John Mulaney delivered the best SNL episode of the season. Don’t miss this one!
John Mulaney is one of my favorite comedians. John Mulaney also wrote for SNL for 5 years and had a really identifiable voice (like Mikey Day’s had the last few seasons) that created characters like Stefon. To say I was excited for this episode was an understatement. This delivered on every level – apart from a few segments the host doesn’t really have control over, this was like they built the entire episode out of 10-to-1 sketches AND IT WORKED.
What You Missed
Cold Open: Department of Justice
It’s cool that they got Ben Stiller to play Michael Cohen and Deniro to play Mueller, but moving this over to just a whole “Meet the Parents” thing was a disappointing turn for this. I dare say this is skippable, given everything else this episode.
Monologue
When you have a stand-up comedian host SNL, let them do their stand up. This is masterful.
“We get very dressed up, including hats.”
Drag Brunch
This was amazing and everything I wanted out of a John Mulaney hosted SNL. This is two or three of his standup bits mashed up in the best possible way. The soupçon of visible chest hair here is *chef kiss*
Class Walkout
“Not at this specific moment when I’m wearing mesh shorts”
Wild Wild Country
One thing I love about the series Documentary Now (which Mulaney and Seth Meyers produce/write) is that it pulls from specific sources in a way that’s funny if you’re not familiar with the source material. I haven’t watched Wild Wild Country yet, so some of this lost me in the brief 3 minutes it had. Nasim came back, though!
Diner Lobster
So far, every live sketch has felt like John Mulaney clearing out a bunch of stuff he wrote while at SNL that didn’t quite work at the time. And it is AMAZING. This is a 10-to-1 sketch airing before the first musical guest slot.
Weekend Update
- Michael and Colin on all of this week’s updates has been helpful in processing everything
- Kate McKinnon as Laura Ingraham going through new sponsors was great
- Goat yoga: it doesn’t work
- I do not pay much attention to The Sports, but I understand who Lavar Ball is and Keenan’s character here is very good.
Hollywood Update
This sketch had me from “you turned on the TV at your hotel room, and this was on!”
Horns
There are so many lovely details in the argument in this sketch.
“You got your buttcheeks removed as a joke?”
The Real Intros of Reality Hills
That final three seconds of drama!
Cut for Time: Wedding Toast
“The lighting guy is in on this?”
Okay, I’m sad this one didn’t make the actual show due to time.
Cut for Time: Fish Dreams
Unlike with “Wedding Toast”, I see why this one got cut, but it is still delightfully weird.
