S44.E15: Idris Elba / Khalid

[Pete Martell]

4 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I don't know why the audience wasn't more into the WNBA Gold Diggers sketch. That was the only one that had me on my sides the entire time.  

I think the audience was in a dead space most of the night, which didn't help, but in this case I felt like the sketch was unfocused and probably didn't have the big laugh lines. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I wonder if it may have been his choice to not be sexualized, since that already happens quite a bit. 

I think so too.  The writers seemed very lost.

His character on The Office, Charles Miner, is kind of like an Americanized, button-down version of himself.  The writers acknowledged that he's incredibly handsome, and makes people nervous, and can be intimidating if he doesn't loosen up.  They mined a lot of comedy from that.  To me, comedy and pop culture is kind of weird when it's disingenuous - pretending people don't look or appear or act the way that they do and that humans have reactions to that.  When you kind of lean into that, it can be relatable.

I don't mean to sexualize him - I admire him a great deal.  But I really think the writers could have used more about what he inherently has to mine comedy.  For example, I liked the football sketch because I thought Idris seemed very comfortable.

There's also one of my favourite movies "Obsessed" (2009) - it's about how a coworker of Idris' who literally becomes obsessed with him.  Yes he's hot, but it's also believable, because I've witnessed people in real life who have become obsessed with people in their real lives as well.  Something relatable and human like that makes people interested.  IMO

Off the top of my head I'm thinking of some good sketches that featured January Jones (notoriously not a great host), Ellen Page, Jennifer Aniston that leaned into their natural demeanours or adorable looks, etc.  They weren't necessarily sexualized but their natural charm or demeanour was definitely acknowledged and leaned into.

There's this classic sketch Matthew Perry from "Friends" did in the 90s where he taught sarcasm classes.  I mean, he played Chandler Bing, the most notoriously sarcastic character in pop culture, and everyone super leaned into that.

 

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Well I thought he looked really good in that green suit!

Of course.  He'd make a burlap sack hot.  Not what I meant ; )

Edited March 11, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[peeayebee]

19 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Thank god the Netflix generation knows that he can do comedy because I'm sure they've all watched "The Office" 100 times.

But was he actually FUNNY in that? IIRC, he played the straight man.

I didn't see anything in last night's show that indicated he's good at comedy. Maybe he would be in a filmed bit... Yet I didn't think he was all that funny in The Impossible Hulk either.

9 hours ago, helenamonster said:

I guess Momo is a real thing? I don't really ever venture to that corner of the interwebz.

Me neither, but I saw it referenced in some article somewhere.

Quote

Michael literally said out loud "That was funny" after not one but two WU jokes. Don't do that.

I really don't like Michael's demeanor at all on WU. He basically acts like everything is beneath him. 

As for the rest of the show, I did like the R Kelly interview sketch. I only saw a couple of clips from the real interview, so I can't completely compare, and maybe that doesn't matter. I simply found this funny. Kenan was good. I liked how he kept saying that something he was trying to recall started with Q. Some good jokes in this one.

Can I Play That had a good concept, that things might be going overboard with which actors can play which roles. I got a good laugh when Kenan brought up James Bond, Idris then said, "I know the answer to that!" and Kenan then, "Do ya though?"

That Bok Bok's mascot was creeeeePEE! Great makeup job. I hope I don't have nightmares tonight.

I enjoyed the Powerpoint sketch. It was pretty silly, but fun.

The Impossible Hulk was a pretty good idea but didn't quite work for some reason. Same with The Golddiggers of the WNBA.

All the rest of the sketches were also just not right. The Premier Football League would have worked better with someone other than Idris. I like him. In DRAMA. I don't think he can do comedy. The Great Rudolpho needed more work in the writing, as well as the execution, and the last sketch with the actors was a big nothing. I imagine if a good comedic actor had been the host, he would have had Beck's role.

Oh, and I didn't know Pete was dating Kate Beckinsale. I also didn't hear when her name was said during WU, so I thought Pete was dating a much younger woman. Therefore, his long list of older guys having dated/married younger women fell flat (and offensive) to me. Learning that he's actually the younger one makes more sense.

[WAnglais1]

Tired of Pete showing up only on update to say something outrageous and then comment on his love life. I don't remember Bill Murray talking about dating Gilda on WU. 

Also, I tire of Michael Che telling us how well off he is. 

Just be funny. That's all I want. 

[Peace 47]

5 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I don't know why the audience wasn't more into the WNBA Gold Diggers sketch. That was the only one that had me on my sides the entire time. 

I didn’t care all that much for the sketch because it seemed a little mean-spirited towards the WNBA.  Like, these women are elite athletes who don’t make much money, and although the joke was that some male hangers on were angling for some sweet Toyota Camry action, it almost ended up feeling like we were laughing at the players for driving Camrys in the first place. Maybe I’m not expressing myself well, but I felt a little icky with the humor in that sketch.

4 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Is it weird that I wanted some skits about how incredibly hot Idris Elba is?  I mean he's a pop culture phenomenon.

Idris Elba is really beautiful.  SNL has a steady stream of attractive hosts, but his beauty is really a cut above.

I didn’t think that the Impossible Hulk was superlatively funny (it was okay from my perspective), but I was really impressed with the comic graphic overlays that they did, and the comic artwork at the end.  The production values were top notch.

My favorite sketch was probably “Can I Play That?”  The amount of vitriol spewed online at the idea that James Bond could be race bent (by Elba) was crazy, so I liked that they took a shot at that.

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

But was he actually FUNNY in that? IIRC, he played the straight man.

Yes.  You quoted me saying "he can do comedy".  A successful straight man can do that.

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Oh, and I didn't know Pete was dating Kate Beckinsale. I also didn't hear when her name was said during WU, so I thought Pete was dating a much younger woman. Therefore, his long list of older guys having dated/married younger women fell flat (and offensive) to me. Learning that he's actually the younger one makes more sense.

He's only 25.  Legally he can't go that much younger.

 

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

I didn't see anything in last night's show that indicated he's good at comedy. Maybe he would be in a filmed bit... Yet I didn't think he was all that funny in The Impossible Hulk either.

And I don't think that the quality of writing was a good enough test.  It's not like the sketches were gut-bustingly funny and Idris was taking the humour down a notch.  Far from it.  Idris did a good enough job for what he was given.  He's an extremely talented actor with range, so yes I'm confident with the right material he can be funny.  I've seen enough of his projects to know that's the case.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[ItCouldBeWorse]

20 hours ago, callmebetty said:

My problem with Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale's age difference isn't the same as what Pete thinks. It's that her kid is only 5 years younger than he is. I have problems dealing with that with other people too. Paul Walker was one of them too.

Yes, I think the one good thing about her dating him is that her daughter is now saved from that possibility.

Did Pete list any couples where the woman was old enough to be the guy's mother, or only the reverse?

[Ms Blue Jay]

Of course.  Off the top of my head, Michael Douglas is 25 years older than Catherine Zeta Jones.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

19 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Of course.  Off the top of my head, Michael Douglas is 25 years older than Catherine Zeta Jones.

Man old enough to be woman's father is commonplace. I was asking if Pete had listed any couples where the woman was old enough to be the man's mother.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'll let @izabella answer because I remembered it wrong

Edited March 11, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[izabella]

2 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Man old enough to be woman's father is commonplace. I was asking if Pete had listed any couples where the woman was old enough to be the man's mother.

I don't remember all the couples, but he did mention Macron and his wife, although not by name.  She is 24 years older than the French President.

[Dr.OO7]

Juliet Mills is 18 years her husband's senior--and they've been married 39 years!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 hours ago, izabella said:

I don't remember all the couples, but he did mention Macron and his wife, although not by name.  She is 24 years older than the French President.

Right. She was a teacher at his school and met when they were 39/15.  She was married with three children and they started dating when he was 18.  I wonder if Pete knows the origins of that relationship.

Edited March 11, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[OpalNightstream]

I like Leslie but she constantly stumbles on her lines and it often is at the expense of the punchline.

the Pete/Kate thing is pointless. It’s not going to last so stay tuned for a month or so from now when he’s mocking this relationship. 

Edited March 11, 2019 by OpalNightstream

[rollacoaster]

I was disappointed in this episode. I'm not sure if it's because Idris isn't really good with comedy, or the writing let him down. In so many of the skits, it felt like he was a supporting player or afterthought. The regulars seemed to be chewing scenery all around him. He was somewhat more showcased in the WBNA skit. It wasn't that funny, but it got me and Mr. rollacoaster talking about unequal pay in sports between male and female players. 

Loved Cecily in the Impossible Hulk. "I'm feeling agressed!" I work in customer service and I've dealt with that type of person before, both male and female. You're just left stunned by the unnecessary, insane intensity of it all. It's generally sparked by staff saying something as banal as "I'm sorry, we can't/don't do that."

[xander874]

17 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I mean, they do a sketch where Idris Elba's clothes are getting all ripped up and we don't get to see any skin?  Shame on them! 

I totally agree with this. And I get that it was supposed to mirror the real Hulk show, but my practical self was wondering why the clothes would rip at all. His lady form was smaller than him so if anything, they would just be baggy clothes.

And surprised no mention of Ashton/Demi. I guess because they are over but that is such a well known May-December pairing.

[Robert Lynch]

Or Katherine Helmond?

[helenamonster]

14 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Oh, and I didn't know Pete was dating Kate Beckinsale. I also didn't hear when her name was said during WU, so I thought Pete was dating a much younger woman. Therefore, his long list of older guys having dated/married younger women fell flat (and offensive) to me. Learning that he's actually the younger one makes more sense.

They never said her name on the show, and the relationship has been relatively lowkey compared to his time with Ariana--no constant social media posts (I think Pete's deleted his and I haven't seen him anywhere on Kate's), no matching tattoos, no getting engaged like two weeks after they started dating, etc. There were a few articles here and there about them sucking face in public but they're not fueling it (a good idea, given his history) so it's kinda stayed on the backburner.

I am curious if this is something Pete wants to talk about on the show or if he's being coerced into it. As a counter example, nobody ever brings up Colin and Scarlett Johansson and she's actually been on since they started dating.

[Princess Sparkle]

I am a corporate trainer, and that PowerPoint sketch has happened to me almost beat for beat, to the point where it was almost uncanny. 

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, xander874 said:

I get that it was supposed to mirror the real Hulk show, but my practical self was wondering why the clothes would rip at all. His lady form was smaller than him so if anything, they would just be baggy clothes.

That would have been even funnier!

[JZL]

On 3/10/2019 at 12:02 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yeah.

And I love Tame Impala too!

I made a joke that the Sandra Oh / Tame Impala connection is a Twitter wet dream.

Finally some Tame Impala!  They should have been on 7-8 years ago.  I vaguely recall when SNL was cutting edge musically. 

Kevin Parker is hinting that the new album might be soon.  Surely not this week?  Pleeeeeeease.  [/whine]

I don't get the Oh/Impala/Twitter comment.  Could you enlighten the tweet-impaired among us?

Oh, and the episode = yawn, except maybe the CO.  Idris Elba wasn't really very funny, though I'd like to see him make another attempt.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I just spend a lot of time on Twitter.

1.  With Killing Eve, and Sandra Oh hosting the Globes, etc. it just really seems most if not all people I follow on Twitter are extremely happy for her and whenever she receives accolades.  So few Asian women win acting awards that she's definitely made a lot of history recently as she's won some.

2.  Tame Impala.  There have been sooooooo many memes lately using the song "The Less I Know the Better".  I honestly was introduced to Tame Impala because Rihanna covered them in 2016.  

[Red Bridey]

I don't give a RAT'S ASS about Pete Davidson and his love life.  He bores me and creeps me out and the only thing I can say about that segment as I fast-forwarded through it was it was SO LONG.  Way too long/

[Not4Me]

Bringing in snake-oil saleslady Gwenyth Paltrow to give her more free publicity for GOOP...stay classy SNL!

[Ottis]

I'll give SNL this: They came out swinging in this episode. That punctured a number of balloons beloved by the more liberal live crowd, which I think explains the lack of audience reaction here and there. This is highly unusual for SNL, and it made each sketch a bit edgy.

Cold Open, R. Kelly: I didn't see the original interview, so some of these was meaningless to me. But it was an interesting study of a person who really has no sane perspective anymore.

Monologue: Idris Elba telling his story. It wasn't funny, but it was interesting.

Can I Play That? Ouch - poking fun at the ridiculousness of the Twitterverse AND the PC responses to cultural appropriation, et al. And all of it was so true. Not surprised the audience struggled. This one hit close to home for a lot of them, who were hoping for another Trump is an Idiot sketch.

Bok Bok's: SNL at its pop culture finest. Not as funny as I wanted, but a nice concept.

Powerpoint: I actually know admins who are exactly like those two when it comes to PPT and *any* criticism at all. I expect some people felt like this skit was a little mean, but it actually is very realistic. "Can I just use the phone?" 

The Impossible Hulk: Amusing, and I'm not sure that the audience knew quite what to do with it given the change from African American to woman. So ... ridicule or support, I imagined that battle going on in thousands of brains. If Elba  had turned into a while man, then the audience would have loved it and the roars of unimpeded laughter would have come.

The Gold Diggers of the WNBA:  Oops, men acting like women who pursue NBA stars? Red alert! The crowd struggled mightily because it felt like this was mocking NBA gold diggers, who are women, and so ... bad skit. Bad! In truth, it was just turning a stereotype on its ear, with men (who were also black, so careful, careful). I laughed at bit, especially at the deep voice from Cecily.

WU: Decent. Colin had a few zingers that made the audience gasp/awwwww. The show really went after it this week.

Sky Sports: I actually ... don't even remember this. Wait, this was the futball player saying inappropriate things. Yeah, the SNL audience won't like this. And yep, did a quick Google and SNL was already chastized for it, and the WNBA skit.

Rudolpho: Don't recall.

Auditioning: This was a bit off. It seemed to speak to the neediness of actors, but then ended abruptly.

Yes, SNL will get criticized for this ep by some. But for me, it was one of the few times they had some fun with that side of the various debates, and I enjoyed it for the most part.

[LuvMyShows]

On 3/10/2019 at 1:30 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

in a *rough* episode I actually liked this, because I feel like Idris got to mine comedy from a world he's very familiar with (football), so I think he was really happy and comfortable with a skit, for once.

I had that exact same thought, that it's the only skit of the evening where I felt like he was not nervous, and therefore I was less conscious that he was an actor in a skit.

[proserpina65]

Well that was underwhelming.  Idris seemed game, but except for the game show skit, it was not funny.

Okay, I'll confess to having a certain fondness for the Sky Sports skit, but that's mostly because I'm an Arsenal supporter.  Our current players aren't that stupid but there have been some real winners in the past.  (Yes, Wrighty, I'm looking at you.  Bendtner, you too.)  Does it make me a bit of a pedant to point out that the graphic should've been "Arsenal vs. Manchester United" rather than the other way 'round since the Premier League lists the home team first?  Yes?  I'm okay with that.

I had high hopes for the R. Kelly cold open, but given how crazy the real interview was, that ended up being lame in comparison.  What a missed opportunity.

 

On 3/10/2019 at 12:00 AM, Galileo908 said:

Can I Play That?: Oh no, Film Twitter running a game show. Of course it sucks and it's cringeworthy. I got a laugh out of "SECRETLY Mexican?" and Rami Malek playing Michael Jackson's Ghost (in the Michael Jackson Ghost Movie. On Lifetime). Can Idris Elba play James Bond? I see what you did there. I just felt like the audience simply died after a while.

Whereas I thought it was the only really funny skit of the night.

 

On 3/10/2019 at 10:01 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Did Pete list any couples where the woman was old enough to be the guy's mother, or only the reverse?

He mentioned the president of France, whose wife is significantly older.  She was his teacher in school, in fact.

[Phishbulb]

I thought the magician sketch with Leslie was just mean-spirited towards Leslie. The joke of it just seemed to be that she is a "bigger" lady and just putting her through a lot of abuse to no real comedic effect. The twist of the sketch being that Kenan's character was trying to kill his wife all along didn't help.

[JAYJAY1979]

The reason why SNL used to be popular back in the day was because they weren't PC... they just went for the joke... so I got a kick out of Can I play that.. because people seem to show their lack of logic and their lack of open mindedness on there (and oddly they're trying to be open minded, yet are showing themselves as not being open minded.).

[Oosala]

On 3/10/2019 at 7:06 PM, peeayebee said:

I really don't like Michael's demeanor at all on WU. He basically acts like everything is beneath him.

Yeah, I don't like that either.  Much prefer Colin's darling grin on WU.

I loved the football sketch because a) Idris played a typical, entitled and dumb EPL football player and b) the team featured was Arsenal.  That's my son's team.  If I was there, I would have been singing the AAAAAH-se-nal AAAAAH-se-nal AAAAAH-se-nal "song."  Idris would have gotten it.

Edited to say HI to my EPL friend, proserpina65.  I should have known you'd have something to say about that sketch!

Edited April 19, 2019 by Oosala