'Saturday Night Live' recap: It's not just a New York thing
Though the show is generally a source of timely and topical humor, last week’s episode of Saturday Night Live made headlines for which jokes weren’t in the telecast — namely any about the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which broke 48 hours before Gal Gadot emceed the second episode of SNL‘s 43rd season. Eventually it emerged that Weinstein-related jokes had been written but were cut before the show went live. When questioned about the absence of the most topical story of the moment, Lorne Michaels offered a cryptic, unsatisfying nonresponse: “It’s a New York thing.” Since the scandal has only grown bigger over the past week, with the ramifications spreading far beyond New York, that excuse clearly wouldn’t fly. So SNL devoted a full sketch to the Weinstein fracas, turning its most popular star, Kate McKinnon, loose on the story, making it absolutely clear where the show stood. (It’s similar to the way they used her postelection appearances as Hillary Clinton to reposition SNL as belonging to the Trump-era Resistance.)
Reviving Debette Goldry — the batty Hollywood veteran she debuted last year — McKinnon used Aidy Bryant’s leading questions, and the straight-woman reactions of Leslie Jones’s Viola Davis and Cecily Strong’s Marion Cotillard, to riff on the charged topic of sexual assault in Hollywood. McKinnon even jokingly included herself among Weinstein’s victims. “I had one meeting with Harvey. He was naked, hanging upside down from a monkey bar. He tried to trick me into thinking his genitals were his face. It almost worked — the resemblance was uncanny.” But she wasn’t joking when she delivered the sketch’s pre-punch-line parting shot: “Violence against women doesn’t just happen to famous actresses. It’s everywhere, dammit. It’s about time we take it seriously. Pandora’s box is open now, and Pandora’s pissed.”
The episode’s host, Kumail Nanjiani, also had some serious subjects on his mind, as evidenced by his opening monologue. This past summer, the Silicon Valley star co-wrote and starred in a hit indie comedy called The Big Sick, which told the real-life story of his romance with his wife and collaborator, Emily V. Gordon. Born in Pakistan, Nanjiani caused a stir in his tradition-minded family when he wound up marrying a white American woman, and he addressed the topic of interracial love head-on. “I read a guy who said, ‘I watched the whole movie; I just don’t like race mixing,'” Nanjiani remarked incredulously. “First of all, nobody good ever uses the phrase ‘race mixing.’ The other thing, why did you watch the whole movie? Did you think at the end, I’d rip my mask off like, ‘Ha, ha, it’s me — Chris Pine!'” Not for nothing, but Pine addressed a timely issue when he hosted SNL last May: the fact that there are way too many Chris’s working in Hollywood right now.
Second-Best Sketch: “Kellywise”
On a generally lackluster night for live sketches, the Debette Goldry showcase stood out as the night’s most vital and important five minutes. This pre-taped It parody, on the other hand, earns points for sheer entertainment value and the increasingly rare chance to see McKinnon’s mostly-retired Hillary impression.
Worst Sketch: “Nursing Home”
News flash! Old people have sex. And also get STD’s. Maybe forget what we said about SNL‘s humor always being timely and topical.
Trump Watch
Blame it on the Weinstein news — and the collective anticipation to see if and how SNL would address it — but the obligatory Trump-related cold open felt particularly obligatory. Any other week, POTUS’s latest actions would be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. This time, though, Alec Baldwin’s barbs about Eminem, IQ tests, and the veep’s penchant for walking out of football games seemed like ancient history.
Best Weekend Update Joke
After McKinnon got her licks in, Colin Jost and Michael Che took their shots at Weinstein as well. “He doesn’t need sex rehab. He needs a specialized facility where there are no women, no contact with the outside world, metal bars, and it’s a prison,” Jost opined. For his part, Che acknowledged the tricky balancing act of finding comedy in such horrific news. “It’s so hard to make jokes about sexual assault, but it’s so easy to make jokes about a guy that looks like this. He looks like chewed bubble gum rolled in cat hair. … Your name is a verb now, dude, as in, “If this guy tries to Weinstein me, I’m going to cut off his little Harvey.”
Best Use of Kumail Nanjiani: “Office Halloween Party”
Given that he’s a big ol’ nerd (and proud of it) off camera, you can bet that Nanjiani was beyond thrilled at the opportunity to wear a life-size Groot costume. His obvious geek glee helps the sketch’s bitter pill of a punchline — everyone has hepatitis A! — go down a bit easier.
Episode MVP: Cecily Strong
Strong got the chance to play both “first ladies”, Ivana and Melania, and easily outshone Baldwin’s POTUS in each outing. Do Marla Maples next!
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 on NBC.
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