Two weeks ago, "Saturday Night Live" - sort of - returned with a special episode of "SNL At Home". For obvious reasons, the episode was uneven and it was clear that all of the participants were trying to figure out everything. This week marks the return of this format, and what difference did two weeks make. Notably, in terms of quality of production and adaptation, with no direct audience. Certainly, this second "SNL at Home" loses some of its first charm. But it looks familiar, and now anything can happen .
Unlike the first “SNL at Home” episode, no official host or musical guest was announced during Darrell Hammond’s cast introductions. So while Brad Pitt opens things up for the episode — fulfilling the real Dr. Anthony Fauci’s “request” for Pitt to play him on “SNL” — unlike Tom Hanks, he doesn’t do an opening monologue. He doeseventually introduce Miley Cyrus as the musical guest — who covers Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” — with the “SNL” set behind him.
Pitt’s cold open is also one of the best “SNL” cold opens in a very long time, as it isn’t beholden to waiting for the “woo”s to go down with every celebrity appearance and it isn’t reacting to or acting against Alec Baldwin’s Trump. Instead, it goes with the much funnier bit of Pitt’s Fauci translating Trump’s misinformation, to reacting with sheer confusion and horror. It’s comparable to Larry David’s Bernie Sanders, only with actual effort on both a production and performance level .
Kenan Thompson’s David “Big Papi” Ortiz impression is one that is surely funny to some people for reasons other than “he’s doing a funny accent,” as they know who the actual David “Big Papi” Ortiz is. This sketch takes the bit away from the Weekend Update desk and into the kitchen, and it might actually work better this way. Especially for the weirder bits like the fact that the “simple dish” being made requires so much meat. But if you’ve never known who “Big Papi” is andhave no idea who Bad Bunny is, the chances of this sketch doing anything for you are slim .
As mentioned in the previous “SNL at Home” review, this format is going to be great for performers like newbies Chloe Fineman and Ego Nwodim — and Bowen Yang, who was strangely absent last week — and underused talents like Melissa Villaseñor. This episode confirms that point, as Fineman gets another solo sketch in “Airbnb Commercial” and Villaseñor also gets one in the surreal “Melissa Seals the Deal.” “Airbnb Commercial” is the kind of sketch that reveals just how much Fineman is thriving in this new format, as well as just how endlessly talented she is as a comedian. Whenever things get back to normal, hopefully “SNL” capitalizes on that .
Melissa Seals the Deal,” on the other hand, is completely weird… and perfect for that. It’s also another reminder that the lack of Villaseñor on the show in its usual format is criminal, as she always knocks it out of the park. The bits we learn about her “date” in this sketch paint a picture without there even being anyone else for Villaseñor to play off .
0 Comments