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Louis CK, you done good!

Let's dive into the mid-season return of SNL with Louis CK hosting! Alec continues as Trump This style of Q and A works best for Trump skits. Many times they get clogged with all the commentary they make. The writing remains focused and, most importantly, funny when the actors do a give-and-take style. If you look back through the season, these press conference style skits work best. How timely that the jokes sting, but as SNL has always done, it reflects the era back at us. This caliber of jokes is setting up the rest of the episode nicely. So we get to the monologue. The first time that Louis CK was on, he told a very involved scenario about pedophilia. He feared that because of the edgy subject matter, he would never be back. Well, here we are, and he opens with a joke to talk about race relations. Perfect move, Louis. You totally get it. Normally, I find it lazy if the stand-up hosting uses his material for the monologue. Here, I found it necessary. Louis opening with the racial joke set up the audience to follow his lead. He excels at pointing out sore spots in society and flipping it into an explanation of why it exists. These days, jokes about race, for example, need to be more provoking than just smart-ass remarks. Louis makes those jokes funny and thoughtful. He killed it. Louis plays a DA with gorgeous eyelashes! Balancing the heavier with the silly skits has always been a difficult job. Here, the single premise joke worked because it was kept short. Louis didn't break (a problem he had through his first appearance) so it was an easy sell. Scott gets his thanks from a reggae group for posting articles on Facebook. This musical number works so well because not only is it talking about modern day cliché, but it's also done in a cliché way. Of course the song would be done to a reggae beat. The average person accepts reggae music as the flagship to spread peace and love when they couldn't even name one reggae song. It's similar to how people label anyone with a British accent as possessing MENSA levels of intelligence. Musical pre-tapes are normally high quality, and this was no exception. Soda shop: Showing timely subject matter in an opposite setting. I love the juxtaposition of the 50's with such dark intentions. Everyone in the scene worked hard to keep it going. My complaint about it makes me sound like a broken record, however. Leslie needs to recite random things throughout the day to practice reading cue cards. I love that woman, and I think she's hilarious, but she can't deliver a line from a cue card without mistakes to save her life! By the way, where is Melissa? Pepsi commercial Beck and Kyle, of course. They usually don't go for the direct route, thank God they did with this one. They let the joke tell itself. Solid all around. Musical guest, but no Kate yet? So unusual. It proves that even the most talented don't always have a spotlight each week. Chainsmokers were a safe choice for this show. They performed Paris, a straightforward song they're known for. It kept the pace light and easy. So far the tone of the show has been lighthearted and easy going, with many of the jokes being dense and full of satire. This song transitions us to Update, which hopefully is scathing, as it has been up until the mid-season break. Update: Colin and Michael each opened with a series of very sharp, intelligent jokes on Trump. Colin hid his "I'm cute so ya gotta laugh with me!" delivery and Michael actually read his copy without stumbling through his lines. I've often been critical of Update for the inconsistent writing, the problematic delivery, and the anchors not having enough identity to differentiate them from their predecessors, but this open, this was stellar. Kate! Kate continues to claim her place among SNL's elite. You give her a premise, and she takes it to the highest conclusion possible. She does one character, and I find myself thinking about a few more I want to see. Where's her character Deenie, someone's mom? There was not one bad joke on Update! Evidently, they chose quality over quantity. This is the happiest I've been with Update in quite a long time. The John Cena Update had been the funniest this season, even though it was rife with problems. They hit all the points that I outlined in my review for that show, it made such a difference. Bill o'Reilly This skit, delivered by Alec Baldwin in a dual role, addressed a topic worthy of parody. Well-written, but it didn't have enough weight to make a big enough impact on its own. I felt that although it was high quality work, it should have been worked into Update instead. Clown for adult party Perfectly dark humor filled this skit that made me uncomfortable and giggle throughout. Melissa appeared for literally two seconds, but thankfully she's in a skit! It will most likely be my favorite skit of the night. The writers this week seemed fearless as to who would find dark jokes funny. It's the hallmark of SNL, although many times this season, they've forgotten that. I'm glad to see it back. Sectional Louis expertly handles silly premises so well, and he smartly chose Cecily and Aidy as his two accomplices. Thankfully, Louis didn't break, and he believed in the idea throughout the skit. A very funny joke, again keeping with the lighthearted tone. Second musical performance continued the pace of the show, energetic and fun. Tenement museum Ok, so Louis broke, but it was Kate's fault. I laughed at the same thing she did, so it's understandable. The race topic continued through to the end of the show, and this skit was a great way to end the show. It was great to see Kate and Louis together. I'm hoping that this episode is an indication of the quality we will see going through the end of the season. Jimmy Fallon is next week's guest, so we can expect a fantastic show.

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A sampling of Sturgill’s music, this week’s musical guest on SNL

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One of the promos for this week’s episode with host, Felicity Jones

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snl auditions (x)

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Why is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?

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Dyke & Fats

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I’m looking forward to seeing Aziz on SNL. He certainly deserves a chance after the success he’s had with his show Master of None. His stand-up material is strong in regards to observational humor. That is always a plus for writing on the show.

My hopes for Aziz’s debut is that they avoid the usual pattern with comics. Normally, the monologue is simply an extension of their stand-up, not adding anything new from what we already know of them. Also, they tend to take any well-known characters from the host and re-use or re-package them for a skit. This can have varying success, it’s really hit or miss.

At any rate, I’m really excited for his first appearance!