SNL Scorecard: Elon Musk / Miley Cyrus

Usually it would be good news for the show if Saturday Night Live saw its highest ratings of the season in one of the last three episodes, an indication that they were poised to finish the year strong. But in this case, I'm not sure everyone involved with the show would consider the eyeballs welcome attention. The announcement of centibillionaire entrepreneur and social media troll Elon Musk as host generated as much media attention and online blowback as any host I can remember since then-candidate Donald Trump in fall of 2015.

Regardless of your opinion on Musk, you'd be forgiven if you assumed that this episode was going to be a trainwreck. Not only does Musk not have any comedic background (unless you count the aforementioned Twitter trolling), he doesn't really have any stage presence or noteworthy personality traits in general. It wouldn't be all too different from getting, oh I don't know, Mark Zuckerberg as host. (Lorne, if you're reading, PLEASE DEAR GOD DON'T GET ANY IDEAS.) Yet, not unlike the infamous Trump episode, for all his shortcomings as a host, the episode wasn't terrible. In a season that started quite slowly but really picked up between the months of November and February, it was far from the best but also not the worst. Was it worth all the controversy and hurt feelings? Probably not. But conversely, was it worth all the hemming, hawing, and Twitter-exploding? Also no.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 18th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“Murdur Durdur”: 7.5/10

To be clear, I love Philly, and can’t help but feel like this is a cast full of New Yorkers taking advantage of an opportunity to mock their neighbors. That said, the Philly accent is one of the weirdest in America, and all of the stereotypes they referenced are, from my limited experience, dead on. This was hilarious.

The Good

“Monologue": 7/10

Considering all the excitement, controversy, and hype around last night’s/weekend’s host, this was probably the most anticipated monologue of the year, as it was our first glimpse of Elon Musk as host: how would the notoriously bizarre, socially awkward billionaire hold up as master of ceremonies for a comedy show? The answer, at least in the monologue, was somehow both as bad as expected, and better than expected. His pacing, expressions and delivery were all over the place, but the content of the monologue was actually pretty hilarious, and the host (and his mother, who popped onstage for a cameo) seemed surprisingly at ease and willing to be self-deprecating. This may be harsh, but that he revealed his Asperger’s in the monologue was noteworthy and perhaps brave, but considering how subtly self-promoting the rest of the monologue was, it’s hard to not think it might have been an attempt to elicit some sympathy in case the rest of the show didn’t go well.

“Mother's Day Message Cold Open": 6.5/10

At first I thought the open was just going to be an earnest live performance in lieu of any sketch, which, while not unprecedented, is very rare. There wouldn’t have been any problem with it just being the song, as musical guest Miley Cyrus sounded terrific, which we’ll touch on again later on. That said, it was nice to see the return of the “cast members appearing with moms” tradition, and it got funnier and funnier as it went on. I felt especially happy that the mothers of Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim, my two favorite ‘new guard’ cast members, had the funniest turns.

"Ooli Show": 6.5/10

Chloe Fineman is one of the rare examples of someone whose stuff I was aware of before they were on SNL, and I actually recognized Ooli as a character from her Instagram. She also made an appearance during one of last year’s “SNL At Home” episodes, but I was really hoping she would become a trademark character on the show for Fineman. This was an interesting use for her; it wasn’t bad at all, and I enjoyed this sketch on the whole, but I don’t think I saw her as a talk show host as much as I did a general chaos agent (the way she was in the At Home sketch). I hope they’ll continue to find uses for Ooli, because she really cracks me up.

"Weekend Update": 6.5/10

This was one of the more uneven installments of WU that I can remember from this season; they’re usually good as a whole, but occasionally have been “meh” as a whole. This time, there were some really good punchlines, but a couple groaners. All in all, it was just a fine outing, and same went for appearances by Ego Nwodim, Elon Musk, and Kyle Mooney’s Baby Yoda (which admittedly is one of my least favorite bits Kyle does): good, but not particularly memorable.

“Chad On Mars": 6/10

Pete Davidson’s Chad is a little tired by now; it really was perfected in the first couple appearances and has lost its humor somewhat now that everyone knows the schtick. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s not funny— it almost consistently is, and that was no different here. I appreciated the sketch keeping it short and sweet, and not overstaying its welcome.

"Post-Quarantine Conversation": 6/10

I don’t know why it bugs me so much when Saturday Night Live does this type of ‘meme’ humor (i.e. a skit that basically is ripped from Twitter feeds), but it just feels lazy. Thus, I spent most of this sketch grumpily not enjoying it. But it finished really strong; the last several punchlines cracked me up. Besides, it was one of the rare instances on the night where Elon Musk’s part actually made me laugh more than anyone else.

“Gen Z Hospital": 5.5/10

This was a pretty simple premise, so the sketch *kinda* got old fast, and I’m not big into mocking younger generations for no reason other than their trends (there were a couple “Millennial” sketches in past years that made me mad more than they did make me laugh). But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh at the various characters and their continued use of culturally-appropriated slang.

The... Less-Good

“Wario": 5/10

Goodness gracious, what a weird sketch. This was too chaotic to be really funny. That said, there were at least some laughs to be had still, mostly due to Mikey Day’s impassioned cross-examination. And hey, it was fun to get a Grimes cameo!

“Cowboy Standoff”: 4.5/10

On a night full of Elon Musk playing various characters that were basically just himself, this sketch was the most overtly self-referential, and perhaps not coincidentally, the least funny. Only Cecily Strong's full commitment to her character brought a little joy into this otherwise unoriginal bit.

Musical Performances

Miley Cyrus (fea. The Kid LAROI): 5.5/10

The first song she was relegated to featured artist on The Kid LAROI’s “Without You.” I have never heard of The Kid LAROI, but based off this one song sample size, he basically sounds like a knockoff Post Malone, who is already a knockoff of…multiple genres. This was a pretty forgettable song, and though Cyrus sounded good, she wasn’t at her best vocally.

I enjoyed her second performance a little bit more, a solo performance of “Plastic Hearts.” It still was not a particularly memorable track, but at least gave Cyrus the opportunity to flex her vocal prowess a little more.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.10 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.17)