November 1, 2014 Season 40 episode
| |
|---|---|
| Episode | 772 |
| Season Episode | 5 |
| Host | Chris Rock |
| Musical Guest(s) | Prince |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
A Medley of "Clouds"/"Plectrumelectrum"/"Marz"/"Another Love" |
| Previous Episode October 25, 2014 |
Next Episode November 15, 2014 |
The 5th episode of Season 40 and the 771st episode of Saturday Night Live premiered on November 1, 2014, hosted by former cast member Chris Rock, star of the hit films Osmosis Jones, Bad Company, The Longest Yard, Death at a Funeral, Grown Ups and the sequel Grown Ups 2, Top Five, The Week Of, Spiral: From the Book of Saw and Amsterdam and the animated films Osmosis Jones, and DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar, and the two sequels Madagascar: Return 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, with musical guest Prince.
This is Chris Rock's 2nd hosting stint, and his first appearance in 17 years, 11 months, and 30 days. This is also the 3rd and final musical guest appearance on SNL for Prince before his death on April 21, 2016.
The last time Rock hosted the show was on November 2, 1996, the fifth episode and last pre-Election episode of SNL's 22nd season, with the legendary rock band The Wallflowers as the musical guest.
"Hey That Was a Great Week, I Wanna Thank the Cast, I Wanna Prince, 3RDEYGIRL, Lianne La Havas, (cheers and applause) I Want to Thank Lorne Michaels for... for Making My Dreams Come True, Thank You, Good Night." (Cheers and applause again) is the goodnights speech for Chris Rock.
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Vanessa Bayer
- Aidy Bryant
- Taran Killam
- Kate McKinnon
- Bobby Moynihan
- Jay Pharoah
- Cecily Strong
- Kenan Thompson
Featured Players[]
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| The Kelly File Cold Opening | Megyn Kelly (Cecily Strong) interviews Chris Christie (Bobby Moynihan) about Kaci Hickox (Kate McKinnon). | |
| Stand-Up Monologue by Chris Rock | Returned to SNL to host for the second time and his first appearance in 17 years, 11 months and 30 days, former cast member Chris Rock does his controversial standup routine discussing the Freedom Tower and Boston Marathon bombing. | |
| How 2 Dance with Janelle | A girl (Sasheer Zamata) does a live stream about dancing with her friend (Kyle Mooney) and is interrupted by her father (Chris Rock) and brother (Jay Pharoah). | |
| Old-Time Colonoscopy | In this commercial parody, three extreme athletes (Taran Killam, Kyle Mooney, and Beck Bennett) approaching middle age advertise the GoProbe, a GoPro specifically designed for colonoscopies. Also Features Kenan Thompson as the doctor and Kate McKinnon as the nurse. | |
| How's He Doing? | An all-black talk show where the panelists (Leslie Jones, Sasheer Zamata, Kenan Thompson, Jay Pharoah, and Chris Rock) discuss President Obama's job performance. | |
| Prince Performs a medley including the songs of "Clouds", (with Lianne La Havas), "Plectrumelectrum", "Marz", and "Another Love" | Prince's performance had been heavily advertised in the weeks leading up to the episode, referring to it as an 'eight-minute jam session'. Due to its length, it is his only performance of the show. Prince was joined by 3RDEYEGIRL and Lianne La Havas. | |
| Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che. | Featured guests Pete Davidson and Katt Williams and Suge Night (Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson) discussing their recent run-in with the law. | |
| ISIS' Shark Tank Pitch | Representatives of the terror group ISIS (Kyle Mooney, Chris Rock, Jay Pharoah, and Pete Davidson) make a pitch on the television show 'Shark Tank', with the panelists portrayed by Beck Bennett, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, and Taran Killam. Also stars Aidy Bryant, who flubs a line. Like the monologue, this sketch was heavily criticized following the show. | |
| Swiftamine | Beck Bennett (as lazily-named pitchman Dr. David Doctor) pitches 'Swiftamine', a dramamine-like drug for dizziness caused by a liking of Taylor Swift music. With Cecily Strong, Taran Killam, Chris Rock, Kenan Thompson, Vanessa Bayer, Aidy Bryant, and Leslie Jones. | |
| The Couple: Anniversary |  Aniv The episode's disastrous 'Anniversary' sketch. An edited version was broadcast on the west coast feed. |
A married couple (Chris Rock and Leslie Jones) argue. With Sasheer Zamata and Bobby Moynihan. The sketch went poorly from the start. The actors stumbled through their lines and there was little reaction from the audience; Bobby Moynihan's accent changed between lines. In the middle of the sketch, in one of the worst mess-ups in the show's history, Jones left (seemingly according to the script) only to turn around and immediately re-enter. She stopped and stared in silent confusion for a full five seconds, apparently unable to find anyone with cue cards, before she and Rock both stumbled through the next set of lines. Online reviews quickly dubbed it the worst sketch in SNL history, a title previously given to "Jack the Stripper" from the November 22, 1980 episode. Reruns use the dress rehearsal cut. |
| Helpful Holdup | Three bank robbers (Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, and Bobby Moynihan) are unusually helpful. Also stars Aidy Bryant. | |
| Women in the Workplace | Two presenters (Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon) show workplace instruction videos, starring Chris Rock, Vanessa Bayer, and Aidy Bryant. Also features Jay Pharoah and Beck Bennett. | |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | The cast, Prince, 3RDEYEGIRL, Lianne La Havas, and Lorne Michaels are all thanked by Chris Rock for making his dreams come true and having him back home. Colin Jost is visibly angry. |
Trivia[]
- This episode marked Prince's final television appearance before his death in 2016.
- Chris Rock also become a second-time SNL host this season.
| Preceded by: October 25, 2014 |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: November 15, 2014 |