Dear Gossips,

“I certainly didn’t come all this way to suck.” – Matt Damon during his monologue this weekend on Saturday Night Live. And he definitely didn’t suck. It was the strongest episode of the season. It may have been the strongest episode in a year. And it was the most I’ve enjoyed Matt in a long time. 

But can we talk about Cecily Strong? Should we be talking more about how underrated she is? Kate McKinnon is the one who comes up first, always, in any conversation about the strongest cast members – because, yes, she is legitimately awesome. But Cecily Strong? There’s not enough appreciation out there for Cecily Strong. That sketch, in which she plays the lounge singer “Diane”, with Matt on the piano as her partner and ex-husband, it could have been a spectacular flop; instead it was breathtaking. She is breathtaking, so reliably good, so f-cking good, and I’m not sure she gets enough credit for holding up the show the way she does. Unfortunately I can’t find video of that sketch online but if you haven’t already, it’s worth looking for because it’s a terrific showcase of her talent and what she can bring to premise that depends entirely on her. 

And then there’s the sketch that you have to know …to know. The sketch that landed in the coveted right-after-Update position. This is the Christmas dinner that goes sideways, not because of political disagreements but over the most random debate: Weezer. Here’s why this works, even if you’re into (or were into but not anymore) Weezer – because you don’t need to understand the points of the argument to be able to relate to how it escalates. It’s familiar even though it’s random and its randomness makes it specific. In other words, specific but universal. Right?

For the record, I’m with Leslie Jones on this. Nothing was the same after the first two albums which I listened to over and over again between 1994-1998 and again yesterday and this morning, which I suspect other Weezer fans are probably doing too. What are your most played tracks? Mine are "Across the Sea" (although I’m confused about whether or not I’m supposed to like it anymore), "The Good Life", and "Only In Dreams". 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey