Saturday Night Live Season 42 review: Was Alec Baldwin funny?
By Josh Hill
Alec Baldwin stopped by Saturday Night Live for the 17th time, and it was one of the best episodes of the year.
Earlier this season we saw the high bar for Saturday Night Live set by Dave Chappelle and his post-election episode. Since then, no one has come close to clearing it — until Alec Baldwin stopped by, that is.
The Emmy-winning actor hosted a record-breaking 17th episode of SNL this weekend and it was clear that the best was saved for this show. Everything landed well, even the bizarro last skit of the night about a kid who can’t stop farting while doing sit-ups.
Whether it was the biting satirical wit that the skits had or the fearlessness in which they were executed, everything went right tonight.
Here are all the things from tonight’s SNL episode you need to know about for the water cooler this week:
SNL Rundown…
1. The cold open didn’t feature Donald Trump, but instead saw Melissa McCarthy return as Sean Spicer. If you didn’t think it could get better than the first time, it did.
2. In addition to McCarthy in the cold open, we finally saw Jeff Sessions get the troll job he deserves. To put a cherry on top of the troll cake, Kate McKinnon portray the new Attorney General.
3. Baldwin’s monologue might have been the lowest point of the night, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. The bar was set so high from this point on that the monologue was forgettable in hindsight.
4. SNL’s relentless attack on liberal sensitivity and sensibility continued with an expert skit about Cheetos going way overboard with selling current social issues as a way to sell a snack food.
5. This came after a visceral skit about Black History Month and Russell Stover chocolate boxes representing black historical figures. It’s clear that SNL isn’t going to hold back on the skits that make us squirm in the best possible way.
6. We only saw Baldwin’s Trump once, and it was worth the wait. Starring in a People’s Court skit, Baldwin and the SNL team knocked yet another Trump troll out of the park.
7. Leslie Jones went above and beyond tonight. Not only did she kill on The Weekend Update, but her short film about trying to play Trump on the show is low key one of the best things the show has done all season.
Verdict
Here’s where this episode stacks up against the others that we’ve seen this season:
1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest — A+
2. Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran — A
3. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga — A-
4. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange — B-
5. Kristen Wiig/The xx — B-
6. Aziz Ansari/Big Sean — C+
7. Felicity Jones/Stergil Simpson — C+
8. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd — C+
9. Casey Affleck/Chance the Rapper — C
10. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes — C
11. Kristen Stewart/Aleesia Cara — C
12. Lin-Manuel Miranda/TwentyOne Pilots — C-
13. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars — D+
14. John Cena/Maren Morris — D-
must read: 30 Best Late Night Jokes about Donald Trump
Next Week on SNL…
There won’t be another Saturday Night Live this month, as the show is taking a two week break before returning at the beginning of March. It’s always rough when the show takes time off, but the post-Oscars show is sure to be one for the ages. There isn’t a musical guest lined up, but chances are host Octavia Spencer (who could be a two-time Oscar winner at airtime) will be joined by someone who wins big at the Grammys.
Date: Mar. 4th
Host: Octavia Spencer
Musical Guest: TBD
TV Channel: NBC
Live Stream: Stream 1 | Stream 2
Be sure to check out Last Night On for all your SNL highlights.