‘SNL’ recap: Miley Cyrus cries, Hillary Clinton serves drinks in dull premiere

Marianne Dowling  •  Postmedia Network  
Published Oct 04, 2015  •  Last updated Oct 04, 2015  •  3 minute read
(NBC)

RATING: 3 stars out of 5

If there’s one thing the whole world can agree on it’s this: We’ve all seen a lot of Miley Cyrus over the years. Whether twerking, posing naked, hosting the MTV VMAs while wearing a flotation device, or swinging on a wrecking ball – this woman is (literally and figuratively) the most overexposed non-Kardashian celebrity in the business today.

But just in case you haven’t had enough of her – she also played host and musical guest for Saturday Night Live’s 41st season premiere last night. This was her third time as host and second time on double duty.

The result?

Despite all Cyrus’ distracting costumes and a buzzy cameo by Hillary Clinton – a lot of sketches fell flat in the premiere. Arch rival Nicki Minaj would have heckled this one. Miley, what’s good? Not enough, unfortunately. Here are the high and lowlights:

COLD OPEN:

Speaking of overexposure, the opening sketch was all about Donald Trump. New Trump impersonator Taran Killam wore the trademark yellow cotton candy wig and a ton of bronzer, while Cecily Strong played the part of his wife Melania. The jokes were weak, but the real Donald didn’t seem to care. According to his very active Twitter feed, he liked the spoof – and even took credit for Killam’s work. Trump retweeted this line from a supporter during the broadcast: “Thank you @realDonaldTrump for the great #SNL this week!!!" But let’s put this cold open in Trump terms: the hair was tremendous, but the sketch was very low-energy.

MONOLOGUE:

Cyrus came out looking like she rubbed glue on herself and then rolled on top of a craft table. You know, her casual look. With her first marijuana joke out of the way about 30 seconds in, she then picked up the microphone to say goodbye to the summer by singing “My Way” while cast members impersonated all the horrible people who were in the news since SNL signed off last season. Kim Davis, Josh Duggar, the dentist who killed the lion, the cast of Entourage and even Pizza Rat. Goodbye (hopefully) forever! Mobile users click here.

BEST SKETCH:

Katz’s Delicatessen

Four friends went out to the deli where the fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally was filmed. While three of the women reenacted Meg Ryan’s scene relatively discreetly, Leslie Jones’ character joined in with a much louder and twisted version. Her “orgasm” includes inexplicable screams of “I can’t have a freakin’ baby, I’m a dancer!” and louder screams of “Oh no, the condom busted again, dude!” The whole sketch hinged on how unhinged Jones could get – and she seemed really comfortable delivering the crazy.

WORST SKETCH:

Homecoming 1955

Cyrus scandalized a class of 1950s teens at a high school dance when her character, dressed in a poodle skirt, started rapping about having sex. You might remember an earlier, funnier version of this naughty-nice girl theme from the 2006 digital short “Natalie’s Rap” starring Natalie Portman.

MUSICAL GUEST:

Miley Cyrus (again!)

The best camera angle for both of Cyrus’ performances was the one closest to her face. That’s the shot that was the least distracting, where you could focus on Cyrus’ voice (which IS really powerful) instead of her Rapunzel-on-acid costume for her first song “Karen, Don’t Be Sad” and the multi-coloured yarn wig for second performance “The Twinkle Song.” Both songs showed a softer, sweeter, more introspective side of the pop star. She even cried towards the end of “The Twinkle Song” which was a solo track sung while she played the piano.

BEST CAMEO:

Hillary Clinton

The would-be Madame President attempted to loosen up a bit by playing a bartender named Val, who strikes up a conversation with Hillary Clinton, played by Kate McKinnon. As it turns out, the real Clinton does a decent Trump impersonation and got some actual laughs. This proves she had more success on SNL than Trump did. Don’t believe that? YouTube some of the sketches he did when he hosted the show back in 2004. Start with “Donald Trump’s House of Wings.” He’d be wise to get that one taken offline.

 

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