Justin Leff

Staff Writer

Dead from New York, it’s Saturday Night Live. Chris Pratt and Ariana Grande kicked off the 40th season of SNL last Saturday night, receiving mixed reviews and a lot of twitter publicity. The show featured two new cast members to fill the void left by the release of Noël Wells and John Milhiser, while Nasim Pedrad left to co-star in the new Fox comedy Mulaney. The show may have been live, but nothing lively was produced. Unfunny skits still remain in our head like water in a swimmer’s ears.

NFL Cold Open:

The show opened with Aidy Bryant as CNN’s Candy Crowley on her show State of the Union. Bryant portrayed Crowley well, but the skit really stimulated hope for the season when Keenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah came on to portray Ray Lewis and Shannon Sharpe, two football players. The duo was asked how they felt about recent NFL scandals. Thompson acted as Lewis, who was unaware of what was going on, and continued to state the obvious, similar to the real Ray Lewis as he analyzes NFL games. Thompson as Lewis explained his belief that children should be sent to school and clarified that, “school busses are yellow.” Jay Pharoah, who has impersonated Sharpe before, exaggerated Sharpe’s speech impediment to nail the character.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692450#i1,p20,d1

A+

Chris Pratt Monologue:

I really felt tricked after the last skit: “Hey maybe SNL is finally good again.” Sadly, those thoughts were destroyed as Chris Pratt returned from the Galaxy to perform his monologue song. I thought SNL was supposed to be laugh-out-loud funny, but instead, the writers decided to go down a more heartwarming, “that’s cute” road.

C-

Cialis Turnt Commercial:

All relationships have their ups and downs rights? The SNL spoof commercial took a new turn on the popular Cialis commercial in a hilarious skit starring Taran Killam. The spoof declared that Cialis isn’t effective enough, and consumers should refer to the new Cialis, “Turnt.” “Be sure to ask your doctor if you’re healthy enough for ‘Turnt.’ If you’re turnt for more than six hours, congratulations. You’re now legally Lil Wayne,” it was assured in the skit. Maybe we can be friends after all, SNL.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692461#i3,p0,d2

A

Perverted Action Figures Come to Life:

I cannot understand how this skit was allowed on NBC. Two action figures come to life for a boy’s birthday, only to discover the sexual aspects of life. I don’t really know how I feel about the unusual skit because while some of it was hilarious, the immaturity of the skit made me really think about what I was watching and whether it was worth my time. Ariana Grande appeared at the end of the skit dressed as an action figure herself, however, this did not make anything funnier at all.

B-

The Vet Skit:

A terrible sketch, not even worthy of room on The Roar. Three veterinarians had to break news about multiple owners’ pets being dead. A completely repetitive skit that simply stunk.

F

Marvel. Can’t. Fail.

A clever, pre-filmed digital short acknowledging Marvel’s recent success with Guardians of the Galaxy. It proved how they can make a movie about anything and people will still see it. Be sure to see Marvel’s, “Some Shopping Carts,” “Pam,” “Fancy Ghosts,” and “Pam 2: The Winter Pam.”

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692453#i1,p12,d1

B+

Ariana Grande – “Break Free:”

The popular, however, recently controversial, popstar opened with her hit, “Break Free.” Grande began with an acoustic version of the song, transitioning into the fast paced beat the song usually owns. I can almost guarantee Disney fans’ mothers cringed at the site of her revealing outfit. A good performance by Ariana.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692454#i1,p16,d1

A

Weekend Update:

Michael Che began his SNL career co-hosting the “Weekend Update” with Seth Meyer’s replacement, Colin Jost. Some impressive writing got the crowd and me laughing, however, the crowd seemed to have been on laughing gas the whole night; a lot of material didn’t deserve laughs. “Weekend Update” had its first guest of the year to give her take on the Ebola disease: “The girl you wish you hadn’t started a conversation with at a party.” Returning from her Birthright trip to Israel (did she go to Milken?), the girl immediately began ranting on how the people aren’t sick from Ebola, but hypocrisy. She warned us that it might be shocking, “But most Americans only use 10% of my brain… and that’s how they’re getting across the border.” Relationship expert, Leslie Jones, was next to discuss her excitement about being single. Her huge earrings and spiked up hair, which was higher than mine, was enough to get the audience engaged. For many, the highlight of the show was SNL’s new recruit, Pete Davidson, joining the update to give his take on young people and “games.” Watch the clip because the content is too explicit for The Roar. Jost and Che took a minute to cheer up President Obama with a new single from Keenan Thompson: “Oooo, child things are gonna get probably not worse.”

A

Bar Flirt Rap:

If you want to see Aidy Bryant and Chris Pratt rap, go ahead and watch. No comment from me because this skit was… it was bad. Just don’t watch it.

D

Bad Boys 90s Skit:

Kyle Mooney: a genius to me, a freak to many. Fortunately, I was able to see the brilliance in this skit. Simply put, it is a weird, Full House spoof with an emphasis on peer pressure and hanging with the wrong crowd. Watch as Kyle Mooney helps his son who comes to him for help about making friends: “What? But you’re nice. If people don’t see that in you, they don’t deserve to be your friend.” This is completely true, but watching Mooney deliver this line with a completely straight face is pure awesomeness.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692467#i1,p16,d1

A-

Meet the Players:

SNL continued to bash on the NFL for its numerous scandals that rocked the league and America. In this skit, we were introduced to the Baltimore Raven’s offense: “Marvin Ingram, charged for sexual assault at THE Ohio State. Victor Naples a whole bunch of stuff. Willie Sampson, treason!”

http://www.hulu.com/watch/692464#i1,p16,d1A

A

Ariana Grande – “Love Me Harder” featuring “The Weekend:” 

I didn’t love this song, however, I’m sure many fans did. The guy from The Weekend has really weird hair.

B

In the Video Game:

Lorne Michael apparently thinks Chris Pratt is hot and likes watching him make out with his cast. Not funny.

F