Sushi Glory Hole – SNL Digital Short – Episode 2 – Nate Bargatze/Coldplay

2000s-era SNL musical comedy wizards The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer) are back! And this time they are serving up a rap song extolling the virtues of a hole in the bathroom wall serving delicious fish. Samberg and Schaffer (Taccone was in Europe at the time of filming) strut in as startup pitchmen to a loan approval board, dressed in their 1980s Wall Street best despite it being a modern setting. The men try to convince the board of the genius of Sushi Glory Hole, where patrons can receive “shockingly high-grade fish” (and sake, for an added fee) through a nondescript hole in the wall. They also explain the variety of situations where a Sushi Glory Hole is useful (hungry and forgot to eat, needing energy for a party, being at a sushi restaurant and not liking the food.) The 50th season has become the perfect time for veteran cast members to come back, and it is like The Lonely Island never left.

Best Line of the Sketch: “You know I’m fooling with yuzu / Where you would usually doodoo and / If you got fund approval, you’re who we’re tryin’ to get through to”

Weekend Update: The Couple You Can’t Believe Are Together – Episode 5 – John Mulaney/Chappell Roan

No, there is no Domingo on this list, because I thought Marcello Hernández had a much better showing in this Weekend Update feature. Teaming up with newcomer Jane Wickline to play a modern-day odd couple, this played perfectly to their strengths; Marcello as a bro-ey sports fanatic, and Jane as a soft-spoken scholar with a hidden bold streak. They have already done a sequel, and I would not mind seeing a third before the season’s over.

Best line: “Nice to meet you, ephemeral!”

Sex Rock CD – Episode 6 – Bill Burr/Mk.Gee

It is a tragedy that this was one of the only sketches from the Bill Burr episode not to hit a million views. Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson, and Andrew Dismukes team up as fictional band Snakeskin, the self-styled “Kings of Sex Rock” who love high heels, long hair, and, of course, na-na. In the frame of a paid advertisement, Bill Burr fits perfectly as a middle-aged dad reminiscing on his 80s days and introducing his son (Emil Wakim) to a genre known as “80s sex rock–rockin tunes about living fast, dying young, and doing sex.” These include the beautifully titled songs “Nah-Nah Train,” “Havin’ Sex On An Escalator (Sex-Scalator),” and “Tear It Down.” All members of Snakeskin turn the energy up and sing quite well. And any sketch featuring the always-underrated Andrew Dismukes belting out a rock song is a winner for me (see last season’s “Remember Lizards”). 

Best Line: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down…your panties giiiiiirrrrllll!” 

Scared Straight – Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special

As you might know, SNL had a blowout 50th anniversary special on February 16. Since every sketch of the night was a repeat/proven hit, the entire night’s fare was essentially an equation of “Veteran Sketch” + “SNL All Stars.” This resurrection of the 2000s-era “Scared Straight” sketches featured the first-ever team up of Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell as part of a group trying to dissuade a group of juvenile delinquents (Marcello Hernández, Mikey Day, Michael Longfellow) from the criminal lifestyle. The three jailbirds (including Kenan Thompson) recount tales of their imprisonment that end up sounding a suspicious amount like their respective box-office hit films. All my credit goes to Will Ferrell for strutting his stuff in Bill Clinton-style short-shorts (or, as Ferrell’s character calls them, his “spring uniform”) And, of course, it includes my favorite part of these sketches, Jason Sudeikis aggressively sitting (I don’t know how to explain it, you just have to see it) onto the detective desk. And speaking of Longfellow, he has been a standout all season and I predict he will take over as Weekend Update anchor whenever Jost and Che make their departure.

Best Line: “And there won’t be no Santa coming to town…it’ll be Santos coming in your brown!”

Pip – Episode 14 – Lady Gaga

Coming to us from writer Dan Bulla’s “Midnight Matinee” series, we get this inspirational tale of a mouse lifting weights against all odds. Gaga plays an encouraging friend to Pip the mouse, telling him through a power ballad that he can achieve anything if he tries. Then the roof troubles mentioned in the beginning start to materialize…and Pip has the chance to become a hero, much to the detriment of a bully (Marcello Hernández).

Best Line: “It was an accident…right Pip?”