SNL: Phoebe Bridgers, Dan Levy, Aidy Bryant (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

When I woke up on the morning of Sunday, February 7, 2021, I was expecting there to be some fresh snow on the ground. Instead it didn’t start falling until a couple of hours later. So my viewing of the Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers SNL was a mix of overcast and wet and white. Both of these people are making their Studio 8H debuts with this episode, which makes sense, as they achieved their fame relatively recently. By the way, Phoebe’s a pretty cool name, innit? It sounds like you could just sing it over and over throughout the day. No wonder she’s a musician!

Okay, I declare that it’s now time to review the sketches, the first of which was the cold opening, having to do with the Super Bowl Pre-Game (Grade: 2/5 Q-Pons), in which some SNL cast members pretended to be NFL broadcasters saying this and that, and that and this.

During Dan Levy’s Monologue (Grade: Pool Noodle Energy), we took one of those trips backstage that the hosts occasionally take us on. It was eerily quiet the whole time, probably because of pandemic protocols. More spooky than funny.

Just a reminder: I do not review the commercials (except for the parodies that are officially part of the episode).

There was a sketch early in this episode that took place on a Universal Studios Tram Tour (Grade: 3/5 Tours), and let me tell you, things got pretty inappropriate! That was the game of the sketch, in fact. It was funny, but I wonder what it would have been like if I had been watching it with my parents. Can you imagine!

The fake commercial for Zillow (Grade: 3/5 Agents) features one of those “x meets y” premises. In this case, it’s “real estate meet phone sex.” I mean, can you imagine! Apparently someone on the SNL writing staff could…

The Super Bowl Party (Grade: Straight-Up Ignorance) featured a group of characters who said that they were taking the pandemic seriously, but their actions very much belied their claims. I was most disgusted by the chili on their hands at the end of the sketch. I mean, how can you spend that much time with sloppy food all over your fingers without wiping it off?

I tend to let out big hearty laughs when white allyship is particularly over-the-top. For a prime example from this episode, see: Lifting Our Voices (Grade: Big 2Pac Tribute Energy).

Now I would like to talk about Phoebe Bridgers’ first song, “Kyoto” (Grade: Blonde/Black Duality), because I write about the things in each episode in the order that they happened, and this song was performed after the sketch that I just wrote about. So Phoebe and her band were wearing skeleton outfits to the point that you would think that they were auditioning for the next David Pumpkins sketch. And as for that horn section, I was getting some fine Arcade Fire-style vibes.

Weekend Update Discussion Time: Michael Che and Colin Jost tell jokes. I write my reaction. Spoiler alert: it’s mostly positive. Also, some guests stop by:

Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner played Lowell Fitzroy and Janet Noonan (Grade: 3.5/5 Buh-Byes), a couple of folks targeting kids with social media cancellation, and boy, was it outrageous! That was clearly the goal, and it was successful, as it made me laugh.

Then Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd parodied Internet celebrities TwinsthenewTrend (Grade: Cluelessness is the New Fount of Knowledge), who are famous for their reaction videos to popular songs they’ve never heard before. This bit masterfully demonstrates the wisdom of gradually ramping up the absurdity.

This review isn’t over! I still have more sketches to talk about! Like Hot Damn (Grade: 3.5/5 Tap Breaks), the football song sung in a bar in place of watching The Big Game. Cecily Strong sure does love singing theatrical songs with whomever’s hosting that week for our amusement.

The Wedding Friends sketch (Grade: More Pink, Please) went down easy and it ended on a mostly positive note that I wasn’t anticipating based on how it started.

The musical guest portion of this review isn’t over! Although it will be soon, so I suppose it’s appropriate that Phoebe Bridgers’ second song was “I Know the End” (Grade: I Wasn’t Expecting the Guitar Smashing). With the microphone stands all illuminated and some of the band still wearing their skeleton outfits, I’ve got to ask: is it always Halloween with Phoebe?

The episode-capping It Gets Better (Grade: Oppressive Real-Life Hilarity) was marvelously funny, thanks especially in no small part to its reptilian star. Who could’ve expected an iguana to be the MVP of this episode? I mean, can you imagine!

Next week, there’ll be a new episode airing on One-Day-After-Friday the 13th, with Regina King and Nathaniel Rateliff providing the entertainment.