Jeff’s Wacky SNL Season Premiere Review: Jean Smart/Jelly Roll

September 29, 2024

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50th Time’s the Charm (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Happy Anniversary! It’s the 50th season of our favorite show, and I for one am going to celebrate by continuing to wackily review every episode of Saturday Night Live.

The very first episode of this landmark season was hosted by the Jean-tacular Jean Smart and musical guested by the Jelly-licious Jelly Roll. As for me, I was out and about visiting family this weekend, so I finished this episode much later than usual. So please forgive me if this review feels a little sleepy!

Anyway, because I took a weekend vacay, I’m going to review each sketch by asking the question: is this a good sketch to watch while visiting family?

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SNL Season 50 Host and Musical Guest Predictions

September 16, 2024

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CREDIT: Screenshot

Many seasons ago, I used to predict the hosts and musical guests for the upcoming batch of new Saturday Night Live episodes. Looking through the archives, it doesn’t look like I ever did it on this blog, but instead on just a (now-defunct) SNL fan forum. So yeah, it’s been a while, but I kinda felt compelled to peek into my Studio 8H-themed crystal ball once more.

So the way it goes with my SNL guest predictions is that I look over the pop culture calendar for the next several upcoming months and attempt to discern who might conceivably have something they’d like to promote at 30 Rockefeller. But I don’t care all that much about accuracy, so this set of predictions will essentially be doubling as a wish list. Which is to say, some of the folks I’ve chosen might not actually be all that likely to appear on Saturday Night Live during Season 50. Or ever, for that matter. But maybe typing them out loud will manifest something special into existence.

Also, before I get to my predictions, I’ve got a quick programming note about my first wacky review of the season. The premiere is scheduled to air on September 28, and I might be going away that weekend, so my review might be posted a little later than usual. But I promise that it will still be as wacky as ever!

Now on with the predictions! (Feel free to share some of your own in the comments section if you’ve got any.)

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SNL Season 49: How Did it Go?

June 6, 2024

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CREDIT: NBC/Screenshots

Sometimes I rank my favorite sketches of the past SNL season, sometimes I just sit and think about random nonsense. For my Season 49 round-up, here’s how it’s going to go: I’ll scan over each episode and remind myself what I thought and then decide which are the parts I feel most compelled to write (aka type) about. I might mention my favorite sketches, I might mention my favorite hosts and musical guests, and I might even mention my favorite Weekend Update segments! We’ll see how it goes! I haven’t decided yet. We’re going to figure it out together.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Jake Gyllenhaal/Sabrina Carpenter

May 19, 2024

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A Trio of 49-Year-Olds (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Congratulations, everybody! We made it to the end of another shenanigan-filled year of Saturday Night Live. The finale of Season 49 was hosted by none other than Jake Gyllenhaal (who will always be “Joe Geronimo” to me), with musical guest duties fulfilled by Sabrina Carpenter, who is also recognized for his acting resume.

For this review, I’ll be assessing each sketch in honor of a frequent SNL guest by asking that eternal question: Would Drew Barrymore Like That?

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Maya Rudolph/Vampire Weekend

May 14, 2024

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A Bloody Good Time (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Hello, mother (Maya Rudolph). Hello, father (Lorne Michaels?). Here I am, reviewing SNL a little later than I usually do, as I was at a destination wedding on Saturday and then traveling by plane, train, and automobile on Sunday. But as of Monday evening, I’ve finally watched the 19th episode of Season 49! It featured showbiz veterans in the form of Ms. Maya Rudolph and Misters Vampire Weekend.

Instead of sticking to a discrete theme for this review, I’m just going to provide quick thoughts for each sketch and segment, but still with my signature wacky style.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Dua Lipa/Dua Lipa

May 5, 2024

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Do a Lipa Day (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

I enjoy Dua Lipa, and apparently Saturday Night Live does too. Because after serving as musical guest for a couple of episodes, she’s now reached that rarefied territory of being host and musical guest on the very same show. It’s an interesting choice, because while she’s not exactly known for comedy and she hasn’t done a ton of acting, she is pretty sharp. She strikes me as the kind of a person who can read a comedy script and immediately recognize what is funny about it and then go ahead and emphasize the exact right words.

For my review of this episode, I’m going to go ahead and utilize that old standby strategy of mine and transcribe the notes I took while watching.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton

April 14, 2024

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This moment will be stapled in my mind forever (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky”1 theme.

Former SNL cast member Kristen Wiig joined the Five-Timers Club last week, and now the next new episode features some returning favorites in the guest lineup, with host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Chris Stapleton. When the April shows were announced, I wondered if this would be a once-in-a-lifetime case of two five-timer inductions two episodes in a row. But in fact, this is only Gosling’s third host outing. (I guess his previous appearances just loom inordinately large in my memory.)

This is also Stapleton’s third time as the musical guest.

Since one of Gosling’s most notable accomplishments in the past year is his performance of the song “I’m Just Ken” in the motion picture Barbie and on the Oscars stage, I will be reviewing each sketch with the format “I’m just…”, in which I proclaim how each segment made me react in stark, forthright terms.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Kristen Wiig/Raye

April 7, 2024

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Quicker than a Raye of Wiig (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Wowee zowee! Kristen Carroll Wiig has now hosted Saturday Night Live a handful of times! I remember when she was just a Saturday Night Live cast member. In her most recent outing as the master of ceremonies, she was joined by musical guest Raye. I’ve heard the name, but I don’t think I’ve heard the songs, so hopefully we’re in for some fun surprises.

Since this episode aired on the first weekend of April 2024, I will review each sketch by asking “Is this a good sketch for spring?”

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott

March 31, 2024

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Holy of holies (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates! (Because this review is being posted on Easter Sunday)

Happy Ramadan to those who observe it! (Because we’re currently in the midst of Ramadan and because SNL host Ramy Youssef is Muslim)

And Happy Passover to those who celebrate! (That one hasn’t started yet this year, but I just completed my annual rewatch of “A Rugrats Passover” yesterday.)

All right, that’s enough goofing around. Let’s get to this review of the March 30, 2024 episode of Saturday Night Live, with host Ramy Youssef and musical guest Travis Scott. Because it’s Easter Weekend, I’m going to resurrect an old reliable reviewing strategy and transcribe the notes I wrote in my notebook while watching the episode.

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Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande

March 10, 2024

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Chloe and Ariana currently have their eyes closed in this photo. Are they making a wish? … Happy Birthday! (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

Here we go everybody, it’s time for another review of a new Saturday Night Live episode! And well, the third time’s the charm. (Or at least that’s the hope.)

Josh James Brolin has now hosted a trio of SNL eps, even though I’d kinda forgotten his second outing, though perhaps I shouldn’t have. Similarly, Ariana Grande-Butera (professionally, she usually drops the “Butera”) is doing a 3rd go-round as musical guest. She was also the host that second time, and she’s appeared in sketches all three times.

Because this episode originally aired on my birthday, I’ll be reviewing each sketch according to the template “Happy Birthday to…”

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