S49.E20: Jake Gyllenhaal / Sabrina Carpenter

[Trini]

Jake Gyllenhaal hosts Saturday Night Live on May 18, 2024, with musical guest Sabrina Carpenter.

 

 

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Of course we end with Trump and bitching about the gag order. Even bringing out Hannibal Lecter as a potential VP. "He's giving me Pence vibes" was the best line.

Monologue: Jake tucked his shirt in weird and that's the only thing I could pay attention to. This season really was in the top 48 seasons.

Cookies: This got silly real quick. I didn't think I'd laugh at Jake yelling while his face was stuffed with cookies and covered with crumbs.

Scooby-Doo and The Mystery of The Shadow Phantom: Sarah was perfect as Velma. Scooby eating the face was something I've never seen in a Scooby-doo parody before. I wasn't expecting to like this one, and it just kept going and getting bloodier. And it was all an ad for Apple Face ID? Okay...

Billie Harper: I liked how this was a commentary on men & women beauty standards. The boys are all plain and can wear baggy clothes, while the girls are dressed in revealing clothes and are legally prohibited from sweating. Was anyone else expecting Kristen Wiig to come out as Dooneese from the Lawrence Welk sketches?

The sketch was spoofing the Beautiful Girl sequence from Singing in The Rain, fyi. 

Cycler: So we have two Apple-related sketches tonight. This one was silly, and gave me vibes of that Jim Carrey lifeguard sketch.

Xiemu: I liked this, but I felt like there should've been exaggerated more? Even if "Normal number of working hours" was a great bit. It's definitely a satire on Temu. Seriously, don't buy from them. It's one of those "probably not a scam, but it's hard to tell" things.

WU: You're one to talk about being able to smell their cologne through the screen, Colin. Marcello and Kenan as the cicadas were a weird, but very welcome combo.

And we got Joke Swap!  I thought the fake Civil Rights leader last year was a better guest, but then the first joke was "Free Weinstein," and then Colin losing it over using a rabbi puppet. Good on her for being such a trooper. But the best one was Che's reaction to the Kendrick Lamar joke. It actually got him to concede! That's gotta be a first, right?

Southwest: Oh, it's this bit from the Kieran Culkin episode. Jake just works as the exasperated guy. And I still appreciate sketches that use every cast member.

NYPD: Yes! A sketch about Steve Buscemi (and Rick Moranis!) randomly attacked in NYC. Stephen Root needs protection, as is everyone who's played a girlfriend on Seinfeld or a boyfriend on Sex & The City. The Jon Hamm cameo was great, too. A very good shout out to character actors. You know, that would've been a good time for a memorial to Dabney Coleman (previous host!)

Snake Eyes: JAJ dressed as Lemmy but with that high voice was fun enough, and then Jake literally shot a look that killed him.

So, pretty decent finale! 

That's it for me folks, see you all in the fall!

EDIT: We DID get a Dabney Coleman tribute card at the end!

Edited May 19 by Galileo908

[buttersister]

Thought I’d try watching, but the opening arrived DOA. Trump suckage without a laugh in the entire piece.

Jake? Can sing! But should have passed on the shirt tuck in front only. Otherwise, he’s all good. 

But after WU, I hope Kendrick wipes the floor with Che. In every way he wants.

[Dirge]

As a big fan of Singin' in the Rain, I loved the boys and girls number. 

Seriously, kids, don't buy from Temu. 

eta: Sorry, @Galileo908! I was stealing from you all over the place. And thanks @ebk57 for pointing out that people can be tagged!

Edited May 19 by Dirge
apology for intellectual property theft.

[ebk57]

6 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

So, pretty decent finale! 

Agree!  Starting with the Ziegfeld/Follies sketch, I enjoyed it.  I thought the CO and the monologue and the first 2 sketches were meh, but it got much better after. 

Thanks again @Galileo908for your invaluable recaps each week.  Couldn't do it without you since the entire show flies from my brain right after it's over.  

Have a lovely summer everyone!!

[Dirge]

2 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

NYPD: Yes! A sketch about Steve Buscemi (and Rick Moranis!) randomly attacked in NYC. Stephen Root needs protection, as is everyone who's played a girlfriend on Seinfeld or a boyfriend on Sex & The City. The Jon Hamm cameo was great, too. A very good shout out to character actors. You know, that would've been a good time for a memorial to Dabney Coleman (previous host!)

And Dabney was also on "Boardwalk Empire!"

[Ottis]

Ugh. Skipped the Trump opening, not even caricatures of Trump are funny. The version SNL shows is more sane than the real one.

Jake sings. Is this going to be a loud, shouty show? It feels like it.

Cookies was another annoying, one-joke skit that lasted forever with too much shouting. Yep.

Scooby had promise but it fizzled before becoming clever (and interestingly, the audience didn’t seem to know who was playing Daphne).

Whatever that Moulan Rouge skit was supposed to be was so dull I FF’d it after the guys came out.

Cycler hits the daily double for yet another annoying, shouty sketch (I knew it).  The audience seemed confused.

Temu was the first sketch that showed some life, with some subtle humor that kept building. It also spoke to what many of us suspect. That said, can we please bury the cliched “wait, what?” line?

Only made it to WU so far. More maybe if it warrants it.

ADD: Some good lines in WU. The guys broke up too much at the end to understand some of the jokes, which is too bad. Also, am I the only person who didn’t realize Meghan Markel was Black until she said a while back that the royal family discriminated against her?

I’ve not had any issues with Southwest. 

Edited May 19 by Ottis

[rollacoaster]

That Xiemu skit was pretty sharp. It's not just a spoof on Temu. It's all of those cheap online shops: Shein, Wish, Alibaba, etc. 

[peeayebee]

9 hours ago, Dirge said:

And thanks @ebk57 for pointing out that people can be tagged!

I don't know how to tag people. 

I didn't find much to laugh at this ep. 

I wish instead of Trump, the CO had had the Repubs who came to the courthouse all dressed like him. That was so ridiculous it was made to be parodied.

Jake has a pretty good singing voice. 

Meeting the parents sketch. Meh. Maybe it would have been better if it just kept escalating, going more quickly from the father eating the cookies, to the boyfriend taking the blame, to the girlfriend saying the cookies had peanut butter, to the boyfriend faking an allergic reaction, to the epipen, to... something else. :shrug:

I actually liked the 1940s nightclub sketch focusing on the boys. It was just silly. But once more, I wish the show wouldn't have commentators. It's like the writers don't have confidence in the main part of the sketch, in this case the stuff on stage.

Xiemu was pretty good.

I don't think there was one joke in WU I laughed at, and I hate the joke-trading they do. I wish they would just do this at their afterparties.

And whatever to the rest of the show. 

Big disappointment. But oh well. 

[opus]

5 hours ago, Ottis said:

and interestingly, the audience didn’t seem to know who was playing Daphne).

Who was playing Daphne?

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, Ottis said:

. Also, am I the only person who didn’t realize Meghan Markel was Black until she said a while back that the royal family discriminated against her?

 

Yes, I think you are the only person  . . .

[baldryanr]

38 minutes ago, opus said:

Who was playing Daphne?

Sabrina Carpenter, the musical guest. 

[DXD526]

Quote

I don't think there was one joke in WU I laughed at, and I hate the joke-trading they do. I wish they would just do this at their afterparties.

I've been saying this for the longest time to anyone who will listen. If they want to prank each other, they should do that in private. It's not funny to watch. This wasn't the first time Jost was falling all over the desk, weak with laughter, and I wasn't even cracking a smile. 

Jost and Che are, IMO, way past their sell-by date as WU anchors. They should have been replaced a few seasons ago. It's never too late to rectify that.  

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I wish instead of Trump, the CO had had the Repubs who came to the courthouse all dressed like him. That was so ridiculous it was made to be parodied.

This is why I hate SNL political cold opens these days.  They're so uninspired and frustrate me. 

I liked the Beautiful Boys skit as well because I immediately recognized it from Singing in the Rain. I love when SNL parodies really old things that I recognize thanks to watching TMC.

I usually enjoy joke swap but was underwhelmed last night. 

Oh Him was enjoyable not because it was particularly funny but I liked the embodiment of HITG! in sketch form.

Overall, Jake (who I'm not particularly fond of) is a good and willing host but there just wasn't much there. 

[Kimmmmmm]

17 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

I've been saying this for the longest time to anyone who will listen. If they want to prank each other, they should do that in private. It's not funny to watch. This wasn't the first time Jost was falling all over the desk, weak with laughter, and I wasn't even cracking a smile. 

Jost and Che are, IMO, way past their sell-by date as WU anchors. They should have been replaced a few seasons ago. It's never too late to rectify that.  

Wow... I love the joke swap every time and I know I'm not alone. I also think Jost and Che are STILL  the best WU anchors they ever had and would hate to see them replaced. If anyone should go, I'm voting for Sarah, Heidi and Chloe. Also love the Trump cold opens with JAJ.

Edited May 19 by Kimmmmmm

[Crashcourse]

I haven't watched much SNL this season because I fall asleep too soon.  However, I watched this entire episode and I loved it.

I loved the opening monologue with Jake and the others singing "End of the Road" and channeling Boyz 2 Men.  Didn't know Jake could sing.

I cracked up at all of the sketches, and Jake was great in all of his.  I'd never heard of Sabrina Carpenter, but I thought she was pretty good, and I couldn't take my eyes off of those two guys dancing😍.    

I really enjoyed it as a season finale, and I'd love to see Jake hosting again.

[mariah23]

Who thinks that Che will bring Scarlett Johansson (credited as Colin’s wife) in next year’s joke swap?

[Joimiaroxeu]

Cold Open:
SNL went in and turned on a flamethrower. Bravo, JAJ.
The Hannibal Lecter thing is whole 'nother level of bizarre.

Jake singing a classic Boyz II Men song was definitely not on my 49th season finale bingo card. He killed it.

Bitch, Steve always got crumbs on him. Don't mention the cookie!

I get those Temu ads all over one of my apps and I never understand how dressing like a billionaire means wearing cheap plastic shoes and booty shorts.

For a second I thought Chloe Fineman was playing Sabrina Carpenter and one of the dancers was Conor McGregor (who co-stars in Jake's new film, Roadhouse). Was Sabrina actually singing at all until the very end?

WU:
Che's Boeing joke. Yikes.
Party time cicadas. They needed to have Bowen playing a buzzkill cat in that bit.
I never heard that Gucci Gucci song before. Was it an East coast thing?
The joke swap was brutal. Che really didn't want to say something bad about Kendrick Lamar, lol. The ScarJo/Her voice joke was on reddit last week.

Okay, Sabrina was definitely singing Feather and Nonsense. Her dancers were way too distracting to me. And why did she keep referring to SNL in the lyrics?

Jake was so game in all his sketches. Loved his energy. Good progression toward his Five-Timers jacket. (He only needs two more times hosting.)

18 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Jake tucked his shirt in weird

I used to tuck oversized t-shirts in like that about 15 years ago. I didn't realize anyone was doing it again until I saw Jake in the opening monologue.

5 hours ago, mariah23 said:

Who thinks that Che will bring Scarlett Johansson (credited as Colin’s wife) in next year’s joke swap?

I was surprised she didn't show up last night.

Edited May 19 by Joimiaroxeu

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

Wow... I love the joke swap every time and I know I'm not alone. I also think Jost and Che are STILL  the best WU anchors they ever had and would hate to see them replaced. If anyone should go, I'm voting for Sarah, Heidi and Chloe. Also love the Trump cold opens with JAJ.

I’ll say Norm McDonald is up there with them, but I also love Che and Jost

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Okay, Sabrina was definitely singing Feather and Nonsense. Her dancers were way too distracting to me. And why did she keep referring to SNL in the lyrics?

Carpenter changes the lyrics in the final verse of "Nonsense" all the time in live performances, in keeping with the theme of the song of her saying random stuff. Here's one list of them from the Eras tour.

Edited May 19 by SeanC

[Joimiaroxeu]

5 minutes ago, SeanC said:

Carpenter changes the lyrics in the final verse of "Nonsense" all the time in live performances, in keeping with the theme of the song of her saying random stuff. Here's one list of them from the Eras tour.

That was interesting. Sabrina is quite creative. And I didn't realize she was on the Eras tour. Wonder how it was decided to have her on SNL with Jake Gyllenhaal?

[Dirge]

6 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't know how to tag people. 

Type the @ sign and then start typing their name, and it will come up as a choice. 

[Tango64]

The Weekend Update hosts telling jokes from the other they haven’t read before, the first few times: really funny. 
The now times when they know what’s coming and fall apart before they can even finish the reading: not funny. 

[ebk57]

7 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Jake has a pretty good singing voice. 

 

4 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Didn't know Jake could sing.

I saw him in Sunday in the Park With George a few (or more) years ago.  Since I don't really know a lot about him, I just assumed he was a singer or they wouldn't have cast him in a part originated by Mandy Patinkin. Turns out it was his Broadway musical debut.  He was quite good.

 

Edited May 19 by ebk57

[Ottis]

6 hours ago, baldryanr said:

Sabrina Carpenter, the musical guest. 

Correct - and I had no idea who she was before this episode, but whenever there is a skit and one of the main characters is played by someone I don't recognize I assume it is the musical guest. Then she did her first song and that confirmed it.

[cinsays]

Agreed that they should have spoofed the suck up repubs coming to Trump's trial instead of this - that could have been really funny.

The only other thing I really enjoyed was the group singing End of the Road in the opening.

And maybe some of the Southwest skit was ok.

Didh't think the Scooby-doo thing was at all funny - bloody decapitation, oh, goody!  nope

Hated everything else, especially for the final episode of the season.

[StatisticalOutlier]

17 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Jake tucked his shirt in weird and that's the only thing I could pay attention to.

I learned here at primetimer, probably in the House Hunters forum, that it's called a French tuck.  I hate it.  Pick a lane.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

21 hours ago, Ottis said:

Also, am I the only person who didn’t realize Meghan Markel was Black until she said a while back that the royal family discriminated against her?

I didn't realize it when she was in Suits until Wendell Pierce played her father, but it was a major topic of conversation before her marriage. The British press were horrible to her and wrote many racist things.

[RobertDeSneero]

JG felt like Paul Rudd's better-looking younger brother.

Really loved Scooby Doo.

I thought Che was killing it before the joke swap.  And of course the joke swap itself was it's usual fun, but that is definitely my type of humor 

[SomeTameGazelle]

20 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Meeting the parents sketch. Meh. Maybe it would have been better if it just kept escalating, going more quickly from the father eating the cookies, to the boyfriend taking the blame, to the girlfriend saying the cookies had peanut butter, to the boyfriend faking an allergic reaction, to the epipen, to... something else. :shrug:

From the beginning this reminded me too much of the structure of the Ryan Gosling sketch where the fiancé keeps confiding in Dismukes that he wants out of the relationship and then denies it when the women come back into the room.

When the peanut allergy came up I couldn't get past wondering why the mother would have baked those cookies for this occasion under the circumstances.

17 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

dressing like a billionaire

I believe it's "shopping like a billionaire" i.e. without thinking twice about the cost, no representation as to quality.

18 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Oh Him was enjoyable not because it was particularly funny but I liked the embodiment of HITG! in sketch form.

Really enjoyed this one although it was too bad Jake mispronounced Tobolowsky as Tolobowsky twice in a joke that involved correcting Heidi on the name.

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

From the beginning this reminded me too much of the structure of the Ryan Gosling sketch where the fiancé keeps confiding in Dismukes that he wants out of the relationship and then denies it when the women come back into the room.

I had forgotten about that sketch. SNL recycles ideas too often.

 

Quote

When the peanut allergy came up I couldn't get past wondering why the mother would have baked those cookies for this occasion under the circumstances.

Some people don't think about other people's allergies, and the mother may not have even known about it. 

As an aside, recently I watched a show where someone made a cocktail that had hazelnut liqueur in it, and the person who drank it had a nut allergy. People got the epipen from her purse. And then that same day I watched a show where a woman made brownies with hazelnuts for her IRS auditor, and of course the auditor had a nut allergy, but the woman found his epipen in his desk drawer. It just was funny to me that I saw these same two plot points so close together.

[absnow54]

17 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

That was interesting. Sabrina is quite creative. And I didn't realize she was on the Eras tour. Wonder how it was decided to have her on SNL with Jake Gyllenhaal?

I feel like whoever scheduled this show was definitely trolling. They probably got a slight ratings boost from Swifties checking for shade. 

I thought the OH HIM sketch was the best of the night, and should have been in the top half of the show. This really has been an inconsistent season. At least the 50th aligns with an election year, so they’ll be bringing their A game on both fronts. 

I usually like the joke swap, but this year’s was too uncomfortable for my taste. The only one I liked was Che trying to start beef with Kendrick Lamar, and visibly anguishing over it. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

48 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Some people don't think about other people's allergies, and the mother may not have even known about it. 

Since it was the first time meeting the parents, Andrew's allergy and her mother's famous cookie recipe should have been at the forefront of Chloe's mind and she would have warned one or both of them in advance.

I've been thinking that it would have been funnier if Chloe had stabbed Andrew with the epipen before we got the exposition about the peanut allergy. 

Edited May 20 by SomeTameGazelle

[Joimiaroxeu]

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I feel like whoever scheduled this show was definitely trolling. They probably got a slight ratings boost from Swifties checking for shade. 

Thing is, I can't figure out who was being trolled: Jake, the audience, or the Swifties.

The last time Taylor was on SNL she performed that 10-minute music video which basically crapped on Jake. But not only was he not cancelled, he seemed to have gone on with his life unbothered. So why would he go back there now by appearing with one of Taylor's acolytes? Was there some kind of rapprochement achieved behind the scenes?

Yes, I have been giving this way too much thought. 😵‍💫

[MrWhyt]

9 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

So why would he go back there now by appearing with one of Taylor's acolytes? Was there some kind of rapprochement achieved behind the scenes

maybe the people involved are just adults

[heatherchandler]

15 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I thought the OH HIM sketch was the best of the night, and should have been in the top half of the show.

I agree- I actually laughed a few times during this sketch.  Jon Hamm was hilarious.

 

On 5/19/2024 at 12:03 AM, buttersister said:

Jake? Can sing! But should have passed on the shirt tuck in front only. Otherwise, he’s all good. 

 

Love a front tuck!  French tuck is my favorite though.

[heatherchandler]

On 5/19/2024 at 1:01 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was Sabrina actually singing at all until the very end?

I don’t think so.  I don’t like her.

[LuvMyShows]

On 5/19/2024 at 1:01 AM, Galileo908 said:

And we got Joke Swap!  I thought the fake Civil Rights leader last year was a better guest, but then the first joke was "Free Weinstein," and then Colin losing it over using a rabbi puppet. Good on her for being such a trooper. But the best one was Che's reaction to the Kendrick Lamar joke. It actually got him to concede! That's gotta be a first, right?

On 5/19/2024 at 5:42 PM, Tango64 said:

The Weekend Update hosts telling jokes from the other they haven’t read before, the first few times: really funny. 
The now times when they know what’s coming and fall apart before they can even finish the reading: not funny. 

On 5/19/2024 at 12:35 PM, DXD526 said:

This wasn't the first time Jost was falling all over the desk, weak with laughter, and I wasn't even cracking a smile. 

OK, I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Do they run through the Joke Swap jokes in dress rehearsal?  So it's not really like they're reading the jokes for the first time live?

Also, it really seemed to me like the final joke with the rabbi puppet bombed big time, and that's why Colin was going overboard so much with his reaction, to try to save it.

[Tango64]

26 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

Also, it really seemed to me like the final joke with the rabbi puppet bombed big time, and that's why Colin was going overboard so much with his reaction, to try to save it.

Yeah, I think they play it up so much as “Oh my gawd, I can’t believe I’m saying this!!!” even when the joke is not so funny. Actually probably more in that case. It’s too expected and forced, not at all unexpected as it was with the original idea. 

[peeayebee]

10 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

OK, I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Do they run through the Joke Swap jokes in dress rehearsal?  So it's not really like they're reading the jokes for the first time live?

It's my understanding that the live show is the first time Che and Colin see the jokes the other has written for them.