11/2/24: John Mulaney | Chappell Roan

 

2024 Pre-Election

• JAJ kills here, like always as Trump. I like his line about how he looks like the guy with the “light sabers” at an airport.

• Nice to see that the special guests didn’t get prolonged applause. But knowing the main special guest that appears later in this, I’m assuming that they didn’t want this to run too long.

• I got my first laugh from Dana’s Biden of the season, with him saying “There’s a bunch of reporters and cameras out there, I’m gonna go riff.”

• Here it is, the real Kamala Harris’ cameo, doing the always reliable “Impressionist sits in mirror with real person on the other side” with Maya.

• Ha, she’s already laughing, and we get a fun camera cut to Maya emulating her laugh.

• Wow, the applause was long for Kamala. I think it’s one of the longest applause breaks that’s ever happened on the show.

• Kamala’s delivery is pretty good for a non-actor.

• The “-mala” talk is very fun.

• Overall, a very fun cold open.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• I remember this being surprisingly underwhelming for a Mulaney monologue, but I’ll go into this with an open mind.

• The “looking down” bit is a fun, and silly way to start this.

• Mulaney wanting his parents to start acting elderly is hilarious.

• This bit with old people always having a band-aid on the top of their hand for some reason is killing me, and it’s easily one of my favorite bits from all of Mulaney’s monologues.

• Mulaney: I’m gonna get my hip replaced, and my mom’s gonna give me a ride home.

• The bit with kids dying in the early 1900s is really funny, and the “We tried everything, including towel” line in particular was hilarious.

• Overall, this was solid, and better than I remember it being, but still felt below par for a Mulaney monologue. It doesn’t help that it’s Mulaney’s shortest monologue he’s done on the show, so it seems like he had a hard time coming up with lots of material, so he carved out just enough for an above average length, which also explains why it ends right when it feels like it’s taking off.

Rating: ****

What’s That Name? Election Edition

• We get the return of the classic sketch from Mulaney’s 2019 episode. With Longfellow playing the host this time around. I remember fans being shocked at the time that Bill didn’t make a cameo for this sketch. But considering the fact that Bill hasn’t appeared on the show since the aforementioned 2019 Mulaney episode, my assumption is that he’s fully moved on.

• Longfellow’s sinister, yet deadpan “Great” response to John's comment about how the 2024 election is the most important in American history was really funny.

• Hillary Clinton’s running mate from 2016 appearing is really funny, and John’s reactions are really good too.

• The side by side comparison between Tim Kaine and Tim Walz is really funny.

• While Bill’s performance in this sketch’s appearance in 2019 was classic, Longfellow is doing really well here.

• John remembering a “somewhat popular” porn star afterwards is hilarious.

• GREAT reveal that the author of Handmaid’s Tale has been the other contestant this whole time, after John mentioned the book.

• Tim Kaine walking back out, and John still not remembering was a great ending.

• Overall, a solid installment of this recurring sketch.

Rating: ****

Beppo

• Nice to see this become recurring.

• Right out of the gate, I’m loving the mini-movie type feel this has so far.

• Great concept, with a monkey named Beppo being in a space shuttle.

• JAJ: We have no way to get Beppo home.

• John having to explain to Beppo that he’s not coming home is really funny.

• John: I don’t know if you have a God, like King Kong or something…

• John muting Beppo immediately after asking for his last words was really funny.

• Great reveal that Beppo was alive after all.

• Beppo kissing John’s wife was a very funny ending.

• Overall, this was simply great. Everything about this had an epic feel to it, that I really enjoyed throughout.

Rating: ****½

Bus Milk

• Our 6th installment in the Mulaney Musical recurring sketch.

• We get a random Pete Davidson cameo. And woah, he has almost no tattoos!

• I know most don’t care for the majority of these sketches after the classic Diner Lobster, but I always thought it was a decently reliable recurring piece.

• The cutaway to Mikey as a yelling soldier was really funny.

• Why did John and Pete call each other their real names? That was a very lazily done meta bit that added nothing to the sketch.

• When Bowen enters as the escaped felon driver, you can hear very audible laughing off-camera from John and Marcello.

• Eh, I didn’t care for the section with Timothee Chalamet lookalike contestants. It’s just a topical reference that makes this sketch not age too well.

• Fun bit with Devon as Eric Adams.

• Here’s another topical reference that hasn’t aged well: Andy sticking around as the bear that RFK shot.

• Overall, while these sketches usually have a decent quality, this had moments that i really didn’t care for, that hurt this sketch for me overall.

Rating: **½

Weekend Update

• Che laughs during the intro for some reason, and this would start a trend throughout the majority of the Updates for the rest of the season, where he would just laugh at seemingly nothing. While this does seem like an unnecessary complaint, it gets pretty noticeable when it happens a lot.

• None of the jokes have stood out so far, but the audience is red hot, which is nice, compared to the rough audience in the Michael Keaton episode.

• The “opposites attract” joke from Che was really good.

• Heidi’s impression of Reba is just her impression of a middle-aged country woman, but her energy is decent.

• I got a good laugh from Reba calling Gwen Stefani “the blonde japanese woman from No Doubt”.

• Despite that one good laugh, I’m not caring for this commentary. Heidi is trying too hard with the “funny” body movements, and the writing seems like it’s going for absurdity, but it’s honestly just “weird one-liners” instead of it being well written.

• Great moment with Che just completely skipping a joke about the Dodgers winning against the Yankees.

• Great “pop sickle” joke from Che.

• While I could see that joke about an “AI photo of cheating man” just being Che coming from a mile away, I got a good laugh from it.

• Interesting pairing of Marcello and Jane.

• So far, I’m loving the contrast of Marcello’s loud frat boy energy, with Jane’s quiet and wooden energy. This is a good way to utilize Jane’s naturally deadpan, wooden delivery, and a good utilization of Marcello’s loud, and exaggerated delivery.

• Marcello hyping up Jane’s poem is really funny.

• Overall, a very fun commentary and a good way to end a good Update.

Rating: ***

Sitcom Pioneers

• We get the return of John’s Sitcom Creator character from the classic Switcheroo sketch. 

• A very fun concept, with Kenan as Little Richard being in a cheesy sitcom from the 80s. I’m really happy they did something new, instead of a copy of the Switcheroo.

• Kenan is fantastic as Little Richard, and this has a fun vibe to it.

• Kenan talking to the audience was pretty funny.

• Kenan singing at the piano while the family mourns having to put their dog down is very funny, and Kenan taking the dog out himself was a crazy ending.4

Rating: ****

Harvey Epstein for City Council

• I remember loving this pre-tape, I can’t wait to rewatch this.

• Very funny concept with John having an unfortunate name.

• John: Everybody say Epstein!

• The talking heads with Ego, Sarah, and Dismukes are great, and John’s desperation to make sure people know he’s different from Harvey and Epstein is great.

• Heidi, during the voiceover: Epstein looks out for miners.

• Overall, I absolutely loved this, and John gave a fantastic performance.

Rating: ****½

Thoughts

A fairly solid episode as a whole, and another reliable Mulaney episode. This episode had some fantastic highs (Beppo, Harvey Epstein) with only one segment that I didn’t care for (Bus Milk). John was a great host once again. I was very interested to rewatch this episode, since it had very divisive opinions from fans after it aired, with many not caring for it, but I personally really enjoyed it. Those aforementioned highs will make the rating way higher than how I personally feel though.

Segments ranked Best to Worst

Beppo

Harvey Epstein for City Council

Sitcom Pioneers

Monologue

What’s That Name: Election Edition

2024 Pre-Election

Weekend Update

Bus Milk

7.3/10