Michael Keaton is back hosting SNL for the fourth time, with musical guest Billie Eilish. I was surprised that it’s only his fourth time hosting, given that he’s such a great comedic actor. It just seemed like he should have hosted more times. Nevertheless, he gave some solid performances throughout the episode. And we finally got a Please Don’t Destroy short!
The cold open was a parody of Brett Baier’s interview with Kamala Harris. Alec Baldwin returns as Brett, who introduces himself by saying, “I look like someone made a businessman in Minecraft”, then basically plays clips of Trump and Biden, out of context, as Kamala intermittently turns to an iPhone camera to film soundbites for TikTok. There was much-deserved focus on Trump’s interesting choice at a recent rally, to play music and show off his signature dance moves, in lieu of answering questions. This cold open felt low-key compared to those of the past three weeks, but it was still funny, well written, and timely.
Michael Keaton starts the monologue with a nod to Season 50, noting that when the show premiered he was a production assistant on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He pointed out two similarities between the shows — puppets and lots of cocaine — with a serious note that Fred Rogers was exactly the kind of guy you would expect him to be.
Keaton begins promoting his new movie, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, when he’s interrupted by Mikey Day and Andy Samberg dressed as Beetlejuice and trying to get Michael to do the voice, as they quote lines from the first Beetlejuice. He finally acquiesces as he says, “We have a great show.”
Please Don’t Destroy is back!
Ok, they have been writing for the show all season, but their digital shorts are back! This one was a departure from their usual bits that either begin or entirely take place in their office, and instead, they’re in a plane as John and Martin are about to skydive. Ben Marshall plays one of the skydiving instructors who has a bad feeling about today, and Michael Keaton is the second instructor who just got off the phone with his divorce lawyer and is going through some things. Emile Joaquim gives a funny performance as the pilot who agrees that the vibe is off that day, but it must be first-day jitters, as he watches a “How to Fly a Plane” video on this increasingly nerve-racking adventure.
Fearing for their lives, John and Martin beg the pilot to land the plane, and Martin confesses his love for John to which John replies, “Alright, thanks man.” The story ends with John and Ben pulling the parachute cord too soon and flying out the door. John hits the wing and breaks apart.
I’ve missed these guys and so enjoy the weirdness of their digital shorts. I don’t know if we’ll be seeing them on a nearly weekly basis again or they’re dialing it back, but am hoping to see more.
Train Wreck
In this old-timey sketch, Andrew Dismukes and Ego Nwodem play an interracial couple in the 1950’s, whose parents are meeting for the first time. Andrew’s character’s parents are played by Michael Keaton and Heidi Gardner, and Ego’s character’s family is played by Keenan Thompson and Devon Walker. Initially her family supports their union, while his family is opposed. In an effort to help them understand the strength of their bond, Andrew tells them that he wrote a song about her, and proceeds to pick up a ukulele and sing Train’s “Hey Soul Sister”. Her family becomes visibly disturbed by the lyrics, as his parents on the other hand, are getting into it and seem to know the words to a song that obviously would not be known at this point in time. The song convinces Keenan to retract his blessing, Ego agrees, and they both leave. The combination of Andrew’s enthusiasm throughout the cringy serenade, and Keenan’s classic facial expressions and delivery, made for a hilariously uncomfortable sketch.
Next up, a shot of a cell phone as someone is scrolling TikTok, watching the algorithmic assortment of absurdities, including a tradwife, a woman complaining about her local Chili’s, sponsored influencer videos for the vibrating plate, one of those being from Joe Biden, and Harry Daniels serenading celebrities, including Trump, Kamala, and Billie Eilish.
The person scrolling is getting text messages throughout, and at the end we see that he missed the birth of his child. I enjoy these segments and this newer, relevant format for the show. I have also become aware of some new TikTok accounts, to which I probably would have been fine remaining oblivious.
Weekend Update
The segment starts with Colin Jost showing several clips calling out the “subtle differences” in how Trump and Kamala address the issues. For instance, Kamala says “Your vote is your voice,” whereas Trump says, “Get that fat pig off the couch and get him to vote.” And ending with a clip of Trump saying that he feels Harvey Weinstein is “The one who got schlonged.” Um, okay then, how about we just move onto more clips of Trump dancing?
New featured player, Emil Wakim performed a standup-esque commentary in an effort to get young people to the polls. The jokes were centered around his being Lebanese and Christian, and believing that this combination basically makes him French. The bit was really funny and got a lot of laughs with the exception of one joke that bombed, which he said Colin wrote for him, which got a huge laugh. This week was the most we’ve seen from Emil and I felt that he was impressive.
The last sketches to wrap up the episode had some funny moments, but were just okay in my opinion. One sketch was a surprise game show in which two Lyft passengers find out that they’re contestants, similar to Cash Cab, but the questions pertain to conspiracy theories. Ego Nwodim is the conspiracy theorist cab driver and Michael Keaton plays a driver who’s been banned from Lyft, whom they pick up to help ask the questions. The wacko questions were relevant, but I think this might have been better when Cash Cab was actually on the television.
Next was the filming of a Halloween movie with Mikey Day playing Michael Myers, but as he’s entering the home to kill the two young women, he’s been given very theatrical choreographed moves. Michael Keaton is great as the choreographer, but this sketch was just okay and probably went on a little too long.
Parting Thoughts
Overall, the episode was decent, but being the 50th season and the Halloween episode, I guess I expected a little more. I won’t lie, I was really hoping for an appearance by David S. Pumpkins. Michael Keaton was phenomenal in each of the sketches, but it didn’t feel like he was the host, but more like a cast member, being mostly cast in supporting roles in the sketches. The show is off on October 26th, but I’m looking forward to November 2nd when John Mullaney returns to host with musical guest, Chappell Roan. Thanks for reading!
Live from the Internet — it’s Jen McClure!
If you enjoyed this SNL commentary, be sure to check out more of Jen’s Saturday Night Live reviews on her author page.
