Top Five Bill Hader SNL Sketches & Moments From Season 32

The following blog post is a companion piece to the latest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast with special guest, Demi Constantine, whom you might know from the SNN Patron Feedback Shows or as new permanent third cohost of the new Saturday Night Ladies podcast (which they very graciously allowed me to be a guest on very recently)

Give either one of our shows a listen, won't you?

5. The First Chocolate (Matthew Fox/Tenacious D - 12/02/2006)

The downfall of the once mighty and powerful Mayan civilization is attributed to the invention of hot chocolate. It's sheer overpowering sweetness is enough to completely destroy their fighting nature of their warriors.

• This is mostly a vehicle for Fred Armisen and Matthew Fox to ham it up over how great they find the taste of chocolate, but Bill stumbling in and delivering the world's first brownie recipe as he is dying from an arrow through his torso, switching from dramatic wounded warrior mode to casually talking about chocolate practically steals this.

4. Buying Beer (Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne - 04.14.2007)

A convenience store cashier (Thompson) isn't persuaded by two obvious underage teens (LaBeouf and Samberg) to let them purchase two six packs without seeing their IDs despite their exaggerated talk of their adult ages, work histories, number of children or the other times they previously bought beer and cigarettes at other stores. He is then given a “certificate of responsibility” by an “official” ATF agent (Hader) whose wallet is taken by a “robber” (Forte) who assures everyone that the ATF agent's ID is very much real. 

• Yeah, this is mostly a patented goofy Samberg/Lonely Island sketch thar I have written and talked about before...but Bill does come in and unravel one of four additional layers that needed to be peeled away for this sketch to arrive at it's conclusion in a cheerfully stiff manner. 

• Still, he's very peripheral here and doesn't really show up to drive the plot until about halfway through the sketch.

3. Dry Eyes (Justin Timberlake - 12.16.2006)

A game show where host Gary Pierce (Hader) challenges contestants NOT to cry at heartbreaking/heartwarming scenarios and quotes researched from their own real personal lives or during a medley of emotionally charged songs during the final speed round. Today's competitors are school teacher Jerry Bertrand (Armisen) and 22 time returning champion firefighter Brett O'Connor (Timberlake) 

• This is the first of many game show host roles for Bill (setting up an archetype he would reliably excel at throughout his SNL career).

• He does a great job of setting up the basic premise and rules of this sketch, laying the groundwork for Armisen and Timberlake to flesh out the more emotional parts of it.

2. Late Night Movie: The Curse Of Frankenstein (Hugh Laurie/Beck - 10/28/2006)

Frankenstein (Hader) somehow turns the tables on a group of angry, torch wielding villagers (Laurie, Wiig, Poehler, Armisen) tricking them into going after Dracula (Sudeikis) instead of him but then shames them for judging his appearance too harshly when Dracula sends them back to him.

• I put this at #2 on my list because Bill anchored this and was the main focus of it especially calling out the angry mob at the end. You can actually read and hear more of my thoughts on this sketch in the previous podcast episode and blog entry I put out reviewing the episode it came from.

• The only thing keeping it from being #1 in my mind is that there is another more Bill centric sketch from this season that hit harder for me that I haven't talked about yet...

1. Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance (Dane Cook/The Killers - 09.30.2006)

Al Pacino (Hader) calls Wells Fargo customer service because the mattress store won't accept his debit card. A Teller (Wiig) moves 620.00 from his savings to his checking leaving him with 606.00 to purchase a mattress.

• I put this at number one because it's pretty much pure, unfiltered undiluted Bill Hader dominating a scene in the season premiere by shouting pure nonsense doing one of his most famous impressions. Doesn't get much better than that.

• Bills' Pacino was a hit with the audience of the previous season's premiere so it makes perfect sense for him to this in a sketch in the following season's premiere. Plus, you get to see him put his theory of how impression sketches should work into practice (i.e. they work better when you remove them any of their previous acting roles place the subject into an everyday situation where they must deal with a mundane disappointment).

• Hmm, something about seeing someone talk to an actual person at their bank on a flip phone JUST to find out what their balance is makes this feel...quaint. I mean, obviously, this was the pre-iPhone/Android era when there were no apps on your screen designed by your bank to let you SEE your balance, but still.

• Kristen, of course, plays well off of him as the chipper customer service rep but Bill had so many great lines in this it's tough to single out just one. What does stand out to me though is that this is all in service of Bills' Pacino wanting to buy "an astronaut mattress that comes with a glass of wine on it."

• This may be a reference to a commercial that's very specific to this time (and may not be all that well remembered 20 years after it aired) but the performance by Bill sells this so well you don't need to know the reference to find it funny.

• Some light Googling does reveal that he was referring to a NASA designed memory foam mattress from Tempur Pedic, who around this time aired commercials where people would "test" their mattresses by jumping on one side with a glass of wine on the other to show that because the mattress absorbs energy WITHOUT transferring motion, the wine glass won't spill. Somehow, this was supposed to help you sleep better than a SleepNumber bed.

Honorable Mentions

Monster Under The Bed (Annette Bening/Gwen Stefani, Akon - 12/09/2006)

Casey (Poehler) sees a monster in her room which terrifies and alarms her parents (Bening, Forte) more than it does her. Eventually, Caseys' parents turn on her caring more about their own safety and well being than hers.

• This is mostly an insane, screaming Will Forte vehicle (and may be a cheap ripoff of a 32 yr old Simpsons joke, now that I think of if) but it still manages to be the most memorable moment of an otherwise "lame enough to never get repeated" episode of SNL mostly thanks to Bill.

• Hader steps out of Poehlers' closet as the "monster" in question, wearing insane gargoyle/demon makeup and singing "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" way off key in a voice that can be best described as "Dean Martin meets Vincent Price" before being suddenly shot to death by Will and Annette, leaving Poehler to sleep next to a dead monster.

• Ladies and gentlemen, this is the only way you can truly follow insane, screaming Will Forte.

Monologue (Matthew Fox/Tenacious D - 12.02.2006)

After falling on dark, hard times since the cancelation of his previous hit series "Party Of Five", Matthew Fox has come to terms with being one of the only cast members from a hit TV series to not get asked to host SNL. After having a talk with Cheers' John Ratzenberger at a bar, he realized he's in the same league as Friends' Matt LeBlanc and Seinfelds' Michael "Kramer" Richards (Hader) who barges in to pitch him on the two of them cohosting SNL together as he's falling on even harder times after the Laugh Factory incident.

• Hmm, I...guess Lacey Chabert was either considered too young to host during Party Of Fives' heyday or the show got canceled before she even COULD host?

• Anyway, Bill comes roaring in to lighten up what was turning out to be a grim, creepy, almost too "low energy" for its own good monologue with a Kramer impression he was forced to study old Seinfeld clips come up with in two days time because it was one impression he didn't have in his back pocket then. 

• Apparently, whoever wrote this monologue insisted on keeping in Bill as Kramer. To Bill and that writer's credit, Bill developed an impressively good handle on this impression in such a short amount of time. I can tell how well he got the voice down by how many traces of Michaels Richards' early '80s pre-Seinfeld/Kramer "Fridays" era voice I can hear in there to point you'd think he'd studied whatever footage of that show was available at the time and just paired with with Michaels' exaggerated physical shtick as Kramer. The impression as a whole worked so well he decided to reuse it in a later sketch that season that turned out to be Vinny Vedeccis' talk show debut.

• Fun fact: in real life, Michael Richards was actually booked to host SNL in March 1994 but apparently NBC executives forced Lorne to dump him in favor of Nancy Kerrigan. He may have been booked again in 1998 but backed out saying he thought he couldn't do it anymore. A little "Fridays" related anxiety, perhaps?

Closing Thoughts

• …and that's my list of top five Bill Hader sketches and moments from his very first season of SNL which, once again, is the topic of the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. 

• Of course, my regular co host Deej Barens and our gracious guest Demi Constantine each made up their own lists which you will have to listen to the podcast to get from them.

• Also, I have more in depth thoughts on some of these sketches that I have already gotten into in previous episodes of the We Heart Hader Podcast. If you would like to hear them, please listen to this episode as well as this one and also this episode.

• I've also posted full length reviews of these episodes on my blog so if you'd simply like to READ my thoughts on these sketches and episodes feel free to read them here, here and also here.

• The next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast will be another "Impression Spotlight" focused on Bills' James Carville impression. After that, we will start our season 33 coverage with a full length review of that season's premiere with host LeBron James & musical guest Kanye West.

• Before we get to either of those though, I will continue my own personal coverage of SNLs' 51st Season as it progresses with next weeks' Melissa McCarthy/Dijon episode. See you guys then!

Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)

White House Press Briefing

• Huh, Karoline Leavitt. Quite a role for Ashley. She's killing it as usual and even playing off the rest of the cast well.

• Hey, there he is. At least he just suddenly pops in to frame instead of doing the whole "freeze frame/tableau" thing. Better use of JAJs Trump to have him actually interact directly with the press corps instead of doing another semi-soliliquy.

• Hey, they managed to sneak in the obligatory "Putin has photos of Trump blowing Bubba" reference everyone was expecting.

• Nothing really stood out to me about that cold open but writing-wise it's a substantial improvement over most of the last three seasons of Trump related cold opens (especially in terms of length). B-

Monologue 

• I gotta say, Glenn Powell is doing extremely well as a first time host. He exudes an effortless charm without seeming to detached from the show.

• Perhaps the biggest kick I got out of this monologue was his setting up a 20 yr old clip of him lip syncing to Fall Out Boys first big hit as having a French art house influence.

• What I liked most about this monologue was how Glenn talked about how much the show meant to him without talking more about the show itself (aside from that quick Lorne impression he snuck in) and his connections to it than he did about a random UPS driver he happened to take a selfie with. 

• Considering the episode Glenn was originally supposed to host was literally canceled due to Covid, maybe it's for the best for him that he had to wait four years. B+

A.I. Photos

• Hey, Ashley playing the grandma and Sarah playing the young daughter! There's a switch!

• Another switch, Marcello isn't chewing scenery and he has the best lines in this.

• It was pretty smart to have Glenn play the guy in the old timey photos in this. I remember someone tweeting a couple years ago when "Anyone But You" came out that he and Sydney Sweeney have names that make them sound like actors from the 1940s so it's nice to see he, Veronika and Mikey can pull off the LOOK of that time, too.

• I do like how the entire premise if this was just pointing out how most A.I. generated content is so visually fucked up that no one could possibly mistake it for being real and how it functions as a commentary on how it contributes to making the boomers generations' rampant Fox News brainrot even worse than ever in ways we never previously thought possible.

• This function well as a companion piece to the A.I. classroom podcast sketch from Chalamets' episode from January and even expands further on the idea behind that.

• Perhaps the biggest laugh I got out of this was Mikeys' fake Ken doll smooth crotch popping up. B-

Missing My Exes' Dad

• Ok, they're just taking full advantage of Tommys' sheer "aw shucks" midwesternness and Bens'...ability to...convincingly play a generic male country pop singer at this point, aren't they?

• Wait...a country trap beat? Well, we did get Pete back in the building. Did he bring "Big Wet" with him and introduce them to Ben & Tommy?

• I liked the premise behind this music video and how evergreen it was with the twist NOT being that SNL tried to tie in another pretape to whatever the hell this month's tired ass viral trend is. Song is pretty catchy too.

• Glenn didn't quite pull off the role of "middle aged ponytailed guy" as convincingly as I had hoped but he made up for it with his singing and dramatic acting when falsely accusing Jeremy's character of trying to kiss him multiple times.

• I liked Sarah's reactions to just being blown off the whole time. I do think Kenan should've gotten a bigger part though because it felt kind of odd to see him get washed off the screen so easily.

• Hmm...I wonder if that was Bens' actual dad playing...his actual dad? After all, we know his dad never actually worked on this show before. B-

Sebastian Maniscalco

• Huh...so I guess Marcello was just dead set on getting his Sebastian Maniscalco impression on the air this season?

• I mean, I've seen just enough real clips of Sebastians' real standup to know that Marcello...has the voice and physical movements down decently without exaggerating them too much.

• Hell, I even liked his "Twister" bit and Glenns' sudden "Your Body Is A Wonderland" shout out.

• Still, this makes me a bit bummed that we never got to see Melissa Villaseñors' impression of this guy make it to air.

• Did Marcello audition with this impression or something? Did he and Glenn bond over a shared ability to do...passable impressions of this guy?

• Hey, we get Chloes' Jennifer Coolidge as the obligatory Bachelorette party stripper! That's...an ending I'm genuinely OK with. C-

Scent Of A Marriage 

• So, I guess Chloe is giving us a more grounded version of her "Ooli" character in a more cerebral setting?

• I wonder if this is an idea Glenn himself pitched? The premise of actors being overly hyped up in between takes of even the most dramatic, ennui-drenched Bergmann-esque art house films seems like something that would've come from the mind of someone who's spent most of their life on big movie sets

• ...and out of this sketches casts I'd say Glenn must've spent the most time on actual movie shoots with JAJ coming in a distant second and Chloe a distant third.

• I'm glad that this turned out to be the main "gag" of the sketch instead of the same take being ruined multiple times. I'm also glad Jane gave us the wackiest accent in this. 

• Perhaps most of all, I'm glad that Jeremy and JAJ added some variance to this sketch. Even when Chloe's doing something that works well for me, there's only so much I can take of JUST Chloe bring the main focus of something. B-

MacGruber?!?

• What...the...HELL?!? 

• Ok, the fact that this is completely unexpected (so unexpected that Chloe has to take the place of Kristen Wiig) automatically makes me WANT to place this slightly above the MacGruber from the episode Will actually hosted around the last time tonight's host was almost booked.

• Yeah, MacGruber being in the Epstein files isn't the most creative twist right now (and certainly feels a bit more out of character than him being an anti-mask/anti vaxx/J6 insurrectionist) but any unexpected Will Forte cameo is always a welcome surprise. C+

Slay Division

• Huh, were Bowen and Sarah watching Spice World at some point this week?

• Ok, I gotta say...for a sketch that seems designed in a lab or by some A.I. for me and others to hate...the performances from pretty much everyone in the cast (and Glenn) are actually saving this for me. Hell, even Tommy and JAJ somehow fit into the vibe of this sketch surprisingly well.

• I liked Bowens' "get the manager" line and Sarahs' quip about how they like to "listen to Tate McRae and do poppers until they pass out". Plus, another dolled up Sarah look. Not bad there.

• I didn't even mind the button on the end of this since I liked the performances so much and I still don't even know if "Zara Midtown" is even a real place.

• Yeah, the writing of this sketch seems to have "James Anderson" stamped all over it in big red letters...but really, it's like an old first draft of a James Anderson sketch was punched up by a much more competent and engaging sketch writer.

• Yeah, it also reminded me and others of that "It Girl Thanksgiving" sketch almost on it's exact one year anniversary but it seems more like whoever wrote that sketch rewrote it  to makes it roughly 1000x more accessible to the large swaths of SNLs audience who...didn't care for that sketch (and not just because it contained numerous references to people they don't know or care about). B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che 

• I suspect this might just be my (and many others) favorite Weekend Update since the one Tina and Jimmy did back when Conan hosted in March 2001 due to it's sheer length alone more than the way Jost & Che were able to work an already hyped up crowd (with Che especially being able to play them like a fiddle)

• Josts' best jokes: "duh", Dahmer email, Dementia Dome

• Che's best jokes: Epstien/"take him down", Home Depot, Trump/BBC, Different World/HBCU, Pennies, Hitler DNA. B+

Taken

• The more I chew on this sketch the more it sinks in that Glenns' pretty decent Liam Neeson impression alone isn't enough to distract me from the fact that this is basically another "Dismukes plays another cucked, emasculated dork to Chloes' character who just so happens to be the dumbest, horniest bitch ever" sketch.

• Still, I will say that it's a much better version of what they were going for with the Jason Momoa cast away sketch from two years ago. 

• Hell, I'll just go ahead and say it. This is a slight improvement over the same basic formula that gave us fucking Domingo (just swipe out Marcello for for any handsome male hosts the show may happen to have and nobody will notice it's the same basic sketch!)

• Oh yeah, I am relieved that they buried the closest thing they had to an "obligatory host is hot" sketch in the post Update half of the show. C+

MacGruber?!? II

• I...guess Jorma just called up Forte &  Lorne and pitched him this idea this week and Glenn was just game enough to go along with it because he's just a fan of the show and of Fortes' era in general?

• I liked MacGrubers' threats to furlough Glenns character just before adding him and Chloes' character to the list with a marker.

• I did like the twist that for once the bomb DIDN’T go off but MacGruber actually tried to get it to go off anyway to destroy the Epstein files by any means necessary. B-

Haircut

• I LIKE IT!!!

• ...but seriously, it was great to see Ashley anchor yet another sketch that manages to invert and tweak each individual element of her office birthday/fart sketch from last month that didn't work and yet still is unafraid to be as unashamedly goofy and absurd as any obscure [adult swim] series you could name.

• I liked how Ashley entered this scene immediately trying to sell us on the same sense of barely repressed shame and embarrassment she did in the office/fart sketch, but even more subtly and how she named other random made up celebrities whose hair her hairdresser has done.

• I also liked Mikeys' brief outburst of "I HATE IT!!!" before suddenly promising to get them a new waiter. I also liked how the sketch ended with Kenan as the new waiter revealing himself to be supportive and he has a similar "skin square" to Ashley's character as they have the same terrible hairdresser. B+

MacGruber?!? III

• Ok, the twist of MacGruber only being a ground crew member on the plane who's only "crime" was selling cut-with-playgroujd-sand cocaine and meth to Epsteins' actual "clients" worked for me because does feel more "in character" for him.

• The song could've been cut and I wasn't crazy about the ending though. Seemed a little too out of left field for me. B-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
4. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
5. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
6. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Somewhat surprisingly, this turned out to be the second best episode of the season. I know some of you reading this would be more inclined to give it the top spot in your rankings but I'm placing it second simply because while I was pleasantly surprised throughout the whole show, I felt the highs of this episode weren't as high as last week's with Nikki (but the lows were middle of the road enough that they were practically non-existent). Even Olivia Dean made for a solid musical guest!

• I went into this episode with a mix of high and low expectations. I had high expectations for Glenn as a host because with him being a first timer my only real hope was that he wouldn't be a complete stiff and would be a game host for anything. He certainly exceeded my expectations there to the point that I would like to see him host again either next year or whenever his next movie comes out.

• The only low expectation I had for this episode was that it was the last one before Thanksgiving break and those are usually kind of a wash when they're hosted by a regular actor (and when a Thanksgiving episode is hosted by a comedian or pop star all bets are off) but something about this episode made all of its individual parts come together in a way that exceeded that expectation as well.

• Even the high levels of energy and electricity from last week were still everywhere in the studio because it was evident they were still trying new things and taking some new chances with old formats that paid off.

• Hell, they even found ways to use Chloe and Marcello in ways that actually made them seem likable and professional!

• Speaking of cast usage, Ashley absolutely dominated tonight (as well she should) and most everyone else the show leans on (Bowen, Kenan, Chloe, Sarah, Marcello, Mikey & Veronika) felt like her supporting cast (even Glenn at certain points).

• Ben, Tommy & Jeremy continue to make their presence known as the show tries out different types of roles for them to see what sticks.

• JAJ & Dismukes feel like they took some hits this week but that's mostly because they were relegated back to just playing Trump and/or various cucked losers from being used in more prominent roles through the night.

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, Melissa McCarthy returns to host for her sixth time Overall and her first appearance on the show in eight and a half years (not counting the odd cameo appearance here and there) with musical guest Dijon (who may or may not be the Chinese phrase for "Oh, brother" according to Aunt Linda)

• Hey, you can read my review of that sketch and the episode that callback comes from here and listen to my podcast about it here.

• Seriously though, Melissa McCarthy has always been a reliably stellar host so it will be intriguing to see her return in an era where the show is substantially different from her last appearance. Let's hope SNL can keep on this upward trajectory to close out 2025!

• Before that episode airs, my next blog entry will be my list of top five Bill Hader sketches and moments from SNL season 32 as this will be the subject of the next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. Both the podcast and the blog post will be coming out this Friday with special guest Demi Constantine from the SNN Patron Feedback Shows and the newest regular cohost of my WHH cohost Deej Barens' other podcast Saturday Night Ladies (where they graciously agreed to let me be their second ever guest to review last week's Nikki Glaser/Sombr episode)

• Speaking of which, the release of that episode was the main reason my personal review of that episode was as late as it was so in case you didn't get to read it...feel free to because it definitely exists.

• Happy turkey day, everyone!

Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)

The following regular blog post is also a companion piece to the newest episode of Saturday Night Ladies, whose cohosts have graciously allowed me to be a guest on this week.

Saturday Night Ladies is the sister podcast to We Heart Hader launched by my regular cohost Deej Barens along with Shari Fesko and Demi Constantine (whom you might also know from the Saturday Night Network Patron Feedback shows).

As you can probably tell, I timed this publishing so as to no spoil what I would say on the podcast.

Give us a listen, won't you?

White House Press Conference 

• Hmmm....very bold, very risky choice. Let's see how they actually tackle this.

• Apparently Marcello is Dr Oz instead of Mikey? Ok. Fine, sure.

• Great RFK Jr there, Mr. Dismukes.

• Apparently, they're doing this JUST like they've done pretty much 99% of the JAJ/Trump cold opens they've done the past three seasons. 

• Don't know why I should've expected this to be that drastically different, but there are a few small touches of slight variance from JAJ here that I do like such as him tripping over the collapsed man and the "MRI/punch card" line. C+

Monologue 

• Ok, HERE'S what's sure to be the highlight of this episode.

• I wasn't that into the Trump/spray tan stuff until she transitioned into the insane "tan lung" class action lawsuit commercial.

• While I like how Nikki demonstrates her ability to flawlessly command the room with this set, I feel like I might prefer one of her previous specials to this monologue for how "safe for TV" this material had to be.

• I'm more used to seeing her starting with the raunchy sex stuff before winding down and transitioning into relationship stuff so it feels a bit strange to see her do the complete opposite here but the plus side is it brings the energy going up going into the first post monologue sketch (which is a crucial element to the show that they need to realize applies to live viewers)

• My biggest laughs in this monologue were the nails/short boyfriend "they go inside him/gun on the top shelf" stuff. 

• The "showering with her nephew" stuff was the perfect thing to end this on. B+

Family Karaoke Night

• Yeah, I figured the entire joke here would be "lol oblivious incest vibes" once Nikki & Tommy got on stage.

• Having attended the taping of Nikkis' "Good Clean Filth" special where she talked about having kissed her dad on the lips until she was 26, I figure this must be a Nikki-centric idea she bought to the show. Knowing now that Tommy has gone on tour with Nikki, I can definitely see more how this got on.

• Speaking of, this might be the first Tommy-centric sketch so far in his tenure. He already seems to be a slightly divisive cast member, but...this really didn't sway my opinion of him either way. We've seen his standup on Update but I haven't really gotten to get a bead on him as a sketch performer yet.

• Ok, I think this would be as good a place as any to say I'm really not crazy about this fairly new trend of Sarah being relegated to "straight woman sitting at table reacting in shock and disgust at everything" roles in sketches (even as much as she sells the absolute shock and horror of it all here).

• I do like how hard the sketch ground to a halt after Sarah's "humping his sister" line (especially after that Boyz II Men needle drop felt a little too obvious).

• The bit about the brother and sister sleeping in the same room until Nikki went to college and getting separate beds at 17 definitely felt like a Nikki punchline.

• I did get a kick out of Dismukes' Dad character singing "Too Close" with Nikki and Tommy singing "You've Got A Friend In Me" to Sarah but it felt like it ran a couple of beats too long in between those moments.

• Ending with Nikki deeply tongue kissing Sarah? Ok, I don't have a huge problem with that. C+

Hudsacillin

• Hmm. "The Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnell"? This feels like something I don't quite know was a thing because I've only see one or two clips of this on social media completely removed from any real context.

• Hell, I didn't even remember Jennifer Hudson even still HAS a morning show until just now. Do Kelly Clarkson or Drew Barrymore still have either of theirs?

• The biggest kick I got out of this was Nikki listing various bad dancing styles she tried at home in front of the mirror that didn't work.

• The thing that makes this work is, again, how specific this idea feels to Nikkis' mind that only she could do this and would have to play herself in it (although if these "spirit tunnel" videos truly are enough of a viral phenomenon that an SNL pretape could be based around them, I find myself agreeing with Jon Schneiders' take that some other testimonials could have saved this. I truly wouldn't have minded some extra cameos here because I can't really see how a cast impression would've improved this...especially not one of Chloe's).

• Still, I guess that's one of two things that separate this from most SNL fake prescription ads with the other being that it's a pill that actually makes you sick (similar to "Flaritin" from season 38?) instead of helping you achieve your goal which...yeah, seems like a better ending than just having Nikki dance happily. Steve Higgins voice over at the end really hung a lampshade on what a cop out that would've been.

• Speaking of the ending, I did also like the meta twist with Marcello dancing on the tunnel because he really wants it. C+

Beauty & Mr. Beast

• Boy, this sure feels like a non idea someone blurted out when called on at the Monday pitch meeting who had no other ideas.

• Nikki, Kenan and Bowens' costumes looked as slapdash and thrown together as the writing of this whole sketch felt but I did get a kick out Kenans' line about realizing $2500 isn't a lot if money.

• I liked how they at least found an impression for Ben Marshall that he could legitimately pull off. I did get a kick out of Bens' line about his "top half being beast and his bottom half being completely smooth". 

• This almost seems like another case where a cast member has too much of a soul or just too much behind the eyes to play whoever they're impersonating but Ben pretty well captured Mr. Beasts' empty eyed, soulless, half rictus grin that I keep seeing on all these weird snack products he slaps his name and likeness on at every frigging store I've gone to in the past year and a half which due to my advanced age are the only thing I know him from and thus  the only cultural context I have for this fucking guy.

• I guess beyond that Mr. Beast is a YouTuber who makes videos where he has regular people undergo bizarre challenges for amounts of money that are still less than the obscene riches he makes off doing this? 

• Hmm...maybe my only takeaway from this sketch SHOULD just be that it's just another one of those pieces where they explain some YouTuber or social media influencers' whole "deal" just to point out how sadly ridiculous it is that they're worth billions of dollars? That premise alone is becoming the new "tale as old as time".

• This started off feeling like something that would've been RIGHT at home on the old "MAD" Cartoon Network show if Mr. Beast had been around 15 years ago. Once Kenan and Bowen began singing "You're Depressed" to "Be Our Guest" (which parsed about as well as the rest of this sketch...which is to say not very well), it started feeling like something out of a Family Guy cutaway gag (and apparently there's evidence out there that this exact premise was done by Studio C, produced as early as last year but only aired/uploaded as early as last week, which isn't a great look for either side. I'd chalk it up to "parallel thinking" if the timing didn't seem so wonky, but...this sketch seems like it was destined to catch a fair amount of shit from smug pissant GenZers on social media anyway...and if you are one who's managed to find this review and make it this far, congratulations)

• The "I Don't Get It" - Every Person Over 25" review gag was my biggest laugh in this. That really hit and may have been the only time that a fake review gag in an SNL sketch was legitimately funny. Also, I'm vaguely familiar enough with who Kai Cenat is to get a chuckle out of "Kai-sablanca". C+

American Girl XL

• I can't believe the sheer number of sketches SNL has done about creepy grown ass men behaving inappropriately inside an American Girl doll store in the past eight years. 

• Ok well, now that I think about it's only been three but still...it's pretty weird that SNL has mined that very specific idea for comedy that many times.

• Of course, the guys all sold the creep-tastic nature of this and the timing of Nikkis concerned sideways looks at each of them was flawless. Due to the rapid fire pacing of this pretape, there were too many individual moments to list as favorites but I will single out most of Bens' lines and Kams' "biracial" doll being made to look like his brothers' wife as favorites.

• JAJ just suddenly barging in to take over the spokesperson role from an increasingly creeped out Nikki got possibly the biggest laugh of the whole show from me here. A-

Runaway Mechanical Bull

• I was hoping we'd get some kind of fun Nikki & Sarah (!!!) collab and even though there seemed to be quite a lot going on here for a live sketch, this turned out to be quite fun for the sheer heights of detail heavy absurdity it reached. 

• JAJ singing an Arlo Guthrie type score to this was just the icing on the cake. He reminded me quote a lot of the "train traveling/riding the rails" song from MST3Ks' "Girl In Lovers Lane" episode.

• Even Janes' first lines before suddenly just bailing on the sketch made me laugh (even if that's something they did before too in last season's Timothee Chalamet Starbucks sketch, IIRC)

• This functions well as a white trash companion piece to the "Two Bitches Vs A Gorilla" sketch from last seasons' Quinta Brunson episode.

• I liked the fourth wall twist of Sarah being called by her real name and the unintentional one of a pair of errant panties lying on the platform Jeremy was supposed to lay himself across to make is appear that was floating through space. A-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Che's best jokes: Curtis Sliwa/squirrels, FOX News on Mamdani, GenZ/"paying w/cash is 'cringe'"

• Josts' best jokes: RFK Jr, Mexican President, SeaWorld

• I'm genuinely surprised the extended applause break at Josts' first mere mention of Mamdanis' victory didn't result in another quick band shot at the end of the show from something getting cut for time.

• Oof. Yeah, that "Trump doesn't have to pay SNAP benefits" joke should've been cut...and the "Michael Jackson biopic" joke should've been rewritten.

• This wasn't a great Update Joke-wise for Jost & Che but at least it's great to see them actually having fun doing this again.

• Wow. Genuinely wasn't expecting a Pete Davidson cameo this...or any week really (especially to talk about his Staten Island Ferry fiasco w/Jost) but in spite of his reminding us that he did, in fact, play the Riadyh Comedy Festival...I enjoyed this more than I thought I would (which...I can say about a lot of stuff Pete did, but nonetheless).

• With his jokes about his father's death, potential ICE run ins with Staten Islanders and him, Jost & Che being potential Epstein clients in an episode hosted by Nikki Glaser, it's nice to see an attempt at making gleefully dark humor a running theme throughout tonight's show.

• More specific things from Pete I liked were his Lorne/Tina joke and the Classic Pete/"New" Staten Island jokes. B-

Sorority Meeting

• I like how intensely specific and weird this premise was right from the get go. It felt like something modern SNL would otherwise never attempt.

• Am I the only one who legitimately couldn't tell whether that was Tommy or Mikey under that "Rocky Dennis in White Chicks" looking mask until it came all the way off? 

• Seriously, the face screamed Tommy but the voice gradually suggested this was Mikey.

• I liked how Ashley was just straight up shamed for being the only one genuinely catching on to Mikeys' ruse (for which no other explanation was seemingly given besides watching bikini car washes from inside a garage with towells on his lap) as he was literally peeling the mask off to eat a donut.

• I liked even more how the cast soldiered on with this sketch in the face of what appeared to be a crucial prop malfunction with the vape smoke not appearing through the eye holes as they were literally explaining how that was supposed to be happening and the tears just barely working or even being visible (and how they obviously put up the dress version of this on YouTube where the complete opposite of this happened).

• Fortunately, what made up for it was how flawlessly the cut to the pretaped segment of Nikki pulling off her "mask" and revealing herself to be Andrew Dismukes was. B+

SNL Animated Short: Brad & His Dad

• Of all the odd one off attempts at animated segments SNL has tried to get off the ground in the post TV Funhouse era, this one I definitely liked the most because it clearly had the most effort, thought and care put into it since any previous animated segment put on SNL since Robert Smigel was still regularly producing them.

• It felt different and a lot more heartfelt than anything we've seen on SNL since at least the Jack Handey era. In fact, it felt very noticeably and stylistically different from the previous animated segments Mikey & Streeter did for the show last season.

• Speaking of, I can definitely tell that's Mikey as Brad...but who did the voice of the father? Was that Streeter or Dismukes?

• Anyone else get legitimate Kids In The Hall vibes from this? It felt like a ditect cross between one of their filmed sketches and the [adult swim] shows "China, IL" and "Brad Neelys' Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio".

• Anyway, the best moments for me here were anytime the dad put on a video game headset (especially the brief "never say that to me because I'm white" rant) as well as the playground/drone scenes (especially the ending call back).

• I get how the football scene gave some people nice, warm Peyton Manning flashbacks but it didn't quite hit the same for me (pun unintended yet unavoidable). B-

Pilot Announcement

• Well, I have been wanting to see more JAJ character pieces or just more non-Trump sketches with JAJ as the main focus. This was definitely more the latter than the former but he did well with the role he was given here. Kam as his wilder copilot giving him sexting advice was a nice touch even if he didn't exactly steal the scene or anything.

• With as many sketches set on delayed flights with rambling pilots and sketches about dating apps and sexting in general the show has done in recent years, he really had the chops necessary to elevate this into something unique. 

• This also might have been Sarah's best performance all night. I know, she’s still just "reacting to something" but I liked how she at least showed she's capable of having a similar type of chemistry with Dismukes that he has shown he has with Ashley to the point where they can bring each other just barely noticeably close to breaking.

• I also liked Kenan and Bowen silently gesticulating at each other as JAJ described specifically what type of gay guy he wanted advice from.

• As much as I love Nikki, this is the one sketch she didn't particularly shine in but good on her for letting some underutilized cast members share the spotlight. B-

The Make Believe Meadow

• Not quite sure which specific children's book this is a loose parody of (I'm guessing a cross between Narnia, Alice In Wonderland & Winnie The Pooh?) but one thing I am certain if is that Mikey and Jeremy's obsession with pinwheels made this feel too much like a bad ten-to-one Fred Armisen sketch from sometime between 2008 and 2010.

• More specifically, I am thinking of Freds' "calculator" sketch with John Malkovich from December 2008 and his "sparkling apple juice" sketch with Bryan Cranston from October 2010.

• While I do appreciate everyone's commitment to this premise (especially Mikey and Bowen), I can't say they put this over because this fundamentally just wasn't for me. C-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
3. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
4. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
5. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• I think I can safely say without my person bias creeping in that this is the best episode of the season so far. It got off to a slightly uneven start but ended up being the least uneven episode of the season so far (which is probably the worst thing I can say about it).

• Nikki was an excellent host if not a slightly green live sketch performer and I definitely think she should return at some point.

• This episode delivered everything that I was hoping for from any episode hosted by a stand up comedian who is new to the show in that their unique presence delivers a creative spark in the process and encourages the show to try out ideas they wouldn't try any other week (even if some of those ideas don't quite have universal appeal).

• I'd even go as far as to say that with the way this season has been going, I got almost the same thing from this episode that I got from John Mulaney's first two episodes from 2018/19 (which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Nikki doesn't have the home field advantage of having written for the show for a number of years before her stand up career really took off).

• Cast usage was still a bit strange tonight, but I liked seeing a lot of Kam, Jeremy, Tommy, Dismukes & Sarah (as they slowly but surely figure out how to better use her), JAJ (being highlighted in non-Trump roles) and Mikey & Bowen (as long as they're playing to their better instincts as performers).

• I'm not quite as down on Marcello as some others are (like I definitely am with Chloe) but it's nice to see them being put on the back burner for a bit to give others a chance to shine along with Ashley & Veronika this week (and I'm NOT down on them at all but again, they've been doing a lot of solid work this season so it'll be nice to see them give others a chance to shine.

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, Glenn Powell makes his hosting debut for the last show before Thanksgiving. These Thanksgiving adjacent episodes are typically a wash and I'm certain there won't be the same spark there was this week but I'm also sure that Glenn will be a game host who will bring some enthusiasm to the show.

• Hey, don't forget to listen to me in the newest episode of Saturday Night Ladies talking about this episode!

• Also, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of We Heart Hader where we continue our "No Small Roles" series and talk about Bill's guest spots on animated TV shows.

• In the coming weeks on We Heart Hader, Deej and I will be doing another "Impression Spotlight" episode focused on Bills' James Carville followed by the start of our SNL season 33 coverage with the LeBron James/Kanye West episode. See you then!

Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)

NYC Mayoral Debate

• Hmm, risky but intriguing cold open choice.

• I'm OK with Kenan's meta jokes up top even if they're not quite landing.

• Not crazy about Tellers' Cuomo impression. He's no Pete Davidson. He doesn't quite have the voice down and looks a little too youthful to pull off this role without prosthetics, but I did like the "honk honk, squeeze squeeze" joke.

• Hey, Ramy Youssef as Zohran Mamdani! Good choice. I mean, even if they can't find a real "take" or "hook" for Mamdani that won't get people up in arms, it obviously did matter who they cast in this role and they recognized that.

• Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa. Ok, fine. Whatever. I'll take it. Even though i would probably much rather see literally anyone else's take on this role he's actually been given some of the funniest and most deranged lines in this.

• I'm not too crazy about how the show seems to be reverting back to the Baldwin-as-Trump #Resistance era trope of front loading the show with non-current cast member cameos in flash-in-the-pan political roles...but this time strictly applying that approach to local NYC politics.

• Already, the fake sponsor gags strike me as something that should get cut for being too NYC centric "inside baseball" for a wide audience.

• Hey, Kam Patterson as Eric Adams! Glad to see him get his first impression and it...kinda works for him?

• Ok, a JAJ Trump walk on. At this point, it couldn't possibly make this any worse.

• At least the "Phantom" reference is something a bit new and different for a JAJ Trump impression.

• Hoo boy, this one was sadly easy for me to tune out of knowing a lot of it would sail gently over my head as a non-New Yorker. It was performed well upon rewatch and everyone looked like they were having fun, but...something still felt a bit off to me. C-

Monologue 

• I figured we would get a sincere heartfelt SNL fan monologue from Miles tonight. I appreciated his Roxbury Halloween story and his acknowledgment of how off base their costumes looked. Yeah, they never had mustaches.

• Miles ending on his story of he and his wife having survived losing their home in the Pallisades fires was touching. Wow, we really are throwing it back to season 44 with the "heartfelt SNL  connection monologue" with these vibes, huh? B-

What Did I Do Last Night?

• Speaking of throwing it back to seasons 44-47 vibes, it's a post monologue game show sketch...with Kenan as a host named "Gay Fopay". Fantastic.

• I guess setting this during the morning after Halloween night makes this topical enough to feel like it's premise is at least 20-25 years past its "sell by" date.

• Well, at least this isn't solely based around the contestants questionable social media posts.

• I'm actually glad Jane had a walk on mid sketch because I legitimately couldn't tell if she or Veronika were the sole female contestant when this began.

• I gotta say, this is making decent use of Ben, Veronika and the rest of this year's featured players. I especially liked the call back of Bens' security footage showing Veronika biting him as well as Ben being relieved to find that his consolation prize just for watching that footage is just getting to sit in a chair.

• I even got a kick out of Kams' sudden walk on being to just play the trumpet and upset the contestants.

• I gotta say, upon rewatches of the sketch there actually is a writerly, detail oriented nature to this sketch that I enjoyed. I especially liked all the absurd details they applied to Miles' character in the first round and how both his and Veronikas' characters both encountered the same two people and the same stop sign. 

• I had heard in dress rehearsal Miles was dressed as a K-Pop demon hunter but (of course) the detail that he stole his costume from a child stayed the same. I would like to see that as I do genuinely wonder how differently this played at dress with that change being made. B+

Property Brothers

• Wow, they're REALLY committed to a season 44 throwback, huh? Ok, I guess Miles Teller resembles both of these guys enough to make this work.

• Ah, THERE’S the topical twist that makes this unique to season 51. I'm not crazy about this being the second appearance of JAJs' Trump in the first third of the show, but hey...this was probably written days before the cold open was.

• Chloes' Melania isn't really blowing me away or anything (obviously she's no Cecily Strong), but then again none of her impressions have. I did like the Halloween/Christmas joke, though.

• This reminded me a bit of Chloes' much better Jennifer Coolidge. I don't know if it's something about her facial expressions (which she honestly nailer better than the voice) paired with the fact that Coolidge did play a wacky accented lady on Two Broke Girls and Chloes' voice is quite reminiscent of that, but there were very light traces of Coolidge in Chloes' performance.

• The portrait of Trump as Halos' Master Chief almost got me. Also, I did like the Clinton joke. That did give off a vibe of JAJ adding a new dimension to his Trump that Jon Schneider described much better than I could.

• Perhaps my favorite line from JAJ in this was his "send me the white day laborers" joke. The "payment for the renovation" bit at the end felt like the obvious thing this was building up to but the ICE gag was something I genuinely didn't see coming as I had forgotten that the Property Bros were actually Canadian. B-

NHL PSA Shoot

• So, it's an entire sketch based on how wrong it is that in the era of "The Washington Commanders" there is somehow still an actual hockey team named "The Nashville Predators"? Let's just see how far they can stretch this.

• Something about this feels very season 41 but the way they doubled down on it feels more season 45 as this goes along. 

• Upon a second viewing, this reminds me more of Jon Hamms' "Pat Finger" ads more than anything.

• At least Ashley and Andrew are here to save this. I especially liked Dismukes "Asian man plays cello" joke and his reveal that he and Midge are writers.

• Out of all the unfortunate "predator" juxtapositions, I most liked how they got an actual child extra to stand directly in front of Miles and how he revealed his name and position to be "Chase Kidd, Right Wing, Predator".

• Man, this REALLY didn't have an ending, did it? C-

Gone Without A Several Trace(s)

• Ah, it's the classic "men are hopelessly dependent dum-dums who never listen to their wives or pay attention to their kids" trope. Cutting edge comedy right there.

• Still, framing this as a modern Netflix true crime documentary makes this work better. The various bits of hidden camera footage saved this for me.

• Perhaps my biggest laugh in this came from Kenan later guessing that his wife went to "the boob store" and encountering his own children with sheer bewilderment...but that doesn't quite say great things about this episode so far. C+

NewsPoint

• Wow, this is such an old framework for a sketch it would've seemed out of date 40 years ago.

• Seriously, this reminded me more of "The Friday Edition" from Fridays and  and In Living Colors' "Background Guy" sketches so much I'm surprised neither Melanie Chartoff nor Jim Carrey made cameos.

• Still, I'm willing to give it a chance just to see how they modernize it and make it work in 2025.

• Ok, at least there seems to be a little variance to this in execution.

• It's not a terribly great sign for this episode when my biggest laughs here are coming from some very basic physical comedy from Mikey and Bowen (who took a surprisingly long time to start acting unprofessional in this) but at this point I'll take any genuine laughs I could get.

• Speaking of, is anyone else starting to forget that Mikey Day is still in the cast at this point? I'm predicting this is going to be his last season.

• Miles immediately complaining about getting reported to HR and suddenly trying cover up anime boobs on his computer screen. worked for me as did Kam suddenly promoting his OnlyFans.

• Ok, the visual of streams of paper flowing out of a printer that electrocutes Bowen is a surprisingly strong ending to this. B+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che 

• Already we're opening with Jost just lazily riffing on Trump giving out candy to trick or treat footage. Great. Yeah, that "Thriller" joke wasn't telegraphed as hell.

• Ok, well...I did like his "Nut up, kids!" and "circling vultures" jokes. Also, looking back I think I can appreciate that Texas Tylenol joke a bit more for the subtle nod to King Of The Hill.

• I liked Che's "SNAP benefits/2nd amendment" and "Trump bathroom renovation" and "Kid Rock" jokes but the "Nobel peace prize" and "Sliwa/Guilliani" jokes weren't worth the risk.

• Well, I guess with the news of George Santos prison release they had to trot out Bowens' impression one more time.

• Still, I like how Bowen seems like he's less visibly miserable to be playing Santos. I did also like the gags with him stealing Josts' wallet to find it filled with photos of all the female cast members and him answering his "calls" on a two way prison glass phone.

• Dismukes and Padilla as "two people who just hooked up" talking about "the government shutdown". I gotta say, they are exhibiting an unseen chemistry that really started selling this right from "try something smaller".

• Between this and the principals' office sketch from the season premiere...are we sure it was Emil Wakim who Ashley was supposedly dating from the cast? B-

Steak Knife Slasher Gar-girl

• It's nice to finally get a patented strange Andrew Dismukes sketch at this point in season 50.

• The premise of Andrew derailing a police press conference regarding a murder case feels like a vast improvement on whatever they were trying with his "mob boss who wants to try out his stand up material as he is bleeding out from a drive by shooting" sketch from last season.

• I liked how everyone got more and more into his increasingly insane premise as this went on to the point where Ashley just started screeching semi-coherently (shades of Cecily there?) at JAJ and Miles just before Ben Marshall showed up and revealed himself to be the murderer as Dismukes reveals Gar-Girls' incredibly bizarre origin story. 

• Also, it's incredibly nice to see JAJ get to shine in a non-Trump/non-dorky dad straight Chara role again. This is something I'd like to see more of. B+

Italian Restaurant 

• Hmm...shades of Sandler & Carvey in "Fresh Pepper" from season 20. I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

• Interesting roles for Miles & Marcello here. Haven't seen a sketch that literally invokes the portmanteau "pizza-pasta" this hard on the show in recent years.

• As this goes along, it's starting to remind me a bit more of the "bellisima" sketches from the early 90s with Kirstie Alley.

• I gotta say, the things that really perked up my eyes and ears during this were Miles & Marcello literally throwing salad in Mikeys' face, Kenans walk-on as the chef (he zags just when you think he is going to zig) and Mikey winning the waiters over with even dumber puns than "get the foccacia". Glad I didn't "ankle" this episode entirely. (iykyk) B-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
2. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
3. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025)
4. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, this was a pretty uneven episode that got off to a slow start but it really delivered as the night went on just as I was hoping it would. Miles Teller is still a very game host and writing-wise, they really cleared the low bar they set with his previous episode a few years ago.

• I'm starting to think I might have the opposite reaction to this episode than I did Miles previous one where I ended up going a lot easier on this and recognized in hindsight that I was a bit too generous. I'm already getting the sense that I might have been a bit harder on this episode than most other fans already.

• Cast usage felt strange tonight, too. Ben, Veronika, Chloe, Ashley and Andrew were used a lot but only the latter two stood out in a way that made people feel they "dominated" the show. Ashley and Andrew were given lead roles that allowed them to showcase their budding natural chemistry, so that helps.

• Bowen and Marcello had surprisingly light nights. Kenan and JAJ were used in the capacity everyone expected them to be used in and everyone else was featured so little you almost forgot they were in the cast.

• Still, considering how the last two episodes went...this somehow feels like SNL...restabilizing itself?

Closing Thoughts 

• Anyway, that ended up being a fine episode that got off to a rocky start.

• Next week, Nikki Glaser makes her hosting debut. This is probably the episode I'm most excited about mostly because I've been a fan of hers for years (hell, I was actually in the audience of her 2022 HBO special "Good Clean Filth"...I'm so far in the back of the theater you can't possibly see me but trust me, I'm there). 

• Plus, she's the only proven comedian host we've had so far this season besides Amy Poehler. In fact, I'm so excited about this episode that I actually asked my current We Heart Hader cohost Deej Barens if I could be a guest on her other podcast Saturday Night Ladies and after having run it by her two other cohosts...they all said yes to my pitch!

• So, tune in to the episode of the Saturday Night Ladies podcast that will be dropping on Tuesday, November 11th (and feel free to check out some of their other episodes too while you're at it) where I will be their first straight, white cisgendered male guest where I plan to talk about Nikki Glasers' cross over appeal to both male and female audiences and what she brings to the show from her own unique place in the current stand up scene.

• In fact, because of this...I may push back my own review of Nikkis' episode on this blog until Tuesday, November 11th rather than Sunday, November 9th. Hope you understand me mot wanting to spoil what I might say om a podcast I am getting to be a guest on. See you then!

Zach Braff/Maroon 5 (05.19.2007)

 The following blog post is a companion piece to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. Give us a listen, won't you?

Bush' s Summer Vacation

As he prepares for a full length summer vacation, President George W. Bush (Sudeikis) denies that the true purpose of the Iraq War was to install a US controlled puppet government in Baghdad or to lower gas prices for American consumers by stating that the Bagdhad government isn’t exactly an ally and that gas prices are soaring. While speaking, he unsubtly glances over at Vice President Dick Cheney (Hammond) for approval on each of his talking points…except his last point conceding that the war was an incompetently run disaster. He then hands control of the government over Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice who will take his place while he is on vacation.

• Wow…Jason sure was blinking a lot at the beginning. Wonder if that was intentional, part of his Bush impression or a subtle “morse code” type gag that they thought most viewers wouldn’t notice?

• On the surface, this was another largely forgettable Sudeikis as Bush cold open without a whole lot going for it but it becomes more accessible as it goes along. Another timeless criticism of how poorly the Iraq War went that you may not have needed to be around this particular week in May of 2007 to fully “get”. Pretty straightforward stuff.

• I did like Sudeikis as Bush’s line about what a mistake it turned out to be for him to trade Sammy Sosa for Harold Baines when he was the owner of the Texas Rangers. I also liked the cuts to a silent Darrells’ various “thumbs up/winking A-OK” signs and the cut to him having disappeared when Jasons’ Bush admits the war was run incompetently. 

• Maya’s Condoleeza Rice seems to just be her current Oprah impression mixed with a vocal inflection that would become her Michelle Obama (pun unintended, but unavoidable) but she really gives it her all in what many were speculating would be her final LFNY as a cast member. C+

Monologue 

As a tribute to his home state of New Jersey (and a not-so-subtle plug for his new movie “Garden State”) Zach Braff sings “New Jersey State Of Mind” (and a brief Jersey-fied version of “On Broadway”) with support from Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg and Kenan Thompson.

• As hot and cold as I’ve always run on Zach Braff, I have to say that I appreciated his shout-out to the Church Lady and Toonces when outlining how big a fan of this show he was as a kid. 

• As for this being a showcase for Zachs’ singing, I found it a little self-indulgent. I wouldn’t say it was off-putting though. The worst thing I could say about it would be it felt like something you might have seen Joe Piscopo do in his “Club Piscopo” Showtime special from a few years back…but y’know, a little hipper and more contemporary.

• I did get a kick out of his jokes about how Jersey’s governor drives the fastest out of all the other US governors (this had to have been before the days of Chris Christie, right?) I also liked how HBO's setting of The Sopranos in Jersey “felt right” despite the state having only the 4th highest Italian-American population in the nation.

• The only real comedic highlight of this were Andy, Amy, Maya and Kenan walking on stage dressed as various Jersey landmarks so obscure that Zach just had to straight up tell them all just what the hell they were dressed as (especially Samberg with his “why am I dressed as a sandwich? Not that I mind” line). Other than that, this was pretty unremarkable. C+

Digital Short: Puppy Love

An apartment subletter (Braff) is disappointed when he finds out that his dog (Jorma Taccone V/O) has seduced yet another crushed potential tenant (Samberg) into giving him a plate of ham from the fridge…until the dog himself admits it was meant to be.

• Hmm…strange that they would hard cut to a digital short rather than a commercial coming right off the end of the band vamping to the finish line of a big musical number. That seems like the type of thing that never happens before, but OK.

• Anyway, this digital short wasn’t up to much either, but it was fun, brief and to the point. This may not be my favorite digital short of all time, but that early lo fi season 31/32 style of these shorts really saved this for me and I got a kick out of Jormas’ voice over on the shots of the dog.

• Yes, this may have been the same basic premise as the season 18 fake ad “Canis” (a long, dramatic sexy buildup to a man kissing a dog) but I prefer this execution of the gag better than the overblown Calvin Klein type ad. C-

Prom Committee

Bethany “B.J.” Jacobs (Poehler) and Lauren “B.J.” Carlton (Rudolph) both want a James Bond themed prom but are forced to hear lame suggestions for alternate themes from their classmates. These include “Remember The Night We Mets” from Mets super fan Billy Zerillo (Armisen), “Get To Know Lyle Kane” from dweeby valedictorian Lyle Kane (Forte), “Garden State” from Garden State superfan Brian Bernstein (Braff), “Pink Floyd' s The Wall” from crunchy stoners Skooch (Thompson) and Mando (Sudeikis), an abstinence theme from repressed virgin couple Beatrice Mitchell (Wiig) and Mitchell (Hader) and the proposal of a virtual Middle Earth themed prom from even dweebier hobbit cosplayer Lomax (Samberg). Ultimately, the final decision comes down from the schools’ suspiciously Connery-esque Principal MacDoogal (Hammond).

• Man, when I remembered this sketches’ existence…I started looking forward to reviewing this particular episode a bit more! Still, even this had its weaknesses. 

• Amy and Maya really made the most out of their stereotypical bitchy high school girl roles, even if they got a little too…snide at points. I liked the opening joke about each of their “B.J’ initials but the constant vocal fry soaked “thanks BJ”s got old pretty fast (especially since I have a vague memory of watching this sketch in a VH-1 rerun of this episode where any and all utterances of the initials “B.J’ were obnoxiously bleeped out.

• Freds’ character seems the most out of place in this sketch. It’s like he’s playing a 1970s high schooler stuck out of time. It’s the type of character you’d most expect to see from Billy Crystal in season 10. I know Fred has this weird affinity for playing stereotypical Brooklynite sports fans but in THIS sketch it’s a real “square peg in a round hole” situation.

• Ah, the debut of Will Fortes’ criminally underrated Lyle Kane character. Even his brief appearance here may have been my biggest laugh of the entire sketch. This character would go on to make a much bigger splash in the very next episode (which would be the following seasons’ premiere).

• Zachs’ character in this sketch I wasn't crazy about. I guess it just barely qualifies as him making fun of himself? With lines like “Looking out at all of you, I think, “Wow! What a generation we are’” he almost seems more aged out of this sketch than Fred does and his talk about “alienation” makes him seem like a mid-80s/early 90s teenager stuck out of time. I wouldn’t say it detracted too much from this sketch because Amy and Maya played their disgust off him well.

• Kenan and Jasons’ stone characters were very silly and were pretty different from the types of characters they usually played early on in their tenures (but we would still see Kenan play this type of character more frequently later on).

• Bill and Kristen were committed as ever to playing their extreme sexual tension off each other very well without it coming off like they were trying too hard. I especially liked Bills’ “after prom/after marriage” line (although I wonder if there was any discussion with the censors regarding the leadup to Bills’ exit? The initial audience reaction made it seem like a crucial visual gag may have had to play out offscreen.

• Andy’s geeky Tolkien fan wasn’t as laugh out loud funny as anything else in this sketch but it was a silly enough gag to start closing this sketch out on. The best part of Andy’s character was him setting up Forte for the line about wanting to go to a real prom “and get laid for real”.

• Darrell just doing his Connery impression as the schools’ principal wouldn’t have seemed like it would work on paper but it was just absurd enough to close this already slightly off the wall sketch out. The line about how “the two B.J.s were the most convincing” really may not fly today but other than that…this might have been the most wholesome use of Darrell Hammonds Sean Connery impression outside of the first Celebrity Jeopardy sketch with Martin Short. B-

Deep House Dish

Dj Dynasty Handbag (Thompson) and T’Shane (Samberg) bring on performers Shereals Davis (Rudolph), G-Thug (Braff), Francesca Freem (Poehler) and her “backup dancer” Forte

• This sketch wasn’t in back to back episodes of the shows’ actual run but somehow ended up in chronologically back to back episodes that Deej & I reviewed for this podcast. We didn't intentionally set up our season 32 coverage that way, I assure you.

• Anyway, while this sketch being in this episode seems to suggest your typical season finale burnout, there were some fun moments in this.

• We’re off to a promising start with Kenans’ reaction to Andy’s alternately decent and senselessly bad jokes about Paris Hilton going to jail. I loved how Kenans’ “laughing” just consists of him rapidly shaking his shoulders up and down in near silence with a small grin on his face.

• I wasn’t crazy about Mayas’ song or interview but I did get a chuckle out of the title “It’s My Bootys’ Duty”.

• Zach as G-Thug was something that was slightly better than it had any right to be. I liked the title of his song/album being “I’m Riddled With Bullet Holes” and him ending his performance by shouting “G-Thug, I’m violent yo.” The interview portion didn’t add much beyond some telegraphed jokes but I did get a chuckle out of Andy shrieking at Zachs’ “scary face”.

• Amy’s song with Will slowly gyrating his ass at the camera (because the songs’ hook has the lyrics “keep your brown eye winking up at me”) was probably the best “song” portion of this by default, but again…the interview portion of this didn’t do much for me. C+

TV Funhouse: Decision ‘08 - Spring ‘07 Cleaning

Oprah Winfrey (Rudolph) lets all the candidates from this years’ US presidential primary air out all their previous dirty laundry so that hopefully, their insane revelations will all be forgotten by the time the polls open next year.

• Well, this may not be the most well remembered Smigeltoon in SNL history but it certainly sticks out in some peoples’ minds.

• It’s basically a list of rapid fire insane statements that almost goes on too long until it aims for “going on until long after it stopped being funny and then circles back to being funny again” territory.

• There’s a bit too much chaos in this to list any individual lines but the ones I liked the most were from Guiliani, Gore, Obama, Richardson, Edwards and McCain (especially when John McCain suddenly beats up Mitt Romney out of nowhere and then simply states “I just did that”)

• It’s sweet of them to include Mayas’ actual headshot along with the head of her animated Oprah character as one of the requisite closing credit headshots at the end of this. 

• Hmm, looking more closely at these credits I see Louis CK has a writing credit (and I think I can guess what lines he may have pitched) so I think the less said about this one, the better. Moving on… B-

Song Memories II

At a bar, four best friends (Braff, Forte, Hader, Sudeikis) reminisce to “The Weight” by The Band about incredibly risky church hookups that ruin weddings, smuggling dads’ heroin filled condoms through airports, drunk driving school buses and mailing poop until they suddenly strip to Kool & The Gangs’ “Jungle Boogie”.

• This was nearly a carbon copy of the first of these sketches from this season's Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire episode. They go just a little bit less dark. Zach was the weak link in this but thankfully he's the only thing dragging it down. 

• They start to establish a pattern with these at this point that thankfully wouldn’t stick all the way through subsequent installments. You can see the pattern in the types of stories the guys tell. Sudeikis gets his penis injured in the most inappropriate setting possible, Hader tells a story about his dad, Forte endangers school children in a relatively PG-13 way, the host seems to be the wild card but so far usually tells a story involving human waste.

• Still, Forte and Hader prove they have the likable personalities to put such highly questionable humor over so easily (Hader more so than Forte in this case although Forte probably gave me my biggest laugh in this) and that's what truly makes these sketches work. They're really the glue holding these together. 

• I had a lot more to say about this sketch in a previous episode of We Heart Hader, so feel free to listen to that at your own leisure. C+

Maroon 5 Performs “Makes Me Wonder” and “Won't Go Home Without You”

• Well, it’s Maroon 5…and it’s one of their weaker periods…and Adam Levine still thinks pretty highly of his own “sex symbol” status. What else NEEDS to be said?

• Hey, here’s a fun fact. Since lead singer Adam Levine makes a cameo in the “Iran So Far” digital short in the very next episode of SNL (the following seasons’ premiere) this at least puts him right up there with Bad Bunny as another host/musical guest with consecutive appearances in back to back live episodes (even if Adam here isn’t officially billed as either one in the following seasons’ premiere). 

• That’s neat and I only really bring it up because the “Iran So Far” digital short has to by default be my favorite thing he’s ever done on SNL (which isn’t saying much, but still…)

Weekend Update w/Poehler & Meyers

Aunt Linda (Wiig) reviews the biggest movie sequels of the summer

Sam Waterson (Armisen) chastises Amy for her Law & Order joke

Whitney Houston (Rudolph) details her summer plans, laughs off a potential lawsuit from Bobby B and brings her own special brand of brownies 

• Amy’s best jokes: Immigration reform bill, Bin Laden, American Girl auditions

• Seth’s best jokes: Bush leads orchestra, Miami road rage, German sex shop

• Nice to see Aunt Linda again. I got a kick out of her opening line being “I can push myself” as well as her Pirates Of The Caribbean and Rush Hour 3 reviews. This being the summer of 2007, I gotta say it’s a shame we didn’t get to see Linda's review of The (first) Simpsons Movie.

• Amy’s Law and Order joke was well done. I like Armisen' s Sam Waterson just fine mostly for how loopy he plays the role (whether he’s aiming for that or not). It’s one of those impressions where the voice isn’t quite right but you can see what the performer is aiming at for it to work.

• Nice to see a shaggy pre-Update photo of Colin Jost in the role of fictional soccer player “Otto Von Dildo” during Seth' s German sex shop joke.

• I was never all that crazy about Mayas’ all over the place Whitney Houston impression but thankfully it got right in and right out without going on for too long. C+

La Revista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci 

After Zach Braff admits he doesn’t speak Italian, talk show host Vinny Vedecci (Hader) yells at his producers (Armisen, Forte), shows a clip of Scrubs reedited as an intense drama and vamps with an impressions of Peter Faulk before a vomiting puppet gets the biggest reaction of the whole show.

• Hey, it’s another slightly weaker second installment of a recurring sketch that debuted this season AND the second sketch of this episode I have previously talked about on a previous podcast and blog!

• I liked how Bill just went into his Peter Faulk because Vinny knew Zach Braff' s first movie was “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and even though Peter Faulk wasn’t actually in it he just free-associated “mystery” with “Colombo” to get there.

• I liked how the Scrubs clip they showed was so outlandishly absurd when removed from any context that it could work as either comedy OR drama.

• I appreciated seeing writers Doug Abeles, John Lutz and John Solomon as additional crew members laughing at the puppet vomit

• Other than those, this does hit all the typical beats that every other Vinny Vedecci sketch would. Bill, of course, saves it with this performance as Vinny Vedecci was a very consistently funny character (well, until about season 35 anyway).

• I’m sure I had more to say about it when we covered all these sketches on the We Heart Hader podcast and when I compiled those notes into something for my blog, so again…feel free to check those out at your leisure. B-

Bronx Beat

Co-hosts Betty Caruso (Poehler) and Jodi Deitz (Rudolph) detail summer plans, complaining about their husbands and kids and interview 25 year old intern Mike Drucker (Braff) when their planned guest, chef Don Barbieri of “Chez Don” suddenly falls through.

• This is the fourth one of these sketches…which by itself isn’t remarkable unless you also consider the fact that this sketch debuted in this season and it is their fourth one in four months.

• Thankfully, this is an early one so Amy and Mayas’ characters are fairly restrained and more grounded and lived in than they would be in future installments. I’ve always run pretty hot and cold on these characters for this reason, so that’s nice to see

• So…they didn’t feel the need to explain why Zach' s character is 25 years old and still an intern?

• Well, what else is there to say about this besides the fact that this hits all the same beats and patter that you would expect from a Bronx Beat (and since it’s Bronx Beat there’s a lot of both of those things). Thankfully, due to the more restrained nature of this installment and the sense that they may still need to figure out what this sketch is at this point, this sketch was a LOT shorter than most Bronx Beats (or just felt a lot shorter, one of those two). C+

Melissa

Horny receptionist Melissa (Armisen) inappropriately hits on Zach Braff and annoys his agent Sandra (Rudolph) as they wait to take a meeting with producer Brian Grazer (Hader). Suddenly, Zach confesses his true feelings toward Melissa and they make out.

• Ugh, Fred Armisen in an Itchy and Scratchy like impossibly screechy voiced drag role. My least favorite thing he does on the show. Ending this on a homoerotic beat is not the best way to end the show or the season, guys (but I did like the goofy choice of music over that).I heard this got cut from the previous season's Tom Hanks/Red Hot Chilli Peppers episode. Wow…just, wow.

• I did get a kick out of Fred' s line about Zach being “down to earth…unlike Hank Azaria.” Maya got some good lines too and Haders’ sudden shouty appearance as Brian Grazer may have been the sole saving grace of this (as on brand as that is for me to say). D+

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, this episode wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered. Yes, with all the recurring stuff (and the stuff that was just made recurring with THIS episode) there is that “gassed out, running out the clock season finale vibe” that’s pretty common around May, but what dragged didn’t drag as much as thought it would and what held up then still holds up just fine now.

• Again, I’m not too crazy about Zach Braff (hell, the main reason we’re doing this episode is because Deej is a bigger Braff/Scrubs fan than I am and she pitched this episode to me) but he did a serviceable job here and was kept in check enough to not actively detract from the show. Its’ too bad such a fun and memorable season got such a lackluster finale instead of one it deserved.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, at this point I can pretty much confirm that my next blog post will be a full length review of the upcoming Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile episode of SNL's 51st season.

• The next episode of We Heart Hader will be a continuation of our "No Small Roles" series focusing on Bills guest spots in animated TV shows. See you then!