10/5/24: Nate Bargatze | Coldplay

 

Vice President’s Residence

• Ha, Maya absolutely butchered Bruce Springsteen’s name, but she recovered it well enough.

• Andy gets some rough material to work with again, the GRILF line was cringeworthy.

• Why aren’t they just doing a debate? Andy and Maya reacting to the debate feels unnecessary, when the debate moderators Heidi and Chloe could’ve easily done that.

• Bowen’s opening line as JD Vance about how he likes that the moderators are mothers was pretty good.

• I also got a laugh from Jim saying he’s gotta “grade some mid-terms”.

• Oh yeah, Andy and Maya are in this, I forgot. Considering how the debate portion of this was decent enough, it further proves my point that they are unnecessary here. I would’ve much preferred a straight up debate then Andy and Maya “watching” the debate and reacting to the “crazy shenanigans”.

• I did get a laugh from Andy suggesting that they watch the Menendez Brothers show, because it’s less stressful.

• Yikes, I’m cringing at Andy talking about how goofy white guys are being sent back, and how the “mood is dark” in the group chat he’s in. That line itself just screams “How do you do, fellow kids?”.

• I’m getting decent laughs from JD and Tim getting along. It’s a decent enough spoof of how JD and Tim actually agreed with some of each other's talking points during the debate.

• The cringe “Gen Z” dialogue continues with Maya asking “Why are they vibing?” and Andy calling Kamala “Momala”.

• Another unnecessary appearance from Dana’s Joe Biden.

• Good moment with Bowen as JD talking about how Trump peacefully gave over power and repeatedly saying not to fact-check him.

• Dana’s struggling a bit to get lines out with the Ice Cream in his mouth.

• I will admit to getting a good laugh from Dana running the Ice Cream into Maya’s face.

• Overall, a mixed bag. The actual debate portions of this were good, but the Andy and Maya portions were rough to get through.

Rating: **½

Monologue

• It feels nice to review Nate for the first time on my blog, as his first episode is a classic and one of my personal favorites. 

• Nate going to a Speech Class is really funny.

• His whole bit about the word “oil” needing to be a requirement at a Southern Community College is really funny.

• I’m not gonna have much to say about this, as I’m just enjoying it, and it would be a very repetitive review if I just kept on saying “This joke is really funny”.

• I will say that the bit about him wanting Regular Virgin Olive Oil is hilarious.

• Overall, I didn’t say much, but I basically loved all of this, despite it not being as good as his first monologue (but that would be hard to beat, as that was my favorite monologue from Season 49)

Rating: ****

Washington’s Dream 2

• I remember this being surprisingly solid for a sequel sketch, so let’s see if my original opinion still holds up.

• Nice to see Nate get some applause when he says his first line.

• The conceit for this one being the English language, isn’t as absurd as Weights and Measures from the first installment, but it’s still funny and has a lot of potential that it’s working for me.

• Great moment with Nate saying the word Donut and the name Jeff will be spelled in two different ways.

• They repeated the joke from the first installment, with Nate ignoring Kenan’s question about racial equality, but it still worked for me here. Mainly because Nate’s delivery is just as great in this as it was in the first sketch.

• Good moment with Nate telling JAJ to get out the boat after he asked what was in a hot dog.

• Overall, this was a solid sequel. I hope they don’t do a third installment though, if Nate comes back to host.

Rating: ****

The Oakmont Fall Classic

• Nate hitting a bird with the golf ball was really funny, and him checking for birds on his second try was a funny moment.

• While this is one-note and basic, it’s working for me, mainly because the moments with Nate are really good.

• Nate accidentally hitting an egg is a great moment.

• I’m loving the escalation of this, and Nate is giving a solid performance here.

• Overall, this was a really good pre-tape, and a bit better than I remember it being.

Rating: ***½

Sabado Gigante

• Marcello is giving a solid performance in this so far, and Nate seems perfect as a straight man for this type of sketch.

• I’m loving this so far. Nate as the confused straight man, and the chaos happening around him is great. Marcello is also giving a solid performance in this.

• The walk-on of a child version of Nate was really funny.

• Nate trying to sing the song with Spanish subtitles is really funny.

• Overall, I didn’t say too much, but I loved this sketch.

Rating: ****

Waterslide

• OH MY GOD YES! I can’t wait to talk about this, as this was my 2nd favorite sketch from this season.

• The short moment of silence was pretty funny.

• I absolutely love that the audience already knows the joke to this before it’s been fully established. It shows that SNL audiences actually can understand jokes without it being explained to them as it’s happening (Hear that, Seiday?).

• Great delivery from Nate, when he quietly says “Lotta stairs”.

• Hilarious cutaway to all the young kids waiting to go down the waterslide.

• I remember people complaining that Jane gave a very wooden performance in this, and while I do agree to an extent, she isn’t hurting this sketch for me at all. 

• Nate and Longfellow pretending that Jane came up with the idea of sending the dead body down the waterslide is hilarious. Considering that this was a sketch Longfellow had been trying to get on the air for a long time, I’m so glad it got on the air with Nate, as he’s PERFECT in this sketch.

• Nate saying that it’s respectful to send him down is really funny.

• Nate continues to be fantastic in this, as his description sending the dead body down the waterslide, and describing it as Jane’s idea is killing me. The kids also voting was really funny.

• Nate going with the dead body is a solid ending.

• Overall, I loved everything about this sketch.

Rating: *****

Weekend Update

• The “seen here” jokes normally work for me, but the joke about Elon didn’t work for me. I also didn’t care for the joke about Trump and Elon co-hosting the Christmas show.

• Yeah, I don’t know man, but I’m not really caring for any of the jokes so far.

• That Trump dementia joke from Che was especially lame.

• My biggest laugh so far has been between jokes, with Che getting applause for his MTG joke, and Colin questioning it. Hate to say it Colin, but he’s getting applause because your jokes so far have been rough.

• I finally got a big laugh from Che’s joke about how Hung Cao is a great drag name.

• I remember really enjoying this first commentary from Jane, let’s see if it holds up.

• I like the concept of this, with Jane still partying despite the party being over. I don’t need the explanation from Colin though.

• Jane: I am the plus 1 of someone, who has left.

• Funny moment from Jane, after Colin assumes that the song is over and Jane says “I intend to keep singing”.

• Overall, a really fun commentary from Jane. But the jokes in this Update were rough.

Rating: **½

Mile High Burger Challenge

• Great reveal that the winner of the Mile High Burger Challenge gets a 2-person trip to Hawaii.

• Heidi going DOWN on the Mile High Burger is great stuff, and she is completely committed to this.

• I’m absolutely loving the escalation to this, with Dismukes re-entering and saying that you can’t use your hands when there is 5 minutes left, and Heidi just SMASHING her head into the burger. This ends up causing Bowen to break pretty hard, and Mikey is trying his hardest to keep it together.

• Heidi touching Sarah’s hands and face with her dirty hands is really funny.

• Eh, I didn’t care for the ending about how Heidi is doing the challenge as a tribute to their ailing father, because she literally said at the beginning of the sketch that she didn’t know about the challenge.

• Despite the meh ending, this was a great sketch, with fantastic commitment from Heidi.

Rating: ****

Sushi Glory Hole

• Very funny concept to this digital short, with glory holes for sushi.

• The repetition of “Hear us out” is pretty funny.

• It’s interesting to see Akiva co-starring in this short, since I don’t recall him starring in any other digital shorts.

• The song for this is very catchy, with great rapping from Andy and Akiva.

• Akiva: Sushi Glory Hole is a good idear.

• Great moment with drunk Mikey accidentally going to a real Glory Hole instead of the Sushi Glory Hole.

• Overall, I loved this.

Rating: ****

Coach Alan

• I can’t help but laugh at Longfellow as a tough football player.

• Good laugh from Nate pointing out that he still needs $20 for the jerseys.

• Nate’s increasing need for the $20 is really funny. While this was clearly cut down for it to barely make it on air, this is still really good.

• The team coming together to get the $20 is a good ending.

Rating: ***½

Thoughts

While not as strong as I remember, this was a very solid episode as a whole, and another great Nate Bargatze episode. There was a fun vibe to this episode, and as a whole was way more energetic than the season premiere with Jean Smart. Nate Bargatze was a strong host once again, and I really hope that he gets to the Five-Timers Club mulaney-style.

Segments ranked Best to Worst

Waterslide

Monologue

Mile High Burger Challenge

Sushi Glory Hole

Sabado Gigante

Washington’s Dream 2

Coach Alan

The Oakmont Fall Classic

Weekend Update

Vice President’s Residence

7.4/10