This is the final week of Round 1 action in the Season 49 SNL Sketch Face-Off. Our eyes turn to the Blue Division as the field narrows, and the road to the Golden Gilda gets just a little bit shorter.

Let’s find out which sketches make the cut!

*Current Standings going into this week.*

Round 1 - Bye
Each Division’s chronologically earliest regular season winner gets an automatic bye. Does any other tournament do byes like this. Almost certainly not.

The Blue Division’s Round 1 bye is Jerry’s Retirement. But, let’s be honest, there’s almost no way it will beat the Round 1 winner that is slated to match up against it. Let’s take a look!:

Beavis & Butt-Head vs. Fat Daddy

If Heidi Gardner were the sole arbitrator, it would be obvious that Beavis & Butt-head would hands down be declared the funniest sketch of all time. But let’s not count out Kenan Thompson’s pitmaster OB-GYN. Here’s how the reporting went on these sketches:

Beavis & Butt-Head:
I really don’t think describing this one will do it justice.

Heidi hosts a news show and interviews Kenan as an expert on A.I. Kenan, however, is distracted by an audience member ([host Ryan] Gosling) who “looks strikingly similar to Beavis from the cartoon Beavis and Butthead.” When Heidi turns to ask him to move, she chuckles as if she has never seen Gosling in costume before. She asks him to move and, in a completely normal voice, he agrees to move.

The next time we see the seat, it is filled by Mikey Day looking like Butthead. Once again, the distracted guest asks if he can be moved, Heidi turns around and, I say this without exaggeration, has the single greatest break in character in SNL history. She makes Jimmy Fallon look like an amateur, and cannot stop laughing for a significant time.

Later the two audience members are seen sitting together, and neither Gosling nor Day can remain in character. Then Chloe Fineman as another audience member loses it.

There’s a great little tack on at the end.

The breakdowns here felt organic and appropriate. There is no way Heidi saw Gosling and Day in full costume and makeup before this sketch. The whole thing was absolutely hilarious.

Fat Daddy:
Day and Nwodim are a a couple visiting the OBGYN. Their normal doctor is on vacation, so Kenan steps in as “Fat Daddy”. Turns out, he is actually a former pit master at a BBQ restaurant.

He proceeds to treat his exam as he would working a barbecue pit. The whole process devolves into the absurd and even offensive.

But I’d argue the offense and shock in this sketch are appropriate and very funny. It’s one of those times that you find yourself laughing while being mad at yourself and the show.

The sketch loses some heat as it ends with Punkie Johnson entering and already cracking up. But, honestly, once Kenan….well, did what he does, there were not many places for this to go.

This sketch, like the Good Morning sketch, felt a little dangerous. And that may well be a good thing from time to time.

Let’s go to the tape!

Woe be unto Fat Daddy for its Round 1 seed. Almost anywhere else in the bracket, this sketch would have advanced But Beavis & Butt-Head is just too strong a ridiculous competitor, and in what should be a surprise to no one, Beavis & Butt-Head advances.

Hot Ones v. WU Joke Exchange 2

Does the second joke exchange have what it takes to defeat Beyonce eating wings? Both are strong, but only one can advance. Let’s look at the recaps:

Hot Ones:

Last week, the post-monologue sketch featured Young Spicy. This week, it featured super spicy….hot wings!

In a parody of the “Hot Ones” show (where celebrities are interviewed while eating progressively hotter wings), Maya is none other than Beyonce and Mikey Day is a surprisingly spot on host, Sean Evans.

Despite the fact that this is the second time the show has used this premise with the host, Maya is fantastic as Beyonce in her Cowboy Carter get-up as she tries sauces with such names as Sargent Sphincters Volcanpeno sauce and a sauce that has no name, but the label is simply a picture of a flaming toilet.

Maya’s increasing physical and vocal comedy (that amps up with the Scoville ratings) is a joy to behold. She proclaims that her bones are on fire, douses Mikey with milk, and speaks in tongues. By the time she is lapping down skin lotion provided by her assistant (Kenan)), the laughs are strong.

So far, so good!

Weekend Update - Joke Exchange 2:

There was a silly desk spot by two cicadas with (Kenan Thompson and Marcello Hernandez), but the highlight came as Che and Jost swapped jokes they wrote for each other. It’s a season closing tradition whereby the two anchors allegedly don’t see the very inappropriate jokes before they are live. Like a 9 year old at Christmas, I am just choosing to believe this bit is real.

Last year, Che had a (fake) civil rights activist sit by Jost while Jost read some jokes he should not have. This year he Che brought in areal rabbi. (And yes, she was legit. Rabbi Jill Hausman is with the Actor’s Temple in New York). Jost’s discomfort at having to tell some jokes by the rabbi was great, particularly when a puppet got involved. Rabbi Jill’s disapproving looks throughout the bit are priceless.

But Jost won this year by having Che take Drake’s side and challenge Kendrick Lamar to a fight. Che lost it. And so did we.

Let’s read the tale of the tape!

The battle was fierce and the action was hot in this battle of the returning sketches. But the raucous, inappropriate and genuine fun the joke exchange generated this round, it gets the edge and advances!

Next week, we move into the bye round matchups, and then on to the Elite Eight! The journey to the Golden Gilda continues!

Stay tuned, and may your brackets remain unbusted!

Comments are welcome. Please feel free to share with family, friends, and vague acquaintances.

SNL After Party (S49 Sketch Face Off - Blue Division Round 1)