SNL Scorecard: Tina Fey/Nicki Minaj
So another season is in the books for Saturday Night Live, 43 years old and still chugging along. It was an interesting year for the show. Some episodes clearly shone brighter than others, but the true duds were very few and far between. Conversely, however, there were not quite as many episodes to write home about. Both represent a departure from Season 42 (perhaps correlating with the departure of head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider), which had a couple total stinkers, but some truly brilliant episodes as well.
With that in mind, the finale, hosted by one of SNL's most famous alums in Tina Fey, was a fitting end. A somewhat disappointing episode all-in-all; not because of it being bad, because it was a solid episode. More so it was a prevailing sense of "could have been better." Perhaps the best indication of this is that what would have been the funniest skit of the night got cut for time.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the last episode of the season.
Sketch of the Night
“Weekend Update": 8.5/10
It feels like such a cop-out to put "Weekend Update" as the Sketch Of The Night, because it's really not a sketch. But amidst an episode that had its fill of good-not-great skits, Weekend Update was terrific. The energy from and dynamic between Che and Jost was terrific-- so much so, they even seem like, dare I say it...friends? The guest appearances always help define the quality of an Update segment, and those were also terrific tonight. I never get tired of Alex Moffat's Eric Trump, especially when alongside Mikey Day's sniveling Donald Trump Jr., and Kenan made an entertaining (and impressively written-in on the day of) appearance as Royal Wedding presider Bishop Michael Curry. And a special shout-out to Aidy Bryant's subtle appearance as the Oakland park lady.
The Good
“Chicago Improv”: 8/10
Simple concept, but riddled with subtle jokes. This is especially sweet given the amount of SNL cast members (particularly Fey herself) that get their start in Chicago's improv scene.
‘“Monologue": 7.5/10
Tina's joke that the producers basically just let her do whatever she wants for her monologue leads in to a classic 'taking answers from the audience' move. This one was chock full of celebrity cameos, though, and none overstayed their welcome. Particularly not Fred Armisen, whose hilarious rapport with Fey led to the best portion of the monologue.
“Morning Joe”: 7/10
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think their Morning Joe sketches have gotten better every time. The awkward sexual "chemistry" between the co-hosts is the most obvious joke, but Moffat's spot-on impression of Joe Scarborough's pretentious cockiness and Kate McKinnon's hysterical impression of Mika Brexsanfjerghuinzinewski, chock full of indignant gasps and scoffs, make this recurring piece worthwhile.
“Donald Trump/Robert Mueller Cold Open”: 6.5/10
For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, the writers got extremely creative with their political Cold Open. This one was, once again, helped by celebrity Trump-Cabinet cameos (Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro), but the placement of what were probably real interactions between the figures within the setting of The Sopranos' series finale was a really creative touch. Although it did seem the crowd didn't pick up on the reference, which was surprising; I've never watched an episode of The Sopranos and even I knew where the sketch was heading! It should be said, though, for the 2nd straight season, it feels like SNL is ending on a note of hopeful expectation that juuuuuust maybe, Trump won't be president when they return to air. At this point, it'd be foolish to expect that to be the case.
“Talent Show”: 6/10
The 10-to-1 skit was a decent one this time! Short, not overly weird, and to be fair, not overly funny. But the intercessions from Kenan and Leslie Jones, and Melissa Villaseñor's delightful goth high-schooler who's "going through a phase" made this a fun watch.
The…Less-Good
“Royal Wedding”: 5.5/10
In terms of pure totals of laughs, this skit did fine. But percentage-wise, the skit was less impressive. It just went on so long, and the premise of Prince Harry video DJ'ing the Royal Wedding reception was one that never really took off.
“Mean Girls”: 5.5/10
Once again, it was a sketch that felt like it was headed somewhere hilarious. And it had its funny moments, most notably Lin-Manuel Miranda's Burn Book, but the joke was essentially: Tina Fey can't dance! But she CAN plug her latest musical!
“Pervert Hunters”: 5/10
Pretty funny idea, but I almost think this would have worked better as a slow buildup to the big reveal (that they didn't actually care about busting the creep, they just wanted a good TV performance). Once the joke was apparent, and Beck Bennett's character was in on it, the humor washed off a little.
“Sarah Palin Advice”: 5/10
Not bad, but not great. It was fairly apparent this was a skit borne out of "let's find some way to bring back Tina's Sarah Palin."
Musical Performances
Nicki Minaj: 7/10
I've never been a bona fide Nicki Minaj fan, but I recognize skill when I see it, and Nicki's got immense talent. Anybody who says otherwise is kidding themselves. These were among the first live performances I'd seen by her, too, and if they're any indication, she knows how to perform. The first performance, with her new single "Chun-Li," was downright impressive, visually AND lyrically. It was the discombobulated performance (largely thanks to Playboi Carti) of "Poke It Out" in the 2nd song that brought this score down a little, though Minaj's verses do go hard in that track, too.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.5 (Comedy Only score: 6.45)