Almost a year ago today, Jack Black Hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the first time in 20 years, fresh off the success of “A Minecraft Movie.” Now, the star of another freshly minted video game-to-movie hit, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” is back. after crushing it last time with high energy performance.
Having made it to the Five-Timers Club, as mentioned in an obligatory monologue with Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Candice Bergen and others, Black was a returning hero. He is frequently cited as one of the cast's favorite hosts. And while this time around it may not have reached the frenetic highs of last year's manic, musical outing, it did have some memorable moments.
Most notable was a video for a country style song about gaining wisdom and then completely forget what that wisdom was. Black sang in that sketch along with musical guest Jack White. Black also appeared as a frustrated office worker trying to get a co-worker (Ashley Padilla). stop talking to him and others upset by the woman.
Black was paired with Marcello Hernández to play martial arts instructors who teach unorthodox methods of self-defense. It played to Black's physical comedy chops, but something felt off about the execution, especially given the difficult-to-understand dialogue. Black played the last spartan to be considered for inclusion in the group of 300 Greek fighters against Persia (spoiler: he doesn't make it in). He played a Intrusive Airbnb Host with Melissa McCarthywho was also on board the Five-Timers sketch.
And finally, he played one of a group of clumsy husbands who comes to life singing “Carry On Wayward Son”” together.
While the monologue was a burst of new chaos (or at least the feeling of chaos) with Black playing with White, the rest of the show didn't have the same kind of verve, falling back on familiar sketch formulas. That said, Black was committed throughout and sang well when given the opportunity.
Musical guest Jack White appeared in some sketches and performed “Demonic Law” and “GOD and broken ribs.”
Breaking a streak of cold opens with President Trump and/or members of his Cabinet, this week's opening sketch instead featured an NCAA March Madness postgame recap with Ernie Johnson (James Austin Johnson), Kenny Smith (Kam Patterson), Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) and coach Bruce Pearl (Jeremy Culhane). The joke here was that Barkley, already known for being outspoken, has been receiving praise. for speaking out in favor of immigrants on a CBS broadcast. On the show, he jokes that it's “the first time I went viral without a prescription for Valtrex.” Emboldened, this version of Barkley goes on to say that he's going to be careful with his words, before weighing in on the Iran war, the Artemis II space mission (“A waste of money. They just fly around the moon”) and the firing of former US attorney. General Pam Bondi. Bondi (Padilla) appeared to refute the comments, referring to “The last four… years of this country.” Barkley said he was going to choose his words carefully one more time before uttering, “Live from New York… It's Saturday night!”
For his induction into the Five-Timers Club, Black was joined by a jacket-clad Hill, who revealed that something is wrong with the lounge where the Five-Timers hang out. The room, in fact, looked creepy and abandoned with cobwebs and Fey was wearing a robe made from Paddington, which she said she got after hosting “SNL UK” last month. Fey revealed that the lounge had collapsed after literally too many Five-Timers Club sketches knocked it down. Hernandez's suave character, Domingo, appeared briefly, but White, who also achieved Five-Timers status, but as a musical guest, hit him on the head. He left early to move his hearse: the apparently musical Five Timers are only allowed to park for 15 minutes. Black chose to rock out to revive the room, launching into a cover of White's “Seven Nation Army” with the guitarist accompanying him. After a brief musical sway, Black told the audience, “Stay, we'll be White Black!”
Best sketch of the night: If only we could remember why this song was so good
Beyond his accurate impression of Trump, Johnson has shown be an expert in musical impressionsand here he does a good job of launching into a country song, “Words to Live By,” about a man who hears his father's last words… and then forgets what wisdom was imparted to him. Black takes on the role of a man who climbed a mountain in Tibet and spent 20 hours with a guru, only to forget what he learned while walking down the mountain and receiving a text message from his wife. That would have been enough, but a third section features Andrew Dismukes as an upset father who refuses to listen to his 6-year-old son's words. “You don't even know how to wipe your butt,” he sings, “you might only know the names of about 30 rare types of Pokémon.” All three singers at least remember the name of the “Men in Black” device that erases memory: the Neuralyzer.
Also good: there will be peace when you finish (watching this sketch)
What at first appeared to be a repeat of a recent sketch about wine-drinking wives. chatting in the kitchen and playing truth or dare instead, it cut to a scene about husbands trapped in a lair with nothing to talk about. That might have been enough of a premise for an article about men having trouble making friends, but instead, a muttered lyric from the Kansas song “Carry On Wayward Son” became a full-blown sing-along that peaks when the men play with ribbons and remove their outer clothing to reveal colorful jumpsuits. When you have a guest who can sing as well as Black, you have to lean on that talent.
'Weekend Update' winner: a scandal that continues to grow
Patterson had some fun moments as a new Black version of Professor Snape. She was scheduled to appear in the new “Harry Potter” series, but it was hard to ignore Sarah Sherman as Bryon, Kristi Noem's husband, currently involved in an online chat scandal. Sherman as Bryon Noem wore two giant balloons under a T-shirt, daring “Update” co-host Michael Che and others to mock her perversion. “I dare you to find something funny in this whole situation,” Bryon said. The segment became increasingly absurd as Bryon challenged card master Wally Ferensten, Lorne Michaels (who is now gone, leaving behind a swivel desk chair), Kristi Noem (Padilla), and even the dog he shot, shown in the sky with a halo. It was as unpleasant a segment as you'd expect from “Update,” but it also somehow straddled the line between wallowing in scandal and extracting some genuine laughs from it.
