The 40th season of Saturday Night Live has arrived (as well as the fifth season of SNL Scorecard and I just can t believe I ve been doing this for five years) and boy what a difference a year makes. Last year s season premiere featured six new cast members and was one of the clumsiest shows in recent memory. (Hey remember New Cast Member Or Member of Arcade Fire Gah.) This season we have two new cast members and more importantly a significantly smaller cast. This was the first SNL in over a year where I felt some actual intimacy with the cast. Look at newcomer Pete Davidson he was everywhere It was almost as if this incarnation of SNL was built just to make us forget about last season. It didn t completely work (I ll never forget you Rick Shoulders) but with a first time host like Chris Pratt (who is a natural) and what feels like a much more focused show this was a really great start.
Sketch of the Night
Bad Boys (Mooney Bennett Pratt) It was funny reading my Twitter feed during the live broadcast while Bad Boys was airing there was a lot What is this Just a few years ago for all we knew this would have been a brand new sketch idea but now that SNL puts some of the sketches from dress rehearsal that didn t air on the Internet Bad Boys technically becomes a sequel to Wing a sketch that never aired during the Andrew Garfield hosted show from last season. Wing would gave been the best sketch of that show had it aired. Bad Boys which again perfectly captures the melodrama of 90s young adult television programming only here with non sequiturs (a castle ) used for scene changes is the best sketch of this show. (I nearly did a spit take when it was revealed that the little kid was packing heat.)
Score 9.0
The Good
Marvel (Pratt Bryant Moynihan Pharoah Killam Bennett Mooney) It s funny because it s true. It s been the joke since Guardians of the Galaxy became the sort of surprise hit of 2014 Marvel Studios can put out just about anything at this point and it would be a hit. Well yes I would pay money to watch Pam 2 The Winter Pam and Fancy Ghosts.
Score 8.0
Weekend Update (Jost Che Strong Jones Davidson Thompson) Now this was interesting for a few reasons. There was a definite effort to present this as THE NEW Weekend Update. There was a fancy new backdrop and a new co host and yes a new vibe. As the centerpiece of SNL everything was done to try to make you forget about last year s Update which is a smart move. Colin Jost was better and only improved as Update went along. Michael Che started out nervous and fumbled over some lines which would be expected from anyone but it is weird watching Che do this because I m used to him being so smooth but by the time Update ended on the Cheer Up Obama segment with help from Kenan Thompson he looked like he was in mid season form.
And this was a long Update featuring three individual segments. No one just gives up Weekend Update. Someone had to take Weekend Update away from Cecily Strong. So it was very big of her to come on Update as The Girl You Wish You Hadn t Started a Conversation With at a Party. She swallowed some pride to make a See everything is fine appearance when a lot of people wouldn t do that. Leslie Jones was back and again killed. And boy Pete Davidson what a star. He was hired to be the new personality and this guy is filled with personality. The thing is I don t even think Davidson s material was that strong but I couldn t help but think Oh yes please tell me more. He s 20
Score 7.5
Booty Rap (Bryant Pratt McKinnon Strong Zamata Bayer Bennett Mooney Moynihan) This is basically just Chris Pratt and Aidy Bryant involved in a sing off and that s fine because they re great. It s not much of a sketch but I guess who cares because it s a delight.
Score 7.0
Chris Pratt Monologue (Pratt Faris) This was nice Nothing too fancy the thought here seemed to be Go out and be yourself. You can tell Pratt is a natural at this after he accidentally sang the words 40 answers instead of 40 hours and how he didn t let it trip him up he addressed it and made it even more charming. Man this guy
Score 6.5
Cold Open CNN State of the Union (Bryant Pratt Thompson Pharoah) This was fine and the first of the two NFL themed sketches during the show that pretty much said the same thing. But this one had Jay Pharoah s Shannon Sharpe impression which is a strange mixture of Shannon Sharpe and Clark Griswold s Marty Moose impression which somehow works
Score 6.0
He Man and Lion O (Mooney Pratt Killam Bryant Strong Grande) Well at least this was interesting. I mean what would happen if He Man and Lion O all of a sudden became real Would they want to masturbate Maybe It just felt like there could have been a couple more laughs to mine out of there being He Man and Lion O there on my television. For some reason if felt grim But whatever the costumes were great.
Score 6.0
The Bad
Cialis Turnt (Killam Strong Bryant) This seemed like an excuse to perform Turn Down For What which already feels a little dated.
Score 5.0
Video Game (Killam Moynihan Zamata Davidson Bayer Pratt) I appreciate what s going on here and concept wise I found myself wanting this to go further. A simple puzzle game turns into a love drama between Chris Pratt and Vanessa Bayer s video game characters. It almost didn t feel weird enough. This is one of those odd sketches that I really didn t like yet I want them to try it again at some point during the season.
Score 4.4
Vet Office (McKinnon Pratt Strong Bayer Moynihan) They did this sketch last season when Josh Hutcherson hosted and well for some reason here s another one. The concept that if you bring an animal to this hospital it s going to wind up dead is kind of amusing at least to the point why I can understand how it got on the air I m just not sure we need this to be a recurring sketch.
Score 4.0
The Ugly
NFL Intros (Bennett Killam Thompson Pharoah Pratt Moynihan Che Anderson Jost Mooney Jones) And here s the second NFL sketch of the show. This felt like piling on and not that the NFL doesn t deserve to be piled on it does but it felt like piling on just for the sake of piling on. This sketch pretty much said the same thing as the cold open only in a lot less clever way. Every NFL player is a criminal I don t know it just seems a little cheap when the target of our scorn should be Roger Goodell.
Score 2.5
Average Score for this Show 5.99
Chris Pratt 5.99
Mike Ryan is senior editor of Screencrush. You can contact him directly on Twitter.
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