S43.E01: Ryan Gosling / Jay-Z

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Ryan Gosling hosts the 43rd season premiere; musical guest is Jay-Z.

[mtlchick]

Reminder that it is live across ALL time zones this entire season.  

[vb68]

Happy Premiere everyone! Hope it's a good show and season!

[Gemma Violet]

Why are Mikey and Kyle still in the "featuring" section in the opening credits?  I thought they'd be moved up, especially Mikey.

I didn't think the Trump sketch was as funny as usual, especially since the writers had all summer to prepare.

I thought Ryan's monologue was lame, but maybe it's because I haven't seen La La Land.

Oh no, here comes the third round of alien abduction.  Really?

Eta:  All in all, a rather uneven episode.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Gemma Violet

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Of course we open up with Trump (Alec Baldwin, of course) bitching out the mayor of San Juan. So much has happened in the time between the last Weekend Update and now. Hell, most of the people Trump rattled off resigned in between those weeks! I loved the whole bit with Kate/Jeff Sessions and you KNOW they set them up to cradle each other just to get under Trump's skin. They wasted Alex Moffat's Chuck Schumer, he has Chuck down cold. We need to see more of that. (EDIT: Oh right, how soon do you think Trump will bitch about this episode?)

Monologue: Ryan Gosling saved jazz. That's referencing La La Land, right? Man, this show was right about this year taking forever, it felt like that movie came out 3 years ago. The whole  jazz interlude was worth it for Nerlens, and how he kept breaking over that.

NSA: Oh look, another abduction sketch. I think I've made it clear that while I found the original sketch amusing, but not enough to understand why everyone keeps going crazy for it. I think everyone just wanted Kate McKinnon to fondle Ryan Gosling's butt (and he seemed to be laughing his ass off over it).

Levi Wokes: So...Levi invented denim parachute pants? So this was some knock at leftist identity politics by making pants so generic that they don't appeal to anyone? Or a commercial by a corporation trying to be hip and failing? Probably both? I thought it was funny, though. #GREB

"Pockets. Sold. Separately."

Fliplets: This totally went in a dark direction pretty quickly, but I appreciate it. Still pretty "eh" in Ryan as a whole.

"This was the usable footage!" Well, that explains everything.

WU: Trump half-explaining what an island is pretty much explains the problem with current events today: truth is stranger than fiction. They also have the advantage of being the first comedy show to call out Trump's shit on this whole Puerto Rico mess...today. I love that "Slutty Angela Merkel" is just her with a hat. "White Fudge Ding Dongs" and the Baltimore bit were probably the best jokes tonight.

Henrietta & The Fugitive: This was a weird one. So wait, Henrietta was an actual chicken lady and not someone dressed as a chicken to hide from the cops? And Ryan Gosling couldn't keep it together, but neither would you if a woman dressed as a chicken stole a gun out of your butt.

Pasta: Here's branded content, but a sketch about everyone getting mad at Pizza Hut pasta is what it should be like. I loved the reveal that the restaurant they loved wasn't even real, just a warehouse with three tables filming a Pizza Hut commercial. Okay, the reveal that it was all a Dominos commercial caught me off guard, loved that. And Ryan Gosling broke again.

papyrus: Ha, a sketch about how no one remembers Avatar. Or, rather, a sketch about a weird obsession with the inventor of the Papyrus font. Yeah, how did a movie that used Papyrus in its logo make so much money? It is an ugly font, but wake me up when they go after Jokerman. I loved that the logo at the end was in comic sans.

Band: Wasn't feeling it until Kenan kept obsessing over his good jeans. And they waited until the literal last minute for Leslie Jones to show up in a live sketch.

All in all, pretty meh return. I don't think Ryan Gosling is that good an actor, and he kept breaking. Next week is Gal Gadot, that SHOULD be better, but over/under how many sketches involve Wonder Woman?

Goodnights: Cue was missed and it gets cut off. Lovely.

And we have a tribute to Hef. At least he actually hosted the show back in the day.

14 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

I didn't think the Trump sketch was as funny as usual, especially since the writers had all summer to prepare.

Aren't the writers famous for NOT preparing over the summer? Since the schedule is so grueling, they spend the summer far away from this show.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Galileo908

[ebk57]

Happy to see you back @Galileo908!!  

Tonight's show was a big meh.  Ryan breaking in every single sketch he was in was really annoying.  WU was the best part of the show.  I hope the new writers (and the old ones) get into the groove soon.

[vb68]

I agree it was very uneven, and I thought it started out flat for the first half. It got better with Update and then they got more creative and happily weird in the last half.

Alex is fast becoming a favorite of mine. I think he just completely commits to every character he does 110%.

I saw Chris Redd and Heidi Gardner in bit parts, but if Luke Null did anything, I missed it.  It looked like he was getting congratulated in the goodbyes, but that was over in a blink.

It's very weird for me to realize Bobby is gone. Vanessa too, but especially Bobby.

Ryan was good in places. The effort seemed to come and go, and he doesn't really seem embarrassed by his breaking. I'm 50-50 on thinking he could be torture to be around or really fun. It really could go either way. But mainly he's an A-lister who's just fulfilling an obligation.   

Edited October 1, 2017 by vb68

[Peace 47]

Weekend Update was savage and very "go for the jugular".  I liked it. 

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

They wasted Alex Moffat's Chuck Schumer, he has Chuck down cold.

So true.  I think he only uttered one sentence, but I was like, whoa!  He had a perfect voice and mannerisms.

Agreed that overall, the show was pretty uneven.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Peace 47

[opus]

It's early Sunday morning, and I'm seeing Grape Ape again. Awesome :)

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

Alex Moffat's Chuck Schumer, he has Chuck down cold. We need to see more of that.

 

That was uncanny. I hope they can think of something more to do with it in future.

Lots of people smoking. Is that new? I thought there was a prohibition on smoking in broadcast TV, but either that's not true or it changed, I guess.

I don't really like the portrayal of Angela Merkel starving for attention from the other heads of state. It's insulting in a way that I don't think there's any basis for, and it's actually pretty sexist. Go ahead and mock her, but base it on something about her, not a gender stereotype she's shown no signs of actually embodying.

I loved that Cecily didn't break during the alien abduction sketch. Made a good contrast with Gosling.

[vb68]

I also meant to say I too was astonished that Mikey Day wasn't promoted to the main cast. He certainly deserved it.

And to back up our Grape Ape, the writers in no way spend the summer getting ready for this first show. Six or seven of them were just hired, and most of the ones who are returning are either stand ups or have other jobs they are eager to get to in those months.

I think a lot of the unevenness has to be due to the loss of Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, who were just gangbusters last year as Head Writers.  

[Traveller519]

Giggley Gosling is just the brief reprieve I need from the never ending shit-storm!!

[VCRTracking]

The "Papyrus" short was definitely my favorite of the night. I'd say the humor was Ryan Gosling's rage at something trivial but I honestly agree 100 percent! The fact that a movie that cost millions of dollars used the tackiest font ever for the title offends me!

[VCRTracking]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I don't really like the portrayal of Angela Merkel starving for attention from the other heads of state. It's insulting in a way that I don't think there's any basis for, and it's actually pretty sexist. Go ahead and mock her, but base it on something about her, not a gender stereotype she's shown no signs of actually embodying.

I always saw it less as playing a gender stereotype and more doing the opposite of a typical German stereotype. Instead of cold and formidable, she's insecure and wants to be hip.

Edited October 1, 2017 by VCRTracking

[Spartan Girl]

The alien abduction skit was funny, but Ryan cracking up got old really fast. That chicken skit was ridiculous.

I hope Gal Gadot brings it next week. Please SNL, bring back Wonder Woman for the Trump cold opening.... ?

[carrier76]

As someone who works in graphic design, I laughed harder at the "papyrus" sketch than anything else.

[Fostersmom]

The fact they busted out comic sans at the end of the Papyrus sketch was worth the whole damn sketch. 

Ryan breaking every sketch was funny, to a point, but seriously, he's got to get it together. The alien sketches aren't original anymore, but his laughing so hard you could see the chair shaking did help make it less predictable. Unfortunately, the whole sketch just reminded me how much I'm gong to miss Bobby on this show. 

The new hires made minor appearances, but I hope the new woman has more to offer than what's sure to be her ability to play Ivanka. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

10 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

Why are Mikey and Kyle still in the "featuring" section in the opening credits?  I thought they'd be moved up, especially Mikey.

Kyle is main cast. Do you mean Alex?

My favourite joke was probably Sarah Huckabee Sanders' "no nonsense/all nonsense". Nothing else really tickled me particularly.

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, vb68 said:

I also meant to say I too was astonished that Mikey Day wasn't promoted to the main cast. He certainly deserved it.

Mikey Day seemed to be in every single sketch last night.

I loved the "papyrus" sketch.  I was trying to figure out if it was a parody of something?  But then Taran Killiam RT'd this from March:

Edited October 1, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[Gemma Violet]

2 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Kyle is main cast. Do you mean Alex?

 

Oops, yes, I meant Alex.  Sorry about that.  But the one I was really surprised about was Mikey.  He shined in so many sketches last season.

[Galileo908]

6 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I always saw it less as playing a gender stereotype and more doing the opposite of a typical German stereotype. Instead of cold and formidable, she's insecure and wants to be hip.

So essentially playing Hillary Clinton with a German accent. I just realized that, but it works for me.

[vb68]

Mike Ryan's scorecard.   I agree and disagree with some of it.   Update was indeed very strong (though no idea why he disses the summer shows. They were fine if just not enough.)   But I don't think Gosling's breaking was as charming as he thinks.

It's interesting that he says the papyrus sketch was twice as long in dress rehearsal.   

Edited October 1, 2017 by vb68

[Gemma Violet]

53 minutes ago, vb68 said:

 But I don't think Gosling's breaking was as charming as he thinks.

Yeah, once is cute but unfortunately he broke in just about every sketch.  

[Trini]

It was alright, Ryan did break way too many times (which caused the other cast to break too), and the recently departed cast members were missed.

The chicken sketch was weird enough to work for me.

My degree is in graphic design, so I completely related to the Papyrus sketch. Ending it with comic sans just about killed me!

[Ottis]

Between the meh skits and the over-the-top smoking, I skipped through a lot of this ep. Can't anyone figure out something to do with their hands besides smoke? It's disgusting. 

Did enjoy the "woke" jeans as an example of people going too far. 

Trump skits aren't funny anymore, because you can't make him look less qualified and presidential than he does himself. Better to focus on his supporting cast at this point, I think. 

There are a lot of people in Houston and Florida who aren't white, Michael Che. Most of the ones I saw on the news were not white. Try again. 

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

But I don't think Gosling's breaking was as charming as he thinks.

Remember that Ryan is the one who was giggling onstage during the La La Land / Moonlighting Oscar mixup.  People were asking why.  I like him so much, but to me, this is an annoying tendency of his.  

[helenamonster]

Until Kate's Jeff Sessions popped up, I didn't like the Cold Open. It's just not funny anymore (which, I acknowledge, isn't the show's fault; they have to work with what they've got). Anytime Mayor Cruz has popped up on TV these past few days I've burst into tears. US citizens are being punished for a natural disaster that was not their fault by a president that they weren't able to vote for. People are dying and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. I just can't laugh at 45 anymore. He makes me ill.

I liked the monologue. I laughed way too hard at Nerlens.

The alien abduction sketches are just an excuse to let Kate do her thing and get Ryan to laugh. I don't mind the first part (in fact, I encourage it), but Ryan was, once again, so giggly this whole episode that it didn't seem necessary. Is he like this all the time? If he is, Eva Mendes is a saint for putting up with it.

I thought The Fliplets had potential ("I'm the only one who went to live with our dad after our parents got divorced!") but it didn't earn the quick descent into darkness that it gave us. It needed more groundwork before it got there. This is one rare situation on this show where I think it would have helped if the sketch was longer.

Weekend Update was appropriately brutal. This is how I would prefer 45 coverage to go from here on out.

I hated Henrietta and the Fugitive with a passion, until the last part where she shows up outside of the prison with a headscarf and sunglasses. That made it all worth it.

I thought Terrezanno's was pretty good.

Papyrus killed me. I wasn't sure which direction they were going in when they brought up Avatar at first. I thought it might be the more oft-trodden direction of how even though it's the highest grossing movie of all time, no one can remember a single line of dialogue or character name, and its only lasting impression is that there were blue aliens and the special effects were pretty dope. But this was much more surprising, and more satisfying. And I hadn't noticed it before but now it's going to bother me forever!

None of the newbies really made a huge impression this episode, but at least Chris and Heidi were able to get a lot of facetime with supplemental characters, which I think bodes well for their ability to assert themselves and carve out a niche. A whole episode and I don't think we saw Luke once? That's usually not a great sign for longevity on this show. 

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

All in all, pretty meh return. I don't think Ryan Gosling is that good an actor, and he kept breaking. Next week is Gal Gadot, that SHOULD be better, but over/under how many sketches involve Wonder Woman?

I wouldn't be mad if it were all of them. Let her do the whole show in character. #Diana5Ever

3 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Mikey Day seemed to be in every single sketch last night.

I loved the "papyrus" sketch.  I was trying to figure out if it was a parody of something?  But then Taran Killiam RT'd this from March:

Isn't Julio Torres one of the new writers? I guess we know who wrote that sketch.

[bmoore4026]

The Papyrus short was the sketch of the night.  And I loved the bizarreness of the chicken and the fugitive.  The props failing and the corpsing that followed made it more tolerable.

And I enjoyed the second Alien Abduction sketch.  If Kate McKinnon were not in those Paranormal sketches, they would not be near as funny.  Her playing with Ryan Gosling's behind should earn her another Emmy just fine.

And I remember those commercials the Pizza Hut Pasta fake out sketch was based on.  The sketch was pretty good, but the actual commercials are cringe inducingly funny.  I remember that one guy after everyone has been told it was a pizza chain's pasta and he looked so forlorn.  He looked like he was thinking "I have brought shame to my familia.  I will throw myself into the Tiber to preserve the family honor."

Don't give a shit about Jay-Z and I could take or leave Weekend Update.

Edited October 2, 2017 by bmoore4026
I was being redundant

[Galileo908]

18 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

I wouldn't be mad if it were all of them. Let her do the whole show in character. #Diana5Ever

Yeah, I should've mentioned that I don't consider this a bad thing. But I've come to realize that every time I hope that an upcoming episode features something, the answer is either "not at all" or just a quick aside in the monologue. But I know they won't avoid a Wonder Woman bit, the questions are when is it showing up, and what will they do with it?

[rmontro]

I see there are some people here who are tired of the alien abduction sketches.  Personally, I love them and thought it was the funniest sketch of the night.  I find them funny in both concept and execution.

Papyrus was good also.  Aren't they working on like five Avatar sequels?  Is anyone really looking forward to seeing them?

[Dev F]

9 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I always saw it less as playing a gender stereotype and more doing the opposite of a typical German stereotype. Instead of cold and formidable, she's insecure and wants to be hip.

It's also something that was essential to the premise of the first Merkel segment: the news had just broken that the NSA was spying on her cell phone communications, and the gag was that she was terribly embarrassed about what they might have seen. "What if Barack Obama has read zis tiny u-mail! Ohhh, ze shame!" Subsequent appearances have riffed on other news stories that didn't fit so naturally into the "desperately uncool" characterization, but since that had already been established as the character's shtick, they just had to keep going with it.

[Racj82]

I will never complain about people breaking in live tv. It's part of the charm to me. I also don't what people expect someone to do when Kate is playing with your butt and you are seducing a chicken lady. Yes, he broke more than that but when things get this silly, I can't blame anyone.

[Galileo908]

2 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

I also don't what people expect someone to do when Kate is playing with your butt and you are seducing a chicken lady. Yes, he broke more than that but when things get this silly, I can't blame anyone.

Exactly what I said. When he broke those times, I didn't blame him at all. He was obviously enjoying Kate playing with his butt, and it was fun trying to see him hide his laughter under his hat.

[peeayebee]

13 hours ago, vb68 said:

Alex is fast becoming a favorite of mine. I think he just completely commits to every character he does 110%. 

ITA. I was meh on him when he first started on the show, but I love his Eric Trump impression, and now other characters are standing out for me. Although I'm not crazy about the Man Who Just Bought a Boat (if that's the name), he really sold it. His Chuck Schumer is excellent. I even enjoyed his character in The Fliplets sketch. There were little things he did that added to it bit.

 

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

Did enjoy the "woke" jeans as an example of people going too far. 

I liked it too. No designated size or sex, even having that weird zipper. 

But overall, I didn't like this ep. Generally I don't mind people breaking during skits, but Ryan did it so much that I tired of it. I also hate when the audience whoops and applauds it.

One thing I liked in the Cold Open was when the Mayor of San Juan asked Trump if he knew that Puerto Rico was part of the U.S., and Trump responded, "I mean I do know, but not many people do." That is exactly what Trump has said or implied a few times. 

The "I saved jazz" joke got old fast. The only thing I liked was Nerlins.

I'm tired of the alien abduction sketches. It's just an excuse for Kate's character to come up with different paired euphemisms for vagina and butt. I did get a kick out of her comparing the aliens to "shoppers storming a Walmart on Black Friday."

Henrietta and the Fugitive was bad. I think it would have worked if it had been executed better. There were too many missed cues and just a slow pace.

I didn't care for Jay-Z's performances.

I like what little we saw of Chris Redd. "They not brown but they not NOT brown "

[mtlchick]

I think Woke Jeans is something we could see on the Milan runways in a year from now.

 

Ryan: Hey girl.  You know I'm good looking.  Now watch me break more than Jimmy Fallon that you'll be SO charmed on how I saved jazz that you don't care.  

 I will give it to Aidy Bryant: she will find ridiculous ways to get good looking male guests to make out with her (see Benedict Cumberbatch's weird stripping last year.) 

Edited October 1, 2017 by mtlchick

[Toaster Strudel]

How much money did SNL get from tobacco manufacturers to show so many people smoking?

Did Pizza Hut pay for that skitommercial?

Edited October 1, 2017 by Toaster Strudel

[Mrs Shibbles]

Terrezanos was funnier when it was a Chris Farley Skit

[Fatkat]

For the host to break-out laughing once is adorable and endearing. To break-out laughing during every live scene is unprofessional and annoying. Very strange!

[Step]

1 hour ago, Mrs Shibbles said:

Terrezanos was funnier when it was a Chris Farley Skit

Yes! Exactly what I was thinking as I was watching. It makes me wonder if the writers are just dipping into previous material.

[absnow54]

7 hours ago, Ottis said:

Trump skits aren't funny anymore, because you can't make him look less qualified and presidential than he does himself.

I don't think they even need Baldwin, they can just cut together a clip reel of the dumbest things Trump said this week, like they did with the actual footage of him describing an island.

5 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

But I know they won't avoid a Wonder Woman bit, the questions are when is it showing up, and what will they do with it?

And when Ben Affleck is going to show up.

I really like Ryan Gosling, and he seems to be having such a genuinely good time, and the cast seems to really like him, but damn, he can not stop laughing.

[mtlchick]

Quote

And when Ben Affleck is going to show up.

He's now dating an SNL producer (after rumors he was seeing her while still married) so I think that may be a wee bit on the nose right now. 

[Phishbulb]

13 hours ago, Step said:

Yes! Exactly what I was thinking as I was watching. It makes me wonder if the writers are just dipping into previous material.

Not only this, but the Sklar brothers have also done a routine in their act about these Pizza Hut commercials where they "surprise" people (which....aren't new? Unless they've restarted this campaign again. It's an idea that's at least 10 years old). 

[vb68]

Harrison Ford was suppose to show up for the monologue, and they tried to get some of the people from Moonlight, presumably to make some Oscar jokes.

No idea why either didn't work out.

[Madding crowd]

I don't mind when people laugh, it means they have a sense of humor. I would rather see that than someone who has no sense of humor and just seems over it all. I have trouble not laughing when something strikes me as funny so I get Ryan. I liked the Woke jeans and the Fliplets sketch-the rest were just ok.  The alien abduction one is not really funny anymore. 

[Peace 47]

I've now watched the papyrus sketch 3 times on YouTube, and I think it gets funnier every time.  The vain, desperate hope that Ryan Gosling has with the psychiatrist when he realizes that they are making more Avatar movies while he literally reaches out and says, "So they changed the artwork. They fixed it" just cracks me up.

I think that I like the one new guy already--Chris Redd.  He just has charisma, like in the papyrus sketch when he was arguing with Ryan Gosling about how they "clearly modified" the font or the Levi's Wokes.  

[xander874]

On 9/30/2017 at 11:41 PM, Gemma Violet said:

Why are Mikey and Kyle still in the "featuring" section in the opening credits?  I thought they'd be moved up, especially Mikey.

I remember hearing years ago that Lorne requires featured players spend 2 seasons as featured before being promoted to regular status. I've paid attention and they've followed that pretty much.  I think that's why he grabbed Kate for the last few episodes of a season, so she only have to spend one full season as featured (but technically spanning 2 seasons as featured).

So Mikey and Alex (and Melissa) should be regulars next season. But, it's not like their status affects their screentime. They were all over. I don't think we saw Beck until the Henrietta sketch.

[helenamonster]

Also, I'm assuming feature players get paid less than the main cast? I can kind of understand Lorne and the producers wanting people to really prove themselves as valuable to the show before giving them a raise.

[Princess Sparkle]

With Emma Stone popping up in the monologue, I found myself wishing that she had been the host instead. I don't mind Ryan Gosling cracking up once or twice, but doing it in places where nothing funny even appeared to be happening (like in the monologue and the band sketch) was really starting to annoy me - I found myself starting to compare him to Chris Hemsworth, someone who also had sketches with ridiculous premises (the sketch where he played a female version of himself) and a sketch go unpredictably off the rails (the live chicken spaceman sketch), but he was still able to keep it together. Ryan Gosling is clearly much better in the pre-taped sketches, since Papyrus was great this time, and the Santa Baby was the best sketch from his first hosting gig.

Alex Moffatt is my unsung hero of the show. I'm going to need more of his Chuck Schumer and Al Franken, and I found Guy Who Just Bought a Boat hysterical, but that's probably because i have met (and sadly, dated) many of those guys.

[Milburn Stone]

21 minutes ago, Princess Sparkle said:

Alex Moffatt is my unsung hero of the show. I'm going to need more of his Chuck Schumer and Al Franken, and I found Guy Who Just Bought a Boat hysterical...

I agree! (But I also really liked Mikey Day as the "host" in the Terrazano's sketch. Which I thought was hilarious, regardless of whether it was recycled.)

[Phishbulb]

On 10/3/2017 at 0:11 PM, helenamonster said:

Also, I'm assuming feature players get paid less than the main cast? I can kind of understand Lorne and the producers wanting people to really prove themselves as valuable to the show before giving them a raise.

This is true, but Mikey Day's been writing for the show for a while now and it usually seems like he and Streeter Seidell are reponsible for half or more of the content in the show. I think he's already proven his worth to the show.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Phishbulb