SNL: Dua Lipa, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The final Saturday Night Live episode of 2020 aired six days before Christmas and was hosted by Kristen Wiig, who was accompanied by musical guest Dua Lipa. I love Christmas! Kristen Wiig has made me laugh, often! Dua Lipa’s songs have brought me so much joy! Sounds like we’re in for a good time…
I actually watched one (1) full sketch before I even started to eat my breakfast. Now onto my review…
The cold opening sketch is very, very, very often based on a notable piece of news from the past week, and that is indeed the case here, as Mike Pence Gets the Vaccine (Grade: A Plain Lollipop). Some silly impressions, Rudy pops in for a rabies joke, la la la la la, onto the opening montage.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (December 18 on Netflix) – Viola Davis plays the title role alongside Chadwick in his final role.
TV
–American Dad! Holiday Episode (December 21 on TBS)
–Jeopardy!: “Around the World with Alex” (December 21-January 1, check local listings) – 2 weeks of classic episodes of Alex presenting clues from across the globe.
Music
-Paul McCartney, McCartney III – Macca making more music.
-Taylor Swift, Evermore – This came out last week. Taylor keeps sneaking up on us with surprise releases.
Music Documentary
–Excuse Me, I Love You (December 21 on Netflix) – Ariana Grande in concert, hurray!
SNL: Timothée Chalamet, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The eighth episode of the 46th season of Saturday Night Live (now concluded [the episode, not the season]) was hosted by Timothée Chalamet, who at 24 years, 11 months, and 15 days is the youngest host of the season thus far. Here’s another Timothée Chalamet factoid: on last week’s Card Sharks, there was a question in which a group of 100 women were asked if they thought “Timothée Chalamet” was an actor or a fancy wine, and more than half said wine!
The musical guest was Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Everybody loves it when The Boss, Patti, Little Stevie, Max Weinberg, The Professor, and The Big Man’s nephew come to town, don’t they? I sure do!
I had cereal for breakfast while watching, but this time, my Honey Nut Cheerios were Medley Crunch.
The very first sketch headed to the Situation Room (Grade: 2 and a Half Coors Light Cold Activated Cans), as Drs. Fauci and Birx discuss the Covid vaccine rollout. And no, your eyes don’t deceive you, Brad Pitt hasn’t suddenly started looking like Kate McKinnon, but rather Kate is playing Fauci now, instead of Brad when he zoomed in back in the spring.
SNL: Morgan Wallen, Jason Bateman, Heidi Gardner (CREDIT: Saturday Night Live/YouTube Screenshot)
Hello December, Saturday Night Live would like to return to airing new episodes. I imagine that is similar to the conversation that Morgan Wallen had with NBC executives after his initial booking for this season’s second episode was cancelled due to maskless partying. Something along the lines of, “Hello Lorne, I would like to be booked again.” And maybe Jason Bateman also had a conversation like that about hosting. “Hello 2006, I would like to host SNL a second time.” “Hello 2007, I would like to host SNL a second time.” Et cetera. It took a while, but 2020 finally said yes. As for me, I said, “Hello morning of December 6, 2020, it’s time for me to review an episode of SNL once more.” So I sliced up some banana onto my cereal and got to work!
If you were on Twitter a few days ago, you may have noticed that “Cecily Strong” was trending, as voter fraud testimony witness Melissa Carone sounded exactly like the Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party. The joke was already there, so did SNL actually need to make it? For an answer, I would note that not every SNL viewer watches the news 24/7 (good for them), so Ms. Carone was new to them when Cecily actually did play her. Thus, the Michigan State Senate Hearing cold open (Grade: 5 “After Davids”) was kind of like the Sarah Palin sketches way back when in which Tina Fey just repeated some of the things that the actual Palin said, and it was pretty much gold. There were other conspiracy purveyors on hand to say some kooky things, but this was the “Witness You Wish You Hadn’t Started Testimony at a Hearing” Show.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Godmothered (December 4 on Disney+)
–Mank (December 4 on Netflix) – Fincher on Mankiewicz.
–Mulan (December 4 on Disney+, without the premium fee)
–Let Them All Talk (December 10 on HBO Max) – Soderbergh directs Streep-Bergen-Wiest on a cruise.
TV
–Big Mouth Season 4 (December 4 on Netflix)
–MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time Special (December 6 on MTV)
Music
-Arctic Monkeys, Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Belushi (November 22 on Showtime) – A documentary about Belushi, John.
–Happiest Season (November 25 on Hulu) – Directed by Clea DuVall and starring a cast of some of my favorite funny people!
TV
–Animaniacs Reboot Premiere (November 20 on Hulu) – The Warner Brothers – and the Warner Sister – are back to run amok once again!
–Marvel’s 616 Docuseries Premiere (November 20 on Disney+)
–Saved by the Bell Reboot Premiere (November 25 on Peacock)
-The National Dog Show (November 26 on NBC)
Music
-Ariana Grande, Positions – This came out a few weeks ago, but I somehow missed it when that happened.
LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special (CREDIT: Star Wars/YouTube Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Freaky (Theaters) – A bloody good body swap slasher.
TV
–Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun Season 1 (Premiered November 11 on Netflix) – Sitcom/sketch hybrid from some silly Australian dudes.
–His Dark Materials Season 2 Premiere (November 16 on HBO)
-The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special (November 17)
SNL: Dave Chappelle, Foo Fighters (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The last time Saturday Night Live aired a new episode on NBC the Saturday immediately after an American presidential election, the host was Dave Chappelle. And the exact same thing happened this year! Was that booking intentional? I would guess “yes.”
Back in 2016, the musical guest paired with Dave was A Tribe Called Quest in their first ever SNL appearance. But this time, the musical guest is Foo Fighters, in their 8th ever SNL appearance. Like the host, the lead singer of the Foos is also named Dave. How often have the host and musical guest on the same episode had the same first name?! I can’t think of any other time, so let’s take a beat to honor this moment.
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If you’re wondering where I was at while watching this episode (and I bet you are, because I usually let you know), I got up and had a fine Sunday breakfast of scrambled eggs and buttered English muffin. It was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside when I got out of bed, but it was forecasted to go up by 30 degrees by the middle of the day. In November!
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