Saturday Night Live: Tracy Morgan / Demi Lovato
October 20, 2015 2:16 PM - Season 41, Episode 3 - Subscribe

Tracy Morgan returns to Studio 8H to host nearly a year after suffering a near-fatal car accident.

Tracy Morgan is back! Also:

- Brian Fellow and Woodrow are revived
- fellow SNL-alum Larry David does a spot-on Bernie impersonation for the Democratic Party Debate sketch
- Alec Baldwin and the old 30 Rock crew appear in a fake-flashback during the monologue
- Tina Fey does some Playboy poses on the Weekend Update desk
- an ad for fake cocaine and fake dookie-smell-in-a-can
- Demi Lovato sang a couple of songs. (I didn't know she was on Barney and Friends years ago.)

...along with a few other okay-to-good sketches and shorts. An antidote to their next show, when Donald Trump will be hosting on November 7. {wince}
posted by not_on_display (19 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
So glad to see Tracy is back!
posted by jilloftrades at 3:01 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe now that they've used the one good joke possible with Family Feud they can retire the sketch.
posted by ckape at 3:11 PM on October 20, 2015


If it had been a weaker "celebrity of the week" type host, or if Morgan wasn't really up to it, the DemDebate sketch alone would have been worth watching for, but Morgan was in good form and this was a good show. Amazing how far Tracy Morgan has come even in just the last couple of months.
posted by briank at 3:46 PM on October 20, 2015


It was really good to see Tracy & the singer was good too, I liked both songs. The debate sketch worked but the rest of it just didn't do anything for me. I thought Family Feud started strong but then kind of faded out. And what was up with the pilgrim sketch, just homophobia packaged as humor? At least when Monty Python did it & it was called the Lumberjack Sketch there was originality & wit to the lyrics.

God help us all in two weeks with Trump.
posted by scalefree at 5:10 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


And what was up with the pilgrim sketch, just homophobia packaged as humor?

Yeah it was weird in 2015 to see a punchline right out of Mind of Mencia.

The only real disappointment was Tracy flubbing Astronaut Jones

We don't get Astronaut Jones all that often, Tracy
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:50 PM on October 20, 2015


Colin Jost is no longer a head writer, apparently since the beginning of this season.
posted by Etrigan at 5:35 AM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm tempted to boycott the Trump show but on the other hand it could be epic. He has hosted before, back in the 1990s.

Larry David didn't really do an impression of Bernie Sanders so much as point out that Sanders talks exactly like Larry David. He pretty much played himself. I wouldn't mind seeing him back a few times, the way Tina Fey kept coming back to play Sarah Palin.

Great to see the 30 Rock gang. Man, I miss that show.

I had no idea who that singer was and I have no opinion on her as I'm obviously not the target demo. My 21 year old niece says she's kind of a big deal. Or was. Or something.

It must be a treat for some of the younger cast members to get to appear in a "classic" sketch like Astronaut Jones or Brian Fellow's Safari Planet.

I missed Astronaut Jones because my stupid Tivo didn't record it because the show started late. I blame sports.

It's been a good season so far. Certainly better than last year. I hope they can keep it up.

I just heard Jim Webb dropped out of the race. I suspect Baldwin's impression had something to do with it. It's really gotta sting to be portrayed like that.
posted by bondcliff at 6:25 AM on October 21, 2015


Hope this comment is not too much of a derail but hoping that Larry David will need to be drafted as an SNL regular for the next 4+ years.

Thought I saw a notice that Trump just punted his SNL date?
posted by sammyo at 6:35 AM on October 21, 2015


Thought I saw a notice that Trump just punted his SNL date?

He cancelled on Jimmy Kimmel, but he was still insisting as of yesterday that he'll be on SNL, and it'll be huuuge.
posted by Etrigan at 7:04 AM on October 21, 2015


Colin Jost is no longer a head writer, apparently since the beginning of this season.

Good, he stinks. He could be a good smarmy-douchebag-anchor type if he wanted to though.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:26 AM on October 21, 2015


The opening was the highlight of the show.

Also, Trump hosted in 2004. The opening, where it seems like he's doing a parody of a parody of a parody of himself, while appearing with a parody of himself that is somewhere on the timeline of those parodies.
posted by cashman at 9:13 AM on October 21, 2015


So, is SNL going to give equal time to all the presidential candidates? Ugh.
posted by amtho at 12:26 PM on October 21, 2015


Equal time discussion. Of note is that the rule applies to stations, not networks or shows. So SNL doesn't have to offer equal time to everyone else, but every NBC affiliate maybe could have to.
posted by Etrigan at 12:34 PM on October 21, 2015


Icould have sworn they ran into this once before. Possibly with Al Sharpton? I remember a presidential candidate was going to host SNL but had to cancel due to equal time concerns. I also remember Steve Forbes and John McCain hosting, though I don't know if it was during their presidential runs.
posted by bondcliff at 12:56 PM on October 21, 2015


Yes it was Sharpton. Maddow covered it last week.
posted by cashman at 5:41 PM on October 21, 2015


He could be a good smarmy-douchebag-anchor type if he wanted to though.

I feel like he was finally hold his own as smarmy douchebag anchor type, so I'm hoping the show just gets better without him as head writer.
posted by jessamyn at 6:03 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


bondcliff: "I missed Astronaut Jones because my stupid Tivo didn't record it because the show started late. I blame sports."

Me too! And it's one of my favorites. I'll have to see if I can find it online. I would have liked to hear an original tune from Woodrow, but I know the fans always want to hear the old stuff. Brittney probably taught him about that.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:39 AM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, re: Demi Lovato, I like her music fine, but when I see her perform it looks like she is working. So. Hard. I get tired just watching her.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:43 AM on October 22, 2015


Rock Steady: but when I see her perform it looks like she is working. So. Hard. I get tired just watching her.

...Barney probably taught her that.
posted by not_on_display at 8:38 AM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


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