John Mulaney | LCD Soundsystem SNL Review
Cold Open
I’m not going to comment about this, since this is a very serious subject matter.
Monologue
I’m really looking forward to rewatching this.
Funny sarcastic comment from John about how SNL has emphasized sobriety and mental health.
I’m going to try and not quote every single line John says here, because it would make a pretty repetitive review, but it’s hard not to, as this is already hilarious so far. But I’ll try and quote the lines that stand out in particular.
John’s whole bit about breaking up with his drug dealer, and his dealer turned out to only sell drugs to him, and he’s actually a painter is HILARIOUS, and has always stuck out to me as one of my favorite bits Mulaney has ever done. The way it ends with Mulaney declaring himself to be the first drug addict to turn an innocent person into a drug dealer was a perfect way to end it, as well.
John, about his son: He’s a pretty cool guy for someone who can’t vote.
John’s bit about his son reacting to a bright light is great, and John saying “This was a bright light, I’d seen lights, he’d never seen a light before.” was a great line.
John: I wanna use those, but I can’t because they’ll kill me. Welcome to my world, homie. A perfect way to end this.
Overall, I absolutely loved this monologue. I’ve always felt that this was his 2nd best monologue, with his monologue from Season 44 being my favorite.
Rating: ****½
Monkey Judge
OH MY GOD at Mulaney appearing as a Monkey Judge. This already seems like the perfect absurd sketch that he can sell in spades.
Mulaney: I’m gonna throw a little sand to show dominance.
I’m loving this sketch so far, with Mulaney’s trademark delivery as a Monkey, with great writing backing him up.
The cutaway to Mulaney “bearing his teeth” had me dying just now.
Mulaney explaining all of his monkey-like actions in a deadpan manner is great.
Cecily doing Monkey mannerisms with Mulaney is so fun.
Overall, a fantastic sketch for Mulaney, and a great way to start the night.
Rating: ****½
Blue River Dog Food
Funny performance from Cecily so far, and this is a good spoof of these Blue River commercials.
Mulaney is a fun addition to this.
Cecily thinking Heidi’s dog can’t walk is really funny.
Mulaney: People like you should be hung in a public square!
Cecily pretending to be Heidi’s dog's voice is hilarious.
Overall, a strong pre-tape.
Rating: ****
COVID Discussion
This sketch is already dated, but I’ll go into it with an open mind.
Eh, this isn’t fully working for me. The attempts to stop talking about COVID related situations are okay, but something about this isn’t fully clicking for me.
Good laugh from Heidi Thanos snapping herself away.
Yeah the dated nature of this is really affecting this for me.
Overall, an unfortunate miss for me.
Rating: **
Please Don’t Destroy: Good Variant
Interesting concept, with a good variant of COVID.
Mulaney: It doesn’t make you sick, it just makes you feel dope.
Paul Rudd being sick… at playing synth is hilarious and a very memorable moment, and has stuck in my memory ever since this episode aired.
Al Roker joining the party is very fun.
The tweet with Fauci hooking up with Saweetie is very funny.
The new variant giving everyone “long, luscious locks” is really funny, and adds to the very fun vibe this short has.
Overall, a very fun short.
Rating: ****
Five-Timers Club
A fun segue from the PDD short to this sketch, with it fading to the Five-Timers Club, as if they just finished watching it.
Steve: So what? I have COVID right now!
Steve mistaking John Mulaney for Megan Mullally is pretty funny.
John: You wouldn’t know me, but if you have a niece or a son who’s bad at sports, they might.
VERY extended applause for Tina Fey when she enters.
Tina, about John: You wrote that character with Bill Hader, and 800 other things that aged horribly!
Hey, Elliot Gould!
Steve saying Tina was the first woman to wear glasses on TV is pretty funny.
A very random Conan cameo. But I’m not complaining at all.
Ha, already Conan is stealing this sketch, after completely botching his line about being in the first Five-Timers Club, he does a hilarious ad-lib by acting out that he had been drinking.
Conan: I hosted my own TV show for decades! Mulaney: And what are you doing now? Conan: I have a podcast…
Very funny ending with Conan saying LFNY.
Overall, this had a decent, but forgettable start, but then Conan entered and instantly gave the sketch a boost.
Rating: ***½
Weekend Update
A decent and surprising dig from Colin at NBC airing the Olympics.
Good joke from Che about how, if he ever joined a war, they would immediately lose the war.
I always get a laugh from Colin getting a rough transition/segue, this time being Harvey Weinstein to Trump.
Colin, on a Horse’s drug test after a race: I hope it’s hot in Horse Hell, you cheating bastard!
The “double AA battery stuck in penis” joke from Colin was so stupid that it made me laugh.
The Sister, Sister reboot joke from Colin was great.
Wow, that’s it! No commentaries in this installment of Update. I’m not complaining though, as I thought this was a pretty solid edition.
One last note, Colin’s ad-lib during the sign-off “Oops, All Jokes!” was pretty funny. That makes me wonder if there was supposed to be a commentary, but it got cut.
Rating: ***½
Subway Churro
These Mulaney Musicals have divisive opinions from the hardcore fans post-Diner Lobster, and while I understand why people wouldn’t enjoy the sequels. I always felt these sketches were entertaining.
The cuts to Melissa with the Churros are decent.
Dismukes: I’m a grown drunk man, and I want a Churro to eat on the choo choo ride home!
I’m not gonna have much to say about the Musical portions of this sketch, so I’ll just summarize them by saying “They are fun, but not noteworthy”
Cecily’s “I am high on bath salts” song is pretty funny.
Hey, a walk-on from one of the Destroy boys!
A hilarious song from Alex about “fapping on the train”. And this twirling while singing somehow makes it funnier.
Didn’t really care for the part with Kyle singing a song from “the wrong musical”.
Nice to see LCD Soundsystem get involved, and the lead singer performed pretty well.
Overall, an entertaining sketch as a whole, but it was ultimately fairly forgettable.
Rating: ***
Behind The Slime
Chris and Alex are fun as Nick Cannon and Marc Summers.
I remember when I first watched this sketch, I thought the show title “You Can’t Do That on Television” was a joke that bombed with the audience, turns out that was the real name of the show. How fun!
Aidy’s walk-on is pretty funny “Slime’s too damn thick”
Ha, Chris just randomly took off his mustache after it was starting to peel off. I know that would seem off-putting to some people, but I thought it was pretty funny.
Sarah, to John: You could be my sidekick, the incredible Homo!
The slime that hits John is really funny, and it seems to have shocked John, because he laughs his way through the rest of the sketch.
The dated clips of the show are really funny.
A weird moment happened just now, while all the slime is hitting Kyle and Mikey, it cuts back to the main shot with Chloe in it, but it doesn’t seem like it was supposed to, since she’s (humorously) ducking away from the slime while smiling.
Mikey: PLEASE STOP! PLEAAAAASE!!!
Overall, a fun ensemble sketch.
Rating: ***½
Cupid Shuffle
This is a sequel to the very popular Cha Cha Slide sketch from Mulaney’s 2nd hosting stint from 2019. I’ve always felt the first sketch was slightly overrated, but I still love that sketch, and I hope this sequel is decent enough, since this is the only sketch from this episode I’ve never seen.
I can tell this will be in the same format as the first, but it’s working for me this time. John’s face while doing the dances is still hilarious, and the dialogue between the dancing is pretty good so far.
John: You can’t let that good air out now.
John: It would break my mama’s heart if she found out I took a government needle.
Great ending with John doing the soul train line.
Overall, a solid sequel.
Rating: ***½
Thoughts
Despite not being the fantastic episode I remember it being, this was a pretty solid episode as a whole. There was only one segment I didn’t care for in this episode, and almost everything else ranged from above average to fantastic. John Mulaney was a great host, as expected, and he helped give the show a fun vibe, like he usually does every time he hosts.
Segments ranked Best to Worst
Monologue
Monkey Judge
PDD: Good Variant
Blue River Dog Food
Cupid Shuffle
Five-Timers Club
Weekend Update
Behind The Slime
Subway Churro
COVID Discussion
7.2/10
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