SNL tried to bounce back after the fiasco that was Russell Crowe hosting, to bring in a big gun, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss. (As apparently Tina Fey was too busy doing credit card commercials.) they also got dead gay Boone (sorry) Nick Jonas to show up as musical guest and comedic cameo character.
Last week’s episode was an all time low for the SNL gang which left this week’s host and writers a chance to redeem themselves. Louis-Dreyfuss gave great monologue, in the time given, and the Seinfeld/Veep performer got to reference her Veep show, which is starting its fifth season April 24 in seven days time.
Part of Julia’s monologue dealt with her time on SNL as a regular. Similar to former alumnus Sarah Silverman, Louis-Dreyfuss mentions her “under-use” on a show that has a hard time knowing what to do with attractive and funny women who do not fit “the mold.”
It still goes on; this apparent difficulty in letting all its female players have more than a cameo spot. Ask Sasheer Zamata if you doubt the veracity of this statement, some female comics and writers just do not fit into the “groove” and are relegated to the background with the odd line now and then.
Still, there is life after SNL as proved by both Silverman and Julia. Back to the show, it is interesting to note that the best bits of the entire episode dealt with the good old-fashioned faux adverts on offer. The Heroin AM commercial was funny and the Mercedes battery operated car was almost on par with the old “circumcision” commercial (1977 Royal Deluxe II) but then SNL have prior for good car advertisements parodies.
The pre-taped segments worked fairly well but were not overly topical. An edge that SNL have seemingly lost with their penchant for retreading old material dressed in a new performer. Unfortunately the writers have forgotten one old trick; sexual innuendo is funnier when done slyly.
One pre-taped gag was the “God is a Boob Man” segment with Vanessa Bayer as the straight baker bullied by a gay couple who refuses to bake them a wedding cake. Funny? Yes. Topical, not so much, the wedding cake thing has been around for awhile guys and girls.
Perhaps the best, of a not quite mediocre lot, was the pre-taped “The Pool Boy” where Julia Louis-Dreyfuss shows the realities of having your very own “toy boy” (or pool boy). Pete Davidson ruled the sketch as the totally vapid 20 something pool maintenance man who could not think his way out of a damp paper bag.
Julia does get the punch line, quite a feat after Davidson’s dead squirrel in the pool gag, when dead gay Boone Nick Jonas arrives as the new “lawn boy” and the 50 something cougar ends the sketch with “I’m going to *bleep* that kid.”
The best of the non-pre-taped segments is, hands down, the CVS “Who Works Here?” game show skit. It is biting and witty and also features Sasheer; giving her what may be the most lines in this season.
Nick Jonas performed twice musically and on his first time up, he was not alone. Nick was joined by Tove Lo a Swedish pop star who threatened to overshadow the singer. Jonas made up for that musical miscalculation by turning things up his second time up by performing solo.
(On a sidenote here…Having missed out on the whole Jonas Brothers phenom the first time, this reviewer ever encountered Nick was in his stint as dead gay Boone. Needless to say his performance was good enough that it struck a chord. Now whenever Jonas appears in anything the immediate thought is, “Oh look. It’s dead gay Boone.” Ergo, each time Nick showed up on SNL the DGB thing got in the way.)
Other skits made fun of Match.com; Kate McKinnon and Louis-Dreyfuss as female aliens who need to procreate and the Cinema Classics (which was surprisingly good) had Julia as an “old time” actress who had her dialogue written everywhere. (Best Line in the entire skit was “Made in China.”) Another odd gag, on par with the flat “Match.com” sketch was “Huge Jewelry” (Yuge) another yawn fest skit that allowed Jonas another cameo.
Once again, Weekend Update was the overall winner with Che and Jost as the most consistent in terms of delivery. The most pertinent skit of the night was Cecily Strong’s “One-Dimensional Female Character From A Male-Driven Comedy.” This one had a Stepford Wives feel to it at the end that sold the entire gag.
Overall a good followup to the Russell Crowe debacle of last week, but then, it could hardly be worse…Could it?
Thumbs Up:
The political opening shot with Julia.
God is a Boob Man.
Pool Boy.
Who Works Here.
Tove Lo and Nick Jonas.
One-Dimensional Female Character From A Male-Driven Comedy.
The Malaysian snake gag. [Weekend Update]
Thumbs down:
Everything else.
Having been a fan of SNL since its inception (yes the reviewer is that old) it is all too easy to take pot shots at things that do not work and bad habits from being on the air so long. However, this is still the place where there are more hits than misses and a great show for pop culture references, topical humor and a decided irreverence for all things political.
So despite ill advised episodes, *cough* Russell Crowe *cough,* there is still a lot of love for SNL. It has given us a plethora of talented and incredibly funny performers, some who have gone on to solo stardom and others who have not. Regardless of personal successes, without Lorne Michaels and his show, where would all the talented comics hang out?
SNL; NBC Saturday nights because there is no substitute.
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