SNL After Party (S49 E3 - Air Date 10/28/23) - "I Don't Think Lawyer is the Second Best Job"

 Host: Nate Bargatze
Musical Guest: Foo Fighters

You know, I said to myself last week, “Surely, a family friendly stand-up from Nashville, Tennessee is not going to be the host that will lead us out of the doldrums of weak SNL episodes.”

As is so often the case, I was very, very wrong.

Nate Bargatze blew it out of the water and gave us something to pop open some champagne at this week’s After Party

Cold Open

As is required by law, the cold open has to be political in nature. In this episode, Mikey Day took over playing Biden. (Did James Austin Johnson anger Lorne somehow? He was barely in the show this week). The cold open started as a kind of weak series of “Biden is old” jokes, as Day seems to be doing a Jimmy Stewart imitation. But things picked up when Michael Longfellow showed up as new House Speaker Mike Johnson, accompanied by his “Adult Black Son” (Devon Walker).

This was funny enough, but it got amped up when Christopher Walken popped in as the Spirit of Halloween. Walken did what Walken does, and it was very funny. We are off to a strong start.

Monologue

Nate Bargatze is a comic from Nashville, who is known for smart, clean material with Southern flavoring. Instead of doing a “bit” with the monologue, they let Bargatze just do a mini-standup set. And he nailed it. With jokes about high-diving mules, fighting orangutans at the fair, and showers that soak hotel room floors, Bargatze’s easy manner got solid laughs.

I started to have hope.

Chef Showdown

Bargatze and Ego Nwodim are chefs on a reality show, where their soul food dishes are judged by Punkie Johnson and Kenan Thompson. One dish presented is classic soul food and the other is over-engineered nouvelle cuisine. The joke is that Nate was the one who made the classic dish. It doesn’t sound that funny, but the presentation of the sketch was hilarious. From Nate’s constant apologies for winning (including his reluctance to wear an honorary Howard University jacket), to Kenan’s angry energy, to a surprise appearance by the real Padma Lakshmi, this was a delicious dish of a sketch that really cleansed the palate after last week’s Bad Bunny episode.

“A Stab at Love”

Chloe Fineman and Nate star in a video commercial for a Hallmark Horror presentation “A Stab at Love”. It’s all the usual tropes of the woman from New York returning home and reuniting with an old friend. In this case, that old friend is also a serial killer. This was cute single joke bit that worked mainly due tothe performances of Nate and Chloe.

George Washington’s Dream

Bargatze is George Washington telling his troops around the campfire of his vision for America, which is essentially using a different series of weights and measures than the rest of the world. But not always.

This sketch was very smart and funny, again made even better by Nate’s delivery. His delivery of “Nobody knows” when asked how many yards are in a mile was perfection. And, Kenan constantly being ignored when asked how Black Americans would be treated after the war added another layer to an already strong sketch.

This far in, and not a single dud. This has to be some sort of record.

Drinking on a Lake Beach

A music video from the (fake) country band Mudpuddle, extols the virtues of spending the day on a “lake beach”. This one sharply tacks down the Southern experience of a weekend lake visit from slipping on rocks, overly competitive corn hole, and inadvertently drinking from a dip cup.

Genuinely funny stuff, and we haven’t even gotten to Update yet!

Fran Drescher Halloween

Sarah Sherman is SAG President Fran Drescher, stopping kids from wearing licensed Halloween costumes in support of the strike. Sarah is funny, making repeated insults to Nate as a dad handing out candy. But the stars of the sketch are the kids who show up in “approved” costumes, such as Harry Potter as described in the book and Hoda Kotb (instead of Barbie).

A cute enough sketch, but not a lot to it.

Foo Fighters 1

Christopher Walken introduces the band, in an apparent attempt to get it right this time. I’ll let Dave Grohl explain what happened last time Walken introduced the band in 2003.

Weekend Update

Solid, as always, jokes on today’s events. Highlights included a “video” of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen fighting in court (two rats wrestling to a thrash metal soundtrack), reference to Trump as former President and “current courtroom sketch model” and some shots at Speaker Mike Johnson and how no one knows who he is.

Sarah Sherman drops by as Colin’s agent offering him a number of increasingly insulting roles. A second week in a row of only one guest at the desk. Not a complaint. Just an observation.

Pregnant on a Plane

 Chloe Fineman is a pregnant woman about to giver birth on a plane. Devon Walker is her husband asking if a doctor is on the plane. This leads to a ridiculous series of people of various professions popping up. Nate is first, saying he is a lawyer, which he declares is the second best job. Andrew Dismukes is another lawyer who argues engineering is second best. Chloe Troast is a teacher who is booed for saying teaching is the second best profession, and Bowen Yang gets a strong laugh as a man dressed oddly, claiming to be a doctor. We also get a Dave Grohl appearance as a man in a doctor’s costume for Halloween.

This was non-sequitur funny. I know what that means in my head. You’ll figure it out.

Foo Fighters 2

The band is joined by H.E.R. No second Walken intro, alas.

Please Don’t Destroy - “Dawg Food”

The lads eat dog food. And that, is basically, that.

A weird minimalist concept from these guys.

The Goodbye Wave

Best Sketch: This was an incredibly hard choice. There was an embarrassment of riches this week to select from. I'm going to go with Washington’s Dream edging out Chef Showdown because the former was just so smart. But a strong case could be made for several of the night’s sketches, and that’s a great problem to have after the recent past.

Worst Sketch: This category is misnamed this week. No sketches - not one - was actually bad this week. So, it comes down to which was the least strong. In a shocking turn of events, I’m going to say this one belongs to Please Don’t Destroy this week (but, twist my arm a bit and I’ll shift it to the Fran Drescher sketch).

Random Notes:

- Foo Fighters did two sets without overproduced tech, and just played good old fashioned rock. I am squarely in the demo that would appreciate that, and appreciate it, I did.

- Chloe Troast and JAJ didn’t have much to do this week. I know I keep saying it, but give Troast SOMETHING to do so we can see if she was a good acquisition.

- Sarah got a lot of screen time this week. And though I didn’t love the Fran Drescher sketch, it is always a delight to see her on Update insulting Colin.

- The episode smartly did not go all in on the Halloween thing. Yes, that sometimes works (David S. Pumpkins, Vincent Price’s Halloween parties), but with this week’s host they leaned into his style of comedy, and that paid off.

- Friends star Matthew Perry was remembered with a bumper card during a break.

This week was a breath of fresh air, and has renewed my faith in with this cast and writing staff are capable off. A true treat for Halloween!

Grade: A

If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting us on Patreon.