I’ve now watched most of the episode, here’s how I feel about it
It really is the cast that holds the show back, the sketch premises (outside of the lame political stuff) aren’t horrible, it’s just that most of the people on the show suck at delivering their lines and probably never try to riff anything. Shane proved that the sketches could be funny by simply using his comedic ability.
You can tell that most of these people weren’t picked because they were funny, they were picked because they seemed safe and the fit some kind of diversity quota. People who have no idea what’s funny are the ones who are usually responsible for casting these network shows, that’s why most of their picks are awful.
I’m hoping that the industry people pick up on how much people love comics like Shane Gillis, a guy who’s gotten to where he is simply by being funny. If we just go back to showcasing funny people in comedy I think there could be a huge resurgence in top tier Stand up comedy, Comedy movies, and comedy shows.