Saturday Night Live: Saturday Night Live at Home: Tom Hanks / Chris Martin

April 12, 2020 2:05 PM - Season 45, Episode 16

"Live from Zoom, it's somewhere between March and August."

• Cold Open: Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Chloe Fineman, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Bowen Yang, Chris Redd, Heidi Gardner, Melissa Villaseñor, Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost, Mikey Day, Michael Che, Ego Nwodim, Alex Moffatt, Beck Bennett, Cecily Strong
• Opening Credits: Everybody
• Monologue: Tom Hanks
• Drake Song: Pete Davidson
• RBG's Workout Corner: Kate McKinnon
• Sales Corp Industry Zoom Tutorial: Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Alex Moffatt, Chris Redd, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant
• A Message from Bernie Sanders: Larry David
• Master Class - Quarantine Edition: Chloe Fineman
  • Timothée Chalamet Teaches Fashion
  • Jojo Siwa - How to TikTok
  • Carole Baskin - How to Ride a Bike
• Chris Martin - Shelter from the Storm (Bob Dylan cover)
• Weekend Update: Colin Jost, Michael Che
  
  • Trump Calls In: Alec Baldwin
• Bailey at the Movies: Heidi Gardner
• Middle Aged Mutant Turtles: Heidi Gardner, Kyle Mooney, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, Beck Bennett, Mikey Day
• Cam Playz Dat: Mikey Day
• Sky Sports Report: Alex Moffatt
• Whatcha Workin' On?: Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Fred Armisen
• Visualisations with Aidy: Aidy Bryant
• How Low Will You Go?: Beck Bennett, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day, Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson
• Quarantine Makeup Tutorial: Ego Nwodim
• I Got $2000: Pete Davidson
• Hal Willner In Memoriam: Kate McKinnon, JK Simmons, Adam Sandler, Kenan Thompson, John Mulaney, Pete Davidson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Paula Pell, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, Emily Spivey

Cut for time:

• Bruce Audition: Kyle Mooney

YouTube Playlist

posted by rhizome (21 comments total)

Mooney benefits from the beard, surprised Jost's is so grey.

Appreciated 'Middle Aged Mutant Turtles.'
posted by porpoise at 2:57 PM on April 12, 2020

“Master Class - Quarantine Edition” was my favorite, but I feel like I was primed for it with all the Master Class ads that Facebook has been feeding me.

Two Pete videos and nothing from Cecily, Melissa, and Bowen?
posted by jimw at 3:34 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Gotta say, I actually liked the DIY feel of the show. Hanks’ opening was kind of flat, but I guess it almost had to be more serious than a normal opening.

Weekend Update came off really well, considering the situation. I especially liked Che pranking Jost with the joke swap.

I did think the office Zoom meeting skit was kind of mean-spirited and classist, making the two non-execs out to be tech-illiterate spazzes.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 PM on April 12, 2020

I hated Weekend Update with it's stupid laugh track that was louder than presenters and Che's continuing anti-woman bias (I don't remember exactly what the jokes were, something about cheating on the wife perhaps and something else).

I actually like Hank's opening, especially his poking fun at the hit-or-miss nature of the show's humour.
posted by sardonyx at 8:40 PM on April 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Overall that was more interesting than funny, though sometimes I laughed out loud at the weirdness of it all.

Funniest bit was Ego’s makeup tutorial. Just so perfect. Also loved Visualizations by Aidy. Very much got the feeling that this format let them fly their freak flags in ways they wouldn’t be allowed to on the regular show.

I also liked Bailey at the Movies and Cam Playz Dat, because Heidi and Mikey clearly understand online content and could possibly be wasted doing broadcast TV.

Sky Sports Report was a total ripoff of those viral tweets a couple weeks ago from the British sports announcer who was narrating street scenes as if they were sporting events. Whoever wrote that bit should be ashamed.

The Hal Willner tribute had me in tears the moment “Perfect Day” started, but then to have all the SNL ladies I love sing “Perfect Day” in the style of the cringey recent “Imagine“ video confused my emotions. (I will forever venerate Hal Willner for putting together Lost in the Stars, an album of Kurt Weill’s music covered by contemporary artists (of the 90s))
posted by ejs at 9:31 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Kinda weird to bill the musical act as Coldplay when it's really Chris Martin playing Dylan but it was nice.
posted by General Malaise at 6:43 AM on April 13, 2020

I give them credit for trying.

Weekend Update... yeah, the laugh track made it unwatchable. Also Colin seemed like he was totally phoning it in, which I guess he was literally doing, but he still came off like he wasn't into it at all.

I loved Kate doing RGB.

The second half was better than the first half.

I liked Sky Sports a lot but I guess I wasn't familiar with whatever they were ripping off.
posted by bondcliff at 6:53 AM on April 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

I believe this is the first time both RBG and Bailey Gismert have appeared outside of Weekend Update. I wasn't sure how Bailey would do without anyone to bounce off of/be embarrassed by, but it worked out.

I feel like the meditations with Aidy sketch started out as a Zoom backgrounds bit but got changed because they already had a Zoom sketch. (and as much as I usually like Kate and Aidy together, I never really like them as the easily-flustered tech-illiterate receptionists))

It seemed like the the monologue was edited together (above and beyond the Q and A gag), which did not really help with the semblance of live TV.
posted by ckape at 8:12 AM on April 13, 2020

It wouldn't be a Weekend Update with at least one dumb fatphobic joke, and well, we got that. Sadly.
posted by hijinx at 9:39 AM on April 13, 2020

I really really enjoyed seeing people's houses! For me the more interesting part was the meta-aspect of all of this. Sad to not see Cecily, Melissa and Bowen, but bonus Kenan and Mikey's kids! Che less-filtered is... not as good (in front of his pool table and shirts that say Che) but I wasn't expecting different. I wish that Zoom meeting sketch could have somehow made it a little different because I thought the humor in it was right on (we've all been in those meetings) but it felt like punching down b/c they were the receptionists. Ego seemed like she shined even more than usual.I will always hate Armisen but that bit was good (and was nice to see other ways of telecommuting not just ALL ZOOM). I have now learned who Timothée Chalame is! I had to tell not_on_display who Carole Baskin was.

More to the point, I appreciated that they tried, that they got together a did a thing, and that they're all kinda stuck like the rest of us. It's hard to watch comedy from the Before Times because people all stand so close together and it's a little unrelatable. This was very relatable and I appreciated it so much more just for that.
posted by jessamyn at 1:03 PM on April 13, 2020 [5 favorites]

The poop on the street (Reddit) is that Cecily is in some cabin somewhere and Melissa is on a bit of a bummer (but is active on IG) Bowen I don't know, but it would still be normal simply not to get a sketch on.

I liked a lot of this, I think it was basically a success, and perhaps for the first time ever the second half was better than the first!
posted by rhizome at 1:41 PM on April 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

It was a really creative, interesting way to do the show, and I have to award them A for effort, but it just wasn't that funny. To be fair, I've seen regular episodes that were less funny and enjoyable than this was. I did want more Tom Hanks though.

There were parts I enjoyed. The opening credits were probably my favourite part. I really liked getting to see everyone's apartment. They were mostly more ordinary looking than I expected. Heidi Gardner did quite a professional job of creating a little set for her "Bailey at the Movies" bit -- it really looked exactly like a teenage girl's bedroom! The child and pet cameos were sweet too.

surprised Jost's is so grey

I was too -- he's only 37, and he looks younger than that. His beard being so gray probably means he dyes his hair.

Sky Sports Report was one of the few things that made me laugh.
posted by orange swan at 7:16 PM on April 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

The thing I noticed about the living situations is how more than a couple appear very much not to live in Manhattan.
posted by rhizome at 11:02 PM on April 13, 2020 [4 favorites]

Right!! I grew up in NYC but spent a couple years in LA and I swear some of them were in LA.
posted by ejs at 11:49 PM on April 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

I also liked the small, handmade "Entrance to Trains" signs on the wall behind Chris Martin.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:58 AM on April 14, 2020 [5 favorites]

Yes! That was one of my favorite details, and a point in his cosmic favor. It was very thoughtful of him.
posted by rhizome at 10:05 AM on April 14, 2020

I liked Sky Sports a lot but I guess I wasn't familiar with whatever they were ripping off.

BBC sports commentator Andrew Cotter making hilarious videos of his dogs while sheltering at home.
posted by scalefree at 10:00 PM on April 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

One of the cameras used during Chris Martin's performance (the black-and-white one, ISTR) was showing mirrored video. The signs behind him were backwards, and he switched to playing leftie guitar. That made me laugh.
posted by emelenjr at 12:35 PM on April 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I can't find it anywhere in myself to criticize the show—even the (few in comparison) problematic jokes landed, but only because my heart was extra open. (I still won't go looking for Louie's new special on Heidi's recommendation though, I have no idea why they included that.)

It may not have been the best episode laugh-for-laugh, but it was definitely the most humanizing episode, and the one that was the most "for us out here in TV land".

It was good to see Beck and Kyle directly collaborating. I'm happy Chloe and Ego got their moments to shine. Aidy was just adorkable. And I love Pete's apartment in his mom's basement. And the Hal Willner tribute was a great capstone.

Also, not much Chris Redd in this one—I did miss him, as well as Cecily, Melissa, and Bowen. But Bowen's imitation of his "wave from far away" in the opening credits made me burst out.
posted by not_on_display at 10:45 PM on April 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Saturday Night Live star Michael Che said he will pay the rent of all residents in his grandmother's former building in New York, following her death of the coronavirus.
posted by Glinn at 8:26 AM on April 16, 2020 [5 favorites]

While I personally found the WU laugh track annoying, I appreciated Martha's grand baby's moment of vulnerability explaining why he needed it, so I dealt with it.
posted by Ruki at 7:14 PM on April 16, 2020 [1 favorite]