Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)

The First Annual Trumps

• Huh, OK. This is framed a bit differently. This seems like the type of thing that could've been a season 48/49 cold open in an alternate universe (and if it were, it would be the last SNL cold open everyone on Earth would live to see). Let's see where this one goes.

• JAJ had some good lines in his opening rant. I did like the one about his "dead purple hands...exploding with blood" if he claps and his "brain tumor" joke while accepting his award. At least this strayed from the typical "Trump talks directly to camera" cold opens by bringing in various others throughout.

• They're still sticking with Jeremy as Vance. It still works.

• I liked the way they framed the four way split screen of JAJs Trump waiting to win this award.

• Marcello in the role of Argentinas' President works for me.

• I liked Andrew and Sarah as Lady Gaga as Aunt Gladys from Weapons and Stephen Miller presenting the "Best Kiss (Of Trumps' Ass) award.

• Ugh, I knew JAJs' Trump was gonna drop some sort of Kanye/Taylor 2009 VMAs reference when Ashleys' Kristi Noem won an award.

• Personally, I could've done without the cutaway to Ben as Loki (which was his only appearance in the whole show which, given the fact that he apparently wrote "Heated Wizardy" last week is...understandable.

• Hey, Mike Meyers is back as Elon Musk! Legalize comedy indeed.

• Boy, Tommy Brennan really disappeared into the role of The Village People's construction worker, didn't he?

• Even though Carrie Underwood herself is now seen as kind of a joke, it's the perfect role for Veronika to show off her singing abilities.

• I had heard via The Saturday Night Network that this was originally 10 minutes long in dress rehearsal and what was cut from this was Chloe as Sydney Sweeney and Mikey as Greg Bovino.

• So, yeah...cuts had to be made and they definitely made the right choices there but that Mikey/Bovino impression sounds like something that they should only bring back if they have some really scathing, biting material about this guy, but let's face it, that's probably never going to happen.

• Some people were upset over SNL doing this comparatively evergreen cold open (or any cold open really) instead of a somber, single person direct to camera opening addressing that mornings' lethal ICE shooting. Personally, I would say I understand how difficult it would probably be to address something like this that happened the day of at the last possible minute.

• I've only seen SNL do those types of somber, serious cold opens for deadly tragedies that occurred at least the Friday before the show or earlier than that. I'm not saying whether I think SNL doing this opening was in questionable taste or not. I'm just saying I wasn't going in to this episode with any expectations on how (if at all) the show would address this at the very top because from what I've seen, they know their limitations. Hell, they didn't even directly address the previous ICE shooting in Minnesota from two and a half weeks ago, so why WOULD they address this outside of Update? C+

Monologue

• Anyone else get Keke Palmer/Megan Thee Stallion vibes here?

• I liked her comments about finding our she was nominated for an Oscar while "getting fitted for a bald cap next to Mikey Day" and getting "eight hours of sleep a week" as a mom. 

• Other than that, it was a typical modern "host gives a quick rundown of their entire career while plugging/making self effacing jokes about their latest project" SNL monologue where not a lot stood out. C+

Airport Delay

• I some how knew that this premise would involve Kenan and Teyana singing, but somehow they left a little more to be desired. 

• I will admit that they "accept deez nuts" gag got me as did Teyana ambushing Dismukes phone call.

• ...and suddenly out if nowhere JAJ comes in to save this just in time. Boy, him singing "Blame It" really continues the "2009 nostalgia" theme of the night, huh? C+

OBAA Action Figures 

• I was pleased that they'd bring back this mid-90s ass pretape template and it was executed well for sure...but at the same time I feel like the premise of "toys marketed TO kids based on a movie that is NOT made for kids" is something that feels like it's been done before.

• Maybe one of the scenes of Ashley and Mikeys parents reacting to their kids inappropriately quoting the movie to them could've been cut. Otherwise, this was just fine. B-

NFL on ESPN/Quefs

• Well, as a Coloradan, I'm pleased that tomorrow night's Broncos game was the setting for this sketch. I'm not even bothered by Teyana and Tommys' negging of the team because...c'mon. I live here. I'm well aware the Broncos have their flaws.

• The rest of this seemed to be a condensed version of a sketch JAJ did in his first episode almost five years ago...which I think they improved on a bit (namely with flashier, more professional looking graphics for "Quefs" and Dismukes sounding like he stepped up his impression game with his Troy Aikman). C+

Confidence Class

• Even though this was an Ashley led sketch, I wasn't so sure about it at first until the sketch collectively moved on from Ashley's character simply being ASKED about her disastrous interview to when we actually got to see her prepared powerpoint and her ridiculous resume/Michelle Obama speech writing sample.

• It's obvious that they uploaded the dress rehearsal take of this as it contains Ashley's character doing a purposely bad Yoda impression that wasn't in the aired live sketch to replace Ashley's line about not being able to do Dolly because she "doesn't have her boobs with her...and those are a big part of it." This seems to be a trend with the official SNL YouTube account uploading Ashleys' sketches from disappointing episodes.

• The part where Ashley was describing her boyfriend could've been cut because it didn't go anywhere and they could've just got right to the part where she races through the rest of her slides without it. Plus, it could only really save the sketch if we actually SEE her boyfriend (I'm sure they had enough prosthetics to pull off the NYC goblin look).

• The ending with the Dolly impression barely put this over but really, that just speaks to the power of Ashley Padilla. C+

Geese performs "Au Pays du Cocaine" and "Trinidad"

• OK, since I have a feeling that some of you reading this may be wondering where I stand on this band...I think they're just fine.

• I've listened to quite a few of their songs and I haven't been able to form my own opinion on whether they're "good" or "bad". I like then OK but I just can't get hugely into then right now. 

• I'm guessing "Cocaine" may be the song that JAJ was parodying with his portrayal of Cameron Winter last month? (Sorry Andy, I did see you tweet that their first song wouldn't be a great introduction to them but I really liked that Bee Gees cover they did that someone posted in your Discord server. Do they have anymore original sings like that or with that energy?)

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Che's best jokes: ICE/are we dicks? (as sad as it is that this could be the strongest anti-ICE statement we would get tonight...especially on such short urgent notice), merit badges/most molested boy (just for Colins' reaction), Dorito shaped aircraft

• Josts' best jokes: female crash test dummies, suicide pods

• I don't know what to make of Marcellos' commentary. It's fairly subdued by Marcello standards but it's just another Jost roast...but Marcellos' ONLY roasting him for being old?

• Aside from that, I'm glad he explained what "chopped" meant...and then proceeded to use a string of buzzwords to describe WWII that I weirdly didn't need explained to me somehow?

• I guess I DON’T need to go back and rewatch both "Snack Homiez" sketched in a brand new context after seeing this after all, do I? This would not have helped me "get" what little there was to "get" there.

• Colins' "clap back" at Marcello was probably his highlight of this whole Update but the excessive use of tombstones followed by a "nooo!" reaction made this feel like just a slight variation in Aidy and Bowens' "trend forecasters"

• Hey, they're finally letting Jeremy debut an Update character that turned out to be one of the funniest things of the night!

• This was the exact type of gleeful, flashy go nowhere stupidity that I could get into and it was just what this episode needed at this point. I love how Jeremy just leaned into his "Mr. On Blast" shtick giving off full Beck & Kyle vibes and even let Colin get in on it. C+

Grandpa Jackson

• Well, I guess I should've expected some kind of sketch drawing on Teyanas' background as a dancer/coreographer (hell, that's primarily what I knew her as before I found out she was in OBAA anyway) but...that's literally ALL this was.

• I mean, the way Ashley introduced Teyanas' character made me think this might be going in a more bizarre direction, but...apparently she just wanted to show off her moves in old man drag with the most hastily applied bald cap ever?

• I did get a chuckle out of Kenan telling Mikeys' DJ to "stop playing Earth, Wind and Fire, dude."

• There was no escalation or other gag or even any explanation as to what the hell was going on here (aside from JAJs line about Grandpa Jacksons' bones breaking and turning into powder all at once) but hey, this sketch served its purpose of showcasing the specific talent of the host that they told everyone they wanted to build an entire sketch around this week and I was a fool to expect anything more from it. C-

Backstab Island 

• OK, this went on WAY too long for what it was. I mean, a reality show where only one contestant IS there to make friends feels like it should've been done by any non-SNL cable sketch show about 10-15 years ago (and it barely has the potential to be stretched out into full sketch length).

• Marcello, Chloe, Mikey and Kam each had a few decent lines and I liked the gag of Jane repeatedly having guava juice thrown on her but beyond that there was absolutely nothing here. C-

Beyond The Headlines

• I went into this half expecting another "Mid Day News" but got something more akin to "Inside The Beltway" mixed with Dave Chappelles' "Election Night 2016" with little dashes of "Linderholm & Bates", "Stop That" and "The Christopher Lowell Show" thrown in for good measure (kudos to anyone out there who recognizes all of those deep SNL pulls).

• Other than that, this went on WAY too long for my liking as it pretty much belabored its main point immediately.

• I did get a kick out of the Allen Iverson joke at the end. Hey, he used to be a Denver Nugget. The Denver Sports Theme continues! D+

Blowing It

• OK, this Martin Herlihy short gave me my biggest laughs of the night.

• I laughed my ass off right from Martin brutally mocking Jeremys' southern accent.

• I loved the reveal of the central conceit of this being that he was plugging a book with a hilariously long title aimed at cowardly men who are looking to trick their girlfriends into breaking up with them (even after she does or says some very small thing that gives you "the ick" at one point).

• Each and every "highly charged moment" killed me (gifting her a box of 100 tampons, showing up to a family funeral dressed as a member of The Lumineers, another Denver based group, and ordering Doordarsh while there, responding to a tender emotional moment with an impression of Harry Potters' sorting hat, talking about how your fireskin is killing you).

• The "man who believes women" T-shirt was just OK until he turned around to reveal the back said "and Kevin Spacey" followed by an inset of a very real clip of Kevin Spacey introducing Nelly Furtado in the season 31 finale which killed me.

• I also got a kick out of Martin proposing to Sarah in front of her parents...that they open up their relationship followed by the botched Leno chin implant at the wedding.

• Anyway, it felt like such a nice breath of fresh air to end such an odd and dispiriting episode on such a fun pretape. A-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
4. Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
5. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
6. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
7. Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
8. Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
9. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
10. Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
11. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, this was a hard one to review. I initially thought of having this tie with Finn Wolfhards' episode from last week. I thought they were very similarly uneven shows except this week's brief highs were higher and lows were lower.

• Even though this week, the show has the advantage of not having to deal with a host with a weird fan base, I ranked this episode lower because more consistently bad episodes had brief moments that have grown on me by now.

• Plus, this episode had the disadvantage of having a host they seemingly didn't know how to use outside of two sketches at the end of the show.

• I didn't have much of a problem with Teyana herself but performance-wise she bought this weird, tightly wound low energy to most sketches that felt like they could've been done by almost any host. She didn't have that strong a presence and was used to the point that after Update age just disappeared from the show for a long stretch.

• Yes, I think putting aside that mornings breaking news this episode would've bombed no matter what on a fundamental level.

• Sarah and Ben were the only near shut outs tonight, but on the bright side this was another episode where Ashley and JAJ (in a variety of different roles) dominated the show. Everyone else was just...there. Kenan had such a surprisingly lightly night that I'm wondering if he is phasing himself out of the show because he knows it's his last season at this point.

Closing Thoughts

• Next week, for SNLs' 1000th episode, Alexander Skarsgard makes his hosting debut with Cardi B as musical guest. He's another wild card host I'm not terribly familiar with and barely know what to expect from. 

• Still, it looks like we got our weakest of this run of three in a row out of the way so I can't imagine how that episode would be any worse than this one.

• Before my review of that episode hits this blog, you'll probably be getting my review of the Seth Rogen/Spoon episode from season 33 dropping here as Deej and I continue reviewing that entire season for the We Heart Hader Podcast. We just recorded that episode on Saturday just before this episode I just reviewed aired and we hope to have it out this coming Friday.

• After that, we'll continue our alternating episode by episode schedule of reviewing the first two seasons of Documentary Now by reviewing the "Dronez" episode (that'll be a fun one I am looking forward to!)

• See you then!