S42.E16: Scarlett Johansson / Lorde

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

 Scarlett Johansson hosts; musical guest is Lorde

[Gemma Violet]

I loved the first Mermaid sketch last year, one of my favorites from the last couple of years.  This one was just OK.  

[vb68]

I thought this episode was  a lot of goofy fun throughout. Even with weaker sketches in the last half hour, you could tell the cast was having a blast. And the audience really showed up tonight.

Max the Dog was everything. That was cracking my shit up, and good improvisation when Max tried to break free of that contraption.

I was also happy that Bobby had a lot to do in this one. It's been awhile.

Ivanka's  "Complicit" ad was another great one.

They sure are milking Kate's Jeff Sessions.

I was a little disappointed they didn't at least get Candice Bergen and/or Drew Barrymore celebrating another woman in The 5 Timers' Club.

Edited March 12, 2017 by vb68

[ebk57]

My favorite thing in this show was "Complicit".  I think sobriety is good for Pete.  I actually laughed during his WU bit.  WU on the whole was quite good.  

Overall, I enjoyed the show.  Wasn't crazy about the open, but the rest was fun.  

Where is @Galileo908?  How am I supposed to really know what to think about stuff?  Or mostly, just remember what happened?  :-)

[vb68]

Quote

My favorite thing in this show was "Complicit"

There were some great lines in that. "She probably watches Titanic and thinks she's Rose. Sorry girl, you're Billy Zane!"

[mortonsalt]

25 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I thought this episode was  a lot of goofy fun throughout. Even with weaker sketches in the last half hour, you could tell the cast was having a blast. And the audience really showed up tonight.

Max the Dog was everything. That was cracking my shit up, and good improvisation when Max tried to break free of that contraption.

I was also happy that Bobby had a lot to do in this one. It's been awhile.

Ivanka's  "Complicit" ad was another great one.

They sure are milking Kate's Jeff Sessions.

I was a little disappointed they didn't at least get Candice Bergen and/or Drew Barrymore celebrating another woman in The 5 Timers' Club.

Yes, Max the Dog was my favorite bit; although, the whole episode was great fun tonight. It was like the complete opposite of last week. Anyway I don't know how the actors didn't break when the dog took off the contraption off his head. I know Scarlett and Cecily looked like they were about to, but amazingly they got a hold of themselves.

I also agree it was great seeing Bobby have more to do. In fact, I liked this episode because it seemed like more of the cast was utilized; although, there were still a few castmembers that didn't get anything to do, but much better than usual I found. 

[Psychobunny]

Loved Max and complicit but WTH was up with Lorde? She's never been the best singer but her songs were good. The first song was crap although I do hear a nugget of potential in the second one. The dancing was crazy, though. Is she on drugs? I also wanted to give props to Alex for an awesome Al Franken. Overall a fairly good show.

[VCRTracking]

Up to Lorde's first number and so far Beck Bennett is the MVP of the show with the "Trump supporting dog" and the Olive Garden sketch. Also loved the "Cherry Orchard on LOGO" promo and the Ivanka Trump "Complicit" commercial. Just remembered it's the second time  Scarjo played her on SNL. First time was a Regis and Kelly sketch with Darrell Hammond and Amy Poehler back in 2007.

ETA:

The ninja sketch with Leslie and Scarlett was silly fun.

Edited March 12, 2017 by VCRTracking

[possibilities]

Great show. In addition to what others have already praised, I enjoyed the sketch the guys wrote "for the women".

Cherry Grove was a great send up of G/L tv/movie tropes. I wonder if Kate is the only LGBorT person on staff, or if there are others, because they've been really improving the writing on those issues.

Also: shout out to Cecily for her shirt during the good-nights!

I thought ScarJo could have done without the accent in the ninja sketch.

[burner]

After last week's disaster that felt like a return to form. Everyone seemed to be having a blast and that usually helps even if the material is weak (ninja, funeral). They could have gone bigger for Scarlett's 5th episode with regards to special guests. Certainly didn't feel like the "big event" that Timberlake received. I guess her appearances were more spread out though. Hilarious that Kenan had been around for all of her episodes.

Still not sure why last week was so terrible. And most of the stuff this week wasn't super topical - like the Olive Garden sketch - and could have been done last week. I'm almost wondering if they were saving some of it.

Weekend Update was one of the better ones I've seen. Bennett and Che really do have a good thing happening. Great seeing Pete too and I liked that they acknowledged his sobriety.

I really enjoyed Lorde. I'm a fan anyways but haven't seen her perform and was surprised how well her songs translate to a live setting. 

Overall good episode. But other than the "Complicit" sketch, I'm not sure anything will be considered "great".

Oh and I watched the classic episode from 1999 with Bill Paxton that aired before this. Definitely gave me a bigger appreciation for the current cast. That episode was pretty rough.

Edited March 12, 2017 by burner

[Spartan Girl]

Max the dog was the best sketch. Now I'm suddenly grateful dogs can't talk, LOL. But what a cutie though!

[oakville]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

Max the dog was the best sketch. Now I'm suddenly grateful dogs can't talk, LOL. But what a cutie though!

I loved the Trump Pug. We have a fawn Pug & he always tries to get his hat off in the winter.

[Ottis]

Wow. They used the actual Denver Zoo shirt and logo for the Danny Bang skit.  Yay for my hometown?

Even the audience seemed to be in a good mood. 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Ottis

[Toaster Strudel]

Danny Bangs and Olive Garden were my favorites.  I was in stitches!

[TAG42481]

I was shocked to realize that Scarlett Johansson joined the Five-Timers Club.  I knew she had hosted multiple times, but didn't realize it had been that often.  In addition, I couldn't believe that a fellow member of the club (Alec Baldwin) was in attendance and wasn't out there to acknowledge her addition.  I found that disappointing.  I realize he played Trump in the cold open, but I would think that he could have changed during the opening credits and beginning of the monologue.

Edited March 12, 2017 by TAG42481

[Primetimer]

She's a surprisingly talented interpreter of deep club tracks.

View the full article

[Inquisitionist]

6 hours ago, burner said:

Oh and I watched the classic episode from 1999 with Bill Paxton that aired before this. Definitely gave me a bigger appreciation for the current cast. That episode was pretty rough.

Rough doesn't begin to describe it.  Awful comes closer.

Enjoyed last night's episode.  Agree that the execution elevated some material that was kinda sketchy on its face.

[Bruinsfan]

So Lorde is a record company executive's daughter, right? She obviously didn't get a deal based on musical talent, and she's not that pretty.

[jeansheridan]

I just like Johanssen. She is so game. Plus man can she rock wigs. I liked that there was less Kate McKinnon. I like her but spread the wealth. I liked Llord's performance. She has always been a twitchy dancer. So awkward it feels sincere. Her look has evolved from goth teen but I am glad the industry hasn't crushed her weirdness. She is deeply and refreshingly odd.

[TiredMe]

Max the dog was also my fav sketch. I adore pugs so even if it hadn't have been funny, which it was, it prob would have been my fav. Lol

i can't explain but Olive Garden sketch just kept me laughing. 

Honestly I feel a bit for Ivanka having that dude as a dad, but I thought Complicit was hilarious. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by TiredMe

[VCRTracking]

On 3/12/2017 at 7:47 AM, TAG42481 said:

I was shocked to realize that Scarlett Johansson joined the Five-Timers Club.  I knew she had hosted multiple times, but didn't realize it had been that often.

I was surprised too. She was never a bad host but she also wasn't someone I looked forward to. I don't think of her as a great comic actress but she's solid. Thinking about it I do remember fondly past bits like the Chandelier store commercial("Look at dis one! Look at dat one! Look..."), singing a local talk show theme "Fly High Duluth" song, the Swedish cooking show with Adam Samberg, and the Unstoppable trailer parody(It's the size of the Chrysler building!").

As the AV Club points out:

Quote

In a way, it makes sense, as Johansson’s always fine without being memorable when she hosts SNL. She’s committed, a good actress, and gets her share of laughs—but the next time she hosts, I’ll still have to look up how many times she’s done so before. Let’s call it somewhere in the Elliott Gould/Candice Bergen wing.

Mike Ryan at UpRoxx's explains best:

Quote

Often, when someone is good at hosting SNL, you’ll hear things like, “Scarlett Johansson could be in the cast.” Sometimes that’s true and sometimes that’s not. There are hosts that the show can prop up on its shoulders and utilize his or her best strengths. And then there are hosts like Johansson, who can do the little things you might not notice that carry sketches. Take a sketch like “Zoo Pornographer” (which was fine), it’s Johansson who has the most dialogue. She’s not doing anything particularly funny, but she’s the main character. She’s at the heart of the sketch, making it work and you might not even notice because she’s not just delivering a punchline. There are not many hosts who can play this part. Most hosts would get Mikey Day’s character where he or she is just reacting. It was similar in “Translator,” once again Johansson is the main character with the most dialogue who drives the sketch, even though the punchlines go to Beck Bennett voicing a dog. Anyway, this is a pretty unique quality as a host.

I would also use as an example the "Sketch for Women". Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney obliviously talking only to each other about women's issues is what's funny but it's Scarlett's slow realization as they go on and on, visibly looking at the off screen cue cards searching for any lines, exchanging puzzled looks with Aidy and having a "WTF?" expression that gets the point across.

Edited March 13, 2017 by VCRTracking

[Peace 47]

ScarJo did a great job with everything and really has comedic chops in knowing how to do a line reading or pull an expression for maximum effect, which I think did help some of the weaker sketches.  As noted upthread, those weaker still came off relatively well, and I think having a pro hosting is a reason why.  She is also looking amazing these days.  I mean, she's always looked great, but she was really stunning when she came out for the monologue.

What I liked about the dog sketch was that after the humans kept going, "No, you don't really believe that," Beck had a killer delivery of "I absolutely do."  Haha.

There was a lot going on in that Olive Garden sketch: the casual racial microaggressions of the director, the wacky directions the actors had to go in (with the height thing and the pasta face thing).  I kind of felt like it was a little cheap to go for the orgasm jokes with everything else going on (like they really wanted to cover their bases), but sex will reliably get a big laugh, and so they went with the best chance to really sell the sketch.

Mansplaining feminism was good. I feel like this may be more of a liberal enclave problem because where I live, I recently encountered both men and women in a forum adamantly asserting that microaggressions don't even exist anymore at all:  that there is absolute equality for those who want it in corporate America.  I kind of wish mansplaining feminists were my biggest problem, lol.

I posted before some other people were discussing how she is a somewhat forgettable host.  I kind of disagree in that there are some potential classics in her work:  chandeliers, the Black Widow trailer sketch (but that really needs the original music, which online versions no longer have, for max effect). 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Peace 47

[VCRTracking]

3 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

There was a lot going on in that Olive Garden sketch: the casual racial microaggressions of the director, the wacky directions the actors had to go in (with the height thing and the pasta face thing).  I kind of felt like it was a little cheap to go for the orgasm jokes with everything else going on (like they really wanted to cover their bases), but sex will reliably get a big laugh, and so they went with the best chance to really sell the sketch.

My absolute favorite part is Beck's director telling Scarlett and Mikey Day to try not to laugh at the "two foot tall waitress" as she walks away and Scarlett says she wouldn't laugh at a little person and Beck responding that "Olive Garden customers would".

Edited March 12, 2017 by VCRTracking

[PepSinger]

I had the exact opposite opinion about Lorde. I thought she was great. I love her "I don't give a fuck" dancing. I thought she sounded good, and she has stage presence. I can't stop listening to "Green Light." She's very talented, IMO. Also, I need her top from the first song.

Edited March 12, 2017 by PepSinger

[tveyeonyou]

Huh. Scarlett Johannson actually shared the stage with a dog? Interesting. When my friend's Border Collie was picked to be in a sketch on SNL with SJ they rehearsed all week, did the live rehearsal in front of an audience and the dog got more applause than she did. It was a Dating Game type bit and Ticket (the Border Collie) was one of the "bachelors". SJ threw a fit and said either the dog goes or she wouldn't do the bit. Needless to say, Ticket got the boot. I've never been able to watch anything with SJ in it since then. It was a few years ago so maybe she mellowed but it was such a diva move and my friend went through a lot getting her dog there I just refuse to watch her in anything.

[WhosThatGirl]

The dog was the best one for me. I loved when he tore the helmet off and wanted to walk off. Poor pug, having to be a Trump supporter.

I also loved the Ivanka fragrance ad. "She thinks she's Rose but she's Billy Zane!"

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

So Lorde is a record company executive's daughter, right? She obviously didn't get a deal based on musical talent, and she's not that pretty.

I assume you have not listened to her first album Pure Heroine. I think that she's very talented.  Pretty should have nothing to do with getting an album deal and no her parents are not in music; it's weird that you'd make that kind of an assumption about a woman's music you didn't get.

Lorde's dancing:  Ever since she came on the scene she's made me think of a mini-Bjork.

Edited March 12, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[cpcathy]

So I had not been looking forward to Scarlett hosting, she comes off somewhat stiff to me, I guess I would say, but I liked her tonight. She was game and energetic and the whole show just seemed more fun and light. I really laughed way too much at the Olive Garden sketch, and the Ivanka perfume is going to be an instant classic. Mikey and Beck were MVPs, were they in everything?

I happen to think Lorde is a treasure. She's a much better role model that Swifty (and yes, I think they are buddies), she writes her own stuff and has a sense of humor about herself and her songs are cool and different. If you haven't heard Yellow Flicker Beat you are missing out.

[LADreamr]

1 hour ago, Peace 47 said:

Mansplaining feminism was good.

And kind of appropriate, after all the male writers/anchors of WU could say about the day without a woman was essentially, "so, I have to masturbate, now?"

[Fostersmom]

I died at the WU color swatch joke. So wrong, but so very dead on. The dog was adorable and I wondered if it was her dog, she was so comfortable planting the hat back on his head and then strapping his pussy hat on too. Any whining from Trump yet about picking on his grown ass daughter who has made herself part of the story? 

[Peace 47]

I forgot that I wanted to mention Alex Moffat's impression of Al Franken.  It was technically a good impression.  I was a little surprised that there was absolutely no reference to Al's SNL connection, but then again I also wasn't, given that they were just really trying to place all the emphasis on Sessions and his alleged misdeeds.  "Al" was a total straight man in that sketch.

[Macbeth]

12 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

 I also wanted to give props to Alex for an awesome Al Franken. Overall a fairly good show.

I loved the Al Franken impersonation.  SNL should be doing Franken impressions -The Senator is an SNL alum who got Sessions to perjure himself.  SNL should be patting themselves on the back.  I was annoyed when during the Sessions opening skit last week, he was referred to as the "Northern Senator" and wasn't given props.

Maybe Lorne is peeved Franken won't come back to the show.  He can't - in no way can he do the show.  Franken has a very smart media strategy - he stayed away from the national press until he put in his years as Senator.  He does national press sparingly.

I hope we see more impressions of Franken.  I still have his Stuart Smalley CD.

[Curio]

3 minutes ago, Peace 47 said:

I forgot that I wanted to mention Alex Moffat's impression of Al Franken.  It was technically a good impression.  I was a little surprised that there was absolutely no reference to Al's SNL connection, but then again I also wasn't, given that they were just really trying to place all the emphasis on Sessions and his alleged misdeeds.  "Al" was a total straight man in that sketch.

 

 

I was half expecting the real Al Franken to wheel out, but Moffat did a great job with matching his voice. I think they didn't mention Al's SNL connection because the writers know Al spent a long time trying to distance himself away from his comedy persona during his first few years as Senator in order to be taken seriously, and now that he's actually dealing with some legitimate problems, they don't want to make Franken seem unqualified to deal with this situation. The writers know Al used to be one of their own, so it's more of a respect thing by representing him as only Senator Franken, not Senator—and Former SNL Star—Franken.

[Macbeth]

I agree Curio.   But I am still annoyed they referred to him last week as '"a Northern Senator."

[Curio]

@Macbeth, I'm sure SNL will give Franken some more love in the future. He seems poised to be on the right side of history with all this political drama.

[EAG46]

I agree 1000% with Tara's tweet.

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

There was a lot going on in that Olive Garden sketch: the casual racial microaggressions of the director, the wacky directions the actors had to go in (with the height thing and the pasta face thing).  I kind of felt like it was a little cheap to go for the orgasm jokes with everything else going on (like they really wanted to cover their bases), but sex will reliably get a big laugh, and so they went with the best chance to really sell the sketch. 

I agree. I loved all the different stuff going on in this, but I kinda wish the orgasm stuff wasn't part of it. Kenan with his face in the pasta sauce was pretty darn funny. It all was pretty darn funny. The Olive Garden sketch was one of my favorites.

The Cold Open wasn't all that great, though I always like Baldwin as Trump. I was wondering what the patch on his right shoulder was, if it was a real one or made up for the show. Loved when one of the people said, "Oh my God! Does he have business ties on Zorblatt 9?" But my favorite part was when Trump was pointing to Leslie and then Sasheer as being aliens, and when Sasheer looked at Leslie, it dawned on her why he was making the accusation. The way she said, "Ohhh. OK. No," was perfect.

Good Day Denver was ok. I liked the title of the photographer's book: "The Picture's a Little Fuzzy." 

The dog liking Trump was pretty funny. I know my dog wouldn't like Trump. She's too sweet.

Complicit was good. "A feminist. An advocate. A champion for women. But, like, how?" Has Trump yet tweeted how bad SNL is for "attacking" his daughter?

In WU, when Kate as Sessions said, "It's a travel ban! And I helped!" wasn't that a reference to a commercial (for soup? cake mix?) where a little (Southern?) girl says, "And I helped!" ?

The blobfish makeup is so good. She's disgusting. Favorite part of this sketch: When the two pretty mermaids sing a bit of song, then Blobfish and Anglerfish complete it with, "The Simpsonnnns..."

Shanice Goodwin, Ninja is just goofy fun. I love it. "I'm also a cashier at Kohl's." 

The day-without-women sketch was good, too. Kyle's overzealous reaction to everything cracked me up.

As for the funeral sketch, I now have an ear worm. "Here is my butt. I move it up and down..."

I thought Scarlett did well. I didn't know she has hosted four times before. 

I didn't enjoy Lorde's performance or songs. I remember when she sang 'Royals' at the Grammys. I don't listen to too much music, so I'd never heard that song or heard of her. I was mesmerized by her performance. Still a great song.

Edited March 12, 2017 by peeayebee

[oakville]

4 hours ago, TiredMe said:

Max the dog was also my fav sketch. I adore pugs so even if it hadn't have been funny, which it was, it prob would have been my fav. Lol

i can't explain but Olive Garden sketch just kept me laughing. 

Honestly I feel a bit for Ivanka having that dude as a dad, but I thought Complicit was hilarious. 

Pugs are the best dogs for TV because they have such big expressive eyes.

[Bruinsfan]

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Pretty should have nothing to do with getting an album deal and no her parents are not in music; it's weird that you'd make that kind of an assumption about a woman's music you didn't get.

I agree that looks shouldn't have anything to do with getting an album deal, but that's not my impression of the reality of the industry. As for not "getting" the MG's music, I guess I'll have to wait until I hear some actual music from her rather than atonal Beat poetry or whatever the hell it was she was doing during her performances.

[BetterButter]

31 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

wasn't that a reference to a commercial (for soup? cake mix?) where a little (Southern?) girl says, "And I helped!" ?

Shake n Bake

[Psychobunny]

I wanted to clarify that I do love the songs from Lorde's first album which was why I was so disappointed. Like I said, I think that the second song has potential but she is just somebody whose talent lies more in songwriting than in pure singing with just a piano. I suspect that this song will be better with production.

[vb68]

Quote

Shanice Goodwin, Ninja is just goofy fun. I love it. "I'm also a cashier at Kohl's." 

Leslie deserves some kudos for doing this sketch again as she tore her ACL the first time.  I couldn't believe she did another cartwheel.

[PepSinger]

1 hour ago, Bruinsfan said:

As for not "getting" the MG's music, I guess I'll have to wait until I hear some actual music from her rather than atonal Beat poetry or whatever the hell it was.

It's fine if it's not your thing, but who are you to judge what is and isn't music?

[Galileo908]

16 hours ago, ebk57 said:

 

Where is @Galileo908?  How am I supposed to really know what to think about stuff?  Or mostly, just remember what happened?  :-)

I was busy last night and only caught the last sketch! I DVR'd it, I'll watch it soon, promise!

[Princess Sparkle]

  I loved this episode.  I usually am pretty indifferent on Scarlett Johansson, but I thought she did a fantastic job. I give her huge kudos for immediately and calmly putting the helmet back on the pug after it fell off - that sketch could've gone off the rails if someone hadn't gone in and put the helmet on. After that, "the day without women" was my favorite sketch of the night, with the Olive Garden one following close behind. 

I was half expecting the 5-timers song to be the same one Bobby sang Ben Affleck during Ben Affleck's 5-timers monologue. I was a little surprised they didn't bring out Alec at all during the monologue though. I can understand him not staying until the end - he does have 3 very young children at home, so I can understand him not staying to the end every time - but having him join her in the monologue in some capacity would've been nice.   

The WU guests were great. Alex Moffat killed the Franken impression, and Pete's line of "he looks like if Fredo Corleone was even sicker as a child" had me on the floor. 

[formerlyfreedom]

The PTV site rule is to Be Civil to each other. It's okay to disagree with each other; it's not okay to be rude or uncivil to another poster.

[Irlandesa]

Lorde is interesting to me because I think her first single (or least the first single that brought her to my attention) was amazing.  It was addictive, unique and impressive coming from someone of her age.  But none of what I've heard since really quite reached those highs.  Maybe I'd like the songs she sang better with more production but she sadly didn't do much for me here.

The pug trying to take off his helmet was perfect.  It was as if to say he didn't want to be associated with the words coming out of the electronic readers mouth.

The Al Franken impression was decent but I do hope he makes an appearance on SNL at some point.  I understand why he distanced himself from that period but he's pretty established now.

The Olive Garden skit was one of those simple premises that feels like it has been done before but was executed so well that it didn't matter.  It was hilarious.  I can see why people felt the orgasm face might have gone too far but I think what went wrong with it is that they had everyone do an orgasm face.  Having the director give that direction and then flash to Leslie's face had me cracking up and would have been perfect had it ended there.

[backgroundnoise]

18 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

Loved Max and complicit but WTH was up with Lorde? She's never been the best singer but her songs were good. The first song was crap although I do hear a nugget of potential in the second one.

Between the frequent flat notes and the crazy dancing, I thought she looked like a SNL parody of a guest singer.  She hurt my ears.

[Bruinsfan]

I don't know, when SNL parodies its own musical guests there's usually some sort of melody involved.

[VCRTracking]

9 hours ago, peeayebee said:

There was a lot going on in that Olive Garden sketch: the casual racial microaggressions of the director, the wacky directions the actors had to go in (with the height thing and the pasta face thing).  I kind of felt like it was a little cheap to go for the orgasm jokes with everything else going on (like they really wanted to cover their bases), but sex will reliably get a big laugh, and so they went with the best chance to really sell the sketch.

 

9 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I agree. I loved all the different stuff going on in this, but I kinda wish the orgasm stuff wasn't part of it. Kenan with his face in the pasta sauce was pretty darn funny. It all was pretty darn funny. The Olive Garden sketch was one of my favorites.

I love whenever they make funny orgasm faces on the show because sex is not as "photogenic" as it is in movies or TV. People's sex expressions IRL are ridiculous most of the time.  I liked previous sketches like Rob Schneider as the "Orgasm Guy", the commercial parody of Herbal Essence shampoo, Kristen Wiig as a woman on Weekend Update who has P.G.A.D. (Personal Genital Arousal Disorder) and my favorite,  Lonely Island's Jizz in my pants

Edited March 13, 2017 by VCRTracking