‘SNL’ Is Finally Starting To Find Its Rhythm In The Trump Era

HOST: Chance the Rapper
MUSICAL GUEST: Chance The Rapper
EPISODE: SNL Season 45, Episode 4
DATE: October 26, 2019

BIG PICTURE: Four episodes in, it’s starting to feel like we might be looking at one of the better seasons of SNL in recent years. Powered by Chance the Rapper, tonight’s show had no real duds, as Chance led the cast through a series of sketches where even if not every joke landed, general exuberance carried them through. That said, many jokes landed.

The cold open took on the recent Trump rally, surprising us with Fred Armisen as Turkish President Erdogan, and Darrell Hammond bringing his Bill Clinton back to the fold, jealous of the current president’s self-adoration rallies. Pete Davidson also showed up to raucous applause as an ISIS fighter, thanking Trump for “bringing jobs back.”

Later in the show, Jason Momoa appeared in a court sketch as man who sleeps with old woman and steals their money and jewelry – including wearing Kate McKinnon’s earrings as nipple rings.

MONOLOGUE/HOST: After joking that a $1 million donation he made to Chicago schools fixed everything for the city, native son Chance declared his support for Chicago’s striking teachers, then saluted the Second City with a charming rap professing his love for all things second best, including Burger King fries over McDonald’s, and The Lightning Thief over Harry Potter.

Chance is a fine natural actor with a breezy way of inhabiting characters. His highlights tonight showed his range, including a sports announcer out of his element (a returning bit from his last hosting gig). This time, he was an NBA announcer asked for commentary on a League of Legends competition. Befuddled by every word, his Lazlo Holmes, thinking he’d be working at a basketball competition, said he brought a basketball to get signed, and that someone there asked him what it was. Asked about a certain strategy move, he comments that the game “looks like how a seizure feels – if you know what’s going on in this clip, you need to get out of the house more.”

Other fun takes included a judge bestowing instant verdicts on a series of weirdos in “First Impressions Court”, a teen who is clearly trying to hide the fact that he murdered his parents in an ad for Tasty Toaster Tarts , and a ghost ashamed to admit that he died when he was struck by lightning after shoving a metal pole up his ass, hoping for a thrill from the electricity.

NOTABLE SKETCHES/PERFORMANCES: Quite a few winners tonight, including the League of Legends gamer sketch, the Tasty Toaster Tarts ad, and a sketch where a heartbroken Cecily Strong is charmed by a well-dressed Chance. The two are lifted skyward as a supposed sign of true love, but only a few feet high, calling that love into question. The sketch was an excuse for Strong and Chance to break things while flying around the set held aloft by trusses. It kinda fell apart by the end, but Strong’s wild gyrations in the air kept the laughs going.

WEEKEND UPDATE: An effective but short Weekend Update found the usual ratio of jokes land – my favorite line was Michael Che, on Rudy Giuliani: “Somehow, Giuliani went from the mayor of 9/11 to the 9/11 of mayors.”

Only one desk piece tonight, the return of Alex Moffat and Mikey Day as Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.. There were the usual allotment of solid lines here, as when Don, in a screed against Hunter Biden, asks Eric what it’s called when someone gets a job because of who their dad is and he calls it “nipple teasing,” but what makes this pairing a classic is Moffat’s physicality, silently echoing his brother’s every move, no matter how awkward or inappropriate.

THE 10 TO 1 SLOT: Kenan Thompson played an ’80s choreographer rehearsing Earth, Wind & Fire’s dancers, all appropriately decked out in leg warmers and other period gear. Thompson’s choreographer is a werewolf, a fact he tries to hide despite having a series of increasingly hard-to-maneuver window blinds failing to protect him from the moonlight. There are fewer paths to guaranteed laughs on SNL than giving Thompson an excuse to be ridiculous, and he makes a meal of it here, decrying each progressively harder-to-work blind before remembering that he’s the one who stupidly installed them. A perfect 12:50 ratio of weirdness to laughs here.

The show returns next week with host Kristen Stewart and musical guest Coldplay.

Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.

Stream SNL Season 45 Episode 4 (Chance the Rapper) on YouTube