Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile (10.23.2021)

 Okay, here's my review. As expected, this was unquestionably the best show of the season up to this point. Jason Sudeikis was still in top sketch form after an eight year absence from the show (aside for some small cameos here and there). His energy and performance skill really carried the show. Luckily, they maintained the high energy of last week's show with Rami Malek but produced an episode that was more consistent and less uneven. Naturally, Jason is a cast member I've wanted to see host since he was on during the era I was in high school and college so his cast was the first cast I really felt personally connected to. Still, I don't feel like the show now is too far removed from the end of that era even eight years later in terms of some of the writing and some of the cast overlap. Personally, there weren't a ton of old recurring characters of Jason's I would've rather seen over new original material where Jason just blends in with the current cast and let's them shine. Fortunately, we got a lot more of the latter and the bought back two of Jason's old characters that I really wanted to see done a certain way. They struck a perfect balance between late 00s/early 10s recurring bit nostalgia and new original stuff they could just plug Jason into with the current cast. Speaking of, everyone except Sarah (and the still absent Kate) managed to get a fair amount of airtime tonight. Bowen, Punkie and Aristotle could've made their presence visible a bit more. Kyle came roaring back taking up airtime that could've gone to Sarah or any of the others I just mentioned. Oh well. At least it's still good to see him find new places on the show he can still fit into without Beck there.  Anyway, let's just get right to it.

Ghost Of Bidens' Past - It's not always a great sign when the collective SNL online Fandom is so easily able to predict what the show will do but this time I was quite impressed! On top of the show being fair and giving equal attention to it's newer cast members when an returning alumni is hosting (props on them sticking to just using the Biden impersonators who were actually in the cast, by the way) they actually capped it off at four minutes and sharpened up they're political writing a bit. I'm glad to see the show is smart enough to realize that they have to actually address the differences between VP era Sudeikis Biden and Commander In Cheif era Moffat/Johnson era Biden in order to utilize Sudeikis' Biden at all in a way that works. Nice to see they could work in Chloe as Press Secretary Jen Psaki as well. I was wondering when/if SNL would find a way to parody her considering how much fun they had with two of the last three White House press secretaries. B+

Monologue - As expected, Jason's natural charisma and comedic timing carried this. Good to see Jason effortlessly combine his usual snark with some sincere self reflection. I would say that while I've been watching SNL my whole life several things that happened during Jason's time on the show changed my life since his era was when I started writing these reviews for two different message boards that are no longer around. His last season was when I started writing these reviews for this blog (I figured I might as well puy these on a blog since two projects in my journalism classes I had in college in the time required me create blogs for them) and eventually I started following and interacting with other SNL fans on Twitter which led to me listening to SNL related podcast which led to me being the featured guest on the upcoming SNL Network (neé Stats) podcast this Thursday so, yeah...you could say that monologue really got to me once it sank in. Also, I noticed Jason's sideburns were naturally graying a little bit so is it just me or does it seem like he's always going to look like he's wearing his old Mitt Romney wig? A+

The Science Room III - Given how far apart these sketches have been spaced, I didn't quite think of it as a recurring thing but then I immediately realized how PERFECT Jason would be as the host so kudos to SNL for really thinking outside the box and plugging an old cast member into a new formula that seems tailor made for him. This one seemed a little long compared to the previous ones with Sam Rockwell and Adam Driver, but that's okay since Jason is one of the most likable cast members in the shows' history and he's pretty much the master of the slow burn. This one was really enhanced be bringing out Kyle and Melissa as Mikey and/or Cecilys' parents for Jason to berate. I also liked the Planet Hollywood/Arizona/matter/gravity jokes. B+

Mellen - Wow, well...first off, I've already seen some people say this was too long and I can definitely see that but it actually behooves a sketch like this to be nearly four minutes long when you try to cram in as much sheer material as this did. I mean, I probably would've made some cuts to this too but I'm really not sure which cuts I would've made since a lot of madness like Chloe beating up Gritty in a woman's bathroom, Chris' Kyrie Irving getting a sneak-up Covid shot, Pete's brutal takedown of Jake Paul (in his only appearance in tonight's show strangely enough) and the return of Alex's Connor McGregor actually meeting the challenge of a random audience member all really worked for me. I especially like JAJs' Louis C.K. (wow, I guess he really is "cursed to play cancelled men, huh?) I'm impressed they came up with a specific enough sketch premise that he could get away with using that impression. Plus, Jason really sells the premise. At first, I wasn't quite sure that him selling such a masculine bro-out daytime talk show for men would work with him playing it with Ellen's light, airy energy but that's something only he can pull off and it really helped sell the stark contrast between "why daytime talk shows work BECAUSE they're aimed solely at adult women" and "why things solely marketed to men wouldn't work for any type of talk show". Plus, with Ellen having been "cancelled" for her general mistreatment of guests and staff alike last summer this might as well be what she does on her show for real now anyway. B-

Annie - I was expecting something in the vein of the Home Alone sketch from Kristen Wiigs' episode last season, but once Jasons' character was introduced as someone adding a much darker element to the sketch instead of an impression of a character actually from the original film commenting on an odd plot hole it became clear that wasn't what this was. Even though it's a little sad to see Melissa couldn't quite carve out "meta parodies of 80s/90s family films featuring late '00s/early '10s returning alumni" as a new little niche of hers yet, this sketch still worked for me due to the escalating  implied horror of it. B-

Parent Teacher Conference - It didn't take too long for me to figure out where this was going but once it got to the premise it started to feel like each role was perfectly cast (Jason captivating a woman with his charisma, Ego being hot for teacher, Kyle being the awkward cucked guy on the side line) because the performances were really bringing up the real unambitious premise. This was expertly written to play specificallyto Ego and Jason's hidden strengths (and Kyle's not so hidden strength). Thankfully, they also knew when to end this, too. C+

Jakes' Non-Stick Underwear For Men - Is it just me or did this feel more like a Family Guy bit than anything that really belonged on SNL? Anyway, despite Jason not being in this this was saved by a combination of performances and this being a pretape. Chris and Ego really made this for me. Some assists from Alex and Kyle really helped and kudos to the show for gradually finding more and more ways to substantially use JAJ in non impression roles. C+

Update remains strong. Che and Jost were obviously having a lot of fun this week (especially Che). I was bummed that the story about Will Forte handing out soup to the stand by line turned out to be a hoax but at least Jason was able to bring back the other Forte-less Update character he did that I liked. Even though it took a little while to get going and find its' bite, I loved seeing The Devil return. The Brady/Limbaugh/Prince Andrew/Epstein/QAnon/ScarJo jabs really provided this with the focus it needed to work and made it feel less scattershot (although considering that the previous times The Devil appeared on Update he was ranting about the Catholic Church & Penn State child abuse scandals, the Prince Andrew/Epstein jokes felt a little like an unnecessary retcon). B+

What Up With That XII - Well, this was something I had some mixed feelings about seeing return. For one thing, it was probably the worst offender of 2009-2012 era of SNLs' cookie cutter/copy and paste/Mad Lib style of recurring sketch writing that was one of my biggest pet peeves of that era. Plus, it was an odd use of Jason since he wasn't really the main focus of these but I guess he must've been really quite fond of doing the running man in a red Adidas tracksuit and chain so he'll take any chance he can get. On the other hand, it was interesting getting to see who the random non-speaking celebrity guest cameos were. Oscar Issac and Emily Ratajowski (sp?) were all right here and I liked how they basically just got Nicholas Braun to cameo just so they could reference his Succession role to dance around the fact that Bill Hader was unavailable for a cameo that week. Honestly, having Hader there just to reprise his Lindsey Buckingham role would've been an even bigger waste to me so even though it feels odd to me for SNL to get one Sucession cast member on the show right before a different Succession cast member hosts, I liked what they did in his absence. This sketch made good use of Mikey, Chris, Punkie, Melissa, Ego, Cecily and Bowen (weird that he wouldn't get any airtime until this late in the show though). C+

Declaration of Independence - This seemed like a paper thin premise, but it was definitely saved by the performances. Kudos to Andrew Dismukes for finally getting his big break out moment as a sketch lead considering that before tonight his previous big break moment was his "Brink!" commentary on Update back in May and that seemed a bit unfocused. I'm glad to see Aristotle get some more airtime but the ending with him and Aidy felt a bit too tacked on for me (and it felt like they were setting up an appearance from Andy Samberg as Nic Cage for a sec so that was a little disappointing). C-

An Incoherent Proposal - This whole sketch was pretty much just "Kenan offers Jason varying amounts of money he doesn't have to have sex with Heidi". It may have been the weakest sketch of the night, but there's no denying the performances...made it watchable. C-

Now, for my updated rankings of this season...

1. Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile (10.23.2021)
2. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)
3. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
4. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)

Well, that was a fun way to keep this season right on track! In two weeks time, Kieran Culkin will make his hosting debut. I've seen very little of "Succession" so I'll be going into this blind. I do remember him cameoing in sketches with his brother Macaulay hosting 30 years ago. They both did well (especially considering neither were allowed to use cue cards and had to simply memorize all their lines simply because their dad demanded it for some insane reason) so I'll be hoping for another Rami Malek-level of pleasant surprise. See you then (and don't forget to check me out on this Thursdays' upcoming SNL Network Patron Feedback podcast with Jon Schneider which will be livestreaming at 10pm EST on October 28th).

Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.16.2021)

Okay, here's my review. Despite being a little uneven, this turned out to be the strongest show of the season so far. Still, that's less "by default" and more due to the strong performances put on by Rami and the cast. Malek did thankfully contribute to this episode's high energy more than I expected him to and managed to blend in with the cast just well enough that you didn't forget he was making his hosting debut tonight. Speaking of, they continued to find a way to work absolutely everyone into the show (aside from the still out-of-the-country Kate). Let's get right into it, shall we?

NFL Press Conference - Well, I do like that they are continuing to make some more "out-of-left-field" choices when it comes to cold opens lately. I also like that they gave even Redd, Dusmukes and a heavily prostheticized JAJ a chance to shine. Alex and Pete definitely had the best material here and Kenan especially elevated what he was given. Casting Jost as Roger Goddell was a clever move. Heidi and Kyle's part I could’ve done without. B+

Monologue - Anyone else get strong Peter Saarsgaard mixed with James Franco and John Malkovich vibes here? Given how Pete's impression of Rami on this show seemed focused on his low key sinister intensity, I guess this is the monologue I should've expected instead of Pete coming on stage so they can point out how much they look alike. Kudos to Rami for making the most out of what he was given here too. B+

Bug Assembly - Hmm...I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Bowen and Anna Drezen co-wrote this (or that this is the sketch that Sudi and Fran supposedly came back to write)? Honestly, I don't know what else I could’ve possibly taken away from this. Bowen anchored this just fine and Rami played well off him but I was a little disappointed seeing him run away with this after Dismukes and Sarah seemed to have such prominent parts upfront. Honestly, the funniest part of this for me was seeing everyone just play off the moment one of Bowens Daddy Long "legs" just fell of completely. I guess this is just another one of those modern SNL pieces that's best appreciated through the lens of "camp" and this will always be partially lost on me.. C+

Squid Game - Well, they certainly Trojan Horse'd this one on us, huh? This turned out quite funny for me. I'm sure certain SNL podcasters out there whose Discord server I just happily posted a link to this review on who would have a problem with this piece. This certain podcaster (who shall remain anonymous) would probably see this piece as SNL simply acknowledging a piece of hot current pop culture without really having anything to say about it but...as someone who has simply heard about Squid Game and not actually gotten around to seeing it yet...I found this quite funny. I especially liked the ending where Pete won and blew all his winnings betting on the NY Jets (I especially liked them having the Broncos being the team that beat them 28-3) but the funniest part to me was probably something they didn't intend. It was revealed on the latest SNL Hot Takes podcast that aired immediately after this episode did (by the way, if that certain other podcaster I mentioned earlier is reading this...you crushed it on that one, bro...and also watch out for me on the upcoming SNL Patron Feedback episode on the 28th) that the unnamed fat bearded guy with long hair who had a line in the song about breaking his cookie and thus being eliminated was NOT one of the new writers as I had suspected but was actually a real life country trap artist (hey, at least Pete found a new genre to move on to now) who goes by the name "Big Wet". That was truly the funniest thing to come out of this pretape for me. C+

Prince Auditions - I definitely have to say this seemed like a paper thin premise at first but everyone (especially a gleeful Kenan) kicking down the fourth wall really sold this for me. I really could’ve done without the Daniel Craig cameo though (not just because it felt like putting a hat on a hat and it made the sketch too long but because he obviously threw the timing of this sketch completely off. C+

Celebrity School - First impression parade of the season, huh? Man, it feels like an eternity since we've done one of these, so let's just run down the list real quick. Top prize definitely goes to James Austin Johnson for nailing that Adam Driver impression. It really helps that Driver is the first celeb JAJ played that he already naturally looks like without much makeup beyond fake facial hair. Melissa comes in a close second with her Wiig. She really showed us what got her hired five years ago. Meanwhile, her airtime bring so sporadic over those five years still sadly remains a mystery. Mikey does a solid John Oliver (almost over does it, really) but I'm still left wondering why Kyle couldn't at least attempt a John Oliver. Chloes' Jennifer Coolidge came out sounding more like Abby Eliotts' Anna Faris to me (or maybe that's a side effect of having seen quite a few Jennifer Coolidge impressions recently since it seems like every chick wants do their own Jennifer Collins impression out there on their social media since Ariaja Grande did hers on Fallon a few years ago) but she still managed to make it work for this sketch. Bowens' George Takei was exactly what I expected it to be and Redds' Lil Wayne was pretty much exactly what it was four years ago when we first saw it. Pete still does Ramis' voice well but Rami overshot Pete's voice (and Pete's overall energy) badly enough it actually made me see less of a resemblance between him and Pete. I mean, it was already obvious to me that Rami and Pete looking like each other wouldn't be enough to write a whole sketch around but this really should've bought it home for everyone. C-

Update was pretty strong. Jost opened with a couple of strong jokes about the climate bill, bats carrying things and Che's emails to him while Che continues to take all possible opportunities to push the envelope. Bowen and Che's commentaries worked for me just for the sheer conceptual absurdity of them Kenan and Mikey seemed like quite an odd pairing for an Update commentary but thankfully only they could make that material work. B+

Sleepy Town USA - Well, everyone really sold this (especially Bowen for some reason) but I was especially impressed with Aidys' performance. She's been criticized a bit for staying on needlessly but she really showed she can turn in a strong performance when paired with the right performer (namely just about anyone besides Kate or Cecily). If she is actually leaving this year (which given some of the rumors I've heard seems more and more likely) than hopefully she can keep this momentum going enough and do try enough different things to have as strong a season as Pete did last year. B+

Angelo - Kudos to Aristotle on finally getting his debut sketch three episodes into the season. Unfortunately, he underplayed it too much for my tastes. I'm still trying to get a handle on Aristotle Athari and what he brings to the show and this sketch didn't exactly give me any clues aside from possibly being the cast member who certainly nails "this sketch is based very closely on a real thing I once saw in my life" type material. At this point, the only other way I can really process this sketch is as sort of a self aware meta commentary on the show itself since most SNL fans I interact with say that they tune out most modern sketches that involve Cecily and singing to the point that they sound like total gibberish. This bring Aristotles' first sketch makes me think that was not what they had in mind when they wrote it, but still. D+

Now, time for me to start ranking this season more or less for real. Best to worst, here we go...

1. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.16.2021)
2. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
3. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)

Well, that was almost the exact show I was expecting. Next week, Jason Sudeikis makes his long awaited return to host. Personally, I'm just happy to see him on the show again. I really don't care about him parading out any old recurring bits of his (although I wouldn't mind if he bought Forte along for some Jon Bovi or some ESPN Classic) I just want to see how he interacts with this cast (and hopefully give us a more consistent show than this one). See you then!

Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)

Okay, here's my review. I went into this episode with low expectations (not the lowest but still) and aside from Update exceeding then this show started off exactly as stable as I could hoped for but gradually slid downward after the absolute peak that was Update. Kim Kardashian-West was pretty much the exact mix of "stiff, non actress" and "emotionlessly showing an acceptance of the general idea of poking fun at herself" as I was expecting but the way the show had to write around her didn't exactly help. Everyone (except the still absent Kate) got some screen time (although the new featured players made far less of an impact from last week). Anyway, let's get right into it, shall we?

C-SPAN Facebook Hearings - Well, I never thought I'd be saying this about a C-SPAN congressional hearing cold open that devolved into a sideshow of random meme and ended with Pete portraying MySpace Tom but this was actually a pleasant surprise! Cecily, Chris and Kyle had some great lines and Aidy as Ted Cruz...was there...but at least tonight's host or her relatives or anyone else she's ever met wasn't on screen just yet. The real highlight for me at least was seeing James Austin Johnson (hopefully, not temporarily) replacing Kate as Lindsay Graham. He even managed to elevate the same old stale "lolgay" writing they would've given to Kate if she were there. Good thing they kept their obligatory Squid Game references here this week. Also, was Alex playing Mark Zuckerberg or was he playing present day Rifftrax era Michael J. Nelson? Incidentally, I am dressed just like Joel Hodgson in the MST3K Seasons 1-5 opening title right now (red jumpsuit, yellow Gizmonic hardhat and all because...why the hell not? It's almost Halloween. Let's have some fun!) Pete as MySpace Tom felt heavily telegraphed but he was decent here. The audience response suggested he might be all over this episode since the demo they were going for with this host was obviously "people who keep up with tabloid celebrities." C-

Monologue - (*sigh*) Here we go. Anyone else getting major Paris Hilton vibes from this so far? I'm glad that that "gold digger" reference turned out to just be a jab at her moms' boy toy rather than her bringing Kanye out on stage. I wasn't crazy about her kissing his ass as much as she did either at first but that long walk to that "divorce/personality" joke was worth it. Speaking of jokes that made this monologue worth sitting through, those OJ/Caitlyn jokes actually made me chuckle and I also liked the "I'm running for...just kidding". Otherwise...eh. Just more self promotion (but not totally as "shameless" as I expected). C+

Aladdin - Wow, THIS is something we really should've seen coming. Didn't Kim actually go out dresses as Jasmin for real on Halloween one year? At least this seemed like a fresh take on the basic premise of Aladdin...until Cecily and Kenan came floating in. Pete's still a solid, reliable presence on the show and God bless him for trying but not even he could quite put this over for me. Bowen seemed quite miscast here. C-

Women In The Club - Well, Punkie got a real chance to shine in this and Kim slept through a great deal of it. Ego offering Aristotle $500 for his sneakers was funny. I love seeing Ego and Cecily still on the show in general and while this seemed well within their wheelhouse, I appreciated seeing them share their spotlight with Punkie here. C+

The Dream Guy - Wow, that's a lot of genuinely unexpected male cameos! God bless Chris Rock for being a good team player but why the hell did Amy Schumer have to kill whatever miniscule momentum that Rock and Mooney were building up here in the middle of a D.O.A. nothing of a sketch? Also, God bless Kyle Mooney for bring Kyle Mooney and John Cena for showing his special talent for bring able to draw chuckles without any lines but it was far to late to salvage whatever this was. D-

The Switch - Given the fact that Aidy vocally protested Elon Musks' booking in May, I have to say I was a little disappointed that she would willingly appear in a pretape with Kim but then again, Aidy herself had also been trying to break into the world if fashion so I guess I should've expected something like this. It almost seemed like this was going to go somewhere worthwhile until Kim's mom and her worst sister showed up (although I'm glad Kim chose to kept the obligatory cameos from her own family out of the live sketches up to this point) but instead this just had to hit all of it's predictable beats as it limped to the finish line. C-

Lotto Drawing - Well, I'm glad this DIDN'T turn out to be a third Mikey Day/Matt Shatt sketch. It May have felt like a leftover script from season 39 that they had Sarah Squirm help punch up the ending on but I'd still take that over the one big thing literally everyone in my online SNL fan circle couldn't stop themselves from predicting. Honestly, the ending mixed with the performers all really pulling this off well (yes, even you Kim) made this the strongest sketch of the night by default. B-

Update was pretty much exactly what I needed at this point of the show. Even if Jost & Che had a few jokes that didn't quite work, their sheer chemistry was refreshing tonight. Kudos to Alex Moffat for absolutely demolishing it with the long awaited return of his acid-riddled movie critic Terry Fink (even if they did have to work in a shameless plug for a movie she just did a voice for). Kudos to Heidi for managing to play her third Weekend Update character who ISN'T supposed to be some kind of social media influencer (I guess she figured she couldn't compete with the host, huh?) but while I loved her energy, I couldn't quite get into this one. I had heard Heidi had a cut for time Update piece last week and without having known that I would've guessed that this (and not the cold open) was the thing that was written at 11pm last night after everybody else left since it was written entirely around an old Icona Pop/Charli XCX collab. B-

Peoples' Kourt - Well, I guess my first question would by why couldn't Kendall have been the one sister of Kim's to cameo in person here instead of Khloe? I'm glad this gave Melissa and Halsey some sketch time on air but I would trade the real Khloe for the real Kendall any day. Other than that, I'm real glad that we got Chris Redd as Kanye instead of Kanye as Kanye. That alone saved this sketch from being a GenZ Hospital/Musk Wario level trainwreck (which honestly would've been about 90% Kris and Khloes' fault). Kudos to Kim for having a Met Gala outfit that SNL can recreate in order to justify having Heidi Gardner play her. Also, did Mikey cowrite this sketch just so he could get Kim to sit in his lap? I guess the only reason it made more sense for Chloe (Fineman) to play Megan Fox instead of say, Cecily, was to accurately portray the height disparity between her and Pete/MGK (ditto Melissa/Kylie)? Furthermore, wouldn't a show like this be on Peacock instead of Hulu?? Didn't this family make a deal with Peacock to have all their shows on there now? Finally, I'll just note the brutal irony of Kim as Kourtney saying "eww, this is so cringe" as well as Steve Higgins saying this had "structure" and how frighteningly close to people's predictions this came and just leave it at that. D+

Please Don't Destroy: Desk Hard Selzer - I'm very glad SNL let these guys film something that has the exact same rapid fire vibe as their Twitter videos that I genuinely liked. I just wish I could’ve gotten into this more (I guess designer seltzer craze jokes just don't land with me) but I'm excited to see more from these guys on the show in the future. Also, it helps to rewatch this when it is NOT immediately preceeded by something like "People's Kourt" to appreciate the low key absurdity of it. It's also nice to see SNL do something they also haven't done in decades and give airtime to guys who are just writers and thus aren't credited in the opening montage like normal cast members. My God, if there were anytime for SNL to do SOMETHING to break from their rigid format...THIS would be the time to do it. C+

SKIMS For Thick Dogs - Well, at least this also gave Melissa, Sarah and Heidi some airtime (with actual spoken lines). Otherwise, this was completely lost on me despite Kenans' best efforts. D-

Now, it's time for me to officially start ranking season 47 from best to worst and yeah...this one's definitely a no-brainer so far.

1. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
2. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)

Well, that was that. Next week, Rami Malek makes his hosting debut. From what little I've seen of him, he doesn't seem that different in person than Pete's unsettling low key portrayal of him but let's hope he can really surprise us (because now more than ever would that be the thing this show needs). See you then!

Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)

Okay, here's my review. I have to say this may have been the strongest season premiere since Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean in 2012. I compare it to that one because both episodes showed noticable amounts of promise that each of the shows' three new featured hires for that year were helping bring the show into a new era even though some of the writing and cast seniority issues of the previous era were still lingering. I know, it's hard to take me seriously when I say this while two of season 38s' "new featured hires" are somehow STILL with the show, but just go with me on this, OK? As we all know, season premieres aren't always the strongest of any seasons early run of episodes but this season premiere certainly showed enough promise to make a lot of viewers want to stick around and see how the rest of the season shakes out. Owen Wilson proved to be a fine host who was used well and managed to blend in well with the cast (which is probably due in part to how much if the post episode discussion centered around how much of a mark each NEW cast member made on the show vs why certain other cast members bothered to stay on). Even in just one or two bit parts, every member of the cast (except Kate who is filming an outside project in Australia) got some screentime tonight. Anyway, let's unpack this, shall we?

Biden Unites Democrats - Well, I gotta say the show seems to have quite a great deal of confidence in James Austin Johnson just come out on stage as a sitting president in the cold open of his very first episode! He and Pete's Cuomo gave me my only genuine laughs in this. I do like that he actually seems to have a focused take on Biden but the fact that Moffat was playing Chuck Schumer (whose line about alarmist democratic party emails I quite liked) in the same sketch after he was reportedly telling people he was still playing Biden this season and Jason Sudeikis hosting in three weeks does make me wonder if the show views "JAJ as Biden" as a permanent thing or not. Also, I find it a bit odd that the show seems to have developed more of a focused take on Kyrsten Sinema than they have on Biden at this point but hey, they were just gradually laying off politics in general as they wound down last season outside of a few notable figures on the right. It seems as they are just now figuring out what they have to say about the left so I say we give SNL some time to figure out what they're actual post-Trump era is going to be even though it's an era that we're firmly ten months into. Ego as Ilhan Omar works for me but might get an unexpected reaction. I liked seeing Melissa get to use her AOC again. I guess her placement in this right at the top almost makes up for them NOT using her impression of tonight's host on the show? Either way, I'm pleasantly surprised that that this political open had enough strong things going for it to almost make you forget that they cast Aidy Bryant as Joe Manchin. It's good to see SNL is still making progress on not having to lean on politics as hard as they did during the last presidency. Even when they just relegate politics to Update and cold opens now, it feels like the big talk about them is more "who is playing the president now" and less "what was their obligatory take on the weeks' events and why was it irresponsibly tone deaf and completely wrong?" or "how is SNL irritating insuffrably smug DSA far-leftists on Twitter who think they're so above the show but just can't seem to help themselves from putting it down each week?" B+

Monologue - Owen handled his monologue as strongly as I expected. Glad to see they just let him be himself here he was self depreciating in a charming way. Smart move to kick off a season where the show is supposed to be getting back to "normal". The ending almost felt like they let Melissa write a few of his lines. B-

The Talking - The fact that they made this a Mr. Show/CBB like "Not!The View" type sketch made me think that this could've been at least cowritten by any of the new writers (especially since one or two of the writers who I believe cowrote the two direct parodies of The View have left the show). As for the sketch itself, I'd say it's a lot sillier and more fun than the more direct View parodies the show did in season 44 (or even season 34 for that matter) even if I couldn't quite tell where they were going with it or why it was necessary. C+

Star Trek: Ego Quest - I have to say I liked the casting of Owen Wilson as Jeff Bezos and Mikey Day as Elon Musk. Owen really bought the right goofball energy to this and Mikey really nailed certain vocal tics of Elons (as wrong as it feels to have anyone on the show poke fun at him AFTER he hosted). Alex was all right as Richard Branson, Kenan had some funny lines and Heidi as that old astronaut Wally Funk is something that concerned me a bit. I'm noticing a trend that started with her performance in the Michael Jordan pretape from Keegan Michael-Keys' episode being continued here. I'm not crazy about the idea of Heidi being used to fill the Kate-in-drag void that didn't exactly do wonders for Kate's reputation among fans (but maybe as long as Heidi keeps her drag roles strictly apolitical it would be easier to take?). Other than that, this piece as a whole felt a bit too long and aimless for me. C+

Cars 4 Session - I was honestly hoping for something more reminiscent of a certain voice over sketch from Octavia Spencer's episode from 4 & 1/2 years ago and less reminiscent of a similar sketch from J.J. Watts' episode 1 & 1/2 years ago (and I'm sure I'm not alone). Still, this had enough of a random dark streak to keep it watchable and throwing in James as Larry The Cable Guy for Owen to play off of was a smart choice. C+

District 7 School Board Meeting - Well, I should've guessed that some of the writers would've seen this summers' Covid/CRT/Ivermectin related protests as a comedic gold mine. Overall, I was very pleased to see (mostly from the inclusion of Aidys' Jan Krang and Kenans' Scary Gary Loomis) that whoever wrote those two town hall meeting sketches from season 41 figured out a way to improve on that formula (it makes sense that the guys from Please Don't Destroy would be involved in writing this since it is as rapid-fire paced and character driven as some of their videos that I've seen). Good for them to realize Cecily works better as an audience participant in these and that Alex and Ego were the perfect performers to play the straight men running the meeting. Still, I was a little disappointed seeing Sarah Squirm just get quickly hustled of screen in her first ever appearance as a cast member but at least I'm grateful she got that instead of being given the Luke Null cold shoulder treatment. Speaking of, while I do appreciate them trying to cram each cast member in this and tighten the pacing this up as much as they could, it still could've used a few cuts here and there. Kudos to Kyle for making his one appearance of the night and proving he didn't leave with Beck Bennett. Pete as Dog The Bounty Hunter was terribly miscast. Since this was such a rapid fire scattershot showcase for everyone, I'll say that the cast members they performers they made the best use if here were Punkie, Chris, Mikey, Owen, Bowen, Andrew and James. B-

Update was worth watching more for the guest commentaries than the jokes. The only ones that really stood out to me was Josts' white paint and Che's Chicago egg jokes. Josts' opening spiel about infrastructure seemed like he wrote is specifically to give Seth Simons a nosebleed. Che's Obama joke stood out to me less for the pointedness of it or the reaction it got than the fact that it reminded me that Jost & Che may now be the only Weekend Update anchors in SNL history whose tenured at the desk saw them cover THREE presidential administrations rather than the standard two. Great to see two fresh takes on old media tropes from Ego & Pete (even how weird it felt given how he ended his last commentary on the season finale). I especially liked Ego burning Che for his Instagram presence. Kudos to them for throwing in a still from her Discover Card/Jordan Peeles' US ad parody from her first season. I also appreciate Jost & Che give Norm as much of a tribute as Wiig & Hader gave to Jan Hooks when the latter first came back to host 7 years ago. B-

Funeral Song - This was pretty low key in terms of recent "funeral song" sketches (I'm somehow not all that surprised that Che wrote this and Anderson didn't) but I liked that there was more of an escalation to this besides just the songs and had an actual ending. Unfortunately, it kinda desecrated into an undeserved emotional ending. Also, the glaring miscue at the top of this and in the cold open really drives home the fact that the old director is still there showing the ropes to the new director. C+

Crazy House on NFL On FOX - This was something else worth sticking with for the escalation of it. Unfortunately, they didn't escalate this far enough, in my opinion. I mean, JAJs' voice talents really let this some authenticity. I kinda liked the idea of a white middle aged sportscaster bring forced to stiffly read copy riddled with lines that sound like they were edited out of the first draft of "Gen Z Hospital" but I expected more out of something with a random puppet next to Sarah Squirm (once I recognized that was her). Heidi was pretty good here but I probably would've cast Cecily as Erin Andrews myself. I'm sure I'm not the only person who was reminded of "Mark" from Will Ferrells' 2009 episode but I honestly can't decide which of those two sketches was a watered down version of the other one. I'm thinking this was the watered down version of that. C-

Mail-In Stool Testing - This was just about the perfect thing to end this show on. I'm very glad to see they let Sarah Squirm do something a little Sarah Squirm-ish in her first episode with some assists from Dismukes & Redd. I mean, yeah, it seems a bit watered down compared to her pre-SNL work but hey, when SNL hires someone like Sarah Squirm they gotta pace themselves with her a little bit. B-

Well, that was a pleasant surprise in many ways. Next week, Kim Kardashian West makes her hosting debut and while I really don't think this is the right thing for either this host or this show to be engaging in right now, this show has had much worse hosts that I have said this about in the past. You all know who I'm talking about. Two guys (one of which was just impersonated on the show) who may match Kim's wealth and fame but don't quite balance being a "business figure" and an "entertainment figure" as well as she has managed to. Plus, from what I've heard Kim may just be a more pleasant person to work with behind the scenes and seems more enthusiastic to be a part of the show and she's a fairly less consequential person for them to have on at this point. That and the fact that SNL may have just dulled my sense of outrage toward their more outrageously irresponsible choices of host by now are the reasons I am going in with the most cautious of optimism at this point. See you then!