Plus, Survivor’s Jeff Probst’s face-to-face with the Joker.
Hi all welcome back for your ready and steady, EZ Bake OvenSNL in Review.
You want a quick download for theJack Harlowepisode well, here it is!
Jack Harlow hosts ‘Saturday Night Live’.Will Heath/NBC
Harlow is the latest rap star to be given a shot at hosting Saturday Night Live.
Some rap purists view post-Drake multi-hyphenate artists like Harlow as an affront to the art form.
Yet, to an institution likeSNL, he’s a gateway to young fans.
Let’s see if his charisma carries over.
They are all amazing."
I think that rappers are such fabulous performers that they easily transition to acting."
That’s a great table setting for tonight’s episode.
First, Kenan Thompson is revisiting his Herschel Walker impression.
“Go Halloween!”
Mikey Day plays Dr. Oz, who is running for Senate in Pennsylvania.
(Shoutout Bill Hader’s old Dr. Oz sketch.)
And Cecily Strong is back on the show she’s playing Kari Lake.
Classic role for Cecily, though that’s the role, isn’t it?
She’s phenomenal, but it’s so familiar and ripped from the headlines.
I don’t need partisanbalance, but a few laughs wouldn’t hurt.
Monologue
“This is… incredible,” effuses Harlow.
He’s had a big year.
People compare him to the goat from Narnia and Justin Timberlake drawn from memory.
He takes these insults in strides.
Harlow (surprisingly) talks a lot here cracking jokes.
He goes into the crowd and speaks to an audience member, Michaela.
Pretty flat and dreadful.
“People on the Internet like to roast me,” he says.
Count me among them!
Wedding
My man Clint has the right idea!
The best man (Andrew Dismukes) is dressed like the Joker at a wedding.
In his defense, it’s Halloween night.
Fun premise doubt we needed aJeff Probstcameo to land it, but I love the escalation and the energy.
Performances are strong and quick pacing makes it click.
Skechers commercial
A shoe company is taking a stand against anti-Semitism and specificallyKanye West.
Of course, they want it both ways.
It’s “insanely satisfying” they got to say “no” first.
A lot of corporate hedging, which tracks.
Halloween Red Carpet Show
We are live from the sidewalk!
(I wish literally who remembers The Rocket Report?
Let’s embrace the NYC setting more.
Discord army rise!)
Cecily Strong is Tina Lefey, the red-carpet host.
Devon Walker is playing theChris Rock slap or is that theChris Redd sucker punch?
Pretty funny and relatable.
Harlow is a frat bro with a tampon costume fitting role for him.
He has a strong Lil Dicky vibe.
This is like a dark Brandon version of the"Bring It on Down to Wrappinville"Timberlake character.
Another good sketch that utilizes Harlow’s limited skills well.
“I drank recently,” he slips in during his long spiel about his treatment.
Everyone is spilling their guts out and, in a way, he is too.
Funny spoof of Pixar movies.
Cecily Strong’s character busts out a spot-on parody of the obligatory Pixar Oscar bait song.
(She sounds like Cathy Anne, doesn’t she?)
Could this be the next Mulaney sing-along stand-in?
The group asks: who would play the everyman protagonist’s suitcase?
“Tom H” emerges it’s amazing that in 2022Tom Hankswould cameo in Jack Harlow’s episode.
But if it’s not BIden, then who?
Beto and Hillary
They even nail the font these modern horror movies likeSmileandBarbarianutilize.
Compare this to the god-awful cold open it’s like night and day.
Bartenders
Friends order drinks at a trendy restaurant, Casita, for tacos.
Bartenders Duke and Earl (Bowen Yang and Harlow) emerge to pour the cocktails.
After some highly amusing, borderline classic sketches, this does not quite hold up as much.
First performance
Is Chet Hanks friends with Jack Harlow?
Why is Tom introducing Jack?
(Wait, IS Jack actually Chet Hanks?
This was a huge hit earlier this year and I get it.
Weekend Update
Colin Joststarts off things with jokes about former host Elon Musk.
(There’s a funny joke about Goodwill no longer accepting Yeezy merchandise.)
Another cameo Drunk Uncle is back!
“This is Halloween, Halloween / Marjorie Taylor Greene!”
We haven’t seen Drunk Uncle in nearly seven years, so this is a fun surprise.
I am just shocked people stepped up for Jack Harlow of all people.
I believe Jost co-created Drunk Uncle back in the day when he was a lowly writer, incidentally.
Cell Block 666 (The return!)
Several friends go check out a haunted house.
We get to see Michael Myers and Annabelle.
Suddenly, the return:David S Pumpkins.
Should have seen this coming!
Bobby is here, Tom boom!
(Funny theDavid S. Pumpkins Halloween Specialcame out five years ago yesterday.)
Great make-up job on Freddy Krueger by the way kudos there.
This is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the original, so obviously diminishing returns.
The crowd loves it though, and the energy is still there.
Why not bring this back but switch up the premise a little bit?
It’s been so long, they could’ve been slightly innovative.
Second performance
I think this is the closing track offCome Home the Kids Miss You.
He’s reflecting on fame here, but still the same guy.
Trite but at least an attempt to be an actual song.
They welcome Jack Harlow to the show.
He compliments Whoopi quietly, seductively.
“No, I am a dead woman walking,” she pushes back.
Apparently, that is the gist here, folks.
Love Sherman’s blatantly silly take on Behar, and her back-and-forth with Goldberg.
Final thoughts:
-What a recovery.
After a prototypically weak cold open and monologue, the show fired off several really sharp, hilarious sketches.
Best episode of the season so far.
-Well, what did YOU think?
Jump in, let your voice be heard.Vote or die!
-I will say, I’ve heard a lot of feedback regarding theMegan Thee Stallion episode.
-One critique: it’s the Halloween show; I wanted some Sarah Sherman weirdness.
The cameos and callbacks overwhelmed that possibility I guess at least we got the Dismukes Joker showcase.
I remember Fat Nick compared acting to the same thing as performing on stage.
Because you are putting on an act then, just in a different way.
My artist, tophillfreddo, agreed with that statement.
That was all he needed to hear.
