Jeff’s Wacky SNL Season Finale Review: Natasha Lyonne/Japanese Breakfast

May 22, 2022

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SNL: Kenan Thompson, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, Natasha Lyonne, Kate McKinnon

Big weekend for Natasha Lyonne. She was spoofed by Jinkx Monsoon in the Snatch Game on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and now she’s hosting the season finale of a little show called Saturday Night Live. She’s a New Yawker, SNL‘s a New Yawker, I bet it’ll be right up her alley.

And what about Michelle Zauner? I guess it’s only appropriate that her band Japanese Breakfast would eventually end up on SNL, considering that they probably actually are eating breakfast in Japan while SNL is airing in America. Actually, now that I look up the time difference, it might actually be lunchtime instead. Or maybe a late breakfast could still be happening! If anyone knows Japanese mealtime traditions, let me know.

Now on to the review section of this review! This whole season, I’ve been listing the sketches in various oddball orders, so for the season finale, I’ve decided to repeat the order that I enjoyed the most. And that order is… Views on SNL‘s YouTube channel (Most First). What can I say, I like getting a sense of what’s popping with viewers.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Selena Gomez/Post Malone

May 15, 2022

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SNL: Bowen Yang, Selena Gomez, Aidy Bryant, Post Malone (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Uh-oh, Selena Gomez is finally a Saturday Night Live host! I don’t know why I said “uh-oh,” it’s not like this is bad news. I guess it just felt like a fun way to introduce my review. Hopefully I can maintain that much fun throughout the entire review!

You may have heard that the musical guest of this episode is Post Malone, and hey, my last name is also “Malone”! So here’s what I’ve decided to do: list each sketch alphabetically according to the last name (or stage name) of the first person to speak (or sing, in the case of musical performances) on screen. (So no narrators, because it can get a little tricky in that zone.)

Here it goes again!

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire

May 8, 2022

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SNL: Benedict Cumberbatch, Arcade Fire, Ego Nwodim (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

It seems like whenever there’s a new Doctor Strange movie in the theaters, Benedict Cumberbatch is hosting Saturday Night Live. And it also seems like whenever Arcade Fire has new music, they’re performing it on SNL. Case in both of those points: this episode that I’m reviewing right now.

A few months ago, I listed the sketches in order of how many speaking/singing parts they had, most first. But I never did the reverse order! So that’s what I’m doing this time. A few points of clarification: narrators are counted, except for the introductions of Weekend Update and by Darrell Hammond during the monologue (since that’s more a part of the opening credits). The person introducing the musical guest IS counted for the musical performances, while backup singers generally aren’t counted if they only sing backup. Although in the case of Arcade Fire, it made sense to count Régine Chassagne’s vocals, since she gets enough of a spotlight. And for Weekend Update, the parts with guests are counted separately from the parts that are just Michael and Colin telling jokes. Got it? In that case … here we go!

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Lizzo/Lizzo

April 17, 2022

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SNL: Lizzo, Kenan Thompson (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Big weekend for Lizzo (known on her birth certificate as Melissa Viviane Jefferson). It’s Easter, after all, and I don’t know if she celebrates, but she certainly strikes me as someone who appreciates a festive moment. And oh yeah, she’as also the host AND musical guest on a little show called Saturday Night Live.

For my review of last week’s episode, you may recall that I listed the sketches in order of how many views they had on SNL‘s YouTube page, from most to least. This time, I’m reversing it, going from least to most views. I hope you all find that appropriate for Easter, what with the rebirth and resurrection.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Jake Gyllenhaal/Camila Cabello

April 10, 2022

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SNL: Camila Cabella, Jake Gyllenhaal (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

You might remember an SNL sketch from back in the day called “Mom Celebrity Translator,” in which Jake Gyllenhaal was referred to as “Joe Geronimo.” Well, now he’s referred to as “2-time SNL host.” This is also the second time for Camila Cabello, though she wasn’t referenced in Mom Celebrity Translator. She wasn’t famous yet at the time!

Last week, I listed the sketches in order of how they were listed on SNL‘s YouTube page. This week, I’m listing them in order of how many YouTube views they have (most first) as of the morning after.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna

April 3, 2022

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SNL: Gunna, Jerrod Carmichael, Heidi Gardner (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Why, hello there, readers of SNL reviews. You’re here just in time for my take on the Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna episode, which originally aired on April 2, 2022. (Although, since most of it happened after midnight on the East Coast, it really mostly aired on April 3, 2022. [H/t Scott Aukerman.])

Jerrod Carmichael is hosting, and he recently came out of the closet, so it’s the perfect time to get to know him. Meanwhile, Gunna is the musical guest, and I’m less familiar with him than I am with Jerrod, so hopefully we’ll get to know him a little bit better than before as well.

It’s been a few weeks since the last new episode aired, so in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve been doing something a little different with my reviews this season. Specifically, I’ve been listing the sketches in unique orders instead of simply opting for the order in which they aired. For this episode, I’ll be listing them in the order in which they appear on SNL‘s YouTube page. (Please note: there is currently one cut-for-time sketch up there, but I won’t be covering that in this review.)

Also, I must note that I wrote this review after running a four-mile race, and I tend to be in a good mood for most of the day afterwards following a morning cruise around the park.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía

March 13, 2022

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SNL: Mikey Day, Rosalía, Zoë Kravitz, Chris Redd (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

And now for something completely… all about the 15th episode of the 47th season of Saturday Night Live. For this outing, the host is a descendant of famous people, and wouldn’t you know it, she has SNL guesting in her blood. Current Catwoman Zoë Kravitz’s dad has been a musical guest a couple of times, while her stepdad hosted a few years ago. As for this episode’s musical guest Rosalía, I don’t think she has any family members who have previously stopped by Studio 8H, but she herself did give Bad Bunny an assist last season.

Since this episode aired on the weekend that Daylight Savings Time took over, I will be listing the sketches in order of how much sunlight they feature (whether literal or metaphorical), from least bright to brightest.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Oscar Isaac/Charli XCX

March 6, 2022

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SNL: Charli XCX, Oscar Isaac, Aidy Bryant (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

And the Oscar goes to… the 14th episode of the 47th season of Saturday Night Live, as it was hosted by Acting Man Oscar Isaac. And as for the musical guest, well you know it’s Charli XCX. She was originally booked to sing on this season’s partially scuttled Paul Rudd episode, which she at least did appear on in pre-recorded form. Save that one for the history books…

Since my birthday is in a few days, I’ve ordered the sketches in this review in order of how much I would enjoy spending my birthday in the sketches’ settings, from least desirable to most desirable.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem

February 27, 2022

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SNL: John Mulaney, LCD Soundsystem, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: NBC/Cecily Strong)

Good morning to the end of February. This is a review of John Mulaney’s fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live. (N.B.: He also used to be an SNL staff writer.) As such, I will be listing the sketches in order of how close their running times are to five minutes. Noted indie-dance-electronic rock band LCD Soundsystem provided the tunes.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry

January 30, 2022

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SNL: Katy Perry, Willem Dafoe, Chris Redd (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Oh hello there, you’re reading my review of the TWELFTH episode of the FORTY-SEVENTH season of Saturday Night Live. Who’s the host? That’s an important piece of information, and the reality is that it is American actor Willem Dafoe. Also noteworthy: the musical guest is Katy Perry, who’s known for performing songs.

For this episode, since we’re in the middle of winter, I’m ordering sketches from least cold to coldest. It’s a subjective rubric, sure, but hopefully you can see what I’m going for.

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