Saturday Night Live
“Chris Hemsworth, Zac Brown Band”
Season 40, Episode 15
"Oh brothers!"
Cold Open: Kate McKinnon started the show as Hilary Clinton in a monologue talking about the email scandal. Ever since McKinnon began to be casted in outside projects, the show has really given her a lot of room to do some weird things. McKinnon is a great impressionist even if she isn’t always spot on. Her Ginsberg is glorious. Her Bieber is beautiful. Her Clinton is clever. I think McKinnon is clearly the show’s ringer. Giving her a solo cold open is a test and, of course, she passed. Come this SNL classes’ first presidential election, McKinnon will be front and center. WATCH.
Monologue: Chris Hemsworth. Oh God, Chris Hemsworth. This monologue was entirely staged. He's just reading along but we're just memorized by his looks. Hemsy brings out his brothers and introduces the world to his fourth brother, Callum, played by Kenan. McKinnon already makes her second appearance as their mum. This is also the second week in a row with Q&A. WATCH.
Front Nine:
American Express: It’s a commercial parody using Hemsworth’s famousness. He has a voice over talking about his false hardships like being too handsome, strong, and things of the like. He also talks about having sex with a lot of women and looking cool in sunglasses. Sigh…to be as cool as him. WATCH.
Brother 2 Brother: Chris and Taran Killam as twin brothers on a Nickelodeon styled show. They decide to do the ol’ switcheroo so that Killam can take Hemsworth’s test for him but people can tell. Cecily Strong, as the teacher, goes on about how Chris looks better. Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney appear as students who help Strong’s explanation of the differences. It’s as though the writers compared both men, taking several shots at Killam in the process. The jokes flow well as Strong piles on line after line of the immediate physical differences between both men (well, boys). WATCH.
Empire: Thompson took on the role of Terrence Howard, Sasheer Zamata as Taraji P. Henson, and Hemsworth as the new white character, Chip. Everything was right in this spoof from Thompson’s high pitched squeal of Howard to Leslie Jones’s Porshe. Michael Che even got in on the fun as young Malik. Basically, if you’re not watching Empire, you’re missing out. It did spoil a bit of the story. Hemsworth’s Chip is perfectly cheery. He even has a back pack and coifed hair style. WATCH.
SS Orion: Hemsworth, Strong, Zamata and Thompson follow a reckless captain who's a chicken. A weird and out there concept shouldn’t be so funny. Jokes about Hemsworth’s relationship with the chicken and no one flinching at the idea of a chicken leading them keep the reality together. It’s poorly done along the guidelines of set (one of the jokes involves microwaving the chicken but it’s cleverly albeit crappily executed) though it makes up for it with its joke ratio. Thompson sends out one liners while Strong and Hemsworth fight. And, of course, the live chicken on set makes things unpredictable. WATCH.
The Iggy Azalea Show: McKinnon leads as the titular host. She speaks with the Australian accent but raps like Iggy. Jay Pharaoh as TI is the sidekick. Zamata makes an appearance as Azalea Banks to talk about feuds. Hemsworth joins in as another rapper. Another poorly done sketch here but it doesn’t redeem itself. It had potential (maybe they’ll bring it back) but there were a lot of flat jokes. I do like the premise though. McKinnon did an excellent job as well. SKIP.
Weekend Update:
Jones brings her relationship expertise back talking about dating in New York. It quickly gets derailed to the weather. Then everything in New York is discussed as being hard. They clearly had no real train of thought to this as Jones didn’t even talk about relationships. I don’t fault them though; the writers needed to institute another correspondent so they went with someone who is good at just talking.
Then we get this season’s first 4 peat joke on Dr. Ben Carson ("Homosexuality is a choice").
And Colin Jost messed up! So bad too. But it was funny. He sure can recover.
Girl you wish you hadn't talked to at a party (Strong) is back to give us her thoughts on boko haram. She’s pleasant as always.
WATCH.
Back Nine:
Action News 7 (Avengers Defeat Ultron): Desk reporter Strong is talking to field reporter Bobby Moynihan. The Avengers just saved New York from Ultron. Hemsworth is, of course, a celebrating party boy Thor. Killam (who does a remarkable gum chewing RDJ) is Iron Man; Pete Davidson is Bruce Banner; Pharaoh is Nick Fury; Beck Bennett is Captain America. They all play archetypes making things slightly boring. Each character is paraded in with only a few lines. SKIP.
Love Unfinished: McKinnon and Hemsworth are acting as a couple. Thompson as the director who fields them bad advice. He wants them to go over the top with their reactions. After a few takes, things get very old. Hemsworth had a tough time getting to Thompson/McKinnon level hilarity but he still managed to get laughs. SKIP.
So You Think You Can Live with Brian: Hemsworth and Bennett vied for attention to live with Mooney. The two want to order food while Mooney wants to buy food. Like any reality show, it turns into a dramatic event. Host Killam appears to help Mooney make a decision. It took me a while to get that this was a Good Neighbor sketch. It doesn’t have that twinge of 90’s to it. It was quirky and a little too tongue in cheek but good enough. WATCH.
Dolce and Gabbana Porn Stars: Vanessa Bayer and Strong return as the always funny ex-porn stars. Hemsworth scootered in (yes. On a scooter) as Don Juan de Dark Hole. His penis speaks Spanish. A good southern accent made Hemsworth funny for this role. Plus he had his shirt unbuttoned. WATCH.
Should you watch “Chris Hemsworth, Zac Brown Band?”
Chalk up a good score to my insanely humungous man crush on Hemsworth or the fact that this was just a plain good episode or that SNL seems to be cashing in on its current star player Kate McKinnon, but I enjoyed every bit of tonight’s episode. Sure, it slowed down at moments but there was always something to laugh at.