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S44.E13: Don Cheadle / Gary Clark Jr.


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Cold Open: And we start with the "National Emergency." Yeah, this was too insane to satirize. I'm waiting for anyone else to step into Trump's wig at this point, I'm getting tired of Baldwin. He actually tried to make his voice more Trump-like, though.

"Those numbers are faker than this emergency" says everything. Just when I think it can't get any stupider...

Monologue: Don Cheadle is finally here! The man knows how to do comedy, and this was a good monologue.

Fresh Takes: Don Cheadle as the cool, gossipy science teacher on a HS talk show, I knew this was gonna be fun. I loved this sketch so much, I really hope we see it again.

Extreme Baking Championship: the crappy cakes were hilarious enough, but Kenan's voice coming out of the Cookie Monster abomination just made me lose it. And the "Yoda the Pesky Elf" cake was the perfect topper. "Why, that's his famous penis, of course." Sketch of the night for me.

Pound Puppy: This was great. The way to distract your dog during sex is to do it in a giant dog costume, I love that logic.

WU: Yeah, like I said up top, that rose garden speech was too insane to satirize. And Che, of course, is actually DONE. But when that got out of the way, this was a good one. Of course Jules would love Green Book. I also loved that old man character, the voice Alex Mikey used was great. 

Oscars Family Feud: Impressed they saved this for after Update. This was worth it just for Kate as Glenn Close, and to bring back the Gaga impression (with Kyle as Bradley Cooper in tow yet again). Pete is the perfect Rami Malek, because it doesn't take much effort. I honestly don't think he was wearing makeup. The thing about these sketches is that it's all dependent on the intros, and then they remember they have to do the rest of the sketch.

Bar Fight: This turned out to be fun. Never heard of Mika's "Lollipop," but I liked the premise of a bar fight set to a pop song like that.

Roach Ex: Well, this took a dark, if expected turn. We can put "Don Cheadles cucks a guy as a roach" on our list of things we didn't expect to see, at least. Don was so good in this.

Regal Promenade Pavillion: This was weird. A weird ad for a sketchy wedding venue? "Pink soap that hates you hands!"

Well, this one certainly brought the goods. A few duds, but that's to be expected. But this was overall a good one. The show comes back March 2nd with JOHN MULANEY. Yes.

Edited by Galileo908
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*sigh* Nothing like laying down, closing your eyes, then finding out you missed two shows on Toonami and a third of SNL.

I'll have to catch up . . . with my luck, at least one sketch would be edited out of On Demand feeds. And in case you think this is a TL:DW post: Pound Puppy. Oh my God. So perfect. I mean, if you bring dogs into a sketch, I'm probably gonna love it . . . but the thought of two lovers getting into a giant fake dog so their actual "fur baby" doesn't look at them directly? Beautiful.

ETA: I thought the president was "upspeaking," not "sing-songing." Either way? Still embarrassing.

Edited by Lantern7
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That was a great one, right down to the last sketch, but I have the perfect (observational, not snarky) MST3K-style riff of one of the characters: "Kate McKinnon IS Christopher Walken  as some guy with an accent!"

Edited by Mibbitmaker
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This one was an interesting one. At first I thought it was oddly a little low-key, but the last half was really clicking.

I watched the real press conference, and this was a little tooclose to the real one to be  that funny for me.

In the monologue, I couldn't get over how much Leslie totally dwarfed Don.

The bake off sketch certainly took a turn. That was really funny.

I really like Alex's Schumer. But I think Kate's Pelosi still needs some work. I can't tell what's missing, but something is just not there.

Juul or whatever he's called really doesn't work for me.

I think they wanted to highlight Melissa's Gaga one more time before the Oscars and decided on Family Feud as they often do for impressions. I agree that Glenn Close was the standout. I was waiting for "I won't be ignored!!", though. I agree with whoever said last week that Kyle is no Bradley Cooper.

The bar fight/dance off was really funny, and I totally thought the Roach sketch was one of the best pieces of the season. Very dark, but so hilarious.

Don Cheadle was great as expected, but once again the writing was highly inconsistent. 

Edited by vb68
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Don Cheadle is a national treasure. He seemed prepared and he committed to everything.

Kind of funny how Pete's whole impression of Rami Malek was just keeping his eyes wide open. 

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1 hour ago, Mystery said:

Did Pete say that he had mistakenly built the wall horizAntal? 

Oh yeah, glad someone brought this up. It sounded like he muffed it, and I couldn't tell what he said.

It's so weird for Pete to be a character other than himself on Update... 

Edited by vb68
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Cold open sounded exactly like the batshit press conference...but I laughed anyway.  

I love Don Cheadle.  I loved whatever it was he was wearing during the monologue (which was pretty good), and what he was wearing at the end.  I loved Doin' it Doggie Style.  I loved the roach skit at the end.  And the cake skit.  Everything (except parts of Update) was really funny - and really dark.  Which I love.  

And have I mentioned that I loooooove Gary Clark Jr? Because I do... 

Overall, a damn good show tonight.  

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29 minutes ago, vb68 said:

The bar fight/dance off was really funny, and I totally the Roach sketch was one of the best pieces of the season. Very dark, but so hilarious.

The show’s roach-based humor is consistently on point (a sentence I never thought I would write).  This sketch was a good take, as was the Charles Barkley roach sketch from last(?) season (roaches with AK-47s).  I guess there is a lot of humor to be mined from those nasty things.

I normally hate anything even vomit-humor adjacent, but even so, that cake sketch (despite the Cookie Monster expelling all that blue goo from his mouth) was a real bright spot for me.  It was just so funny to see Leslie and Don enthusiastically describing such elaborate cakes and then revealing the finished product.  I thought it might go the direction of them getting mad that they only had two hours to complete their vision, but the direction that it did go was great, too.

I wasn’t familiar with Gary Clark Jr.  That second song was very powerful. 

I don’t know if I’m tired of Baldwin’s Trump, tired of Trump, tired of Baldwin, or tired of the show being kind of lazy with these political sketches (like just repeating press conference lines).  Probably all of the above.  They need new political writers.

John Mulaney!  I’m super excited that he’s back so soon.

@Mystery:  Pete did say he mistakenly built the slats horizontally (instead of vertically).  Building them horizontally would allow someone to use the wall as a ladder and climb right over.

Edited by Peace 47
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14 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

I normally hate anything even vomit-humor adjacent, but even so, that cake sketch (despite the Cookie Monster expelling all that blue goo from his mouth) was a real bright spot for me.  It was just so funny to see Leslie and Don enthusiastically describing such elaborate cakes and then revealing the finished product.  

@Mystery:  Pete did say he mistakenly built the slats horizontally (instead of vertically).  Building them horizontally would allow someone to use the wall as a ladder and climb right over.

The cake sketch, with its illustrations of what the cakes were meant to look like, brought me right back to Great British Bake Off territory.

Peace 47, I got the "ladder" thing; it was Pete's "horizAntal" mispronunciation that threw me.

Edited by Mystery
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Once I saw Alec Baldwin pursing his lips and pretending he's funny, I tuned out and never really got to watch the rest. Did Colin Jost say anything about Amazon leaving NYC, since he got on his high horse about it when the deal was announced?

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My takeaway:

Roach skit was awesome 

Don Cheadle was awesome and should have hosted before 

You can’t satirize an administration that is already a joke 

Loved the hockey jersey at the end although I didn’t get it until he turned around 

This cast is particularly good at impressions 

Percussive recognition is my new favorite phrase 

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Pete said he actually had built a ladder (because the slats were horizontal). It was a clever line but he muffed it.

They really blew a chance to make the cake skit bring the house down by not having the bakers explain that their cakes sucked because “it was friggin two hours!” The cakes all should have sucked 

Aside from the first two cakes, I didn’t laugh at anything in the show. Cheadle was fine. The writing wasn’t, again. 

WU had  a couple of lines that had social commentary roots that were received strangely by the audience, which didn’t seem to know whether to clap or not. 

What the he’ll wasbtgat wedding location skit at the end? Is that a NY thing? 

It’s not enough to do impressions, show. The lines need to be funny. 

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I watched the real press conference, and this was a little tooclose to the real one to be  that funny for me.

I felt this way too. Having caught a bit of the real one it was way to close to how ridiculous it really was. I know we aren't supposed to discuss politics but that "speech" was more of a parody than SNL ever could be.  Maybe they would have been better off using something else as the cold opening and then expanding the real discussion on Weekend update.

Anyhow, I was suprised they didn't even mention him being in the MCU. I know he isn't known for it, but he has been in a decent amount of them. Especially when was talking about fan's recognizing him. I wouldn't be suprised if he had someone walk up to him and be like "you're Tony's friend". Unless that was the last skit, I fell asleep at that point.

Edited by blueray
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9 minutes ago, blueray said:

Anyhow, I was suprised they didn't even mention him being in the MCU. 

He opened by saying there was an Avengers lottery for SNL host and he won. 

And he was so damn good! And great writing, too! Best ep of the season. 

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6 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

Once I saw Alec Baldwin pursing his lips and pretending he's funny, I tuned out and never really got to watch the rest. Did Colin Jost say anything about Amazon leaving NYC, since he got on his high horse about it when the deal was announced?

Yes, as people predicted on Twitter, he defended Amazon and brought up the 25,000 jobs thing.  He said it was bad that NYC was losing those jobs. 

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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You can’t satirize an administration that is already a joke

I feel this in my bones. When the cold open started, I groaned. When they showed actual video clips of the speech during Weekend Update, it only solidified that Baldwin's Trump just falls flat in comparison to the real thing. I weep for America.

My favorite sketches were the baking show and dog commercial, both of which had me actually laughing aloud. I struggled with Family Feud as it felt a little lower energy than usual and I could not get over the unexplained presence of Mahershala Ali on the newbie team when he is the one person who has actually won an Oscar already. 

Don Cheadle was great; full marks for enthusiasm and putting it all out there. 

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1 hour ago, ahisma said:

He opened by saying there was an Avengers lottery for SNL host and he won. 

And he was so damn good! And great writing, too! Best ep of the season. 

Oh thanks, I missed that lol.

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8 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Seems to me the main aim of that Family Feud sketch was to deliver the reference to Mo'Nique.

I disagree. That was just a throwaway line at the very end of the sketch. I was surprised that they didn't zero in on that as it was actual news involving Steve Harvey.  But it was just an afterthought.

I still think the main purpose was to milk Melissa's Lady Gaga impression, which went over like gangbusters last week. 

Edited by vb68
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11 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

I also loved that old man character, the voice Alex used was great

Pretty sure that was Mikey as the old man. Alex was Chuck Schumer. (I don't think I have ever seen the same person play two parts during the same Update.)

11 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Regal Promenade Pavillion: This was weird. A weird ad for a sketchy wedding venue? "Pink soap that hates you hands!"

I enjoyed all the details in this, especially uncomfortable Don Cheadle's multiple jobs. 

9 hours ago, Mystery said:

Peace 47, I got the "ladder" thing; it was Pete's "horizAntal" mispronunciation that threw me.

I don't know what kind of accent he was putting on but I heard "I think we built Atlanta" and was extremely puzzled. "A ladder" makes infinitely more sense.

6 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

This cast is particularly good at impressions 

I loved Cecily's Olivia Colman but the rest I could take or leave alone. And isn't the other joke of Family Feud supposed to be that they get a match for ludicrously specific and peculiar answers with generic and banal items on the board? I didn't get enough of that.

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Are there any sort of industry awards for props people? Because that Cookie Monster cake was an eldritch abomination for the ages.

Melissa's Gaga impression was better this week in terms of her facial expressions, but the voice is still so off. Gaga has a very particular, affected way of speaking and a relatively deep tone. Melissa can't come in here with her derpy voice and expect me to be impressed.

What was Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali doing on the "Newbies" side of Family Feud?

That "Lollipop" sketch was a delight. Don's got moves! I loved when it morphed into a full-on choreographed number at the end.

So excited for John Mulaney again in a couple weeks. I hope it's another show just packed with sketches of his that got rejected when he was a writer. But please, no sequel to Lobster Diner. Don't mess with perfection.

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

What the he’ll wasbtgat wedding location skit at the end? Is that a NY thing? 

The location of the venue was in NY, but I felt that they were going for something a little more universal. It was sort of a riff on those wedding/special event venues that are just a little...off. Like they seem fancy on the surface but then, yeah, they have that cheap pink soap in the bathroom and it's probably a front for organized crime.

Edited by helenamonster
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7 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

Once I saw Alec Baldwin pursing his lips and pretending he's funny, I tuned out and never really got to watch the rest. Did Colin Jost say anything about Amazon leaving NYC, since he got on his high horse about it when the deal was announced?

I haven't found him and his impression funny in ages. Serious questions: is it Baldwin's bad impression? Ill-timed delivery? Poor writing?  Or all of the above?

His pauses seem too long, and his impression monotonous, it never changes. Last night, at times, he sounded more like Bill Clinton. Some of the skit involved repeating Trump verbatim (like Tina Fey did with Palin) but it seemed to fall flat because Trump's delivery was flamboyant, and the comedic imitation more subdued...

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I wish all host monologues were as relaxed and low key funny like Don Cheadle's. Love the shoutout to his playing "Ice-Tray" on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air but I was hoping for a Golden Palace reference! Like what was Betty White like?

j9s6ngcxSoKbYWsa3wubtJTHiOA.jpg

Edited by VCRTracking
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17 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I don't know what kind of accent he was putting on but I heard "I think we built Atlanta" and was extremely puzzled.

Thank you! I swear I heard "Atlanta" too, and apologies to Amber Ruffin, but I was all "WHAT??".  I didn't get it at all.

8 minutes ago, Toaster Strudel said:

His pauses seem too long, and his impression monotonous, it never changes. Last night, at times, he sounded more like Bill Clinton. Some of the skit involved repeating Trump verbatim (like Tina Fey did with Palin) but it seemed to fall flat because Trump's delivery was flamboyant, and the comedic imitation more subdued...

Well judging from twitter, I think it got a reaction they were probably hoping for from a particular audience.

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I disagree . That was just a throwaway line at the very end of the sketch. I was surprised that they didn't zero in that on th at as it was actual news involving Steve Harvey.  But it was just an afterthought.

I disagree that it was an afterthought. What Steve Harvey did to Mo’Nique in that interview has been a big deal in Black-oriented media in the days since the show aired. That SNL referenced it at all means someone saw it worth mentioning but maybe didn't want to look like they were taking sides. Again, it was a lane I think SNL shoud've stayed out of unless they were also going to include someone representing Mo’Nique. Many think she was subjected to televised abuse at the hands of Harvey and that it was shameful even if they are supposedly good friends. Perhaps though neither Leslie nor Ego wanted to play her since Mo’Nique has been her own case of problematic in some very public ways. Meanwhile, Kenan will probably look for any excuse to trot out his Harvey impression.

Hopefully this won't be the last time Don Cheadle gets to host. He was game for everything and has proven comedic chops.

Edited by Joimiaroxeu
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35 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

I wish all host monologues were as relaxed and low key funny like Don Cheadle's. Love the shoutout to his playing "Ice-Tray" on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air but I was hoping for a Golden Palace reference! What was Betty White like?

j9s6ngcxSoKbYWsa3wubtJTHiOA.jpg

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44 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Thank you! I swear I heard "Atlanta" too, and apologies to Amber Ruffin, but I was all "WHAT??".  I didn't get it at all.

Well judging from twitter, I think it got a reaction they were probably hoping for from a particular audience.

I heard Atlanta too and was so confused. Me: "The wall is going all the way to Atlanta?"

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2 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

When they showed actual video clips of the speech during Weekend Update, it only solidified that Baldwin's Trump just falls flat in comparison to the real thing. I weep for America.

I just felt like whatever energy he once had for the part, he's completely lost.  He doesn't even put any effort into the impression any more, and just counts on the audience's instinct to laugh.  When he said the line about being 6'7" and 185 pounds, that should have been funny, and the audience didn't even react.  He's said he wants to retire from the character.  Let him.  Bring back Darrell Hammond or hire Anthony Atamanuik, who is so good you might think he was the real deal if you met him on the street.

I only laughed at the doggie sketch, but then, it takes a lot to get me to laugh.

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Okay, I swear that vomiting cake was based on some cartoon i've seen before. Some hybrid human/frog combination or something who was in misery and kept barfing while pleading for someone to kill it.. Anyone know what I'm taking about? It's right there in my mind, but I can't bring it forward. It was Family Guy-type humor, if i remember right.

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2 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

Okay, I swear that vomiting cake was based on some cartoon i've seen before. Some hybrid human/frog combination or something who was in misery and kept barfing while pleading for someone to kill it.. Anyone know what I'm taking about? It's right there in my mind, but I can't bring it forward. It was Family Guy-type humor, if i remember right.

Maybe this: 

I was on my phone when I wrote before, so I didn't get to express how much I liked Don Cheadle, can't believe that he hasn't hosted before, and want him back asap. 

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2 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

Okay, I swear that vomiting cake was based on some cartoon i've seen before. Some hybrid human/frog combination or something who was in misery and kept barfing while pleading for someone to kill it.. Anyone know what I'm taking about? It's right there in my mind, but I can't bring it forward. It was Family Guy-type humor, if i remember right.

There was a pretty famous episode of South Park (“Douche and Turd”) where Stan was exiled from his town for deciding not to vote given two bad choices, and he takes refuge in the woods with a PETA contingent.  One of the PETA members married an animal and had a human-ostrich(?) hybrid that was an abomination that kept saying “kill me” just like the cake.  That is what I first thought of.  Although that Simpsons clip above did come first.  As South Park’s General Disarray would say, “Simpsons did it!” 🙂

Edited by Peace 47
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8 hours ago, helenamonster said:

What was Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali doing on the "Newbies" side of Family Feud?

Yeah, they played a little fast and loose there, because for that matter, Lady Gaga also has been nominated for an Oscar before, whereas this is Sam Elliot (Who was over on the ‘Vets’ side) first nomination. They should’ve just come up with some other kind of designation, because I spent more time focusing on that than I spent paying attention to the sketch. 

However, Don Cheadle himself was amazing. The monologue may have been one of the best “standup” type monologues I’ve seen from someone who isn’t a standup. He slayed everything he was given. He is just so insanely talented. If anyone hasn’t checked out his new show Black Monday, you should, because he is excellent in it. 

And Mulaney in March? Yes please, because with him writing his own sketches, I know the writing won’t be able to let him down. 

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OMG the [air-quote] National Emergency [/air quote] was a knuckleball wafted right down the middle of the plate and SNL whiffed it by three feet.  That was the most not funny CO in years.  The Baldwin-Trump thing used to be funny but it's not 2016 anymore.  It's simply been done way too many times at this point.  They just need to get someone else with a fresh take on Trump if that's possible.  But beyond that they just flat blew it.  It's unclear what else they could have done, perhaps tripled-down on the whole national emergency concept where going forward Trump declares a national emergency for everything up to and including the Mueller investigation.  Or they might have keyed off Ann Coulter's quip about the only national emergency is that Trump is an idiot. [shrugs]

The freshman news and cake sketches were great; something different with real laughs.  Poor Kyle and poor Sean!

Edited by JZL
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21 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

I wasn’t familiar with Gary Clark Jr.  That second song was very powerful. 

I don’t know if I’m tired of Baldwin’s Trump, tired of Trump, tired of Baldwin, or tired of the show being kind of lazy with these political sketches (like just repeating press conference lines).  Probably all of the above.  They need new political writers.

I agree with both the above sentiments. I loved the second song, and I'm more than tired of Baldwin's Trump. Get someone else already. LOTS of people do a funnier impression. Why are they wedded to Baldwin's version??

17 hours ago, Psychobunny said:

Loved the hockey jersey at the end although I didn’t get it until he turned around 

What did it say? I turned the TV off before he turned around, so I missed it. I loved his t'shirt from earlier in the show.

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22 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I agree with both the above sentiments. I loved the second song, and I'm more than tired of Baldwin's Trump. Get someone else already. LOTS of people do a funnier impression. Why are they wedded to Baldwin's version??

What did it say? I turned the TV off before he turned around, so I missed it. I loved his t'shirt from earlier in the show.

It was the Soviet Union hockey jersey with "Trump" and the number "45" on back. Brilliant

Edited by Izzy85
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19 minutes ago, possibilities said:

What did it say? I turned the TV off before he turned around, so I missed it. I loved his t'shirt from earlier in the show. 

The hockey jersey said CCCP (Cyrillic for USSR) on the front and then on the back it had TRUMP (spelled with a Я instead of an R to indicate Russianness) and the player number was 45.

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