Saturday Night Live: Josh Brolin / Ariana Grande

March 10, 2024 1:47 AM - Season 49, Episode 14

Will Robert Downey Jr. be the first cast member to win an Oscar?

• Cold Open - SOTU Response: Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Michael Longfellow, Punkie Johnson, Heidi Gardner, Scarlett Johansson, Kenan Thompson
• Monologue: Josh Brolin, Kenan Thompson
• Bank Robbery: Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Josh Brolin, Devon Walker, James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang, Marcello Hernandez
• Airline Song: Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Troast, Josh Brolin, Kenan Thompson
• People Pleasers Support Group: Heidi Gardner, Josh Brolin, Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Molly Kearney, Ariana Grande
• Wine Party: Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Josh Brolin, Sarah Sherman, Andrew Dismukes, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner
• Shrimp Tower: James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Josh Brolin, Mikey Day, Molly Kearney, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson
• Shonda: Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Heidi Gardner, Kenan Thompson, Punkie Johnson, Marcello Hernandez, Josh Brolin
• Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)
• Weekend Update: Michael Che, Colin Jost
• Moulin Rouge Songs: Mikey Day, Bowen Yang, Ariana Grande, Josh Brolin
• Sandwich King: Josh Brolin, Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Andrew Dismukes, Heidi Gardner
• Ariana Grande (and her Mom) - Imperfect for You
• Lisa from Temecula: Josh Brolin, Chloe Troast, Punkie Johnson, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Marcello Hernandez, Kenan Thompson

posted by rhizome (16 comments total)

Scarlet, that was very, very good.
posted by amtho at 3:30 AM on March 10 [8 favorites]

I sooooo wanted to see this episode, but I just couldn’t stay awake.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:34 AM on March 10

Will Robert Downey Jr. be the first cast member to win an Oscar?

I've been watching a lot of Oscar Predictions from movie fans on Youtube and nearly all of them have said "well, Best Supporting Actor is obviously RDJ...." He's won every other award up to this point.

And I mean, two guys from the cast of ENCINO MAN won for Best Actor and Best Supporting last year, so....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:35 AM on March 10

At first, I thought the cold open was going to be SNL's usual tepid political fare, ignoring the Britt fiasco. But nope, they ran with their A-list relation who cut Britt to ribbons. That was hilarious. Scarlett, that was the cameo of the season.
posted by Ber at 8:03 AM on March 10 [3 favorites]

In a just universe, Johansson would get an instant EGOT for her performance.
posted by signal at 8:52 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]

ok Scarlet really nailed it. I laughed a lot but the teacup moment--oh my. I hope Kenan Thompson is alright.
posted by supermedusa at 10:01 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]

More stupid shit like Wine Party, please.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:05 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure I knew Scarlett Johannson could act. That was great!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:50 AM on March 10

Just overall I thought the episode was delightfully weird, and Brolin did a good job though between the monologue and his first sketch he sure is quick to strip to his underwear.

Like so many SNL recurring bits, Lisa from Temecula has pretty steeply diminishing returns for me.

and ummm actually at the time happy birthday was notoriously troublesome to license
posted by ckape at 11:13 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

Please explain the teacup thing? Kenan? What is that referencing?

Oh, it's a 'Get Out' reference. Thanks Google.
posted by amtho at 12:20 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]

Just overall I thought the episode was delightfully weird, and Brolin did a good job though between the monologue and his first sketch he sure is quick to strip to his underwear.

I rewinded just to make sure Josh Brolin came out in shoes. He must have gotten out of them when they cut ro Kenan saying "cool, cool, cool, cool". This whole bit is something where I would like to see them post a real wide shot to show the stagehands scurrying about.
posted by mmascolino at 12:42 PM on March 10

I'm not sure I knew Scarlett Johannson could act.

Definitely check out Under the Skin. It is an unusual film and Scarlett even improvises a bunch (some of the scenes are filmed with civilians that didn't realize there were cameras present.
posted by mmascolino at 12:44 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]

the teacup is perhaps the scariest thing in 'Get Out', a tool used by a white woman to entrap the mind of a Black man.
posted by supermedusa at 12:49 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]

I thought that Robert Downey had already won an Oscar for Chaplin in 1992, but it turns out he was just nominated.

(Al Pacino for Scent of a woman? Seriously?)
posted by madajb at 1:29 PM on March 10

Not really on topic, but while I think Under the Skin is a fine film, I didn't think that Scarlett Johansson was remarkable in it, through no fault of her own -- it's more a movie about vibes and mood than about story or performance, imo. I realize there's more to acting, but I can't remember a single line she delivered in the film, or indeed that anyone delivered. It's more like a video art installation than a narrative film.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:42 PM on March 10

This episode seems to be getting a lot of love online, but while Brolin was certainly game I thought the writing was pretty weak. There were some fun premises but they fizzled, a problem this show has been having a lot lately. I feel like the people running SNL could use a course in sketch comedy 101. Like, I'm no comedy expert, but even I know about the importance of stuff like reversals, escalation and actual endings. That Moulin Rouge thing was interminable. The whole joke seemed to be, "What if an old jukebox musical that used incongruous, anachronistic songs used songs that were slightly more incongruous and anachronistic?"
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:16 PM on March 12