SNL's Continued Downward Spiral Thread

I think the sudden, overwhelming success of her music career has overshadowed that she came up as a Disney kid type, ha. She was on three seasons and 63 episodes of something called "Bizaardvark," which I've likely never heard of because I'm a 39-year-old man with no kids. She was between seasons 2 and 3 of "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" when her music career exploded. She definitely has the chops to host, and if she doesn't in the next few years, I assume it's only because she doesn't want to. (Taylor Swift has been a musical guest or done an appearance 5+ times, but hasn't hosted since 2009.)

 

Finally got to it. Solid episode and agree on Rodrigo. Incredible talent. Driver buys in. Good host.

And yeah, the cold open missed big. Awkward and cringy. Also, isn’t Elise Stefanik a bit too much of a deep cut for most of America? She’s not exactly a household name for a sketch like that.

 

That's a page out of the liberal playbook: "If you don't know who this person is, you're not dialed in enough!"

SNL keeps a copy of that playbook in the writers' room.

 

My daughter got into her via High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Series: About High School Musicals: Which Is Where Kids Sing. She's definitely a caffeinated version of Taylor, but she has got chops for days. I'd never heard her music before her first appearance on SNL and I usually either tune out of the musical guest or fast foward through it, but her performance of "Driver's License" transfixed me.

 

I think it was either Tom Breihan's excellent Stereogum column "Number Ones" or Rob Harvila's "60 Songs That Explain the 90s" podcast that noted that music goes in cycles - Likely as people who grow up listening to something then get old enough to be performers themselves. Avril Lavigne hit #1 in March 2007, and Paramore had five Top 50ish hits from 2007 to 2014. Rodrigo clearly combines a traditional singer-songwriter style with that kind of pop punk vibe.

 

Two cut sketches this week

 

The first one was very funny

 

My daughter was into Bizaardvark. Might be one of the most annoying Disney shows of that era, which is saying a lot.

 

Cold open was fun, but I was kind of hoping for Kate as Rudy Giuliani after the $150M judgement he just got in the Georgia slander case.

Monologue was cute, but I would've rather had Aidy and Cecily pop in rather than Maya and Kristen, since their tenures didn't really match up with Kate.

 

Kristen Wiig gets all the Brian Griffin jaw-drop GIFs for that dress.

 

Sarah Sherman absolutely owned that Pongo sketch.

 

Yeah that was perfect Sherman. I'm glad they're giving her more skits. She's already one of the best members of the cast.