Saturday Night Live: Simu Liu / Saweetie
November 21, 2021 3:28 AM - Season 47, Episode 7 - Subscribe

The first Asian to be the fourth Asian host.

  • Cold Open - Judge Jeanine Pirro: Cecily Strong, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Chris Redd, Alex Moffatt, James Austin Johnson
  • Monologue: Simu Liu
  • Karaoke Recap: Chloe Fineman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Pete Davidson, James Austin Johnson, Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari, Sarah Sherman, Simu Liu, Alex Moffatt, Heidi Gardner, Cecily Strong
  • Target Thanksgiving Ad: Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, Simu Liu, Kenan Thompson, Alex Moffatt, James Austin Johnson, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd
  • Dog-Head Man: Simu Liu, James Austin Johnson, Cecily Strong, Mikey Day
  • Republican or Not: Kenan Thompson, Simu Liu, Ego Nwodim, Kyle Mooney, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong
  • Walking in Staten: Pete Davidson, Colin Jost, Big Wet, Chris Redd, Marc Cohn, Method Man
  • Saweetie - Tap In / Best Friend
  • Weekend Update: Michael Che, Colin Jost
    • Baby Yoda: Kyle Mooney
    • Mother Earth: Aidy Bryant
  • Thanksgiving Baking Championship: Alex Moffatt, Sarah Sherman, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Ego Nwodim, Simu Liu, Heidi Gardner, Kyle Mooney
  • First Asian: Bowen Yang, Simu Liu, Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman
  • Saweetie - Icy Chain
  • Friendsgiving 911: Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Simu Liu, Aidy Bryant, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong
posted by rhizome (16 comments total)
 
Man...I'm not sure the cold open and Republican or Not came off as intended, but I could easily imagine my Trumpist family members doing high-fives and "hells yeah!" to both those skits, especially RoN. Anyway...

It seemed like everyone in the cast had something to do this week. Lots of Cecily, which is always a-ok in my book.

Dog-Head Man was hilarious. I mean, the set-up of the skit was dumb, but watching everyone working with the dog and trying hard not to break was just the best kind of tv. Any idea who was under the blanket?

Target Thanksgiving was good, if predictable. It maybe went on too long, though.

Karaoke Recap was pretty fun. Everyone seemed to really put themselves into it and the results were great.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:18 AM on November 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


Nothing really stood out for me. I thought the cold open was a case of "too soon" since we're all still angry over that whole shit show. It also seemed very much a re-run of two episodes ago when they did basically the same thing with another topic.

Republican or Not was funny and I saw what they were going for but it had an element of "see, we're all really alike!" that rubbed me the wrong way.

Dog Head Man was funny but it seems too often lately they're doing the "haha animals are so unpredictable in sketches!" thing.

Walking in Staten was good, especially when Marc Cohn showed up, though to be honest I always thought that song was by someone else like Bob Segar or one of those guys.

Karaoke Recap was pretty good.
posted by bondcliff at 10:00 AM on November 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


I think my favorite part was Pete continuing to mack down on the cake. I thought for sure it would eventually break that recycled sketch. And he got some odd looks and smirks from the others, but they held it together. And then he almost lost it when Kyle's cake was revealed.

I also liked Republican or Not, but I didn't see it as we're all alike. I thought it was showing that we're not as far apart as we think. We're not the same, but does each side's growing hate for each other really make sense?
posted by Stanczyk at 10:20 AM on November 21, 2021 [3 favorites]


"... the first Chinese host on SNL... to be the fourth Chinese host on SNL."

lol.

Yeah, the Rittenhouse thing in the open is definitely a little too soon. But WU tempered that scathingly.

Austin Johnson's impression is even technically better than the last one, but I simply can not not see Robert Mueller's face instead.

Liu has a pretty decent singing voice.

My take on RoN - "You still don't get it, do you?" - current Republicanism is deeply hypocritical and get off on twisting words and arguments that have historically been used by not-chuckleheads, reinforced by the contestants asking for particulars like 'when' and 'in what context?' Exemplified by "by body my choice" - "Wait, for abortions, or vaccines?"

I dug 'First Asian.'
posted by porpoise at 11:05 AM on November 21, 2021


Okay, I need tech help. Why can’t I watch this episode on Hulu? We’ve watched every episode this season on Hulu through our Apple TV, and now we’re being prompted to pay for this latest episode. What gives?
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 12:20 PM on November 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


Delete the Hulu app and re-install. Problem solved.

Thank you for coming to Old Man Talks Himself through Tech Problems in Public.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 3:21 PM on November 21, 2021 [13 favorites]


I watch it on YouTube.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:13 PM on November 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


Damn. I was excited to see Saweetie because “Best Friend” is a bop, but that was ... really really bad. They didn’t even have her pretend to sing/rap the hook.

First Asian was hilarious, and I loved that they had both Marc Cohn and Method Man in “Walking on Staten.”

Michael Che seems to be getting better? He’s always been very funny but his humor seems less reactionary lately.
posted by lunasol at 6:17 PM on November 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I've noticed that Che's been a lot more present and engaged this season; last season he was really detached and dismissive.
posted by porpoise at 10:04 PM on November 21, 2021


Just seemed like a very lazy episode. The cold open was a rehash, the baking competition was a rehash, the Target holiday ad was a rehash, even the dog-head one was a rehash. Pete's music video was the only good thing.
posted by briank at 8:07 AM on November 22, 2021


One of the local news stations spotlighted Karaoke Recap and it’s not…inaccurate? It’s been over a decade since I’ve gone out to karaoke, but I was on the periphery for a little while because my roommates and this guy I was dating were into it (one roommate sang a great hardcore version of Britney Spears’ Toxic) and there really wasn’t much to do between November and March. Those were the daaaaaaaaaays 🎶
posted by sara is disenchanted at 9:30 PM on November 22, 2021


William Wegman was the original dog-head guy—and I think he actually did some short films for SNL in the late 70s or early 80s. I do know he did some damn fine work for Sesame Street in the 90s!

This episode was good. It sated my appetite for funny sketches. The news wasn't baiting—but I am sick of Baby Yoda. Watching this episode was like eating a reliable meal at a restaurant you really enjoy and frequently patronize. It wasn't maybe their BEST fish-n-chips, but it wasn't deplorable like that one time, eew. Also, Saweetie did it elegantly.

Also Pete eating "mustard" cake and cracking up was one of the better moments. Pete breaks a lot, but it's so much more enjoyable to watch than say when Fallon & Sanz would crack each other up. Cecily's fun to watch when she's cracking up, and so is Aidy. Come to think of it, this cast, even without Leslie Jones, really has to hide their snerking a lot, and I thought Lorne was supposed to hate that shit! I like it. It reminds me of Tim COnway cracking up Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman sometimes. I can't wait for Kate McKinnon to get baaaaack so baaaaad. I want to see her and Sarah Sherman riff off each other.

But this episode, aside from the cracking up, was B-grade, good-enough-for-the-road material with some whangdoodles thrown in. now where's my hula remote dagnabbit
posted by not_on_display at 11:28 PM on November 22, 2021 [1 favorite]


I do karaoke regularly and I admit I haven't really seen these types, per se. More like "That Guy Who Does My Way Every Single Week" (we did a video of singing it for his birthday) and some people who do the same few or one song all the time, and we did Karaoke Bingo of the most typical songs/artists that are sung for awhile, and Rob Sheffield wrote a book on karaoke that I highly recommend that talks about the "karaoke doppelganger," i.e. the person that you sing the most like.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:38 AM on November 23, 2021 [1 favorite]


One of the local news stations spotlighted Karaoke Recap and it’s not…inaccurate?

I don't do karaoke, but from what a friend tells me at least a couple of those would likely be BANNED SONGS by the KJ!
posted by rhizome at 11:46 AM on November 23, 2021


Just seemed like a very lazy episode.

Yeah I kind of liked that and didn't like it about this episode. Like, if they do it right I don't mind recaps. The Target ad was fine. Baking competition was worse than previous ones. I don't like the Trump sketches, they don't seem to do anything or go anywhere. Dog head thing was fun and okay. Karaoke recap was a fun ensemble piece. First Asian made me laugh because Bowen is great. Republican or Not seemed good, I also felt the message was about Republicans co-opting a lot of left wing language but it could have meant a few different things. I liked Saweetie's music just fine. I hate Baby Yoda and always will. Walking in Staten I've rewatched and continue to love and lord love Marc Cohn for being in it in that way. I didn't feel they used Simi Liu the same way they used Majors last week, but I'm just so happy to see him out and doing stuff. Felt like a solid B episode in a season that has been a little lackluster so I enjoyed it.
posted by jessamyn at 5:00 PM on November 23, 2021


rhizome, I meant singing karaoke specifically in Wilmington. There was, and may still be, a HUUUUUGE drinking culture here (I quit drinking a few years ago and the area is trying to model itself as a rejuvenated family-friendly place and we ended up with a metric crapton of people from Somewhere Else during quarantine and they ain’t left yet). Dependent upon where you were singing, the songs could get downright scandalous; most of this was in bar-bars well after 9 or 10 PM, and if you were at the club, it might have been after midnight.
If you visit Wilmington, we’ll go find some karaoke, hehe.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 6:19 PM on November 23, 2021 [1 favorite]


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