S43.E21: Tina Fey / Nicki Minaj

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Season Finale! Hosted by Tina Fey, with Nicki Minaj as the musical guest.

[formerlyfreedom]

OMG OMG OMG - Fred's there! Are we going to get a Queen of England sketch? Normally I hate old cast members showing up, but I was thinking this week I'd love to see his crude Queen Elizabeth impersonation tonight...

[ebk57]

Lin-Manuel Miranda!!  My night has been made!!!

[jjj]

If they would just keep bringing back Lin-Manuel between scenes to keep adding lines to his rap burn about Tina. 

They really were up to date about what happened at the Harry/Meghan wedding.  But yes, it would be been even better to have Armisen as the Queen! 

42 minutes ago, saoirse said:

OMG OMG OMG - Fred's there! Are we going to get a Queen of England sketch? Normally I hate old cast members showing up, but I was thinking this week I'd love to see his crude Queen Elizabeth impersonation tonight...

Edited May 20, 2018 by jjj

[vb68]

Has someone been keeping a running tally of the cameos?  This is like Infinity Wars SNL-style.

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: And we open with Trump and the gang a la the Sopranos finale. Loved AND I'M ERIC parallel parking.  With a Big Wheel. And the best thing you can do with Robert DeNiro on SNL is to not let him talk. FINALLY they figure this out.

Monologue: Ah, Audience Q&A time! Jerry Seinfeld is here to ask the important question: Why are there SO MANY celebrity cameos? Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Rock, Robert DeNiro (again), Fred Armisen, Anne Hathaway, and of course closing with Tracy Morgan. Also, we definitely need to have more time for the new people. Loved that Donald Glover came back for his hat.

Royal Wedding Reception: Kenan with the Queen (and reacting together!) was all I wanted to see. And man, it's easy to cast Alex and Mikey as brothers. Not only the Trump sons, but William & Harry, too. Loved seeing Tina as Aunt/Niece Creepy, along with Pete as Russel Brand and Aidy as Elton John. Almost couldn't tell it wasn't him for a second. And OF COURSE Leslie is there as herself. Loved this.

Morning Joe: Mikey just nails Joe Scarborough so well. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of him and Kate together.

Mean Girls: And now an ad for Mean Girls: The Musical disguised as a sketch. Loved that quick Lin-Manuel cameo. Gotta love when Lorne shows up in a sketch. This was fun, loved Tina trying to dance.

LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS TINY HEADED BITCH NAMED TINA.

WU: Laurel > Yanny, Colin sets it straight. And yeah, Colin and Che did give a single fuck tonight and I am here for it. And why haven't Don Jr. AND I'M ERIC been in this show enough? Sure, two appearances so far tonight might make up for lost time, but they make such a great team! God, Mikey's face at the Play-Doh was fantastic. Kenan as the preacher was also fantastic. And oh man, loved seeing the rejected jokes, they were (mostly) fantastic. You could tell that they didn't even want to tell the Caitlin Jenner joke, but did it anyway. Loved it. And oh my god, Aidy at the end as the BBQ woman! 

Pervert Hunters: Actually a great twist, showing how "reality" shows are staged as hell and the pervert just goes along with it! That was great. This is a kind of sketch this show's been missing for a while.

Sarah Palin: And now a tribute to all the troublesome people in the Trump administration. Sarah Huckabee Sanders WISHES she was Screech. Good to see Fred Michael Wolfe again. And John Goodman is back! This should've been the cold open.

Talent Show: Of course Kenan is here to save the sketch. Probably the weakest sketch of the night? But still, considering how well THIS episode has been going, and there was still some good stuff in it? Like how they kept cutting back to Leslie. There should've been more of that, and more of Melissa. Really liked Melissa in this.

Chicago Improv: I heard that they filmed a sketch in an actual improv studio, so this was it. Liked this one. "The fire imagery was misleading." This was definitely an "inside baseball" sketch, but not surprising since so many castmembers came from improv, specifically Chicago's scene. "Too much improv" - Improv Magazine

15 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Has someone been keeping a running tally of the cameos?  This is like Infinity Wars SNL-style.

I think this post kept a running tally of everyone. Carti was in Nicki's second performance, and does the last-second tribute to Margot Kidder count?

Goodnights: Ha, the BBQ Lady is back. I'd say she should've been a running gag through the whole show, but Aidy was in so many sketches tonight.

Well, this was a good one! See you in the fall folks, it's been fun.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Galileo908

[27bored]

This was a hot mess. I only watched to see Nicki, and wow. Her ass is getting shorter and wider. Why was she doing so much crowd participation? And that second performance was funny. I think that was the first time Playboy Carti performed on TV. And it showed. She literally had to tell him to stand in place to finish the performance on cue. 

The Livingston High School skit made me sad. It was a bad skit, but the daughter was made up to look eerily similar to Christina Grimmie, of the Voice and YouTube fame. We’re coming up on two years since her tragic death. 

The song of all the people who have left the White House staff was stupid, but if they would’ve gotten Melissa McCarthy to do Sean Spicer, all would’ve been forgiven. 

[jjj]

What is the BBQ woman meme?  It's familiar, but I can't place it. 

[Galileo908]

1 minute ago, jjj said:

What is the BBQ woman meme?  It's familiar, but I can't place it. 

She called the cops on some African-Americans having a barbecue.

[jjj]

1 minute ago, Galileo908 said:

She called the cops on some African-Americans having a barbecue.

Thanks, and ugh.  

[SHD]

Props to the costume department for putting the royal wedding lookalike outfits together with such a quick turnaround time!

[vb68]

I thought it was a good but not great season finale. I thought the Cold Open was very clever with how they juxtaposed the cultural milestone of the Sopranos finale on the current politics of the moment. I love watching the impressions. Ben Stiller in particular seems to relish playing Michael Cohen.  Eric on the Big Wheel was everything. 

Once again the show gets very meta on itself in the monologue. I loved the sheer excess of all the cameos. I thought it was really fun.

The energy level was up and down for the rest of the show.  With the exception of the Mean Girls piece, I thought Tina tried hard to play support to the cast members.

I guess "What I Did For Trump" was the goodbye/year that was sketch for the summer. It was pretty good, but I really like when they close with a really strong send off and goodbye for now.

I do think if Kenan was planning on leaving, he would have gotten a loving tribute/send off like Kristin Wiig.

The Margot Kidder RIP at the very end was touching and sweet. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by vb68

[Peace 47]

Hmmmm.  I thought the show was rather uneven overall.

Things that I disliked:  (1) The cold open.  I’ve gone back and edited this because the more I think about it, I can’t decide whether it was in actual bad taste (if you stop to think about what one implication of the Sopranos finale was) or if it was just unfunny to me in not really having any jokes that landed really well (except maybe Eric’s parallel parking a la Meadow Soprano), (2) Did Playboi Carti have to grab his crotch through the entire second song?  (3) The Sarah Palin et al. sketch was pretty bad—didn’t laugh once, despite the star power.  (4) Weekend Update without a Tina appearance?  Disappointing.  I know they have the tradition of reviving trashed jokes for the finale, but those were not funny enough to replace a Tina appearance.

Things I enjoyed:  (1) The monologue, especially Tina and Fred wasting mad time talking about juicing.  I’m not usually a fan of shows sticking it to Internet critics (don’t punch below your weight class), but that was genuinely funny.  Robert DeNiro is such a live TV disaster, though, bless his heart.  He flubbed his one line!  Nice that Donald Glover returned. (2) Mean Girls.  Funny all the way through.  Those Parade Magazine shoes sound super comfy, haha.  (3) Chicago Improv.  It was totally “inside baseball” comedy, but I thought it was the most brilliant sketch of the night.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Peace 47

[opus]

5 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I do think if Kenan was planning on leaving, he would have gotten a loving tribute/send off like Kristin Wiig.

I was thinking the same thing about Luke Null.

[vb68]

1 minute ago, opus said:

I was thinking the same thing about Luke Null.

He was briefly in background of the Improv sketch at the end, so you can argue he got something that more or less summed up his year.

[Pete Martell]

The political cold open was as unfunny as ever with modern SNL (the only part that amused me was their assuming they could pass off Leslie Jones as Omarosa as long as she wore a wig), but I did enjoy them doing a homage to "What I Did For Love," one of my favorite show tunes. Even if they don't know how to write or cast these sketches, at least they have good taste in music.

1 hour ago, 27bored said:

The song of all the people who have left the White House staff was stupid, but if they would’ve gotten Melissa McCarthy to do Sean Spicer, all would’ve been forgiven. 

That would have made more sense than last week's extended cameo but I guess that was to plug her movie.

[nowandlater]

1 hour ago, jjj said:

What is the BBQ woman meme?  It's familiar, but I can't place it. 

 

Yeah, she called the cops and filmed extensively...

Thus becoming a meme:

 

[Pete Martell]

I have to give a lot of credit to the people who did the costumes for the wedding sketch. Unfortunately all I could notice in the sketch itself was that no one knew how to do the right accent (or even close). 

[Peace 47]

Here’s a cut for time pretaped song that included Nicki.  They probably could have cut the “Dateline”-esque sketch or the talent show sketch for this one, but I guess then they would have had too many pretaped bits.

[nowandlater]

A few weeks ago, before Donald Glover hosted, I searched Google to see if there are any images of him and Tina Fey together -- since after all, she gave him his big break on 30  Rock after he graduated from college. Yet there are no pictures of them together, at least publically, which is odd.

Well, finally, I have a picture of them together:

 

[VCRTracking]

The Mean Girls short was my favorite. Loved Lin Manuel Miranda's cameo!

Liked the royal wedding stuff with the sketch and Kenan as Bishop Curry. Man they are fast with the costumes in the former and the writing of the latter!

2 hours ago, jjj said:

Thanks, and ugh.  

You should see her try to cry to the cop about it! It's HILARIOUS.

Edited May 20, 2018 by VCRTracking

[jjj]

19 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

You should see her try to cry to the cop about it! It's HILARIOUS.

Oh, what a self-pity party.  I had seen the meme but not this.  Just appalling. 

1 hour ago, nowandlater said:

Yeah, she called the cops and filmed extensively...
Thus becoming a meme:

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

 

Morning Joe: Mikey just nails Joe Scarborough so well. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of him and Kate together.

 

Isn't that Alex as Joe? (With Mikey as Willie Geist?) I was thinking that the Joe/Mika sexy parts aren't as funny as they were when they had only just publicly admitted to being together. 

[nowandlater]

It is interesting that they couldn't find somebody to portray Meghan Markle.

[Ottis]

This show was so unfunny I quit watching during the Trump White House skit and deleted it. Not even Eric could save it. Nicki Minaj was lip syncing, correct? I never understand lip syncing rap songs. 

[Kimmmmmm]

13 minutes ago, Ottis said:

This show was so unfunny I quit watching during the Trump White House skit and deleted it. Not even Eric could save it. Nicki Minaj was lip syncing, correct? I never understand lip syncing rap songs. 

Yes, to all of this....again, to each his/her own, but I'm very surprised at the positive response to this episode...

[jonesingjay]

13 minutes ago, Kimmmmmm said:

I'm very surprised at the positive response to this episode...

 

Agreed. For me, by comparison the week Donald Glover did double duty doesn't seem so bad now. 

[Robert Lynch]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

This show was so unfunny I quit watching during the Trump White House skit and deleted it. Not even Eric could save it. Nicki Minaj was lip syncing, correct? I never understand lip syncing rap songs. 

Nicki Minaj  needs to stop for once. She is slowly entering Mariah Carey territory at this point in her career. 

[Cupcake04]

Best show of the season!  Floved it!!!!!!!

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

The Mean Girls short was my favorite. Loved Lin Manuel Miranda's cameo!

Liked the royal wedding stuff with the sketch and Kenan as Bishop Curry. Man they are fast with the costumes in the former and the writing of the latter!

You should see her try to cry to the cop about it! It's HILARIOUS.

 

 

Thanks very much @VCRTracking.  I watched every single second of the video and loved it.

Calling the police on black people living their lives is extremely dangerous, and people shouldn't do it.

This might sound obvious to some but there were at least a dozen incidents of this happening in the past month alone (somebody sleeping in the common area of her dorm.  Bob Marley's granddaughter staying at an Air B&B.  people sitting at Starbucks.   And one which I don't think is getting enough coverage - a man was walking his baby around in a stroller and somebody called the cops on him because he "looked suspicious".)

I'm very happy that SNL included this meme in their show last night.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[librarianbeck]

Huh.  The only thing I really liked was the Sarah Palin et al song, though I wasn't familiar with the original.  I think Tina Fey is very talented,  but her humor rarely works for me. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by librarianbeck

[helenamonster]

I was surprised at how weak this was, given that Tina was hosting...she was barely in it, I thought, which was really strange--it's not like she's one of those hosts you have to hide behind cast members just to get through the night. It also didn't feel like she contributed much to the writing this week...she has a very distinct writing style that's been obvious in other shows she's hosted, but it barely registered here (sketches which I felt like she did write/contribute to were Mean Girls, Pervert Hunters, Chicago Improv, and the Sarah Palin bits of What I Did For Love).

I've been wanting them to do a Sopranos parody of the Trump administration for sooooo long, and I was really disappointed by this one. First of all, if you're going to use the last scene as a template, I find it's more effective to ape it as closely as possible--part of what made the scene so famous and open to so much intense dissection are the carefully placed sound and visual cues, the tension that keeps ratcheting up each time the bell rings, etc...I feel like it would have worked better as a pretaped bit. The only part I laughed out loud at was Eric parallel parking his tricycle a la Meadow.

"No, I'm just kiddin', I'm still alive, but you had to think about it, didn't ya?" Tina as Sarah Palin will never ever ever get old for me.

Chicago Improv was the strongest sketch of the night, I thought. "Who's the bad guy in this scenario?"

I love Nicki Minaj, but was especially disappointed by her second performance. First of all that guy (who I now know is someone named Playboy Carti, thank you other commenters!) went on for wayyyy too long without her on stage to the point that I wasn't even sure she'd come out. It reminded me of how on all her albums (but it was especially egregious on The Pinkprint) these "up-and-coming" rappers (up-and-coming is in quotes because they don't tend to get much bigger afterwards) are featured far too much and take away time that Nicki, the person I want to listen to on a Nicki Minaj album, could be singing/rapping. I feel like her label forces her to hold up these nobody talents at the expense of her own creativity, and you saw it here with how she was trying to corral this guy around the stage.

[meowmommy]

11 hours ago, vb68 said:

The Margot Kidder RIP at the very end was touching and sweet. 

I couldn't find it.  Was it in the closing credits?  Because they cut off the credits here to show a promo for some show I'll never watch.

[teebax]

4 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

Yes, to all of this....again, to each his/her own, but I'm very surprised at the positive response to this episode...

Count me in. I thought the episode was really weak, although I enjoyed seeing Lin Manuel and some of the cameos in the monologue. I had high hopes because I adore Tina Fey, but I didn't like much in this episode. I think the best part for me was Eric Trump's Big Wheel with an alarm. 

ETA: This one is my favorite of the BBQ woman memes. We had my graduation party Saturday night, and I had her added in to a picture of my male relatives (all black) sitting around a table eating. I won't post it here, but it was quite popular on my Facebook feed.

Edited May 20, 2018 by teebax

[helenamonster]

5 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

I couldn't find it.  Was it in the closing credits?  Because they cut off the credits here to show a promo for some show I'll never watch.

They showed it right before the goodnights.

[meowmommy]

14 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

They showed it right before the goodnights.

Ah, found it.  Thanks so much.

[BoogieBurns]

5 hours ago, nowandlater said:

It is interesting that they couldn't find somebody to portray Meghan Markle.

I was really hoping Rashida would pop up as the Duchess of Sussex, but I honestly don't think anyone on the cast could have played her without some group getting offended. She needed to be played by a white-passing mixed race woman or not portrayed at all. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

47 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

 

I've been wanting them to do a Sopranos parody of the Trump administration for sooooo long, and I was really disappointed by this one. First of all, if you're going to use the last scene as a template, I find it's more effective to ape it as closely as possible--part of what made the scene so famous and open to so much intense dissection are the carefully placed sound and visual cues, the tension that keeps ratcheting up each time the bell rings, etc...I feel like it would have worked better as a pretaped bit. The only part I laughed out loud at was Eric parallel parking his tricycle a la Meadow.

I have never seen the end of The Sopranos so although I recognized the allusion as soon as the music came on, I wouldn't have known how closely they were following the original (for example the parking meant nothing to me). However I thought if they were going to use that specific scene the blackout needed to serve an amazing incisive purpose and not only didn't it, it was worse than undercut by coming back for the whole cast of the sketch to say Live from New York.

[helenamonster]

2 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I have never seen the end of The Sopranos so although I recognized the allusion as soon as the music came on, I wouldn't have known how closely they were following the original (for example the parking meant nothing to me). However I thought if they were going to use that specific scene the blackout needed to serve an amazing incisive purpose and not only didn't it, it was worse than undercut by coming back for the whole cast of the sketch to say Live from New York.

I can't think of any universe where they actually would have done it, but if they'd cut to black, skipped the "Live from New York!" and jumped right to the credits, that would have been extremely effective, and it's something you can get away with in a season finale.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, spoilers (? or not? who's to say?) for a show that ended eleven years ago:

A lot of things in the scene are much more significant in the context of the entire show, but Meadow's inability to parallel park in a timely manner plays heavily into the speculation of whether or not Tony died at the end. If she'd gotten it right the first time she would have been in the restaurant sitting next to her father before Member's Only Jacket got a chance to kill him (or not? again, who's to say?), but since she didn't, it leaves open the possibility that Tony was murdered just as she walked in the door. That's why the tricycle bit played so well (at least for me).

[possibilities]

Count me as one of the people who enjoyed this episode. I thought most of it worked.

I actually would have preferred the "talent show" sketch WITHOUT Kenan's character going on about his "affair."

I have only watched Morning Joe once, plus a few of their more famous viral moments, but I thought they nailed the dynamic. Mika acts like everything smells bad and gravely offends her. Joe is a blowhard who talks over everyone. The entire show oozes. But even more than that, which I suspect is rather easy to portray, I thought Aidy's Meghan McCain was PERFECT. This was really Aidy's episode; she was great in all her roles this week. I was glad they dragged BBQ snitch.

LMM makes everything better.

Hated the first NM song. Skipped the second. I just don't have the patience for most of the musical acts on SNL.

Loved Che's "joke" about the library on the moon.... Priorities! Also, Rachel Dolezal getting arrested at Starbucks. You know they've rehabilitated Che's image effectively when I can laugh at him telling definitely offensive jokes, because when they started that bit at the end, I was bracing for my "bitch who can't take a joke" side to come out, but I wound up being OK with it.

There was a movie about a guy in an improv group who hit big, and how it messed with his pre-success relationships. I thought Chicago Improv was a mix of Dick Wolf/Chicago Everything TV, that movie, and general inside baseball -- and I was ok with it, but I kept thinking about how they did that total dud sketch a few shows ago, about the firefighter who wanted to leave early in the middle of fighting a fire... THAT sketch was so bad it left an aftertaste that tainted my viewing of THIS week's fire sketch, so honestly-- it probably wasn't meant to be a callback, but that was mostly what I was thinking about.

When I saw Tracy's lobster necklace, I started laughing about the diner lobster/les miserables again, so it was quite a night for that sort of thing. Also, I don't find Tracy Morgan talking about getting people pregnant at all funny and I don't know why anyone encourages him to keep saying it.

Overall, though, I thought this week was above average for the season, with a few bad moments inside otherwise good material.

It seemed to have low energy, though, like everyone was past ready to leave for the summer, even though no one was blatantly phoning it in, it just felt like everyone was tired. Maybe that's why so many people didn't find it funny? If the cast seems bored, the audience will feel it, even if the actual material isn't so bad.

[Peace 47]

1 hour ago, helenamonster said:

First of all that guy (who I now know is someone named Playboy Carti, thank you other commenters!) went on for wayyyy too long without her on stage to the point that I wasn't even sure she'd come out.

Me too.  I went back and looked up the lyrics to that song today because (1) I wanted to see if I really heard Nicki reference Natalie Imbruglia in the song (she did), and (2) I wanted to see if the song was as ... explicit?   (is that the word I’m looking for?) as it sounded (it is), and I actually learned that the song is Playboi Carti’s and is on his album, so I agree that it seemed more like she was propping him up since he’s new-ish.  They both were lip syncing large portions of both song, which I kind of get, given the heavily produced overlays of their own vocals, but it wasn’t a very impactful live performance.

I was also thinking about one of those “behind the scenes” videos that they post on the SNL video channel where one of the producers (that Lindsey Shookus who dates Ben Affleck) said that they don’t allow artists to completely cover the stage with screens/ set dressing anymore because then you can’t tell that they are performing at SNL and it loses the intimacy of the performance.  I guess those rules don’t apply to superstars like Nicki though.

[helenamonster]

4 minutes ago, possibilities said:

When I saw Tracy's lobster necklace, I started laughing about the diner lobster/les miserables again, so it was quite a night for that sort of thing. Also, I don't find Tracy Morgan talking about getting people pregnant at all funny and I don't know why anyone encourages him to keep saying it.

The "I'm gonna get it pregnant" joke has really taken on a life of its own. They even had that episode of 30 Rock where Tracy keeps making it and Grizz and Dot Com keep laughing to keep him happy, though Kenneth points out he's already made it so it can't be funny a second time. I feel like it's almost a trademark of his now.

2 minutes ago, Peace 47 said:

Me too.  I went back and looked up the lyrics to that song today because (1) I wanted to see if I really heard Nicki reference Natalie Imbruglia in the song (she did), and (2) I wanted to see if the song was as ... explicit?   (is that the word I’m looking for?) as it sounded (it is), and I actually learned that the song is Playboi Carti’s and is on his album, so I agree that it seemed more like she was propping him up since he’s new-ish.  They both were lip syncing large portions of both song, which I kind of get, given the heavily produced overlays of their own vocals, but it wasn’t a very impactful live performance.

I was also thinking about one of those “behind the scenes” videos that they post on the SNL video channel where one of the producers (that Lindsey Shookus who dates Ben Affleck) said that they don’t allow artists to completely cover the stage with screens/ set dressing anymore because then you can’t tell that they are performing at SNL and it loses the intimacy of the performance.  I guess those rules don’t apply to superstars like Nicki though.

Wait, that wasn't even her song??? I figured it was a new one that hadn't been released yet that would be on her album that drops next month, but god that is some bullshit. She is way, way too big of a star to keep getting saddled with babysitting duty.

[SomeTameGazelle]

19 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

I can't think of any universe where they actually would have done it, but if they'd cut to black, skipped the "Live from New York!" and jumped right to the credits, that would have been extremely effective, and it's something you can get away with in a season finale.

I think if there had been an ENORMOUS development in the Mueller investigation that would have justified it. I thought perhaps they could have used the blackout to interrupt "Live from New --" very effectively.

[jjj]

46 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

I can't think of any universe where they actually would have done it, but if they'd cut to black, skipped the "Live from New York!" and jumped right to the credits, that would have been extremely effective, and it's something you can get away with in a season finale.

I thought the same thing -- or gone to white letters on the black screen with "LIVE from New York: It's Saturday Night!"

[dubbel zout]

Did Anne Hathaway forget she was in a movie with Robert De Niro? And given that he's been on the show before, her disbelief seemed misplaced. (I noticed they hugged at the end.)

I loved Aidy as Elton John at the royal wedding reception.

"Chicago Improv: Life Doesn't Ask for a Suggestion." Hee.

[Galileo908]

9 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Isn't that Alex as Joe? (With Mikey as Willie Geist?) I was thinking that the Joe/Mika sexy parts aren't as funny as they were when they had only just publicly admitted to being together. 

I can't tell the two apart, okay?

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Did Anne Hathaway forget she was in a movie with Robert De Niro? And given that he's been on the show before, her disbelief seemed misplaced. (I noticed they hugged at the end.)

That's the joke.jpg

[peeayebee]

16 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

Things that I disliked:  (1) The cold open.  I’ve gone back and edited this because the more I think about it, I can’t decide whether it was in actual bad taste (if you stop to think about what one implication of the Sopranos finale was)

 

The cut to black didn't really work. I think what they could have done was cut to black for several seconds, then have the scene come back with the waitress at the light switch saying, "Sorry about that," then everyone turns to the camera and shouts, "Live from New York!..."

The shot of Eric parking his Big Wheel made me laugh out loud for a good minute. I kinda wish they made that a recurring shot, like with Meadow, or at least done it twice then have him set the fob alarm.

 

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I actually would have preferred the "talent show" sketch WITHOUT Kenan's character going on about his "affair."

I agree. The show does this kind of thing quite a bit, where there's a side character commenting on or reacting to what's going on, like with the recurring sketch of the kids doing avant garde theatre, there's always two parents in the audience making remarks. 

 

Quote

I thought Aidy's Meghan McCain was PERFECT. This was really Aidy's episode; she was great in all her roles this week.

I thought her McCain was perfect, too. As for her Sarah Huckabee in this ep, she had next to no eye makeup on. I haven't noticed if the real Sarah H has been toning down her "smokey eye" since the WHCD, but I wondered if Aidy's eye makeup was reflecting the way Sarah H is currently looking.

 

Quote

When I saw Tracy's lobster necklace, I started laughing about the diner lobster/les miserables again, so it was quite a night for that sort of thing.

I'm pretty sure it was a scorpion. It and the thickness of the necklace chain were hilarious. I wonder if that's what his character wears in his new show. 

Overall, I liked the show. I enjoyed the monologue. I think Donald Glover and Fred were my favorite parts. I also loved seeing Tracy again. He's pretty damn funny.

The best part of the Royal Reception sketch was Harry and William. They (Alex and Mikey) are great together. I also enjoyed Tina's performance as the weird aunt/niece.

I'm not a huge fan of the Morning Joe thing because I don't watch that show. I've seen enuf clips to get it, but it's pretty one-note. I did like Tina's Russian lawyer.

The Mean Girls sketch was great. That was lots of fun. Loved when she demonstrated her vibrato. And the thing about her shoes cracked me up -- They can only be ordered from the back of Parade magazine, they're called Sunset Steppers, and they have a little pouch to hold pills.

I didn't realize that Trump's question in the CO about the difference betw HPV and HIV was real. Ah, and Eric and Don Jr. I ADORE them -- Alex and Mikey, that is. I don't know how Mikey can perform with Alex sitting next to him mimicking his every move. I loved when he turned to high-five him, and Eric, working on aping him, turns to HIS right and raises his hand. And then the kiss! So great.

I looked away from the screen and missed Aidy as the BBQ lady, so thanks to y'all for getting me to rewatch that part.

The Talent Show was ok. I liked "Scissors'" line, "Don't run with me, I'll poke your eye out."

I really liked the improv sketch. Excellent.

As for Nicki Minaj, I guess the audience was full of her fans. I couldn't understand the lyrics, but was the first song referring to some feud she's having with someone?

Edited May 20, 2018 by peeayebee

[VCRTracking]

Cut for time. "Friendship Song" It's a parody of the HAIM sisters.

Edited May 20, 2018 by VCRTracking

[VCRTracking]

(Thanks for choosing now to not merge my posts, board).

Edited May 20, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Mumbles]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

Also, I don't find Tracy Morgan talking about getting people pregnant at all funny and I don't know why anyone encourages him to keep saying it.

This hasn’t bothered me since the first time I heard him say it years ago on Letterman, about getting Oprah pregnant  (to Letterman’s credit he told him he shouldn’t say such things.)   He does it all the time, and every time he does, it’s wrong. You’d think in the age of “TimesUp” or “MeToo” there is no place for it.  And even if it’s a less disgusting joke, I can also do without the joke about Girl Scouts sewing on the patches for the Boy Scouts.

 

18 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

but I did enjoy them doing a homage to "What I Did For Love," one of my favorite show tunes. Even if they don't know how to write or cast these sketches, at least they have good taste in music.

Me too, and everyone sang it lovely.

I liked the cut Haim parody because they captured the affectations that drive me crazy about that band.