S42.E02: Lin-Manuel Miranda / Twenty One Pilots

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda; musical guest Twenty One Pilots

[nowandlater]

Here's my prediction: Nobody will play Mike Pence. Nobody will play Tim Kaine.

Despite SNL now having a Latina woman who could possibly play a Filipina moderator (Filipinos are of Spanish descent, too!), there will be no VP debate sketch.

It would have been weird to have back-to-back debate sketches and this "grab her by the pussy" is all everybody will be talking about Saturday night, barring another bombshell in the next 48 hours.

[VCRTracking]

Perfect timing that they're now allowed to say "pussy" on SNL.

[wknt3]

15 hours ago, nowandlater said:

Here's my prediction: Nobody will play Mike Pence. Nobody will play Tim Kaine.

Despite SNL now having a Latina woman who could possibly play a Filipina moderator (Filipinos are of Spanish descent, too!), there will be no VP debate sketch.

It would have been weird to have back-to-back debate sketches and this "grab her by the pussy" is all everybody will be talking about Saturday night, barring another bombshell in the next 48 hours.

I don't think it would be so weird to have back-to-back debate sketches. In fact there probably is one already written, but it may be scrapped - you are right that "grab her by the pussy" is going to be the cold open and dominate WU. I can just imagine Alec Baldwin's phone going nuts as that story was released and his eyes lighting up like a major league hitter seeing a hanging curveball. If they really like the performance of whomever is doing Mike Pence I can see them taking their Mike Pence denies reality and is running for the 2020 nomination/trying to save his career material and retooling it to include  this.

Edited October 8, 2016 by wknt3

[DollEyes]

Since there have already been several comments on Twitter saying that Trump's "apology" looked like a hostage video, I wouldn't be surprised if the writers did a sketch with Alec Baldwin's Trump robotically apologizing for his comments, with the head of the RNC behind the camera or Hillary herself, holding Trump's one true love, aka Ivanka, at gunpoint. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by DollEyes
To add stuff.

[ChromaKelly]

I don't know if SNL will touch this. It's just not funny. Not sure if they will go with a VP debate either. Maybe? IDK. It seems like it was so long ago now.
Really, I'm looking for SNL to cheer me up and help me not feel disgusted. I feel like I need a shower every time I get online.

[Irlandesa]

I even wonder if Alec is scheduled for tonight. He wasn't at the goodbyes last week and I could see Lorne thinking he'd get the week off since the debate skit was likely the plan all along as is SNL tradition. And it's a skit that was likely already written and planned out.  They could throw something together quickly but SNL doesn't always respond well to late breaking news except for perhaps during Weekend Update.

[Princess Sparkle]

I think they'll address the new Trump stuff, though it may be on Weekend Update as opposed to a sketch. But this is damn near gift wrapped for them because it's a major story that broke late enough in the week that none of the other late nights have gotten to it yet, and they'll have it before John Oliver. They've been accused of being too soft on Trump in the past, so it would be short-sighted not to address something that they'll have the first crack at comedically. 

[mariah23]

1 hour ago, ChromaKelly said:

I don't know if SNL will touch this. It's just not funny. Not sure if they will go with a VP debate either. Maybe? IDK. It seems like it was so long ago now.
Really, I'm looking for SNL to cheer me up and help me not feel disgusted. I feel like I need a shower every time I get online.

What about a sketch with Alexander Hamilton reacting to the Drumphf video?  

[ChromaKelly]

52 minutes ago, mariah23 said:

What about a sketch with Alexander Hamilton reacting to the Drumphf video?  

Ha! Maybe like "And you thought The Reynolds Pamphlet was bad?"

[cpcathy]

WU for sure. It's too bad Seth and Amy couldn't do a "REALLY?" on the subject.

[ruby24]

I don't know- Weekend Update last week didn't seem to know anything that had happened in the news after the previous Tuesday. They had the tax returns story and did nothing on it.

But I'm guessing they will have to tackle this one, since it's EVERYWHERE and Republicans are now jumping ship.

[Brn2bwild]

8 hours ago, mariah23 said:

What about a sketch with Alexander Hamilton reacting to the Drumphf video?  

When the Trump news broke out, that's the first thing I thought of.

"The Reynolds Pamphlet.  Have you read this?  Alexander Hamilton had a torrid affair, and he wrote it down right there.  Highlights..."

If they had more time, they could do a spoof of that song in a sketch.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Brn2bwild

[BenjaminLeBaron]

I'm sorry, I can't take Kyle Mooney anymore. I just...can't. 

[StatMom]

The sound mix on TOP was terrible on both songs.

[Oops, I forgot the show wasn't over yet. Sorry for the early post!]

Edited October 9, 2016 by StatMom

[WhosThatGirl]

I was loving this episode, the Trump cold open and Hilary's dance party, Kate rules and deserves every bit of her Emmy, the monologue was good too. I want to see Hamilton more than anything.

.. and then, they blew me away with the CAST PARTY MUSIC VIDEO! I had some flashbacks to a lot of cast parties from high-school. So much sprite, always! 

My favorite thing from the teacher skit: "are you quiet because you don't want anyone to know you can't read?" "You think she can't read? This is an A.P English class!" 

The Kellyanne skit was funny only because I can only imagine this is what her day is like. 

Twenty pilots are a good band. I enjoy their songs enough. 

I was really excited to hear weekend update this week. And I totally agree with "this isn't even the worst thing Trump has said" and that Tic Tac are getting the hell away from ANYTHING to do with Trump. ALSO, JIMMY AND TINA! {"So, he's like a drunk clown on the street?"..."Men are always going to be gross" "If I ever wanna feel like it's the 50s again I'll put on my pink ladies jacket from the Grease party we had"}

The wells fargo skit and the Diego calls his mom skit were okay. 

I don't watch Stranger Things- I know! I'm going to get on that soon!- but I know enough based on clips and scenes but I do feel kind of out of the loop, I'm sure the skit is funnier to people who have seen it. I did laugh at a few things though. 

I feel like the war skit, "dying in the army foxhole, I have to confess a bunch of embarrassing things you need to destroy" has been done..many times before on SNL? I guess "he died as he lived...sassy!" was kind of funny..?

It was a good show. 

[Galileo908]

We're back!

Cold Open: Hoo boy, where to start? VP debate, then the clusterfuck of the past 24+ hours, and Alec Baldwin back as Trump. "I'm the new latina cast member, playing Asian-American moderator. Elaine Quijano. Baby steps." Alec looked extra grotesque tonight, gotta give kudos to that makeup team.

Monologue: Of course Lin-Manuel was going to sing. And of course it was gonna be awesome. Llama sighting!

Campfire: This got irritating/creepy fast.

Crucible Cast Party: This must have been written from experience. I liked it, and Olivia Newton John as the mom was a great touch.

Substitute: Meh, and the kids are aware of it.

"A Day Off" with Kellyanne Conway: This explains a lot. Liked it, an it was a good way to make some sense out of this nonsense. 

WU: "Well, this week we almost heard Wolf Blitzer say 'pussy.' Now Colin & Che are resorting to just reading Trump's tweets. Just when you think this election can't get any crazier...it does. Tic Tacs yelled at Trump today! How the hell do you top that?! "Tic Tacs: Grab bad breath by the pu$$y!" That was great, though. Aso great: Jimmy & Tina showing up! And it went on forever. I blame Jimmy.

Music Man: Had a feeling they were just gonna mock Wells Fargo. Everyone can really sing, which I'm thankful for.

Diego Calls His Mom: I liked it. Lots of good lighting. "Everything in America is carpeted."

Stranger Things Season 2: I really need to see Stranger Things. I bet I'd get these jokes if I watched. Kate McKinnon was a perfect Eleven. So many Elevens at NYCC.

Melania Moments: "The Dream.": This IS a runner! I liked it.

A Degree of Balance: Meh. "He died as he lived. Sassy."

Lin-Manuel Miranda was 100% game, but man did he have crap material to work with. The taped stuff (which seemed to outnumber the live stuff) was great, though. But Tom Hanks is finally coming back on the 22nd, I hope it doesn't suck!

[stonehaven]

I laughed more tonight than I have in a long time.....although the Trump stuff still disgusts me but WU killed it..although I still don't like Pete Davidson in his recurring segment....

We should have gotten an Election Update from Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With...

[vb68]

I only got to see disjointed bits and pieces due to stormy weather....mostly Lin Manuel's monologue and the Tina and Jimmy part of Update.  I liked what I saw even with Jimmy predictably breaking, and I think he had a small flub on Colin's name.  I'll have to watch it online tomorrow.

Loved Tina mocking Jimmy's "playful"messing of Trump's hair.  Wish she riffed on that the whole segment.    

Edited October 9, 2016 by vb68

[Dee]

That was pretty great.

Lin Miranda is welcome back any time.

[methodwriter85]

I actually had no clue about the Wells Fargo fiasco. I'm a customer, and I was considering applying to work there as a bank teller. Thanks for the lesson, SNL!

I lost it at Joyce Byers coming on in the Stranger Things sketch.

Really good episode, for the most part. I wonder if Lin Manuel was asked to shave his face and cut off his hair so they could do more characters with him?

[Brn2bwild]

3 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I actually had no clue about the Wells Fargo fiasco. I'm a customer, and I was considering applying to work there as a bank teller. Thanks for the lesson, SNL!

I lost it at Joyce Byers coming on in the Stranger Things sketch.

Really good episode, for the most part. I wonder if Lin Manuel was asked to shave his face and cut off his hair so they could do more characters with him?

I don't know about shaving, but Lin Manuel had his hair cut literally right after his last Hamilton performance.  

[Bees]

Cold Open: This was pretty standard for political sketches. I did like Villasenor breaking the fourth wall a bit

Monologue: Even though I usually dislike singing monologues (if only because it's overdone), this is one of the exceptions. Yeah it's only downhill from here but that's more as a compliment to the monologue. This was absolutely fantastic. 

Campfire: The only thing I really enjoyed about this was how Lin Manuel's character and how he slowly starts to come around to liking that creepy pair of siblings. Also, that was more of a over-the-top Minnesota/North Dakota/Wisconsin accent. 

Cast Party: I was in the school band and our post-concert gatherings had a lot of elements of this in it. This hits close to home. Though I've heard some wild stories from the theater kids I knew. Also, I had no idea that was Olivia Newton-John!

Substitute: This was kind of boring. And I like stuff that calls out lame tropes. 

A Day Off: I liked how it got more and more crazy as the day goes on. 

Weekend Update: Jost and Che are killing it on Weekend Update. I didn't really like the Fey/Fallon segment nor did I like Pete Davidson's segment. But the rest of it was gold. Especially the Fey/Fallon segment because man did that drag on. Everything in the show went by pretty damn quick so it kind of just stopped things at a screeching halt. 

Wells Fargo: I wish they went full Music Man with this. I was waiting for them to do so but it never happened. I do like the humor of it and I think it was pretty clever but man, I wish that it had gone full Music Man.

Diego Calls His Mom: I enjoyed this. Though I was totally rooting for Diego and Preston to fall in love. 

Stranger Things Season 2: I haven't seen Stranger Things but even if I didn't. I enjoyed this. I liked Eleven's reaction to Leslie Jones' character. "What happened?!" "She scares me..."

Melania Moments: I completely missed this one. My NBC station seemed to have skipped this and part of the beginning of the final sketch of the evening. I do like that this is a thing. 

The Final Sketch: I have no idea what the hell this was because the moment it cut back in it was was Davidson saying "But it's for the butt" which then confused me. Was his character supposed to be gay or something? 

Overall, the host was fantastic but the sketches...mehh. I will say this -- at least the sketches went by quick. They were hit and run humor which I greatly appreciate. I'd love to see Lin Manuel Miranda host again in the future.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Bees

[vb68]

Quote

 Also, I had no idea that was Olivia Newton-John!

Question about this.  I could be completely wrong, but from what I could tell I thought it was Jean of " it's always a thing with Jean"  from Let's Do It On My Twin Bed fame making another cameo.  At least it looked like her. 

[ktwo]

Am I the only one who wanted the Wells Fargo sketch to go on forever? I hate them so much, and everyone was singing so fantastically. I seriously could have watched 15 minutes of that.

The monologue was seriously great. I was looking for the llama and missed it! Caught the Vegas dancer/Rockette people, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus, though.

Weekend Update was great - loved the riff on the Tic Tacs - except for the excuses for Fallon treating Trump like a cute little troll doll on his show a couple of weeks ago. If he regrets that he should tell us on his own show, out of character, without Tina prompting him to.

Crucible Cast Party was fantastic, and I am an expert as my high school did the Crucible my sophomore year. I was head of makeup!

I missed Kellyanne and Melania, more tomorrow. Worth a rewatch.

Edited October 9, 2016 by ktwo
Because they are sketches, not skits! - Lorne

[SeanC]

The opening episodes of this season really drive home how dependent this show is on Kate McKinnon now, particularly with Killam and Pharoah gone.  She's almost always the standout of any sketch that gives her a prominent part, even setting aside the obviously Hillary-centric sketches we're getting during the election calendar (and she's managed to work in a second dynamite election creation in Kellyanne Conway).

[Racj82]

How is it possible to have a whole thread full of non stranger things watchers? It has to be a age thing. It's fine if you didn't. At this point, it's just weird to read about someone having not watched it or actively ignoring it. 

The show was good but they might well have just made every skit music based. They almost did. So much music.

At least they actually did tailor the show to the host.

[Negritude]

That was NOT Olivia Newton John lolololol

[SpikeGal]

8 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I don't know- Weekend Update last week didn't seem to know anything that had happened in the news after the previous Tuesday. They had the tax returns story and did nothing on it.

But I'm guessing they will have to tackle this one, since it's EVERYWHERE and Republicans are now jumping ship.

I'm NOT!!! The damn thing was 12 years old!!! 12 years old!! A lot happens in 12 years! People change!! Nobody is the same as they were 12 years ago, and he wasn;t married at the time. Not like he was cheating like someone else....

And a lot of people at my work aren't jumping ship either!!! I wanna know who released that video! Videos can't release themselves.

(deep breath) sorry....had to. But reading this...thank GOD for One Punch Man!!! Thank GOD for it!! And thank God for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I know what I'll be watching...

Edited October 9, 2016 by SpikeGal

[gatopretoNYC]

37 minutes ago, SpikeGal said:

!...and he wasn;t married at the time. 

Not that it makes any difference, as to the vulgarity, and him basically saying it's great to sexually assault women, but yes, he was married when this Access Hollywood thing was recorded.

-----

As an episode overall, I was a little disappointed. I did love Hillary's dance party, and the musical monologue. I was very excited seeing Tina & Jimmy on WU, but Fallon messing up his lines kind of ruined it.

Edited October 9, 2016 by gatopretoNYC
To add some on topic stuff

[nowandlater]

1 hour ago, SpikeGal said:

I'm NOT!!! The damn thing was 12 years old!!! 12 years old!! A lot happens in 12 years! People change!! Nobody is the same as they were 12 years ago, and he wasn;t married at the time. Not like he was cheating like someone else....

And a lot of people at my work aren't jumping ship either!!! I wanna know who released that video! Videos can't release themselves.

(deep breath) sorry....had to. But reading this...thank GOD for One Punch Man!!! Thank GOD for it!! And thank God for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I know what I'll be watching...

It was 11 years ago, actually. Trump was married to Melania for a few months -- they had been together 6 to 7 years before their 2005 wedding --  and she was pregnant with their son Barron. I would argue that you don't change that much between the ages of 59 and 70. As for how they found the video, read this and this story.

[VCRTracking]

Quote

I'm NOT!!! The damn thing was 12 years old!!! 12 years old!! A lot happens in 12 years! People change!! Nobody is the same as they were 12 years ago,

Loved the cold open and the Crucible Cast Party. I'm planning on watching Stranger Things so I hope to get the jokes soon, but I did love Leslie saying "Baby people that look like us already live in the Upside Down!"

Edited October 9, 2016 by VCRTracking

[sleekandchic]

Twenty One Pilots is one of my favorite bands. I thought their two songs tonight were fab.

The Diego Calls His Mom skit was poignant to me. Very real and heartfelt.

Lin-Manuel's opener promised that he was gonna take advantage of his shot on SNL, and he wasn't kidding.  Other than WU and the music, I think Lin-Manuel was in every skit, right?  I saw Hamilton twice.  That guy is a phenom.

Can I say that I hate the Conway skits?  When she turned up on Family Feud last week, I cringed. But I was hopeful it was a one-time thing.  Now she shows up tonight. Kate is great, of course, but, unfortunately she's humanizing the inhuman Conway.  It annoys me.  Plus, Kate playing both Hillary and Conway seems wrong.  I hate it. (Just my opinion, of course.)

Speaking of hate...during Weekend Update, when a guest appears, the camera focuses on Colin and the guest.  Michael is cut out literally and figuratively. Why?  It's wrong.  Tonight's thing with Jimmy and Tina was particularly egregious to me.  (At least Tina said, "hi Che.")  Michael is an equal partner/cohost with Colin.  Yet he's treated as a second-class citizen. No excuse.  Both men should participate in questioning guests, AND Michael should NEVER be cut from the shot.  SNL needs to fix that b.s..

Edited October 9, 2016 by sleekandchic

[WhosThatGirl]

I don't have anything more to add on this, just that it was really good. I laughed more this week than I did last week.  I seriously need to say it again that I loved the cast party music video because..nostalgia as a drama geek and it brought me back. 

[watches2muchtv]

2 hours ago, SpikeGal said:

I'm NOT!!! The damn thing was 12 years old!!! 12 years old!! A lot happens in 12 years! People change!! Nobody is the same as they were 12 years ago, and he wasn;t married at the time. Not like he was cheating like someone else....

 

1. 11 years ago and he was 59 year old.  Yes people change but just last week he was still tweeting about sex tapes and attacking a woman. He has not changed in his entitlement or narcissism.

2. Even if he wasn't married he admitted to hitting on a married woman.

3. He has admitted to having affairs ergo Tiffany Trump.

On Topic

Good:

Hillary parting at Trump news, Lin's monologue, Cast party, Tic Tacs, KellyAnn's day off.

Bad:

Tina and Jimmy's WU bit,  Pete's WU bit,  creepy camp singers.

[Spartan Girl]

Boy, they must have really worked overtime to get the Trump cold opening so fast since the news broke Friday night.

Love Kate and love Lin Manuel.

[nowandlater]

2 hours ago, 123what said:

Bad:

Tina and Jimmy's WU bit,  Pete's WU bit,  creepy camp singers.

I got a cringey vibe from Tina and Jimmy's bit. It felt like the high school graduates who keep hanging around years after graduating. (Hopefully, we won't see the return of Fred Armisen to Weekend Update next week) I mean, Tina and Jimmy are great, but Jimmy's on in that timeslot 5 nights a week. Let some of the current cast members have those valuable Update minutes. Meanwhile, this is Tina's 4th appearance on SNL in the past year (19%). Again, I love Tina. She's awesome, but let the current cast shine (unless Sarah Palin comes back in the news!).

As for Pete, SNL historian James Andrew Miller predicted he would become the next Adam Sandler. Will those predictions come true.

Edited October 9, 2016 by nowandlater

[Ottis]

I really hate broadway/play humor. It feels like everyone is shouting and over acting. The cast party looked as sad as I remember theatre kids being in high school, so more sad than funny. 

I am a huge sci-if fan and have never watched Stranger Things.

The Wells-Fargo skit was trying to say one thing but actually highlighted the fact that consumers are stupid and should really know at least something about finance before committing to loans for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Really enjoyed WU, even the flubs and Jimmy's accent issues. 

The inside NY intro to the ending war scene ending was perfect for this episode, which felt like it was aimed at about 10 percent of the audience. The butt plug stuff was pretty good as a subtext to the whole theatre night theme. 

[Princess Sparkle]

6 hours ago, sleekandchic said:

Speaking of hate...during Weekend Update, when a guest appears, the camera focuses on Colin and the guest.  Michael is cut out literally and figuratively. Why?  It's wrong.  Tonight's thing with Jimmy and Tina was particularly egregious to me.  (At least Tina said, "hi Che.")  Michael is an equal partner/cohost with Colin.  Yet he's treated as a second-class citizen. No excuse.  Both men should participate in questioning guests, AND Michael should NEVER be cut from the shot.  SNL needs to fix that b.s..

That's not purposeful; SNL has always had WU "guests" come in from both sides and only the person they're directly next to will talk to them. I think it was just happenstance that neither guest was on Michael's side this week, because they've never cut Michael out from WU historically; just last week, Cecily's character came in on his side. "Girl You Wish..."  always interacts with Michael while Colin is cut out of the shot. I'm guessing both guests came on Colin's side this week because Pete's bit had the joke about Colin's hair (which wouldn't have worked with Michael) and Tina and Jimmy's bit wanted the accent  joke with "Jost". But from a camera perspective, when you pull back to everyone in the shot, you lose the focus on their faces and any jokes they need to be closer up for. I don't think it's a sleight against Michael. 

WU was fantastic.  Between that and the cold open, they nailed Trump and it was great. I liked Tina and Jimmys bit, though I do agree with others that it went on for too long (and that was definitely on Jimmy). I damn near died at Michael's part in the Trump bit where he said "C'mon bro! I told you about my tic tac trick!"  

In the wishlist thread, a couple of us had been speculating Bobby would be Tim Kaine, but Mikey Day must've been working on that impression because he nailed it. The voice was uncanny. I know it's only been two episodes, but he's been a great addition to the cast. 

I binge watched Stranger Things in two days over the summer so I loved the sketch, but I definitely think that's one where you don't have to have seen it to get the joke. That was my favorite sketch of the night, with Crucible Cast Party as a close second. Between that and the "high school theater" sketches, Aidy and Kate (and Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly) are really great at nailing down the mannerisms of teenagers. I have been to that cast party; every piece of that rang so true to me. 

Edited October 9, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[truthaboutluv]

5 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Lol... I swear, it took me a moment to figure out if that was a real post or satire of how Trump himself would respond to the tape. 

Edited October 9, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Primetimer]

Did America's Revolutionary Sweetheart rap his way into comedy history?

View the full article

[ChromaKelly]

I loved Lin's pause at the Trump host picture and then the "Never gonna be President now".
I didn't know how SNL was going to handle the recently released tape, but I thought they handled it well. Actually made me laugh when I've felt like it's hard to find humor in this.
Disclosure: I'm obsessed with Hamilton and love Lin-Manuel Miranda, so I'm biased. I never stay up to watch the whole show, usually go to bed after WU but I stayed up for the whole thing. I loved everything. The creepy campers was the only thing that was meh. Crucible cast party was really fun. As much as I love Jimmy and Tina, I could have done without them. 

[ChromaKelly]

PS - Everyone who hasn't watched Stranger Things, go watch it! It was really good. Lin had used a picture from Stranger Things in one of his tweets once, and then the kid who plays Dustin tweeted back to Lin and they had a cute little back and forth. So, I thought it was sweet that Lin played Dustin in the skit.

[Gemma Violet]

7 hours ago, Racj82 said:

How is it possible to have a whole thread full of non stranger things watchers? It has to be a age thing. It's fine if you didn't. At this point, it's just weird to read about someone having not watched it or actively ignoring it. 

 

Not only have I not watched it...I never heard of it.  I'm old, so I guess it is indeed an age thing.

I like Lin-Manuel Miranda, so I was happy to see him host.  He did great, as I expected.

One of my favorite parts of the whole show was Kate in the cold open dancing as Hilary to Celebration.

[Bruinsfan]

I expected them to work balloons in when they cut to Hillary.

[Uncle Benzene]

1 hour ago, Princess Sparkle said:

That's not purposeful; SNL has always had WU "guests" come in from both sides and only the person they're directly next to will talk to them. I think it was just happenstance that neither guest was on Michael's side this week, because they've never cut Michael out from WU historically; just last week, Cecily's character came in on his side. "Girl You Wish..."  always interacts with Michael while Colin is cut out of the shot. I'm guessing both guests came on Colin's side this week because Pete's bit had the joke about Colin's hair (which wouldn't have worked with Michael) and Tina and Jimmy's bit wanted the accent  joke with "Jost". But from a camera perspective, when you pull back to everyone in the shot, you lose the focus on their faces and any jokes they need to be closer up for. I don't think it's a sleight against Michael. 

Exactly this. I'm trying to think of other specific examples, but right now the only one I can come up with is Willie, who is "Michael's friend" and thus always is on Michael's side and interacts primarily, if not exclusively with Michael. I'm sure there are others, and I do recall "resident young person" Pete being on Michael's side at least once. Anyway, I also think having the "guest" character interacting with only one of the hosts is just to keep the whole bit from being "too busy" or whatever. Anyway, couple other random thoughts...

Someone last week mentioned the lack of Vanessa, and this week she did have the campsite sketch, and she was also in the Crucible cast party, but I still think this is two weeks in a row where there's been less Vanessa than I'd have expected (and NEED!) I still hope it's just a blip, but I'm beginning to get a little... I don't know... concerned? Vanessa is freakin' great. What gives?

I also agree that Kate is pretty much the clear MVP of the cast at this point. And honestly, I kinda think it's been that way for a while. But it REALLY shows here lately, IMHO. Kate is awesome.

I have to admit that I was carrying a bit of a negative bias toward Melissa coming in, because of the tweets. It probably wasn't "fair" but I'll own it. Anyway, two weeks in and I really think she's gonna kick ass on SNL. She kind of already is, actually. Very pleasantly surprised. They really have assembled one hell of a group of ladies. Don't even get me started on Leslie. More Leslie please!

And finally... there was a lot of talk about bringing Baldwin in to replace Darrell as Trump because they wanted a skeevier/nastier/angrier portrayal than Darrell's, and I agree, and Baldwin really has nailed the hell out of it twice now. BUT... just an observation here, and I don't think it detracts from it at all, to the contrary, I find it a cute little "feature" and it makes me laugh just a little bit harder... you can really tell just how much Baldwin is enjoying the hell out of doing it. He's having an absolute blast, it's written all over his face even as he's absolutely nailing Trump at his absolute worst. I can't really explain it, but Baldwin's tangible joy while doing this just makes me smile a little wider while watching it. It reminds me a lot of Larry David doing Bernie. You can just tell they absolutely love it. It probably helps a lot that in both cases, I'm pretty sure they both know damn well they're killing, and are consistently right at the top of the list of "best things about the show" every time. Baldwin deserves to be very proud of himself. 

[Bees]

Well I'm embarrassed...it wasn't Olivia Newton-John. Whoops. 

Anyways, I agree about Mikey Day. He's been an absolute standout these first couple of weeks. I guess that stint at Maya and Marty (did they cancel that series or will it be a midsummer thing?) was a hell of an audition. I do hope he keeps it going.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Bees

[Fostersmom]

8 hours ago, Racj82 said:

How is it possible to have a whole thread full of non stranger things watchers? It has to be a age thing. It's fine if you didn't. At this point, it's just weird to read about someone having not watched it or actively ignoring it. 

The show was good but they might well have just made every skit music based. They almost did. So much music.

At least they actually did tailor the show to the host.

I'll be 40 in December, and I've never seen it. Not everyone watches or uses Netflix. And not for nothing, according to Wiki, the show came out in JULY of THIS SUMMER, so it's not exactly like saying you've never seen some long standing pop culture standard. 

Good episode, there was the expected singing and rapping, but it didn't override the show. Not to say I couldn't have done without the singing campers sketch, that one was no bueno. I did like that there wasn't a Hamilton sketch. Yes, I know it's a full on cultural phenomenon, but it's also a very niche audience. Sure, I'd love to see it, and I'm aware of the show, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess a pretty large part of the country hasn't even heard of it and spent the whole show trying to figure out who the hell the host even was. I love Tina, but it's gotten to the point I actively hate Jimmy and can't even watch his show, so the weekend Update appearance was just bad. I like the substitute teacher sketch, I remember those teachers, especially from my AP course days. Those subs seemed to think they had to "reach" us and somehow change our lives… in the 45 minutes they met us for one day. Even better was the sub we had for a week in AP Government when our teacher got a really bad infection in the hospital and the sub spent a whole class teaching us the wrong lesson plan because she thought the regular class lesson plan was harder than our AP lesson plan. Our AP classes tended to be a bit more freeform at my high school, especially the government class, so I'm sure the lesson plan read something like "bring up this subject and let them talk."  

As others have said, Kate really is the star of the show now and I love it. I really appreciate she don't have an annoying repeating character, see Kristen Wiig or Molly Shannon. She's got the kitten lady, but KITTENS, and that's about it. I don't count Hillary as a character.  

[cpcathy]

I loved this episode, just enjoyed the hell out of it. Cold opening--awesome. I hadn't known anything about Lin- Manuel Miranda, but I knew he was supposed to be extremely talented so I was going to stick around this week, but I thought he was really great, the opening song was great, and he seemed like a cast member, so comfortable, just fit in with everyone so well.

I actually loved Jimmy and Tina coming on, I love former cast members' appearances, it just makes me go to my happy place.

Another one here who did not watch Stranger Things. I just can't get around to it. Maybe I'll try....

[howmanywords]

9 hours ago, Racj82 said:

How is it possible to have a whole thread full of non stranger things watchers? It has to be a age thing. It's fine if you didn't. At this point, it's just weird to read about someone having not watched it or actively ignoring it. 

Because not everyone subscribes to Netflix. I did the free trial last year, didnt think it was worth the money and cancelled.  My cable bill is high enough.  Not everyone wants to pay $9 a month. BTW I certainly have heard of Stranger Things, just have no major interest in wanting to see it.

Lin -Manuel was fantastic. Even the obvious Hamilton monologue I enjoyed.  I thought he blended in so well with the cast it almost felt like he was a cast member.