SNL Scorecard: Willem Dafoe / Katy Perry
For the last episode of Saturday Night Live before a near-month hiatus due to the Winter Olympics on NBC, the show went to a well both familiar and unfamiliar for their host. For the 11th time (out of 12, if you're keeping score at home) this season, SNL brought in a first-time host to run proceedings. But, unlike the last two hosts-- the fresh-faced Ariana DeBose and the somewhat obscure SNL alum Will Forte --this first-timer was a very familar face: veteran actor Willem Dafoe.
For as long as Dafoe has been a known and respected actor, it's pretty surprising that he had never been asked to host. That said, regardless of the precedent or lack thereof, it's not surprising he was asked to host this year specifically. The actor is coming off a year in which he featured in the enormously high-grossing Marvel flick, Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as three critically-acclaimed, Oscar candidate films The Card Counter, The French Dispatch, and Nightmare Alley. For someone who has made his bread and butter playing darker, grittier characters, or often, straight-up villains, Dafoe was a fascinating choice as host. I was eager to see how well the cast and writing staff would be able to make use of his different style and appeal.
The answer, fortunately, was quite well indeed. I'm not sure if the writing was even necessarily that much stronger this week, but the host was the best type of celebrity host; one that absolutely commanded each sketch they were in by being absolutely game for anything. Dafoe's energy level and buy-in had an obvious trickle-down effect on the cast this week, and it resulted in one of the funniest episodes of the season.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 12th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"Nugenix": 8/10
As much as I appreciate “aging man” commercials trying to normalize and de-stigmatize byproducts of aging, their message, such as in these Frank Thomas Nugenix commercials, does come across as a bit too much sometimes, and that’s the premise here. It was a simple, arguably even dumb, joke but man, I was rolling with each bold (misplaced) declaration of Mikey Day’s “problem.” Sir Willem Dafoe conveniently switching his accent on and off was a hilarious bonus touch.
The Good
“Weekend Update": 8/10
If there’s anyone that actually still thinks SNL doesn’t make fun of Democrats, they need to watch this Weekend Update, which had no shortage of Biden zingers. Jost and Che were back in good form, after a couple subpar outings to start off 2022. But the stars of this Update were undoubtedly the guests, not the co-anchors; first Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang dropped by as an absurdly dramatic trend-tracking duo, a bit that has ‘recurring characters’ written all over it; second, Peyton Manning. Yes, Peyton Manning. I did not have “Peyton Manning gives incredible analytical breakdown of Emily In Paris” on my SNL bingo card for this year.
“Martin's Friend": 7.5/10
This was the best Please Don’t Destroy sketch in some time; perhaps second only to the O.G. I just love the way these guys’ faux outrage plays off each other, and Ben slowly getting won over by Connor’s charm was hilarious.
"Dog Show": 7.5/10
I was laughing from the very start of this sketch thanks to the absurd names of the two commentators. What a ridiculous premise for a sketch… and yet, every attribute of every dog was all-too-real, which is what made this one so delightful throughout. Willem and Aidy’s banter as co-hosts was particularly good, and was the glue that held this sketch together. Also, I hate to be the guy that says it because I know Pigeon should be #cancelled, but man, he was adorable.
"Beauty and the Beast: The Mirror": 7.5/10
Sure, the humor here was sort of low-hanging fruit. But let’s be honest, it was funny. You laughed. It could have just been dumb and juvenile, but Dafoe’s absolute commitment to the outrageous things he was doing, and Chloe’s full commitment to the oblivious Belle made the sketch a riot instead.
“Good Morning Columbus": 7/10
They’ve done this sort of premise before, so I kind of knew what was coming but that didn’t make the reveal any less funny. I did think this edition never quite maximized the awkwardness the way previous iterations did, and it had a sloppy finish that prevented it from being great. But still a hilarious bit on the whole.
"Now I'm Up": 7/10
Chris Redd’s back with another pre-taped earworm! When it got to the first punchline, I thought the whole bit was going to just be about ads that interrupt music, which, funny, but that’s a very specific joke. It turned out, however, to be much more wide-ranging, about what keeps us up at night. In comparison to some Redd classics of the past, it wasn’t the most standout, but plenty funny, and employed (another) great use of the host.
“Tenant Meeting": 6.5/10
I always enjoy sketches that employ the vast majority of the cast, such as this one. It did feel like more could have been done with this bit, especially given that it was the first sketch out of the gate, as only a few of the characters were memorable. That said, those few that were memorable, such as Dafoe, Aristotle Athari, and Kenan Thompson, were terrific.
“Monologue": 6/10
You know, Willem Dafoe’s got quite a decent-sized fan base both in real life and on the interwebs, which I find interesting because I legitimately don’t think I’ve never seen him in anything, other than a very small supporting role in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Sure enough, though, he was greeted with a raucous reception. I talked at the top about his unique persona; I thought he may be a little out of his element in this format, and that seemed to be partially correct. His delivery was a little stilted, the timing somewhat off, but he did seem extremely comfortable onstage at least! This wasn’t memorable in any particular way, but it was solid; a nice introduction to him as host on the evening.
“Russian Disinformation Cold Open": 5.5/10
For a classic political cold open, this served its purpose: it was timely and employed familiar political figures, it threw the politico audience a bone, and it was more good than bad. Still, nothing about this was particularly notable or original, at least until Chloe Fineman’s character showed up, which kicked up the energy level a couple notches.
“Office Song": 5.5/10
If you read this piece regularly, you know I’m a huge ‘weird 10-to-1 sketch’ guy, so I never thought a weird 10-to-1 sketch would be rated among the lowest of the night. But perhaps it just felt less necessary on a night that was already so full of good, weird sketches. This particular skit felt more random than funny; I still enjoyed it on the whole, but I wish more would have been done with both the “Stomp” references and the joke that Willem was such an older temp than usual.
Musical Performances
Katy Perry: 6.5/10
Katy Perry, who was making her 4th appearance on the show, was an interesting choice as musical guest. She's obviously still a huge name in the entertainment world, and staying in the public eye thanks to her role as a judge on American Idol and her upcoming Las Vegas residency. However, she doesn't feel quite as relevant in the pop music scene any more. That said, the Google tells me she had a new album in late 2020, and new singles released up through last year, so, the more you know!
Her first performance, of one of the aforementioned new singles, "When I'm Gone," in many ways felt like vintage Katy. The beat itself felt almost Dua Lipa-inspired, but by and large this felt like a throwback to the heyday of Katy Perry, the early 2010s, with a catchy tune that instantly got stuck in my head, the return of her long dark hair, and garish set designs with, ahem, less-than-subtle sexual imagery. The mushrooms returned for the second song, repurposed for things less overtly penis-y. I actually really liked this tune, "Never Really Over," it's one of her more stripped-back and heartfelt singles. Her vocals were a little wavery on this performance, though; never bad, per se, but enough to be a bit of a distraction from what was otherwise a solid set overall.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.88 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.91)
As we enter Olympic Break, here is where the Season 47 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
Billie Eilish - 6.95 (tiebreaker goes to the Rami Malek episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry - 6.88
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
Will Forte / Måneskin - 6.50
Paul Rudd (COVID Christmas) - 6.50 (tiebreaker goes to the Will Forte episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Kieran Culkin/Ed Sheeran - 6.25
Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift - 5.88
Ariana DeBose/Bleachers - 5.68
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