Saturday Night Live: Charles Barkley, Migos
March 4, 2018 2:36 AM - Season 43, Episode 16 - Subscribe

Host: Charles Barkley, Musical Guest: Migos

  • Presidential Address - Alex Moffat, Alec Baldwin, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, Kate McKinnon
  • Opening Monologue - Charles Barkley
  • The Grabbies - Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, Alex Moffat, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Charles Barkley, Aidy Bryant, Luke Null
  • Ned's Roach Away - Heidi Gardner, Charles Barkley
  • Homework Hotline - Charles Barkley, Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day,
  • The Champions - Mikey Day, Charles Barkley, Alex Rodriguez, Kenan Thompson
  • Migos - Stir Fry
  • Weekend Update - Michael Che, Colin Jost
    • Hope Hicks - Cecily Strong
    • Kyle Mooney
    • Leslie Jones, Hilary Knight

  • Hump or Dump - Kenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, Charles Barkley, Melissa Villaseñor

  • Con Ed Repair Site - Kenan Thompson, Charles Barkley, Beck Bennett, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Pete Davidson, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor

  • Migos - Narcos

  • Last Call - Kenan Thompson, Charles Barkley, Kate McKinnon,

posted by DizzyOnBugSpray (9 comments total)
 
When I opened Hulu and saw that Sir Charles was hosting I was like "Oh god, let's get this over with." He can do many things well, but SNL is not one of them. And this was his FOURTH time.

Cold Open: Boring.

Monologue: Painful, although if you can get past the delivery and listen to what he was actually saying, Barkley's words were funny.

Grabbies: Not super horrible, but I could have done without the Aidy Bryant part.

NRA: Okay, but how long did it take them to get Barkley to deliver those lines that well?

Homework Hotline: Turkey really needs to be used more as an insult these days, otherwise that was a hard pass.

Champions: For those who says Kenan has no talent, check it, he just carried that sketch. They should have just got A.Rod to host, although he'd have broke the whole time (all of those giggles and smiles) and yes, I know, I know, Barkley is a political commentator.

Migos: Migos are three very attractive young men who make good hip-hop but sometimes I feel too old to listen to them. Also I really liked Quavo's glasses.

WU: Che surprises me every week with his opinions. He usually falls so hard on the Libertarian side of things, but he seemed genuinely into the gun control argument, so that was nice to see. There were stickers on Cecily's Hope Hicks' "statement", which was ripped out wide-ruled paper. Aaaaand then Che with another anti-feminist joke, gee. Leslie <3 but also Leslie and Colin (Snowmuffin!) have the best chemistry. Also Hilary Knight should have hosted.

Hump or Dump: Aidy as the contestant, me likey. Otherwise, sketch fail.

ConEd: Best sketch of the night hands down.

Last Call: I hate last call sketches and they made it worse by including Charles Barkley, although I appreciated Barkley going all the way with the weirdness. And I liked the way they switched it up by having Kenan provide commentary on what was going on. But otherwise? Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far, far from here...

Luke Null Count: 3 lines! 2 sketches!

Finally I hereby nominate this the worst episode of the season. *zips self into body bag*
posted by elsietheeel at 7:47 AM on March 4, 2018


cut for time:

Star Warriors
posted by bluecore at 10:04 AM on March 4, 2018 [4 favorites]


The writing was OK, but Barkley (while amiable) absolutely killed the momentum of almost every sketch he was in with his mumbly, wooden delivery. I can't really blame him, because the guy isn't an actor and never claimed to be. I was amazed to find out this was his 4th time hosting because I have zero recall of the other times!

WU had two extremes of exactly what drives me nuts about SNL's current take on gender relations. You had Michael Che do a smug, unfunny misogynist dad joke with the "March" thing, then you had Leslie Jones show up and basically holler feminist catchphrases and Beyonce lyrics like that's funny. (After watching her drool all over Colin Jost for a couple of seasons I thought his line about taking her out to show her some hockey moves was supposed to mean he was finally responding to all the flirting and looking for an excuse to go out with her... but instead it was a set-up for her to attack him for being sexist. Frankly it just seemed like they had an Olympian to shoehorn in there and they wanted an excuse for Jones to holler easy applause lines.) This is real playground insult stuff, boys on one side and girls on the other. No meat to it, and no brains either. Ugh. But I did think the Grabbies sketch and ConEd kind of redeemed the show in that department. Those bits had a real point, and actual jokes.

There was a part in Che's monologue about guns where I got the feeling he was having to improv or work from memory. I got that same feeling during Bill Murray's spot a few weeks ago. Do they need to replace a bad teleprompter or something?

For those who says Kenan has no talent

Wait, was anybody saying that? I thought he was pretty widely beloved at this point. I thought his reactions in the Last Call sketch were freaking sublime. "Oh lord, turn me into a bird..."

Often the "cut for time" sketch is the best of the week. I wouldn't say Star Warriors was fantastic, but I'm amazed they cut it when it looks so expensive AND they got a JJ Abrams cameo!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:42 PM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wait, was anybody saying that?

There are a few people around here who think that Kenan needs to hang it up and does the same thing in every sketch and that those of us who love him just like him because we like people who break during sketches. (I like people who break during sketches AND think Kenan is one of the most talented members of the cast. Why not both?!)
posted by elsietheeel at 6:29 PM on March 4, 2018



There are a few people around here who think that Kenan needs to hang it up


What’s up with that?
posted by ian1977 at 6:32 PM on March 4, 2018 [6 favorites]


This is real playground insult stuff,

Yeah.

I laughed a bit here and there and liked most of it, but this episode felt lazy or thoughtless - even for this season.

The Hope Hicks bit on WU was completely valid and probably correctly re-framed the situation for some low-info people, but the execution felt childish.

I kind of liked 'Con Ed Repair Site' - but again written/executed childishly.

I respect Charles Berkley but he has terrible timing and cadence. I don't know how much of 'Last Call' was McKinnon's idea - I hope to hell that it at least mostly came from her rather than someone writing that for her - but Berkley was a good sport and professional about it (and actually a little uncomfortable, and became moreso).

My read was that everyone was enjoying themselves and cracking up and McKinnon, reading the mood, went the extra distance to raise the tension knowing that Berkley isn't a creep.
posted by porpoise at 6:47 PM on March 4, 2018


Thanks bluecore! That was a smart skit and the role fits perfect for Berkley's... perceiveable limitations on SNL.

Another surprised it was cut.
posted by porpoise at 6:54 PM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thanks bluecore! That was a smart skit and the role fits perfect for Berkley's... perceiveable limitations on SNL.

Cost a bloody fortune too for the props & effects. Would've been the best skit of the show, would've (almost) redeemed it.
posted by scalefree at 10:05 AM on March 5, 2018


I was amazed to find out this was his 4th time hosting because I have zero recall of the other times!

My feeling during this show was "Please don't let him show up in a dress" which is one of the things I recall from his previous appearances. I think, yeah, this was not a great show. I like Barkley because he's often "Up for it" but he's not a comedic actor or even an actor, so when you get stuff that relies on timing, he sinks all of it.

I didn't know what was up with the Che/guns bit, it did seem broken. And I enjoy Leslie's ranting, to be honest, since at least it seems genuine and not written by the general team of "We know there are social issues happening but don't really know how to handle them" writers they seem to have this season. She's like that in her regular stand-up also, so it seems very her.

I like Migos.
posted by jessamyn at 8:56 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


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