Chance the Rapper inspired SNL to create a "fever dream" of an episode

The Atlantic

"Was there something in the air this week in the halls of Studio 8H?" asks Shirley Li. "Did the whole Saturday Night Live cast need to get something out of their system? Almost every sketch in last night’s episode felt like an exercise in controlled chaos. Most involved at least one performer breaking, and a wild Jason Momoa even appeared. The result was a fever dream of an installment that seemed to have been made up entirely of 10-to-one sketches—the kinds of odd or unusual bits that tend to be slotted in near the end of the broadcast. Strangely, it worked, largely thanks to Chance the Rapper, who as both host and musical guest seemed to have infected the cast with an off-kilter, wholesome goofiness."

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• Chance the Rapper's SNL episode was incredible: "Chance the Rapper pulled double duty as host and musical guest on this week’s Saturday Night Live, and the result was the best episode since John Mulaney hosted last spring, at least when Chance was on screen," says Matthew Dessem. "His best sketches were great, his worst sketches were not actively painful to watch, and with the exception of the obligatory Alec Baldwin cold open and 'Weekend Update,' no other sketches were about American politics, which, let’s face it, just aren’t that funny anymore. And when Chance did touch on politics in his opening monologue, he managed to do it in a way that was hopeful and inspiring, rather than bitter and depressing."
• Chance the Rapper may have unseated Justin Timberlake as the best double-duty SNL host: "Of the host-musical guest double threats, Justin Timberlake gets most of the love, and it’s not undeserved, the lifetime stage kid being unsurprisingly funny and polished whenever he decides to show what his career could have been like if he’d gone into sketch comedy rather than the All-New Mickey Mouse Club and boy bands," says Dennis Perkins. "But I’ll take Chance any day of the week (so, Saturday), the rapper-actor-philanthropist making his second turn in the SNL double-spotlight another joyously silly, start-to-finish exuberant showcase. And, sure, he’s not the polished live performer (as a sketch actor, anyway) that JT is, but, again, Justin was apparently bred to be a double-threat trouper. Chance The Rapper just is one by dint of boundless talent and effortless charisma. I genuinely had a big, dopey smile on my face through most of this Halloween episode, something all too rare for a recent Saturday night."
• Chance used his monologue to draw attention to the Chicago teacher strike
• Chance's monologue also name-dropped Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Jimmy Kimmel and California Dreams
• Darrell Hammond reprised his Bill Clinton role for SNL's cold open
• Jason Momoa ripped off his shirt and laughed off his flubbed line in surprise SNL cameo