Best, Worst Moments from Timothee Chalamet's 'SNL'

by Julian Spivey
Timothee Chalamet has been one of the most frequently chosen hosts over the last half-decade of “Saturday Night Live,” with his third episode as host coming Saturday night (Jan. 25), marking the second consecutive season of his hosting. Chalamet fits in well with the show's current cast and seems game for anything the writers throw at him. This time around, he even served double duty as host and musical guest, hot off his Oscar-nominated performance as Bob Dylan in director James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown.”

​Chalamet’s two previous hosting stints were among my favorite episodes of those respective seasons, so I had high hopes for this episode. It was a complete letdown.

Here are the highs and lows from the 12th episode of season 50…
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Photo: NBC

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Best:
So, I have to acknowledge something upfront about the “Dog Run” sketch, which was one of my favorites of the evening. My full-time job is a Doggie Daycare supervisor, so I work 40 hours a week with dogs. Thus, this particular sketch about dogs' particular and peculiar behavior was right up my alley. I say this because I understand it may not have been the funniest sketch of the night for others. The writers of this sketch and the performers, led by Chalamet and Mikey Day, completely got the behaviors of dogs right for this bit that included moments like Bowen Yang as a dog that has gotten the zoomies and Andrew Dismukes as a Pomeranian who wants everyone to know he jumped up on a bench all by himself. 

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​Worst:
OK, so not only was this the worst sketch of the episode, but I also believe it to be the worst sketch of season 50. The sketch is called “Grandma’s Birthday,” but it should be known as “Fart CPR.” And yes, the title it should have is precisely what it sounds like. An elderly woman (Sarah Sherman) passes out and is revived by a doctor (Chalamet) who farts into her mouth. I don’t understand how producer Lorne Michaels and head writer Streeter Seidell could have allowed this all the way through the writing process and on to the live show. It’s the kind of moronic, infantile humor that a show of this caliber should be so far above. Somebody should’ve been fired over this. 

Best:
I’m over President Donald Trump, and I wish ‘SNL’ would feature him less on the show. I understand that’s not what this show does – part of it is capturing the current moment of life in America, and this is happening – but I’m tired of it. That being said, James Austin Johnson’s impression of Trump is the best the show has ever seen, and his performance and the writing that goes into it still make me chuckle, even if I despise the man being portrayed. Of course, the show’s cold opening this week would involve the inauguration in some form, and they chose to bring in Lin Manuel Miranda to do what appears to be an updated version of “Hamilton” before he’s interrupted by Trump. It quickly became one of the frequent bits where everybody behind JAJ’s Trump freezes, and he goes on an elongated monologue about why they stay behind him, trying to keep still. The funniest part of the bit is that JAJ always tries to make someone break during these moments, and it was LMM this time, and it almost worked. 

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Worst:
I was intrigued when it was announced that Chalamet would also be serving as the episode’s musical guest, even though I immediately knew it was simply a ploy to try to help him win the Academy Award for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” which is frankly disgusting awards politicking and campaigning. On Saturday’s show, Chalamet didn’t perform any of the numbers he did in the film; instead, he chose some more obscure Dylan songs that meant something to him. The first performance featured “Outlaw Blues,” from Dylan’s 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home, and “Three Angels,” off Dylan’s 1970 album New Morning. This performance was nice because it was Chalamet’s own take on the songs and not an attempt at a Dylan impression. The show's second performance was “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” an outtake from New Morning that has been released on bootlegs. The second performance was my favorite, but it was also Chalamet impersonating Dylan. The songs and performance may well end up being among the best of the season for my musical takes. Still, I don’t like what they were – gaming the Oscars – and wish ‘SNL’ had given the musical slot to an actual musician to showcase their work than using it as a publicity stunt.

Worst:
I’ll admit I wanted two things from this episode going in, and it’s always a bad thing to have expectations or hopes for an episode because you’re instantly let down if they don’t happen.

The first thing I wanted was a third “Tiny Horse” sketch. When Chalamet first hosted ‘SNL’ in December 2020 he did a musical sketch about a tiny horse that was among the most delightfully absurdist things I’ve seen on the show in the last decade. I laughed so hard that I nearly passed out. When he returned last season to host, they revived the Tiny Horse character for a sequel that wasn’t quite as good as the first sketch, but I still enjoyed it. I never expected the sequel, but once you bring it back, viewers will expect more. I was disappointed Tiny Horse didn’t make his triumphant return.

The thing that bothered me the most about this episode, though, was that James Austin Johnson does a fantastic modern-day Bob Dylan impression, which we saw in a recent episode. Pairing JAJ’s modern Dylan with Chalamet’s younger Dylan for a sketch made perfect sense. It was easy pickings for the show, but they failed to give it to us.