SNL Scorecard: Jason Momoa/Mumford And Sons
I don't knowmoa much about Jason Momoa, apart from being the next Aquaman. But I do knowmoa this momuch: I've never seen anybody so excited to be hosting SNL. As an avid SNL fan who also fantasizes about hosting the show some day, it was pretty cool to see a host so geeked to be up there. It made me root for him, mo doubt.
Unfortunately, through little fault of Momoa's, it was not the best show. As expected, the actor brought terrific energy throughout the night, but the writing, coming off its best performance of the season, often let him down. Jason wasn't blameless, as he stumbled over his lines on more than one sketch, but hey, he was having a good time.
For the 2nd straight week, SNL bucked the norm and actually got progressively better as the night went on. The difference this time was that the skits graduated from boring to pretty funny, as opposed to the progression from pretty funny-to-hilarious that we saw in Claire Foy's episode last week.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 8th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“Rudolph's Big Night”: 7/10
I'm just happy Pete got to be the star of a sketch that wasn't just him talking about himself on Weekend Update. I also love the idea of Rudolph doing mad shit-talking to the other reindeer. And lost it when Santa shot one of his reindeer; sorry, I'm cruel.
The Good
“Elf On The Shelf": 7/10
SNL has a weird history of "bad elf" skits. I thought this was going to be another installment of the unsettling sketch where they get turned on by Santa 'punishing' them. The joke this time, though, crude as it may have been, was hilarious in how the others' innocence was drawn out.
“Weekend Update": 6.5/10
It wasn't quite as good as their last couple outings, but Weekend Update is getting to the point where it's consistently among the better parts of the show. Aidy Bryant's new character, as an overly confident and oblivious 7th grader giving tourism advice, was a welcome addition. And I've always maintained the worst thing about having Michael Che as a Weekend Update correspondent is not being able to have him as a Weekend Update guest, so I'm all about him making these kinds of appearances, even if it is for something as simple as discussing bidet advertising.
"First Impression": 6/10
Extremely bizarre digital short from the mind of Beck Bennett (probably)? Yes please. Jason Momoa plays the excited dad so well. This probably would have been my skit of the night if it had thought of a more effective ending than Momoa's weird ongoing assessment of Beck's body.
“Gemma Sleigh Ride": 6/10
Gosh, I love these skits so much. They've worked to varying degrees, depending on how well the male accompaniment to Cecily Strong has performed his uber-douche role. Momoa was somewhere in between sloppy Louis C.K. and hysterical Dwayne Johnson; i.e. not the funniest job, but it worked. The one constant from these sketches is how brilliant Cecily's British socialite is.
“Them Trumps": 6/10
This wasn't the funniest skit, but was a darn clever concept. It was a long buildup, but Kenan and co. sold it well.
“GE Big Boys": 6/10
This ran the risk of being a somewhat offensive (or at least outdated) skit, but they did a pretty good job of turning the joke into being about men's fragile egos. I'm not saying I would say no to a John Deere-esque riding vacuum, for what it's worth.
“Day Of The Dorks": 6/10
The university frat bros all want to teach the dorks a lesson....they just don't all feel as strongly about it as one of their members does. This was one skit in which I think it was clear the writers really just wanted to put Momoa's physique and knack for physical comedy front and center. Hey, it worked for me.
“An Extra Christmas Carol”: 5.5/10
Another strange thing about this episode: have you ever seen so many Christmas-themed sketches? I get that this is the penultimate show before the holiday, but I've seen many a Christmas episode that don't even feature as many holiday sketches. We went from 1 last week to like 9 this week. At any rate, this was more eccentric than funny, but it was eccentric in a fun and energetic way, and not a "please make it stop" way.
The…Less-Good
"Monologue": 5/10
Again, it was really fun to watch Momoa be so excited for his gig. And Kenan, Leslie, and Chris Redd's proposal for an Aquaman song was a bop. But there's not a whole lot of content here.
“Trump Brothers Bedtime Cold Open": 4.5/10
I always love Mikey Day and Alex Moffat's Don Jr. and Eric Trump. But their dynamic that consistently makes for hysterical Weekend Update performances might not translate naturally to an extended skit. And as fun as it is to see Robert De Niro in there as Robert Mueller, his line reading (or lack thereof) effectively killed whatever momentum this skit had.
“Khal Drogo's Ghost Dojo”: 4/10
Maybe this would be funnier if you actually watched Game Of Thrones? I don't know, but I do know enough references despite having never seen it to have followed along with this one. Regardless, it was pretty weak humor-wise, and the pacing seemed just a step off the whole time.
Musical Performances
Mumford and Sons: 7/10
Hey everyone, Mumford and Sons is still a thing! The band that was all the rage of 2012 has made a couple more albums since their Grammy-winning Babel, which was completely unbeknownst to me. Their star has certainly faded with the exit of the 'folk-is-mainstream' trend. But on the stage on Saturday night, they reminded everyone how they shot to prominence so fast in the first place. The songs they performed were reminiscent of countless others they've written: harmonious, emotional, and performed with a terrific crescendo. Good sound from the lads.
OVERALL SCORE: 5.91 (Comedy Only score: 5.81)