Molly Shannon was a cast regular once upon a time and built some memorable characters. This week she dropped in to host and with the exception of Weekend Update (which featured an extra segment), most of the episode felt “off”. Shannon is weird and fun, and I’ve always liked her, but the whole thing felt somewhat thrown together, like they filled the spot at the last minute and didn’t have enough time to get everyone on the same page. Shannon was often seen reading her lines, which took away from the overall experience, and while the show was big on nostalgia, it was short on laughter. Bowen Yang, for example, killed it as Jafar, but while I loved his take and the position, it wasn’t ha-ha funny.
The show stumbled out of the gate with some duds and then a Please Don’t Destroy before Update couldn’t even get it back on track. That’s the second tepid PDD in a row, which is kind of a bummer. The one sketch that had a chance to work was the final one but ultimately I don’t know who it was for.
Previous Episodes:
- Miles Teller
- Brendan Gleeson
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Jack Harlow
- Amy Schumer
- Dave Chappelle
- Keke Palmer
- Steve Martin & Martin Short
- Austin Butler
- Aubrey Plaza
- Michael B. Jordan
- Pedro Pascal
- Woody Harrelson
- Travis Kelce
- Jenna Ortega
- Quinta Brunson
A Word on Laughstatting:
Everyone has a different sense of humor, so the things that I laugh at will most likely not be the exact same things you laugh at. The goal of this exercise is not to convince anyone, but to say “here’s what worked for me” and hopefully, if our tastes are similar enough, maybe it worked for you too and the overall stats for the season will have some value. It also strangely works if you have polar opposite taste to me, because you’ll know the episodes that were a hit for me might not land with you.
I try to be very generous with my rankings in the hopes that eventually a more clear picture of the cast and season will shape itself and contribute to some additional insight. And we get charts.
Everyone likes charts.
Trump Easter Cold Open
Concept: Trump compares himself to Jesus
Execution: Good
s – Mikey Day: “And Judas.”
S – Molly Kearney: reveal as Judas
S – Molly Kearney: “Whaaaaat?”
S – James Austin Johnson: “Sound familiar?”
s – James Austin Johnson: “I told them what Jesus would have said: get very violent and start a war.”
S – James Austin Johnson: “Or hopefully not.”
Molly Shannon Monologue
s – Molly Kearney: “So I’m crashing your monologue to get more camera time.”
S – Host: “Nooooo!”
s – Kenan Thompson: “I can’t stop buying fake Rolexes.”
S – Bowen Yang: “What?”
S – Lorne Michaels: “I don’t have any problems.”
S – Martin Short: “I ran out of Ozempic!”
S – Host: “Superstar!”
S – Ego Nwodim: reacting to Superstar
Valets
Concept: Valet training
Execution: Solid from Dismukes, Molly’s obvious reading took some wind out of it
s – Andrew Dismukes: shroud removal flourish
s – Andrew Dismukes: “lil joke, lil bow, lil jog”
S – Andrew Dismukes: first lil example jog
s – Andrew Dismukes: “took me 10 years to get this little.”
S – Host: “Turns out he was a middle schooler using a hospital computer.”
s – Host: “How ’bout you rip off this turquoise and put a baby inside of me.”
s – Andrew Dismukes: “I guess rich people can park their own cars.”
Pregnant Co-Worker
Concept: A woman mistakes gas for a baby
Execution: We’re off to a rough start, this felt like something that might have been funny several decades ago.
S – Kenan Thompson: “That would be super illegal.”
S – Host: “I found on brainyquote.com.”
S – Andrew Dismukes: “smells like maybe it was twins.”
L – Sarah Sherman: “your hungry ass pounding catfish sliders at 11 am.”
Please Don’t Destroy – Molly Shannon 2K23
Concept: The guys play a Molly Shannon video game
Execution: Good, but more nostalgic and sweet than funny
S – Host: “there’s a video game about my life?”
The Play
Concept: A dude finds out what his girlfriend really thinks of him by watching a play
Execution: Decent
S – Host: “To Brooklyn artists with uncut dongs.”
S – Host: “All of this is true.”
l – Kenan Thompson: as Brian
Netflix Live Promo: Jeannie Darcy
Concept: An unfunny comedian has a catch phrase on her Netflix special
Execution: Spot on, I think, based on what they seemed to be going for.
l – Host: for the various stone-faced crowd shots, which I liked.
Weekend Update
S – Colin Jost: “I might have the perfect idea for a prisoner swap.”
S – Colin Jost: “And whitest guy with the blackest name, Harlan Crow.”
S – Michael Che: “No, I really don’t.”
S – Bowen Yang: “I don’t know what that is but it ain’t straight.”
l – Bowen Yang: “And a high micropony.”
l – Michael Che: “Not the way I do it!”
L – Colin Jost: deadpan reaction to that.
L – Punkie Johnson: “Man, get yo lil ass out my face!”
l – Colin Jost: “Aaaand it’s being used for murder.”
H – Michael Che: “Good.”
S – Michael Che: “Beating the previous record of 29.”
S – Colin Jost: “He’s so mad that he’s had it up to here.”
L – Michael Che: “Think I know who’s dyin first.”
S – Heidi Gardner: “I am so slammed.”
Drug Commercial
Concept: A menopause drug has a terrible name
Execution: Okay. Kenan really helped.
S – Host: “I actually really love what you’re doing with Vagerted.”
s – Molly Kearney: scowling
l – Kenan Thompson: “Vajeeted isn’t right for everybody.”
S – Kenan Thompson: “Even though it tastes real good.”
Sally O’Malley: Jonas Brothers
Concept: The Jonas Brothers are hiring a new choreographer
Execution: It was sort of a Jonas Brothers commercial? I think?
S – Host: “I like to kick, stretch and kick. I’m 50.”
CNN App
Concept: A CNN app for sane people who like justice? I think?
Execution: Seemed like a miss to me.
l – James Austin Johnson: “At DonaldJTrumpRU/Fundraisingscam.guilty”
