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SNL Scorecards: December episodes


Last night marked the return of Saturday Night Live from holiday break, with Aubrey Plaza helming the first show of 2023. However, before I can watch and recap that episode, I'm aware we have some unfinished business to address. My last SNL Scorecard was for the pre-Thanksgiving episode hosted by Dave Chappelle, but we have in fact had three episodes, back in December, between that one and last night's with Plaza. Travel, work busyness, and the holiday season all prevented me from publishing full on recaps of those episodes. I won't do so this long after the fact, but at the same time I didn't want to just move on to the next one without giving some attention to the three episodes that aired, especially because some (arguably each) were among the strongest episodes of the season thus far. So, below please see some brief thoughts and ratings for the three episodes hosted by Keke Palmer, the tandem of Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Austin Butler, in order.


*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 are the sketch-by-sketch scores for the 7th-9th episodes of the season:


Keke Palmer/SZA


2022, in many ways, was "the year of Keke Palmer," and as such, this was among the more anticipated episodes of this SNL season. Keke did not disappoint, nor did the crowd; the host brought every bit the amount of energy and commitment everyone assumed she would-- and even made a pregnancy announcement in her monologue!! --and an amped-up audience fed off her infectious energy. Unfortunately, the cast and the writers especially for the most part didn't hold up their end, generally trotting out pretty weak material for the host to work with. The end result was an episode that was highly enjoyable, but short on memorable sketches or even individual moments.


Sketch of the Night: “Big Boys”: 7.5/10

"Drake PSA": 7.5/10

"Arby's": 6.5/10

Musical Performances - SZA: 7.5/10


EPISODE RATING: 6.75 (Comedy Only score: 6.64)


 

Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile


Steve Martin is a highly familiar face on the SNL stage, the sole owner of 2nd place in the all-time hosting appearances, one less than Alec Baldwin. However, despite numerous guest cameos since then, it had been a scarcely-believable 13 years since his last time helming the show, and not once had he ever split duties with his current comedy partner Martin Short, who's only hosted an even-less-believable four times. Two comedy legends, two figures deeply pivotal to SNL history, two co-stars of a current buzzy comedy show, and a musical guest who is a bit of legend in her own right... all the ingredients for an unforgettable episode were there. And yet, as is so often the case with hugely-anticipated hosts, the night felt a bit flat. Once again, not at fault of the co-hosts, who were every bit as delightful as expected, but the disappointingly lazy writing. I figured there was a good chance we saw a lot of 'repeat sketches' this episode, due to both co-hosts having so many iconic SNL characters over the years. Weirdly enough, I was right but not at all in the way I thought I would be; we did see a high number of sketches that were retreads of bits they had done before, but all from sketches done in the last few years, and none involving the hosts' famous characters of past SNL years. As such, the few real highlights from the episode came in the sketches where the show wrote brand-new characters for the two comedians and let them shine in their own new roles.


Sketch of the Night: “A Visit With Santa”: 7.5/10

"Monologue": 7.5/10

"Minky": 7.5/10

Musical Performances - Brandi Carlile: 8/10


EPISODE RATING: 6.73 (Comedy Only score: 6.60)



 

Austin Butler/Lizzo


My brother, sister and I-- all avid SNL fans --all remarked how surprising it was that this ended up being the SNL Christmas episode, when the week prior seemed to be the much more obvious 'year-end finale': two comedy legends as co-hosts, and a veteran musical guest. Yet, first-time host Austin Butler, in the midst of his Elvis awards-season press tour, and last-minute musical guest Lizzo (planned musical act The Yeah Yeah Yeahs had to pull out the week of the show due to illness) did an impressive job stepping in and handling the affairs, leading to one of the better episodes of the year, and one undoubtedly superior to the week before. Somewhat ironically, though, it did end up feeling less like the Christmas episode than Steve & Marty's show did, with most sketches devoted to general weird wackiness rather than seasonally-timely bits. Still, I have few complaints about the quality of the last show of 2022, other than my deep, deep sadness that it was the last time we'll get to see one of my all-time faves Cecily Strong.


Sketch of the Night: “Jewish Elvis”: 8/10

"Monologue": 6.5/10

Musical Performances - Lizzo: 7/10


EPISODE RATING: 6.96 (Comedy Only score: 6.95)


 

At the end of 2022, here is where the episodes stood in Season 48 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.:


  1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star - 7.39

  2. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar - 7.14

  3. Brendan Gleeson/WILLOW - 7.09

  4. Austin Butler/Lizzo - 6.96

  5. Keke Palmer/SZA - 6.75

  6. Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile - 6.73

  7. Megan Thee Stallion - 6.25

  8. Jack Harlow - 6.17

  9. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy - 5.75

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