SNL After Party (S49 E12- Air Date 2/24/24) - "I Love Women. That's What Dolls Are Based On."
Host: Shane Gillis
Musical Guest: Jennifer Lopez
The SNL recap game can be a lonely, thankless business. But, every once in a while, you are there for a moment of history being writ large on the pop culture landscape.
That moment came this week, as I was able to witness what is surely the worst episode of SNL this season. And possibly of all time.
Let’s head into the After Party, where surely eye contact is at a minimum this week.
Cold Open
This week’s cold open sets the tone for the episode. It is a sketch that is neither funny nor does it contain anything new. (Guys, I kid you not, there’s an actual Forrest Gump sketch coming later.)
In this sketch, several Republican senators gather to talk about how much they hate Trump, yet how they also love him.
Laughs were hard to find here, and the cast struggled. Not a good start.
But one that helped set expectations appropriately low.
Monologue
Shane Gillis was famously hired to join the SNL cast in 2019, and was fired days after the announcement when video of him making racist (particularly towards Asians) slurs and a history of homophobic comedy by him came to light.
So, now, the guy is hosting SNL. Why? No one knows.
His monologue veers away - largely - from homophobia, but doubles down on Down’s Syndrome material. Now, clearly Gillis wasn’t doing this from a mean-spirited place. But it felt offensive. And it’s nothing new.
Gillis flounders and stumbles through the entire monologue, repeatedly suggesting to the audience that he really thought this bit or another would get a laugh that was not forthcoming.
Gillis felt like an open mic’er who won a lottery to get to be on SNL. I swear I could smell the flop sweat from here.
The low bar set by the cold open was welded in place by this monologue.
Vacation Church
Gillis and his wife (Heidi Gardner) and kids (Molly Kearney and Andrew Dismukes) are on vacation in Jamaica. They attend church led by Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim.
This was confusing as it felt offensive, particularly when Gillis affected the accent. But, again, it didn’t seem mean-spirited.
But it also didn’t seem that funny. Gamely played by the cast, but yeesh.
“Rock Bottom Kings”
The first pre-taped bit this week was a commercial for a betting service where you can bet on how your online gambling addicted friend will hit rock bottom.
Clever more than funny, but any port in a storm….
HR Meeting
Gillis wisely uses his reputation to be that guy in the HR meeting (led by Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman) who asks a lot of questions looking for loopholes.
I’ve been in these meetings, and Gillis really is only a slightly exaggerated version of “that guy”. It’s a funny enough sketch, with an assist from Kenan doing one of his ridiculous characters who has a penchant for tickling.
Trump Sneakers
A movie preview for a film about how Trump’s recently released $400 sneakers give one man the ability to convince people he can do great things when he objectively cannot.
It leads to a Trump-off between Gillis (pretty good, actually) and JAJ (always good).
It’s a fairly sharp bit of comedy and satire in an episode that sorely needed it.
The Floor
Michael Longfellow plays Rob Lowe as host of the game show, The Floor.
Gillis faces a series of contestants. It starts off funny enough, as contestant Yang has a difficult time identifying milk.
Then Gillis has a tough time identifying black historic figures….other than Cleveland from The Family Guy.
That’s pretty much the sketch. And it ends so abruptly that a good personal injury lawyer may be able to file a class action whiplash case.
Weekend Update
This week’s installment felt flat overall. A couple of good jokes. As always, the jokes Jost tells at his expense land well.
Marcello Hernandez visits the desk as an Alabama embryo, but it is Yang’s Truman Capote that brings the laughs. Capote - in honor of the upcoming Women’s History Month - discusses his favorite female historical figures.
For each of them, he insults them and comments on their hats. Yang is fantastic in this role, and this appearance elevates this week’s Update.
Gump
Well…
Here we are in 2024 doing a Forrest Gump sketch. Why? No one knows.
The point is that Gillis is the guy who chucked rocks at Forrest Gump in high school and is now back for his 20 year high school reunion.
Gillis is jealous at all the accomplishments Gump (Mikey Day) has under his belt.
There is literally no reason this sketch should exist in this century. It’s not offensive. It’s just weird and dated.
Fugliana
Good lord.
This is an ad for “average looking sex dolls for below average looking men.”
The sketch is objectively not funny, but Sarah Sherman gives it her glorious weird all in this patently sophomoric sketch as the doll. So, kudos to her.
They’re Listening
A group of friends discusses their concerns about Alexa listening to their conversations (another timely sketch!)
Basically, Gillis is dubious that Alexa is listening, and his personal ads are for Green Bay Packer themed musical sex toys.
The end result is predictable and about as funny as it sounds. Though, in fairness, it did generate more studio audience laughs that most of the night’s offerings.
The Goodbye Wave
Best Sketch: Update, specifically Yang’s appearance as Truman Capote.
Worst Sketch: Talk about a wealth of choices for this honor. An argument could be made for most of the sketches this week, but I’m going to take a different approach this week. I’m naming the Cold Open plus the monologue as the worst of the week because both were painfully unamusing and really set the tone for the night.
Random Notes:
- I had concerns that Bowen Yang might miss this week. Fortunately, he did not, and he was gracious to Gillis on stage. He even gave him a hug at the end of the night. Though his facial expression let us know he was just being nice.
- Musical guest 21 Savage’s first number had a Fifth Element opera scene vibe to it. Hey, it’s a more timely reference than Forrest Gump….
- Gillis would not have been a good addition to the cast, right?He probably would have been fine as a supporting guy in a sketch here and there, but his voice is probably not one that needed a national platform.
So, why was Gillis on the show? Was Lorne just messing with the guy and letting him fail? Was it a weird consolation for his unceremonious firing? I don’t know. But it seemed unnecessary and a weird choice, when there are plenty of stronger choices available. Heck, Christopher Walken should be promoting Dune right about now. Bring him back.
This was a giant misfire of an episode, and definitely a low point for the season. It is legitimately one of the all-time weaker episodes.
Still, I respect the effort that goes into this show, and if it makes air, I can’t ever really say it’s a failure.
Grade: D-
As always, we grade SNL episodes in comparison to other SNL episodes. Not TV in general.
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