SNL Scorecard: Melissa McCarthy / Dijon

We're in the month of December (surreal), which means we're approaching the holiday season (surreal), which also marks the de facto midway point of the SNL season (surreal). The show returned for the first of its three December episodes this past weekend, off of a two-week break, and before that break-- if you recall --I mentioned that the program felt like it was probably in need of a little bit of time off. After a slow start, the new-look cast and writing staff did seem to hit a little bit of a stride in late October/early November, but the last pre-Thanksgiving episode, which held so much promise, felt like a tired collection of "idk, let's throw this out there" sketches. So I was curious to see whether the break would do the show some good, or if the upward trajectory that preceded that Glen Powell show might prove to be a false dawn.

Happily, it seemed to fall much more in the former camp! Of course, it doesn't hurt to be able to call on the services of a host who's a career comedienne, and extremely familiar to Saturday Night Live. Amidst all the new faces and a first-time musical guest, Melissa McCarthy marked her 6th hosting gig on the show, but between numerous cameos (including in the Christmas episode just last season) and political impersonations over the years, it really feels like she's been more of a mainstay on the program since the dawn of the 2010s. The common thread among repeated hosts, for the most part, is quite simply that they always slot into the show wonderfully, and that was absolutely true of Melissa on this night: the host brought her trademark silliness and full throttle commitment to the bit. But save some credit for the cast as well! While the host was the star of the night, the energy levels felt high across the board tonight and we got many a good performance from a wide variety of players as well. The result was an episode that may not have had any individual sketch in the running for best of the year, but save for maybe one and a half miss, was just start-to-finish very, very good.

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 6th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"Pentagon Press Conference Cold Open": 8/10

Shame this one had a little bit of a weak ending, because everything before it was the strongest political cold open of the season, and in a very long time. Colin Jost’s portrayal of Pete Hegseth is the funniest he himself has been on the show in a while, and the writing was particularly sharp. This was a good use of James Austin Johnson's Trump, as well; the sketch was funny enough that it didn’t need to be taken over by him, but his late cameo was an effective button.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 8/10

It hasn’t been their strongest season, but this was a second consecutive very strong outing from Che and Jost, who might be rounding back into form. Almost all of their punchlines were hits this time out. The walk-on guests were both good, not great: a solid, if unremarkable first solo appearance by Ben Marshall, and a typically, delightfully zany performance form Sarah Sherman, who offered an acting performance that deserved slightly stronger writing.

“Cousin Planet": 7.5/10

Uh oh, I think I see Charli XCX’s crown tilting a little? Yes to more Jane Wickline and Veronica Slowikowska chaos like this. And once again, the host crushes it despite not being the starring role. 

“UPS Delivery Driver": 7.5/10

Another one that felt like a vintage Melissa sketch. Perhaps didn’t feel quite as fresh for that reason, but still, nobody is pulling more humor out of that sketch than she is. I enjoyed watching Mikey Day struggle to keep it together. Also, free my girl Donna, she did nothing wrong.

"A Helping Hand": 7.5/10

This was pretty much the same joke throughout, but that initial reveal was so funny that it made the repeated bit worth it. Fun little turn at the end, too. A great pre-taped sketch.

"Free Sample": 7/10

This felt like such a classic Melissa McCarthy character, and fun to see Jeremy Culhane, who’s had minimal airtime this season, get to play off her so well. If I have any criticism, it’s that Melissa’s character is just such a sad figure that it felt like it caused the audience to feel bad for laughing at times. 

"Monologue": 7/10

Melissa McCarthy isn’t just one of the funniest people alive, she’s a 6-time host, so it stands to reason that she would be a lot more comfortable in the monologue format than many of the hosts we’ve seen this season already. The monologues have been especially rough this year, so this was a breath of fresh air; no real rhyme or reason to it, other than a Christmas theme, a whole lot of wackiness and some token great physical acting from McCarthy.

“Christopher & Guillaume": 6.5/10

I had to look up and see whether this sketch was based off a real news story, because Melissa and Bowen’s characters felt so fully formed already. But as far as I can tell, it’s original! I would absolutely love to see the return of these characters. Bit of a sloppy sketch itself, but a fun ending to a delightfully fun episode. 

The... Less-Good

“Truth or Dare": 5.5/10

Definitely a funny bit, but between a few timing errors, and it not really developing beyond one joke, it didn’t stand out compared to everything that came before it.

“Sunday Supper": 4.5/10

I enjoyed Andrew Dismukes’ performance here, and there were a couple very funny lines. But in general, this just felt like a half-realized idea, and left too many cringy dead-air moments to be enjoyable. 

Musical Performances

Dijon: 6.5/10

The only Dijon I knew before his mini-set was his appearance in the best movie of the year, but I’d heard of his name as someone other big names in the music industry really admire. He won me over gradually with his first song, “HIGHER!” It started off a little shakily, and the stage design/production wasn’t all too special, but he found his voice, and the setup with the band and vocalists, making it seem like you were just in an intimate room with them, was very cool.

The second performance, of “Another Baby!“ brought out the exact same setup and vibe, but with a slightly more high-energy tune. I liked the sound of this one, too, but his vocals felt a little more over the map than in the first one. A solid showing overall though, for an SNL debut on an often difficult stage. 

OVERALL SCORE: 6.87 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.90)