10/19/24: Michael Keaton | Billie Eilish

 

The Harris Interview

• I remember really not caring for this cold open when it aired, but I’ll go into this with an open mind.

• Alec Baldwin isn’t necessary in this cold open, but he’s always reliably funny on SNL (Trumpwin not included) so I can ignore the unnecessary cameo.

• The “businessman in Minecraft” joke could’ve been cringeworthy, but Alec’s deadpan delivery made it work.

• Alec trying to get Kamala to list the number of “criminals she let loose” is pretty funny.

• Great joke from Maya about how if Kamala was in Breaking Bad, it would’ve ended in 3 episodes.

• Eh, the “viral moments” that Maya is doing right now remind me of the horrible material she got in the Democratic Debate sketch from Will Ferrell’s 2019 episode.

• Alec: I’m not familiar with the clurb…

• JAJ as Trump: I would never threaten anything, except perhaps violence…

• JAJ dancing to the YMCA song as Trump is very funny, and the subtle lip syncing makes it even funnier.

• I’ve already said all I’ve needed to say about Dana as Biden in these cold opens, so I’m just gonna move on.

• The “Ja-biden” talk from Maya is decent enough.

• Alec’s constant interrupting of Maya is very well performed.

• Overall, this was much better than I remembered it being, and it’s also the first decent cold open of the season. It’s kinda sad it took 4 episodes for a passable cold open, though.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• The similarities between SNL and Mr Rogers Neighborhood were kinda lame, to be honest.

• Mikey appearing as Beetlejuice is pretty fun, and the impression is pretty good.

• Hey, it’s Andy! And his impression of Beetlejuice is even better than Mikey’s! It’s also nice to see this impression appear for the first time, since I recall hearing Andy in an interview talk about how he tried to get this impression on the air when he was in the cast.

• A decent laugh from Andy talking about how he’s wanted to get his “BJ” on the show.

• Got a good laugh from Andy admitting they couldn’t get him into the cold open.

• This was a fun monologue, but it was a bit of a waste of Michael’s talents.

Rating: ***

Shop TV

• Speaking of wasting Michael’s talents…

• I’m not a fan of this recurring sketch, I just find it to be more dumb than funny. 

• The eyeball cookie looking like a breast is just dumb, plain dumb.

• Also, Mikey and Heidi’s reactions to this aren’t working for me, their performances are a bit too broad for me to find them funny.

• Michael taking out another eyeball cookie did NOT have the shock value that I’m assuming the writer of this sketch expected it to have.

• I did get a good laugh from Michael saying he wants to get the cookies “in his mouth right now”

• I got another good laugh from Longfellow as a caller asking if the cookies come in different ethnicities.

• The repeated “Shame on you!!” from Heidi and Mikey has gotten really annoying.

• Overall, I really did not care for this sketch, and it was a waste of Michael’s talents.

Rating: *½

Please Don’t Destroy: Skydiving

• Shockingly, this is the first PDD short of the season so far. 

• Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the first time one of the PDD guys plays a character in one of their shorts, as Ben plays the Skydiving instructor in this.

• A good laugh from Michael’s character here revealing that he lost his children.

• Emil as the pilot is really good here, with him wearing AirPods and watching a TikTok video on how to fly an Airplane.

• This short has a much different vibe from all of their shorts that aired before this. Most of PDD’s shorts have a fast-paced vibe to them, but this is at a much more steady pace. I remember finding it kinda off-putting when this first aired, but this short is working for me this time around.

• Michael’s descent into sadness is really funny.

• A great sudden dark ending with Ben and John accidentally flying out of the plane, and getting killed.

• Overall, a good first PDD short of the season.

Rating: ***½

Forbidden Romance

• This is the first of MANY strong sketches that Andrew Dismukes stars in throughout this season, so I’m really excited for this.

• Interesting setup to this sketch so far, with it taking place in 1955.

• Ego cracked up at Kenan saying “Play your song”, for some reason.

• A HILARIOUS reveal that the song Andrew is playing is “Hey, Soul Sister” of ALL songs.

• Andrew is so committed to this, and him yelling it into Ego’s ear makes it funnier.

• Andrew’s family dancing to the song in contrast to Kenan and Ego’s disgusted faces is really funny.

• Kenan retracting his blessing is really funny, and Ego agreeing is a great addition.

• Michael pulling out a bass was a good ending.

• Overall, I loved this sketch. I can’t wait to rewatch more of Andrew’s great sketches from this season.

Rating: ****

TikTok

• We get a random return of the TikTok pretapes that previously appeared way back in Season 47.

• Kenan playing Keith Lee is pretty funny.

• Eh, don’t care for Marcello and Chloe playing the Big Boom father and son.

• Mikey playing that dancing newsman is really funny.

• I didn’t really care for the Kamala velocity edit.

• Big laugh from “The black wife effect” with Longfellow and Ego.

• A minor appearance from Billie Eilish in this. I wish she could’ve appeared in a live sketch though.

• Overall, this was nowhere near as strong as the 2 first installments from Season 47, but this was still decent enough.

Rating: ***

Weekend Update

• The cut back to Colin’s head in his hand after Trump’s Harvey Weinstein comment was pretty funny.

• None of the jokes here are noteworthy, but they’re decent enough. The audience is a bit quiet, though.

• There goes Che acting shocked when the audience groans at his groaner, then saying “It’s the 90s”. No matter how many times you repeat it Che, it’s not gonna make any more sense.

• Nice to see Emil on Update, and I remember really enjoying this, so let’s see if my fond memories still hold up.

• Right out of the gate, Emil is very comfortable at the desk, and has a great delivery.

• Hilarious moment with Emil saying Chrisitan Arabs are like Black guys with Anime bookbags. 

• The audience is noticeably quiet for this commentary, and in particular after one of Emil’s jokes is left with silence, he makes a FANTASTIC ad-lib saying “Colin wrote that joke for me” and that thankfully wakes the audience.

• Overall, what a great debut for Emil. I loved everything about his commentary.

• GREAT joke from Colin about Peanut M&Ms.

• While I’m really not a fan of Sarah’s style of humor, I remember really enjoying this, so let’s see if it still holds up.

• Right away, Sarah is really funny here, with her line “Where my Midwest 4s at?”

• The concept of this commentary, with Sarah wanting regular women as models is pretty funny, and she’s doing good here so far.

• Sarah’s delivery is great here, and her occasional laughing is giving this a very fun vibe.

• This commentary is leaning towards her gross-out style of humor I don’t care for, but the goodwill I had near the beginning is still making it work for me.

• Overall, a fun commentary from Sarah, and a good way to end the first above average Update of the season.

Rating: ***½

Uber Game Show

• Fun character from Ego so far.

• Great turn this sketch is taking, with it being a game show taking place in an Uber.

• Michael has a fun look as the character he has.

• Bowen is a decent straight man here.

• Tiny Hot Water Bottle being the prize you win is pretty funny.

• Ego: Contrary to what you may have read, birds are real.

• Overall, a fun sketch, and a solid Ego showcase.

Rating: ***½

Horror Choreographer

• Mikey’s dancing as the murderer is pretty funny, and it’s interesting to see Mikey play a physical role like this.

• Fun character from Michael here, it feels nice to finally see a sketch where Michael gets a lot to do comedically.

• Andrew is a good straight man here.

• Mikey’s dancing towards Chloe and Sarah is really funny, and you can see Chloe trying to stay in character.

• Didn’t really care for the ending with Bowen.

Rating: ***

Tableside

• Interesting sketch so far, with Michael’s character reminiscing of a mysterious “Beth”. It’s working for me, but there’s an absurd vibe to this that I’m not sure there is meant to be or not. Ashley is fun here as Michael’s wife, though.

• Heidi’s reminiscing is decent, but that absurd vibe is still here.

• What the hell was that ending??? Michael asked for the check, then there was a second of silence, then the sketch just randomly ended. Did this get cut off so they could fit in the goodnights?

Rating: ***

Thoughts

An average episode as a whole, but it was decent enough. There was only one stand out sketch, and only one flop, with a bunch of pretty good to okay in the middle. One thing I really didn’t like about this episode was how they basically wasted Michael Keaton. He really didn't get much comedic material to work with, and he played a ton of non-comedic roles. It’s a shame.

Segments ranked Best to Worst

Forbidden Romance

Weekend Update

Uber Game Show

Please Don’t Destroy: Skydiving

Horror Choreographer

The Harris Interview

TikTok

Monologue

Tableside

Shop TV

6.2/10