognize the Get Out reference. Oh, and I loved when Biden did the "Too slow!" psych to the Speaker.

I liked the monologue. Loved the Gotye joke. I guess I need to google to see what Josh's book title -- From Under the Truck -- means.

The bank robbery sketch was ok. Nothing too special, joke-wise, but the performances were good. 

Loved the airplane sketch. The People Pleaser Support Group was good, esp Bowen.

I liked the idea of the wine and cheese night sketch, and I thought Josh was really good, but it kind of meandered and wasn't as sharp as it could have been. I expected more to be made of Josh's character being a cruel guy who throws old people out on the streets.

The shrimp tower sketch was off-the-wall, which is a good thing.

In the Shonda sketch when Josh's character came out in a wheelchair, that's exactly what I expected. Still, it was a fairly entertaining sketch.

I was surprised at how short WU was and that there were no guests. I'm going to assume that there were but they were cut. Loved the lines A Britt Much and TGI Crazies (to describe MTG), Sinema looking like all the Flintstones, Humpback Mountain.

I like the character Lisa from Temecula, but I wish they'd do something different. They should retire having her rattle the table. The first time it was funny. Her attitude and her misspeaking (gratitutity) should be the basis of the humor. 

Edited by peeayebee
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Slade347

Slade347

2 hours ago, baldryanr said:

Not a fan of watching the cold open?  He plays Biden nowadays.  Plus he was the host of the Moulin Rouge sketch, showed up in the shrimp pre-tape, and was one of the people pleasers.

 

He was also in the flashbacks in  Sandwich King. 

Overall, this was a pretty strong episode. My favorites were Shonda, Wine and Cheese Night and Bank Robbery. Sandwich King was the only true misfire. Although WU was short, it was still a highlight, as it usually is. Josh Brolin was excellent. I would be down to see him come back and eventually make it into the five-timers club.

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ahisma

ahisma

I thought this was one of the funniest episodes, overall, of the season. The Cold Open was the best political satire they’ve done in a while. 

Bank Robbery was so much fun, and I I lost it at Heidi drooling over the “barely legal Latino.”

I also LOLed during Shrimp Tower when Sarah was climbing the tree and Josh just winged the bottle straight at her head! 

And Moulin Rouge was so cute, with Bowen and Ariana obviously having such a great time. 

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lovinbob

lovinbob

ScarJo was inspired. She nailed so many of the little moments that made Britt's response so wacko. 

Although my celebrity cameo vote was for Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher doing Katie Britt. 

With that said, any of the female cast members could have done it brilliantly!

Ariana Grande's blond look is disconcerting for me. Does she not have eyelashes? 

Brolin was good although I guess there's a lot I don't know about him, what with the Timothee Chalamet poem and the ice bath. He's good enough to host a couple more times and become a five timer, except he comes off as really arrogant. 

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Joimiaroxeu

Joimiaroxeu

Scarlett Johansson cameo for the cold open. Well, at least she had the look. I didn't watch the original speech so I don't know how good SJ's impression was.

Guess everyone who watched the SOTU rebuttal is now in the sunken place.

Rawdogging a plane flight. Yikes.

Ariana Grande has better comedic chops than I expected.

The animatronic cat was awful (and a slut). But I know using a real cat probably would've been impossible unless it was drugged.

Just threatening to knock over a shrimp tower is a death sentence. Seems reasonable to me.

I didn't hate the first song Ariana performed. It wasn't the one I've been hearing nonstop on the radio lately. Who was guy they showed making snow angels with her, was it her married boyfriend? At least it wasn't her shamelessly clout-chasing brother.

WU:
Oh yeah, Scarlett had the demeanor down pat.
Al Sharpton is MLK Jr on Ozempic.
Humpback Mountain. That joke was popular this week.
Wonder how much Mike Tyson is being paid to take a fall for Jake Paul?
Arby's is into cannibalism and necrophilia. Sounds about right.

The Moulin Rouge sketch was weird but it gave Ariana the opportunity to hit those octaves she's famous for. Bowen was the perfect scene partner for her. Josh reciting the lyrics to Lady Marmalade word-for-word with a straight face was brilliant.

Was that Ariana singing the Barbie song during the sub sandwich sketch? Look at her stepping on Billie Eilish's style. Bold choice when Billie may be about to win an Oscar for the song.

Negrodivergent. Bowen completely on broke that one. Did Ego ad lib it?

Over on reddit they thought it was big deal that Josh kissed ScarJo on the mouth during the signoff. Apparently doing that in front of her husband is a power move? I dunno, she could've turned her head.

Josh was great. He clearly doesn't take himself too seriously and was energetically game. Ariana was fine too.

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SomeTameGazelle

SomeTameGazelle

28 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was that Ariana singing the Barbie song during the sub sandwich sketch? Look at her stepping on Billie Eilish's style. Bold choice when Billie may be about to win an Oscar for the song.

I thought it was. I remember when she hosted a few years ago they had a sketch where due to some kind of streaming radio technical issue her character had to do impressions of other artists for broadcast, and she was impressive. (Bruno Mars had essentially the same sketch when he hosted.) 

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Ottis

Ottis

15 hours ago, JeanJean said:

The other sketches were decent, not great, but the show had a really fun energy that carried it.

Agree, this one was so close to being good. Brolin was game and had fun. And the skits were better than most weeks.

"Librarian-looking ass," 'ripping cheese farts" and the bank heist with swingin customers all were nice. The pacing of the bank skit was uneven, which was a shame. It revealed the two customers as swingers too soon, and showed visual gags too early before addressing them. Better pacing might have made that one a classic.

Ariana Grande finally proved to me that she wasn't a robot. I had serious concerns in some of her earlier, almost programmed, appearances. This time she seemed ... human.

54 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Scarlett Johansson cameo for the cold open. Well, at least she had the look. I didn't watch the original speech so I don't know how good SJ's impression was.

 

3 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

ScarJo as Katie Britt was FIRE!  That was the best cold open I'd seen in ages. 

It was actually too good. She basically did what Britt did. It was spot on, but not new or particularly funny.

The weird "singing pop tunes like a musical and then end with Happy Birthday" was boring. Not sure what the point was, or why Bowen kept breaking.

The shrimp tower was amusing. The cat who loved one guy was, too. Generally the show was an improvement over every ep this season except the one about GW and weights and measures. Not quite funny, yet.

 

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SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

The animatronic cat was awful (and a slut). But I know using a real cat probably would've been impossible unless it was drugged.

I also initially thought it was animatronic (and it may have still been some kind of hybrid) but I could definitely see a puppeteer’s hand up its butt at the end when the blood started flowing. Which somehow made it funnier. 

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ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

(edited)
8 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

The animatronic cat was awful (and a slut).

Last week the dog in the Sydney Sweeney cheerleader sketch was also called a slut.

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I also initially thought it was animatronic (and it may have still been some kind of hybrid) but I could definitely see a puppeteer’s hand up its butt at the end when the blood started flowing. Which somehow made it funnier. 

I thought it was animatronic until it started biting Josh Brolin. (I'm pretty sure they don't do that, since they are primarily used with dementia patients.)

8 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Just threatening to knock over a shrimp tower is a death sentence.

Since the tower simply falling down from Brolin removing a shrimp seemed too obvious, I thought he was going to get immediately sick from eating a shrimp that had been sitting out for hours (no way that ice wouldn't have melted) and projectile vomit into the tower, thereby knocking it down. Gross, yeah, but it wouldn't have surprised me, except then there would have been two skits involving food poisoning.

54 minutes ago, RobertDeSneero said:

I think the best SNL political humor is when they just have no respect for the person they are skewering and go balls-to-the-wall in mocking someone.  The reporting is that Katie Britt is on Trump's shortlist for VP and I'm going to be happy if SNL gets a chance to run that impression into the ground.

I don't think she is anymore. Many in her own party were perplexed by her performance.

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
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Joimiaroxeu

Joimiaroxeu

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I also initially thought it was animatronic (and it may have still been some kind of hybrid) but I could definitely see a puppeteer’s hand up its butt at the end when the blood started flowing. Which somehow made it funnier. 

I've read elsewhere that it was two cats. First there was an animatronic one, and then later a puppet that didn't appear until near the end when you could see the arm sticking out of the sofa.

luna1122again

luna1122again

18 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

na performed. It wasn't the one I've been hearing nonstop on the radio lately. Who was guy they showed making snow angels with her, was it her married boyfriend? At least it wasn't her shamelessly clout-chasing brother.

 

That was Evan Peters, who plays her ex (presumably her ex husband)  in the video for the song. The video is very much a take off/homage to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (and her new album is Eternal Sunshine.) 

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SeanBug

SeanBug

On 3/10/2024 at 2:45 PM, Crashcourse said:

ScarJo as Katie Britt was FIRE!  That was the best cold open I'd seen in ages. 

Shallow alert:  Ariana looks like she weighs 90 lbs.  

This was a fun episode, and I'd like to see Josh Brolin hosting again.

I hadn't seen the Katie Britt version till they showed some of it on Weekend Update, but even without that to refer to, I agree, Scarlett was insanely good and spot on.  ScarJo is a treasure.   Where the fuck did Britt get that kitchen?   Let's move into this house and leave everything the way the original owners left it from 1990. 

 

I will say, Target I will see your crazy bitch parking lot and raise you Trader Joe's lot.   

I didn't see the whole episode but I have to say Josh Brolin is goofy in the best way. 

Christie Noem saw Katie's video, and said "hold my beer".  They better be teeing up a take on that insanity this week. 

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