Saturday Night Live: Chadwick Boseman, Cardi B

April 8, 2018 1:03 AM - Season 43, Episode 19

Host: Chadwick Boseman, Musical Guest: Cardi B

• Baltic States Press Conference - Leslie Jones, Alex Baldwin, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Alex Moffat, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett, Melissa Villaseñor
• Opening Monologue - Chadwick Boseman
• Nike Woman's Ad - Melissa Villaseñor, Heidi Gardner, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon
• Black Jeopardy - Kennan Thompson, Leslie Jones, Chris Redd, Chadwick Boseman
• Medical Breakthrough - Chadwick Boseman, Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day, Kate McKinnon, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Alex Moffat,
• Aidy B & Cardi B - Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Beck Bennett, Chriss Redd, Chadwick Boseman, Kennan Thompson, Mikey Day, Cardi B
• Cardi B - Bartier Cardi
• Weekend Update - Michael Che, Colin Jost
  • Mark Zuckerberg - Alex Moffat
  • Angel Every Boxers Girlfriend - Heidi Gardner


• Magic Mirror - Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, Cecily Strong, Melissa Villaseñor, Heidi Gardner, Kate McKinnon, Chadwick Boseman


• Warehouse Fire - Keenan Thompson, Beck Bennet, Cecily Strong, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Redd


• Cardi B - Be Careful


• Restaurant Complaint - Mikey Day, Chadwick Boseman, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Kennan Thompson, Beck Bennett, Melissa Villaseñor


• The Game of Life: DACA Edition - Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Pete Davidson, Melissa Villaseñor


• Wakanda Forever - Chris Redd, Leslie Jones, Pete Davidson, Beck Bennett, Chadwick Boseman, Kennan Thompson

posted by DizzyOnBugSpray (18 comments total)

I'm loving the Wakanda stuff.

So creeped out at the Zuck.

DACA game was very fiting.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:07 PM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

For the first time I think ever, I didn't even understand the joke behind a sketch. What was the point of the firefighter sketch?
posted by scalefree at 5:49 PM on April 8, 2018

I loved the firefighter sketch! He had shit to do!
posted by rhizome at 5:55 PM on April 8, 2018

I didn't hate it, I just didn't get it. I kept waiting for a punchline or something that tied it together but it never came. The costume character was kind of odd but disconnected from the rest. And what was he going home for? Dogs & dolls?

Just rewatched it. I followed the doll thing but I still don't see the joke.
posted by scalefree at 6:11 PM on April 8, 2018

I think it was just plain absurd, and frankly I'd have pegged it (not to mention Restaurant Complaint) for a Last Sketch rather than the Wakanda Forever...which was also good! Is this the first time the last sketch has been solid? Now I want to watch every last sketch of every SNL episode.

I thought this was a really good episode. I haven't seen BP so I can't say how well all of that worked, but Boseman was a good host, they stretched out on the writing, lots of African American content...and tulip'ing!
posted by rhizome at 6:26 PM on April 8, 2018

People keep saying Baldwin's Trump impression is tired and the writing is lazy when he's on, but I think he's committed to a slightly-exaggerated portrayal of Trump's over-the-top awfulness and what I like about Baldwin's appearances is that he clearly pushes the writers to be much harsher about Trump. When Baldwin's not there the cold opens can be weirdly, creepily equivocal about Trump, verging on sympathetic... but when Baldwin's there you know he's like, "Fuck that. I am not saying anything that makes that monster look good, ever." Baldwin is not a flawless human being, but he's a fierce, uncompromising lefty and the show really needs that now. Trump's rant about how he truly doesn't care about Americans was just so spot-on.

The pregnant male news conference at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center was really weird for me, because that's where I had my cancer surgery and I have to go back there frequently. That stock photo of the exterior is a place I've seen way too many times. It's not the first time the show had made reference to the UCLA medical campus either. (I think one of Melissa McCarthy's crazy game show characters was supposed to be living there.) It seems weirdly specific. Does some writer's mom work there or something?

I don't think I'd ever heard Cardi B before and now I never, ever want to hear her again. Holy crap, that hurt my ears. But I did like her clingy white showgirl costume, even if it kind of made her look like a pregnant mummy. She was a mummy mommy!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:45 PM on April 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

The leggings ad was kind of an overdone joke but it made me laugh because I work from home almost exclusively in leggings.

I feel like Cardi B is one of this things that has really made me accept that I am Middle Aged and really don’t get what The Kids are into these days.
posted by lunasol at 7:59 PM on April 8, 2018

I don't think I'd ever heard Cardi B before and now I never, ever want to hear her again. Holy crap, that hurt my ears. But I did like her clingy white showgirl costume, even if it kind of made her look like a pregnant mummy. She was a mummy mommy!

I thought it was brave of her to wear that dress while pregnant but then I also think it's brave of her to keep singing in public to begin with.
posted by scalefree at 8:34 PM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

"I hear this was Keenan Thompson's idea, and that he stands by it!"
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:25 PM on April 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

I feel like Cardi B is one of this things that has really made me accept that I am Middle Aged and really don’t get what The Kids are into these days.

I don't think it's always just a matter of being "too old" to get something. If I was nine years old or 99 years old, I still think that Cardi B would sound just awful to me. There's a lot of modern pop I don't care for, but it's rare that something makes me wince and cover my ears. This did that.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:33 PM on April 8, 2018

"I hear this was Keenan Thompson's idea, and that he stands by it!"

"15 years!"

Loved this show (tho firefighter sketch was inscrutable to me) and also relieved because I'd been worried SNL just wasn't going to be funny anymore. Loved Cardi B's dress. Moffat as Zuck was inspired. Chadwick Boseman was strong in everything.
posted by jessamyn at 9:42 AM on April 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

There's also a really good Cardi B profile on GQ right now, if people are curious about what all the what is about.
posted by jessamyn at 11:25 AM on April 9, 2018 [4 favorites]

I'm just going to assume that's how Beck Bennett always pronounces Wakanda and everyone thinks it's too funny to tell him.
posted by ckape at 5:09 PM on April 9, 2018

What made this episode work for me was that most of the sketches were quick, to the point, non-repetitive, and spot-on, with no breaking that I could discern. Great host nailed it. Best Black Jeopardy sketch since Tom Hanks.

My only three complaints that keep this show from being an instant classic: (1) The firefighter sketch was the only meandering, unnecessary sketch of the night, and I still kiiiinda liked it cause it was sooooo absurd. (2) Not enough Kyle Mooney. (3) Cardi B, while adorable, just isn't talented. Kudos for her performing pregnant. Bummer that she just ain't that good at rappin or singin, and that she had to censor half of her first song.

Also, this season has been awesome in that all of the Featured Players have shone their asses off. And I am betting if they tossed Luke Null more lines, he'd kill as well. This may be a symptom of the atmosphere backstage, in that you really have to assert yourself and write and form alliances to make it into sketches. And Luke just seems like too nice of a guy.

[It was the same with Brooks Wheelan if you ask me. Brooks's two sketches that made it were killers. JUST SAYIN! FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME! #BRINGBROOKSBACK]

...Anyone remember John Milhiser? Noël Wells? No, I can't remember a single thing either of them did, except Noel doing Zooey Deschanel. Anyone gonna remember Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd? For sure, for many things. They are memorable people. And it feels like Dee and Moffatt are veterans. I'll remember Luke Null humbly beatboxing for airline attendants lame rapping, but I am beginning to fear that his time is limited. I'm crossing my fingers he will be kept on next season and finally break through. PETE DID IT, KID, SO CAN YOU! #TeamLuke

Anyway, this was definitely in the top 10-20% of the episodes this season.
posted by not_on_display at 8:20 PM on April 9, 2018

It's weird how everybody (including me) keeps noticing how much Luke Null is or isn't in the show, wondering if he'll ever pop. So many people have been on the show over the years without anybody really noticing they were there, but for some reason everybody is like, "Ooh, Null had another rough week..."

I'm rooting for Melissa Villasenor to do better, because she is truly an amazing impressionist on her Youtube channel. She could really shine at that on SNL, but for some reason she doesn't do many impressions on the show and is mostly relegated to walk-on, straight-man stuff. Come to think of it, maybe they don't do as many pop cultural parodies as they used to. If they were, I think she could do a killer impression of almost anybody they wanted.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:58 PM on April 9, 2018

That's weird considering "we set up a pretext for everybody to do an impression" is one of SNL's go-to "we need a sketch to fill five minutes and the writers got nothin'" moves.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:36 AM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

Which is why I liked the fireman sketch. I also consider the game show stuff to be very close to "screen tests for X" in terms of recycling, but all in all they don't just write sketches much anymore. The problem is that they seem to be hiring performers who are just plain not-great at comedic acting, so the templates are becoming necessary. There's a dependence, I feel, on Samurai [Barber, Deli] and E. Buzz Miller.

Even so, I don't think impressions are Villaseñor's strong suit. She may foreground them, but it's not like she can do more than a couple lines for each. I think she's much better as a dry foil or similar.
posted by rhizome at 10:16 AM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

That's weird considering "we set up a pretext for everybody to do an impression" is one of SNL's go-to "we need a sketch to fill five minutes and the writers got nothin'" moves.

Villasenor gets to bust out quick impressions here and there, but I don't think she's ever had a showcase sketch where, for example, some famous person has their own TV show, ala The Miley Cyrus Show or Prince's Show. The closest she got was a sketch where a girl was in bed with a guy and he asked her to do some dirty talk, and she started doing it in impressions of Wanda Sykes and Owen Wilson. That kind of thing is very much in Villasenor's wheelhouse, but her energy seemed off, the sketch kind of flopped and since then she's mostly been playing background characters. Some performers don't thrive on live TV, and it may be that she just can't shine on SNL the way she does in her own stuff. But she can do truly amazing things with her voice, and for whatever reason we're not really getting to see that on the show.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:11 PM on April 13, 2018