Austin Butler/Lizzo (12.17.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This show had a very strange energy bought on by an unexpected midseason cast departure and a first time host who, up until this year, I would classify as the "dependable supporting character actor" of the millenial Disney/Nickelodeon child actor universe on top of a sense of palpable burnout. Austin Butler showed a real ability to throw himself into any role without going too far. He really showed he could elevate some middling material. Still, the highs were there just like they were with Keke, Marty and Steve but the lows overall were some of the lowest of an otherwise strong (no pun intended) run of December episodes. While Austin was a strong host, I can't quite imagine a scenario where I'd like to see him again yet. Cast use seemed as balanced as it possibly could this week considering Cecilys' favorite collaborators were obviously going to dominate the show. Really, the only people who seemed to get shut out this week were Molly and (to a slightly lesser extent) Devon. Anyway, let's just get right to it as this was a pretty dense episode so I don't have a lot of time to waste here.

Trump Digital Trading Cards - This...could've been just an Update piece...a solo JAJ Update piece, right? I mean, I'm sure they realize this as well as the rest of us (as well as I'm sure by now they must realize that this would be the worst week possible for any kind of topical or political cold open let alone a Trump one) but then again I have my doubts that this was originally written as one considering Cecily was a part of it and that would've meant depriving Update of one final appearance from one of her signature desk characters (unless this was moved from Update to the cold open slot to accommodate which I could see having happened sometime on Friday). Thankfully, JAJ did his damndest to make it his own and sell the absurdity of it (especially with his naming of the Pokémon he is close friends with in real life which I believe may have been lifted directly from one of his Twitter videos but the Christmas list rundown felt like something that should've been left back in season 47 and the cheap throwaway Dickens reference feels like it should've been left in 2015 but his subtle reaction to Cecilys' "singing" was a nice acting touch and he does seem to be getting a better handle on Trumps' facial expressions). Still, much like this season's Herschel Walker sketches, this was another case of the real product being so absurd and ridiculous on its own (and just being too "on brand" for the real Trump in general) that any attempt at satire or parody are canceled out immediately and rendered redundant. C-

Monologue - I'm glad this one went against the vibes I got from this week's promos and the interview I saw him do with Janelle Monae. I had to wonder what kind of vibes he would be bringing back stage as he seemed a little too low energy and too "method" for me at first. Thankfully, through some deft self deprication he immediately showed us a sense of sharp self-awareness. Basically, he was able to poke fun at himself for coming across too method and low energy at times. This came across like a more focused and meaningful version of Jonathan Majors' monologue from a year earlier which helped balance out the James Franco vibes I got from him. I really liked the deep, introspective, emotional tone to the end of this monologue. Austin Butler showed some real vulnerability and got quite personal here. I honestly don't remember the last time an SNL host mentioned the loss of their mother during their monologue. It was one if the most "real" moments I've ever seen on this show. A-

The Phrase That Pays - Well, JAJ as a game show host is another interesting first. Unfortunately, his and Austin's performances were the only remotely interesting things about this. I mean, I did like how the phrases Austins' character immediately guessed were increasingly long, obscure and unlikey but unfortunately this sketch didn't escalate much further than that or give any satisfying explanation for Austin's accurate and extremely specific guesses after a very aimless and directionless beginning with Heidi and Punkies' characters. It literally felt like half a sketch with an a actual ending edited out but then again I'm not sure I would've wanted to see that sketch go on any longer than it did. C-

A Christmas Epiphany - Hmm..."It's A Wonderful Life" Parodies, a family fearful of visible window intruders at Christmastime, misleadimg visual representations of oral sex. Everything about this premise just SCREAMS "yeah, I've seen this done before" but not necessarily "yeah, I've seen this done before...but better". Austin really gave it his all (hey, he really does a better 'roided out Jimmy Stewart attempting a Dean Martin impression than anyone else, I gotta hand it to him) and Andrew Dismukes really pulls off henpecked wuss husband better than the other guys in this cast. Marcello, Sarah, Heidi and Chloe didn’t do a ton for me in this but they were solid support players going off of Austin and Mikey (who got to show off some subtler acting chops we haven't seen from him in a while). The only other thing I can say about this is that it could’ve benefitted from some small cuts (particularly Heidi revealing she had been cheating on Dismukes' character as that dragged a little and felt like it belonged in another sketch entirely and maybe one cut back to the inside of the house). B-

Marzipan Madness - I got HEAVY late season 44/pre-Covid season 45 vibes from this. There's no way in hell you can convince me this wasn't guest written by Anna Drezen, Allison Gates and Julio Torres. Hell, you'd have a harder time convincing me this wasn't an old script from 2019 they dug up, crossed out the names "Kate", "Aidy", "Mikey" and "Alex" out for "Chloe", "Sarah", "Austin" and "Michael". I could see this fitting in easily within the rundown of the last Scarjo episode or the one hosted by Claire Foy. Bowen wordlessly freaking out should’ve worked for me but it didn’t. Longfellows delivery should’ve done something more for me but it didn’t. It was just one thoroughly unpleasant joke beaten to death. Hell, the only thing that was keeping me from being completely checked out of this sketch was that I thought that I mistook this sketches opening shot of ornaments and wrapped candy for a pretape bumper until I heard Kenans' voice instead of Darrels' and thought "hey, maybe we'll get a new on air host/musical guest announcement after this?" Boy, was I disappointed. D+

Jewish Elvis - Okay, well...there's a lot to unpack here. First of all, it's pretty obvious that this isn't quite the same "Sarah as Jewish Elvis" sketch that got cut from the season premiere with Miles Teller as what I've heard about it makes me think this version was heavily rewritten to be WAY less of a "Squrim" or even "Lite TV Squirm" piece and much more palatable for a Christmas (or first night of Hanukkah) show with families likely to tune in together. No one played the Col. Tom Parker role that Miles Teller played and while Sarah as Elvis is depicted sitting on a (fake, closed) toilet she is not shown DYING while straining on one. Still, while part of me was a little disappointed to miss out on seeing the places this COULD’VE gone, what I did get to see was a lot of fun. On paper, this seemed like something that may have been better confined to a cheap cutaway gag on "Family Guy" or "The Critic" (especially the whole "Fools Rush In" riff) but it was executed by the exact right performers who were each tailor made for their specific roles. Sarah poured her little heart and soul into this (seemingly switching back and forth at times from "Jewish Elvis" to "Andrew Dice Clay auditioning for the part of Mr. B Natural) and I loved it. Even Ego crushed it in a part that barely made sense for her. Austin really stepped outside his comfort zone to solidly deliver in a part that harkened back to a simpler time in sketch comedy when putting straight cisgendered men in light drag just for the sake of it didn’t seem as awkwardly questionable. This sketch gave me the impression that a lot of the fond memories of watch past eras of SNL with his family involved "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman" sketches that prominently featured female hosts. He must've studied clips of those for this. Maybe he's also secretly a "Bob's Burgers" fan who incorporated a little Linda Belcher into his performance? Cecily and Bowen were great in this as well. Honestly, the only weak link here was Chloe Mikey Day-ing it up but even that served this sketch in a decent way. A-

Update has to have been the most absolute ramschackle I've ever seen it during the Jost/Che era. It's quite strange to see Che seem the LEAST "out of it" out of any one on screen. Immediately, I got HEAVY "1991 Dennis Miller" vibes from Jost (and yes, '91 Dennis is the one with better hair in this comparison) so you can imagine the bitter irony I saw in Bowens' character stating that he was burnt out (yeah, I'm moving straight to the commentaries on this one since the jokes were so all over the place I can't mention any individual ones). I wanted to like the idea of Bowen playing a mythical demon as a relatable millenial having a sincere personal conversation with you about his own mental health struggles but even this seemed a little too burnt out to resonate with me. It was honestly disheartening to me that Bowens' right horn falling off was the most memorable part of this. That says to me even the makeup department was too gassed out this week (either that or Bowen suddenly experienced a random surge of "electric hedgehog power"...yeah, PLEASE don't ask me to explain that reference, ever. Just Google it at your own risk). Heidi's commentary felt like she just took what didn't work about her "Kelly Party" character and quadrupled down on it. At first it just felt unfocused enough to the point where I was watching Jost take his first ever improv class with Heidi but then Mikey entered (with a decent meta line or two I'll give him that) and they beat me to a joke I was JUST about to make about the real reason this was even written (well, I would’ve made the reverse but still). As for Cecilys' commentary, I am glad she got her sincere (false) farewells out of the way in season 46 so her actual goodbye in season 48 could be shrouded in strangeness and absurdity to the point where I couldn't tell where she ended and "Cathy Anne" began. I did like the callback to her season co-anchoring with Jost and the graphic of Kate and Aidy photoshopped in prison (I guess that's as close as those who wanted cameos from them got). It seems like between the three of them, they all went for the same type of goodbyes but Cecilys' was the one that was pulled off the most successfully to me. Going back to what I just said about Colin earlier, I can understand now why he seemed a little out of sorts. He must've been a bit frazzled by how last minute Cecilys' departure announcement was and may have still been processing it live on air. Even Che seemed the most emotional that he'd ever let himself appear to be on camera. That must be the effect that working with her has on you. I have a few more thoughts on Cecilys' departure in general, but I'll get to them in a few short paragraphs. B-

White Elephant Gift Exchange - Well, I'm glad this had a sincere pleasant ending and didn’t continue with the bitterness and let it build. I was a fan of Matt Damon raving about Weezer and Sterling K. Brown raving about the Shrek franchise and while I could tell this was in a similar vein I couldn't get too into it because I really didn't want to see Austin Butler let the tension build after seeing just how intense he can let himself get. I did like the continuity of Mikey having played Santa two December episodes in a row, though. C+

Jennifer Coolidge Is Impressed By Christmas Stuff - Well, after hearing that this got cut last week I'm glad that the people who really wanted to see this got to. This may not have been for me since I'm not that big on White Lotus, Jennifer Coolidge or Chloe Fineman in general so...this kinda washed over me. The only thing I can say is that the "epileptic cat" joke stoid out and the "eggnog" joke made me surprised that this was let on air to begin with. C-

PDD: Plirts - Okay, after a rather straightforward and low concept PDD short I'm glad to get fully behind the absurdity of "elaborately pitching an Irwin Mainway level dangerously bad clothing product Shark Tank style to Austin Butler of all people for some reason". I also liked the inclusion of the underused newbies in this, the reveal that the boys make $30 per video and the established continuity of Lizzo now in a relationship with Martin Herlihy. I'm glad she was actually used in a sketch because to go without using her this week after she proved herself to be a dynamic sketch performer back in April would certainly be a waste. B-

Blue Christmas - Well, congrats to the people who wanted Cecily to get the same type of send off Wiig did and wanted Austin to revive his Elvis impression in some form. You got your wish in the same sketch. I liked how this was done in the same vein as Wiigs' goodbye and at the same time functioned as sort of an inverted meta parody of it for how self indulgent it came off. This felt like Cecily set out to see just how big she could go with this while still keeping it on the level of an "Irish goodbye". I did like the "eight incredible years" joke. For me, it's up there with the goodbyes that Hader, Armisen, Samberg, Hartman, Ferrell, Seth and Pete got as my favorites. It may not replace Hader or Armisen at the top of my list but it definitely felt like something she earned given the length of time she was on the show and what she contributed to it while she was here. I think Amy Poehler may have been the only other mid season departure of a cast member the show went to this length to commemorate. I did appreciate the half of this cast that wrote with and knew her the best out of anyone joining her on stage (the other half that didn't left kinda left me wondering but hey in a cast this size and her taking on other projects recently I understand how Cecily may not have simply have had the time to make as heartfelt of a connection with some of the newer people). I even appreciated Colin joining in on stage (not as much when he tried to sing...just kidding, Colin) and I could immediately tell he wrote this since I know he's had an established history of writing Cecilys' most well known characters with her and this sketch served as a parody of "Blue Christmas" essentially and I do remember Vanessa Bayer posting a picture of the script from a Billy Joel parody he wrote for her last show on her Instagram. B+

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
2. Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile (12.10.2022)
3. Keke Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)
4. Austin Butler/Lizzo (12.17.2022)
5. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
6. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
7. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
8. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
9. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that was the year that was, 2022 A.D and all I've heard about the shows' return in the new year so far is that the next new episode will be airing on January 21, 2023. As of this writing, no host or musicial guest have been confirmed for that week (hell, for some reason it took my brain a second to register that MTS already hosted and that a rerun of her show will air on January 7th leaving me to wonder what will be airing in SNLs' place on Christmas Eve) but it will certainly be interesting to see what direction this season will be headed in now that we are at the halfway point. Have a safe and happy holiday and a prosperous new year everybody!

Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile (12.10.2022)

Okay, here's my review. I'd say this show lived up to about 90% of the pre built hype and managed to meet several of my expectations (from having seen countless past episodes hosted by both these two gentlemen). I'd honestly go as far as to rate it the second best of the season so far. Chappelles' was still the strongest in terms of sketch consistency and this episode didn't quite meet that. It was still a little uneven. It was about the same quality sketch wise as Keke Palmer except the highs were higher and the lows weren't the absolute lowest because Steve and Marty are always such welcome presences on the show due to their natural ability (or sometimes in Steve's case just his willingness) to elevate weaker material with their sheer chemistry and commitment. Aside from Michael Longfellow (who still managed to get in this weeks' promo which is still a big get for him), no one seemed completely shut out of the show tonight but it seems they leaned on Cecily, Kenan and Bowen even more. This is probably due to them still being veterans and in Bowens' case one if the new breakout stars (and thus the most likely to be recognized by old time viewers who haven't tuned in for several years) and being the most adept at fitting in with Steve and (especially) Martys flare for broader campier syle of humor. Sarah continues to carve out a name for herself (as does Molly does for themself to a lesser extent). Marcello appears to have only been used in one pretape but he really nailed it nonetheless. Anyway, let’s break it down, shall we?

Blocking It All Out For Christmas - Wow, so we're set on cold opens starting with completely unmotivated applause breaks, huh? Well, this cold open hit a little too close to home for me (not just because my local NBC affiliate somehow had their sound out of sync forcing me to hastily switch over to Peacock but for slightly more personal reasons I'd rather not get into here) but it started to pick up once Ego (and a sadly underutilized) Sarah showed up and Kenan, Cecily and Bowen started naming specific people. At that point, I could still get on board even if it was a little much to have to follow along with but at least it seemed easier to digest on rewatch. Nice to see Devon got on even if his part seemed like it could've been cut entirely. I will give them credit for going for something with a similar vibe to "Santa's My Boyfriend" or as close as they can get in 2022 and at least trying a non-political cold open (even if this was arguably still topical and a bit darker near the end) and for the slight format break with the LFNY. I get a kick out of Mikey having to deliver that line dressed as Santa. I believe that was the first time they "split" the LFNY between multiple cast members since they did it with Hartman and Lovitz in the Cheers cold open from the Ted Danson/Luther Vandross episode in 1989. C+

Monologue - Thankfully, this got the show off on the right note right from the quick cut drum montages of previous cameos and hosting appearances and Martys' "a (w)hole performer" jab at Steve. Even if I would’ve liked to have seen another sprawling musical number from Short, him and Marty playfully roasting each other (even in pre-eulogy form) is the most delightful alternative possible. Steves' "Tesla autopilot engage" line and Santa Clause 3 jabs along with Marty's run with the Dick In A Box/PornHub/wife & kids jokes was truly the high point. The only things I coukd slightly criticize it for would be for having two "Steve Martin abuses public urinals" jokes in the same monologue. The soccer and Meghan/Harry jokes didn't quite work for me but the random martial arts nutshot clip was just randomly silly enough to work. I'd say the obligatory Selena cameo was well utilized if brief. I expected a bit more from her (no surprise there) but her expected applause break kept the energy up going into commercial. A-

The Science Room IV - Holy shit, 
I was JUST thinking this morning abour how (at least Short) would fit in PERFECTLY for the format of this sketch with his energy (and in another episode with musical guest Brandi Carlile no less!). Nice predictive abilities, me! Anyway, we get more nice format breaking with twice the hosts. Sadly, this didn't quite rise to the heights that Driver and Sudeikis bought it too previously but given Steve and Marty's ages that's okay. I still loved what they both bought to the table. I thought the "Oh Chemis-tree" song was cute and Mikeys' "what happened to my brother" line was funny. C+

PDD: John's Other Ex - Well, as funny as the whole "pond scum" rant was, it was troubling to me at first that this is now the second PDD short where John's former girlfriend (played by Sarah, of course) is bad mouthed in the guys' office (and FAR from the only comedy sketch ever where someone just can't stop embarrassing themselves with a string of painfully awkwardly mistimed statements). Still, at least this was a decent inversion of the first one and it really picked up once Steve, Marty and Che showed up and then Ben switched sides. I'm also left wondering who "Sarah's real dad" actually was. He seems like someone the show thinks we should know just based on the fact that he is a vaguely threatening bald man in a suit who looks like he belongs in an episode of either "Shark Tank" or "Bar Rescue". C+

The Holiday Train - I was disappointed in seeing both Steve and Marty's considerable musical performance talents being essentially wasted in a Cecily/Kenan campfest that didn’t really go anywhere. It reminded me too much of that equally disappointing racoon sketch from Amy Adams' 2014 episode. Of course, I would find out online AFTER seeing this that it was indeed a rather lazy parody of the "Snow" number from "White Christmas". Having actually seen the YouTube clip of it thanks to one of my Twitter mutuals (and they know who they arrrrrre, my dahhlings) certainly didn’t help me appreciate it any better either. Hell, I actually prefer the original White Christmas selection as it's the shorter one. D+

Meeting Santa - Wow, it's almost like these last two sketches being placed back to back established an unfortunate theme of "weak, thin premises the show relied on Steve and Marty to carry" but this sketch succeeded where "Holiday Train" failed because Steve and Marty were more the central focus of it without having to share too much of the spotlight with other cast members. Seriously though, this sketch felt like something we would've seen in the Don Rickles/Billy Idol episode in an alternate universe where he and Flip Wilson switched spots and it had aired just a month earlier with Don as the elf and Joe Piscopo as Santa. At times this sketch felt like it was purposely designed to fall apart on air because on paper there wasn't much more to it than "old guys complain that kids want long lists of highly specific gifts that they don't know anything about anymore" but it was flubs like the accidental "legs" reveal with Marty that made this for me (and yes, for once I can see why people got Gilda Radner/Emily Litella vibes from Sarah Sherman). C+

A Christmas Carol - Wow, they pretty much gave me exactly what I asked for on the SNN Patron Feedback show! I mean, I realize that this was probably concieved and written before Wednesday and this is a bit more "Farewell, Mr. Bunting" than "Wake Up And Smile" but hey, great minds, huh? Anyway, it's great to see such a simple concept be so well executed by performers who were practically born to bring it to life. Good to see Sarah sneak in an accessible amount of her patented Squirmgore into a piece written for two SNL legends. Good to see Marcello and Molly bring their energy to this. Good to see Mikey get his comeup...yikes, yeah that sounds a little too mean. Not gonna go there but, good to see even Mikey used well. Kudos to these players for brilliantly holding their own next to Marty and Steve (whose "total psychopath" wins line of the sketch for me). A-

Update was pretty strong jokewise. Almost off of Jost & Che's material worked for me, so I can't really pick out any specific lines. I will say Jost acknowledging to the audience how not quite right his delivery of that "same sex wedding website" and "World cup stadium" jokes were made this Update for me (although I have to say that story about Chris Christie's niece sounded like it didn’t even need a punchline). The commentaries each left a little something to be desired though. It's nice to see Ego back at the desk doing another very specific one shot concept character (and one that you would've expect her to be doing until you realize that this calls for a very specific understated intensity and focused determination only she can pull off) but for some reason, I just wasn't as into this as much as I was some of her previous Update appearances. It was nice to see Mikey paired with Chloe instead of Heidi for a change (he might just have a better chemistry with Chloe than he does with Heidi) and while this was executed well, it reminded me of how much more I liked her female acting commentary from season 45 much more than this. I guess I just appreciated that one more for being more straight to camera and requiring a less labored setup (and for containing impressions Chloe had NOT yet done on the show). B-

How To Treat Your Man (in 1992) - At once, this is both the last sketch you would expect Martin Short to be given in a modern day SNL episode he happens to be in AND the type of sketch that ONLY Martin Short (and somehow ONLY with Cecily Strong in tow) can make funny. It's basically Schrodingers' Martin Short sketch even though it comes across as an Ed Grimley sketch cowritten by David Spade, Andrew Dice Clay and Kay Cannon (Ok, I admit it. I just had to consult Wikipedia to find out who wrote that "Dealbreakers" episode of 30 Rock). Yes, the other women supported his performance well but somehow Cecily actually saved this sketch (and I say this as someone who just discovered her gets a kick out of a mans' penis being described as "open" and "hollow" and compared to the worm from Dune rather than just "small"). Still, I have to ask...was there a specific reason that I missed as to why all the women in the audience were doing New York/Long Island specific accents? I don't remember a moment where they established that this was a local NYC show. Was that JUST a very specific early 90s nostaliga thing or what? B-

Father Of The Bride Part VIII - I didn’t expect THIS to be one of Steve Martin movies that people were that nostalgic for and I guess the tone and execution of this sketch sort of confirmed that. Still, I liked the idea of this sketch even if it would’ve been better done years (hell, decades let's be honest) ago as a quick throwaway gag on a show like "The Simpsons", "The Critic" or even "Family Guy" (specifically "Death Wish IX" and "Star Trek XII: So Very Tired" come to mind). The worst thing I can say about this sketch is that something about Steve's timing and was a bit off and threw things a bit off more than the slight camera miscues but other than that everbody performed well here. Chloes' Diane Keaton was put to good use here as were the cameos from Selena and Kieran (it's a little weird to me that we were able to hear their dialogue before they entered the door, but ok). It seemed like whatever ending this sketch originally had was scrapped at the last second due to the show running long but otherwise not bad. C+

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
2. Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile (12.10.2022)
3. Keke Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)
4. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
5. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
6. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
7. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
8. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that helped stabilize this season. Next week, "Elvis" star Austin Butler makes his hosting debut. From what I saw of the film, he nearly disappeared into his role and reading that he just recently consulted with his close personal friends Timothee Chalamet and Christopher Walken gives me confidence that he will deliver. See you then!

Keke Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This episode mety expectations about 2/3rds of the way which makes it the second best show of the season so far behind Chappelle of course. I say this because while Chappelle's monologue cast a dark shadow over the show for two weeks his episode was consistently strong sketch wise. KeKe was a much better host and honestly had a much better monologue (honestly, she was the best thing about this entire episode by far) but this episode was unfortunately front loaded with it's weaker sketches leaving the best stuff in the bottom 2/3rds. Still, this episode shows the remainder if this season is om the right track. Surprisingly, Sarah had her best night all season (with Molly, Punkie, Cecily, Bowen and Devon vying for close second) leaving everyone else to get washed off the screen by KeKe so airtime was a little unbalanced but that was to be expected. Anyway, let's get on with it, shall we?

Walker, Cornyn, McConnell & Blackburn - Wow, if the botched and unnecessary applause cue didn’t key you in to the fact that this was probably going to be another weak cold open, nothing would've. You know it's bad when the only legitimately funny part of this involves Cecily throwing a blanket over Kenan to trick him into falls asleep (honestly, that wasn't so much "funny" as it was "this is the least 'beaten to death' feeling 'Herschel Walker is dumb' joke we could come up with). Still, at least this was short and gave us JAJ delivering a solo LFNY (and DIDN'T give us something bad enough to overshadow the rest of the show). C-

Monologue - I should've known a bland, forgettable cold open was going to be irrelevant this week since I knew KeKe Palmer would have the right energy to get the show started proper (questionable Aziz Ansari impression aside). She came off like a more confident and focused Meg Thee Stallion and she's definitely got both Amy Poehler and Cardi B beat for "best pregnancy reveal in SNL history". I liked the self assured ending she gave us too. B+

Forceingtons' Ridge - Well, for me the inclusion of KeKe Palmer is apparently what it takes for me to fully be able to appreciate another Cecily/Bowen campfest. Other than that, this sketch deserves credit for being technically/logistically impressive in terms of staging (as well as achievements in subtlety in meta humor now that I think of it). This works as a fine companion piece to "Sands Of Modesto" with Daniel Craig (as that was one of the last live sketches they were able to do before Covid changed the world and this one could ONLY be done after everyone who was going to get vaccinated for it did so). C+

Big Boys - Ok, I immediately recognized this as something that wasn’t for me but I did like Punkies' verse (even if some of it felt flat for me) as well as Egos' snoring and Cecilys' "first class" bits. I can't recall a time when I felt this show was actively daring me to stop watching (not since at least seasons 35/36) but this came pretty damn close. D+

United Tingz Of Aubrey - Well, first of all, kudos to Sarah for not only having the funniest line delivery in this (along with KeKes' reveal that she was just playing herself and Punkie being a close third) but also reaching a point where she can be cast as a chick hot enough to get hit on by Drake. Other than that, this seemed a little too pop culture specific to have been done in this era. It reminded me a bit of the Spiderman Turn Off The Dark attorney ad from season 36 that featured Samberg as Bono. This sketch had no real business being on the show anytime after 2015 at all. Also, I can think of about 525,600 different endings that would’ve made more sense than singing that theme song from Rent. That being said, it was still one of the more fun pieces of the night. The few miscues we got were so glaring it ALMOST looked liked we were headed straight into Meg Thee Stallion Workout class territory for a sec but we were pulled back. This had a bit more going for it. C+

Hello Kitty Store - This was the first sketch all night that I was fully on board for. The increasingly committed intensity from KeKe and Bowen along with Sarah's "insane place to get high" line gave mr my biggest laughs of the night. Speaking of Sarah, my mom always talks about how she and Melissa Villaseñor look alike and she gets them confused now (and that seems to be the only thing she has to say about Sarah ever). I personally didn't really see it until this sketch. It must be something about the eye makeup and the wig. Anyway, the New York ending was fun too. I didn’t even mind the Natasha Lyonne cameo either. A-

Kenan And Kelly And Kel - I honestly SHOULD have expected this to grow on me more in rewatches as much as it did. After all, I did watch my fair share of '90s (and even a little bit of early '00s) Nickelodeon as a kid so I AM at the exact target age to get wrapped up in All That & Kenan and Kel nostalgia but probably not "True Jackson VP" nostaliga. Sorry, KeKe. I guess I just aged out of Nickelodeon by the time that was on (even if I occasionally tuned into "Victorious" and "Sam and Cat"). Still, I'm sure I watched a lot more "All That" than "Kenan and Kel". Hey, I've been a hardcore sketch comedy nerd from early childhood in case you couldn't tell so yeah, I've definitely watched way more of their sketch shows than I have of their sitcoms. Hell, that coupled with the fact that I had heard Kenan and Kel themselves (along with other original All That alumni) were the ones actually producing the 2019/20 All That reboot was the only thing that convinced me to check that one out in the first place. For those reasons, I could only really get on board with this once Devon did his dead on Ed from Good Burger impression followed by the real Kel Mitchell actually showing up. While I enjoyed watching KeKe give it her all here, I feel like I've seen too many parodies of the idea of "gritty/dramatic '90s reboots" in comedy lately (especially here on SNL around the time the "Bel-Air" dropped on Peacock) so I'm thankful they got Kel to actually participate in this to make it feel like a genuine hrartfelt reunion between old friends and not a cold cynical misfire meant to cash-in on childhood nostalgia. Thankfully, they were careful not to cross the line between parodying that and...y'know actually BEING that. B-

Arbys' 5 for $10 - Gee, was I supposed to be as confused by this sketches mere existence (or just Arbys' real life existence in general) as Cecily, KeKe, Bowen and (OF COURSE) Mikey were at least pretending to be? The Taco Bell and Wendy's mentions seemed unnecessarily tacked on. It reminded me too much of a tweet I read about 10 years ago that said (and I'm badly paraphrasing here) "the fact that Burger King can sell you 10 chicken nuggets for $1.50 should concern you more than it entices you". Neither of those things should be dragged out into full length sketches. D+

Update was pretty uneven tonight. For one thing, I didn’t hate Josts' Kanye and Florida rambles as much as I was expecting to, so that was nice. Other than that, I liked Ches' Thriller, Dallas Cowboys, Nick Cannon and "give black voters a voice" jokes just for how expertly underplayed they both were. Speaking of, it's nice to see Michael Longfellow back at the desk after his strong debut. While I didn’t like this commentary as much as his last one, I did like the reveal that his dad was a divorce attorney. The real highlight of this Update was Sarah finally branching out and appearing at the desk next to Che for once and doing so as a non-Sarah Squirm character. It was a little immature and a tad seasons 20/30-ish to be honest but thankfully it wasn’t too one note. C+

Ultrasound - I can see how this sketch was absolutely necessary this week. It works as a nice prequel to the Selena Gomez baby monitor sketch and I honestly liked this one better than the original just for how KeKe was far more on board with the increased insanity (and how Devon showed he wasn't). B-

Christwound High Girls Choir - This sketch was a cute way for KeKe to show off her pipes. The worst thing I can say about this was that it was just a little tonally confusing. Kudos to Molly for getting another big role where they were part of the focus right when I thought that they were gonna give Sarah another big part. B-

Flight Attendants - It's nice to finally get a sketch where Ego and KeKes' chemistry is the sole focus because they really elevated this. It was pretty much a better version of that older flight attendant sketch that Kristen Wiig and Megan Fox did back in 2009 during the season 35 premiere. B-

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
2. KeKe Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)
3. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
4. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
5. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
6. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
7. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that was just what this season needed. Next week, Steve Martin and Martin Short each return to co-host an episode and I gotta say I'm pretty excited for it. Steve may have suffered from diminishing returns in his last few hosting outings (his two solo '80s episodes were great and his 2006 episode was all right but I remember being sadly disappointed by a lot of his 2009 episode and the less said about his early '90s episodes the better) but Marty always brings his A-Game to this show. His 1996 and 2012 episodes were fantastic and I can't wait for the possibility of seeing him deliver something on that level once again. I know they've already cohosted once before with Chevy Chase back in December of 1986 and having just rewatched that episode I have to say...it was fine but after the cold open and monologue they each seemed to appear completely away from each other in their own separate sketches (or at least Chevy did) so that episode was so scattershot it feels unfair to really talk about. I'm not saying this episode would work on paper just because Marty would be propping up Steve the entire show or anything like that as much as I'm saying this episode will work because we'll get to see two old and dear friends with excellent chemistry play off each other if the rave reviews "Only Murders In The Building" have been getting are anything to go by. Considering Steves' age and the gap between this and his last hosting gig and the fact that he would have to host two more times to take back his all time hosting record from you-know-who, working with Marty again should make this an ideal show to go out on if he truly plans to retire from hosting (or just, acting or performing in general). Plus, while Steve may be a five timer, Brandi Carlisle now gets to join the even more inclusive "Two Timers Club For Musical Guests Who've Only Appeared In Episodes Hosted By Former Cast Members" which I believe only her and Dr. Dre would be members of. See you then! Can't Wait!

Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)

Okay, here's my review. I'm not going to keep on starting these reviews by talking about what expectations I had for this episode because I feel like I've been doing that way too much lately (and, as I believe I've made clear, my expectations for this episode were DIRE given the hosts recent controversies). Instead, I'm going to (well, at least semi-begrudgingly) admit to this being the best show of the season at this point and I'm going to lay out exactly why. First of all, I was pleasantly surprised that he did not even mention the recent controversy that reached critical mass when he debuted his "Closer" special on Netflix last year let alone quadruple or quintuple down on those remarks (which honestly WAS my main expectation but obviously saner, cooler heads prevailed and yeah, maybe an apology for all of that is warranted but I can see why just that would be expecting a bit much from Chappelle). I mean, he may have just started getting himself embroiled in a NEW controversy (sorry, Monette) from what little of the discourse and reviews I've seen before publishing this one of my own but I'm gonna take Dave's approach here and see how this plays out. Lastly, this was an episode more in line with his 2016 debut than his 2020 outing. Putting aside certain things he has said recently (which I do NOT personally agree with or endorse in any way), this episode does remind me that Dave Chappelle still has some of the same comedic talent he once had nearly two decades ago (either that or I personally just came to terms with the fact that I was always a bigger fan of Chappelles' Show than I was of Chappelles' Standup. I mean, I'll go all the way up to 2004s' "For What It's Worth" but even that has some questionable moments and feels like it has some early warning signs of where he was headed). Plus, it was the most even and consistently strong episode of this season. I'd say, it just narrowly beat out Brendon Gleeson because I personally wasn't that big on that whole episode myself. It seemed like everyone got a fair amount of screentime tonight. Even Molly and Bowen were in the show tonight (but conspicuously offscreen whenever the host was visible). Anyway, let’s break it down because there is a LOT to unpack here.

FOX & Friends - Well, this is at once both the exact type of cold open I was expecting this week and weirdly (until now) I would've said this was an unfitting cold open for a Chappelle episode. Heidi and Cecily seemed to have the strongest material. Bowen tried to sell his Brian Kilmeade but something still seemed missing. JAJ as Trump really scored with the DeSantis/Len/How Bizarre ramble and I did like how the angle of FOX News essentially firing/breaking up.with Trump felt like something new. Otherwise, I was pretty lukewarm on this. Kudos to Cecily for getting another solo LFNY (a rarity in this day and age). C+

Monologue - Wow, it was like if you'd been in a coma for the last two years and just woke up in time to catch this monologue you'd have no idea why anyone COULD be mad at Dave Chappelle! This honestly felt more like a Bill Burr set than a Chappelle set from 2022 the way he went all over the place with a mix of okay-he's-starting-out-decent-here to questionable-at-best takes on various people (and how he surprisingly refrained from his typical "whataboutism" and punching down hard on the LGBTQIA community for no good reason). He honestly got me more genunely interested than I would’ve been at first with his entrance. The music change was a slight format break that honestly didn't seem to go anywhere interesting or serve a real purpose but again...he got me there. It was smart of him to start with the Kanye stuff. I was only really with him when he made the Adidas joke but after that he seemed to veer off course and get too muddled to the point where he almost seemed to, dare I say, take Kanyes' side (unsurprisingly?) The Kyrie Irving stuff was just unfocused and the Herschel Walker stuff was all right but what jokes HAVEN'T been made about that guy at this point. Then, it seemed like he just did material that was cut from both of his first two monologues (the Trump/rigged bit was something I remember reading about him having done somewhere in the fall of 2016 and the "newborn white people/we been on that" reminded me a lot of his 2020 monologue which this was very close to being the exact same length as but this time I'm not counting it against the episode as this one didn’t feel as uneven as Chappelle seemed to be used a lot in a normal amount of sketches). The documents/work rant I laughed at but that felt a less topical and relevant than it did just plain hacky and old hat. I'll also admit I chuckled at the Home Alone reference but the rest if the Russia/Ukraine bit was just as muddled as just about everything else he said (and I was especially confused by the Colorado joke he threw in there). The ending where he says is startimg to get scared to talk about things onstage may seem like navel gazing self pity at first but then again, you do have to remember he was literally physically attacked om stage less than a full year ago. Yes, this monologue may have been the exact same length as his previous one but thats OK since this episode didn't exactly have the same burnt out feel and the sketches around this one were of normal length and DEFINITELY didn’t feel too drawn out (and Dave participated in them, so this episode felt way more fleshed out). C+

Potato Hole In The Afternoon - This immediately feelt like a sketch from 2010 that got cut from the table read about five different times. Then, once Chappelle explained the meaning of the term "potato hole" I immediately thought "yeah, if Che DIDN’T write this (and I would find out he actually didn’t so, kudos DiCenzo & Nordwind) and yet, it feels like the most coherent and pointed sketch he has ever written". I have to say this was very tightly written and didn’t overstay its' welcome and seemed to actually make a poimt about white people taking from black culture. Plus, it showed Andrew Dismukes is really bramching out in terms of roles he can play. Not bad. B-

Chappelle's House Of Dragons - Hey, a throwback to when Chappelle was actually still fun couched in a pretape that showcases acting from some of SNLs underused cast! This is a nice surprise! JAJ, Kenan, Punkie and Ego really shined here. I did like Longfellows maps. The return of the player haters complete with an Ice-T cameo was pretty cool. Tyrone and Mr. James were all right even if they seemed a little forced. Well done. C-

Barbershop - This sketch felt like the complete inverse of John Mulaneys' wedding dance sketches (with a hint of that forgettable and awkward Bruce Willis Barbershop sketch from 2013). Good to see Michael Longfellow get what felt like his first lead role. Honestly, I liked how they used him more in this sketch than I like the sketch itself since they stretched out the basic gag as far as it could go with very little payoff. This felt more like Che's style than the potato hole thing did so I'm not surprising to find he wrote it. C+

Update was definiteley more abour the jokes than the commentaries this week. The only real standouts were Josts' Trump/DeSantis/Florida/lottery forgery jokes and Che's "women governors" joke (just for being the thing that seemed written the most to pander to Chappelles' newest fans) along with his Kentucky University joke (just for being the thing that seemed written the most to pander to Chappelles' oldest fans). Marcellos' Juan Suarez character was very fun. He sold the hell out of it. Sarah News was the clear high point of the whole show. Nice to see she's using Jost as less and less of a crutch and finally getting to incorporate some of her "squrminess" into the show. That "turkey waddle" comment is definitely an entire bit from her standup that she way way way way WAY cleaned up for network television and since this was cut from last week, I'm more and more starting to agree with whoever said Sarah's performances (or at least the timing of them) are "calculated" given that she got it on this week of all weeks. B-

Black Heaven - I have to admit, I kinda like the idea of Mikey being hazed when he's not fully in character (even if he kinda leaned into his worse tendencies but again, at least our host didn't). I did like the Wild N' Out Season One callback (as that show was my first real exposure to Mikey incidentally and how this whole sketch seemed like one big callback to his part in the Inside SNL/Jheris' Place sketch). The only things I can really say this had going against it was that ot felt a little long and could’ve used some edits. Plus, Punkies' whole part seemed a little too shoehorned in for me despite this being the perfect vehicle for her. Hey, speaking of callbacks to previous sketches, I just had a sudden thought. Anyone else remember when Dave said he decided to leave Chappelles' Show when he was filming that Racial Pixies sketch and he noticed that one white crew member who was laughing at him for what he felt like were the wrong reasons when he played the black pixie in minstrel-like black face? I feel like Dave Chappelle in the past year or two has basically aged into being that white crew member who laughs at people for the wrong reasons and I feel the Black Heaven sketch COULD have been written as a meta commentary on Dave now to illustrate that point. C+

PDD: Kearney For Ohio AG - I honestly wasn't expecting Molly to really show up this week but at least the PDD boys were kind enough to give them something to help get them through the week (and give them something to do without making them work with this weeks' host). I'm starting to agree with the Melissa McCarthy comparisons as this sketch gave me heavy Sheila Kelly/Sean Spicer vibes. This might be my favorite thing they've done on the show so far. It definitely worked better for me than their bit about assasinating Putin from last month. As usual, I loved the frenetic fast paced patented PDD nonsense as well as how they used JAJ and Sarah (well...hello, Mrs. Killingsworth). It's also nice to see something get cut in FAVOR of a PDD pretape with a new castmember who really needs this right now for a change. B+

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)

2. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
3. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
4. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
5. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
6. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that was honestly the best I could've hoped for and this was the episode that perhaps most defied my expectations yet. After Thanksgiving, Keke Palmer makes her hosying debut. Finally, this season of SNL brings the show back to SOME form of normalcy by getting a host people have actually been buzzing and speculating about for good reason since this summer. This show could be the turning point for season 48 that the David Alan Grier/Silverchair episode was for season 22 at this point in 1995 or even that the Jack Black Neil Young episode was for season 31 right before Christmas 2005 (especially with Sarah, Mikey Longs and Marcello bring around there's real potential for a "Wake Up And Smile" or "Lazy Sunday" type breakout moment for either of them). See you then!

Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)

Okay, here's my review. Much like last week, I had low expectations for this show. This episode met them, but didn't exceed them. I'm certainly not Amy Schumers' biggest fan but she does get the show and is willing to work within it. After Meg and Harlow, it is at least nice to see the show return to writing for itself again and not having to work around a host with little to no comedic experience and write specifically to their brand and image. Aside from Devon, a lot of the newbies got plenty of screen time. In particular, Sarah, JAJ, Marcello, Bowen and Cecily had pretty good nights. Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

Biden Address - If they were going to do another impression parade cold open, they were smart to have JAJ carry it on his back as Biden (with some slight assists from Marcello, Molly and Ego). Also, am I the only one disappointed in how weak Kenans' Tracy Morgan turned out to be? In any other season, this would probably be one of the more forgettable cold opens. Hopefully, the rest of this seasons' cold opens keep experimenting and trying to be different because I honestly wouldn't mind eating those words. C+

Monologue - For better or worse, the only part of this monologue that stood out to me was the portion about her husbands ASD diagnosis. Otherwise, this washed over me just as much as her 2018 monologue did. D+

Manny's Matzo Ball Soup - Some interesting directing choices (the dissolves between Amy and Marcello) and Kenans' song were really the only standouts to me here. Ego had a couple of good lines calling out Amys' character. Otherwise, this seemed like something that would’ve been better executed on Inside Amy Schumer than SNL. C+

Covid - As someone who had managed to only get Covid three months ago, my experience was (thankfully) pretty much identical to Sarahs' character. Andrew had some great lines, too. It's interesting to see how the shows' Covid material has evolved since...well, the last time Mulaney hosted 10 months ago which is the last time I remember them having done something explicitly Covid related. It's nice to see they took the same relatable/slice of life approach they took with last weeks' Biden horror pretape and applied it to Covid and made it less dire in an era when it was safe to do so. B+

Jury Reacts - This reminded me too much of two specific "overly expressive/too talkative background extra" sketches. One with Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler and Kirsten Dunst in 2002 and one sketch from "The New Show" with Steve Martin and Catherine O'Hara. This felt like it tried and failed to do what the latter did and added an ending that was OK but felt too rote for this era of SNL. While this sketch didn’t do a lot for me, I did like hoe each cast member sold the hell out of it. C+

Twitter Moderation Council - If they had to do a sketch on this weeks' Elon Twitter drama, I'm at least glad they used the new PDD improved town hall template even if that alone wasn’t enough to save this. Amys' character didn't really fit in with this sketch thematically and probably should've been cut entirely.  JAJs' Trump would've been a better addition if it didn’t feel way too telegraphed. Cecily, Bowen and Punkie were great, though. C-

The Looker - This sketch was oddly the complete inverse of the Matzo Ball sketch in that it was a very SNL premise that was executed like an Inside Amy Schumer piece. Aside from the high school wrestling champ pretape from Jonah Hills' 2016 episode and the "loser" pretape from John Krasinskis' episode, every sketch the show where one character is just there to cringe as embarrassing personal secrets are revealed about them has been done live. Frankly, aside from how well they used JAJ and Marcello, I felt like I had seen this too many times to really get into it. D+

Update was probably the worst it has been all season. The only jokes that stood out to me were Che's Kanye Instagram and Josts loser baby/monkey firearm/beach grenade jokes because they were the only ones that didn’t seem too lazy or poorly constructed (and thus mu only genuine laughs of the whole night). Che and Jost both looking as gassed out as ever didn’t help matters much either. Cecilys' trucker commentary seemed was nice but it seems like something that would’ve had way more impact had she not already done Goober the clown last year. Again, I appreciated the message but what I appreciated even more was Cecilys' lack of commitment to the bit. C-

Jets Tailgate - Boy, SNL sure loves to make Jets fans look like total bastards, huh? This felt like a mid 2000s era MAD TV sketch to me. Not just because of the overall meanness of it but because I've literally (callback unintended) seen MAD TV do so many sketches where "people displaying cognitive dissonance" was the main theme that it's easy to lose count. (that, and it reminded me a lot of Darrell Hammonds' Bill Kurtis sketch from sesson 30). Still, this was a sketch I actually liked and could still appreciate how everyone sold the hell out of it. I was honestly surprised that Seidell and Tucker wrote this because it gave me strong Che/Rosebud vibes initially until I realize it didn’t try to go as far or swing for the fences conceptually as much as Rhylee Rainbowlocks (which Rosebud wrote) did last April. I genuinely laughed at the reveal of children walking by and JAJ having his wheelchair stolen. B+

Pinx - This is something that felt jarringly out of place to me for SNL...or any modern sketch show really as I can't even imagine Inside Amy Schumer or any era of MAD TV doing this either. Part of me wants to appreciate SNL taking such a wild risk but, I dunno I personally just couldn't get that into this one. C-

WKTVN News - This had to have been the weakest sketch of the night for me. It was an absolute incoherent mess. It felt like they pretty much threw those America Undercover sketches from Amy Poehlers' first season in a blender with Mikey Days' Matt Schatt and American Girl Doll sketches with a dash of Cecilys' Own Trashy Accent Flavored Chex Mix. This was a good use of Molly, Marcello and JAJ though. Kudos to Michael Longfellow for getting such a substantial role even if he seemed a little young and green for it (even if that was the whole point of his character the performances around him, especially from Bowen, didn’t help). D+

Big Penis Therapy - I liked what this sketch was going for but it didn’t feel like it went anywhere. I kept expecting some kind of big reveal from Amy's character but instead it kinda belabored its own point with the whole veganism/beer/church spiel that honestly should've been cut. Good use of Sarah here, though. She's been getting a lot of support roles which I'm glad to see but at the same time I'm left wondering when they're going to let Sarah Sherman be Sarah Squirm without cutting her voice from the show entirely. C+

Big Dumb Hat - This sketch felt like SNL was parodying and badly deconstructing itself. It was like a cross between Cecily and Vanessa's porn stars and the pig tails sketch from last seasons finale. It pretty much confirms that Heidi and Chloe as a pair are going to be the ones filling the Aidy and Chloe void on the show but giving us a more empty and generic "dumb white girl" version of what they were doing. This is pretty evident in the fact that Amy Schumer was the one doing the most to sell this. Also, this sketch pretty much cements the fact that they've found a niche for Marcello and that niche seems to be "let's put him in the sleazier type male roles we used to give to Kyle Mooney." D+

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
2. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
3. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
4. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
5. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, this episode pretty much gave me exactly what I expected. Next week, Dave Chappelle returns for his third time hosting and...honestly, all I can say at this point is I'd like to think that at least Dave has his own head farther up his own ass than Lorne and the show do at this point. It wouldn't be too fair to say otherwise because the show must be getting DESPERATE to book literally ANY host at this point and whoever has replaced Lindsay Shookus is obviously having a rough first few months on the job right now. It's become pretty apparent that Lorne is the least adept at reading the room out of anyone working at this show (Chappelle is definitely giving him a run for his money as far as anyone working in comedy in general) but most other people working there must be pretty self conscious going into next week (ESPECIALLY whoever is in charge of SNLs' social media presence right now given how they waited to abnounce this). Honestly, at this point, if Molly turns out to be a "one season wonder" by this time next year, I certainly wouldn't blame them as it's hard for me to picture them NOT just leaving voluntarily depending on how this week alone turns out for them (and possibly Bowen, too now that I think about it). At least if this week turns out to be like the last time he hosted, his monologue will likely be the worst part of the show (however long they let him make it) and that will be one of only three segments he'll actually be in. I mean, you really have to think about what's at stake with these midterms if they think this is an important enough election to have Chappelle come back and host..Oh well, see you then.

Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)

Okay, here's my review. When your expectations for an SNL episode pretty much start at the floor, there's nothing they can do BUT pleasantly surprise you. Sure, it was an episode buoyed by surprise cameos (in a good way for the first time since at least 2012) but Jack Harlow certainly did his part by being a surprisingly likable and easy going host. The worst thing I can really say about this episode is that it was still a little uneven but then again so were all of this seasons' episodes. Thankfully, this week's episode was more uneven on the level of Brendon Gleesons' where the highs were very high and the lows were just somewhere in the middle.This was a big night for Andrew, Punkie, Ego (the back half anyway) and all the newbies along with Cecily (as expected) and Kenan. Sarah and JAJ got some small parts that are showing they can stretch and continue to be used as utility cast members. Even with one returning veteran, no one really felt shut out. Anyway, let’s unpack this, shall we?

PBS News Hour - Well, I guess we were due for one if these, too. I guess it's more watchable than a C-SPAN opening...and at least PBS is a more unique framing device for these? It made me feel more like I was watching a mellow Norm MacDonald era cold open than a Mikey Day/Heidi Gardner era cold open, so...thats' nice? Shockingly, Cecily had the only worthwhile performance in this  (and her shot in the montage was so seamless you wouldn't even think she missed each of the previous four episodes so far). C+

Monologue - While I think it's good that Jack Harlow showed right away that he can poke light fun at himself but that was a little too light for me. I get the sense that Harlow wanted to do one of Jimmy Kimmels "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" segments more than he wanted to host SNL but he just decided to say "fuck it" and tell Lorne and the writers "can you guys jusy make my monologue this?" (loved that possibly unintentional Mr. Subliminal shout out, though). The Lil Nas X jokes just confused me at first becsuse they mostly left me wondering whether or not Harlow had come out recently or not. I appreciate that he tried something different in speaking to an audience member who turned out to NOT be a plant but it was so brief it was pointless and it wemt nowhere. Overall, thr best thing about this monologue wss that Harlow didn’t seem ill at ease with being on the show. C+
Wedding Like Joker - Only Andrew Dismukes could make such a paper thin, repetitive premise watchable much less funny (with some assists from Sarah Sherman who we get to see stretch and grow as an actress and from Jack Harlow who thankfully showed he was more into doing the show here than he did during his monologue). The surprise Jeff Probst cameo was a nice touch but it hardly did anything for me. It was nice to see JAJ keep getting used in non-impression roles. C+

A Message From Skechers - I didn’t completely hate the idea behind this, but I couldn't help but get uneasy "Steve Carrell IS Jeff Bezos" bad take vibes. They didn’t even come close to striking the right balance between making Skechers look lame and pointlessly kissing up to Kanye to me. Marcello had a good line about how Skechers could be thrown in the washer but it wasn’t really worth this sketch existing. The ending was pretty weak. JAJ does a solid Mike Lindell but...is that really an impression the show needs right now? D+

Post Halloween Red Carpet Special - Thie felt a little long, but it was worth it to see Kenan, Bowen, Harlow and all the featured players really get to score here. Cecilys' character being named "Tina LaFaye" was an interesting choice. Kudos to the show for successfully pulling off what they attempted with "The Grabbies" in Charles Barkleys' last episode. B-

Pixar AA Pitch - By far, this was the best live sketch of the night. I loved how immediately everyone was comitted to the rapidly increasing silliness of this. I didn’t even mind that they tried to sneak in another "everyone starts singing along with Cecily as soon as they realize that...wait a minute, they DO know the song she is singing" sketch on us because that was a very small part of it. Tom Hanks is always such a welcome presence that you can't get hung up for too long on why he isn't hosting when he makes an unexpected cameo. I do love that they ended with suitcase puppets on us and pulled out to show us who was operating them. A-

2020 Part 2: 2024 - Well, it's nice that they let this air just in time for Halloween. While this may seem like another hacky tired SNL trope on the surface, I have to say I found it...somewhat relatable given what the last two years have been like, so...I can't even work up the energy to be disappointed by it (and I can't really imagine anyone else doing it). C+

Best Bartenders In The World - This was honestly the worst sketch of the night. At first, it just seemed like an incoherent mess. Then, the twist ending came and it felt to me like someone found crumpled up pages from the first draft of John Mulaneys' drag brunch sketch from his 2018 episode and just said "fuck it, let’s just see if we can get this on the air". D-

Update felt kinda all over the place this week. The only notable jokes were Josts' breakdown of the Oz/Fetterman debate and Ches' portion of the whole Kanye rant. It was very nice to see Bobby Moynihan back in any capacity. He is a sorely missed presence. Good to see he's not entirely "done" with the show and has made like Sandler and Murhpy and put whatever issues he had with the end of his tenure behind him. Kudos to him for giving us the Covid era update on Drunk Uncle that we didn't know we needed (and pulling it off better than Forte did w/MacGruber). B-

2 David 2 S. 2 Pumpkins - Suddenly, the presence of both Tom Hanks AND Bobby Moynihan in the same episode makes a lot more sense. I'm guessing we could all immediately tell where this was headed when Kenan showed up? While this was a pleasant (and genuinely unexpected) surprise, it was too much like the original. I didn't mind seeing this again (and I do appreciate the reveal that his is from Ibiza), but it needed some tightening up because Dismukes and Ego didn’t quite have the same timing that Beck and Kate did that made the original work. Normally, I'm a fan of Ego and Dismukes but this felt too much like something that the show left behind in the previous era for them to make it work without making it their own (and Harlow didn’t really work for me in the Melissa Villaseñor role either). I’m guessing the whole reason that they did this tonight was that either Jack Harlow just wanted to be a part of it or this may be Mikeys' last season with the show. As we all know, he cowrote the original w/Streeter Siedell and may have wanted to bookend his time on the show with a reprisal of the biggest hit from his first season in the cast. Kudos to the makeup department (especially on either JAJ or Marcello who I'm guessing played Freddy Kreuger and Longfellow who I'm 99% sure played Pennywise). C+

The View - You know, if I didn’t know any better I'd think Jack Harlow wrote this hinself. I was gonna say if they absolutely had to still be doing View parodies now that they should’ve at least had Ego and Punkie switch roles until I realized that wouldn't work because Ego Nwodim was basically playing Whoopi Goldberg as Ego Nwodim and Punkie Johnson wouldn't have been able to pull that off. Otherwise, this seemed only worth putting on air for the undeniable fact thst Joy Behar is the role Sarah Sherman was born to play. At least this was placed appropriately in the show. D+

Now, I'm finally ready to deliver my first real ranking of the season so far...

1. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
2. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
3. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
4. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, I certainly learned how not to judge a book by its cover. Next week, Amy Schumer marks her third time hosting and the less said about her, the better. Schumer bring placed into the context of this season as host gives a whole new meaning to the term "diminishing returns" which is starting to become a running theme of this season (and yes, I'm also starting to wonder about the troubles they are having booking hosts this season). See you then!

Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This was unquestionably the weakest show of the season so far. However, that wasn't so much the fault of the host. Megan Thee Stallion was a committed performer and she seemed like someone everyone in the show found easy to work with, but even if you barely knew anything about her you would still feel like you didn’t see a new side of her at all. She succeeded, but in order to succeed she seemed to absolutely need nearly every part of the show she was involved in to be structured in such a way as to keep her entirely within her comfort zone. This episode seemed like it was constructed solely to pander just to Megans' fanbase more than SNLs' fanbase and regular viewers to the point where I felt like I was watching a lost episode from season 35. The two biggest things this episode working against its favor were its continued and increasing desparate hardcore pandering to an extremely young and extremely and overly hip online audience (who I suspect view themselves as too "above" SNL and "traditional" media in general to care or even give them as much as a second thought) as well as them seemingly going back on even any hints of new changes being made and giving us another season 47 show in season 48. Still, they managed to give appropriate amounts of screen time to the new featured players (especially Devon) as well as Ego and Punkie (but as a bizarre side effect, Heidi and Chloe had more of a presence than this episode called for). Anyway, let's break this down, shall we?

C-SPAN January 6th Hearing - Ah, THERE'S the cold open we've come to expect from SNL (and we were foolish enough to think they could leave behind this season). Kudos to Michael Longfellow and Sarah Sherman for landing their first ever impressions on the show. Kenan and Heidi were pretty solid here (even if Heidi's part seemed a little tonally muddled) and Mikeys' part was genuinely the only part that made me laugh. The rest of this (while honestly not as forgettably dry as I expected) just kinda washed over me. C+

Monologue - Hmm, I...wasn’t expecting this level of energy from Megan. I haven't seen interviews with her or any clips of her outside a few songs, so I always thought of her more as "sedate Nicki Minaj with a nose and/or eye jobs". I felt like I was literally watching Lizzos' monologue on 2x speed. Still, congratulations on your medical degree and mental health efforts, Meg. That was the only thing I picked uo from this monologue that wasn't just pure fan service for the "hotties" who tuned in. She doesn't seem ill-suited for the show or anything. C+

Hot Girl Hospital - Speaking of fan service for the hotties, it's tempting to refer to this sketch as this season's "Gen Z Hospital" (the next live sketch after this more closely fits that description) but this sketch was actually written to play to the hosts' strengths as a celebrity and not their delusions. Also, I get the sense this sketch wasn't written to humiliate all involved by someone trying to get fired from the show. Ok, I still wouldn't be surprised to find Che had a hand in this given how incoherent some parts of it were (especially how Meg really raced through her speech explaining how Draymond Green started the hospital?) Good way to sneak Punkie, Marcello and JAJ into the show, though. The Devon/Sarah and Michael/Heidi scenes were funny (especially for Michael unintentionally making his entrance gaffe from the Manningcast cold open real). Not the worst lead off sketch the show has had this season so far. B-

We Got Bought - This was like they took the Aziz Ansari dinner sketch from Will Ferrells' 2018 episode and the Covid Mask dinner sketches from John Mulaneys' episode from last season, added water, added more water and set it to a hip hop beat to make someone way more fun. Ego carried this on their backs. Shockingly, Megan didn’t add a whole lot to this compared to Heidi, Punkie and Devon even though this was literally designed for her. B-

Deer - This was definitely the weakest sketch of the night. The puppetry was fun and Kenan was solid but other than that it was all over the place. This had a weak premise with sloppy execution. It was nice of them to use Devon, Molly and JAJ in this even though their presence wasn’t even explained let alone justified (were Devon and Megan a couple or siblings?) D+

Girl Talk - This seemed unnecessarily padded to delay the reveal of another thin premise but Punkie and Andrew really added some variety to it. Kenan seemed like he was edited in from another sketch entirely. I walked away from this sketch mostly wondering two things; 1) What was Kenan saying and who was he talking to on that hot mic? 2) Anyone else reminded of a particular scene in the movie BASEketball seeing this? C+

Please Don't Destroy: Wellness - While this one wasn’t bad, it does speak to an issue I have with the pacing of their pretapes in that the shorter they are the more it takes a rewatch to appreciate them because you might actually miss a crucial joke or line or two. On first run, I just viewed this as something that didn’t have enough of a twist or really an ending but on second watch I noticed that they were using their upbeat fronts to mask the fact that they were simply admitting to being miserable. See, that's something I legitimately missed the first time. C+

Update was a real mixed bag this week. Not a lot of jokes stood out but the ones that did (Pelosi, McConnell, Elon) were unusually sharp and stinging for SNL. The commentaries really dragged this one down. The Heidi/Chloe thing was a campy scatalogical mess. I'm a bit disappointed that Rosebud Baker cowrote this, but it tracks. This just seemed like an excuse for Chloe to repurpose her Reese Witherspoon impression (and Heidi to repurpose the same southern accent she uses for every other sketch she does). The run on various candies was ok and it seemed like the demonic possession of Chloe was gonna be a fun twist but it didn’t seem like they went far enough with it. Devon had a fine debut as himself. He had solid (if not scattershot) material but I wasn’t crazy about how he felt the need to race through three separate complicated topics in the little time he was given. We already have one of tonight's performers racing through their lines at breakneck speed. We can't handle another. C+

Workout Class - At first, I was expecting another installment of those Bowen penned sketches from season 45 where he plays one of a rotating group of SoulCycle instructors audtion to take over the same class until I noticed that Bowen was taking the class along with Ego and Sarah and that Heidi and Chloe (ironically) had confusingly large parts in this. Plus, it was almost tonally incoherent and butt-focused enough that I'm pretty shocked Che DIDN’T write this (especially since it reminded me of the "Skims For Dogs" sketch from last year's Kardashian hosted episode which I know he DID write). I'm well aware that SNL found putting this sketch online worth it for the viral clicks (from whichever viral audience they're chasing at moment) but I'd actually say putting it on the air on NBC/Peacock was worth it for the unintentional comedy of the camera miscues that were so long and GLARING that even Megan couldn't NOT visibly acknowledge her confusion over still being in the shot when she didn’t have any lines left (so, in other words the same reasons that necessitated that they not only put the dress version on YouTube but also immediately edit the dress version into the same night rerun on NBC where we also got to see that Ego and Bowens' entire opening scene was cut adding to this sketches lost, baffling feel before it even got started). Yeah, this sketch sure was a mess but it was one of the more fun messes the show has allowed on the show in a while. C+

St. Andrews Center For Shivering Girls - This was OK for something that was just tired observational comedy disguised as a fake PSA. Kenans' singing and the Ego/Dismukes laundromat scene were the only stand outs to me. C+

Ms. Fink - This was definitely the strongest live sketch of the night (at least this episode went out on a strong note) and it could’ve used some trimming because it was a little repetitive and it meandered a bit but yeah...give the ball to Ego, get the hell out of her way and she saves the show once again (with some notable assists from Megan, Devon and Punkie of course). This was definitely a more well thought out and executed subversion of the Lean On Me/Stand And Deliver/Dangerous Minds/Freedom Writers tropes than that classroom sketch with Lin Manuel Miranda as the teacher. B-

Now, I'm finally ready to deliver my first real ranking of the season so far...

1. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
2. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
3. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that was an interesting experiment that didn’t work out. In just a little under two weeks, Jack Harlow makes his hosting debut as the show gives us two double duty hosts in a row. Wow, um...yeah, I'm not exactly looking forward to that obe either. As I said earlier, while Megan gave off the vibe of being someone the cast got along with all week...Jack Harlow ALREADY does not. There was a rumor going around that Harlow got very upset that the PDD boys wrote a pretape for Pete and Mileys' NYE special last year that contained a rather mild joke about him being easily mistaken for any random white guy (possibly to the point that he demanded PDD be fired from the special?) so...already I'm predicting he'll be a difficult host. If Megan was a host who the show had to write around because they genuinely liked her and WANTED her to look good, Harlow may be another host who the show has to write around out of necessity due to them being a sheer black hole of talent and/or personality. I'm predicting something similar to when Adam Levine and Justin Beiber hosted back to back in season 38 or even back in early season 41 when they actually had...nah, I'm not gonna go THAT far here. I'll just say I hope something comes up for me a week from Saturday that I can use as an excuse to maybe not watch live but if not, so be it. See you then!

Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)

Okay, here's my review. My biggest takeaway from this week is that any way you look at it, this show was the complete inverse of last week's premiere. Last week, the show was front loaded with stronger material and really fell off after Update. This week, the shakier material was upfront and the show really picked up after Update. Last week, the show seemed to make promises of big change it did not show intent to keep. This week, the show didn’t promise to do anything different upfront but some noticable changes snuck in among the previous era's tropes on display thanks to the new blood finally getting a chance to shine. Last week's show made a stronger impression on me than this weeks did, but after having some time to look back, I can see more of the that episodes' faults than I did initially. This week's show didn’t leave much of an impression at first, but it's already starting to grow on me. Brendon Gleeson was a charming host who handled everything the show threw at him well. He was the type of host the show had seemingly left behind in a previous era. Even when it felt like the show was wasting him in incidental background roles that could've been played by any host at all (and that seemed to happen quite a bit in the first half of the show) he still managed to shine and give it his all. Writing wise, the show was a real roller coaster where it was alternating between the type of played out sketch the show should be moving away from and something different that they let the new hires try to bring the show into a new era. Seems like they managed to give everybody a fair amount of airtime tonight (at the expense of relegating Punkie to a small silent role in the cold open). Anyway, let’s get to unpacking, shall we?

So You Think You Won't Snap? - At first, I though we were getting a more off the beaten path cold open until I began to realize that this was the type of cold open we used to get every other week during season 46. The only moments that I genuinely found funny were Kenan and Devons' parts along with the Euphoria reference at the end. C+

Monologue - Ok, this actually WAS "off the beaten path" for a monologue (and just for anything that would air on SNL after 1981...or anything that would air on any comedy show here in the states for that matter). This felt more like something one would see on the That Week In SNL Twitch stream on a Sunday night than anything. I liked Brendons' low key celtic energy and while he may not be SNLs' first Irish host, he'll definitely go down as the first SNL host to play a mandolin in a monologue (top that, Steve Martin!) and Colin Farrell was a surprisingly solid addition to this. B+

CNN Today - I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this was written by the same writer who wrote last week's BeReal themed pretape? Did someone just think it would be funny if the Try Guys "scandal" was explained to the audience in an authentic Irish accent from a character actor pushing 70 or did Mikey, Bowen and Dismukes all just really want to play the Try Guys this week? Am I the only person who thought Mikey almost breaking upon having to deliver a line with the word "amazeballs" the saddest moment in SNL history? Either way, as someone who's scrolled through Twitter just enough to be vaguely familiar what this whole drama (and quite honesty, hasn't even HEARD of the Try Guys until now, so...yeah, I'm sure that didn’t help and neither did the real bitchy responses to the sketch I've already seen on Twitter) I was with Ego all the way on this one. D+

Michael & Marcello & Devon & Molly - As refreshing as it was to see SNL finally showcase all of their new featured players at once without demeaning or outright hazing them,

this wasn’t QUITE the way I wanted to see them do it. Micheal and Devon had solid lines and Marcello just went straight to the "self deprication over lack of airtime" route. Molly was the clear focus of this sketch and while they made a strong showing as well, I wasn’t crazy about how as they went on about assasinating Putin this started to feel like an early draft of a Colleen Rafferty sketch that had been written for Melissa McCarthy and then resubmitted another week with Aidy Bryant before Mikey & Streeter decided this should be a Kate role. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting down this piece. It was fun, but I don't really like to be reminded of old sketches the show has done when they are trying to introduce us to new hires who are expected to bring someone we HAVEN'T seen to the show before. C+

Blonde - Ugh, this had to be the most aimless, pointless, jokeless sketch the show has done in at least a decade. This felt like a leftover Tina script from season 30 or 35. Honestly, the most interesting thing about this sketch was the fact that Brendan was in drag (mostly because it didn't fully hit me until he made his entrance wearing a skirt that Brendan is the rarest of rare male hosts that Lorne didn’t force to shave his beard for the show) and the sheer senseless oddity of Brendan's role gave this real "Robert Culp on a submarine" vibes to me. On the SNL Network Hot Take show, Jon Schneider mentioned that this was basically a re-enactment of a specific scene from "Blonde" so I guess you would've had to have seen that specific scene to even understand what was going on let alone find it remotely funny. The one thing they did right here was giving JAJ the laugh line at the end. D-

Headshots - Kudos to Dismukes for having played fully against (what feels like) type for him and to Longfellow for getting a sketch role that suits him well. Once again, Brendon was a welcome presence here. I would put this just a step above the "Blonde" sketch. It was a bit hard for me to get into and it was light on hard laughs for me (the closest I got was Dismukes' BTTF reference at the end) but compared to everything that proceeded it, this sketch was very focused and grounded in its' premise. Even Colin Farrell didn’t feel like dead weight in his cameo and the ending Tiger Beat button pretty much popped up at the perfect time. B-

PDD: Senior Year - First off, I am impressed that the Please Don't Destroy boys are finally starting to branch out, leave their writer's office and play characters that aren't 100% just "themselves". Secondly, I'm impressed that PDD are still able to do write and produce pieces that make the absolute most out of basic, threadbare premises like "one of these grown men is friends with a 'cool' 10 year old boy" and "a group of high schoolers discover one of their supposed 'peers' is way too old to be attending high school". This was possibly Brendons' best performance of the entire night. I also love the twist that his character just suddenly decided to go back to high school after watching "Gossip Girl" and how they added some genuine emotional redemption to the end of such a silly piece. B+

Update turned out to be a real bright spot for the show. Jost & Che came out stronger than last week (and Che looked marginally happier to be there from last week except when he had to deliver the punchline to that "women losing too much weight" joke but his "pumpkin spice trash bags" joke may be my all time favorite Update joke of his I ever saw). Still, the commentaries pretty much saved this episode. Ego's Little Mermaid was brilliant and while still being very much in her voice still came across fresh and original compared to everything she has done. Kudos to Marcello for making a strong debut in only his second episode and having a much stronger presence than Micheal Longfellow. B+

Blood Oath - Wow, the first time all night Brendon is doing the type of sketch he should’ve been doing and it's buried in the post Update slot. While the setting fit him like a glove (no pun intended), I immediately recognized this as the premise of something I had read got cut from last week's dress rehearsal (with either Dismukes or Miles Telller in Gleesons' role?) This ramped up quite quickly but once it got to where it was going it seemed like it had no where else to go and just meandered and spun out without an ending (I know that's nothing new for SNL but while I appreciated how much fun everyone was visibly having with this one, I also wish they could’ve tried a bit harder). C+

Denver Pitch Meeting - Well, you all know how much I love a good Denver shout out on SNL but I love to see Sarah Sherman get one of her own sketches on the show even more. The material underwhelmed me at first (part of me still would've rather seen her cut fir time Elvis sketch made it to air over this) because it wasn’t quite up to the level of bizarre horror that "Meatballs" and "Chucky" were but then I realized that Sarah's voice really shines the most in pretapes. Still, for a live sketch, this was quite ambitious and really pulled off expertly. I was very impressed by the way The Squirmstress was able to memorize her lines, marks and blocking (assuming she actually couldn't see in the first place) and make this sketch seem way more rehearsed than SNLs' typical schedule would allow the time for. She didn’t make it look like she adlibbed her way through it either. That really speaks to what an unexpectedly strong actress and live sketch performer Sarah Shermam really is and why she fits in so well on this show. Truly, Sarah Squirm contains multitudes. B-

Well, that was certainly a pleasant outing. Next week, rapper Megan Thee Stallion makes her return to the show to pull double duty as both a host and a musical guest. Hmm, she did well in both her sketch appearances in Chris Rocks' last episode (although one was already a rap pretape) so I really don't know what else to expect other than a more low energy version of Lizzos' episode (and especially with the way this new season's been going, who can say?) Either way, I hope to see them keep trying things they haven't been doing lately and making more new changes. See you then!

Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.02.2022)

Okay, here's my review. One thing I think we can all agree on is that this was the strongest, most focused, least lethargic season premiere of SNL we've seen since at least season 40 or 38. Whether it was truly the beginning of a "new era" outside of a few new cosmetic changes is debatable, but in spite of its flaws, this had a lot going for it. There were hints of sharper writing and more balance and breathing room within a (slightly) smaller cast, but it is still clear some changes still do need to be made in spite of this premiere giving the fans some things that they wanted. My biggest take away from the night is that this is officially going to be the era where the show pushes Bowen, Chloe, Ego and Heidi as the stars of the show (especially with the latter two being the most senior players...of those who joined after season 42). Cecily may (or may not) be temporarily absent from the show but aside from her, nobody felt truly shut out from the show (all the new featured players got something on. Hell, even if only two of them got any substantial speaking roles they were each mentioned by name in the cold open, which...hey, that's something). Anyway, let’s break it down, shall we?

Manningcast - Wow, right off the bat we get faint signs of more experimentaion in a new era (or at least, hopefully, the shedding of the previous era's tired political and topical trappings wrapped in meta commentary that while reminiscent of Tina Feys' last monologue fortunately came across as more genunely self-deprecating and less doubling down and actively flipping off the audience). Still, in the face of JAJs' Trump having his rundowns and his Wordles taken away and being dragged and dropped into the template of a Baldwin era Trump cold open, I'm choosing to remain optimistic that this is SNL signaling that they are leaving this type of cold open, this type of aimless, scattershot Headline Challenge political humor in the past rather than continue it. Surely, even Lorne has to have recognized by now that it's long past the time when they needed to rely or lean on this sort of thing for any reason whatsoever, right? Right?!? (*crickets*). Hmm, anyway, as much as I know realize sketches with cast members and/or special guests playing sportscasters commenting on the show in real time feels like a dated, played out trope (especially in recent years with the likes of Chappelle, Rousey and Portman but they even did TWO with Fran Tarkenton for God's sake) Miles Teller having a dead on Peyton Manning impression in his back pocket (and actually resembling him with the right wig, I might add) was something I did not expect so, it was strong and smart move for the show to open with that. I guess SNL is now two for two in opening the season with unexpected great impersonations from people making their debut appearance on the show, am I right? Speaking of debut appearances, kudos on the four new hires for managing to not get completely shut out of their first episode (even if I would find out that they were all just doing viral TikTok memes that I somehow missed but hey at least by they were criticising themselves for doing just that rather than just merely hazing the new cast members and forcing them to poke fun at their own lack of airtime like they would do just a mere nine years ago? You know, the last time they hired a large group of people in the face of massive established cast departures?) Speaking of cast usage, while I wasn’t crazy about how Mikey and Bowen were used, I did like how they worked Heidi and Sarah in there. The Jon Hamm and Shaun White cameos were fun. I did like how they used a semi-expected cameo that actually makes sense from someone SNL fans genuinely want to see again given their established history with the show and their connection to the host to call themselves out for the unexpected cameos that don't from bafflingly chosen celebs being airdropped into random political flavor of the week roles and then set *that* up to poke fun at the hosts' image and career status in a fun way rather than an overly nudge nudge wink wink say no more way. Again, I choose to take this as a sign that they will stop doing this altogether and leave it in the (recent) past where it belongs. B-

Montage - I love how they strictly adhered to the "one new logo every eight years" rule like clockwork (and this one is VERY reminiscent of SNLs' first three seasons which I also love) and I especially liked how we've once again moved away from still images and went back to the very fluid, one long shot, visual storytelling style openings we previously only got in seasons 11 and 29 (but with the classier, more upscale twist we previously saw in seasons 21 and 44/45). Also, am I crazy or was Cecily absent from this montage? It's pretty strange that I just watched the premiere of a new season and I'm still not able to tell you if she is still employed by this show or not. I know people have said she may be back after she finishes doing her play in Los Angeles (and she just did this exact thing two seasons ago), but I'm gonna give it another month just to see if she truly sticks by that "Irish goodbye" comment she made to the press around that same time.

Monologue - Miles effortlessly carried his confidence and ease at light self-deprication over into the monologue. Plus, he showed us what a longtime fan he was from childhood so it wasn’t hard for me to connect with him on a personal level. He seems like someone who worked well with the cast all week. It's really gratifying to see a host who was rumored to be, well, "difficult" behind the scenes in past projects deliver the exact type of monologue SNL fans have grown to love over the past four years (a heartfelt sincere slice of life monologue that allows them to share their deeply personal connection to the show from a very young age). B+

Send Something Normal - Of course, RIGHT after I praise SNL for trying something different they go RIGHT back to leading off the show with a game show sketch! This wasn't even that original of a premise either. Still, I appreciate everyone's level of commitment to this sketch most if all in the face of it's minor conceptual flaws. Miles Teller wasn't exactly the best suited host for the "game show host" role. Mikey looked nothing like Adam Levine but he had the most appropriate voice for the part. JAJ as Armie Hammer felt like a last second between dress and air addition to this sketch. I mean, he was one of four contestants, for one thing. I like to imagine him telling the hair and makeup people he didn’t have an army hanmer impression as they hastily applied his beard and the writer of this sketch (who was also in the room with them) just saying "screw it, just do your Adam Driver, no one's gonna be able to tell the difference". Kenan as Neil Degrasse Tyson is always fun but an odd choice here. I mean, it felt like this sketch was written by one or two of the five people left on Earth who remembers Neils' real life minor #MeToo era harassment scandal and figured "well, he's never even posted anything remotely normal publicly anyway so...yeah, he's gotta be next. Bowen as himself was a nice meta twist that I appreciated but only didn't feel as tacked on as JAJs' Armie Hammer because his whole part seemed to be a callback to Mikeys. C+

BeReal(ButNotRobbed) - Well, I certainly appreciate the time and effort SNL took in explaining what BeReal was to its viewers OVER the age of 25 who are still *just* active enough on "dishonest" social media platforms to have missed this thing and gotten left out but I'm still having a hard time believing BeReal is...well, if you'll pardon the expression...REAL. It's seems so obnoxious it feels like a fake social media app from a Netflix movie. Still, I have to applaud the airtight execution of this thing. C+

Dance Of The Charmin Bears - The thing that I appreciated about this sketch the most (aside from it's just right length and tight writing) was that it continued showing the strength of this current casts performance skills and this season's established comittment to experimenting with more conceptual humor. Other than that, I found it a bit "on the nose" that they used a Lizzo song in this as it felt like a sketch that would've gotten cut from her episode last season (and, of course, would've been liked a lot less if it hadn't). B-

Rooftop Bar - Once Ego and Chloe, walked in I immediately flashed back to Mikeys' performance as Link Bronwin in the dating show sketch Regina Kings' episode. I ended up liking this a lot more than I liked that on as Mikeys' awkard cringe performance wasn’t as telegraphed here as it was there. Heidi played off them well and it was just the right length for what it was. C+

Nicole Kidman For AMC - I do love how you didn't really need to have seen the original Nicole Kidman ad at all to appreciate this. I like to think of it as the 2022 version of thst Simpsons THX parody from the early '90s ("TURN IT UP!!! TUUUURN IT UUUUUPPP!!!") I also loved how this just got in, went for a weird supernatural Vanessa Bayer and Larry David for Totino for The X-Files Reboot style twist, and just got out. (I'm sure the real Nicole Kidman would know a thing or two about cults. Didn’t she used to be married to the poster child for one in the '90s? Hiyoooo! Sorry, just to bust out that obscure South Park quite there). Mostly, I liked that Chloe finally did another thing that I could fully get on board with. B+

Update was a bit of a rollercoaster. It was odd to see Jost start out string with sharper jokes and a disassociative Che trailing him until he got to that MTG joke. Mitch McConnell might have been the role JAJ was born to play (in his first ever Update feature at the desk, nonetheless). He and Kenan made their segment funny but it's a shame that the string of Oswald Bates-lite malapropisms the writers came up with for him wasn’t as ridiculous as most of the real Herschel Walker's pulbic statements. Micheal Longfellow made a strong, low key debut although mentioning the Sydney Sweeney MAGA family reunion photo commentary was way too forced and labored of a setup for Jost to bring out for him if you ask me. He had great standup material and he was in control of what very few visible nerves he may have had. He didn't feel like he was there JUST to replace Pete (or bring back what they had with Pete) but his dry delivery made me feel like he and Dismukes might cancel each other out (until I remembered what else Dismukes was in tonight and Longfellows first Update standup commentary was a lot more focused and polished than Dismukes "Brink!" commentary from over a year ago was). As much as I feel like the shows' gonna get some flack for letting just the regular white guy get his big showcase out of this seasons group of four newbies, it was still good to see at least one of them break through. Bowens' lantern fly commentary felt at once fresh and almost too within Bowens' comfort zone. It's the same type of absurd anthropomorphic insect humor and patented outlandish absurdity Bowen has strangely become known for yet it felt like wild format breaking for SNL to have this premise worked into an Update feature instead of just written separstely as it's own sketch which is the type we've already seen too much of in the past 25ish years of sketch comedy in general (as it was written specifically as a parody of Maury or Jenny Jones or whatever the trash daytime talk show de jour is now). A somewhat still surprisingly high energy Dismukes as The Masked Si...uh, Buckwhe...er, um, "crops" was the perfect capper to this. B-

Swole, Bi Grimace - I can't believe they found a way to turn a cheap throwaway line from the Avengers'/GOT Family Feud cold open in Sandlers' 2019 episode into its own sketch, but they did it. Still, I remember really zoning out on that one as well as the "Santa becomes thin and kimd of a dick" sketch from Paul Rudds' 2013 episode (which this also reminded me of) so to me, aside from Kenans' speaking part and in spite of Bowen and Sarah trying their hardest, this was the weakest sketch of the night. D+

Carribean Queens - As much as I feel like this is a talk show sketch trope we've gotten our fill of during the Cecily/Kate/Aidy era (hell, even during the Wiig/Poehler years) it's nice to get a different spin on it that shows' Heidi and Ego's dynamic and chemistry (careful what you wish for). Punkie played well off them and good for Devon Walker for managing to sneak in there, too. B+

Well, that was probably the best season premiere we could’ve hoped for in this era. We haven't had a new season premiere that felt like they were doing more than just "shaking off the cobwebs" in a while. Next week, Brendon Gleeson makes his hosting debut. Not knowing much about this man aside from the fact that he played Donald Trump in that "too soon?" Showtime miniseries where Jeff Daniels played James Comey and Joe LoTruglio played Jeff Sessions, I'm just excited for the prospect of an episode hosted by a low-key character actor at the beginning of the season that leaves them more room to experiment more with newer, lesser used cast members. See you soon!