Welcome, Coneheads, to yet another momentousSNLin Review.
The joyful images being shown arenot unlike the end ofReturn of the Jedi.
He also contributed some of the show’s best political material during the 1984 election.
Credit: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Cold open
It’s CNN America’s Choice, election week.
Beck Bennett is Wolf Blitzer, and Alex Moffat is John King.
They’ve been up for days.
The crowd erupts when Bennett calls Fire Marshall Biden as the next president.
“Goddammit that feels good!”
She’s even wearing the same suit.
“I don’t give a funt!”
They celebrate before CNN cuts to seeing Trump sad.
(Obviously this tweaks the show’s"Hallelujah"performance from 2016.
This is maybe the only part of the cold open that actually works.
Downtrodden covers of pop songs are such a staple of movie trailers now, ya know?)
Ace Ventura and Joe Biden?
Welcome to the next four years, America.
Gary Kroeger: “I won’t miss Baldwin’s Trump at all.
How could there be?
It was done to death.
I liked Carrey’s Biden the moment he debuted, even though heavy criticism was leveled at him.
It will get stale.”
Usually Kroeger says he watches the cold opens “when they show up on my feed on Sunday morning.
As well as highlighted sketches and the news.
I rarely stay up anymore, unless it’s an event show like with Eddie Murphy.”
Kroeger played Walter Mondale during the ‘84 election cycle.
The celebrity imitations have been fun.
It also opens up the options for ideas when your cast is given the latitude to do everything.
But I get the celebrity draw.
Monologue
Chappelle grabs his mic in a slick blue suit, smoking.
There are few voices in entertainment who can command attention like this.
He cops to being nervous.
Chappelle jokes that his show was bought and sold as much as his ancestor was.
He thanks COVID-19 for stopping murderous white people, which is brilliant.
He’s been performing shows in his neighbor’s corn field, and kids the farmers in his community.
Maybe he’s missing more than hitting, but such is modern Chappelle.
He swings for the fences.
“Now Trump is gone.
I thought the guy was at least an optimist?”
It’s hard to even unpack all his truth, and punchlines, all intertwined.
“Did I trigger you?”
“What kind of man does that” he growls, indicting the president.
It ends with a stirring call for forgiveness, and commonality, and joy.
Kroeger says, “Dave Chappelle is, in my view, the greatest living comedian.
In fact, comedian is too confining a category.
That sums him up pretty well, I think.”
Uncle Ben
We’re back on the main stage, with Chappelle addressing the crowd.
He sets the stage for a serious, racially tinged sketch about the economic impacts of the pandemic.
We cut to: Alec Baldwin firing Aunt Jemima (Maya Rudolph).
Shades of classicChappelle’s Showhere a lot broader, of course.
I wonder if Neal Brennan was involved.
Chappelle plays the Allstate Guy, a.k.a.
Dennis Haysbert (a.k.a.
“Fake Denzel,” as Kanye once rapped.)
“My deep Black voice makes white people feel safe.”
Pete Davidson is Count Chocula Chappelle breaks the fourth wall to call out his ridiculous costume.
You might even say it’s half-baked.
Super Mario 35th anniversary
Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim describe their first experiences with Nintendo.
Mikey Day and Kyle Mooney talk about their horrifying ride to the store.
Kenan Thompson and Melissa Villasenor are disgusted.
Mooney has crashed and been taken to surgery.
“That boy was neutered!”
This is a good cast sketch, which makes sense since the Jemima sketch was very guest-heavy.
Take Me Back
Keith (Beck Bennett) is visiting Ego Nwodim, who has dumped him.
He’s changed quit drinking, no more cocaine or pills.
This is another excellent spotlight on Bennett: oblivious, absurd.
He has herpes, and a gun.
He was deep into acting in gay porn, the apologies and explanations keep spiraling.
“He loves me,” she coos, as he sprints into the night.
(Of course, Dave Grohl first appeared as a member with Nirvana duringthe Charles Barkley episodein 1993.)
Clearly Grohl is the driving force, but that’s okay with me since he loves the Beatles.
Foo Fighters are [the] Beatles meets Nirvana to me."
“Hey, Colin, did you know my tie is a clip-on?!”
This is peak Che.
McKinnon is back at Rudy Giulani, discussing Trump’s legal challenges to the election.
She’s giggling I hope this is the last time we see this impression.
His power comes from Kate’s fingers.
(And mugging, glorious mugging.)
It ends with Rudy getting hit in the face with lettuce.
Kroeger adds: “Nothing about Trump says that he will go away quietly.
In fact, he will insinuate that he will run again in four years.
Hailstorm
Ego Nwodim and Alex Moffat are local news anchors.
A hail storm has hit Pebble Falls.
Kate, Kenan, and Heidi are town residents, describing the golf-ball-sized hail.
Turns out, in the heat of the excitement, Kenan and Kate kissed.
“Okay, that happened,” confesses Kate.
Meanwhile, Heidi was less affected by the hail, and more her two friends kissing.
“I’m done searching,” says Kate.
Kenan’s wife is missing, but he is unfazed.
Morning
Wow, Ego Nwodim is another anchor, back to back Lisa.
She went from Albany to D.C. in one commercial break.
Dave Chappelle is Howard, etching out Trump’s extensive criminal liability once he leaves office.
It’s a volatile situation, a la O.J.
Simpson and Al Cowlings.
While this sketch does not reach its full attention, I respect how lean it is.
Keep it simple and leave plenty ofChappelle’s Showgreatest hits were executed similarly.
Folks are wearingChappelle’s Showmasks in the audience.
Final thoughts
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