November 19, 2016 – Kristen Wiig / The xx (S42 E7) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

I suppose you’re wondering why I’m only covering Kristen’s S42 episode and not those from S38 and S45. Well, I’ve already written breakdowns on all the episodes from S38, and I’m not entirely comfortable reviewing an episode that I already covered in breakdown form. And as for her S45 episode, well, that was an At Home episode, and I don’t count that as an official hosting stint nor an official episode (and neither should you). Okay, enough stalling, let’s get to it.

Cold Open – Trump National Golf Club

• I’m not gonna elaborate on how stupid it is to keep Alec Baldwin playing Trump even after the election ended, especially seeing as how his last appearance had him dropping character.
• A laugh from Kate-as-Kellyanne saying that a “very nice tweet” was sent by David Duke.
• Funny bit with Trumpwin drawing out his planning.
• Some decent bits involving Trumpwin, which is more than I can say for most cold opens involving him that I’ve covered.
• Huh, I have no memory of Bobby’s part in this cold open.
• Bobby’s delivery is making me laugh as usual, and I got a big laugh from him shouting “$25 billion”.
• Fuck yeah, a cameo from Jason Sudeikis, reprising his always-solid Mitt Romney impression! Always a treat to see him.
• A laugh from the absurdly-long handshake between Jason and Trumpwin.
• I’m not sure if I find Jason’s brief cameo disappointing or funny for its length.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Very funny lines from Kristen early on regarding Thanksgiving, which are a perfect use of her deadpan delivery, a talent that I wish was utilized a lot more during her last three seasons.
• Kristen’s exchange regarding what guitar to play is solid.
• A musical monologue. I hope this is an improvement over her other two musical monologues, both of which made me extremely angry when I covered them.
• A cute appearance from Melissa, and hearing her voice replaced by Kristen’s is oddly fitting.
• I’m loving how the lyrics to this song keep getting more and more ridiculous.
• This monologue in general is making a great use of what seems to be the entire cast (aside from Jost and Che), as well as some writers.
• The melody to this song is also pretty catchy.
• Steve Martin cameo! Always great to see him.
• A Steve Martin cameo was certainly exciting, but here’s someone who I’m even more excited for: WILL FORTE!!! And with a full beard!
• Will: “Less applause than Steve Martin. Gonna remember that.”
• By the way, between that aforementioned quote and his S47 monologue, Will seems to love joking about how he gets less applause than a cameo.
• Is it just me, or is Will’s singing voice not as strong as it was during his tenure? I’m not complaining, as I always love hearing him sing.
• Funny cutaway to an exploding audience member’s head.

Rating: ****

The Bubble

• Here’s a very well-known piece.
• Great premise for this fake ad, with there being a place where political talk doesn’t happen.
• So many great laughs from everything you’ll come to expect when in the Bubble.
• Sasheer’s facial expression after Kyle says they “celebrate color” was perfect.
• An overall very strong pretape, though not as strong as I remember.

Rating: ****

Secret Word

• Y’know, back in November 2016, I actually predicted that they would do one of these sketches, as 12-year-old me had recently gotten into those sketches, for reasons that I’d rather not get into, so you can imagine how I felt when I found out they did. Then again, 12-year-old me also had rather shitty tastes, so…yeah.
• By the way, I don’t like the fact that my tradition of covering prior hosting stints of returning hosts for this current season has led me to cover TWO of these sketches.
• Huh, I thought for sure that the GSN promo at the start had Verb Herbz and not Quiz Pigz.
• Blah at Kenan’s name being Grant Choad.
• A laugh from Kenan’s line about how he thinks he got the job because he “auditioned over the phone”.
• Very funny prerecorded message from Bill Hader about why he’s not there.
• Boy, Cecily sure is overdoing it in her delivery during her opening walk-on.
• Blah at the tired “you said the secret word” gag.
• Man, this dramatic scene from Kristen is going on a little too long for my likings.
• Huh, I recall Cecily IMMEDIATELY saying the secret word actually being funny.
• Meh at the running gag with Cecily slapping someone.
• Boy, I never realized until now how sad it is seeing Melissa being relegated to playing a dull straight man to Kristen. I feel like there’s a metaphor there or something…
• I’m at least liking Kenan’s game show host performance, even if he’s obviously nowhere near as strong as Bill was.
• Ugh, another musical number…
• The usual insufferable installment of this recurring sketch.

Rating: *½

Anderson Cooper 360

• I’m liking the escalation to this sketch, with all of the panelists saying the same things over and over again after every headline, with some slight variations. It kinda reminds me of that Business Meeting sketch from the S30 Luke Wilson episode (and, to a lesser extent, the Key Party sketch from that same season). Not only that, but it’s also a good exaggeration of how I tend to view the news.
• I like how the repeated lines get more and more exaggerated every time.
• Solid Westworld twist, and you gotta give props to the cast for staying perfectly still.
• Odd gaffe with the voiceover at the end.

Rating: ***½

Target

• Odd seeing a normal Target ad, given who the host is.
• Funny premise of driving to Target to just relax after the election. Cecily is executing this very well.
• Solid laughs from all the boring things you can do at Target.
• Good ending exchange between Aidy and Cecily.

Rating: ***½

QVC Auditions

• Why do I feel like I heard the name Joyce Childers somewhere else?
• Boy, Cecily’s wig and Southern accent are giving me big Anderlette vibes.
• Further sign that this is an Anderlette sketch is the part where Cecily complains about her closet.
• Meh, the more this goes on, the more this sketch is losing me. I don’t know what it is, but something about the direction seems off (by which I mean the way that this is being directed, not the turn that this has taken).
• Boy, with Kristen and Cecily arguing while using those Southern accents, I bet that Anderlette must be in heaven.
• I got a laugh from Bobby smugly stating that the gun is for a play he’s directing.
• Another laugh from Bobby and Beck dodging the fuck out of this after Cecily reveals they’re sleeping with each other.
• Was the ending pretaped? Because that’s the only logical conclusion I can come up with for how they were able to get in those dresses so fast.

Rating: **½

Weekend Update

• Boy, hearing Colin and Michael go into detail about what Trump has done is making this feel even more like a time capsule (or history book, or whatever).
• I’m really liking Colin’s detailed reason as to why Trump appointed all these people. To quote what I said in my review of the following Emma Stone episode: “Man, remember when he and Michael actually put effort into their jokes and seemed to give a shit? Yeah, me too”.
• Damn at all of Michael’s lines regarding Obama.
• I spoke too soon, as pretty much all of Michael’s lines after that are gold.
• Huh, I have no memory of this commentary of Pete’s.
• I’m about a minute into this commentary, and my feelings are kinda mixed. I think Pete has some funny lines, but I’m not caring for the way he’s executing them.
• Why do I get the feeling that there’s something fitting about Pete mentioning Kanye?
• Yeah, the more this goes on, the more and more bored I’m getting.
• Ha, Michael looks pretty embarrassed by that “Dwayne ‘The Scissors’ Johnson” joke.
• Willie!
• Very funny lines from Willie regarding what his father told him about O.J. Simpson.
• The usual solid commentary from Willie, even if there wasn’t really anything I found worth highlighting.

Rating: ***½

Thanksgiving Parade

• Another fun premise tonight.
• Very spot-on balloon movements from the performers, and the way this is being presented is pretty cool.
• Wow, the extreme closeup of Kristen’s smile is both funny and terrifying.
• Speaking of terrifying, the closeup of Bobby as a clown is also creepy. Still funny, though.
• A good turn with Kristen (Wiig) now having Kristin Chenoweth in her hand and about to kill her.
• Uh, wouldn’t Beck’s corny “defying gravity” pun make a lot more sense if Kristen had killed Idina Menzel instead? I dunno, I’m just being nitpicky.

Rating: ***½

Whiskers R’ We

• Meh, one of these sketches. Plus, I feel like I just covered one of these, even though it was in a breakdown of an episode from 9 years ago.
• I’m not caring too much for Kristen’s performance here.
• Was Kristen’s pause after her American Idol line intentional? It sure didn’t sound that way.
• So far, all of Kate and Kristen’s lines about the cats are mildly funny at best.
• Also not helping matters is the fact that the pacing of this sketch is so slow.
• Bobby steals this for me with his brief appearance as a Cats character. In fact, I think he’s playing the same one he played in the Save Broadway sketch from S34.

Rating: **½

Surprise

• Meh, the return of Surprise Sue.
• By the way, you know how I mentioned that I disliked the fact that I had to cover two Secret Word sketches due to their respective hosts? Well, same goes for this character.
• God, Kristen’s excitement is really annoying, even moreso than usual.
• Ugh, now Leslie’s starting to break due to Kristen’s antics.
• Ugh at the obligatory window-smashing gag.
• An overall weak way to end the night.

Rating: **

Cut for Time: Goddesses of Creation

• I recall hearing that Julio Torres wrote this sketch. If so, then I’m looking forward to this, as I haven’t watched it in a while.
• A laugh from the use of the “losing horns” sound effect when Kate’s idea is rejected.
• I’m loving Kristen’s deadpan lines about the flamingo she created.
• I’m really enjoying how this sketch is playing out, with Kristen’s ideas always being approved, much to the chagrin of Kate and Vanessa.
• A laugh from how Cecily’s voice IMMEDIATELY moves on to Kristen after Vanessa says she has an idea.
• Solid ending.
• An overall great pretape.

Rating: ****½

Cut for Time: Thanksgiving Foods

• Ah, one of those sketches where a host says crazy things about holiday foods, in the same vein as the classic Ornaments sketch from S37. I recall loving that one, yet I’m drawing a blank on the installments with Edward Norton and Michael Keaton (and I haven’t even seen the one with Bill Hader yet).
• Kristen is absolutely perfect for this.
• Kenan isn’t as funny as others have been in past installments (including Kristen).
• As usual, lots of funny oddball lines from Kristen about the foods. Not sure why it works for me here and not Whiskers R’ We.
• A big laugh from Kristen casually revealing that he killed Mr. Potato Head.
• A funny brief bit with Bobby.
• A good reveal of Kristen’s “turkey” actually being a turtle.
• I like the reveal of Kristen’s name being “Wisten Kriig”.

Rating: ****

Final Thoughts

• A good episode, and an improvement over the last one Kristen hosted. The average for this episode will be badly hurt by the couple bombs scattered throughout (both of which are returning Kristen Wiig favorites), but the night as a whole was pretty consistent. Kristen was also thankfully utilized very well tonight, and I also liked how, unlike her S38 episode, the show didn’t stick her in mostly recurring bits (come to think of it, her S46 episode didn’t really have any old favorites, but I wouldn’t give that episode points for originality).