By Dustin Rowles | Saturday Night Live | January 18, 2015 |
By Dustin Rowles | Saturday Night Live | January 18, 2015 |
MLK Cold Open — The ghost of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Kenan Thompson) visits a student (Pete Davidson) writing a paper about him and gets a crash course in America’s racial progress. It’s actually a decent idea, and there were some OK jokes in it, but mostly, the execution falls flat. SNL’s cultural satire is like being gummed by an angry, elderly dog that’s lost all its teeth. You know it’s supposed to be biting, but mostly, it’s ticklishly annoying. (Score: 4/10)
Kevin Hart Monologue
Hart’s monologue actually turns out to be one of the biggest highlights of a very mediocre episode. It starts out slow, but the cruelty — and the laughter — flowers out late in the stand-up bit. (Score: 7/10)
Calvin Klein Ads
Justin Bieber (Kate McKinnon) strips down for a new set of Calvin Klein underwear ads. Whenever I think about Bieber in the context of SNL, I always think about Bill Hader saying he was the worst host he ever worked with. Nobody on SNL gives a shit about hurting Bieber’s feelings, and these ads are emasculating on a continental scale. Best I can tell, it’s warranted. Unfortunately, it’s also a fairly obvious take. (Score: 7/10)
Why’d You Post That
On Why’d You Post That? host Darnell (Kevin Hart) calls out Instagram users (Vanessa Bayer, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney) on their terrible photo choices. This sketch has nothing going for it except Kevin Hart’s energy, which is ample. (Score: 4/10)
Bushwick, Brooklyn 2015
Three friends (Kenan Thompson, Kevin Hart, Jay Pharoah) from Bushwick, Brooklyn, hang out on a corner and discuss what they’ve been up to. The best sketch of the night sees three “corner boys” basically commenting on the gentrification of their neighborhood. (Score: 8/10)
Get On Up
James Brown (Kevin Hart) polls his entire band mid-song before making any decisions. It’s a one-joke sketch that wears out about 30 seconds into it. Hart has a great James Brown, though. (Score: 4/10)
Soap Opera Reunion
When the cast of a popular soap opera is reunited on a talk show, one actor (Vanessa Bayer) realizes she’s being negatively singled out with her walk-on music. Ha ha! It’s funny because of the fart noises (it’s not funny. At all). (Score: 3/10)
Weekend Update — Not a bad “Weekend Update,” but absolutely not memorable. (Score: 6/10)
Weekend Update: Mrs. Santini Mrs. Santini (Kate McKinnon), a woman who lives in Colin Jost’s building, gives advice on how to deal with annoying neighbors. It’s more amusing than it has any right to be, thanks to McKinnon’s delivery. (Score: 6/10)The Journey
To escape the wrath of a dragon, one man (Kevin Hart) must get his companions (Kenan Thompson, Sasheer Zamata, Cecily Strong, Taran Killam) to stop breaking into song and get moving. Another one joke sketch, and another one that runs on way, way, way too long. (Score: 2/10)
Kevin’s Son
Kevin Hart finds out he has a son (Jay Pharoah) when he runs into a one-night stand (Leslie Jones) backstage at a comedy show. If you like see Pharaoh doing a Kevin Hart impression with Kevin Hart (which is to say, twice the obnoxiousness), have at it! (Score: 4/10)
Listening Party
Rapper Chocolate Droppa’s (Kevin Hart) new single is inspired by his crew; it also reveals all of their secrets. The only thing good about this sketch is how Kevin Hart manages to keep it up the entire time. It’s a 12 Red Bull sketch, and it’s exhausting. (Score: 4/10)