It was the first Black-and-White episode of Saturday Night Live this week. That’s because Jack Black was the host, and Jack White was the musical guest.
See what Lorne Michaels did there?
Cold Open
The scene is the Match Madness pregame show set. We get Kenan Thompson as Charles Barkley, James Austin Johnson as Ernie Johnson, Jeremy Culhane as Bruce Pearl, and Kam Patterson(!) as Kenny Smith.
Barkley makes several off-topic, political statements to the chagrin of Johnson. Later, Ashley Padilla appears as recently fired U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
This didn’t work at all. That’s all I can really say about what seemed to be a very slapdash, tossed together attempt at a cold open to coincide with the two basketball games that were played in the hours and minutes before SNL went on the air.
Monologue: Five Timers Club
Jack Black always brings high energy to his monologue, usually with music. No change here in a Five-Timers Club sketch. Appearances are made by members Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, what seemed to be a sedated Jonah Hill, and the great Candice Bergen.
Not sure what was worse here: the very poor cue card reading by everyone, the barely coherent premise, or the strange smile that Hill had pasted on his face. It’s getting to the point where the most striking things about a Five-Timers sketch is trying to tally all of the plastic surgery.
The monologue concluded with Black and White and the Five-Timers members singing a song at home base. It felt very forced, and didn’t land.
Kathy
Black, Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, and Thompson are co-workers in the office break room. They’re joined by “Kathy,” played by Padilla.
Kathy is an annoying, pestering co-worker who inserts herself into every conversation at the other table.
Padilla’s character incessantly repeats her interjections: “We talking lunch?” and “We talking tech?” and “We talking TV?” as Black and the rest try to ignore her.
Padilla is made for this type of character-driven sketch, and Black is good here with his up and down reactions.
A solid episode-opening sketch that was bound to satisfy most viewers.
Goddamit Song
A pretape featuring Black, JAJ, and Andrew Dismukes singing their memories of poignant words that were shared with them, but having a hard time recalling what they were. In a satire of schmaltzy country music songs, this was solid. The high point is the appearance of White doing a guitar solo on a mountaintop.
Ultimate Dojo
JAJ, Chloe Fineman, Ben Marshall, Thompson, and Culhane as students in a self defense class taught by Black and Marcello Hernandez. Late in the sketch, Jane Wickline appears.
Best line: Thompson when he explains himself with “I got a real mouth on me.”
The sketch was a vehicle for Black and Marcello to use their physicality. A few notes on this sketch:
- Hernandez gets away with using his same stereotypical Latino characterizations. It’s tired and lazy. The “happy-go-lucky, silly Hispanic man” is easy for laughs, but a stereotype that should be toned down.
- Cue card reading in tonight’s episode is terrible. It seems like this sketch was probably cut down or maybe expanded between dress and air. It didn’t work. In many cases it felt like an improv group stumbling through an exercise.
- Nothing resolves itself here, nothing really makes sense: Marshall has a few strange quips; Black struts and uses his body as we expect, but there’s no point to it; and Hernandez breaks character.
- One of the most ill-conceived sketches I’ve seen on SNL in several years.
Husbands and Wives
The comedic premise here is solid: a couples party where the wives, who have been friends for years, have gathered in the kitchen, and the men are all in the den. The women worry that their husbands, who are unfamiliar with each other, won’t mesh. We get two sets, flashing back and forth between.
Padilla, Sherman, Fineman, Wickline, and Veronika Slowikowska are the wives. With Black, Thompson, Johnson, Dismukes, and Tommy Brennan as the husbands.
Bored with nothing seemingly in common, the men struggle to make conversation. Then Black breaks into a verse of “Carry On a Wayward Son” by Kansas. The rest of the husbands gradually join for a chorus and theatrical rendition of the rock anthem.
Eventually, of course, the wives enter the den, finding that the men have transformed into wannabe rock stars. The payoff is Wickline joining the men in song.
Not really sure how this even made it past a pitch meeting, let alone to dress and on-air. The most notable part of this sketch that might be remembered years from now may be James Austin Johnson in tighty whities.
Jack White Music
If there’s something you can count on: it’s a great hook from Jack White. The Detroit rocker was spot-on again in his fifth appearance as musical guest. Is he America’s current best rock and roll songwriter? Hell yes.
Weekend Update
Update went after the Trump administration with more venom than it has all season. No one was immune: the Orange One, Bondi, JD Vance, Kristi Noem and her husband, Pete Hegseth, FEMA. There was even a presidential assassination joke.
Best joke: Che’s “little bit of spit” line about Trump opening the Strait of Hormuz naturally.
Sherman appeared as Krist Noem’s husband. At least she didn’t break, and neither did her “sweater puppies.”
Patterson appeared as “Black Professor Snape” from the new Harry Potter series in a segment thatb was well-written. Best line was about the “Wu-Tang Name Generator.”
The 301
Dismukes is the leader of a Spartan army preparing his legion to face the Persian enemy in 480 B.C. But he can only bring 300 soldiers, and has 301 in camp. A soldier played by Black is the clear choice to be cut.
A child actor delivers a great saucy line here as Black is not chosen for the army. But he has a consolation prize that he reveals in his final line.
This sketch should have been earlier. It’s not hilarious, but it harkens back to some of the historical sketches from the early seasons (Theodoric of York) or the Lothar sketches written by Mike Myers.
Spring Break
Wickline, Hernandez, Brennan, Sherman, and Culhane as a young group gathered for spring break. Black is their strange AIRBNB host. Melissa McCarthy appears as Black’s sister-in-law, who is equally bizarre.
This sketch quickly becomes a physical sketch where McCarthy is lathering the cast members with lotion. It’s an easy laugh, and just fine for the 10-to-1 sketch.
“You can never have too much Jergens.”
Episode Grade: C+
The batting average for sketches this week was pretty low. “Kathy” was noteworthy, and “The 300” deserved to make it to air, but that’s about the most you can say of it. The last sketch, “Spring Break” had potential if the writers had explored what made Black so desperate to hang with his young renters. But it became a quick laughs gimmick based on using a prop.
Jack White was amazing as usual. He’s never had a bad appearance on SNL, and deserves to rank among the best musical performers ever to perform in Studio 8H.
I must be fair and give Weekend Update its due: it was very good this week. The jokes were probably the best of Season 51, and cast member appearances at the desk were entertaining, even Patterson, who still doesn’t seem to fit in the SNL format.
It’s difficult to trash a Jack Black episode. He’s so likable, and generally he’s had good to very good episodes in the past. But this one was weak, mostly due to writing. I’ll go C+ because of White, Update, and another great night from Padilla.
