SNL Scorecard: Donald Glover/Childish Gambino
I can’t remember when I first stumbled onto Mike Ryan’s “SNL Scorecard” pieces, but I know I kept up with them consistently for several years, checking his rankings and writeup after I watched each new Saturday Night Live episode. The funny thing is, I often didn’t like them, finding myself angry at his ratings of each sketch, and/or his commentary on what worked and what didn’t. I think I mostly just liked seeing a piece that highlighted every sketch of the night, and especially enjoyed seeing whether I agreed with the score for each sketch and each episode.
That being said, Ryan appears to no longer be writing these recaps, and, having long considered taking up the mantle, I figured I’d give this idea a test drive as we head into the final stretch of Season 43.
Boy, did I pick a good episode to start with, as Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s night as host and musical guest may just have been the best one of the season (though previous host John Mulaney and rapper counterpart Chance The Rapper would also have legitimate claims for that title). Glover, whose absurdly widespread talent is becoming increasingly noticeable, gave us tastes of his “Troy in Community” comedy, “Earn in Atlanta” comedy, and Childish Gambino musicality.
Sketch of the Night
“Friendos": 10/10
Not just skit of the night, but quite possibly the best skit of the year. Glover, Chris Redd, and Kenan’s Thompson not-too-subtle parody of rap trio Migos is spot-on, both in appearance but also in musical stylings. When the club track progressively gets intertwined with the crew’s therapy session, we realize there’s some profound truths buried beneath the hilarity of this sketch.
The Good
“A Kanye Place”: 8/10
Nobody does “blending current pop culture stories” better than SNL does, and this is just the latest example. A very accurate depiction of if Kanye’s tweet-storm occurred in a Quiet Place world; the cast’s reactions are hilarious, but it’s Glover’s increasing disbelief that shines here.
‘“80s Music Video”: 8/10
This seems to be one of the more divisive sketches of the night, with many writeup pegging it as the best, and others hating it. I personally loved it. I grooved to Glover’s singing before I really knew where the sketch was going, and then loved the increasingly ridiculous reveal. The way the leading man delivered his line about shoving this woman’s expensive jewelry up his ass deserves an Emmy.
“Dirty Talk”: 7.5/10
A rehash of a skit that first played with Aziz Ansari, I was skeptical of how well it would work the 2nd time around, with the audience knowing what was coming this time. The answer? Still pretty dang hilarious, with new punchlines, and a hysterical closing twist that I won’t spoil for you here. This is far and away Melissa Villaseñor’s signature character to date.
“Courtroom”: 7/10
Another skit that, put simply, was dominated by Glover, though Mikey Day plays a phenomenal straight-man. At first, I thought this would be a redo of James Franco’s “Za!” skit from back in December, though the material differed. It was yet another instance of an attorney that doesn’t quite realize how ridiculous he’s being, which only causes him to continually top his own absurdity.
“Michael Cohen Wiretap Cold Open”: 6.5/10
SNL’s political skits, as many have said, have been sadly stale this season. The departure of their two head writers at the beginning of the season probably didn’t help, but more relevant, they just don’t seem to know how to write Trump skits, and especially not Alec-Baldwin-as-Trump skits. This was one of the better ones in a while though; the writing itself wasn’t genius, but it was pulled off creatively, with the celebrity cameos feeling fresh and not forced. For what it’s worth, Martin Short’s Dr. Harold Bernstein inexplicably squawking “I guess you could say I was RAPED!” was the hardest I laughed all night. I would watch that man do any character for hours on end. Also, Stormy Daniels’ comedic timing was predictably not great, but the writers did a clever job of pre-empting that with the line “Donald, I’m an adult film star, we’re not really known for our acting.” Well played.
“Monologue”: 6/10
Glover’s monologue started strong with jokes about being twice shunned by SNL (but actually, Lorne, what were you thinking?), then somewhat wandered with his walking song about being able to do anything. It semi-paid off in a fun way, with the host vomiting through a clarinet. How many times can you say that sentence?
“Barbie Instagram”: 6/10
Put simply (and yes, this is becoming a theme), this sketch would have been horrible if it were to for Glover. To be fair, the point was essentially that his character had all the punchlines, but still, he delivers his weird dystopian Barbie captions so effortlessly, while the writing for and acting from the other cast members were often lacking.
The…Less-Good
“Weekend Update”: 5/10
Che and Jost have reached a noteworthy synergy and created an original feel to “Update” in a way that when they’re on, they’re really really on (see: being invited to be Emmy co-hosts). Unfortunately, the flip side is their off-nights become more noticeable. This was an off-night for Update; the energy seemed to be lacking, and the guest appearances by Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones were nowhere near their best. The best moment of the segment though, came when Che elected to “pass” on discussing Kanye’s tweets about slavery being a choice.
“Lando’s Summit”: 4/10
A sketch that honed in on a very valid Star Wars critique, but unfortunately, the one-trick joke led to a fairly stale skit.
“Prison Job”: 4/10
For a 10-to-1 skit, this felt disappointing. It was less weird than the skits that usually garner that time slot, but also fizzled out despite a fairly humorous start. Still, for being probably the worst skit of the night, it wasn’t BAD.
Musical Performances
Childish Gambino: 8/10
The SNL soundstage is noteworthy for being punishing, acoustics-wise, and even Childish wasn’t perfectly immune to that, as he was hard to understand amidst the medley of other instruments and noises employed in his two new songs. Still, both new tracks were musically engaging, and the dancing/visuals were amazing. And, knowing now how “This Is America” took the Internet by storm, it feels neat to have been able to watch its debut live on the show.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.67 (Comedy Only score: 6.54)