SNL Scorecard: John Mulaney / The Strokes

It's no secret that Saturday Night Live has had a bit of a rough start to Season 46. I’ve talked at length in each previous piece about not only the relatively weak writing, but the uncharacteristic sloppy production errors and general lack of energy this year. If there was anyone who could snap a four-episode funk, though, it was a safe bet that it would be John Mulaney. Look, I’ve been reticent to join the full-throated John Mulaney love, but it isn’t because he’s not a terrific comedian— it more has to do with what I perceived to be baseless hype about his SNL appearances. But the man is beloved in New York, and considering he got his career start as a writer for the show, he seems to be especially beloved by the studio audience on each of his returns.

Thus, it was hardly a surprise that this episode was far and away the best of the young season. What was a surprise was just how good the episode was. It was a night that included multiple sketches that could supplant whatever was previously there as the best of the season, and was boosted by a terrific performance from both host and musical guest. As a result, for the first time this season, we have a scorecard free of “less-good” sketches!

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 5th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“Strollin'”: 8/10

I promise I don’t just automatically award Sketch of the Night to whatever pre-taped song Chris Redd fronts, but I understand if it might be starting to feel that way. “Strollin’” might legitimately be the skit of the season so far, though. An inspired blend of 70s funk-rap and timely commentary on voter suppression, this was a hoot from start to finish.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 7.5/10

After a couple weeks that were relatively weaker, Che and Jost were back to peak form. Their energy and quality writing both were both noticeably higher, and the sole guest appearance (Kyle Mooney as Baby Yoda) was hilarious.

“Monologue": 7.5/10

I never look forward to monologues more than when stand-up comedians host, because we typically get treated to a bit of a mini-set. And is there a more relevant stand-up comedian these days than John Mulaney? This monologue was peak Mulaney: some golden New York bits, and otherwise just a brilliant retelling of humorous anecdotes.

"New York Musical": 7/10

I’m definitely of the opinion that there shouldn’t have been sequels to this bit; it was perfected in the form of “Diner Lobster," and each subsequent take on it has been more of a production, but less funny. All that being said, this was incredibly enjoyable. Like the two that preceded it, it was more creative than it was laugh-out-loud funny, but that didn’t make it any less fun to watch. Besides, watching Mulaney, Pete Davidson and Chris Redd try to hold it together during Beck Bennett’s ‘Diddler On The Roof’ was priceless.

“Biden Halloween Cold Open": 7/10

I can’t remember if I’ve expressed this sentiment yet this season, but I know throughout Trump’s administration, I’ve often lamented how stale the parodies of all his press conferences and other appearances were, and asked the writers to come up with more creative political parodies. With Jim Carrey’s Biden already running as stale as Alec Baldwin’s Trump, and three disappointing debate sketches to boot, I had a similar hope for this presidential candidate. It took until Election Weekend, but SNL finally delivered, in a wildly creative cold open whose format roped in Hillary Clinton, Nate Silver, Mitch McConnell, Ice Cube, Li’l Wayne and Kamala Harris in seamless fashion.

“Headless Horseman": 6/10

This was definitely immature and it seemed like it would have been better if the audience was fully on board; they seemed a little tentative to laugh at many of the jokes. But I laughed at all of it, especially at Pete’s introduction. This was one of those that he clearly loved being a part of. I also died laughing at the witty attempt to throw Lorne Michaels under the bus in the event the FCC flags this sketch.

“Cinema Classics: The Birds": 6/10

These sketches are sometimes funny, sometimes not, but Kenan Thompson’s “Reese…DeWhat?!?” will always make me laugh. Fortunately, this one had a very enjoyable sketch to go with his own personal humor. The increasing absurdity of the movie scene had McKinnon and Mulaney both just seconds from breaking.

“New York PSA”: 6/10

There wasn’t a whole lot to this humor-wise, other than Kate playing a wacky old New York lady, but there’s nobody better at that kind of thing, and it was heartwarming regardless.

“Another Uncle Meme": 5.5/10

I don’t know that we needed a return of this one-note sketch from the last time Mulaney hosted (which was this same calendar year). But I will say, it worked better as a 10-to-1 sketch at the end of an already-terrific episode.

Musical Performances

The Strokes: 8/10

The Strokes are a New York institution, and on a night that included many shoutouts of goodwill to the show’s host city, they felt like a very fitting musical guest. They may have forsaken old hits for their new material, but it was still a vintage performances from the kings of the 90s/00s moody indie-rock scene, who haven’t appeared to miss a beat in the seven year hiatus since their last album.

Their second performance, of “Bad Decisions“ lacked the energy of the first, but still sounded very good, in that grungy Julian Casablancas kind of way. And the first performance, of their album opener “The Adults Are Talking,” was terrific. I felt like I was back in my brooding high school days nodding along to the fast, percussive guitars, and wow, Casablancas hit some notes I was not expecting him to.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.85 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.72)