CREDIT: Alison Hale/NBC

This review was originally posted on News Cult in January 2018.

NewsCult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.

Love It

A Message From the Former President – This is one of the most masterful impressions of all time because it is just bursting with ideas. “The ‘W’ stands “wassup?!,” “Washington, Lincoln, and I want to say, Kensington,” “Shoe me once once, shoe’s on you. Shoe me twice, I’m keeping those shoes” … I could go on forever! And amidst all the goofy bonhomie, there is also a strong clearheadedness about what points are being made, most prominently being: the main reason liberals are now romanticizing the George W. Bush presidency is because at least his disasters were a lot sillier.

Air Force Squadron – It’s no Dillon/Edwards Investment, which was practically understated in its treatment of one of the most juvenile jokes ever, elevating “www.clownpenis.fart” into high art. On the other hand, this presentation of a squad member with a questionable call sign really sticks with that middle school humor, but it comes away a winner by really digging into it. When this guy calls himself “Clown Penis,” he really means it, and all that it implies.

Messy head wounds have appeared on SNL before, but never in a musical Monologue (at least as far as I can remember), and thankfully, Will Ferrell has now rectified that. I also give him a thumbs up for randomly zipping up his pants at the start…Beck and Kyle invite Will into The House, and it goes better than The House (or so I’ve heard). Their extreme-crossed-with-minimal reality show parody is as sharp as ever, particularly the near-hugging…Next for Men is the antiperspirant for men who are sweating because of their abuse scandal that are about to break, and this commercial parody sticks because of how it targets the scary confidence of guys who think they can still get away with it…Jacob Silj and the wonders of Voice Immodulation will apparently never cease to make me chuckle, chuckle, chuckle. I mean, how can you say no to statistics like how VIS is diagnosed in over 0 people (in the U.S. alone!)…Look, I don’t know if years from now, I will remember the Cookout with the garish reality stars as a brilliant example of ridiculousness. I can’t make much sense of it presently, and I’m hoping that time will prove that that’s a good thing, so for now I’ll just trust the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing…A lot can happen in an Office Breakroom when you confuse Crate + Barrel with Cracker Barrel, especially if Will Ferrell is the one doing the confusing…Chucky Lee Byrd takes underage love in song to its absurd (but scarily plausible?) conclusion.

Keep It

Dinner Discussion – They were really were happy when discussing the dog, and I’m glad that detail is in there. But hoo boy, how do we have discussions about sensitive subjects in a “post-Babe.net universe”? Stretching out the wary “don’t say it’s” for the sake of comedy, while throwing in ominous music and stock footage for accompaniment, is perhaps a good start.

Just some goofy fumbling over a tongue twister that’s goofier than expected in the Diner Commercial shoot…Some Southwest Flight Attendants rap the safety instructions, while Gareth (Ferrell) gets all fatalistic, but I’m most amused by the fact that he can recommend several podcasts…Michael and Colin give me the biggest laughs this week when discussing the Hamburglar and when Colin talks about white golfers while he has Michael trapped in the elevator…Heidi Gardner gets the awkward teen diction and mannerisms down as movie critic vlogger Bailey Gismert, but she could use a stronger hook.

Leave It

No “Leave It” sketches. Yep, this is by far the best episode of the season.

Will Ferrell
On a scale of the greatest to the greatest, Will Ferrell provides further evidence for why he resides alone in the upper echelon. What we have here in 2018 is proof after proof of the great advantage of relying so little on revisiting his beloved recurring characters. Sure, kick things off with a (distressingly relevant) Dubya cold open and throw in a semi-obscure bit like Jacob Silj, but go new everywhere else, and have the audience constantly wondering, “What is going on here?” Even if the material is terrible (and it’s not), you gain a lot of goodwill out of the anticipation of just what insanity is set to arrive.

Chris Stapleton

On a scale of outlaw country to Southern rock, Chris Stapleton is certainly rip-roaring enough to be worth considering for potential future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, though the presence of Sturgill Simpson in his two performances here does pull him more towards the country end. Whether or not that’s a good thing depends on your taste. For me personally, I would rather see Stapleton wail away on the guitar, but I do see what this collab has to offer. The first song, “Midnight Train to Memphis,” in particular offers a nice point/counterpoint in vocal styles.

Letter Grades:
A Message From the Former President – B+
Will Ferrell’s Monologue – B+
Air Force Squadron – B+
The House – B+
Dickenson’s Commercial Shoot – B
Southwest Flight Attendants – B
Next for Men – B+
Chris Stapleton (ft. Sturgill Simpson) performs “Midnight Train to Memphis” – B+

Weekend Update
The Jokes – B
Jacob Silj – B+
Bailey Gismert – B-

Cookout/Reality Stars (BEST OF THE NIGHT) – B+
Dinner Discussion – B
Chris Stapleton (ft. Sturgill Simpson) perfomrs “Hard Livin'” – B
Office Breakroom – B+
Chucky Lee Byrd – B+