S43.E11: Jessica Chastain / Troye Sivan

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Hosted by Jessica Chastain, with musical guest Troye Sivan.

[VCRTracking]

I love this promo:

[JZL]

^^^  Super!  Getting my hopes up . . .  [biting tongue re the MG :rolleyes]

[formerlyfreedom]

Okay, I have a confession - I love Pete Davidson. My 13 year old nephew bears a STRONG resemblance to him, and when he plays Chad? He sounds EXACTLY, like my nephew. So no matter how the skit goes....I love it.

I know Pete is not for everyone, but I've loved his increased visibility this season.

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Covering Trump's medical exam, the best of the low-hanging fruit of the week. Remember that way back time of Tuesday when we were all laughing at Trump's clearly fake medical record? Good times. "He takes Propecia for an inside joke." Love that Pete Davidson asking about Stormy Daniels is playing himself. 

Monologue: A song. Well, it was okay. Melissa was great, albeit being on screen for about 7 seconds. You have Jessica Chastain and that's what you do with her? Hoo boy, that certainly sets the tone for the rest of the show.

Car Hunk: Another Bachelor sketch, I love these. I did like how all the girls were named "Lauren." "You can tell by my voice that I don't have a dad" was so great, that was pretty dead on. I love how the bachelor changed midway through the sketch and nobody cared. And yet another winner of the Tide Pod Challenge!

Fresh Prince: This got dark, I love it. Took someone long enough to parody the theme song. Jessica was clearly supposed to be Agent Scully, right?

Google Talk: This was great. Mikey as Live-action Bart Simpson and it's the lynchpin of the sketch. My generation is finally running the show and I'm scared. Honestly, I don't know if it was a missed opportunity to have him be named Bort instead of Bert. Or Burt Stanton.

What Even Matters Anymore?: Taking the obvious and turning it into a game show is something this show does so well (and hasn't done in a while). OMG yes, breaking character because everyone's concerned for Jessica. I love it. It's so depressing, but man was Jessica great in this.

"Kenan will leave, but Bernard will stay." Kenan's the best.

WU: "Trump never passes up the opportunity to blame a minority." And that sums up the shutdown, folks. As does "clutch my pearls!" sums up Stormy Daniels. Speaking of which, Cecily was great as her. It was uncomfortable in a good way. Gotta love Alex And Moffat as British Don Jr. AND I'M ERIC Princes William and Harry. That was great, and oh my god Kate as Robert Mueller?! That was genius, even if the actual bit was slow as hell (maybe that's the point? Like the actual investigation?). The makeup team is earning that Emmy tonight, I'll say that. Those jowls will be in a museum some day.

Amazon: And now another branded sketch. "Jeff Bayzeus" It's an accent and impression sketch! First Boston (with Casey Affleck), then Atlanta (with Paula Deen in tow) and Newark (an excuse to reference Angry Cory Booker), then Miami (Pit Bull). This was fun, I wish I saw more. I love sketches that trot out every cast member, and this didn't have everyone! It had most of them, right?

Jalapenos: This had to have happened to somebody. The irony of "I'm trying to expand my brain more" and then a free taco dilemma breaks their brains. It was an okay sketch, I thought Aidy's interjection was funny.

Doctor's Orders: Chad! This was great, like a great one-act play. I'll be honest, they can make a Chad movie and I'd be just as entranced as I am at these sketches. I was expecting Chad to have eaten a Tide Pod (gotta get Rule of Three in there), but a dog turd seems more like a Chad thing to do anyway. Everyone's headcanon was that Jessica's character was the same one from the previous sketch, right?

On 1/21/2018 at 0:48 AM, saoirse said:

Okay, I have a confession - I love Pete Davidson. My 13 year old nephew bears a STRONG resemblance to him, and when he plays Chad? He sounds EXACTLY, like my nephew. So no matter how the skit goes....I love it.

I know Pete is not for everyone, but I've loved his increased visibility this season.

Okay.

Lawyers: Love it when they allow the cast do be silly. Kenan kills it at the silly faces, and Jessica trying to keep up. Weird ending, though.

Like I said last week, this was fun. Will Ferrell's next week! THAT is gonna be great.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Galileo908

[opus]

18 minutes ago, saoirse said:

Okay, I have a confession - I love Pete Davidson. My 13 year old nephew bears a STRONG resemblance to him, and when he plays Chad? He sounds EXACTLY, like my nephew. So no matter how the skit goes....I love it.

I know Pete is not for everyone, but I've loved his increased visibility this season.

Okay

 

Edit- Oops, just noticed Galileo908 already did the joke.

Edited January 21, 2018 by opus

[Mumbles]

7 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Jalapenos: This had to have happened to somebody. The irony of "I'm trying to expand my brain more" and then a free taco dilemma breaks their brains.

Lol, you’re right, someone must have overheard a conversation like this, or maybe a writer/performer had this happen to them in a past gig waiting tables. I did love it, though.

I’m very meh on Chastain. As an actor I find her a bit cold and robotic, even in movies where she’s not playing the steely tough woman. I get that she is vocal about current events and causes on social media but....I dunno....it seems very calculated to me. So in that “What Difference Does It Make” sketch, I felt she was playing the role of Woke Actor, which of course she was, but when she supposedly broke the fourth wall, she still seemed to be playing a role. YMMV as always.

[ebk57]

I wish I'd enjoyed the show as much as @Galileo908.  I found myself wondering if the same people who wrote last week's show that I thought was lots of fun also wrote this one.  I liked Chastain.  There were parts of almost every sketch that I did like, but more parts of them that I didn't.  I'm not sure what went wrong, but tonight didn't quite come together for me.  

Didn't hate it, but didn't like it much.

[vb68]

I thought the show really started off slow, but once it got going, it was really good.

Aidy's Sarah Sanders is still missing something for me. It lacks the absolute smugness and the mean girl times ten way she taunts reporters. If anything she's more hardcore than Spicey. I think Sarah would relish an actual fistfight. At least thats the vibe I get. I just wish it would go a little darker.

The monologue was very meh. I think they could have done more with it. And I always find the Bachelor spoofs pretty lazy. I also associate them with hosts they seem to have trouble writing for ( Your Blake Sheltons and Rhonda Rouseys), so my immediate reaction was "OMG, it's one of those shows? Really?"

But then I enjoyed most everything else. The Fresh Prince parody was indeed very clever, and once again Update is just firing on all cylinders. (Even if this was a week crying out for Alex's Chuck Schumer...) I loved Princes William and Harry. Alex is just about my favorite castmember now behind Kate. He's so versatile and disappears into the roles.  And I was legit scared for a few seconds with Kate's makeup as Mueller. (That whole segment was pretty bold....just saying.)

The restaurant sketch made me laugh. I know people almost as bad as that.

"I ate raw hamburger last week."

"Why you do that?"

"I was being funny."

-Well, okay. I take that back.

And I just love the Chad character.  That end line that he ate dog poop was both disgusting and pretty funny.

Poor Luke Null. He just can't really catch a break. 

Edited January 21, 2018 by vb68

[izabella]

I must be the only person who doesn't like the Chad character.

[VCRTracking]

As a teenager in the 90s I loved the Fresh Prince sketch and the one about the guy who liked Bart Simpson. I know The Simpsons are still on the air but it brings me back to when Bart was the breakout star back when it started.

The "Chad" short was worth it for Jessica Chastain to do the "take off glasses and undo the hair" bit. That still works on me.

Liked Mikey and Alex as Princes William and Harry. I want to believe that's their relationship IRL!

I'll admit that free food deals always take me longer to work out in real life but I was never as confused as Jessica and Heidi's characters!

[Mystery]

Trump was supposedly upset that Spicer was portrayed by a woman, so I wonder how he'll feel about Mueller--I think it will still rankle, that he's being chased by a "woman." Those cheeks were INSANE. I have to admit, the bit cheered me up a little. 

Che saying that he could think of another time when black unemployment was lower... yikes. 

9 minutes ago, izabella said:

I must be the only person who doesn't like the Chad character.

I'm okay with Chad, but since Pete was himself on WU a while back, I'd like to see more of that. I can still hear him, in my head. "That was a DEATH THREAT. In a NEWSpaper." 

[Galileo908]

14 minutes ago, izabella said:

I must be the only person who doesn't like the Chad character.

Okay.

[27bored]

I watched for Troye Sivan. Am I the only person who loves that his performances, especially the first one, were like, extra gay? I don’t think a lot of people know him, so the fact that he came out there vamping around the stage was kinda awesome. There was a bit of an F U in it, which was pretty brave.

[tallykat]

I just did not get this show. The opening was okay and the monologue/song was good but it was a train wreck after that. I’ve not seen Jessica Chastain in much but isn’t she supposed to be an acclaimed actress? Of course, she only has the material she’s given. The Bachelor sketch? Maybe it would be funny if I watched The Bachelor, but maybe it should be funny even if I don’t. For the second week in a row, they have had a sketch featuring gang violence. It doesn’t feel “cutting edge—look at us ignoring political correctness” so much as a cheap counter balance to picking on Trump. “See, we stereotype blacks as gang members too!” And I realize there’s another women’s march this weekend but I think they addressed it without having to also have the game show host meltdown skit. Maybe it is their way of saying, Okay, enough is enough. But even Cecily couldn’t talk herself out of the hopelessness. Skits just seem to end. I can’t remember how the google skit ended and while the princes were cute, the ending of “no comment” fell flat. Maybe a follow up comment by Colin or Michael about how much it cost to fly them over for “no comment.”  

[Joimiaroxeu]

Hearing Jessica do the ditsy vocal fry and uptalking was unnerving to me. Has she ever played that kind of character in her movies?

Ride or die with Caligula. Good one.

I didn't get Colin's shark joke on WU.

[Phishbulb]

8 hours ago, vb68 said:

And I always find the Bachelor spoofs pretty lazy. I also associate them with hosts they seem to have trouble writing for ( Your Blake Sheltons and Rhonda Rouseys), so my immediate reaction was "OMG, it's one of those shows? Really?"

They always appear in January, as that's when the new season of The Bachelor is currently airing. The last 2 have actually tried to incorporate the real people from the show (I know Beck's character in the last one was based on a real guy, and so was Alex's character in this one, right?) 

But yeah, Blake Shelton, Rhonda Rousey, Felicity Jones, now Jessica....all non-comedic hosts trying to do comedy, which is usually not successful. 

[Fostersmom]

Mikey and Alex are really killing it this season. I love when they are together, they play really well off each other. I'm not usually a Melissa fan, but she's stepped up the last couple of episodes. I gave Chris's Fresh Prince skit the side eye at first, but the very last line was a well placed payoff and IMO sold the whole damn thing. I'm really becoming a Heidi fan, I feel like she's close to developing a recurring sketch. As for the other new guy, is he still even still there? I literally just checked the credits on the episode to see if he was listed. Was he in a single sketch last night or the week before for that matter? I only remember him being in that train wreck new student sketch and that obviously did him no favors. 

Add me to the list of the Chad fans. His "noice" and adjusting the bed killed me. 

The episode had good bits, but Jessica was basically a non entity in the whole show. She really brought nothing special that any of the women couldn't have easily played. 

[JakeyJokes]

2 hours ago, 27bored said:

I watched for Troye Sivan. Am I the only person who loves that his performances, especially the first one, were like, extra gay? I don’t think a lot of people know him, so the fact that he came out there vamping around the stage was kinda awesome. There was a bit of an F U in it, which was pretty brave.

And last week we had Halsey singing about bisexuality! Snaps for visibility, SNL!

53 minutes ago, Phishbulb said:

They always appear in January, as that's when the new season of The Bachelor is currently airing. The last 2 have actually tried to incorporate the real people from the show (I know Beck's character in the last one was based on a real guy, and so was Alex's character in this one, right?) 

 

I don't watch the show but waste enough time on the Internet to know that the bachelor is a race car driver this year (like Alex was), and that a bachelorette having a pixie cut instead of long hair is also a big deal this seaaon.

[Gemma Violet]

I thought this was just an OK episode.

I wish they'd get someone else to play Sarah H. Sanders.  Aidy plays it too straight.  She needs to do an Elvis lip curl and lower her voice.  She's playing it as Aidy, not Sarah.

[TiredMe]

I thought this episode was painfully unfunny. I felt that the Stormy segment was a missed opportunity for laughs. I did like the Google sketch with Bart lookalike. And the Fresh Prince one. Idk I think I’m just not feeling the show lately. Here’s to hoping for next week!

[helenamonster]

I really liked the "What Even Matters Anymore" sketch as it slowly devolved to just being Jessica needing an outlet for her president-related frustrations, and how Kenan was so committed to "becoming Bernard." The way she pulled the cork off the wine bottle with her teeth was weirdly impressive.

Cecily's Stormy Daniels has got me feelings way that I am not proud of, but here we are. And Kate's Mueller was straight out of the uncanny valley but in, like, a good way?

It was an average-to-solid episode overall, I thought. Jessica seemed to really enjoy herself and take it seriously, and she got a lot to do. She seemed like the "type" of host they like to just shove into the background of sketches and get it over with so I'm glad that wasn't the case.

9 hours ago, izabella said:

I must be the only person who doesn't like the Chad character.

You're not. I used to think it was funny. The first time.

2 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Hearing Jessica do the ditsy vocal fry and uptalking was unnerving to me. Has she ever played that kind of character in her movies?

Celia Foote in The Help. It's sort of in this contradictory place of being her breakout role and an example of her playing against type.

[Fiftyninth]

1 hour ago, Fostersmom said:

As for the other new guy, is he still even still there? I literally just checked the credits on the episode to see if he was listed. Was he in a single sketch last night or the week before for that matter? I only remember him being in that train wreck new student sketch and that obviously did him no favors. 

Luke Knoll was swapped in for one small section of the Bachelor sketch, where he was with one bachelorette on the bench. I think she asked if he was a different guy. 

[Fostersmom]

14 minutes ago, Fiftyninth said:

Luke Knoll was swapped in for one small section of the Bachelor sketch, where he was with one bachelorette on the bench. I think she asked if he was a different guy. 

Well that kinda sums up his time to date on the show, then doesn't it? 

[Thumper]

I'm old and have never heard of the singer; didn't pay much attention to the first song.  I liked the second one, mainly because it showed that he has a good voice and it wasn't blasting my ears. ?

[Mr. R0b0t]

I'm out on the Chad thing as well.  I felt this episode was a bit of a let down overall, but i thoroughly enjoyed Mueller time and the vocal fry in the bachelorette skit was on point.  

 

The musical performance was...something.  I must not be the intended audience for whatever that was felt like the artist barely had a voice.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Celia Foote in The Help. It's sort of in this contradictory place of being her breakout role and an example of her playing against type.

Oh, well I've never seen The Help. Doesn't it take place in the 1960s? Vocal fry wasn't a thing then, I don't think, and uptalking was probably only common in certain parts of the country. Sounds like an anachronism to me. I've generally liked her in other movies I've seen her in though.

[madpsych78]

Count me in as someone who is "meh" on Aidy Bryant's impression of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but I liked her Paula Deen.

[ottoDbusdriver]

13 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

What Even Matters Anymore?: Taking the obvious and turning it into a game show is something this show does so well (and hasn't done in a while). OMG yes, breaking character because everyone's concerned for Jessica. I love it. It's so depressing, but man was Jessica great in this.

"Kenan will leave, but Bernard will stay." Kenan's the best.

That was so good, especially watching Jessica's character just spiral down.

"Sex tape with Don Jr." -- they'll just shrug it off and say he's a family man.

5 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I didn't get Colin's shark joke on WU.

Per the 2011 interview with Stormy Daniels, Trump is apparently deathly afraid of sharks.

Didn't really care for Troye (with an 'e') Sivan -- watched the first performance, and then skipped the 2nd performance..  Had never heard of him before SNL.

[JZL]

14 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

WU:  . . . and oh my god Kate as Robert Mueller?! That was genius, even if the actual bit was slow as hell (maybe that's the point? Like the actual investigation?). The makeup team is earning that Emmy tonight, I'll say that. Those jowls will be in a museum some day.

I thought the exact same thing at the time. 

7 hours ago, 27bored said:

I watched for Troye Sivan. Am I the only person who loves that his performances, especially the first one, were like, extra gay? I don’t think a lot of people know him, so the fact that he came out there vamping around the stage was kinda awesome. There was a bit of an F U in it, which was pretty brave.

Interesting criteria for judging musical talent, but to each their own, I guess.  I did enjoy the second song (and the shirt he wore during the goodnights)

This was one of the worst shows of the season, and one of the rare ones where the second half was better than the first.  IMHO, the What Even Matters sketch evinces that the writers have either gotten lazy or burned out by Trump sketch humor.  The structure was basically a repetition of [Set-up] --> [Oh well, fuck it] and wasn't even really joke-writing.  I agree with all the sentiment, but it was lame and not funny*.  The WU bits on Trump continue to land, mostly, so go figure. 

*Unless it's a matter of, "I can't cry, so I have to laugh." (??)

[greekmom]

14 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Amazon: And now another branded sketch. "Jeff Bayzeus" It's an accent and impression sketch! First Boston (with Casey Affleck), then Atlanta (with Paula Deen in tow) and Newark (an excuse to reference Angry Cory Booker), then Miami (Pit Bull). This was fun, I wish I saw more. I love sketches that trot out every cast member, and this didn't have everyone! It had most of them, right?

They forgot Toronto, Canada.  It also made the list.

[BingeyKohan]

Kate’s Mueller freaked me out. Finally realized it was because somehow she looked like Mama June to me.

[Stuffy]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Oh, well I've never seen The Help. Doesn't it take place in the 1960s? Vocal fry wasn't a thing then, I don't think, and uptalking was probably only common in certain parts of the country. Sounds like an anachronism to me. I've generally liked her in other movies I've seen her in though.

Jessica modeled the character after the author of The Help's mother. She even recorded her so she could copy the voice. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Jessica modeled the character after the author of The Help's mother. She even recorded her so she could copy the voice. 

Just watched a movie clip on YT. Got it. She was doing the southern belle version of uptalking. She's a good actress I think but kind of an interesting choice for that role. SNL is probably the closest she'll let herself get to doing a straight up comedy.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Joimiaroxeu

[peeayebee]

16 hours ago, vb68 said:

Aidy's Sarah Sanders is still missing something for me. It lacks the absolute smugness and the mean girl times ten way she taunts reporters. If anything she's more hardcore than Spicey. 

I agree. I see too much Aidy in it. She needs to work on getting the details of the impression down. IIRC, the first time she did Sanders, she was more butch. Maybe that was deemed to be going too far. Anyway, maybe in toning down the "manliness" of the Sanders impression inserted too much "Aidy-ness" in it. 

 

Quote

Poor Luke Null. He just can't really catch a break. 

This'll tell you something: I had to google 'Luke Null' to see who you were talking about.

 

7 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

I'm really becoming a Heidi fan, I feel like she's close to developing a recurring sketch.

Yes. I loved her in that restaurant sketch, but she's been good in everything.

As for Jessica Chastain, I think she's fantastic at playing different characters, which she did here, but there's something comedic lacking. I thought she was funny in The Help, but here her comedy chops weren't really showing. I've long tried to put my finger on why some people are funny and some aren't. I guess it's

timing.

I loved the Fresh Prince sketch. I loved the restaurant sketch.

Prince William and Prince Harry were cute and funny. "Bangers, mash, HELLLOOOOOO!" A moist Matthew. Hee.

I liked Alex's Casey Affleck impression and Aidy's Paula Deen. She's done her before, right? Loved the line about her 3-Butter Pudding: "The American Heart Association rated it DON'T!"

I didn't like McKinnon's Mueller impression. For one thing, the makeup was too freaky. Yes, it was a good job, but it was just Kate with cheekbones and a strong jawline. And I've said it before: Her impersonations seem too one-note to me. I mean, they all seem to share the same note. Plus, I just didn't care for the angle on Mueller and his glee over the investigation. 

[unicorn23]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Just watched a movie clip on YT. Got it. She was doing the southern belle version of uptalking. She's a good actress I think but kind of an interesting choice for that role. SNL is probably the closest she'll let herself get to doing a straight up comedy.

Wait for it. I love that this is basically a reunion of The Help. I'm all in for Jessica doing comedy.

Was not a fan of this episode because I don't think they did Jessica good material. The game show skit was easily the best and I just loved how she unraveled in it.

Did anyone else found it odd that no one approached Jessica after the show ended to give her a hug? Well, one of the guys did, but it took too long for someone to go up to her. So odd because usually cast members can't wait to hug and congratulate the hosts.

[Giuseppe]

I feel like everyone knows what 'vocal fry' is except for me.

I do love the Bachelor skits, though. I don't watch the actual show, and these skits tell me it's probably a good idea that I don't, lol.

I used to love the Chad sketches, but now they're just 'okay'

Luke Null is the new Sasheer...invited to the party, but nobody really knows why.

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, Giuseppe said:

I feel like everyone knows what 'vocal fry' is except for me.

Imagine in your mind how Kim Kardashian talks, or Chelsea Peretti, or...all the characters in the Bachelor sketch or Heidi Gardner in the 2 for 1 taco sketch. That's what vocal fry is.

[Bruinsfan]

21 hours ago, izabella said:

I must be the only person who doesn't like the Chad character.

I've loathed him from the first sketch. Then again, I've pretty much cringed at everything Pete's done on the show except that Category Jumper trailer spoof, and 90% of the hilarity in that was Bill Hader's doing.

[rmontro]

Jessica Chastain was gorgeous.

I don't think there's much going on in the Chad sketches, but I admit I find them funny.

I also always like Kenan's "Jeffersons" director.  Good natured silliness.

I'm not sure what Troye Sivan was supposed to be.  He wasn't bad, but he struck me as kind of a Justin Bieber pretty boy type (with more talent).  He got a very positive audience reaction though.

[ktwo]

Quote

WU:  . . . and oh my god Kate as Robert Mueller?! That was genius, even if the actual bit was slow as hell (maybe that's the point? Like the actual investigation?). The makeup team is earning that Emmy tonight, I'll say that. Those jowls will be in a museum some day.

I went past the tipping point of thinking that Kate is taking over the show, Wiig-style, a few weeks ago, so I was dismayed that they chose her to play Mueller. Did not like.

”Ride or die with Caligula” was the line of the night. And the reveal of the women at the restaurant as surgeons? That’s how you end a sketch.

[msrachelj]

On 1/21/2018 at 0:15 AM, Mumbles said:

Lol, you’re right, someone must have overheard a conversation like this, or maybe a writer/performer had this happen to them in a past gig waiting tables. I did love it, though.

I’m very meh on Chastain. As an actor I find her a bit cold and robotic, even in movies where she’s not playing the steely tough woman. I get that she is vocal about current events and causes on social media but....I dunno....it seems very calculated to me. So in that “What Difference Does It Make” sketch, I felt she was playing the role of Woke Actor, which of course she was, but when she supposedly broke the fourth wall, she still seemed to be playing a role. YMMV as always.

the more i see of her outside of movies, the more i dislike her. she was on graham norton recently and what a frggin ham. just seems completely phony.

20 hours ago, Thumper said:

I'm old and have never heard of the singer; didn't pay much attention to the first song.  I liked the second one, mainly because it showed that he has a good voice and it wasn't blasting my ears. ?

i'm old too! i remember when snl first came on the air. um. so i'm so old i'm gonna say what my father used to. music today is terrible! "what the hell is that shit you are listenting to?" etc  i hate that i feel this way but boy... the clothes, the horrible "singing voices" the childish looks, yuk yuk yucky! 

8 hours ago, ktwo said:

I went past the tipping point of thinking that Kate is taking over the show, Wiig-style, a few weeks ago, so I was dismayed that they chose her to play Mueller. Did not like.

”Ride or die with Caligula” was the line of the night. And the reveal of the women at the restaurant as surgeons? That’s how you end a sketch.

i agree with the caligula line! also very much enjoyed the fresh prince sketch, it was awesome. love pete (what happened to his hand?) prince william and prince harry was a disappointment. could have been better. 

[Peace 47]

I’m not completely sure what I think about the episode overall—I guess that it was a bit weak, but not the worst of the season.  The Fresh Prince sketch was extremely dark but was probably the best one from my perspective.  However, although I like Chris Redd a lot, his Will Smith impression is not great.  If I recall correctly, Jay Pharaoh had a great one:  too bad he wasn’t still around.  Fun to spot Akira Yoshimura in that sketch:  glad that he’s not typecast as Sulu!

[ChromaKelly]

21 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

Count me in as someone who is "meh" on Aidy Bryant's impression of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but I liked her Paula Deen.

Same. Maybe Aidy is too nice to play her? She needs to sigh, look put out to be there, and be more condescending.

[Mumbles]

Quote

the more i see of her outside of movies, the more i dislike her. she was on graham norton recently and what a frggin ham. just seems completely phony.

Oh yeah, I saw that too! She lost me the first minute when she started imitating her Italian husband with a stereotypical accent. Real "woke."

I was really racking my brain trying to figure out why I just don't buy her shtick and then I remembered that for years she lied about her age. Blatantly said she was born five years later than her real birthday. Yeah it sucks that film/tv actresses are deemed "too old" at an incredibly stupidly young age....but lying about your age is so stupid given that most of us go to high school and our classmates got the receipts!

Quote

 so I was dismayed that they chose her to play Mueller. Did not like

Yeah that was so unnecessary. Burk Bennett could have done it and played up a formal "establishment" type who's gleefully keeping a secret.

[Ottis]

On 1/21/2018 at 5:15 PM, peeayebee said:

As for Jessica Chastain, I think she's fantastic at playing different characters, which she did here, but there's something comedic lacking.

Agree. Some people just aren't funny, and she appears to be that. Sometimes when you are serious you can play a dry silly/farcical, like John Cleese or John Malkovich, and it works. That's what the skit at the end, with the actors being told to act ridiculous, felt like. Even in that, though, Chastain seemed really out of place.

The Mueller skit was frustrating. I actually thought Kate had forgotten her lines a couple of times, because the whole gist was that something good was coming but Mueller couldn't say what, so it was just a lot of smiling and smirking and eye rolling. It wasn't funny after the first 2-3 times, and needed more.

[slowpoked]

On 1/20/2018 at 10:25 PM, vb68 said:

Aidy's Sarah Sanders is still missing something for me. It lacks the absolute smugness and the mean girl times ten way she taunts reporters. If anything she's more hardcore than Spicey. I think Sarah would relish an actual fistfight. At least thats the vibe I get. I just wish it would go a little darker.

THIS. I know Melissa's portrayal of Spicey will go down as one of the greatest ever, and I'm not expecting Aidy to follow that, because it's just near impossible. But there's still something missing. At times, she even makes SHS more sympathetic and flattering and actually humanizes her. It's the same complaint I have of Kate's sometimes portrayal of Kellyanne Conway. Her Kellyanne Conway impersonation is sympathetic to the person. Real-life Kellyanne is just a plain mean girl who couldn't care less. Why humanize her?

I know one of the best parts of the SNL Spicey was the novelty of a woman playing him. And I know MM is a way better comedian and actor than Aidy, but for me, what was perfect about MM's Spicer was that she played him with an exaggerated parody of how Spicer usually is, but totally not out of the realm that Spicer can actually say or do something like that in real life. When MM said "And look at Chicago, 80% murder rate! 80%!!! And that's all on you, it's all your fault..." it's not hard to imagine Spicer actually saying it in real life even though he didn't say it.

Contrast to Aidy, and maybe this is because SHS is a harder character to impersonate, like you mentioned above, but real-life SHS is meaner than Aidy's portrayal. I've always thought Spicer was just whiny more than mean, but SHS has that black-hearted and deep rooted meanness and condescension towards others. Aidy needs to work on nailing that if they will have this character as a staple for awhile. 

I'm still bummed out we didn't get a goodbye from Spicey. He just faded away...

[valandsend]

Why did the audience cheer so loudly at the mention of Chick-Fil-A?

[Milburn Stone]

I think Jessica Chastain probably just doesn't have a talent for comedy. All the props in the world for her as a dramatic actress; she was awesome in Zero Dark Thirty. But throughout this SNL, you could see her trying too hard, doing those things that funny people do when they're funny, which never works.

Contrast to Sam Rockwell, who understands that the character never knows he's funny.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[heatherchandler]

On 1/21/2018 at 2:20 PM, JZL said:

I thought the exact same thing at the time. 

Interesting criteria for judging musical talent, but to each their own, I guess.  I did enjoy the second song (and the shirt he wore during the goodnights)

This was one of the worst shows of the season, and one of the rare ones where the second half was better than the first.  IMHO, the What Even Matters sketch evinces that the writers have either gotten lazy or burned out by Trump sketch humor.  The structure was basically a repetition of [Set-up] --> [Oh well, fuck it] and wasn't even really joke-writing.  I agree with all the sentiment, but it was lame and not funny*.  The WU bits on Trump continue to land, mostly, so go figure. 

*Unless it's a matter of, "I can't cry, so I have to laugh." (??)

I absolutely agree.  I knew it would be bad when the prime sketch slot was so not funny - I fast forwarded through a lot of the show.

 

15 hours ago, ktwo said:

I went past the tipping point of thinking that Kate is taking over the show, Wiig-style, a few weeks ago, so I was dismayed that they chose her to play Mueller. Did not like.

 

I am really not enjoying McKinnon this season.  I always liked her before, but she is over-doing it these days.  I used to be excited, but now I am now dismayed when she appears on-screen.  

The last few shows have been *almost* funny.  I feel like there is something missing in all of the sketches.  

Jessica Chastain - not funny, not even a little bit.  Dramatic, she's ok, but she is not comedy.