October 26, 2019 – Chance the Rapper (S45 E4) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another installment of Season 45 Random Reviews. I wasn’t initially planning on doing more than one per week, but my gut is telling me I should write a review, so I’m gonna listen to that gut. Now, I’m still not sure if I want to review every episode from this season, so when the time is right, I’m gonna do more of these random episode reviews until I come to a conclusion.

Now, it took me some time to decide which episode I want to review. And after picking an episode out of a hat (not literally), I decided to go for the Chance the Rapper episode. Not sure why I went for that one, but there are a few sketches from that episode that I’ve seen that I’d like to talk about, so I’m left curious. It also helps that I remember liking Chance’s first episode, and I find him to be very fun and likable, so I think I’m gonna like this one. Only one way to find out, though, so let’s get to it.

Cold Open – Trump Rally

• (*groan*) Baldwin’s Trump.
• Boy, Alec is mugging up a storm during his dialogue.
• Chloe looks rather sexy in that dress.
• What the hell are all the background extras saying in unison?
• Cecily using the same voice she uses for a lot of her roles.
• Didn’t care for Cecily’s Mickey Mouse joke.
• I don’t like how Chloe is pretty much stuck in a thankless role.
• Not caring for Aidy’s dialogue.
• Ugh, Kate’s Lindsey Graham.
• Oh God, now we get Graham doing a soliloquy? Make it stop!
• Well, at least we have Alex’s Mark Zuckerberg to give this monologue some life.
• Unfortunately, Alex couldn’t manage to save this open for me.
• Now we get the return of Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton.
• Oh God, now we get Fred Armisen making his bazillionth cameo after leaving the show.
• Fred’s just using the same voice we see him use for a lot of other foreign political figures. At this point, he can pretty much play this role in his sleep.
• This cold open is going on forever!
• Finally, it’s over. Oof. Fuck this open, to say the least.

Rating: *

Monologue

• Fun energetic entrance from Chance.
• Amusing opening bit from Chance about Chicago teachers going on strike.
• I’m finding myself actually enjoying Chance’s song so far, and there are a lot of good lyrics.
• Kyle rapping never fails to be funny.
• A lot of funny examples of Chance and Kyle preferring the second-best over the actual best.
• A funny exchange between Chance and Kyle: Kyle: “Do you think I could be on your next album?” Chance: “No.”
• I still don’t like whenever a double-duty host ends their monologue with “I’m here”.

Rating: ***½

League of Legends World Championship

• Looks like we’re getting a follow-up to the Sports Reporter sketch from Chance’s first episode, judging from the setup.
• Andrew Dismukes sighting!
• As usual, Chance is a lot of fun in this role.
• Great bit with Chance refusing to describe what happened in a previous round.
• Chance is so good here that I don’t mind his slight breaking.
• Much like the first installment, the material is nothing special on paper, but Chance’s performance makes it way better than it has any right to be.
• Great facial expression from Bowen.
• Bowen’s great as a typical nerd.
• Chloe’s great as a fangirl, and I love how we’re seeing both her and Bowen side-by-side.
• The awkward silence after Chloe leaves is making me laugh.

Rating: ****

First Impressions Court

• Okay, even though I haven’t seen this episode in its entirety, I have seen these next three sketches, so chances are I’m probably gonna give these a high grade. We’ll see.
• Great makeup job on Chance.
• A fun conceit to this sketch, with Chance as a judge who takes no more than ten seconds to decide the verdict.
• Great reveal of the title.
• Kenan’s look is reminding me of the Cast List sketch from this season.
• Fun performance from Chance.
• The scene with Aidy and Chris made me laugh.
• A huge laugh from Chance banging his gavel before Beck can even finish describing the plaintiff, played by Kyle.
• Great entrance from Bowen as a male exotic dancer, and I love how you can hear Chance about to crack up during his verdict.
• Ha, Chance actually DOES crack up.
• Hilarious fake-out with Mikey and Melissa’s seemingly-normal characters, only for it to turn out that the latter has had some of her teeth pulled out.
• Ha, now we get a Jason Momoa cameo. Awesome!
• This whole scene with Jason is freakin’ HILARIOUS.
• Overall, a perfect and underrated gem.

Rating: *****

Tasty Toaster Tarts

• Ah, here’s a sketch that I recall loving when I first saw it on YouTube last summer. Granted, I haven’t seen it in a while, so I hope it lives up to my positive memories.
• Another fun performance from Chance tonight.
• I love how Chance couldn’t come up with a better lie for his parents’ absence other than that they’re “on vacation”.
• I love all the subtle hints that Chance might have killed his parents, all of which we’re seeing while Chance is listing more junk products.
• Chance’s deliveries of “No” and “No it’s not” really made me laugh.
• Mikey: “What’s in the fridge, Jason?” Chance: “Nobody is.”
• A great turn with this ad suddenly turning lighthearted.
• A fantastic ending visual of a bloody handprint on the toaster.
• Overall, this sketch definitely lived up to my positive memories.

Rating: *****

Graveyard Ghosts

• Here’s another sketch I recall loving. We’ll see if that still rings true.
• Kenan singing never fails to be funny.
• There goes Aidy using that exaggerated British accent AGAIN.
• Hilarious how Chance wants to be skipped.
• Impressive visual effects of the clouds displaying visuals of how everyone died.
• Chance continues to be solid, as he’s very fun in this role.
• Kenan’s delivery of “It is not” made me laugh.
• Hilarious description from Chance as to how he died.
• Great cutaway to the nodding owl.
• I love everyone’s reaction to Chance’s verse.
• Overall, a true hidden gem.

Rating: ****½

Musical Performance – “Zanies and Fools”

• Interesting intro as Chance introduces himself in the third person.
• Nice visuals before Chance even starts rapping.
• Nice use of a full orchestra.
• I’m loving Chance’s high-energy rapping.
• I love the purple lights throughout the performance.
• Great dancing from Chance’s backup dancers.
• I’m running out of ways to praise this performance more than I already have.
• I love Chance’s singing of “impossible”.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Another solid opening spiel from Colin, this time on the subject of Trump’s real-life tweets.
• Solid rant from Michael about Giuliani.
• As always, I’m a sucker for Colin and Michael’s various Mitch McConnell jokes.
• Always nice to see Mikey and Alex’s Trump brothers.
• I love Alex’s smug deliveries of “I had to go” and “I still lay down”.
• Alex continues to kill it throughout this commentary.
• Alex’s whole Kamala bit is very solid.
• I love the part where Alex makes a face on his new pin toy.
• I liked Michael’s whole Kanye bit.
• Michael’s Mayflower joke was very solid.

Rating: ****

Love at First Sight

• Cecily looks great in that dress.
• The line “Give him a chance, Jennifer” made me chuckle, for obvious reasons.
• Another solid performance from Chance tonight.
• A fun portion with Chance and Cecily hovering.
• A funny blooper with the wires being swayed the wrong way at first.
• Ha, I love how Chance is now starting to break after that aforementioned blooper.
• Now this sketch is starting to go hilariously off the rails.
• Fun part with Chance sinking after being kissed by Cecily.
• Is this whole portion with Cecily trying to find her purse ad-libbed?
• Man, all the breaking is very fun to watch.
• Great ending.

Rating: ****

Space Mistakes

• Great visual quality to this short.
• Solid dramatic acting from Ego.
• Funny visual of Kyle exploding.
• I’m getting pretty good laughs from all the mistakes being made by everyone at NASA.
• Overall, this was good, but not as good as I thought it would be.

Rating: ***½

Dazzle Designs

• Uh-oh. A sketch starring Aidy and Kate front-and-center? Well, THIS certainly spells doom.
• Oh God, right off the jump, these two ALREADY feel the need to break.
• Not caring for Kate’s delivery.
• Ugh, and now we get them singing.
• Uh-oh, I’m getting flashbacks to the Hotel Ad sketch from the recent Billie Eilish episode.
• Well, at least we have Chance here to help add some life to this sketch.
• What exactly is this sketch GOING for? This feels way too self-amused.
• I did get a chuckle from Chance’s “those farts are coming out of your mouth” line.
• Overall, I barely got any laughs from this sketch. Leave it to Aidy and Kate to ruin the perfect streak of sketches this episode had been building up.

Rating: *½

Musical Performance – “Handsome”

• Ha, we get Jason Momoa introducing the second performance. Love that.
• Great staging.
• Nice chorus.
• I like Chance’s singing here. Not sure if I like it more or less than his rapping.
• Oh joy, Megan Thee Stallion.
• Well, at least Megan is giving her all in this performance.

Rating: ***

Dance Rehearsal

• Mixed feelings on how this’ll turn out.
• What the hell is with the turn with Kenan being scared of the full moon?
• A good laugh from the visual of Kenan in those bushy eyebrows.
• Kenan seems like he’s about to crack up.
• Solid straight man delivery from Chance.
• The visuals of Kenan getting harrier and harrier are getting more funny as they go along.
• I got a good laugh from the moment where Kenan kills Chloe.

Rating: ***

Cut For Time: 80s Drug PSA

• Already off to a good start with Kenan and Chance’s characters.
• A good turn with Kenan and Chance kinda being into the drug they say they’re against.
• I’m getting mild laughs from the material in this sketch.
• Overall, this was decent, but not as good as I thought it would be.

Rating: ***

Final Thoughts

• While not as good as the preceding David Harbour episode, this was still a very solid Season 45 episode. Chance the Rapper was once again a very solid host, and there was a lot of high-quality material throughout the entire night. In fact, every rated segment from League of Legends World Championship to Love at First Sight received a rating in the 4-5 star range. The really bad segments will hurt this episode’s average a little bit (looking at you, Trump Rally and Dazzle Designs), but not too much, given how much high ratings were given.
• With this being the third episode this season that I felt positive about while reviewing it, it has finally made me come to a decision: I’m gonna review all the episodes from this season when I have the time. I think it feels right, given how much I’ve been enjoying what I’ve seen so far. That is, unless One SNL A Day 2.0 starts posting them this month. In that case, I’m screwed.

Rating: ***½

Well, that’s all for now. I’m Jesse Nathan, saying “I ain’t ‘fraid of no sleep, I ain’t ‘fraid of no bed”.