December 5, 2020 – Jason Bateman / Morgan Wallen (S46 E7)

by Matt

MICHIGAN ELECTION HEARINGS
Rudy Giuliani (KAM) calls ridiculous witnesses at election fraud hearing

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— It always feels odd hearing these C-Span intros narrated by Steve Higgins instead of Jim Downey, maybe because I feel like these sorts of sketches have become fewer and further between since he left the show.
— OH GOD MORE KATE GIULIANI. And she’s immediately mugging like all get out… give me the strength!
— In the real-life event that this cold open is parodying (I refuse to say satirizing), Giuliani farted. So Giuliani farts here as well, because why write jokes?
— Honestly, the worst part of these fart jokes is that it’s giving Lauren the only material that this cold open is allowing her, in the form of reacting to how they smell. It’s sad to think of how much her already-limited screen time will continue to drop as more cast members return in the second half of the season.
— Cecily makes her first appearance all season (barring a pretaped cameo in the first debate sketch) as some person who was at the hearing and who certainly doesn’t deserve me searching for the now-obscure name of. I’m enjoying her characterization, though I’m sure that’s partially because it’s nice to have her back. She’s reminding me a lot of her “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With At A Party” character, especially the utterances of “Ezzactly.”
— Huh, and now Cecily’s character is even using malapropisms, conflating “affidavit” with “after David.” I assume Colin wrote her part in this, or this whole thing.
— The debut of Beck’s Mike Lyndell (the MyPillow guy) impression. His performances as the guy have always tickled me more than I’d like to admit—his weird, intense, toddler-ish infomercial voice is very prototypically Beck.
— Chloe works her Nicole Kidman impression into the cold open for some reason. This cold open has definitely spiraled out focus-wise, but honestly, that makes it a lot better than most of what we’ve had this season; the further it’s stepping away from the week’s events, the more fun that it’s having, even if the fact that it’s so unfocused means there’s a clear ceiling to how good it can be. Either way, at this point I can appreciate a scattershot cold open that jumps around a lot this season over one that stares straight down a mind-numbing path for 12 minutes.
— A strange choice to have Kyle’s governor-kidnapping character from this season’s Issa Rae episode recur in this sketch… but joined by Pete, and not Andrew. Obviously, it makes sense how Beck wasn’t involved here because he was playing Mike Lyndell in the sketch, but that rubbed me the wrong way when I first saw the sketch and it still sort of does, given how much Andrew was struggling for airtime during the first half of the season. Luckily, he breaks out nicely over the season’s second half.
— I got a good laugh about Pete’s occupation being that he’s “curious about fossils.”
— Lauren gets to deliver her first LFNY with Kate and Cecily, which end up being her only words in this entire sketch.
STARS: **

MONOLOGUE 
on his previous SNL gig 15 years ago, host nearly suffered a chimp bite

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— I always love monologues that are so SNL-specific, in this case talking about part of Jason’s first hosting gig in detail. I’m especially entertained by this as a dumb little SNL nerd who knows about the exact moment that he’s building up to.
— Jason’s monologue is a bit rambly and not super funny at points, but I like his affable delivery and the archival footage of the monkey swiping at his face is well-appreciated.
— A great turn to the charming monologue with Jason saying he ordered the monkey to be destroyed later that night.
— Jason’s dad dancing at the start and end of the monologue is amusing me more than I’d care to admit. He pleases me!
STARS: ***½

SLEEPOVER
at a sleepover, plainly-guilty Megan won’t fess up to menstrual accident

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— The reprisal of a sketch from last season’s Adam Driver episode. I’m skeptical of how necessary a sequel is.
— We’re using a different basement set than the one used in the original sketch. Great way of differentiating the two, guys!
— This “menstrual blood stain on the couch cushion” bit feels pretty derivative, and Jason’s delivery isn’t as good as Adam’s was in this role.
— Kate’s entrance is a lot less funny than her entrance in the first installment, though I do think her costuming is a bit better.
— This has the exact same beats as the first sketch, down to all of the girls (aside from Kate) sharing blame for the incident, though it makes even less sense given this sketch’s scenario. I do kind of like Heidi mentioning that she stained the cockatiel and put it in the wash, but… not much else.
— Yeah, this sketch was not worth bringing back. There was nothing new here, and little room was made for variation.
STARS: *

STU
(PED)’s letter to Santa (host) for PS5 evokes “Stan”; Eminem cameo

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— A sudden, hard turn with this sketch turning into a letter to Santa penned by a parody of Eminem’s character in “Stan,” but I’m digging it. This definitely feels like the most immersed Pete has come across in one of his rap parodies, let alone SNL in general.
— Heh, this sketch being based around Pete’s intense desire to get a PS5 is certainly feeding into the time capsule.
— I really enjoy Kate’s performance in this sketch, subbing in for the Dido chorus of “Stu” as Pete’s mom. Some nice, understated character work here, which serves as a nice reminder of her range against the broad work she’s been doing in this episode so far.
— A great laugh for Bowen as Elton John in this sketch, but an even bigger one for me from the people in the audience cheering during Pete’s segue to him assuming it’ll be the actual Elton.
— A decent if predictable turn with Santa writing back to Stu saying he’s sending his letters to the wrong address.
— The appearance from the real Eminem at the end of the sketch is, uh, rather shoe-horned and unnecessary. It reminds me of how often the show would get a celebrity cameo in during the At Home episodes because of how easy it was to work out, which I’m not a huge fan of. Also: lol Eminem is not a very good actor.
— This sketch has proven itself to be fairly polarizing as time has gone on, both due to the dated reference that the sketch is built around and the fact that the season would later attempt to recapture the hype of this one with the much weaker “NFTs” music video, but I think this works well as a standalone piece. “Stu” feeds nicely into Pete’s strange little redemption arc, turning in some of his finest work this season (though, minor digression, that would probably resonate more if he didn’t return for S47 and revert to generally hedonistic, phoned-in work). This piece also featured a simplistic but fairly effective narrative that kept pushing the sketch along, as opposed to the usual tendency of these raps to just keep hitting the same place with mild escalation—I’d consider this the most successful of Pete’s efforts.
STARS: ****

OUTDOOR CABARET
cabaret singers Charlie (BOY) & Billie (CES) seek virus-free happy days

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— A cool and distinct look to the set for this sketch, constructed to look like a trendy, outdoor seating area.
— For the throwaway line it is, I liked Bowen shooing Melissa and Lauren (screen time, baby!) off-stage as the emcee by saying, “Wow, wow, wow, what a safe song choice.”
— Based on Bowen’s lines, this sketch was clearly written as a welcome back for Cecily, though that might register more if she didn’t already make an appearance in the cold open.
— Bowen and Cecily are doing a good job of weaving their two entirely separate Christmas songs together (it’s quite good on the ear, really), but the aimless, conversational structuring of this sketch just makes it feel like another middling, musical Cecily showcase. I absolutely adore Cecily and the voice she brings to the show, but I feel this season was an especially tough one for her in breaking out of that indulgence with her sketch appearances.
— Jason’s character here feels very similar to Matt Damon’s in the “Jingle Bells” sketch from S44 (which I think was better executed), though I think he’s doing alright with it.
— I’m actually enjoying some of the dialogue, and Bowen and Cecily’s characterizations are strong, but there’s just nothing in this sketch for my brain to really grapple on to; it’s too quiet for its own good, which allows it to wash over you easily unless you’re really keyed into it. That’s not to say I don’t like a challenging sketch, and I honestly think the tone would perhaps be nice as a palette-cleanser more towards the end of the night, but it feels strange for its place in the running order and isn’t maintaining the energy levels of the past episode at all. File this one under “sketches I wish I could get more into.”
STARS: **½

THE CHRISTMAS CONVERSATION
“The Christmas Conversation”- mothers guilt daughters for not coming home

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— A nice, relatable sentiment to this pretape. I’m also a big fan of the way it’s presented to resemble video calls, which gives things a very unique vibe.
— I feel like one of Kate’s more underrepresented talents is playing emotionally-manipulative mothers; her delivery of, “If you don’t love me Marie, just say so” is aces. Heidi and Punkie (!!) are also doing a fantastic job in their respective roles, and the three are giving very distinct performances, making it a lot of fun bouncing between the three of them.
— Jason and especially Kenan are fun as the fathers, though it feels weird that Heidi and Lauren’s scenes are lacking that dynamic. (It’s worth noting that this is Kenan’s only appearance of the night, taping it on-location from the sitcom he and Chris were working on.)
— The obligatory, heartfelt turn of this piece feels unnecessary and works against the tone the pretape established, though I at least get why it’s there. It feels somewhat annoying simply given the nature of SNL’s treacle holiday messages closing out such material, but hey, it was a different and hard holiday season for a lot of people. I’ll let it slide.
STARS: ***½

MORGAN WALLEN PARTY
musical guest’s future selves (host) & (BOY) warn about SNL disinvitation

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— Oh boy, this sketch, which has somehow proven to be even more poorly-aged since when it aired. I know I mentioned during the monologue that I love when SNL gets self-referential but, uh, not here…
— Andrew makes his only appearance of the night helping to set up this sketch before disappearing again. At least Lauren and Punkie are being given some material to work with.
— Morgan Wallen is, unsurprisingly, not a very good actor. He’s okay but stiff and not really saying his lines in-tune with everyone else in the scene.
— Morgan: “I don’t wanna screw up an opportunity like that, or let my fans down.” Trust me Morgan, your fans never cared about any of this stuff.
— I kind of like aspects of the premise, with Morgan being disrupted by future versions of himself about the consequences of his present actions—with some fun jokes about how much Jason and Bowen don’t look like Morgan—but the situation the premise is being applied to feels like icky lip service.
— Yikes, when Jason is talking, the camera is on the wrong shot for, like, ten whole seconds.
— This sketch is dying a pretty hard death with how much it’s becoming even more pandering to Morgan, including a speech from Pete about how much his fans care about him (mentioning that again for some reason) and a concluding musical performance.
— I should mention now that I have a very unusual relationship with Morgan Wallen’s music and the general concept of him as a person. In my apartment, he has randomly become a figure of ironically mythical proportions among us due to one of his songs, “Up Down,” which is the trashiest piece of bro country music ever. As it got played more and more around the house, we started to root for Morgan somewhat, jokingly but still with a sense of amazement when he actually got booked on SNL, and the chronicle of his controversies and finally getting to the show in December kept us very attentive. At the peak of our weird fandom, we had a listening party over his recently-released double album, and ultimately, I do have a vague sweet spot for the single he performs for his first musical number in this episode. (Easy listening music makes me weak, sue me.) With that being said: fuck Morgan Wallen. I hate that I somewhat bought into his redemption in the public eye through his apologies, and through this sketch at the time; I interpreted it with some degree of sincerity, but that goodwill was lost in light of him doubling down on his douchebaggery and getting cancelled again in January. I get that SNL felt an obligation to address the situation, but this sketch, especially in light of the show’s future ribbing of him, feels too much like the show trying to have its cake and eat it, too, and that’s one of the show’s absolute worst reflexes when doubling down on controversy. Whatever occasional amusement I get from the sketch’s writing is immediately murdered by the terrible sense of morality looming over it.
STARS: *

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “7 Summers”

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— Blue: The synth/keyboard pads that open this song are really nice and lush. Not what I was expecting from a country artist.
— Okay, Morgan’s opened his mouth now, and he sure sounds like a country artist.
— I just realized that there’s no one onstage playing the keyboard part that I admired. Really? I understand a pop artist singing along to a pre-recorded track, but when country/folk is usually seen as more “authentic,” not to mention the full band setup that Morgan is utilizing, it doesn’t make sense to me why someone can’t be onstage to play this very simple part.
— Nice vocal harmonizing from the guitarist on Morgan’s’ right.
— This chorus is very underwhelming.
— I honestly have nothing more to say. That entire performance washed over me. Can’t wait to forget about it in five minutes.
STARS: **

WEEKEND UPDATE
PED weighs in on Staten Island bar protest & how he is loved & hated

Bailey Gismert reviews ’90s movies that couldn’t be made in our era

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— I don’t know how important it is to break down the circumstances that got us here, but Colin’s opening salvo about Trump has turned into him talking like DJ Khaled.
— I liked Michael’s little ad-lib after a Brazzers joke, saying he doesn’t know what that is.
— Pete looks the healthiest that he’s ever looked on the show up to this point during this Weekend Update commentary of his, which makes me happy.
— Pete: “You could buy a vibrator with my face on it for $15, or one without my face for $20!” Heh, I recall sales on that vibrator went through the roof during this commentary, and the Etsy seller donated portions of the sales to charity. Good on you, Pete!
— Although Pete’s dunks on Staten Island peaked with his commentary from the S43 Chance episode, and although he’s shifting focus here and there to get into some trademark self-deprecation, he’s in fine form here, discussing a rally against restrictions on indoor dining.
— “Why are they so mad that I’m doing a little online table read of It’s A Wonderful Life? It’s an old-timey film about a guy who’s suicidal. I’m famously depressed and have the complexion of someone in a black-and-white movie.”
— Michael, on a 102 year-old woman who survived coronavirus twice: “Sadly, she was no match for my car.”
— Bailey Gismert on Forrest Gump: “I’ve only ever seen [Tom Hanks] in David S. Pumpkins, but seeing him when he was young, like… he’s overcome a lot.”
— An interesting theme to this Bailey Gismert installment, with Bailey criticizing the un-PC nature of several movies without honing on the actual, weird parts of them. 
— Her movie crush for this installment being Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs is pretty fun, though this is a fairly standard outing for the character. Thankfully, she’s still one of my favorites of Heidi’s.
STARS: ***½

SANTA’S VILLAGE
shopping mall Santa (host) & Mrs. Claus (CES) crash their plastic bubbles

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— Both Jason and Kyle play Santa and an elf, respectively, for the second time this episode.
— Even if Melissa isn’t given anything too crazy to work with, it feels nice to see her playing a notable role in this sketch. How come we can’t get that more often?
— I feel like we don’t see a lot of sketches in this era that are so reliant on physical comedy, and even if the main joke here is just Cecily and Jason stumbling and falling in their balls a ton, I’m enjoying that level of energy. For someone who I’ve never thought of as a physical comedian (aside from those great Jeanine Pirro bits), Cecily is selling this very well.
— Ah, seems like this sketch is also featuring some discussion of Jason and Cecily’s passive-aggressive relationship with one another as an ex-couple. It’s fine, I guess.
— Ha, holy hell at Cecily rolling over Mikey’s entire body at the end.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Still Goin’ Down”

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— Blue: Once again, I can’t help wondering why there’s no keyboardist onstage. This keyboard part is even simpler than the one from the first song, solely consisting of held chords. Surely it wasn’t too expensive to hire a keyboardist?
— There’s nothing wrong with being proud of where you come from (and I don’t intend to make a sweeping generalization about people from the South), but I have to say, in light of Morgan’s controversies, the lyrics to this song are coming across as defensive. It sounds like he’s justifying his problematic behavior by claiming that he was raised this way and can’t help it. I won’t go any further with that, but… yeesh.
— Yet another performance about which I have very little to say, because there was very little going on, both onstage and in the song, that interested me.
— I’m sorry, but this is the musical guest to whom SNL gave a second chance? I can think of several country/folk artists (Amythyst Kiah, freaking JASON ISBELL) who have never played on SNL and whose music I personally find infinitely more interesting than Morgan Wallen’s. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t just cut their losses after Morgan’s initial controversy. It would not have been a great tragedy to not have him play.
STARS: **

BITS
while hanging with friends, awkward (KYM) kills the bit by trying to joke

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— This sketch was cut from the preceding Dave Chappelle episode.
— A very delightfully Kyle premise of him bursting out into dramatic, emotive song after one of his jokes bombs about how much he wishes he could maintain the bit the other guys were riffing on. 
— Some really great, bizarre imagery in this sketch, which is making for an entertaining dichotomy to Kyle’s very solemn demeanor.
— A fun turn to this sketch when Kyle is able to bring the bit back. Not sure how to feel about the very abrupt end after that where Kyle chucks a beer can HARD at Pete’s face, but hey, it made me laugh, too, especially given how grounded the character work has been leading up to that point.
— I’ve always found this to be a bit of an odd sketch. I feel like it’s been a long time since we’ve had a Kyle-centric piece (barring his work with Beck) that didn’t just subscribe to the show’s usual formula for him of playing a pitiful version of himself struggling at SNL. If anything, this feels like the sort of sketch he would’ve tried to get on the show towards the start of his tenure, though with a far higher budget. While I’ll always prefer his very low-fi and simplistic pieces from that period of time (like “Flirty” or “Dancing”), I’m happy to see one of his more unique ideas get properly actualized, and it ends the night on a good note.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS

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— The January 16th rerun of this episode prefaced the goodnights with a short clip and in memoriam card for Howard Johnson, the conductor and horn player of the original in-house SNL band. He also made a notable appearance in the famous “King Tut” sketch and appeared as a musical guest with his group, Gravity. The clip can be viewed here.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not a great episode of the show, and confounded by a handful of frustrating lows (the “Sleepover” reprise, and especially Morgan Wallen’s lip service), but the rest of the night was okay and there were some good highlights, mainly the pretapes. It felt like the bog standard for this season.
— Jason made for a decent host who slotted well into the vibe of the material, though he was never given the most gripping stuff to work with. The show seemed confident in his chops with some of what he was given (“Morgan Wallen Party,” “Santa’s Village”), but he was buried in fairly standard, uninvolved roles outside of that.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

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RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Stu
Bits
The Christmas Conversation
Weekend Update
Monologue
Santa’s Village
Outdoor Cabaret
Michigan Election Hearings
Sleepover
Morgan Wallen Party

TOMORROW
We yeet and skrrt our way through Timothée Chalamet’s hosting gig