[8.6/10] I’ve said elsewhere that I wish Kumail could host every week. He felt so at home here, so in command of his material and so funny in his delivery. He was a perfect fit for the show and the cast, and I hope he gets invited back.
My two favorite sketches of the night were pretty different from one another. One was the bit where Kumail plays an unhelpful hotel clerk constantly pushing the Stargazer lounge and a variety of other less-than-useful suggestions for an increasingly perturbed guest. It’s the sort of apolitical, atopical, non-goofy sort of sketch we see less of these days. It reminded me of classic sketches, and the dynamic between Kumail and Mikey Dey was great. The other was the pre-taped sketch about Kumail as a customer service rep on the phone with Melania Trump. It has the same melancholy but smile-worthy quality of a similiarly-toned sketch from Lin Manuel Miranda’s hosting stint, and the way it both embraced and poked fun at these “love from a distance” beats was masterful.
Otherwise, several sketches hit better than others, but there were no outright duds. The other runner up for best sketch of the night was a gameshow where Kumail is initially cocky, then regretful that he’s winning the game at the expense of a veteran with a sick child. It’s another bit that makes the most of its premise and features great reactions from Kumail. The other major winner is the “Women in Film” sketch they’ve gone back to a few time. The material should be tired by now (though it’s given some added relevance thanks to the horrible Weinstein situation) but the writers keep finding new twists on it and Kate McKinnon, as usual, owns it with her performance.
Special recognition has to be given to Kumail’s monologue. I love when they bring out folks who can do stand-up for the show, because it makes that part of the presentation so much stronger. His material on “just because you’re racist doesn’t mean you have to be ignorant” and his family’s response to him marrying a white woman was smart, funny, and self-assured, and instantly gave a boost to the show.
The weak part this week came from the show’s political material. “Weekend Update” lost a step this week, with some fine-but-not-overwhelming one-liners and weird turn from Cecily Strong as Ivanka Trump. At the same time, Alec Baldwin’s Trump shtick is getting old, and keeps hitting the same sort of notes, though even there, the recurring bit of Mike Pence and his wife shuffling away from events at Donald’s behest was funny. That said, the Kellyanne Conway IT parody was perfect from a production standpoint, and it’s another instance where McKinnon’s performance chops win the day.
The only other meh-to-okay sketches were the “Office Party Hepatitis Sketch” which mostly gained its chuckle from the delivery of Kumail and Aidy Bryant, and the “Promiscuous Nursing Home” sketch which was the usual ribald, one-joke bit that, again, gained some strength from the performers elevating the material.
Overall, easily the best episode of the young season.
3 promising hosts, yet 3 middling episodes. Nanjiani's monologue was strong and P!nk performed well, but nearly everything else paled in comparison. It's time to move past trotting out the same tired material and freshen things up.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-10-18T22:32:02Z
[8.6/10] I’ve said elsewhere that I wish Kumail could host every week. He felt so at home here, so in command of his material and so funny in his delivery. He was a perfect fit for the show and the cast, and I hope he gets invited back.
My two favorite sketches of the night were pretty different from one another. One was the bit where Kumail plays an unhelpful hotel clerk constantly pushing the Stargazer lounge and a variety of other less-than-useful suggestions for an increasingly perturbed guest. It’s the sort of apolitical, atopical, non-goofy sort of sketch we see less of these days. It reminded me of classic sketches, and the dynamic between Kumail and Mikey Dey was great. The other was the pre-taped sketch about Kumail as a customer service rep on the phone with Melania Trump. It has the same melancholy but smile-worthy quality of a similiarly-toned sketch from Lin Manuel Miranda’s hosting stint, and the way it both embraced and poked fun at these “love from a distance” beats was masterful.
Otherwise, several sketches hit better than others, but there were no outright duds. The other runner up for best sketch of the night was a gameshow where Kumail is initially cocky, then regretful that he’s winning the game at the expense of a veteran with a sick child. It’s another bit that makes the most of its premise and features great reactions from Kumail. The other major winner is the “Women in Film” sketch they’ve gone back to a few time. The material should be tired by now (though it’s given some added relevance thanks to the horrible Weinstein situation) but the writers keep finding new twists on it and Kate McKinnon, as usual, owns it with her performance.
Special recognition has to be given to Kumail’s monologue. I love when they bring out folks who can do stand-up for the show, because it makes that part of the presentation so much stronger. His material on “just because you’re racist doesn’t mean you have to be ignorant” and his family’s response to him marrying a white woman was smart, funny, and self-assured, and instantly gave a boost to the show.
The weak part this week came from the show’s political material. “Weekend Update” lost a step this week, with some fine-but-not-overwhelming one-liners and weird turn from Cecily Strong as Ivanka Trump. At the same time, Alec Baldwin’s Trump shtick is getting old, and keeps hitting the same sort of notes, though even there, the recurring bit of Mike Pence and his wife shuffling away from events at Donald’s behest was funny. That said, the Kellyanne Conway IT parody was perfect from a production standpoint, and it’s another instance where McKinnon’s performance chops win the day.
The only other meh-to-okay sketches were the “Office Party Hepatitis Sketch” which mostly gained its chuckle from the delivery of Kumail and Aidy Bryant, and the “Promiscuous Nursing Home” sketch which was the usual ribald, one-joke bit that, again, gained some strength from the performers elevating the material.
Overall, easily the best episode of the young season.