Saturday Night Live S42 E11- Felicity Jones, Sturgill Simpson: A Slow Episode At Least Has Some Interesting Feminism Sketches

Before the show started, an interesting behind the scenes clip was uploaded to the YouTube channel. It's a cool 360-degrees look at the in-house band during the dress rehearsal.


Cold Opening: This cold openings will be the only times that we'll ever hear people legitimately cheering for Donald Trump. As can be expected, the writers had a ball inserting as many childish pee-related puns into the cold opening as possible. Some of them weren't very funny, but I have to admit, the more immature they got, the more I laughed. My favorite was Trump repeating, "You're in, you're in, you're in!" over and over. Just read it out loud if you don't get the joke.



Monologue: I do wish that it had more of a tribute to Carrie Fisher, but NBC did re air one of the times she hosted the show in its entirety before this one. I think this also works because Tina Fey is a huge Star Wars fan herself, working many references to it into 30 Rock. From a comedic standpoint, I enjoyed the self-mockery in her cameo. It's almost always funny when the show makes fun of itself.



Beard Hunk: Really, the sketch was just an excuse for different goofy characters, like any reality show. It did get funnier as it went on, mostly because of the rapid-fire jokes that added more bizarre depth to the characters. Still, the repetitive lines did not get funnier and the ending was weak.


Shondra & Malik: This one of those times where it takes a long time for the joke to land, but once it does, it gets funnier. The sketch starts off as some kind of gritty drama, but car trouble leads to a seemingly never-ending punchline. I usually like those kinds of pieces, but this one felt really long. The ending gag is good, but it doesn't quite make up for it.


Theatre Donor: At this point, I'll take any excuse that I can get for more awesome physical comedy from Beck Bennett. His suspiciously Vladimir Putin-like old man character made me laugh, especially when he flailed around, trying to get away from the nurse. You can watch it here.

The Princess And The Curse: Kate McKinnon makes a great Disney villain. The premise is a basic princess story with a baby who gets cursed. Years later, as she speaks with the prince, she alludes to a horrific curse that befalls her every night. The prince professes his love and says that he will never leave her. She reveals that her curse is simply to gain fifteen pounds every night, much to his disgust. It makes for some excellent social commentary on how we perceive women's bodies in society. You can watch it here.

Susan B Anthony House Tour: Okay, in addition to a Disney villain, we need Kate McKinnon to star in a Susan B. Anthony biopic. It's amusing seeing how quickly the women go from gushing over Susan to being condescending and outright disrespecting her. However, I feel that it would have been funnier if the final line, showing that Susan B. Anthony was against abortion, was the premise of the entire sketch. It would be a unique way to compare and contrast the differences between feminism then and feminism now. You can watch it here.

Sturgill Simpson Performance #1- "Keep It Between The Lines": I liked the jazzy feel to the opening. You can watch it here.

Weekend Update: Colin and Michael were pretty funny. The first guest bit, a new segment called "First impressions” starring Pete Davidson- felt like a late night talk show bit. In tone and style, it felt closest to Seth Meyer’s “Ya Burnt” piece, a fast stand-up roast piece. The second guest appearance, focusing more on Beck Bennett’s aspiring music career, was okay. You can watch it here, here, here, and down below.


Movie Interview: There was an amusing contrast between the writers and actors talking about how Hollywood can combat Trump. They discuss how progressive they tried to be in their film, but every single thing that we end up hearing simply sounds like a trashy, juvenile, offensive film. I can best describe it by comparing it to what the Transformers franchise will be like in ten years. You can watch it here.
Sturgill Simpson Performance #2- "Call To Arms": Again, I liked the jazzy tone. You can watch it here.

Corporate Retreat: The main characters remind me of Kristen Wiig’s “Surprise” character, mostly in their tone and clothing style. That being said, I didn’t really like the sketch. It just wasn’t my kind of humor. If that makes me uptight, as was said in the sketch, then okay. Comedy is subjective. You can watch it here.

Overall Thoughts: I wish that it had more of Sasheer Zamata and Bobby Moynihan. They only had a few appearances. Overall, it was a fun return after a brief hiatus, but not the best way to start 2017. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of Star Wars-related content. It was funny, but several sketches just felt slow. I’m hoping that Aziz Anisari’s episode will be more fast-paced next week.


Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.