When Tina Fey comes back to Saturday Night Live, we know it is going to be quite a good time. With musical guest Nicki Minaj, this was the show to see!
Tina Fey returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend for the final episode of the season. Fey brought back her sense of comedy with a Trump-era twist and it was pretty on point and hilarious.
From a ton of celebrity guests to controversial performances by Nicki Minaj, it was a nice way to wrap up this pretty out there season of Saturday Night Live.
Cold Open
Everyone loves a good sketch to “Don’t Stop Believin'” and that includes Saturday Night Live. The last cold open of the season started with Donald Trump in a diner, waiting for his group of trusted lackeys to come in and join him.
Trump is the only one that notices when Robert Mueller hears Michael Cohen discuss things that he really shouldn’t in front of him. All this happens while Journey is playing in the background. Shout out to Eric Trump for parking that baby bike like a pro.
Monologue
What do Jerry Seinfeld, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Rock, Robert DeNiro, Fred Armisen, Anne Hathaway, Donald Glover, and Tracy Morgan have in common? Well, this opening monologue for starts. They just ask Tina Fey a lot of questions and, while funny, helps to pinpoint the problems of the show… by making fun of it and doing it anyway.
Yeah, it gets the point across. Saturday Night Live has a problem with celebrities taking the spot of those stars we could love in the cast. So they just kept letting the celebrities talk and while the point was made, there was never a resolution.
Royal Wedding
Prince Harry is drunk and filming his own wedding video. What’s most impressive about this sketch is how quickly they got everyone’s outfits together from the royal wedding. Right down to the Queen’s very vibrant outfit.
The best is that Aidy Bryant very clearly was living her best life playing Elton John at the wedding. Well, that and Leslie Jones just attending the royal wedding because she tweeted about it. Pretty much the royal wedding reception is just like everyone else’s… just a little more British.
Morning Joe
The “Morning Joe” bit is one SNL continues here and there, but maybe they need to let it take a break. Continually, they just do the segment where Joe and Mika are close to making out with each other and ultimately, make their guests uncomfortable.
This one has a little bit more of a backstory. With the meetings in Trump Tower, a Russian lawyer gives Mika and Joe information on their meetings with Donald Jr. It wasn’t too much and it just gave us Tina Fey with a Russian accent but other than that, it was the typical sketch with “Morning Joe.”
Mean Girls
Look, who isn’t excited about Mean Girls the Musical? A lot of us grew up loving the movie and it just seemed like a show that would really fit for Broadway. So when it was announced as coming to the Great White Way, it made sense!
The problem? Tina Fey isn’t in it. Or at least, that’s how Tina Fey sees it. She helped to create the show and it seems like it would seem like a great idea except that… well, it isn’t.
Nicki Minaj
Unsurprisingly, everyone is talking about Nicki’s performance and not for a good reason. Her first song, “Chun-Li,” is full of cultural appropriation. Wearing traditional Chinese attire, many called out the fact that it wasn’t something they felt she could use. The song was incredible as was Nicki but it was quite the controversial performance.
This one was decidedly less controversial. Nicki sang “Poke It Out.” The problem is that the song had quite a lot of bleeps to block out the swear words in the beginning but once Nicki joined in, the audience went crazy and it was an awesome performance.
Weekend Update
There is something that Saturday Night Live does right with “Weekend Update” and it is just sticking to politics. Most of the segment was spent with Colin Jost and Michael Che giving us their normal political content until Donald Trump Jr. and Eric came around.
Honestly, we’re going to really miss “Weekend Update.” Every week, there seems to be so much happening and changing in the world of politics and beyond. So, it will be strange to not have Jost and Che tell us what happened.
Pervert Hunters
Apparently every show needs to have a moment for retakes. Even those that are exposing men for being perverts. When a guy goes to meet a Romanian prostitute, the host is there to call him out at the show. The problem? They can’t stop laughing.
It is honestly funny. These shows are always so strange to watch and to think that they have to do retakes and tell the pervert to relive their moment again is hilarious!
Sarah Palin Advice
Sarah Palin has some information for those who were left in the dark by Donald Trump (or who will eventually be left behind too). She brought up the fact that she used to be everywhere and now she writes tweets for a company and no one really hears from her anymore.
So Sarah decided to help them all those who have been touched by Trump say goodbye and the White House with a song from A Chorus Line.
Talent Show
Family issues have no place in the talent show. When a mother and daughter do the talent show together, they have a little problem with Susan and her reaction to her mother’s actions. When the principal steps in, he makes it clear that he is sleeping with the mother.
A bit of a mess, the sketch doesn’t really have anything except that Susan and her mother keep going back and forth with their relationship and their performance.
Chicago Improv
You know how every season of television seems to have a new take on firefighters, police, doctors and more? And a lot of them are based in Chicago? Well, Dick Wolf has a new take for the Windy City and it has to do with improv.
The last sketch of the night focuses on Tina’s start in improv comedy. You may understand more of the puns if you’ve taken an improv class yourself, especially one at Second City, IO and the like.
This sketch did a fairly good job of comparing the over-the-top dramatics of police and firefighter shows to the dramatics of an Improv group. But you may still be scratching your head about who Greg Amico is.
Next: Saturday Night Live recap: Amy Schumer with musical guest Kacey Musgraves
Check back here on Culturess for more news and recaps when the show returns this fall!