Saturday Night Live Season 44 Premiere: Adam Driver (host), Kanye West (musical performer) with special appearances by Matt Damon, Rachel Dratch, Lil’ Pump, Teyana Taylor.
Written by Melissa Jouben and Mark Henely
The Host – Adam Driver
Melissa: During Driver’s first time hosting, I don’t think anybody expected him to be bad, but I don’t think anyone expected him to deliver what would end up being one of the most memorable performances and sketches of that entire season. That sketch sort of cemented him into some kind of fan-favorite status, which, the second time around, still feels odd. Not that Driver doesn’t have comedic chops – he was, after all, on Girls, which is something that I personally forget just about always – but he was never at the top of my list of people who I’d like to see come back.
I’m torn between whether or not I thought he was a good choice to host the season-opener. On the one hand, he was completely overshadowed by just about everything from the news to Pete Davidson to Kanye West to how long the show felt like it was dragging on at times. On the other hand, he didn’t nothing wrong; his performances were strong. I think, if anything, he fell casualty to a show that tried to cram too many things into an hour and a half and I don’t think there’s anything he could have done differently. This episode was never going to be about Adam Driver, and that’s something that he undoubtedly understood from day one.
Mark: Adam Driver got unlucky enough to be the host of SNL on the episode where a surprise guest appearance from Matt Damon completely stole the show. The Kavanaugh hearings have been completely traumatic for everyone in our culture and it is times like these, when the news is so completely insane, that I think SNL does an important job.
The political humor that SNL does is mostly based on referencing the small moments of these big events. In a way, their political stance can usually be distilled down the sentence: “Are you guys seeing this shit too?” While some people criticize this approach as not going far enough much of the time, I find it cathartic more often than not. It makes me feel less alone and I don’t think that should be completely discounted.
Best Sketch – New Look
Melissa: I have my opinions about the way that SNL trotted out Pete Davidson last night and tried to put a spotlight on the very ratings-grabby relationship he is currently in with Ariana Grande, but I think the best way to utilize his real-life relationship and personal life was by framing it within the fictional inside-SNL world that Kyle Mooney has created over the last few years. It was a fun way to embrace something that you knew the show had to address head-on, and Mooney being the one to lead the narrative felt like a lot less of a cop-out than it could have been.
Pete still had the opportunity to talk about it in his own words on Update, which was a fine enough segment, but this sketch was creative and funny and – most importantly – was an actual sketch and not just a periodic reminder that Pete Davidson is dating Ariana Grande. Now I just hope that they can kind of put that fact to bed for a little bit now that they’ve addressed it and gotten it out of the way.
Worst Sketch – Coffee Shop
Melissa: My issue with it is that I think it’s incredibly weak to put a recurring sketch on for the season premiere. Maybe if this one had surpassed the original (“Italian Restaurant” from last season’s episode with Ryan Gosling) then it would have been fine, but I don’t feel like it did. I think maybe Driver’s energy in the sketch was just a little bit too intense to read as humorously as Gosling’s did, and I think knowing what the twist was going to be as soon as the sketch started made for an uneventful second half of the sketch.
Mark: Agreed.
Musical Guest – Kanye West
Melissa: Here’s my biggest issues with SNL: it has one of the largest viewing audiences on television and assumes that that means they need to cater to all of it. I understand that the show is meant for everyone, but pretty much anyone would tell you that in the current political climate that is entirely impossible. Things are too tense and too polarizing for anyone to enjoy a half-hearted attempt at political satire; something that SNL is seen as being a leader in, if not the more authoritative voice in.
The attempt to cater to both sides – when both sides have become all but intolerant of what the other side has to say – has presented SNL with a business model that I feel has no sustainability anymore, and that I don’t foresee lasting them an entire season. Then again, having Donald Trump host the show during the most controversial point in his campaign felt like a misstep they would have a hard time recovering from and yet they only took it in stride.
Which brings me to the misstep they made last night: bringing in Kanye West. There’s the obvious reason why this would be a bad idea: because of how many people he hurt when he went on his pro-Trump rants, or made his comments on racism and slavery. There’s the less obvious reason: because the last time Kanye performed on SNL he had a meltdown about the show and the way the show handled his stage design that was recorded and leaked and pretty embarrassing for all parties involved.
Kanye is one of the most polarizing people I can think of, and yet SNL played his agreement to step in as musical guest (after Ariana Grande had to drop out for personal reasons) as some kind of accomplishment on their part. I don’t doubt that this generated ratings. I don’t doubt that the intention was for people to tune in and see what Kanye West might do that they know he shouldn’t do.
Which is why I’m at least glad when he did exactly that and went on a pro-Trump rant during his third musical performance which replaced the usual goodnights, that the entire thing was cut off and not televised. I’m glad that he wasn’t given the opportunity to say anything on camera, even if just being on camera in the first place said more than it had to. I’m not thrilled that SNL made this booking decision, and I’m not happy with how transparent their ratings grabs were during the season opener.
And for whatever it’s worth, I didn’t enjoy any of Kanye’s performances either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY8mtLbLeow
Mark: I feel pretty different from Melissa (as evidenced by what I wrote earlier in the host section of the article). I find SNL’s political humor cathartic and I don’t mind them trying to take a neutral-ish political stance when they can.
I believe in giving people a chance to speak, even if I disagree with what they have to say. So, in saying that, I don’t have a problem with Kanye West being given a voice on this show.
I think sometimes people think of SNL as a uniform voice, but I see it as a team of dozen all trying to say their own truths in the context of this show. Sometimes those truth mix together and form a cohesive viewpoint and sometimes those points don’t mix and we are hit with a cacophony of feelings and viewpoints. On this day, the season premier of SNL, they gave voice to the people who are sitting at home disgusted by Brett Kavanaugh’s behavior and they (begrudgingly) let Kanye West wear a MAGA hat on their show. Did it feel incongurous? Yes, but that’s what life is like in 2018.
I also love that Kanye makes each of his SNL performances look so visually distinct and interesting and that he helps spotlight other performers like Lil Pump and Teyana Taylor. No one out there is like Kanye and I am always excited to see what he is trying to bring to the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rJfSHnOZeY
