Minding the P’s and Q’s of SNL

QUALITY: Are you listening to the podcast? Listen to the podcast while you read the breakdown to tonight's episode and/or skim to see the updated scores.
PROBLEMATIC: Don't know how the Saturday Night Live Fantasy League scoring breaks down? Look no further! Have ideas for improvement? Let us know!
PROBLEMATIC: Full disclosure, even though I am the reviewer of this episode and the creator of the SNL Fantasy League… I’m also a participant in the League because, really?! Why would I create something so awesome and not get involved in it! It would be like not going to the After Party and you HAVE TO go to the AFTER PARTY(thanks to Rob for sending this link)! Though the point I was going to make, Melissa McCarthy is my first successful host prediction, personally. So I’ll try to be as unbiased a reviewer, as I am a commissioner. Speaking of “Really?!”, well, we’ll get to that actually.

QUALITY: With an opening panel such as this, my Fantasy League self is immediately warring with the reviewer in me. Honestly though, it’s a great sign to see Beck playing the kind of square-headed news-caster types you knew he would.

QUALITY: I enjoy the concept of the opener, Broadway singers filling in for Bruno Mars and the RHCP (as opposed to the Foo Fighters), you got to give the cast props for going ALL OUT when it came to belting and mugging in all their Broadway glory. Brava!

QUALITY: Goulet? GOOOOULET! I mean, they don't say it out right and Will certainly OWNED that character, but who else is Killam supposed to be in the cold open?

QUALITY: Beck, this is your first time saying, “Live from New York”, isn’t it? I can tell you were HYPED to say it, man! Congrats!

PROBLEMATIC: Don’t worry, Seth Myers will be showing up during the weekend as opposed to the weekend. You really won’t miss him at all from the credits! THIS dude jumping into the Rep Cast as the new co-anchor of Weekend Update WILL take some getting used to though.

QUALITY: Melissa McCarthy and Richard Sherman? I’m alright with this pairing! He’s a smart dude.

QUALITY: I had no problem with that insane opening monologue where-in a simple “you were an ASS last time you were here” cut away allowed Bobby Moynihan and Melissa McCarthy to have a full on wire-assisted fight that included multiple flips from both parties. BOOM!

QUALITY: I feel like the Aidy Bryant ‘Best of…’ DVD (no YOU keep dreaming!) will be a compilation of awkward moments in horrible relationships. And I’m alright with that.

QUALITY: Though yes, they nailed it with the CVS commercial parody, and the “Who would be tha—oooooh, right.” See also: Dollarama.

QUALITY: Now I was warned by some in the Fantasy League that this was a subpar episode, but I have to say… I enjoyed the rampage sketch too. Melissa McCarthy as a crazy as all hell Freshman Congresswoman Sheila Kelly is pretty amazing. Especially with the escalating violence and mayhem gag.

QUALITY: “And, coincidently… I also have yogurt.” And also, “It was mostly ears. And one penis.”

QUALITY: I admire a sketch that ends with someone jumping through a closed window. Also that makes the SECOND shattered object, care of McCarthy tonight.

PROBLEMATIC: No host announcement for March 1^st? I see how it is, SNL… and JESUS CHRIST, March 1^st?! Wow, I mean… I think we can make it… but MAN.

QUALITY: When Kenan was shown as a contestant, I couldn’t help but smile… knowing Beck would be hosting. You’ve made, buddy! This is your golden egg, you baritoned son of a gun!

QUALITY: “Pass the maaaash!”

QUALITY: Like with the final sketch in the Kerry Washington episode, half the fun is in the contestant bios.

QUALITY: Guess That Phrase was… incredible. Oh, Kathleen.

QUALITY: WOW, Black History Month bringing the truth doooown. There’s comedy in the Chappelle-sense, being funny through haaard truths. Pharoah seems to have added these music videos into his toolbelt this season. So whether it be from himself as a writer or with a specific writer on the show, I’m loving it.

PROBLEMATIC: Was that a Colin Jost appearance in the Black History Month video? What do you mean I can’t immediately recognize the Weekend Update co-anchor?

QUALITY: Kendrick Lamar.

QUALITY (surprisingly): More then anything, SNL gives a chance to the rock n’ roll that still exists out there. Well, SNL and the Grammys (probably have something to do with Lorne being of the same generation as the Grammys control board), but that said as a child of rock n’ roll I appreciate a good amount of hard guitar and percussion work… especially since I didn’t expect to see a Kendrick guest spot on SNL, even post-Grammys. ESPECIALLY post-Grammys. Though, scope/size understood there Grammy work is still heads and shoulders above (even with all the unnecessary fog machining/blinding jet streams of THAT performance).

QUALITY: Buford Calloway. Another knock-out Killam Update character. This is all very apropos from the perspective of a Canadian. Suck it, Atlanta. And thank you New York, for having our back. “Sethery…”

QUALITY: “Yer my favorite union newscaster!”

PROBLEMATIC: Wait, THAT was your last Update joke, Seth? You never did close strong, did you?

QUALITY: His best friend and the man of his dreams, come and wish Seth Myers a fond farewell on Weekend Update! I was betting on a Stephon appearance, but it was especially nice to see Golden Globe award winner Amy Poehler in the house.

QUALITY: Shout out to SNL Fantasy Leaguer, Kevin!

PROBLEMATIC: Not to take away from this beautiful moment, but it sounds weird to hear about Seth Myers being the “heart of this show for over a decade”… I mean he seems like a nice and funny chap, Amy, but let’s not get hyperbolic.

QUALITY: “YOU BARELY KNOW HIM… hssssss!”

PROBLEMATIC: Samberg and Armisen were… necessary? I suppose it is Seth’s party, he can invite whoever he wants!

QUALITY: Honestly, never a more heart felt, tear jerking good-bye has been had on SNL… since Kristen Wiig. Christ, Lorne is getting sentimental in his grey years.

PROBLEMATIC: I know it’s hard to follow up the emotional good-bye of a 12 year-running cast member, but it’s even more difficult when the opening to a sketch is THAT sloppy. It was a weird mix up of audio and video cues.

PROBLEMATIC: Yeah, I could not connect this sketch involving a utilities work at a museum interrupting an exhibit of a live painting. What’s the point? Why is it so long? Is it just option G of allowing McCarthy to play this same character, just within a more uncomfortable setting?

QUALITY: Props to the kid for keeping a straight face though. He did better in this scene then Mike O’Brien. You had ONE line, O’Brien!

QUALITY: Girlfriend’s Talk Show! NO, I am not unreasonably excited for Morgan exasperatingly trying to keep up with her much more… “mature” friend.

QUALITY: Well, THIS is perfect casting for Morgan’s mom’s friend Donna.

PROBLEMATIC: The Girlfriend’s Talk Show sketch was flatter then I expected, with no real rhythm to speak of and even the Keera story landing like it usually does.

PROBLEMATIC: Maybe it’s my general mood since Weekend Update, but… if you sign people up with “Radioactive” you have to give them something better then “Demons” with your follow-up, Drag ons.

PROBLEMATIC: As much as Bobby wants to romanticize it in the same of “It’s funny because it’s not” school, why are we having the bigger-bodied host (or we she, under her own power for that matter) look like such a slob? Bad form, SNL.

QUALITY: Kyle Mooney doesn’t need your characters; he’s incredibly strange and awkward all by himself! “And don’t forget… to watch the game.”

PROBLEMATIC: The current cast was ENTIRELY walled out by the returning cast members and Imagine Dragons. Fitting, for the feel of the show post-Update.

QUALITY/PROBLEMATIC: Before Weekend Update, McCarthy’s hosting duties were on pace to place her somewhere in the top five episodes so far this season… but after Seth’s goodbye nothing really seemed to click with the pacing of the episode, putting the last half hour (and the show as a whole, really) somewhere in the season’s lower third. The good news is, when the show returns on March 1^st, there isn’t a strong draw to bring back any old faces… so we’ve got a truly brave new world to look forward to.

Jay Pharoah, 60 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - reoccurring (Michael Strahan)
• 5 points - crying
• 20 points - "LIVE FROM NEW YORK...!"
• 10 points - digital short (Black History Month)
• 5 points - singing/dancing

Cecily Strong, 60 points

• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 5 points - sketch (Women's Group)
• 10 points - Weekend Update
• 5 points - along-side former SNL cast member (Bill Hader)
• 10 points - along-side former SNL host (Amy Poehler)
• 5 points - along-side former SNL cast member (Andy Samberg)
• 5 points - along-side former SNL cast member (Fred Armisen)
• 5 points - sketch (Girlfriend's Talk Show)
• 5 points - reoccurring (Keera)

Kenan Thompson, 60 points

• 5 points - promos
• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 10 points - opening monologue
• 5 points - sketch (Guess That Phrase!)
• 10 points - digital short (Black History Month)
• 5 points - singing/dancing
• 5 points - sketch (Living Paintings)

Taran Killam, 55 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 10 points - opening monologue
• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 5 points - sketch (Delaware News 1)
• 10 points - Weekend Update

Bobby Moynihan, 49 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 10 points - opening monologue
• 2 points - "I'mma kick your ass!"
• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 10 points - digital short (Black History Month)
• 2 points - sketch post-second song (The Summer of Diane)

Aidy Bryant, 40 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 5 points - sketch (Women's Group)
• 5 points - sketch (Girlfriend's Talk Show)
• 5 points - reoccurring (Morgan)

Kate McKinnon, 30 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 10 points - digital short (Black History Month)

Vanessa Bayer, 25 points

• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 5 points - sketch (Women's Group)
• 5 points - sketch (Guess That Phrase!)
• 5 points - sketch (Living Paintings)

Nasim Pedrad, 10 points

• 5 points - sketch (Women's Group)
• 5 points - sketch (Living Paintings)

Beck Bennett, 55 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 20 points - "LIVE FROM NEW YORK...!"
• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 5 points - pre-taped sketch NPC (Delaware News 1)
• 5 points - sketch (Guess That Phrase!)

Kyle Mooney, 45 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 10 points - pre-taped sketch (Delaware News 1)
• 5 points - sketch (Living Paintings)
• 5 points - digital short post-second song (Kyle goes to Super Bowl Fan Fest)

John Milhiser, 32 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 10 points - pre-taped sketch (Delaware News 1)
• 2 points - sketch post-second song (The Summer of Diane)

Sasheer Zamata, 27 points

• 10 points - commercial parody (CVS)
• 10 points - digital short (Black History Month)
• 5 points - singing/dancing
• 2 points - sketch NPC (Living Paintings)

Noel Wells, 24 points

• 15 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 2 points - digital short NPC (Black History Month)
• 2 points - sketch NPC (Living Paintings)

Mike O'Brien, 20 points

• 10 points - cold open
• 5 points - pre-taped sketch NPC (Delaware News 1)
• 5 points - sketch (Living Paintings)

Brooks Wheelan, 12 points

• 10 points - pre-taped sketch (Delaware News 1)
• 2 points - sketch NPC (Living Paintings)

Melissa McCarthy, 90 points

• 20 points - cold open
• 5 points - sings/dances
• 10 points - pre-taped sketch (Delaware News 1)
• 30 points - swears x5 "You f***ing film me?" & "Motherf*cker"
• 2 points - sketch (Women's Group)
• 2 points - sketch (Guess That Phrase!)
• 5 points - kiss
• 2 points - sketch (Living Paintings)
• 2 points - sketch (Girlfriend's Talk Show)
• 5 points - dances (the Dolphin)
• 2 points - sketch post-second song (The Summer of Diane)
• minus 5 points - unbleeeped swear "Watch my shit..."
• 5 points - "... jackass"
• minus 10 points - no hugging the host
• 15 points - POST-SHOW BONUS for show getting 5.0 rating or higher (5.4)

THE IGNORANT SLUTS - Matt

Kate McKinnon - 30

Cecily Strong - 60

Beck Bennett - 55

John Mihiser - 32

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Demons & 2) On Top of the World

2 points – Andy Samberg appearance

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 179

RECLUSIVE PENINSULA - Rob

Taran Killam - 55

Aidy Bryant - 40

Mike O' Brien - 20

Kyle Mooney - 45

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Demons & 2) Radioactive

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 160

FIVE TIMERS CLUB - Leah

Kenan Thompson - 60

Nasim Pedrad - 10

Mike O'Brien - 20

Beck Bennet - 55

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Demons & 2) Monsters

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 145

EXTREME CLOSE-UP! - Jack

Jay Pharoah - 60

Brooks Wheelan - 12

Noel Wells - 24

John Mihiser - 32

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: No songs chosen.

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 128

DAN AYKROYD RAGE - Mark

Vanessa Bayer - 20

Bobby Moynihan - 49

Kyle Mooney - 45

Noel Wells - 24

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Demons & 2) Radioactive

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 118

MILLION DOLLAR BILL MURRAYS - Russel

Bobby Moynihan - 49

Jay Pharoah - 60

Kyle Mooney - 45

Beck Bennett - 55

Melissa McCarthy - 90

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Demons & 2) Radioactive

2 points - Amy Poehler appearance

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 301

SUCK IT TREBEK - Sarah

Kenan Thompson - 60

Brooks Wheelan - 12

Noel Wells - 24

Kyle Mooney - 45

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Radioactive & 2) Demons

5 points - first song

10 points - second song

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 156

THE TEAM YOU WISH YOU HADN'T STARTED A CONVERSATION WITH AT A PARTY - Brian

Kate McKinnon - 30

Cecily Strong - 60

Mike O' Brien - 20

Noel Wells - 24

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Radioactive & 2) Demons

5 points - first song

10 points - second song

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 149

BILL BRASKY - Saad

Taran Killam - 55

Aidy Bryant - 40

Mike O'Brien - 20

John Mihiser - 32

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: No songs chosen.

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 147

YOU KNOW, IT'S THE TEAM THE HIGH-WASITED MIDGETS THAT HAVE, LIKE, THE RED PANTS AND THE BIG ASS - Kevin

Nasim Pedrad - 10

Vanessa Bayer - 20

Beck Bennett - 55

John Mihiser - 32

MUSICAL GUEST - Imagine Dragons - SONGS: 1) Radioactive & 2) Demons

5 points - first song

10 points - second song

EPISODE THIRTEEN TOTAL 132

  

PHIL HARTMAN TROPHY OVERALL STANDINGS (after Episode 39x13)

1. MILLION DOLLAR BILL MURRAYS - 1, 994
2. THE IGNORANT SLUTS - 1, 941
3. THE TEAM YOU WISH YOU HADN'T STARTED A CONVERSATION WITH AT A PARTY - 1, 901
4. RECLUSIVE PENINSULA - 1, 741
5. SUCK IT TREBEK - 1, 734
6. DAN AKROYD RAGE - 1, 724
7. BILL BRASKY - 1, 697
8. FIVE TIMERS CLUB - 1, 641
9. YOU KNOW IT'S THE TEAM WITH THE HIGH-WAISTED MIDGETS THAT HAVE, LIKE, THE RED PANTS AND BIG ASS - 1, 419
10. EXTREME CLOSE-UP - 1, 399

Stay in the conversation! Trivia Club would LOVE to hear feedback on Saturday Night Live Fantasy so far, either in the blogs comment section, on Trivia Club's facebook page or in our twitter feed. For now we'll be taking a week away to discuss, debate, and possibly trade amongst ourselves.

Miss the Deep Thoughts/Saturday Night Quotes? LISTEN TO THE PODCAST! Have you heard about it? we’re doing a podcast for the SNL Fantasy League! And by we I mean championed by, and hosted by, the wonderful Rob Moden (Reclusive Peninsula), alongside Brian Edwards (The Team You Wish...) and Leah Sueko (Five Timers Club). I will be popping in from time-to-time, but Trivia Club’s is a growing empire and I trust Rob, Brian, and Leah on most all things funny, so enjoy your time with THEM most of all.

On another note, they are going crazy with specials this season. They average two, maybe three, a season max. A Christmas one, plus maybe an Update special or something different. So far this season? Five. Including Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, a Best of This Season (So Far) aaaand a Sports special to tie into the Super Bowl. Look for the Easter Special, an early Summer special, a Best of This Season (Now That We’re Done), a Weekend Update Thursday (or four to throw the new kids into the deep end), as well as something to do with President’s Day. What was that? How about an SNL Black History Special? Yes, that’s my punch-line.

Back to the Fantasy League though... the Million Dollar Bill Murrays ride again with a strong team performance across the board, from both Rep and Featured players, not to mention a solid and expletive littered appearance by the forceful female presence of host Melissa McCarthy. With 301 points, that also bests Suck It Trebek's 265 for highest single episode team score (from the John Goodman episode)! It was a well spread out week for the cast, with more of a diverse selection of sketches then last week's Jonah Hill hosted episode. Beck Bennett followed up a season-high LAST episode with an even BETTER episode this week, capped in the cold open by those for simple words, "LIVE FROM NEW YORK..."

POST-SHOW UPDATE: With a 5.4 rating, the second-highest of the season, McCarthy also gets the host bonus that Lady Gaga, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill juuuust missed out on, likely supported by it Seth Myer's farewell. It's also a number that seven hosts were able to reach at this time last year.

And now... we've got the Olympics to look forward to, and no SNL until March. For Canadians this means an avoidance of NBC's always shoddy and especially skewed Olympics coverage in favor of CBC's offerings. If you're an American, I recommend finding a CBC feed if you want to watch anything more then highlight packages starring American athletes.

Russel Harder hosts Trivia Club at Cardinal Rule (5 Roncesvalles Ave) every WEDNESDAY, at Hitch (1216 Queen St East) every SECOND and FOURTH MONDAY of the month, and Handlebar (159 Augusta Ave) on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month!