SNL Scorecard: Charli xcx
Her announcement as host threw many for a loop, but in a year in which pop culture has been dominated by the pop girlies, it feels fitting that Charli xcx was the third pop star to host Saturday Night Live in the last six months. Ariana Grande, of course, hosted earlier this season to tremendous acclaim, but last night's host actually probably has more in common with Season 49 host Dua Lipa. For one, because Charli is also a British pop star beloved by the girls and the gays, yes; but also because, like Dua before her, she has been a musical guest on SNL thrice before, and even made a cameo in a sketch last time, but this would be her first time ever hosting, and pulling double duty as musical guest while doing so.
I have been familiar with Charli xcx's music since she hit the mainstream with features on "I Love It" and "Fancy" a decade ago or so, but apart from her biggest hits, couldn't say I really knew her well. That changed this year with her omnipresent album brat; the record itself, and perhaps especially the cultural phenomenon it brought about, turned me into a bigger fan of hers. Knowing that she was at least familiar with the show and friends with castmember Bowen Yang, I was fairly excited to see her named as both host and musical guest. That said, I still am probably closer to the masses in how little I know about her personality than I am to her very devoted fanbase, so I was curious how she’d handle herself in a context like this.
The answer? Very well indeed! Charli showed an impressive range and level of comfort as host, and perhaps more importantly, a willingness to go along with any bit. This felt like an episode in which a couple cast members in particular recognized this episode as their moments to shine, and the host showed up and matched their energy completely. There were a couple forgetful entries, and a couple retreads (not necessarily an overlap between the two), but for the most part, this was a delightful and wildly original night, with a number of real highlights, and a fun way for SNL to ride into holiday season.
One note in case you forgot- I know my rankings can seem a little arbitrary, and truthfully there have been times where even I will look back at scorecards and think "Now, why did I rate (x) an 8.5, if (x) from this other episode was only a 7...?". So, both to hopefully clear up my scoring system for any curious readers, but also really to help keep myself consistent, here is the rubric to reference:
10/10: Perfect, no notes
8-9.5/10: Very funny-to-hilarious, definite rewatch
6-7.5/10: Pretty funny-to-funny, but won't necessarily be a rewatch
4-5.5/10: Not BAD, but not particularly funny or memorable
1-3.5/10: Terrible/poor taste, to simply bad/unfunny
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 7th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"Acting Teacher": 8/10
I love when sketches in the second half of the show randomly have the most energy on the night. This one would have been more dumb than funny were it not for Marcello Hernández— who had a very big night —bringing 150% to his unhinged acting teacher character, and Charli perfectly matching it. Their wild energy perfectly played off the bemused acting students, and made for a sneaky great late-show bit.
The Good
“Weekend Update": 9.5/10
Weekend Update had been the highlight of the last few seasons, but last week in the post-election episode, had perhaps its weakest outing yet. What a comeback this was, then, for all involved in the weekly segment. I don’t know if I can remember a stronger outing from Colin Jost and Michael Che, whose digs at Trump and his cabinet picks in particular were some of the most ruthless barbs we’ve heard from anyone, to the delight of the crowd. And though the bar was set incredibly high already by the co-anchors, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman met and perhaps even exceeded it with their hysterical guest appearances.
“Monologue": 8/10
Color me very impressed with Charli’s monologue. It’s not a surprise, of course, that the experienced pop star is comfortable on stage. Nor is it much of a surprise, that a British star has naturally good comedic timing. But many a person, even an experienced actor or actress, has looked more nervous and unsure during the monologue, whereas Charli strode out confidently and delivered a hilarious, self-referential and occasionally self-deprecating introduction to the show. Even the sole “cast walk-on,” while extremely random and unexpected, was delightful.
“Here I Go": 7.5/10
The return of Andy Samberg as pseudo-cast member is perhaps the best thing to happen to SNL in its 50th season. I have to imagine the new digital shorts we’ve gotten so far are a rollout ahead of a new Lonely Island album. Anyways, this one was not quite as memorable as “Sushi Glory Hole,” but it had its hilarious moments, and was another banger. It made sense that they saved this short for this episode, because Charli slid in on it effortlessly.
"Babymoon": 7.5/10
How viral the ‘Domingo’ character has become in such a short time— Marcello even popped up in character at a Sabrina Carpenter concert over the weekend — is proof that often times the most remembered or cited SNL sketches aren’t necessarily the funniest ones. The “bridesmaids song” bit was, in actuality, one of the weakest parts of Ariana Grande’s episode last month. But, the people loved it, and it made for an uproarious crowd reception upon the reveal of the premise’s quick return here. Perhaps because of that, I actually enjoyed this edition a lot more; the “H-O-T-T-O-G-O!” parody came across as more cleverly written than the original “Espresso”parody, and the energy from the audience made this one tons of fun from the start.
"Trump and Biden Cold Open": 7.5/10
Maybe my expectations were just on the floor from the last, I don’t know, decade-plus, but it can’t be overstated how much better political cold opens have been this season. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling not totally ready to laugh about the upcoming administration, and I also don’t see the need to keep shoehorning Alec Baldwin into Trump-related sketches (though he did make me laugh as RFK Jr.). But James Austin Johnson’s Trump and Dana Carvey’s Biden are both so hilariously on point that it offsets just about any negative sentiment. Besides, the writing was really solid; the whole part with Trump discussing his cabinet choices had me rolling.
“Shrek: The Musical": 7/10
A delightfully silly, dumb, somewhat chaotic ending to a delightfully silly, dumb, somewhat chaotic episode. My favorite part was Bowen breaking everyone including himself by stumbling over his own character’s name.
“Wicked Auditions": 6.5/10
It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve gotten one of these quick-hitting impression sketches, and I rarely complain about having them. I’m a sucker for the “impression of the night’s host done by someone else” gag, so Bowen as Charli Xcx made me laugh. And Chloe Fineman, as we all know, excels at these. In general, more fun than funny, though.
The... Less-Good
"It Girl Thanksgiving Special": 6/10
This was kind of a mess, and didn’t really have much of a point apart from, well, “what if various ‘it girls’ celebrated Thanksgiving?” That said, I can recognize I am probably not the demographic this sketch was for, and besides, it had plenty of fun moments and I respect the production value.
"Thanksgiving Baking Championship": 5.5/10
As fun as it was to see Kyle Mooney back, never in a million years would I have guessed that this was the sketch he’d return on. I loved this sketch the first couple times they did it, but I don’t know why they run it back so often when the joke simply doesn’t hit as hard when you know what’s coming. It certainly had its moments, and Charli’s character made me laugh, but it felt like a random pull for a show like this.
"Banger Boyz": 5/10
I wanted this to be memorable, because there’s so much about the reality of podcast bros helping Trump get re-elected that’s ridiculous and worth skewering. But this felt pretty toothless; it was like they couldn’t think of many other jokes apart from “These guys are dumb!!”
Musical Performances
Charli xcx: 8.5/10
The funny thing about being a pop fan and far too online is that you often find yourself mixed up in pop stan Twitter. Speaking from personal experience, Charli’s smash success with brat has of course brought legions of admirers on board, but has also inevitably led to contrarian backlash from fans of pop girlies. My algorithm has fed me increasing amounts of anti-Charli tweets in recent weeks from Arianators and Swifties (who, frankly, should not be throwing stones about vocal talent) and many others. As someone who likes and appreciates Ms. Xcx but isn’t a hardcore fan, it’s fascinating to just sort of sit back and watch.
Anyways, I say all this because the host’s musical set went pretty much how I expected; which is to say, if you’re a Charli’s Angel, you probably thought it was the best musical appearance the show has had in recent history. If you don’t like her, you probably spent the whole time throwing your hands up and saying “I don’t get it!” And if you, like me, are a more casual appreciator, perhaps you agree with me: the first performance of hit single “360” was fine and fun, but her second song, “Sympathy is a knife,” was maybe the single-most electric performance all season.
OVERALL SCORE: 7.21 ('Comedy Only' score: 7.09)
Heading into SNL50's Thanksgiving Break, here’s where the episodes stand-- keep in mind the episode's overall score factors in the musical performance, so what I considered the funniest isn't necessarily the top-rated overall, etc.:
Ariane Grande/Stevie Nicks - 7.46
Nate Bargatze/Coldplay - 7.27
Charli xcx - 7.21
Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish - 7.18
John Mulaney/Chappell Roan - 7.11
Bill Burr/Mk.gee - 6.58
Jean Smart/Jelly Roll - 6.55
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