SNL Scorecard: Idris Elba/Khalid
When the host and musical guest for this weekend's SNL episode were announced as Idris Elba and Khalid, respectively, the universal reaction was one word: swoon. The former is generally accepted as one of the sexiest men alive, and the latter has an extremely silky singing voice that is guaranteed to put even the highest-strung person at ease.
In terms of actual comedic and live performance chops, that remained to be seen. Elba, in a way, is cut from the same cloth as prior host James McAvoy. They're both first-time hosts, and crowd-pleasing Brits who are more renowned for their dramatic acting skill, but appear to have enough personality to be competent in a comedy program. Elba at least had the precedent of appearing in The Office, though his character Charles Minor ("Minor? I hardly know her!") was not a particularly funny presence in Scranton.
At any rate, the episode followed a familiar trajectory: starting off tremendously funny and high-energy, then falling off in both momentum and laughs about midway through.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 15th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“R. Kelly Interview Cold Open”: 7.5/10
Two straight weeks where the sketch of the night was the cold open! Man, this was risky material, but they pulled it off well. Leslie’s quietly indignant Gayle and Kenan Thompson’s absolutely clueless “Victim” Kelly were dead on. Kenan, who does such a good job juicing comedy out of the most unsympathetic figures, is truly a national treasure.
The Good
“PowerPoint": 7/10
It’s near impossible to make Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon the center of a skit without some sort of magic. This time, the dynamic duo played a couple of forlorn women that don’t know how to use a computer. The more aggressively self-deprecating the two were, the more hysterical this skit was.
“Soccer Broadcast": 6.5/10
I’ll be honest, as an avid Premier League fan, I really was just geeked to see a skit put English soccer front and center. (There were some factual inaccuracies, such as Mikey Day saying “games” instead of matches, Sky Sports showing NBC Sports footage, and Arsenal having a striker that’s British and not French, but I digress.) But honestly, this was pretty hilarious, too, as Day and Alex Moffat were increasingly uncomfortable with their new co-host.
"Can I Play That?": 6.5/10
Look, I appreciate political correctness, I appreciate attention to representation, and much more. But there are times, particularly in social media spheres, where the outrage gets pushed to an extent that’s, well, outrageous. That sort of social media activism deserves the thorough ridicule present in this skit. Solid sketch, with a great wink-wink fourth wall joke to close it out.
“Bok Bok": 6/10
Really funny and timely mock ad, but slight points off for legitimately haunting my sleep.
“The Impossible Hulk": 6/10
A really funny (and poignant) concept, and an original idea, though unfortunately it didn’t translate to as hilarious a sketch as it could have. It was fun to see the first live sketch appearance of a character Cecily Strong kind of created a while back on her Instagram.
“Supportive Friend": 6/10
Man, I have loved the 10-to-1 skits the last few weeks. This was yet another exemplary 10-to-1 offering: short, bizarre, and delightfully fun. Beck Bennett perfectly plays the dynamics of being friends with fellow striving actors. And I loved how similar his "karate" was to the mannerisms of his famed Baby Boss.
“Idris Elba Monologue": 5.5/10
After following up on the two best monologues of the season, this was a step back in terms of comedy. But Elba’s success story was fun to hear, and it definitely got the crowd livened up for the rest of the show!
The...Less-Good
“Weekend Update”: 5/10
Typically this season, the Weekend Update guest appearances have been the stars of the segment, and the best weeks of Update have been when the co-anchors’ energy and delivery have matched those of their guests. Interestingly enough, it was Che and Jost that did their best to carry the segment this time, with some really terrific one-liners, but they were let down by guest appearances. Heidi Gardner’s characters are all so delightfully weird, which means they either really work or really don’t, and this time, Baskin Johns the GOOP rep. was one that really didn’t (even if it was fun to see Gwyneth Paltrow show up to poke fun at her own brand). Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones both showed up with serviceable appearances, but far from their best.
“Gold Diggers”: 4.5/10
The idea of the gender reversal from the very real “NBA Wives” is a funny one, but it felt like the just kind of ran out of ideas to bring the humor, perhaps wary about venturing into offensive territory.
“Magic Show": 4/10
A pretty bizarre skit; though you could see the punchline they were going for, the humor never quite got there. Leslie Jones’ terrific physical comedy at the end gains a point back for this one.
Musical Performances
Khalid: 6/10
Khalid has one of the smoothest voices of anyone on the radio, but seemed a little shaky in his first appearance on the Studio 8H stage. His second performance, of his hit song “Better,” went, well, better. Overall, a decent outing by the youngster, and you get the feeling that he’ll knock ‘em dead on his next visit.
OVERALL SCORE: 5.88 (Comedy Only score: 5.86)
Heading into the two-week layoff before the next new show, here are the standings for Season 44:
1. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark, Jr. - 6.68
2. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus - 6.58
3. Liev Schreiber/Li'l Wayne - 6.54
4. Claire Foy/Anderson.Paak - 6.46
5. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett - 6.46
6. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon - 6.08
7. Halsey - 6.00
8. Awkwafina/Travis Scott - 5.92
9. Jason Momoa/Mumford And Sons - 5.91
10. Idris Elba/Khalid - 5.88
11. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers - 5.86
12. Steve Carell/Ella Mai - 5.81
13. James McAvoy/Meek Mill - 5.73
14. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet - 5.73
15. Adam Driver/Kanye West - 5.55