Dua Lipa Hosts the Season's Worst Episode of 'SNL'

Saturday Night Live follows up maybe the best episode of the season — the one hosted by Ryan Gosling - with the worst of the season, hosted by Dua Lipa. She’s less a host and more of an extra cast member who appears in most of the sketches — she really does not take command of the episode. It’s a shame, too, because just yesterday I was celebrating this season as one of the best in recent memory.

Cold Open —The cold open is a community affairs program in which they speak to parents of Columbia students, one of whom is supportive of protestors as long as it isn’t his daughter because he pays $68,000 a year in tuition and you better believe he’s going to get a graduation ceremony! Not a great skit, but Kenan makes it work. (Watch Here) (Score: 4.5 out of 10)

Dua Lipa Monologue— She seems nice and lively, but based on this monologue, I do not have high hopes for the rest of the show. She’s pulling double duty as host and musical guest, and she seems like she’d make for a very good musical guest, if you know what I mean. (Score: 4 out of 10)

Good Morning Greenville — Some very cheery, very lame local morning show hosts take on the Kendrick vs. Drake beef. A local piano teacher (Dua Lipa) weighs in. The Black Weatherman wants to hide, and that’s basically the only funny thing about the sketch. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)

Young Spicy — A rapper named Young Spicy asks two voice-over artists to record a new producer tag for the beginning of his album, but they can only think of inappropriate or mean things to say about him. Woof. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)

Penne Alla Vodka — Here we go. This one is almost funny. It’s a celebration of penne alla vodka, that big old aluminum foil tray of mediocre pasta served at events. “Loved by none, but tolerated by all.” “It’s not good, but it’s not that bad, either.” (Score: 5 out of 10)

Sonny Angel — It’s a Challengers parody between a woman’s date and her tiny Sonny Angel doll. It is excruciatingly bad, but the kind of bad you have to see. (Score: 1.5 out of 10)

The Anomalous Man — London. 1897. A woman falls for a hideous-looking playwright but insists that she loves him in spite of all of his disfigurements. The joke, however, is that — in spite of gaining the affection of a woman who looks like Dua Lipa — the disfigured man is still having phone sex with other women on the sly. The Mat sketch of the week, for lack of anything better. Sorry, Mat! (Score: 4.5 out of 10)

Weekend Update — Can “Update” save one of — if not the worst episode of the season? Honestly, not really. Che bombs a few times, and not in the funny, groanworthy ways. He does, however, partially redeem himself with a hilariously bad Stallone impression. Jerry Seinfeld does a segment as a Man Who Does Too Much Press. I thought he would be much funnier than he is, which is not funny at all. I wish I could say that Chloe Fineman’s impression of JoJo Siwa in her bad-girl era was better, but it’s not. (watch here). Likewise, not even the considerable talents of Marcello Hernandez can save “Update” as Kristi Noem’s other dog, who kisses up to the Governor so he doesn’t get shot in the face. (Watch Here)

Teeny Tiny Statement Pin — A teeny-tiny statement pin for celebrities who want to wear pins that say something but are worried about what statement they are making. Absolute crap. (Watch Here) (Score: 2 out of 10)

Jingle Pitch 2 — Here’s the best skit of the night. It’s not saying much. It’s a sequel to the one where guys from an Italian restaurant make up a jingle based on a business’s phone number. (Score: 5.75)

OBGYN — Kenan plays an OBGYN named Fat Daddy because he used to be a BBQ pitmaster. That should tell you all you need to know about the direction of this sketch. (Score: 5 out of 10)