Pentagon Press Conference
- Smart of them to open with another Jost as Hegseth sketch. He pretty much owned this whole thing. Bowen, Ben, Ashley and Andrew played off him extremely well.
- For some reason, the "Dane Cook/Super-finger" and "Anmaniacs/countries of the world references got me the most. This might be the strongest "acting" Jost has ever done on the show.
- I initially wasn't crazy about how they snuck Sarah's Matt Gaetz in there, but watching Bowen easily resist her attempts to break him was...a nice touch.
- Even though I knew EXACTLY how this was going to end, I at least appreciate how they actually transitioned to the JAJ/Trump "stream of consciousness" (although the Mamdani jokes seem a bit out of date). A-
Monologue
- Nice to see Melissa back on this show again. I wasn't too crazy about the "mouth horn" bits and the snow thing I kinda saw coming from 50 miles away, but I got a big kick out of the physical business with the piano.
- The singing and dancing with Kenan and the others was a fine capper to this. I guess I was just expecting something a little more...sprawling around the studio from Melissa and less...a more broad version of an old Adam Driver monologue. B-
Free Samples
- Hmm, intriguing choice to pair Melissa with Jeremy right up top. I do like the idea of a woman (totally platonically...until the very end) reading WAY too much into the intentions of a simple grocery store employee offering free samples to the point of offering him her mother's ring. This is definitely the type of concept that ONLY Melissa McCarthy could make work.
- For some reason, I was expecting the return of Melissas' "Hidden Valley Ranch" character but I guess this is more one of Melissa's dimmer "not all there" Barb Kellner/"pass that mash" type characters. Looks like we're about to go on a bit of a journey, here.
- Out of the non-Melissa bits of the sketch, I liked the business with Ashley and the cart. Mikey telling Melissa to untie her racist dogs may have been my favorite part of this. B+
Helping Hand
- Hmm, a slight twist on a similar short from Billie Eilishs' 2021 episode where the elderly neighbor is still a psycho, but this time just actively torments those who lightly tease a very young child.
- I already like how there are different elements to this one that escalate the sketch to some new height of absurdity each time.
- I'm sure I'm not the only one who got a kick out of seeing Marcello tied up...or Sarah and Chloe as Anora-esque hookers.
- I wonder how it would take Mikeys character until he fired the gun to mistake it for a "Nerf" one?
- The ending was wonderfully deranged, especially with Jeremy as the cop and Melissa as the new "snowman". It gives this a real air of "who is the real unreliable narrator here?" B-
UPS Personell Management
- This seems like it’s going to be a cross between the Harry Styles Sara Lee sketch from 2019 and the horror flick test screening sketch from Melissas' 2016 episode (but with Ashley in the role that Cecily would've gotten).
- Maybe they sprinkled in a little bit of Barb Kellner, Hidden Valley Ranch Lady and Sheila Kelly in for good measure? I draw those specific comparisons as this character came off as "dim witted yet wildly aggressive".
- Even though this sketch kind of meandered without really escalating or going anywhere, I did get a kick out of the "peoples' elbow", the live bat, Melissas' "fainting" and the tearful "17 Days" line. This whole sketch might have been the closest I have seen Mikey come to breaking...ever.
- I didn't mind the USPS button so much as I was expecting something like this at the end. I just wish they had executed that gag completely differently. Maybe Donna could've been promoted to CEO of UPS or something more absurd and/or ridiculous than another fucking "unexpected" commercial button? B-
Weekend Update w/Jost & Che
- Josts' Best Jokes: Trump/MRI, Star Wars Ponchos, Epstein Island Photos, TikTok, White House Christmas Decoration
- Che's Best Jokes: Franklin/Dora, Speaker Mike Johnston, New Train Video Game
- Hey, Ben got his first Update feature! I mean, it's pretty much a way less one joke version of Alex Moffats' "Guy Who Just Bought A Boat" but still, good on him. He performed this very well.
- I wasn't crazy about the TV dinner stuff, but I loved the added detail that his extreme sunburn came from him falling asleep with his overhead reading light on from the plane ride to Ireland. The all ginger, all sunburned children's choir was a nice touch, too.
- As for Sarah's commentary, it's a lot different than previous update commentaries of hers where she played a talking animal or some other kind of non-human creature. Thankfully, she was less focused on Jost roasts to the point where the only two she got in really landed.
- This was a great showcase for her physical comedy skills, too. Honestly, part of what kept me drawn into this bit was the anticipation of how something so elaborate might fall apart so easily. For example, I don't know if her letting the bottle of alcohol fall over the desk was intentional or not, but she handled that along with the slight night vision Ring doorbell camera miscues like a total pro. B+
Truth Or Dare
- So, was this just "Mild Southern Lesbian Experimentation: The Sketch" or just a more repressed remake of "The Hunting Wives" without the guns or Amy & Aubrey? Either way, it was cute and charming and I certainly liked it.
- For some reason, I could see this sketch being done during the Kate/Cecily/Andy era. It was the first piece of the night that felt less like it was written specifically for Melissa McCarthy and felt more like any female host who could pull off a passable southern accent. Also, this seems to be Jane's first appearance of the night. Fitting.
- A mayonnaise AND yogurt dip? Ew, what the hell?
- I got a kick out of all the dares Sarah's character was involved in. I especially liked the use of the phrases "reveal our breasts" and "choke me sexually". I especially liked the visual of Jane and Sarah coming back from their pantry wearing each other's shirts backwards.
- This might go without saying but Ashley did a great job anchoring this sketch. I liked her revealing her Spotify age to be 210 (and apparently I don't even get to HAVE one myself right now since I only use Spotify infrequently to listen to certain specific podcasts...yes, including my own). C+
Sunday Supper
- This seemed like Andrew Dismukes just punched up and old Kyle Mooney sketch that someone submitted in, like, 2018 to better match his own "pure id" comedic style. Still, it might legitimately be the funniest sketch of the night.
- I got a kick out of the visuals of of Dismukes dressed as a hobo with a stick and bindle and a small suitcase with just a hat and feather boa from a "dress up box" and then just straight up drinking gasoline.
- I liked Melissa's anecdote about him trying to hop a freight train after accidentally saying "I Love You" on the phone to the pizza guy but coming back because he got scared after bring offered some crack.
- I got a kick out of Melissa saying she hopes Dismukes doesn't return because he is a burden on her right before he comes back saying "the neighbors' dog was outside and I got scared".
- Strange that this would be Kams' first and only appearance of the night. B-
Cousin Planet
- Did anyone else think for a second from those brief three seconds of Windows 95 desktop graphics we got upfront that we were about to get another Jarretts' Room?
- The janky ass graphics, DIY homemade costumes and set design paired with the handicam shot video style do make this feel like it could've been an early Lonely Island Digital Short. It felt out of a time and place sometime between "Laser Cats" and "Virganica Horsen".
- This was a lot of fun. I especially got a kick out of Melissa as the "mayor" explaining the "flexible" no hooking up rules.
- It's good to see they're letting Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska branch out with their songs and musical showcases and even with all the Obama First Term era autotune this was pretty catchy.
- Still, I gotta ask. We've seen Jane do a song where she said she was supposed to be Sabrina Carpenter and heard of a cut for time Update feature where she said she was supposed to be Harry Styles. Was she supposed to be Charli XCX for this one? It sure sounded like it. From what I've heard of her more recent music, this sounded like it would've been right at home in her episode from last year with her in Veronikas' place in it. B+
Christopher & Guillaume
- Does "Weird Al" Yankovic know Bowen and Melissa have been raiding his wardrobe?
- I got a kick out of the Minion Nativity Scene and the "Gingerbread Slumlords" line but beyond that, I didn't quite know what to make of this...other than that I wouldn't want Bowen or Melissa to run into Nick Kroll or John Mulaney for a while.
- My biggest problem with this sketch is that it's mostly crosstalk and high speed patter which we get a lot of right out of the gate so...that alone made it a bit harder to not tune out long enough to parse crucial elements of it.
- As for Melissa's presence, this didn't feel written specifically for her either. This feels like it could've starred any host (male or female) in another era if Bowen didn't decide to make this a vehicle for just him and either Kate, Cecily or Sarah and stick the host in Tommys' reporter role.
- Speaking of Tommys' role, him revealing his name to be "Ribbed Con-Dom"...yeah, that bummed me out a little bit.
- Back to Melissa, again...this isn't a sketch that plays to her strengths nor did this feel like a sketch only she could enhance (maybe except for her line explaining to Tommys' character that she is, in fact, a woman) so...yeah, this was kind of a wash. C-
Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst
- Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
- Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
- Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
- Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
- Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
- Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025)
- Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)
Overall Thoughts
- Overall, this was a pleasant show that started off strong, but it was a rather uneven one. Still, this was strong enough to make it into my personal top five of the season so far.
- The strange thing about this episode was that it felt like a tale of two halves. The first half of the show felt like they knew how to play directly to Melissa McCarthys' strengths as a performer. The second half felt like they were trying to fit Melissa into the modern show's templates.
- While the latter type of sketch didn't bring down the show or anything, it does show how far the show is removed from the era of "Big theater kid energy" in which Melissa has previously thrived on the show.
- Still, I guess the more subdued and less wildly sprawling nature of this episode is partly due to Melissa herself having grown and matured as an actress and wanting to move away from the type of broad, physical humor that defined her previous hosting stints.
- Melissa managed to dominate the show anyway with Sarah and Ashley tied for a close second and Chloe a distant third. Of course, Melissa got some assists from Mikey as well due to their long time Groundlings connection, no doubt. Aside from people like JAJ, Jane, Tommy and Kam who were seemingly only used once or twice, everyone else seemed to get a fair amount of airtime.
Closing Thoughts
- Next week, Josh O'Connor makes his hosting debut. Now, THIS is the true wild card of the season. Here's an actor who isn't known nearly enough for anyone to get a bead on how he might do as a host.
- Glenn Powell was a first time host who has previously cameoed on the show but outside of that he's a popular enough actor that people would've accurately guessed he'd do well on the show. Josh O'Connor is a guy we've got nothing on, but I'm still going into this show hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
- Hell, I'll be starting a new job next week anyway so I'm sure my review of that episode will be a little...off.
- Also, please listened to the newest episode of We Heart Hader that just dropped two or three nights ago. See you next week!
