Donald Glover apparently auditioned for SNL twice, not getting it either time. (Funnily enough, his big break was as a writer on the SNL adjacent 30 ROCK, but I digress.) He was very clear about not getting it in his monologue. While these stories of “stars who didn’t get SNL” are in the bio of all kinds of greats, after seeing what Glover can do as a host, it’s a downright shame that Raz P. Berry took this long to grace us with his presence.
This episode was full of gems. It’s apparent that Glover took an active role in the writing and selection of sketches this episode, because the bite that SNL always needs to have was there in force. Welcome back, now recurring Dirty Talk sketch! This is the kind of stuff Melissa Villaseñor needs to be doing every week! This episode in general gave some of the people we haven’t seen much lately like Villaseñor, Chris Redd and “where’s she been lately?” Leslie Jones a chance to get in some screentime. The best sketch of the night, though, was when Glover enlisted veteran Cecily Strong and uber-veteran Kenan Thompson in “80’s Music Video”:
This sketch was great from start to finish. They even put in the added touch of a lovely SD style pillar box on the whole sketch to sell the “music video”-ness of the concept. Everyone involved looked like they were having a blast, and even the generally unbreakable Strong had to stifle a grin a few times. I only wish that we could’ve gotten a little more of the illustrious Dr. Reginald Saunders. Why were he and his wife Anne settling in for a night of heavy drinking? Was it a medical procedure gone bad? Tell us, Dr. Saunders!
What did you guys think? Did this sketch run you over, Rambo-style?