SNL Scorecard: Michael B. Jordan / Li'l Baby

For the second straight week, Saturday Night Live rolled out a new episode with a first-time host who was bound to set Twitter ablaze with excitement. Michael B. Jordan doesn't have much in common with last week's host Aubrey Plaza, but the Internet was every bit as abuzz, if not more so, for the talented actor and universal heartthrob's first appearance on the show. The excitement was evident from the very start, as the studio audience seemed game for just about anything the host would say or do, and enthusiastic for the rest of the cast, as well. It was a welcome change from more low-energy crowds we have seen this season and seasons past, and went a long way in influencing the overall excitement of the episode.

And yet, the theme of the night, unfortunately, ended up being "unfulfilled potential." Just about every sketch ended up being some degree of funny, but in almost every case not nearly as funny as they could have been. Michael B. was game for a wide variety of roles, and especially shone in some pre-taped bits, but did feel a little wooden at times; whether it was nerves or a certain amount of discomfort with comedic timing, I can't tell. I don't intend to scapegoat him by any means; the writing once again felt weak compared to the ceiling we've seen with this cast. All in all, this was yet another instance of what has become the norm the last two seasons: a decent episode on the whole, with very few memorable highlights.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 11th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"Jake From State Farm": 7.5/10

This was a great take on one of the more recognizable figures from ‘Commercial-land.’ Sort of amazed I haven't seen SNL or anyone in the Twittersphere have this kind of take on Jake From State Farm yet, actually. Regardless, funny bit, and also the best acting of the night by the host.

The Good

“Monologue": 8.5/10

I'm amazed I liked this monologue so much because the conceit was obvious: Michael B. is one of the most thirsted-after men in Hollywood. Still, the various women's drive-by appearances were absolutely hilarious--shout out to Punkie Johnson in particular, who's showing she needs some more air time --and Michael was effortlessly funny and charming onstage. You could tell he and everyone involved were playing well off the energy of the audience. This was definitely the best monologue all season, and one of the best in a long time.

“Weekend Update": 7.5/10

The Weekend Update co-anchors had such a glorious start to the season, but for many episodes running, had gotten increasingly tired and less creative. This bit, then, was a nice return to early-season form from Jost and Che; the jokes and energy from the two of them were the best we've seen since probably all the way back in October. This particular Update, however, was an abnormal one in that the guests actually brought the score down. Kenan as Michael's doorman went on too long, and mostly felt like a less funny version of his character "Willie", and while I was excited to see the return of Heidi Gardner's "boxer's girlfriend," this wasn't her funniest output.

"Video Game Session": 7/10

I thought this was going to be another retread of the sketch they've done with JJ Watt and Owen Wilson previously. But, though I enjoyed both of those, I was glad to see a change of direction this time; a similar premise, to be sure, but the joke is more on the recording producers than the recording artists themselves. It

wasn't perfect, and ended kind of abruptly, but Bowen Yang killed me, especially when he began to play his character 'hetero.'

"Falling Down": 7/10

The last sketch of the night saw Andrew Dismukes (who had his biggest night in a while!) and Michael B. engaged in a pretaped bit that played a little like Lonely Island's digital shorts, or something off of Tim Robinson's I Think You Should Leave. It wasn't as funny as the peak of either of those, but I laughed a lot, and appreciated the idea.

“Classified Press Conference Cold Open": 7/10

I can't think of the last time I genuinely loved the first SNL sketch of the night, but I am pleased to report this was one of the best Cold Opens in some time. Or at least, certainly one of the best political cold opens specifically in a long time. The mock crimefighting show with Merrick Garland was a really clever way to do a politically timely sketch, and all three of the agents-- especially Bowen, tbh --were killing me. I did think it was an interesting note to end the sketch with a reference to Memphis and the slaying of Tyre Nichols. It was the only reference to it on the show, I have to imagine by design.

"Roller Coaster Accident": 6.5/10

Remember when I discussed in, oh, I don’t know, the last 10 scorecards, the show's new trend of starting with a completely wacky sketch fresh off the monologue? Yeahhh, sooooo the first sketch out the gate last weekend involved two news correspondents that got stuck on a fast-moving roller coaster for multiple days, and now can't close their mouths to eat soup on live TV. Seriously, who even thinks of this stuff Unfortunately, it never amounted to much more of a joke beyond the physical gag; it was still highly enjoyable but not nearly as funny as it felt like it could have been

“Southwest Airlines Announcement": 6.5/10

As far as "bad-acting big company" takedowns go, this was humorous but pretty tame. Most jokes were just pretty much down to Southwest's outdated tech. It did get progressively funnier, though, and ended on a great note.

“King Brothers Toyota": 6/10

I really enjoyed the bizarre, 10-to-1 energy of this one. It just didn't really go anywhere. I still found it more good than bad, though, because of how well the host, Dismukes, and James Austin Johnson sold it. Without full commitment from each of them, it might have just tuckered out altogether.

“Party In Palm Springs": 6/10

This was, very transparently, a sketch to get the audience howling. And I don't fault the show for that! Michael's stripping definitely got the crowd riled up-- unsurprisingly --and he sold it really well. But, stop me if you've heard this before, it just didn't end up being all too funny, despite a promising premise. A bachelorette party stripper having his pregnant wife in the room with him should be uproarious, and yet the schtick just sort of wore thin.

"Male Confidence Seminar": 5.5/10

I appreciated the idea of one of these self-proclaimed "alpha males" that are unfortunately becoming more ubiquitous getting dunked on. But this didn't amount to many laughs, other than the unsurprising reveal that Dismukes' character could in fact get easily shown up by Michael B.'s.

"Towel Guys": 5.5/10

I wanted to like this one more, because the energy was good and it seemed like it might be newbie Marcello Hernandez’s sketch that he wrote. But it just didn’t and up being anything other than accent play, which Marcello and Kenan Thompson did their best to sustain before Michael B. came in and seemed to weirdly half-commit to the accent. This did have funny moments, though, and the Little Mermaid joke was terrific.

Musical Performances

Li'l Baby: 6.5/10

Li'l Baby has been one of the biggest breakout stars on the Rap scene over the last few years. I'll confess to not being the most plugged-in to contemporary music, but I used to listen to the radio far more consistently than I do present-day, and I remember all of a sudden hearing his songs everywhere circa late 2019/early 2020, despite having never heard of him before then. It's no surprise, then, that he finally got the call to be the musical guest on SNL, although it's worth noting he had actually made a previous appearance, as part of DJ Khaled's revolving door of star cameos back in the Season 44 finale.

I'll admit, I have never been too much of a Li'l Baby fan; it's nothing against his artistry, which I think is impressive, simply a stylistic choice. But I will cede that his live performances sound exactly like he does on the radio, although you could tell he was singing and rapping live, which impressed me. His stage presence isn't (or at least wasn't in this instance) a whole lot to write home about, and neither song did much for me, but if you came into this episode already liking his sound, you probably rocked with his set heavy, particularly on first song "California Breeze." Also, bringing out Chloe Flowers on the piano for the second song "Forever" was an awesome move.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.69 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.71)