Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2018-2019 44th Season Thread

She did fine on the second song.

 

Exactly...this isn't an Ashley Simpson level 'screw up'.

 

AKA Lame Seinfeld.

 

She basically had four characters - Barbara Walters, Arianna Huffington, Kim Kardashian, and "awkward nerdish teen", which was applied in a variety of unfunny skits. I wasn't a fan. She just didn't seem very versatile. Just before she left she unveiled a new motivational character called "Heshy" (sp?). Finally she did something I liked and it was on the eve of her departure!

 

Agreed. I liked Heshi Al Faheed. Though I don't see how it could have lasted more than a few sketches. It's sort of like Kenan Thompson's "What's Up With That" bit.

 

Has "What's Up With That" been dusted off in recent years? I stopped watching 5 years ago. I think the last one I saw featured the real Lindsay Buckingham. I guess you can't do the skit without Bill Hader and break dancing Sudekis anyway. Sheeee-ah!

 

Re: Nasim Pedrad

I liked her Arianna and also the recurring one she did (Bedelia?) that idolized her parents and wanted to hang out with them all the time. Also the bits where she was a translator for the Chinese President. And while it wasn't a recurring character, I thought she was a memorable Jasmine in the classic (imo) "Real Housewives Of Disney" sketch.

 

And I have to say Maggie Rogers -- specifically the first verse of her first tune -- was SO out of tune, as to be utterly fascinating (almost in a Charles Ivesian sort of way). My wife and I were watching live, and before Maggie got even halfway through her first chorus, I immediately went back on the DVR and watch/listened-to that first verse not once, but TWICE.

Someone on Reddit said they thought she was 'off' in a sort of Florence and The Machine kind of way, only a LOT more than Florence typically does -- and called it a "Bold choice". Which, I have to admit -- it was SO far off, and yet it seemed almost consistently on-key (as if there had been two key-centers at the same time, by design), that I had to wonder.

In any case, it was fascinating to watch/hear -- and I plan to give it another spin tonight (we still haven't watched the last 1/3rd of the show). We're old enough that everything after "The News" on SNL is stuff we save for later.

 

Actually, she left to be a regular on "New Girl" for four years. And she wound up marrying Winston on the show.

 

No, she left to be on John Mulaney's show, but it was cancelled quickly, so she got the New Girl gig after that.

 

She played Jake Peralta's previously unknown half-sister on an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Also, I think she's done voices in some of the Despicable Me movies.

 

Helped, no doubt, by the fact that her sister Nina was on the writing/production staff.

 

First major exposure can make or break an artist can't it?

 

Again...a few bum notes during a live performance doesn't tank a career. Google her name right now if you'd like...do you see news reports or headlines about how she bombed and "tanked her career"? Of course not...only here was it a concern.

 

I remember my daughter getting nervous singing in public and getting into a different key than what she was playing on her guitar. It definitely was not intentional, but she sang consistently in the key she started in.

 

That's certainly what I thought(?) I heard in the first version (of the first song) on Saturday.

Absolutely fascinating to hear, actually. Not 'bad' in the traditional sense (I'm not suggesting she can't carry a tune at all), but certainly something you don't hear every day. In fact, it's actually fairly tricky to sing "in tune" (or even close to "in tune") in a different key from what one's accompaniment is.

And to be perfectly honest, I found the whole thing somewhat refreshing to hear!! (Again, mind you, I really love Charles Ives, who loved bitonality).

 

I can't. The whole joke of that bit is just hearing him talk about it, and the viewers picturing those things in their heads. Actually seeing those things portrayed would defeat the purpose and totally ruin the gag.
Plus the fact that Hader would go into those sketches totally blind, not knowing what he was going to say until he saw the cue-cards live on-air for the first time. Part of the whole charm was watching him improvise his delivery and try (and often fail) to keep a straight face. That, and the chemistry/"romance" with Seth. Absolutely none of that would translate to a scripted show or movie.

 

I've played enough Ives that I can't say I love him, but it's "interesting." I do prefer him to Sousa, though...

Interesting bit of trivia, Ives was an insurance man. The music was a side gig.

 

Good for her then. It's just that it was the opening verses of her first song; the worst case scenario for her.

 

Precisely. Hader-as-Buckingham, and track-suit Sudakis were trademarks of that sketch. Hard to revive that one without two of its key ingredients.

 

I expect "What's Up with That" and its co-stars to return when Kenan finally does his last show -- which will probably be at the end of this season, as he's booked a sitcom gig.

Kenan Thompson to Star in Single-Dad Comedy Series in the Works at NBC

 

Exactly. Maggie Rogers has enough of a following (for instance, her show last week at the Riviera in Chicago that was bumped up from the Vic for instantly strong ticket sales months ago) that she's going to be just fine. Her social media all week showed that this was a huge and unexpected moment for her, and she was extremely, extremely nervous. Personally, I may not have chosen Light On for the first slot, but she went with it. Then she came back and nailed the second tune. But we're still talking about a few flubbed notes on a show where most every musical act sounds awful?

In other words, how would you feel if you were someone whose fame was already a whirlwind based on a viral YouTube video where Pharrell Williams cries after hearing a rough mix of your song during a visit to your undergrad production course, then within a year you're playing Glastonbury and Lolla, and then the next you're playing SNL, all before your first record comes out? She's a refreshing talent who's not afraid of taking risks. She took one. And it's interesting to watch her getting nailed for being a little too out of tune singing live on the biggest stage of her young career.

I can't wait for her new record. You all might want to check out her EP in the meantime.

 

Sudekis makes that sketch. Kills me every time he comes out and kicks it. Fred Armisen too, and the random people dancing across the screen...

 

Just announced:

11/17: Steve Carell / Ella Mai

 

Carrell!!! Cool. Ella Mai?