SNL Scorecard: Jennifer Lopez / DaBaby
Last night, Saturday Night Live returned from their Thanksgiving break with Jennifer Lopez as host and DaBaby as musical guest. It was an interesting combination of early 2000s hip-hop star meets late 2019 hip-hop star: DaBaby is very “now,” and J-Lo is very much an icon of the last two decades. Although, as she did touch on in her monologue, she’s had an incredible year in music and television (and future marriage) that’s seen her surge again to the national stage, which will culminate in a Super Bowl halftime show performance in February.
Interestingly enough, the music/hip-hop influence on the show really only manifested itself in one sketch last night, as any host-inspired theme seemed to instead focus on Lopez’s beauty and style. This worked to varying degrees, but all in all, it was a disappointingly lopsided return for SNL. There were certainly a few memorable moments, particularly as the show went on, but in a season as fresh, promising and entertaining as this has been, there was also probably the highest amount of forgettable filler material we’ve seen all year.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 8th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“Barry's Bootcamp”: 7.5/10
I didn't expect a repeat of this sketch so soon after the David Harbour "SoulCycle" sketch, but man, even without changing the format, they nailed it again. With no repeats of any of the lines from last time, the sequel might be even better than the original, as J-Lo slid into the 'trainer' role flawlessly. This was probably the best use of the host all night.
The Good
“PottyPM": 7.5/10
For all his bizarre pre-taped content, much of which doesn't make it to air, I don't think I've seen Kyle Mooney front too many mock ads on SNL. This left me hoping he does so more often. What started as a silly premise about nighttime catheters quickly slipped into token Mooney territory, as he awkwardly tried to recall female anatomy to Jennifer Lopez's face. "Filipino tubes"... just golden.
“Hoops": 7/10
This was reminiscent of Jenny Slate's "Car Horns and More" sketch, which aired last time Jennifer Lopez hosted. "Hoops" is similarly goofy and fun, with some really witty jokes, and it was nice to see the only Latina cast member get a skit with the Latina host.
"Surprise Home Makeover": 6.5/10
A reprise from the Margot Robbie episode of 2016, I did not expect to see Matt Schatt again, but SNL could certainly do worse for recurring sketches. This one didn't quite capture the energy of the first time it aired with Robbie, but even knowing the punchline ahead of time, this was still often hilarious (you know, in an infuriating kind of way).
“Chad & JLo": 6.5/10
It had been a while since we’d seen Chad! In a year where Pete Davidson has been largely absent, it’s nice to see him back in one of his most well-known characters. Again, there’s always a question of whether this sketch has worn thin, and it wasn’t as fresh this time. But they (Davidson especially) keep finding ways to make this funny.
“NATO Cafeteria Cold Open": 6.5/10
I expect there may be complaints from the SNL diehards about importing three celebrities again for a political sketch instead of promoting from within, but it was fun to see a summit of talk-show hosts plus Paul Rudd, who I doubt has ever been unwelcome anywhere. James Corden as Boris Johnson was a particularly inspired choice, and even Baldwin's Trump was a bit more palatable this time, as he was not front and center. The writing wasn't always sharp and it did go on a bit too long, but while I was interested in how they were going to end a sketch that essentially reinforced Trump’s self-victimization, the sarcastic Melania Trump anti-bullying PSA was the perfect twist.
“Weekend Update": 6/10
This was one of Colin Jost and Michael Che's weaker weeks all season, I think. Their constant breaking and commentary on each other’s jokes is really good when the jokes are good, and thus the crowd is into it. In weeks like these, where the writing just isn’t very sharp, it feels contrived, and comes across as them just trying to manufacture laughter for a subpar joke. That said, they were fortunately aided by terrific guest appearances. I could have listened to Kate McKinnon’s Nancy Pelosi condemning Trump for “taking a dook in the pool” on repeat for hours. And Beck Bennett's Jules is so annoyingly good; you can tell the crowd reaction to his character is always mixed, and I’m guessing that’s because many of them know a Jules and hate him too much to even laugh at a send-up of him.
“Hip-Hop Carolers”: 5.5/10
This won’t make the pantheon of holiday sketches, but it was fun and original at least. Chris Redd’s full commitment to his absurd characters is always such a joy, and musical guest DaBaby made a funny appearance.
The...Less-Good
“The Corporal”: 5/10
I don’t know what the thought was behind this sketch, but boy, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon committed to it wholeheartedly. did too, for her part. It was fun to watch them lean into their eccentric characters but again, the joke here was basically “J-Lo is hot!!! Nobody tell her!!”
“Monologue”: 4.5/10
J-Lo is an entertainer, so she has good stage presence, and a disarming demeanor. Thus, it was no surprise to see her comfortable on the Studio 30 stage. That said, J-Lo isn't a comedienne nor comedy actress, and thus, is likely not going to be too funny without funny material, and this monologue was short on that. It essentially was a few minutes of the host explaining why her life was great right now and then inexplicably breaking into "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."
"Them Trumps: Rally": 4.5/10
I believe this was the third one of these that they've done, and it felt to weird to see it without Leslie Jones. Though I usually love the idea behind these skits, and the first couple installments' execution was great, this particular one didn't really work. Usually the skit draws from a specific event that’s going on with Trump and points out the racial double standard. This one relied on a much more vague “Trump supporters don’t actually like black people” and that made for a much weaker payoff.
"Wisconsin Women": 4/10
So far this season, the weird has been wonderful. But in this instance, the weird didn’t really work. I was unsure whether the joke was on Wisconsinites or oblivious city visitors, or if something flew over my head. Other than Cecily’s spot-on Wisconsin accent, there wasn’t too much here to laugh at.
Musical Performances
DaBaby: 6/10
I’ve become acquainted with DaBaby by virtue of listening primarily to Rap radio stations, and there’s no question he has some real bops, as evidenced by his current single, er, “BOP.” What I didn’t know was how much of an all-around entertainer the Charlotte rapper was. In addition to rapping his songs “BOP” and “Suge,” he performed a choreographed dance, with a large crew of dancers and a hype man on the mic. It’s the first time I can recall seeing a rapper perform with an earpiece, but it wasn’t hard to see why it would have been needed.
Now I should say, in terms of the musicality itself, it was a bit of a mess. DaBaby performed over audio of his own song playing live, and it became difficult to distinguish and hear live DaBaby over recorded DaBaby (particularly when his earpiece kept slipping out during “Suge”). But, as overall performances, his set was memorable and entertaining, and injected some much-needed energy into the show.
OVERALL SCORE: 5.92 (Comedy Only score: 5.91)