Hiyo Conehead Nation – welcome back to Saturday Night Live in retrospect – We started the December portion of Season 50. First: Gladiator IIPaul Mescal was so fascinating in both areas Normal people And Aftersun.

Gladiator II is a film directed by Ridley Scott. Joining me today is a former one SNL Actor Jeff Richards, who was on the show when Josh Hartnett came on as host, promoting Scott’s Black Hawk Down. He notes that Attack of the Clones Sketch, which cast him and Hartnett as members of N*Sync: “I remember this one because of all the choreography, which I never really had before, except maybe in elementary school.”

Shaboozey is the musical guest tonight. Let’s go! An iconic Dana Carvey figure awaits you.

Opened cold

“Let’s go!” Someone in the audience roars as we open to the familiar Church Chat logo and Phil Hartman’s soothing introductory narration. Dana Carvey’s iconic character jokes about Sabrina Carpenter and how Jesus Christ was the best carpenter.

The classic “Satan!” echo doesn’t land with the crowd – you can see Carvey waiting for a bigger reaction. One problem could be Sarah Sherman’s Matt Gaetz. This Trump news is old hat by now, and Sherman’s occupation and emasculating demeanor is so unnecessary at this point. I usually enjoy Sherman’s brand of live sketch work, but this gets huge praise.

The next guest to appear is David Spade, Hunter Biden. This exchange is better received (it’s much more current) and “Isn’t that special?” gets a nice response. Carvey, of course, has a podcast with Spade, so we’re four layers deeper SNL Tradition here. (Here’s a fifth level: Spade recently missed an interview with Alex Moffat during an episode. Not nice!)

Marcello Hernandez plays Juan Soto – Church Lady takes him to task. “Satan has had a good year,” the Church Lady chorus coos, calling out names like Diddy.

Church Lady last appeared on Season 42 during Weekend Update to discuss the November 2016 presidential election. (In Season 41, Ted Cruz, played by Taran Killam, and Darrell Hammonds Trump were Church Lady’s guests, FWIW.) It’s not clear to me why we’re going to Church Lady now. I understand that Carvey’s Biden was crucial earlier this season, but it seems like this was the most relevant moment for such an iconic, incisive cultural sketch character. But that suggests they should just call Carvey a performer.

monologue

A montage of Mescal crying! As he makes clear, he is a fan of emotional scenes, nude scenes and emotional nude scenes. “It’s safe to say there’s not much comedy on your resume!” he says. He dispels some of the stereotypes about being Irish. This reminds me of something late at night – he’s fine until Marcello Hernandez shows up in short shorts. Why did they interrupt him with that?

Mescal gets back into form and finishes well – he feels lucky to be here! That was adorable, but Hernandez wasn’t necessary.

“earring”

Parents (Wakim, Gardner) welcome their college-age son (Mescal) home for dinner when they ask him to take off his hat at the dinner table. A surprise: He recently had his ears pierced by a few friends. They overreact with references to Ben Shapiro, Metallica and going to work naked. Mescal accuses them of homophobia; They think of him as an “edgelord.”

Gardner delivers a tour de force here, dropkicking Nana out the window. She mutilates her own ear to say something. It’s theatrical and funny and has a nice ending with Michael Longfellow. That’s good! Check it out.

“Gladiator II: A Musical”

Evil And Moana 2 were great successes – even more than Gladiator II. So the filmmakers added an additional 50 minutes of song! Mikey Day spoofs Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap style; Mescal is enough 8 mile. Speaking of which gladiatorJeff Richards is a fan of Joaquin Phoenix, the villain from the original, as well as Denzel Washington, who looms large in the sequel. He recommends people look earlier SNLer Dean Edwards’ Instagram for his spot-on Denzel impression. In fact, Dean Edwards’ Denzel is hilarious and on point, Kenan Thompson’s impression here less so.

I liked the Christian character of James Austin Johnson. That’s clever! Check it out.

“Italian Restaurant Commercial”

“Pastabilities!” A young actress, played by Ashley Padilla, accidentally improvises during a taping for a commercial for an Italian restaurant. The director likes it, her co-star Craig (Mescal) less so. He becomes competitive. The crew thinks she’s a “comedy machine” – she admits she’s feeling “naughty,” another pasta pun. The camera clearly loves Padilla. Craig withers away, his resentment grows.

The restaurant owner Mario Capanello (Thompson) appears. That was okay!

“Please don’t destroy – Paul Mescal is daddy”

Our heroes are back in their usual surroundings: their office. They have mescal in their room and hang out. They are relieved that he is normal, not self-serious or emotional. This compliment backfires because he is very moved. He wants to move to the north of the state – maybe have sex in the future. Well that’s not fair, he wants to be “dad” and teach them about life while they remind him what it’s all about. Things get dark and absurd in a fantasy vision in which we live together in a hut.

This was a safe bet for PDD – their last few installments didn’t land nearly as well.

“Pirates”

A bachelor party is planned Magic MikeShow in style. My first thought: Is this a Domingo prequel? It’s mostly the same cast, but I note that Dismukes is in the revue. Instead, this is a male stripper pirate story, practically straight from history pirates of the Caribbean. The women complain about the wild level of detail and the lack of skin.

Okay, that’s not Domingo – Hernandez’s stripper has scurvy and is thrown overboard. Wakim has a funny moment, but other than that it didn’t affect me.

Shaboozey’s “Good News” performance

This country ballad was released last month. All he needs is a little good news!

Jeff Richards jokes, “As for Shaboozey, I don’t know much of his music, but my overall impression is that you can’t ‘lose’ with Shaboozey!”

“Weekend Update”

Colin Jost jokes about the suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying one reason the shooter was able to get away was because most of the city’s police officers were guarding the tree in front of their office. The murder occurred just three blocks from 30 Rock. (The series, which makes jokes about crime in New York, actually has a long history.) Other jokes: Trump in Paris, Biden in Africa, Diddy.

Che tells a very clever joke about time travel. Che and Jost have great chemistry tonight. Lots of laughter at other people’s jokes.

The NFL season is halfway over and out comes Heidi Gardner. Her Dookie son was drafted this year, so she’s new to fame. She wants Shaboozey and comments on a Jost joke about cucumbers. Hernandez plays her athlete son, he is dead behind the eyes. (I like this Hernandez performance better than the screaming performance at the start of the show.) Some people shouldn’t be famous, Che remarks as the camera cuts to Jost.

“Brilliant lawyer”

It is the last day of the trial. Paul Mescal tells his lawyer (Dismukes) that he hasn’t presented his case at all. His only advice was that he should wear a crazy green suit and a Devo hat with a beard.

He calls Sarah Sherman to the stand; She was a witness to the robbery at trial. She tries to point out Mescal, but Dismukes has filled the courtroom with 20 people dressed exactly like Devo. (Yes, I know what you’re all thinking: Devo was the musical guest in Season 4. SNL Lore!) The Devo extras are all mixed together. Dismukes is trying to sell his desperate plan – he’s trying Plan C. He wants the case dismissed. If the judge doesn’t agree, he will kill himself!

Good Dismukes work! Fun.

Shaboozey’s performance “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”.

Huge reaction from the crowd when they heard the guitar work for this jam.

J-Kwon performed the original “Tipsy” during the Season 29 finale, hosted by the Olsen twins.

It was the fourth single from his album Where I was is not where I’m going. It topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the USA. It is nominated for Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance at the 67th Grammys, while Shaboozey is nominated for Best New Artist!

“Spotify packed”

Ego Nwodim values ​​her friends; She needed a good, old-fashioned meeting place. They start talking about Spotify Wrapped, the soundtrack to our lives. Mescal is proud of his list as he believes he has good taste. His friends ask to see his top artists – some obvious ones (Kendrick Lamar), then some more obscure artists.

This is a funny commentary on our awkward listeners and the random rabbit holes and deep dives people go down – and the silent majority influence of podcasters.

Satoshi Gutman (Bowen Yang) is from Dundalk, Maryland! Very close to me! Dundalk is the “epicenter” of the Ace Core movement. (Nwodim is from Baltimore/PG County, so she totally knows Dundalk.) Lifestyle podcaster and vlogger Trisha Paytas shows up! She has over 5 million subscribers and nearly 1 billion lifetime views on YouTube.

“BuzzFeed Red Carpet”

A complete unknown is the biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothée Chalamet. A BuzzFeed reporter catches Dylan and Chalamet on the red carpet and is legally obligated to ask them about their brat summer. This allows JAJ and Chloe Fineman to present their top-notch impressions.

Dismukes also stars as Bruce Springsteen, while Bono is played by Mescal. They love apps. I like this one.

“Jess, Logan, Dean” is Rory Gilmore’s correct ranking – Bono and Dylan get it! Yes! Dean was just a townie.

Final thoughts

Thanks to Jeff Richards, who recently had a former SNL Author and “Soup Nazi” impresario Spike Feresten on his podcast. (They recently worked together on the video game, (redacted).) In the Busey episode, Richards says Spike was “the butter to my sausage.”

I think it’s nice to see David Spade back on the air at 8H for the first time since Season 30 when he hosted. Did we have to promote him? Fly on the wall next to Carvey? Not sure. I have mixed feelings about this return of the Church Lady. And you? Vote – get in.

I saw the Delicious Dish Capitol One commercial twice during my show. Yes, do you?

Good effort from Heidi and Dismukes this week!