Minding the P's & Q's of SNL

PROBLEMATIC: It’s a bad sign that I’m already tired of the Donald Trump-featured cold open, and it’s the Season 43 premiere, right? Alec Baldwin got an Emmy for the role so they’re likely to match or surpass the twelve episodes and eleven cold opens he was in last season… but maybe because of the time distortion field that IRL-Trump puts up, by Saturday I’m not sure I want to experience that 34 weeks of disgust and despair that we’re forced to cycle through every six days.

QUALITY: Jeff Sessions being the bright spot of the cold open further proves the all-time status of Kate McKinnon on this show.

QUALITY: FEATURING… between the bright shining colorful Gardner,  Luke Null hitting the high notes,  and Chris Redd visibly happy to finally be here, I’ll say that the new cast members are already a welcome addition to the opening credits at the very least.

QUALITY/PROBLEMATIC: What began as a wonderfully repeated gag of “saving jazz” in the cold open that featured music but no singing (thank you, baby Jesus),  the gag reached the point of not being funny and was cut off before cycling around to being funny again (if it could be), putting Emma Stone in a tough position of being a welcome surprise in an ultimately flat joke. A solid six out of ten on that opening opening monologue!

QUALITY: Jumping right into the initial sketch being a return to the Alien Abduction sketch was a smart idea. It was a surprise hit from Gosling’s first hosting gig and a great mix of performers. Kate McKinnon’s weird and wonderful combination of jeans and a hair cut got in a few more pinker/stinker jokes,  while also very much having her way with Gosling’s backside. He had zero chance of not breaking. Fun start everyone!

QUALITY: Levi’s Woke pre-taped was amazing, on top of being a nice intro for a couple of cast members, it also had a couple of highlights including the pocket claps and the uni-fly. “180 degrees of gender non-conformity.”

QUALITY: “I’m Tristan, and when our parents divorced I was the only one that went to live with our dad.” Also, fun fact there is a third Property Brother. He decided to be an illusionist. After being an Adam Lambert impersonator in Las Vegas.

PROBLEMATIC: I wouldn’t worry to much, but a decisive lack of Kyle Mooney or perspective number one Cast pick Beck Bennett (after the McKinnon Rule went into effect) before Weekend Update probably made a few teams sweat…

QUALITY: High quality Colin K jersey, HOV.

QUALITY: Not to pile on the cold open, but the on-point jokes made by Weekend Update in its first minute… nailing the same material that they used for the cold open… makes the cold open that much more unnecessary right? I should just breath deeply, knowing how much Alec Baldwin’s portrayal frustrates Donald Trump personally and just be cool with it.

PROBLEMATIC: Though the concept didn’t completely land, points for difficulty AND for style on the “Henrietta & The Fugitive” sketch… and for being just plain weird. Moral of the story is,  always try to make a chicken handle a gun. Hours of entertainment!

QUALITY: Also, I’ve got to say… that’s the most romantic  kiss in, at very least, the last five seasons of Saturday Night Live.

PROBLEMATIC: Always be wary of a restaurant establishing shot. It may have been the shallow premise stretched,  douchebags as a character choice,  or the product place but “Terezzano’s Hut” didn’t work for me.

QUALITY: Points for the twist ending though.

QUALITY: I really appreciated just how long the writer for “Papyrus” has been thinking of this, especially with four new movies coming in the Avapapytar universe. And once more tonight, wonderful attention paid with the comic sans font used to cap off the pre-tape.

QUALITY: “Did they get my good jeans?!”

PROBLEMATIC: Matt Smith quote about Null. Aaaaand after a premiere episode DNP… well, that happened quickly.

QUALITY: “Mickey’s Endzone” played like “What’s Up With That?” in a sports bar, an odd but acceptable detail.

QUALITY: More highs then lows, with memorable pre-taped sketches, including the early contender for viral hit of Season 43 in “Papyrus”, Ryan Gosling’s second hosted episode and our first of SNL43 started things off on the right step!

QUALITY: For more thoughts on Saturday Night Live, join Brian Edwards, of the SNL Fantasy League team The Team You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party, on the Deep Thoughts on SNL podcast! Subscribe, listen, enjoy! Deep Thoughts, when they can, also tweets during the show, so join in on twitter!

REPERTORY CAST

Kate McKinnon, 62 points

Aidy Bryant, 28 points

Kenan Thompson, 28 points

Kyle Mooney, 21 points

Cecily Strong, 16 points

Alec Baldwin, 15 points

Beck Bennett, 13 points

Leslie Jones, 8 points

Pete Davidson, 7 points

FEATURED CAST

Alex Moffat, 36 points

Mikey Day, 22 points

Heidi Gardner, 18 points

Chris Redd 15 points

Melissa Villaseñor, 12 points

Luke Null, DNP – Did Not Participate

HOST

Ryan Gosling, 71 points

Emma Stone, 15 points

I do believe Season 43 has started off on the right foot! So where does that leave us for the FIFTH season of the Saturday Night Live Fantasy? First off, welcome, and thank you for reading all the way to the bottom! You have have noticed that the Fantasy League is smaller then it has ever been, since we began with ten teams in season one. This was by choice. Ultimately it would have been great to bring it back for another round of expansion, and pushed for one-hundred teams or more in our fifth year of comedy sabermetrics... but with expanded live events in Toronto for Trivia Club I decided to pivot things in another direction.

Last season it became evident that people want to run their own League, so instead of having my hand in piloting every Group I decided it would be easier for myself and even more entertaining for those in their own Groups... to use the Hartman folks as an example, and then become their own commishs. So that's what Fantasy SNL on the Trivia Club website will become, for the forseeable future. An example for how to, home to an updated Scoring System, and with a Points Breakdown for every episode as well for you to follow if you'd rather not break down each episode (though I know at least Rob, Brian, and Matt have taken that for a spin).

I look forward to hearing Groups, as they draft, and as teams win or lose ground along the way!

I hadn't noticed until now, that this is obviously a Toronto sports bar...

Give Trivia Club that feedback on the Saturday Night Live Fantasy League and how can be improved! Comment in the blog's comment section, on Trivia Club's facebook page or in our twitter feed. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST! Subscribe to us on iTUNES!