SNL Scorecard: Simu Liu / Saweetie
This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live marked not only the last show until Thanksgiving, but believe it or not, close to the last one before Christmas, with just two December episodes announced. The episode also marked seven consecutive episodes with a first-time host, as Marvel and Kim's Convenience actor Simu Liu took the Studio 8H stage for the first time. We now know that streak will both continue to and end at eight, with pop star Billie Eilish making her hosting debut in December before 4-time host Paul Rudd ends the run the following week.
At this point in the season last year, SNL was just starting to hit its stride, after a choppy start to the season amidst unquestionably difficult circumstances. Admittedly, having two proven quantities in John Mulaney and Dave Chappelle as host for the two weeks before Thanksgiving probably played a big hand in that. But still, I can’t help but feel like Season 47 has followed a completely opposite trajectory thus far. The opening slate of episodes saw all very solid outputs, with several memorable sketches as standouts. The last few, however, have certainly had their highlights but were also much more inconsistent, and saw the writing quality as a whole take a hit. Last night's episode, then, was a microcosm of the season to date: definitely good on the whole, but lost steam down the stretch and yielded only a couple memorable sketches. Two positive things that stayed consistent throughout, however, were the energy of the audience, and the impressive performance by the host, and those things made it an improved episode from the last couple. Though I don’t want to set expectations that will lead to disappointment, given the way this holiday episode went, I’d say there’s a good chance the show regains momentum with its much-anticipated Christmas episodes.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 7th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"New Military Weapon": 7.5/10
Beneath how fun it was, this really was a pretty dumb bit, and I don’t like giving sketches that are dumb but funny because cast members break high scores. That said, not only was it entertaining to see Cecily Strong once again fail to keep it together around a live animal, we saw Mikey Day break, which I don’t think has EVER happened! And more importantly, there was real humor in the backstory behind the creation and the senator’s strange fixation on one question in particular.
The Good
“Weekend Update": 8/10
This Weekend Update segment had one of the weaker crop of guest appearances. As much as I love Kyle Mooney, I just don’t think his Baby Yoda is funny, although the audience seemed to enjoy this particular appearance at least. And Aidy Bryant’s Mother Earth was marginally better, but honestly most of the enjoyment for that one was just seeing Aidy, who hasn’t been in this season nearly enough. All that being said, this was probably Che and Jost’s best outing of the season. The co-anchors came out throwing absolute heaters, and that didn’t let up throughout the entire segment.
“Target Thanksgiving Ad": 7.5/10
SNL seems to do some variation of the “ugh, family at holidays, am I right?? (eyeroll)” sketch every year, and in fact, they’ve even done it with Target before. That said, it’s almost always hilarious, because of how relatable the humor is and realistic all the various characters are. This one was no different.
"Walking In Staten": 7.5/10
This is a personal grudge, and I feel I should make it clear that I like Pete Davidson and don’t have anything against him, but I’m getting a little tired of the man getting the Beatles treatment every time he appears on screen. I get that he’s somehow unlocked Sex God status, but I wish the shrieks and applause would be saved for unexpected celebrity cameos, or just, you know a hilarious punchline. Anyway, with that little rant out of the way, this was in fact really funny! It’s probably more meaningful to New Yorkers, or at least people more familiar with Staten Island, but the jokes came through clear enough, and getting Method Man and Marc Cohn in on the act was a nice touch.
"Republican Or Not": 7/10
I’m not sure why both the studio audience and myself didn’t find this quite as uproarious as it had the potential to be; maybe it was just that the joke was pretty obvious from the start? Regardless, this still was a terrifically clever sketch, expertly finding a way to make both sides of the political aisle a punchline.
“Simu & Bowen": 7/10
On a serious note, it was very cool to see two Asian men, a severely underrepresented demographic on TV, play a prominent role on Saturday Night Live. That said, I appreciated both Liu’s and Bowen Yang’s self-awareness in poking fun and just how far people will go to ensure that we’re witnessing history.
"Karaoke All-Stars": 6.5/10
I liked the premise from the start, but I thought this sketch might be a little rough at the outset. However, it certainly got better the longer it went on, as the various karaoke stereotypes somehow got increasingly accurate. Also, we’ve known Cecily can belt it, but shout out to the pipes on both her and Simu Liu!
“911 Call": 6.5/10
This wasn’t quite as bizarre as most, but still suited the 10-to-1 time slot perfectly. It was goofy, random, and featured a lot of great quick hitter moments.
“Jeanine Pirro Cold Open": 6/10
This was a perfectly serviceable cold open. I often harp on the unoriginal political cold opens, but if you’re going that route, it doesn’t hurt to use Cecily’s and James Austin Johnson’s inch-perfect Jeanine Pirro and Donald Trump, respectively. The writing wasn’t as good for either of those characters as it has been in past instances, and it’s hard for me to find anything related to Kyle Rittenhouse funny, but there were still a good number of laughs; I particularly enjoyed Chris Redd’s turn as the completely unsurprised legal expert.
"Monologue": 6/10
This monologue went the same route the last couple did: more heartfelt and sweet than genuinely funny. Why does this one get slightly higher marks, then? Two reasons: Liu seemed as comfortable and energetic onstage as any host we’ve seen this season (even including SNL vet Jason Sudeikis), and secondly, it was short and sweet. It didn’t overstay its welcome and ended on a funny note with him bellowing at a kid from years past.
"Thanksgiving Baking Championship": 5.5/10
I absolutely loved this sketch the first time they did it, but it has only depreciated in value each time they do it, because, well, it’s literally just the same jokes every single time. Nothing was new about this one. That said, it still was more good than bad for two reasons: one, Pete inexplicably eating cake throughout the entire sketch, and two, the pure shock value of Kyle’s cake design.
Musical Performances
Saweetie: 7/10
Of all the musical guests thus far this season, I was most curious to see Saweetie. All other Season 47 musical guests were known quantities, having been on the show before, with the exception of Brandi Carlile. But I knew Brandi would be phenomenal, because she’s such a known quantity in the music world at large. Saweetie, however, is relatively new on the scene, and the Studio 8H soundstage is often not conducive to musical artists in general, let alone for the genre of high-energy rap she embodies.
The verdict? She killed it! At least on her first performance. I don’t know much of her music, but I certainly have heard “Tap In” and “Best Friend,” two certifiable bangers, thus I was pleased to see her open with a creative, finessed medley of those two hits. In her second performance, “Icy Chain,” her vocals seemed to get swallowed throughout, but although she could use some breath control practice, she doesn’t lose any points for doing the entire song live without a recorded track, all while dancing and twerking in heels.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.83 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.82)
As we enter Thanksgiving Break for Season 47, here is where the episodes stand thus far-- 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.:
Rami Malek/Young Thug - 6.95
Simu Liu/Saweetie - 6.83
Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile - 6.83 (tiebreaker goes to the Simu Liu episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves - 6.64
Kim Kardashian West/Halsey - 6.63
Kieran Culkin/Ed Sheeran - 6.25
Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift - 5.88
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