Saturday Night Live Season 39 Reviews - Best Ofs, Worst Ofs

SNL: Season 39

The Best And The Worst

Best Cold Open

The most memorable cold open from this season was probably Oval Office from the Kerry Washington episode where the show addressed its lack of diversity by having Kerry play several black female celebrities while the rest of the white male cast all played Matthew McConaughey.  The funniest one was NASA Shutdown from the Bruce Willis episode where astronauts are stuck in space while the government is shutdown and unable to assist.  Bobby Moynihan was born to play Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and did so with fun results in CBC News Toronto.  Kate played the spokeswoman for GM trying to dodge questions in front of congress in GM Congressional Hearings.  My final spot goes to Halftime Spectacular from the Melissa McCarthy episode where a snowstorm forces Broadway's finest to perform the Super Bowl halftime show in their own unique way.

Worst Cold Open

The thing I disliked the most about this season was all the cameos from former cast members.  The Paul Rudd episode was guilty of this with the whole cast of Anchorman 2 showing up including Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen reprising their Dooneese and Lawrence Welk characters in The Sound Of Music - Live And Condensed.  It's the same joke we've seen countless times before.  Wasn't this supposed to be a rebuilding year?  Why are we going back to what used to work instead of pushing towards the future?

Best Monologue

The season kicked off with a lot of promise as Tina Fey introduced us to the 6 new cast members and made them do an embarrassing dance routine in gold shorts.  We quickly realized that they would not be the future of the show like they were promised but it was fun while it lasted.  My runner-up goes to Louis C.K., I know we are supposed to forget he ever existed but from 2007-2017 there wasn't much I liked better than hearing him tell a couple minutes of jokes.

Worst Monologue

Like I said before, the abundance of cameos this season is something I could have really done without.  Andrew Garfield's monologue was interrupted by Emma Stone, Edward Norton got advice from Alec Baldwin and Miley Cyrus, and Jonah Hill hung out with his The Wolf Of Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.  The two worst offenders were Paul Rudd who took a backseat to his Anchorman buddies and One Direction and Seth Rogen who had his monologue usurped by James Franco, Zooey Deschanel and Taylor Swift.  These aren't fun.  Everybody just reads off of cue cards, these are usually under rehearsed and it comes off like celebrities introducing an awards show category at the Golden Globes.  The worst traditional monologue was probably Bruce Willis playing harmonica, but that one had Bobby instead of some random celebrity so it was a little more palatable.

Best Commercial

Three of my favorite fake commercials came from the season premiere, which coincidentally was one of my favorite episodes of the year.  Girls had Tina Fey as an Albanian immigrant joining the cast of the HBO comedy, eMeth has Brooks, Taran and Kate enjoying their crystal meth in vape form, and Rick's Model Ts had Mike filming the very first used car commercial.  The Midnight Coterie Of Sinister Intruders from the Edward Norton episode was a pitch perfect parody of Wes Anderson films.  My final spot goes to Blue River Dog Food where Cecily and Seth Rogen lament giving their dog inferior food.

Worst Commercial

The "rapid fire celebrity impressions" sketches can be really great if the celebrity impressions are good.  Think Star Wars Auditions or Back To The Future auditions.  If the impressions are subpar you get stuff like Guy Fieri's Full Throttle Christmas Special with Kyle's Criss Angel and Brooks's Kid Rock or Now That's What I Call Christmas with a bunch of lame Jimmy Fallon impressions.

Best Live Sketch

Bikini Beach Party from the Charlize Theron episode is one of those sketches that could only be done live.  Sure, it might still be fun to see Charlize get covered in whale guts but when it's done in front of a live audience and she's still dripping with blood when she introduces the musical act, it's a great television moment.  80s Song from the Josh Hutcherson episode was my favorite of the season as the host communicates his feelings via "Your Love" by The Outfield.  Brooks Wheelan and John Milhiser each had one sketch this season that made my list, they also really only had these one sketches to act as showcases for the cast members they could have been.  Brooks and his buddy Edward Norton hunt for possums in an air vent in Critter Control and John and Lady Gaga coach their child through a sexually provocative dance in 4th Grade Talent Show.  The season premiere hosted by Tina Fey showcased the new cast members nicely and they all got a small moment in Airport.  The Jonah Hill episode was one of my least favorite of the season but did include the very funny Boss Dinner where the host verbally berates himself in a nearby bathroom.  Paul Rudd and Vanessa go through a Divorce while reconnecting through their favorite song.  Andrew Garfield awkwardly confesses his love to a soon to be married woman in Wedding.  My last two spots go to sketches from the fairly solid Jim Parsons episode.  In The Killer Files he plays a murderer hiding out on TV dance shows and in Elevator he plays a CEO trying to dispose of his poopy underwear.

Worst Live Sketch

There were a number of stinkers this year and I have 15 honorable mentions that I'll get to but first let's talk about the 10 worst live sketches of Season 39 in chronological order.  The Bruce Willis episode was pretty bad all around but I'll single out The Lady Gaga Talk Show and Centauri Vodka as the worst of the bunch.  The John Goodman episode also has two sketches that make this list with Three Wise Guys, featuring bored performances from Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, and The Christmas Whistle, an exceptionally annoying and noisy sketch.  Melissa McCarthy had an awkward argument with Nasim as Frida Kahlo in Art Exhibit.  Lena Dunham scores twice with Scandal and Jewelry Party.  Taran helps Anna Kendrick's brother escape from a rock pile in Big Joe.  Seth Rogen farts next to Aidy with broken arms in Steakhouse.  Finally, Andy Samberg wasted everyone's time with Legolas From The Hobbit Tries To Order At Taco Bell.  As for the rest, there's Cheer Squad from the Miley Cyrus episode, Ol' Barbershop and Black Ops with Bruce Willis, 12 Days Not A Slave from Edward Norton, Santa's Worskshop with Paul Rudd, A Christmas Carol with Jimmy Fallon, Nancy Grace from the Drake episode, Willow from Jonah Hill, What's Poppin', What Are You Doing You're Being Crazy, and Pimpin' Pimpin' Pimpin' from the dreadful Lena Dunham show, Engagement Party and Undercover Sharpton from the Seth Rogen episode, and Camp Wicawabe and Confident Hunchback from the Andy Samberg season finale.

Best Pre-Filmed Sketch

I remember Louis C.K. said during the 40th anniversary special that SNL should never do live sketches as they are always bad.  While I don't completely agree with him, this season was much better with the pre-filmed material.  Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett picked up where The Lonely Island left out with sketches like Dancing and Flirty, my two personal faves.  The girls of SNL had two sexually explicit songs that were fun and catchy in (Do It On My) Twin Bed and Dongs All Over The World.  Miley Cyrus and Taran danced about the government shutdown in We Did Stop.  Paul Rudd was terrific in One Direction's Number 1 Fan.  Jim Parsons and company had issues with the racially charged dialogue in Oscar Profiles: 12 Years A Slave Auditions.  Louis C.K. and others asked their doctor to check their butts for action figures in Doctor's Office.  Mike O'Brien takes the last two slots on this list with Monster Pals and Investigative Report where he interviews bugs on the street.

Worst Pre-Filmed Sketch

Hey Andy Samberg, looks like we're doing just fine without you.  We didn't need you to show up in the season finale with the lackluster When Will The Bass Drop? and a new Lonely Island music video for Hugs.  Not all was rosy on the pre-filmed side though as Kyle and Beck debuted Inside SoCal which was a boring talk show sketch that could have benefited from some audience response.

Best Recurring Sketch

With most of the heavy hitters gone, Nasim started picking up the slack on the recurring characters front and debuted both Shallon and Heshi, two characters I didn't get tired of.  Mornin' Miami was hilarious in both outings and a later cut for time sketch.  I can never get enough of Vanessa Bayer's Laura Parsons character and we saw her twice this season in Spotlightz!.  Finally, we got one last appearance from Dana and Niff losing their job in glorious fashion in Best Buy Firings.

Worst Recurring Sketch

Again, why are we clinging to things from the past?  The season finale gave us one more visit from The Vogelchecks in Affectionate Family as Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph and Paul Rudd all make out with each other.  Robin Gibb's death couldn't stop Jimmy Fallon from trotting out another edition of The Barry Gibb Talk Show.  Taran brought back a character from the previous season that I didn't like the first time in Protective Son.  I love Nasim but I only rarely laughed during the three times we saw Waking Up With Kimye.  Finally there's Girlfriends Talk Show which was amusing the first time but kept repeating the same beats in 4 episodes this season.

Best Musical Guest

Haim!  Damn, I loved Haim.  Two great songs that brought a great energy to my favorite episode of the season.  I was also introduced to Janelle Monae this season who was all over the stage for her two songs.  Katy Perry has always been a guilty pleasure of mine and her two songs in the Bruce Willis episode didn't disappoint.  Pharrell Williams brought along Hans Zimmer and a group of dancing kids for his set.  Finally, Miley Cyrus didn't make the best host (that's for another list) but her two songs as musical guest were really good.

Worst Musical Guest

I can't say that Bastille is a terrible band, but they're definitely not my cup of tea.  Worse than that, they had the misfortune of being in the pretty terrible Jonah Hill episode which didn't help matters much.

Best Weekend Update Desk Piece

Kyle Mooney played the long con with Bruce Chandling, introducing him in the season premiere only to have him reveal his dark side in the season finale.  Leslie Jones won't be a featured player until next season and we can have her energetic commentary about dating in the slavery era to thank for that.  Olya Povlatsky is probably my favorite Kate McKinnon Weekend Update character.  Aidy showed up as The Worst Person On An Airplane and thank you for only bringing her out once.  The same can't be said for Jebidiah Atkinson who was terrific in his first outing only to quickly run out of steam in too many subsequent appearances.

Worst Weekend Update Desk Piece

You know what's funny about non-comedians showing up on Update?  Nothing.  If you don't believe me then I'll point to Michael Bloomberg and Barbara Walters.  If you like this sort of stuff on SNL then we are watching different shows.  Back to the subject of old cast members returning, Fred came back to pair with Vanessa as Vladimir Putin's Best Friends From Growing Up.  I'm not familiar with Shannon Sharpe but Jay's impression didn't make me want to investigate further.  The absolute worst was Kenan as Mr. Senior, an old man who thinks Christmas comes too early.  The observation that Christmas decorations show up before Thanksgiving is already a hack joke but to make it worse, Kenan goes out on the streets of New York to yell at people.  This could have been fun had they used real reactions from real people.  Instead he yelled at Aidy and Nasim in staged bits that weren't fun or funny at all.

Best 10-1 Sketch

Kyle Mooney scored 3 times at the end of the night, the first time in Miley's Sex Tape where he and Miley have an affair that seems to disobey the laws of time and space.  He then interviewed people on the streets in Super Champions (see Kenan, this is how you do a remote piece).  He also appeared in Tourists from the Charlize Theron episode where he, Beck, Jay, Kate, Charlize, and Bobby play foreigners asking random New Yorkers for help.  Halloween Candy was a continuation of Christmas Ornaments from a Steve Buscemi episode from two seasons ago but just as funny.  My favorite goes to Romantic Speech from the Louis C.K. episode that brought a welcome touch of absurdity to an already silly episode.

Worst 10-1 Sketch

Once more I will ask, why are we looking back when we could be moving forward?  The Paul Rudd episode brought back Bill Brasky for the last sketch of the night.  Seeing how this was the midpoint of the season and have yet to see most of the new cast members, it seems odd that we have plenty of time to bring back a sketch I never really cared for in the first place.

Best Host

The Paul Rudd episode wasn't good, but that wasn't his fault.  The cast of Anchorman 2 got in the way of what should have been a fun hour with a really funny guy.  He was great as an adult One Direction fan, a man going through a divorce, a pizza man who likes to hump in bathroom stalls, and a white Madea, the rest of the show let him down.  My other four slots go to hosts who helmed good episodes.  Josh Hutcherson blended into the ensemble perfectly and just seemed like part of the cast.  Same can be said for Tina Fey which comes as no surprise seeing as she was on the show for a decade.  Louis C.K. brought a sense of danger and absurdity to his episode.  Finally, Charlize Theron was absolutely terrific in all of her sketch appearances, proving that she can do just about anything she wants to.

Worst Host

I enjoyed Miley Cyrus as a musical guest but she could have left the hosting duties to someone more capable.  The entirety of the Lena Dunham episode was a real bummer to watch.  Not all of it was Lena's fault, in fact I find it hard to imagine anyone succeeding in the sketches she appeared in, but she also didn't do anything to make the situation better.  Jonah Hill keeps coming back to host SNL for some reason.  He's got talent as a comedic actor but he is consistently glued to the cue cards for all of his hosting appearances.  Jimmy Fallon is someone I have never liked, but the first time he hosted I found him charming, this second time was not as good, in fact it was not good at all.  The worst of the season was Bruce Willis who was not only reading off the cue cards the entire night but seemed to be completely checked out and just showing up as part of some contractual obligation.

Best Episode Averages
4.2 Stars - Josh Hutcherson / Haim
4 Stars - Tina Fey / Arcade Fire
3.3 Stars - Louis C.K. / Sam Smith
3.2 Stars - Edward Norton / Janelle Monae
(3 way tie with 3.1 Stars between Charlize Theron, Jim Parsons, and Drake)

Worst Episode Averages
1.7 Stars - Lena Dunham / The National
1.9 Stars - Andy Samberg / St. Vincent
2.3 Stars - Jonah Hill / Bastille
(4 way tie with 2.4 Stars between Jimmy Fallon, John Goodman, Paul Rudd, and Bruce Willis)

Episode Average For The Season
2.8 stars