Rachel Brosnahan Hosts SNL: Watch Video of the Best & Worst Sketches
Rachel Brosnahan already has an Emmy for her starring role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Will she earn a second golden lady for her Saturday Night Live hosting debut?
The actress proved herself a fine host, though she was never given the flashy showcase that she deserved. She was even relegated to a supporting role in a sketch that spoofed her critically acclaimed Amazon comedy.
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An underwhelming song-and-dance monologue was followed by a run of mostly mediocre sketches, though there were a few highlights. What follows are my picks for the best and worst sketches.
BEST: THE RAUNCHIEST MISS RITA
This Mrs. Maisel spoof sets up a spinoff starring Leslie Jones as an incredibly crass comedian, and features Kyle Mooney as “an even more exasperated Tony Shalhoub.” The parody works on two levels: It’s aesthetically pleasing for fans of Mrs. Maisel, and the shock of Rita May Johnson working blue is funny enough on its own for those who haven’t seen Amazon’s Emmy-winning comedy.
BEST: LEAVE ME ALURN
Brosnahan and Kate McKinnon star in this clever commercial parody that introduces the perfect conversation prophylactic for women: A portable urn to ward off men and their unwanted approaches. It’s perhaps my favorite commercial parody since last season’s “Nike Women’s Ad.”
BEST: PETE DAVIDSON & JOHN MULANEY REVIEW THE MULE
Davidson and Mulaney seem genuinely delighted to discuss the “greatest, weirdest, most bananas movie ever made about a 90-year-old drug mule.” Funniest of all is when a baffled Mulaney points out that Clint Eastwood directed himself in not one, but two threesome scenes. (Seriously, what is this movie?!)
HONORABLE MENTION: EARTHQUAKE NEWS REPORT
This amusing breaking-news sketch relies on a series of increasingly juvenile double entendres. Brosnahan’s triage coordinator lists the victims of a building collapse who were in the process of having their names legally changed when the disaster struck, including Todd Kobell, Bill Kosbie, Ivan Jerganov and Holden Tudyks.
WORST: MILLENNIAL MILLIONS
This game show — in which millennial contestants (Brosnahan and Davidson) compete against baby boomers to win prizes like social security and health insurance — is nothing more than a series of tired jokes about the generational wealth gap.
WORST: KOOL-AID
As if Michael Che’s unnecessarily dismissive commentary during Weekend Update wasn’t bad enough, this ill-conceived commercial parody goes and mocks Gillette for its TV spot tackling toxic masculinity. It’s a tone-deaf response that gives voice to those who have accused Gillette’s parent company Procter & Gamble of “virtue signaling” — or, even sillier, being “anti-men.”
What were your favorite sketches this week? And what missed the mark? Watch all of the highlights above, then grade Brosnahan’s hosting debut in our poll.
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