The month of December went by pretty quick for Saturday Night Live.  Three episodes aired before the show went on its annual winter break for a month.  However, the show ended on a high note.  Emma Stone was an amazing host and Casey Affleck was actually pretty decent.  Both Stone’s and Affleck’s episodes were funny and original.  The same cannot be said for John Cena’s episode.  Although Cena was a host who felt comfortable on stage, his episode just was a weird one to sit though.  As SNL enters the new year, with Trump entering the presidency, it’ll be interesting to see if the episodes continue to improve, or if the series hits a bit of a slump.  

Hosts: Emma Stone; John Cena; Casey Affleck

Best Host: Emma Stone by far was the best host of SNL for the month of December.  Stone was so adaptable and was willing to do anything.  Her monologue showed some behind-the-scenes shots around the SNL set and each one of the episode’s sketches brought back popular characters, or introduced new ones.  As this was SNL’s first episode for the month of December, they definitely set the bar high for themselves with this episode.  Unfortunately, this bar was not met the following week when John Cena hosted.

Best Sketch: The “Hillary Actually” sketch from Casey Affleck’s episode was my favorite sketch for the month of December.  I’ve never seen the movie, Love Actually, but this sketch just made me laugh out loud.  I probably watched it over ten times and never got tired of it.  The writing was fantastic and it encompassed all of the emotions that the majority of the liberal population were feeling when the Electoral College cast their votes.  Plus, the sketch brought back Kate McKinnon’s portrayal of Hillary Clinton, so it was a win-win.

Standout Cast Member: Aidy Bryant had a pretty good month on stage during the three episodes.  The sketches that Bryant was in were memorable and funny to watch.  Bryant is such a talented actress that it’s a shame that the show writers don’t use her more in original sketches.  I still remember, as I’m writing this, the “Joanne and the Tree” sketch from John Cena’s episode, which was where Bryant fell out of the window while trying to put the star on top of the tree.  It’s moments like these that perfectly describe Bryant’s role in the show.

Cast Member to Watch For: There was not really any cast member this past month to watch out for. As SNL nears the end of it’s season in April and May, it will be important to watch which cast members are not being used, as that may be a sign that it will be their last season on the show.