SNL After Party (S49 E16Air Date 4/6/24 - "Pebbles Was My Service Chinchilla")

 Host: Kristen Wiig
Musical Guest: Raye

One of SNL’s brightest talents of all time. Kristen Wiig, returns home to host the show for her fifth time (more on that later).

Does Wiig bring her usual oddball kinetic energy to the show, or does she just phone it in by rehashing old characters?

Spoiler alert: She crushes it in a terrific episode full of welcome oddity and great pacing.

Cold Open

Eschewing politics, the cold open makes some pointed jabs at the state of college basketball. Here, for a change, no one cares about the men’s NCAA and are focused on the women’s tournament.

James Austin Johnson, Devin Walker, and Kenan Thompson don’t know the facts on this year’s mens’ tourney while discussing the women. Walker notes that 14 million people watched the Iowa-Connecticut womens’ game, which are “Young Sheldon numbers.”

LSU women’s coach Kim Mulkey (Heidi Gardner) drops by dressed like “The Riddler went to Talbot’s.”

Turns out she isn’t paying attention to the mens’ tournament either.

It’s a smart and funny take. And a good start to this week’s show.

Monologue

Wiig makes her fifth appearance as host on the show she once - arguably - dominated. And, of course, that means it’s time to do the whole “Fiver-Timer” thing.

This bit certainly has the potential of wearing out it’s welcome, jumping the shark, and doing a comedy face plant.

Here, it does none of those things.

Wiig starts in a cute bit where she asks the band members how they are doing, and each plays a quick riff in response. Until she gets to saxophonist Lenny how he’s doing and he just replies “I’m ok.”

Then we turn to the real business at hand. The Five-Timer Club. This time, a star-studded cavalcade of people who have not actually hosted five times show up with jackets that Lorne just gave to them for various reasons.

Paul Rudd, who is an actual five-timer kicked things off hoping to be in the five-timer sketch. He is followed by writer Paula Pell (always a delight) pretending to be pretending to be an audience member and Matt Damon (who was so good in two appearances they counted as five, and who claims he grew up watching Wiig).

Fred Armisen, Jon Hamm, Martin Short, Will Forte pop in to join Wiig in what has to have been an intentionally terrible song that they stop in the middle of because Ryan Gosling shows up in a Five-Timer jacket.

It is a high energy, fast-paced and fun monologue that sets the tone for the evening.

Jumanji

Wiig is dating JAJ who is introducing her to his friends at a dinner party. Things are going great until Andrew Dismukes suggests everyone play the boardgames “Ticket to Ride”.

She reveals she does not play board games “lest they Jumanji” her.

This leads to an amazing argument on the semantics of “Jumanji”. Which movie are we talking about? Doesn’t Jumanji actually release Jumanji? And there are no “jungle emergencies” in Ticket to Ride.

Things go . . . wait for it . . . off the rails when Ticket to Ride does, in fact, Jumanji the group, releasing a train and Will Forte as sinister conductor.

It’s clever, different, and a lot of fun.

Pilates

This is a pre-taped film trailer for a horror movie in which Wiig runs a pilates class. Think Saw meets Perfect.

This one is more clever than funny, but it is well done, and it gives Molly Kearney a chance to do something. They’ve needed more screen time!

Secretaries

Heidi Gardner reprises her screwball comedy voiced secretary. Her boss (Jon Hamm!) introduces a client to her and his new secretary (Wiig). She also has the same speech patter. Between Wiig and Gardner, the two secretaries are inappropriate and full of innuendo and nonsense.

It’s a ridiculous bit that ends up with the ladies’ clothes somehow flying off after Wiig sits on a collapsing desk (that doesn’t collapse well…which makes it funnier).

This bit is objectively idiotic, but Wiig and Gardner are having so much fun it doesn’t matter.

Jerry’s Retirement

The cast and the plethora of cameo stars do quick bits at a retirement party for Kenan’s Jerry.

Mikey Day emcees the event.

Heidi Gardner thanks Jerry for sharing Corn Nuts.

Bowen Yang laments the death of his service chinchilla, Pebbles and thinks Jerry for scooping Pebbles’ intestines into a mug.

Next up is office improv troupe “Gits and Shingles” led by Punkie Johnson, with Paul Rudd and Chloe Fineman. No one wants to see them.

Fred Armisen who cannot say what he wants, because HR, aka “The Sex Police” are there.

Wiig takes the mic, who compliments Jerry by making statements that sound like insults. It’s very funny, and Wiig is terrific.

Marcello Hernandez pops in saying he and all the guys in sales got Jerry something, and proceeds to provide a rather rude gift.

Matt Damon then appears as “Hollywood actor Matt Damon from the Legend of Bagger Vance.” He proceeds to talk about how he got to know Jerry while working on a film with a character based on him that ultimately did not get made. Damon is really good at comedy.

Forte appears as one of his weird characters who advises everyone that “Death is in this room.” So odd, and so funny.

The whole sketch is fantastic, as none of the speakers overstay their welcome and all deliver.

Weekend Update

The jokes this week felt a little flat this week, not getting huge laughs. Still, solid stuff. One of the better jokes was that there was talk of renaming Dulles airport for former President Trump. The joke noted that the name change was appropriate, because Dulles is “a chaotic nightmare that turns you against your own family.”

The first desk guest is Macello Hernandez as this week’s New York Earthquake. The bit starts out as a kind stupid bit, but it ratchets it up a notch when Kenan shows up as the eclipse and the earthquake and eclipse have a wrestling style shout-down. It is still dumb, but it is also really funny.

The second guest is Wiig bringing back her Aunt Linda character to discuss this past year’s hit movies. Her critique about Barbie asks “And where are they, on the moon?”

This was a welcome, reasonably brief, appearance of one of Wiig’s old characters.

Go-Karts

Wiig and JAJ prepare to tell their kids (Andrew Dismukes and Chloe Troast) some bad news as they wait to race go-karts.

The deadpan deliver of both Wiig and JAJ really sells this sketch.

Sonic Pioneers

Ego Nwodim hosts this PBS show about a French disco show from the 70’s. This is another sketch really composed of quick bits. And it works.

Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman host the French show “La Maison Du Bang” (along with Champagne du Bebe, a toddler with a mustache who drinks and smokes).

Acts include Kristin Wiig as Tipi Tornade performing her hit “Help, You’re Making Me Dance.”

Chloe Troast appears as a singer who developed emphysema mid-song (hilarious), and we also get a mime and a weird duo.

It’s a very funny sketch that - like Jerry’s Retirement - benefits from having lightning fast quick bits.

The Goodbye Wave

Best Sketch: This was a really hard call for me. I could have easily picked Jumanji (and almost did), but in the end Jerry’s Retirement was just so well done and so filled with laughs, that I had to go with it. But I could have easily been Jumanjied in a different direction. I’m probably using that term wrong.

Worst Sketch: There were no bad sketches this week. Not a one. I guess I’ll go with Pilates here because it just wasn’t that funny. Any other week, this one would not have even been in consideration for this slot.

Random Notes:

- Raye is just Amy Winehouse Light, right?

- We only got one old Wiig character (unless you count the Target ad during the stream of the show in which Wiig’s Target lady appeared). I was grateful for this as I am always in abject fear that Gilly is going to show up. Having Will Forte in the studio really amped up my anxiety on this. But, it was a Spring miracle. Gilly was mentioned (in the monologue song) but not seen.

- This was one of those occasions where a ton of cameos worked and felt unforced. The sketches used the cameo players well to enhance the comedy. Sometimes that doesn’t work out. This week, it really did.

- Considering all the cameos, it was almost surprising at the ones that didn’t show. Martin Short was there, but no Steve Martin (an actual Five-Timer member). And it was somewhat surprising that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler didn’t drop in. Still and all, I understand that you don’t want to overstuff the comedy Oreo. Just interesting that some folks didn’t pop up.

Wiig was unsurprisingly fantastic. There was a palpable vibe to this show that is sometimes missing. She is missed, and it is always a delight to have her return. She has not lost an iota of her talent and energy.

Grade: A

As always, we grade SNL episodes in comparison to other SNL episodes. Not TV in general.

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