Quinta Brunson makes the grade on Saturday Night Live
The Emmy winner was at her best when playing against type
TV Reviews Quinta Brunson
Herald by some as the savior of the network television comedy, Quinta Brunson made her debut on Saturday Night Live. The real test would be if Brunson’s likable, optimistic persona fits in the more cynical environment of SNL. A veteran of comedy as a writer and performer, as a stand-up who studied at Second City, Brunson quickly differentiated herself from her beloved character while also highlighting her meteoric rise to fame. She managed to stay relatable while also talking about new friends like Oprah and Barack Obama. Brunson succeeded by committing to every character and joke in roles ranging from gynecologist to game show contestant, but she was at her best playing against type in pasts like a drug dealer, victim of a bridal cult, and enraged motorist.
Best sketch of the night
Thankfully the post-production union and NBC Universal hammered out a labor agreement and averted a strike. Otherwise, the best sketch of the night would have evaporated. Just in time for the approaching wedding season, “Bridesmaid Cult Documentary,” managed to skewer Netflix crime docu-series and the American wedding industrial complex in one fell swoop. Combining wedding rituals with the practices of cults, the sketch eviscerated the financial burden, passive aggressive psychological warfare, and overwhelming time commitment associated with wedding parties. The best part had to be when the camera panned onto Molly Kearney in the bridal party photograph followed by Punkie Johnson’s delivery of “Michelle was a sociopath.”
Worst sketch of the night
The latter half of the show lost some steam. “Midwife” and “Bosses” were not terrible, but also not the best of the night. In the case of “Midwife,” it had all the makings of a good sketch from relatable social awkwardness and taking it to absurd levels. Perhaps it was the convoluted time conceit, but this one just did not gel into a cohesive sketch. Combined with the very broad “Bosses,” the end of the episode felt like the leftover sketches.
Best twist and turns in a sketch
When the “Traffic Altercation” sketch started, it was going to be the worst sketch of the night. However, as the it unfolded its simplicity, absurdity, and committed performances made it one of the night’s funniest. Juxtaposing the instantaneous fury of road rage with the prolonged attempt to communicate that rage through mime worked well in time. The fully committed performances from Brunson and Mikey Day anchored the sketch and the graphic double hand gesture by Chloe Fineman and the out-of-the-blue appearance of Ego Nwodim elevated this seemingly simple premise. The final twists where it felt almost like drifted into a rom-com meet cute story before a final jab of childish rage made for a perfect punch.
Best unscripted moment of the night
It was expected that the Tump indictment would get a lot attention on SNL, but something less expected occurred on “Weekend Update” for April Fools’ Day. At the end of a series of jokes at Tump’s expense, Colin Jost concluded with a reference to himself as a Maga protestor. There was noticeable less laughs than normal and someone yelling something from the audience. The lack of response broke Jost. Michael Che then revealed that he instructed the audience not to laugh as an April Fools’ Joke. The unscripted moment had Jost flummoxed until he eventually regained his composure. It was a new height for Jost and Che who often attempt to discomfort and throw off one another.
MVP of the night: the SNL crew
This could easily go to Brunson or James Austin Johnson, who appeared in the first four sketches as wildly different characters, but the crew of SNL deserves celebration after reaching a labor settlement. The post-production crew responsible for editing pretapped segments, Please Don’t Destroy sketches, and a myriad of promotional materials successfully bargained with executives. It’s an important achievement as the pretapped material often ranks among the best sketches each week. They crew does very impressive work in the face of incredibly tight turnarounds. The labor dispute is an important reminder of the significance of the entire crew from the set and costume designers, the hair and makeup people, editors and everyone else.
Stray observations:
- The impassioned praise of teachers was an excellent addition to the monologue.
- “Couple Goals” really should have had Brunson and Kenan Thompson as the second couple. It would have made more of an impact if his fear was the final part of each round of questioning.
- I would binge-watch the entire “I was a Bridesmaid” series.
- Ego Nwodim did so much with so little camera time.
- The David neck movement was idiotic and hilarious.
- Speaking of the crew there were some great wigs in “Midwife” and “Bosses,” even if they were the weaker sketches this week.
68 Comments
the cocaine sketch felt like such a black lady sketch show bit. i loved it.
Writing Hack for A.V. Club Reviewers: Copy and paste your review into Microsoft Word and use the “Spelling and Grammar” tool before publishing.
I’ve come to the conclusion that they leave them in there so we’ll find them and comment on them. For the clicks.
Honestly it’s the only reason I don’t think they use ChatGPT to write these things. That AIs grammar and spelling are better
The improvement on spelling and grammar would be blatantly obvious, although I did comment a few weeks ago that I was positive the review was written by an AI. After your comment I realize that couldn’t have been the case.
Headline: Quinita Bronson Bring’s the LOLs to SNL, Lill Yachty Lit AFSubhead: Last night SNL’s had an episoide hosted by Quinita Bronson and Lil Yachty was there too. Some sketchez made us LOL, while otherz made us say WTF.Quinita Bronson, a newcommer to SNL, made her hostin’ debut last night along with musical guest Lil Yachty. The episoide had a mix of good and bad sketchez, but overall, Quinita’s performence kept us engaged.Best Sketch of the Night: “Poker Night”The “Poker Night” sketch was the best of the night. It featured Quinita as the only woman in a group of guys playin’ poker, and she was out to get ‘em. Her hilarious antics and deadpan deliveries had us in stitches. The twist at the end added an extra layer of hilarity.Worst Sketch of the Night: “Office Gossip”The “Office Gossip” sketch was the low point of the night. The premise had potential, but the execution fell flat. The jokes were predictable and the pacing was off. Quinita tried her best to salvage it, but even her comedic chops couldn’t save this one.Most Surprising Sketch: “Haunted House”The “Haunted House” sketch was surprisingly funny. Lil Yachty played a ghost who was trying to scare a group of teenagers, but they were more interested in their phones. Quinita played the “cool” mom who was more interested in partying than parenting. The sketch had some great one-liners and Lil Yachty’s deadpan delivery was a highlight.Most Cringeworthy Sketch: “Baby Shower”The “Baby Shower” sketch was painfully unfunny. It featured Quinita as a woman who was pregnant with a baby she didn’t want, and the other guests at the baby shower were trying to convince her to keep it. The sketch was awkward and uncomfortable to watch, and not in a good way.Stray Observations:Lil Yachty’s musical performances were lit AF, but his acting left something to be desired.Quinita’s energy and enthusiasm were infectious.The Weekend Update had some great jokes, but some fell flat.The cold open had potential, but went on too long and lost steam
I’m not being snarky when I say that I wish these reviews were written with ChatGPT. They’re obviously being produced by someone with no love or any particular interest in SNL, for whom writing these is a chore, which is sad. I hope they’re at least being paid decently.
LOL!
“but she was at her best playing against type in pasts like”Should be “parts”. I presume these are typed up in a hurry at 1:30AM, so it’s forgivable, but I still thought I’d point it out.
The writer typed this article with their face.
Being mostly unfamiliar with Lil Yachty I was happy to see his music is the union of hip hop and yacht rock his name suggests.
Yes, I hadn’t heard his music before and assumed from the name he was a rapper. I didn’t exactly love his stuff but it was kind of interesting and I liked it more than I usually like rap.
I would watch a movie of James Austin Johnson doing Donald Trump. I love it that much.
Nah only Alec Baldwin can do a good trump impersonation
I had to turn the channel for five minutes, because, as technically accomplished as the impression is, I just don’t want to hear or see that bloated orange gasbag ever again.
I normally agree, but this time there was at least an underlying joke to the performance.
Ew, I’d hate it. His impression is amazing, but that’s why it’s terrible. I don’t want to see the real trump and I don’t want to see an accurate representation of him either.
Nobody can do Trump word vomit better than Trump.
“Herald by some as the savior of the network television comedy …”I never understand why AE is overly praised when it’s just a retread of The Office / Parks & Rec / Modern Family / etc. Is it the diverse cast and no one wants to look like a racist?
The only thing it has in common is the mockumentary filming. It’s not a retread, it’s just a similar set up. It stands on its own merits. You don’t have to like it for whatever reason you feel. No product is for everyone. Just don’t pull that tired “Are they going to accuse me of being racist” card. It’s boring and low energy.
I mean, I like AE, but they’re not exactly wrong. You have the:-Boss/ leader that’s caustic and denigrates the enthusiastic younguns but really has a heart in there-Will they/ won’t they workplace potential romance between idealistic dewey-eyed woman and slightly bumbling man (bonus points when she’s dating a doofus at the beginning!)-Older sarcastic character that exists as comic relief and went to the school of hard knocks-Constant threat of external takeover or power transitionI could go on, but you get the idea. It IS a retread. A very well done retread, but a retread nonetheless.
Many shows have tried to replicate the success of those super popular shows, this one is just one of the very few that’s managed to do it successfully.No one is pretending to like the show to not look like a racist (shows don’t get multiple seasons and high viewership from “virtue watching”), but diversity does play a role. It’s a show with the quality of the shows you mentioned while also appealing to other communities in a (genuine) way that those shows didn’t. Add in a positive message about underpaid, hardworking teachers and boom, popular network television show.Also helps that many network comedies, despite having high viewership, are decent at best.
It’s a retread because it’s a half hour comedy with a mockumentary conceit? Because other than that it’s not at all similar to the shows you list. And Modern Family doesn’t really fit on the list either
I agree that Abbott Elementary uses The Office et al as a template, but I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with that when the writing and ensemble are so good.I don’t think it’s popular because of its diverse cast (The Office and Parks and Rec were also pretty diverse), but because those shows are over so there is a lot of demand for a mockumentary-style show mocking a new setting (whereas there was oversaturation of the genre caused by The Office for some time).
Because it is actually funny on its own merits, it’s not just an imitation. I’m sure Parks and Rec/The Office was a huge influence but Abbott is still doing things that are new and different and finding comedy in places those other shows didn’t. Also it’s the most talked about network comedy in a while—I’m basing this off conversations I’ve had in real life, not just critics—so the writer’s statement isn’t much of an exaggeration.
I mean…did you ever ask why Parks & Rec and Modern Family are “overly praised” when they’re “just a retread of the The Office”? Or is it just the diverse cast that bothers you? Also I don’t really see how Modern Family is like any of the others, but I only ever watched one episode of it so idk.
I get the Parks & Rec vibe but, to be fair, Season 1 of AE was MUCH better than season 1 of P&R.
I never understand why AE is overly praised when it’s just a retread of The Office / Parks & Rec / Modern Family / etc. I mean, I haven’t seen AE, but this is basically the sitcom ecosystem.
I never heard of it until this article but can’t wait the binge the entire series in 2030.
Why do you always have to bring race into everything?
Most shows, from the last 30 years are being copied and just change one simple thing and think nobody will notice the new show is just a full copy.
“Satisfactory” is just how you want to describe a comedy show.
‘polite applause’
*silent farts*
Silent Farts is my uncle’s ninja name. He’s 87 but deadly.
Ok, I want to hear everyone’s opinions on this.Mine? Jost is 5’10 tops.
Right he’s not that tall
The internet agrees. Although he may have been including his hair to get to 6′.
But his blue blood under bite is at least a foot.
pretapped segments
Shouldn’t that be “pretaped”?
And they spelled it wrong TWICE IN A ROW
Even the first word of the review looks wrong. Should it be “Heralded…”?
Yes, though I seem to remember there are some Christmas songs that just use “herald” in that way, so maybe he’s going old school… :/
I like it! New opening line: “Hark! The herald savior of network television comedy!”
Pretapped means you tapped dat before hand
A local arcade has one of those up and running.
I thought this episode was a lot funnier than that Jenna Ortega show, which IIRC got the same grade.
I actually really liked the midwife sketch. I enjoyed the absurd premise, Bowen’s catty acting, the unexpected time jumps, and use of wigs. I laughed so hard at his ridiculously long hair in the final scene. I can understand the sketch being divisive but it’s great they’re doing some more out there stuff.
That one felt a lot like a Conan O’Brien sketch to me, which is a good thing.
Yeah, it’s great to see them taking risks and combining multiple ideas and committing to the bit. Even though I wouldn’t say these kinds of sketches hit even half the time for me, at least I’m never bored by them, which is where a lot of the more traditional sketches end up landing, especially after minute 5 or so of being bonked over the head with the same dull premise.
Vulture’s Charu Sinha summed it up beautifully and hilariously: “It is a nonlinear story of the bonds we make and break, the resentments that we form and carry through life, and, ultimately, the power of hair. Bowen Yang stars as the titular midwife, a fully realized character who you have to hear pronounce the word “curious.” When we first meet the midwife, he’s upset with Brunson’s doctor for not recognizing him, but it’s not until we jump back and forth in time that the full story comes into focus, like so many small points in a Seurat painting. By the time Yang’s midwife emerges in a wig from the Grudge movies, the implicit has become explicit: Both he and we are somehow reborn.”
Agreed. I really hope they do more of these just plain weird sketches toward the end of the night. It brings a flavor of experimentalism to SNL that it has sorely lacked over the recent past.
Che breaking Jost was hilarious.
Also seems like they are using the newbies, especially this episode, more and more with good results. With all the staff turnover the last couple of years, I think they’ve got a solid new batch of performers stepping in
Completely agreed on the Traffic Altercation sketch – initial appearance was of a very basic sketch but it got progressively better with a very much stuck landing.
It played to Mikey Day’s strength of being overly explanatory in every sketch.
I laughed at “Traffic Altercation” the most.
I still maintain that this season is the worst in a couple decades (the writers just aren’t up to the challenge and the cast has waaaay too many members). And although the Weekend Update April fool’s prank was fun, it’s time for Colin Jost & Michael Che to stop doing it. They’ve been doing it for *a decade*, far longer than other other anchors, they’re tired AF (and Che often seems way over it) and it’s just time for fresh blood.*
*In comparison, Tina Fey/Jimmy Fallon=4 years, Tina Fey/Amy Poehler=2 years, Amy Poehler/Seth Meyers=2 years, and Seth Meyers alone=5 years.
It’s never a good sign when the first word of an article is a grammatical error. The “writer” of this article should take note that that first word should be the past participle “heralded”.
Doing the Traffic Altercation sketch live – and nailing it – was the best moment of the night. And holy shit Chloe Fineman’s hand gestures were fucking hilarious.
I’m suddenly in love with Chloe Fineman for some reason. I can’t put my two hands on it.
That’s what she said (apologies to Michael Scott).
I can think of two reasons, but they were featured in another sketch during this episode.
“The real test would be if Brunson’s likable, optimistic persona fits in the more cynical environment of SNL.” So I am assuming you never saw season one of A Black Lady Sketch Show.
I could go the rest of my life without seeing a sketch with the premise of “A co-worker acts inappropriately but only one person sees it”
I think what was so great about this episode is that Quinta Brunson is a sketch comic herself and as such could hold her own on timing, delivery, and performance.Imagine if the whole cast were sketch comics and improv artists. Imagine how good that show would be – even better if they let themselves get weird more often, like into Sarah Sherman levels.
It was expected that the Tump indictment would get a lot attention on SNL, but something less expected occurred on “Weekend Update” for April Fools’ Day. At the end of a series of jokes at Tump’s expense, Colin Jost concluded with a reference to himself as a Maga protestor. There was noticeable less laughs than normal and someone yelling something from the audience. Jesus.