Here is a question that I didn t think I d have to ask Did anyone at Saturday Night Live know who Chris Pratt was before he agreed to host last night
The season premiere SNL s 40th played way more to the idea of Pratt (handsome open minded blockbuster er) than to his human Slinky strengths which kept being hidden behind wigs like the wigs were the joke. He is the joke But too many of the sketches expected him to do so much with so little or worse didn t expect anything much from him at all. (When his chest flashed across the screen in the final sketch the audience roared.) That said
The Good The Bad The WeirdThe best joke came in Pratt s monologue otherwise an affair not quite louche enough to be lovable. After a word or two he pulled out a guitar but warned the audience I know I m not half the singer that Ariana Grande is but I am technically three times her body weight. So the math works out.
The best sketch and Pratt s best moments played expertly on two things 1) that everyone in America has seen Guardians of the Galaxy and 2) that we all love the same two things about it. SNL pur ed that into a marketing video touting a new slate of films under the banner Marvel Can t Fail. Coming soon Bus People Marvel s Pam Pam 2 The Winter Pam and Some Shopping Carts with the footage all cued to the strut down the hallway from the original Guardians trailer with Hooked on a Feeling playing in the background. It s a joke that s easy to over explain but funniest like here in endless variation.
The worst sketch was the second of the night which saw toys brought to life by a young boy s wish like Toy Story only with loincloths and genitalia. And I do mean only those things. Taran Killam as ThunderCats leader Lion O discovered the joys of cake and self pleasure. Pratt as He Man swung his sword and kept swinging and then smashed through a kitchen wall in pursuit of a teenage girl. The sketch had the night s first Ariana Grande appearance as He Man s twin sister She Ra. (She was definitely there Is the thing that you can say about it to all of your friends.)
The weirdest sketch came late in the episode as they almost always do this one more thought experiment than pay off. Imagine Everyone on Friends had been swapped out with the cast of Lifetime s TV movie The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story and you d be about halfway there. Pratt et al. played three roommates driven apart when Pratt is seduced into a dark friendship with a group of young boys. Everything is styled and shot like a classic learn your lesson sitcom of the 80s and 90s.
Other ThingsWeekend Update returned with a new co host Michael Che alongside head writer/and more Colin Jost. The segment lacked for zingers but not cast members bringing in Cecily Strong Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones as respectively experts on Ebola teens and singledom. Bringing back Strong Che s talented predecessor in the Update chair so quickly could have been just a make nice moment but she s too funny away from the desk not to use.
Don Pardo SNL s longtime announcer who died in August was remembered during the episode with a title card and moment of silence.
Ariana Grande sang two songs with one surprise each First was Break Free which started as a piano backed cabaret piece before halfway through transforming into its original version as a full on Zedd sterpiece. Her Love Me Harder nearly ended the episode with The Weeknd dropping by to duet. (Have you seen his hair lately We ve all been talking and we think you should say something.)
Aidy Bryant was the night s workhorse a crucial part of no fewer than four sketches including a standout that saw her spitting Nicki Minaj style come ons to Pratt as the object of her affections. (That sketch playing out a theme for the night involved more twists and turns than it involved Pratt.) Bryant s joke is still usually her volcanic charisma how her voice is like a roller coaster blowing out syllables into triple entendres but that isn t automatically a bad thing. It s a well the show feels inspired to tap.
If You DVR d ItSkip The episode s NFL jokes including a Candy Crowley themed cold open which took almost 90 minutes to hit anything like humor.
Do not skip new cast member Pete Davidson s appearance on Weekend Update. As a teen expert called to comment on the recent case of a Pennsylvania boy facing jail time after simulating a lewd act with Jesus statue Davidson instead plows into a winding digression about the moral economics of fellatio. Bottom line If you don t go down on a guy for $1 million you obviously don t care about your family.
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