SNL UK: Aimee Lou Wood/Meek (05.02.2026)

Chuck & Camillas' Hijacked Flight Home

• I should've guessed that they'd do this sketch this week. I figured that they'd cast Larry & Emma as Charles & Camilla respectively. Those roles call for brits who are good at facial mugging and stuffy royal aristocratic accents which Emma (and to a lesser extent Larry) have shown that they can pull off in spades.

• Although I was hoping to get a bit of a break from Keir Starmer cold opens (I mean, it's not an impression I see myself getting sick of that easily or anything, but I like seeing them try something different every once in a while) I do like this new wrinkle to Georges' Keir Starmer character in that he's suddenly daring and courageous but only in the name of keeping himself in power because he's so damned ineffectual that redirecting the royals' plane is what he has to resort to.

• I did like the other sudden bursts of brief Austin Powers-like violence but I feel like I might have enjoyed this more had I any idea who Celeste was supposed to be playing or what she might be planning. I did get a kick out of the dumb lisp she was speaking with, though. All I've been able to gather from some light Googling is that Angela Rayner is a member of the British Parliament (I found out more about her from one of Anias' jokes on Update, but more on that later.

• I did appreciate this sketch being written so that no one was supposed to know who Jack was playing (just a regular Brit who was "indoctrinated online by the radical center left"). I did like the visual of him tearing away his outfit to reveal an identical outfit. His character being "poisoned" by Camillas edibles wasn't much of a great ending, though. B-

Monologue 

• This feels the most like we'd get from any SNL US host out of all the SNL UK monologues we've gotten so far.

• I didn't get the Kim Cattral scatting reference but I did like the Sex Education/White Lotus joke. 

• My favorite part was when she just started speaking random gibberish. Very Eric Idle Rutland/Pythonesque.

• I also liked the conceit of the rest of this monologue being her trying to prove to the audience that she is, in fact, an unrelatable weirdo in an effort to break free of her bubble, relatable image...but she kind of lost me with the whole astrology/past lives rant.

• Most of all, I'm just glad she didn't bring up her feud with the American show from last year and left that to the mid week YouTube promo. C+

Dangerous Women

• So, the basic premise of this faux 80s synth vaporwave video is that the "dangerous" woman who is the subject of the song just turns out to be a dumb, accident prone klutz with little to no self awareness or safety awareness?

• This is one of those things that feels like it should've been done by some kind of sketch show years ago but somehow hasn't despite it being the simplest of ideas and yet at the same time also feels like something that only a show with a uniquely British sensibility would produce.

• Does anyone else see a slight resemblance between Aimee Lou Wood and Cecily Strong here? Maybe I only say this because this seems like something that SNL US would've done during her time there.

• Other than that, I feel like this was a solid premise that was lacking a little something in musical execution (although Celeste and Hammed turned in strong performances here. If Hammed can actually sing that well, it's a shame it took this long for him to get to show off his chops). C+

Doctor Who

• Anyone else wondering why they wouldn't...wait a couple of weeks to do this sketch? You know...when they have the ACTUAL current doctor hosting? We're they just afraid to pitch this to Ncuti or was this something Hammed wrote specifically for himself?

• Anyway, I liked the conceit of this sketch being that the doctor and his current companion are forced to interact with a visually nauseating mcguffin of a prop. I just wish they had the ability to go a bit further with it.

• There wasn't much else here. I suspect even if you were around real Doctor Who Superfan who was dialed in to this there wouldn't be much for you here either. Wasn't crazy about the ending either, but I'm at least glad that Dr. Who producer Russell T. Davies was pleased with it. C+

Marios' Got Marital Problems

• Interesting...accent choices here. George doing the classic Fr. Sarducci-esque Italian accented Mario we all knew and loved was an obvious correct choice (even if some of his lines weren't 100% distinguishable).

• Aimee playing her Princess Peach as an Amy Poehler/Rachel Dratch-esque Americanized Jersey Italian stereotype added a new wrinkle that...honestly dovetails well with this sketch. 

• I guess it works because Princess Peach was never portrayed with one specific idiosyncratic accent that Mario fans wouldn't accept her without?

• Hell, Aimees' pretty much doing the exact same voice for Princess Peach that Chris Pratt used to play Mario in those newer Mario movies. Could that alone be at least the partial inspiration for this?

• Anyway, no need to overthink this sketch any further. This sketch worked well as an exploration of what struggles a real Italian working class plumber and his girl friend/spouse would go through in a more real world setting...except, you know funneled through the lens of Mario & Princess Peach.

• This is such an obvious "parallel thinking" type of idea that I'm surprised no one else has done this exact thing before (by which I mean all the other Mario parodies I've ever seen take place in the world if the video game & cartoons rather than "the real world".

• This was very funny but due to its rapid fire pacing and the performers essentially breathlessly shouting their lines over the audience and each other to be heard (maybe it's a sound mixing issue?) so I'll just say I also liked Jacks' ending walk on as Toad and whoever ran in an out in the Yoshi costume gave me a bit of a laugh). B-

Famouz 5

• Yeah, I'm not familiar with the "Famous Five" and have no cultural context for them whatsoever. 

• I do have PLENTY of cultural context for just the concepts of endless IP reboots and rehashes coming out of Hollywood and just how generally irritating it is when any new piece of media is when it's creators just blindly attempt to reach out to the generation after mine with just a casserole of now formerly hip new slang abd buzzwords.

• So yeah, I do get what this was going for...but even if I didn't feel something was missing this would still be an idea I've seen mined to death over and over again so I still wouldn't be into it. The fakes reviews were the only part of this that hit for me...which is very sad. D+

Lost Luggage

• So...this is just another "Jack plays a girls' gay woke best friend" sketch with Aimee in the role that probably would've gone to Annabel on the week there was a male host...but Aimee is trying to blatantly sneak a bomb that actually turns out to be a George Foreman Grill past security?

• Honestly, one could rewatch this sketch to examine how it explores the dynamics of this type of platonic male/female relationship (especially since Jack's character seems to regret coming out to Aimee at the wrong moment) because there seems to be more than one layer to this. Still, the ending reveal is the only thing that came close to working for me. C-

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Melania Meets Charles, Clog Dancing, Heroin In Southport

• Anias' Best Jokes: Royal Visit, WHCD Gunman, Nigel Farage

• Oh boy, I don't know about this "professional lip reader" premise. As much as I like getting to see Hammed make his Update debut, the last time I saw an SNL sketch centered around reading famous people's lips was in the infamous Jacob Elordi/Renee Rapp episode from two and a half years ago.

• OK, Hammed is clearly making this work much better than the Elordi sketch and he had the audience on his side...but then again he had a low bar to clear. I did chuckle at the Camilla/Melania and Camilla/Charles portion of this bit.

• Great to see Larry get his first Update commentary as himself. I really like his range and accent work. As an American, I did appreciate his bit on how our northern blue state liberals talk vs how southern red state conservatives talk. I also liked his bits on green party voters and how he deftly avoided falling into the "how do they vote in China?" trap Paddy set up for him.

• I didn't quite get Anias Angela Rayner joke but at least I was able to gather that Ms. Rayner us another English career politician who's blatantly angling to take Keir Starmers' job as Prime Minister.

• I did get a kick out of Paddy shouting at his underground pit of tortured writers as well as how he turned that into a recurring callback to the point that he invited Ania to climb in with him at the end.

• Ayoade played such an Ego Nwodim in season 46 of SNL US coded character here that I kind of wished Paddy hadn't introduced her by her actual name as that kind of took something away from it at first.

• Upon rewatch, I discovered that this works because it's actually just Ayoade genuinely speaking her mind doing a standup like bit from her own personal experience rather than just doing the type of specific niche character piece that Ego would've done. Overall, I'd say it was a very fun bit. B+

Posh Gits

• The title of this sketch alone has me intrigued. I hope it doesn't bear TOO much resemblance to a certain Kroll Show sketch beyond its title.

• Apparently, this is based on an actual British reality show called "Made In Chelsea". Haven't seen that one, but I will say what this reminds me of the most is MADtvs' parody of MTVs' Laguna Beach from 20 years ago.

• This sketch was clearly trying to have some fun with how dumb it was. I will say that Hammed, Jack and Larry pretty much made this for me.

• Hey, look! Paddy and Ania make their live sketch debuts! I mean, they're basically extras, but still. B-

How British Pork Got The Lot

• OK, I know I spoke against either SNL cast just recreating old, obscure viral clips in a previous review and that's part of what this was but I did like this sketch.

• As much as this reminds me of the old Polaner All Fruit/Aspic Beef Jelly bit from Family Guy, I did like that this had the extra layer of "we're going to deconstruct this obscure 1984 British Pork Commercial just to show you how it could look more normal and friendly instead of terrifying".

• Also, as slightly questionable as it seemed at first to see Hammed with pieces of bone sticking out of either side of his nose, I did get a kick out of the insane visuals of the "pork council" scenes.

• Who was that in the bald cap sitting next to Emma? Was that Jack or an extra? I wouldn't put it past them to put Jack in this sketch with no lines since they pretty much just did that to Emma.

• I don't blame George for breaking at all having to deal with Al's director character bringing down the insanity of this premise and also the mistimed camera filter glitch possibly throwing him off. Plus, I have seen George's Instagram post about how he had been obsessed with this ad for years and I assume that he, Al and Hanned may have cowritten this together...so, good for them that they could bond over this and have a sketch labor of love come out of it. B+

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
3. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
4. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
5. Aimee Lou Wood/Meek (05.02.2026)
6. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts 

• This was one of the more uneven episodes of SNL UK. I don't quite know what to make of it. On the one hand, the writing and performances were quite strong from all involved. On the other hand, this episode was front loaded with sketches that I wanted to like but couldn't quite get into because they just lacked a certain appeal.

• One thing this episode does have going for it is that the writing made it feel more and more like a uniquely British/European comedy show with it's own identity. SNL UK is continuing to step out of the shadow of SNL US. I mostly say that because there was very little about these sketches that made want to point out a specific SNL US sketch from the past that they reminded me of.

• Really, the only way this episode resembled an SNL US episode is that most of the weaker sketches were up front and most of the more odd niche sketches that I found myself actually liking were buried near the end. Weekend Update was a strong highlight of thus episode though as was MEEK who turned in some strong performances even if her type of music isn't exactly my cup of tea lyrically.

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, SNL UK will have Ted Lassos' Hannah Waddingham as host. I know she was also in Sex Education with Aimee Lou Wood. I'm not terribly familiar with the rest of her work (which I can also say about much of the previous SNL UK hosts), but she seems to be in good company having worked with this episodes host as well as an alumni of SNL US, so she'll be able to get some good advice on how to succeed on this show even for just a week.

• Speaking of SNL US, my review if their latest Olivia Rodrigo double duty episode is up for all to read. I was fortunate enough to be able to time them so that they could both be published simultaneously. Who knows if I'll be able to pull that off again next week or the week after?

• What I do know is that the next blog I will be working on is a review of the Elliot Page/Wilco episode from SNL US season 33 which I hope to have finished writing by next Wednesday when Deej & I are supposed to be recording a whole new episode of the We Heart Hader podcast on that one. That blog and podcast should be published in two weeks when that podcast episode is released but, boy am I glad to have an extra week to work on that one because it's gonna be a tough one to get through. Hell, that one's probably gonna be one of our shorter podcasts for reasons that will seem obvious by the time it comes out.

• You'll probably be able to read my reviews of next week's SNL US and UK episodes before you get to read or listen to that one, but anyway that's what I'll be working on. See you soon!

SNL UK: Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Melania: Truth Or Dare

• Well, up until now SNL UK has only done it's topical cold opens directly about and depicting its own countries heads of state and pop cultural figures. It took them until their fourth episode to do a whole cold open where any member of the Trump family is depicted. By any modern SNL standards, home or abroad, this shows a great deal of restraint.

• It's a bit of a relief that the Trump they chose to depict as a character was Melania, but I'm a bit torn on this one. While I liked this sketch conceptually better than how SNL US chose to address the real Melanias' sudden press conference denouncing Epstein out of nowhere, I have to say I liked Chloe Finemans' impression better than Emma Sidis'.

• I mean, I can definitely see why the SNL UK writers and producers would give this impression to Emma. Out of all the women on this show, she is the one that always mugs the hardest for the camera and always makes the strongest and boldest choices with whatever accent she happens to be doing but still...something about Emmas' Melania Trump impression felt a bit "off" to me (and when I find myself comparing Chloe Fineman favorably to someone else, something may be seriously wrong).

• I will admit I did like Emma's forceful "charades" and "truth or dare/how DARE you accuse me.." bits but aside from that it felt like another well worn SNL US template filled in with a few odd disconnected and irrelevant British references to make up for the fact that this British sketch show has chosen to center its cold open around the American first lady.

• Of course, the well worn SNL US tropes I am referring to are "well known political figure suddenly barges in uninvited to some normal everyday people's hangout to everyone's confusion" which was has frequently been a staple of James Austin Johnsons' Donald Trump cold opens (especially this recent one) and can also be seen here and here.

• Plus, that brief reference to Ye getting booted from the wireless festival felt like something SNL US would've done back in 2017 (or something SNL UK just did do when Tina referenced the recent BAFTA scandal).

• Well, at least this cold open wassl much shorter and more tightened up than most SNL US cold opens as of late (in spite of feeling a little bit rushed and over truncated). C+

Monologue

• Well, I unironically appreciate Jacks' rip roaring enthusiasm for this shows' mere existence right off the bat and I genuinely like his shots fired at Love Island up top.

• Other than that, I'm just getting heavy "British John Mulaney" vibes from this dude (and that's probably because all his marriage/fiance talk reminds me quite a bit of Mulaneys' early stuff and their styles of slight self depreciation are a bit similar).

• His delivery (and absolutely NOTHING else about him) reminds me of another heavily, heavily watered down James Acaster (and that may be because he and Jack are probably the only up and coming British comedians I know of outside of...well, this show's cast).

• Still, I was expecting a bit of a "here's some stuff from my own standup act" type monologue" tonight and I'd say I enjoyed it. I'd hesitate to outright call him a hack but he's not exactly reinventing the wheel here either. This isn't the most inventive standup ever or anything but it's...palatable. C+

Gary Thomas Gets A Series Of Bigger And Bigger Shocks

• Hmm...going into this I had a feeling that this had to be based on some specific video (thanks to a certain someone in a certain Discord server for digging it up and sharing it with the rest of us) and this does work a little better for me with the full context behind it.

• So, I guess this takes the fairly recent SNL US trope of doing near shot for shot remakes of some old music video or piece of obscure viral footage that someone in the cast or writing staff was obsessed with or fixated on that week (as can be seen here, here, here and also here) and just mixed THAT with something uniquely British? Already I have some mixed feelings about it.

• At first, I was wondering why they essentially put Ayoade Bambogye in a bald cap and drag to have HER play the role of Ian Wright until I saw that they were basically just having Hammed Animashaun come in at some point to play Garys' dad (who might have been my favorite character in this piece and I loved that Hammed chose to play him as a secret Lenny Henry Fred Dred style Jamacian accented rasta).

• I did like how every character in this had an increasingly different and deranged backstory to the point where Jack's character was a jogger he hit but somehow didn't kill one night.

• Oh, come on. Really? A professional TV show still doing Harambe jokes in 2026? A whole damn decade too late? And with the cheapest, crappiest gooniest looking gorilla costume they could afford?

• Jesus Christ, wasn't two portrayals of Dobby the House Elf in one season of SNL US more than enough? Ah, I suppose the British show does have some sort of home field advantage here so I can let it slide just once more.

• I wasn't crazy about this sketch. It was fine. I just really didn't like the way it ended.

• Actually, the more I sit with this the more it reminds me of some early-to-mid period Lonely Island Digital Shorts since this also essentially takes one recurring gag and memes it to death. It was interesting to see SNL UK attempt something in that vein, but this wasn't as good. It felt too much like it was made specifically for a British audience to really work like that. C+

Soccer Kid Swap

• Speaking of things that felt like they were written specifically for a British audience only where Ayoade Bambogye apparently plays a male soccer player...

• So, this is an actual thing? British soccer...er, sorry "football" players actually walk out onto the field with random children as their unofficial "mascots"? And these kids are contest winners and it's not a part of their "Make A Wish" equivalent or anything but more like their equivalent of throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at a World Series game? Also, why did Jack deliver his lines in a Mario like Italian accent?

• Yeah, sorry, I wanted to like this sketch more and feel like I got the basic underlying gag to it...but there was just too much to parse out if you don't follow British sports. Still, I can tell Jack and the cast were giving it their all. C+

Mastermind

• Ah, yes. No well known English sketch comedy show worth their salt can ever get away with NOT doing a Mastermind parody. It really is like a legal rite of passage over there.

• I absolutely loved how this was executed. They established a universally relatable concept and immediately follow it up with a string of silly nonsequitirs. 

• Who amongst us hasn't their own mother talk their early off unwillingly at some point about the regulars in their neighborhood and distant relatives THEY interact with in their own lives but WE don't?

• This is the type of basic sketch premises that could just as easily have been done on SNL US as SNL UK (in fact, I think SNL US may have already done something like this)

• The only part that didn't land with me was Hammeds' opening line saying he was good enough to host quiz shows but this other British TV presenter "couldn't read the news"? 

• I'm guessing Hammed was impersonating a man who either started out as a TV news anchor and later in his career moved on to hosting Mastermind or is currently still doing both gigs? Was this a subtle dig at the lack of, um...racial diversity among British TV presenters or are the only two black hosts on British television currently feuding with each other?

• Oh well. I did get a kick out of Hammeds last question being interrupted by the buzzer leading him to remark "I've started, so I'll finish" as well as Jacks' sideways glance when Hammed remarked "that's why you should always listen to mommy".

• I was wondering who those two extras were next to Jack and Celeste but they ended up being very inconsequential to this sketch as it cut itself off just as Celeste delivered what would be her only lines in the whole thing (it may have been a real non-ending but at least it didn't go on too long).

• I got a kick out if the guy with the bad hair transplant Jack's mom talked about being one of the contestants although if he even had one line, why not give even that to Al or any other male castmember? Oh well. Still a fun sketch. B-

DadSwap

• While I did get a kick out of Larry responding to Als' art school announcement with "what's that got to do with WWII?" I thought this pretape wasn't gonna have legs at first.

• The visuals of Jack and Hammed in their own little punk rock band were funny.

• Once Jack mentioned his own real dad struggling with his sexuality, I could immediately tell where this was going.

• Thankfully, this turned out to be more thoughtful and nuanced than I was expecting as they had George there to explore this premise by weighing its pros and cons and ruminating on the logistics and full consequences of what what he hath wrought on the world and attempt to completely wash his hands of it in real time as this unfolded.

• The parts of George's performance I liked the most were probably his increasingly frustrated "yeah, i know" responses to everyone pointing out how falling in love with their new swapped "dads" isn't illegal and his explaining to Celeste that using the app to get a guy her own age is just her getting a boyfriend and not a "dad."

• Speaking of the women in this cast, that WAS Annabel as the one who fell in love with her new "girl dad", right? The fact that they put whoever it really is in a wig that looks a lot like Emma's real hair threw me for a loop (and just when I thought I was able to tell those two apart from each other, too). Oh well, I didn't let that affect my enjoyment of this pretape that much. B+

Masters

• So, this one's just "what if Greenhilly or The Vogelchecks took place on a golf course with some millenial/Gen Z cringe mixed in" huh? Well, I didn't totally hate it.

• Yeah, with all the quick pecks on the mouth from the start this definitely reminded me more of a subtler, more tasteful and more gracefully presented version of The Vogelcgecks than Greenhilly upon rewatch.

• At least this moved on fairly quickly from just closed mouth kissing to everyone starting a polycule. The addition of Hammeds' delivery man at that point was a funny enough wrinkle (especially when the others kicked out Jack's character in favor of him).

• Jack's character deciding to get into a relationship with Als' caddy was pretty much the only logical way they could've ended this, so that's some solid sketch writing there. 

• The ending with Jack & George felt a little too telegraphed for my taste, but they made the most of it (especially with that line about not being invited to the upcoming Saudi Arabia).

• Well, I was pretty ambivalent toward that sketch but I have to say it came across as fairly socially progressive and modern minded. Too bad it wasn't particularly funny. C+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Peter Mandleson, Planter, Chico In Court, Ferry Cuts

• Anias' Best Jokes: Kier Starmer In Saudi Arabia, Moon Mission, AI Fat Tool, Shroud Of Turin

• Al & Celestes' horse & jockey commentary may have been the funniest moment of the show for me. It's nice to see this show try out some new pairings with its cast and have them play off each other with expert chemistry.

• I love how Paddy not only bought back his BTS runner this week but also upped the ante with it by delivering most of it in Korean.

• Not sure what to make of Jack & Annabels' Gen Z commentary. I mean, I liked the sound effects and impressions they did, but that was about it. The rest of it felt like they dug up some old Twitter meme from about 2019 or so and turned it into an Update commentary. I did get a kick out of the sudden cut to Paddys' confused expression when Jack called him a "rude old bitch".

• It reminded me a bit too much of the type of overly hammy Update pieces Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman would do together on SNL US until Bowen left (and considering the first one of those that I thought of was this one which I pretty much panned in my review of it...I think the less said about this, the better). C+

Drunk Peter Pan

• Hey, another Al & Celeste pairing! Even as the straight men of the sketch, I liked getting to see this again so soon.

• Any other MSTies out there who've watched certain parts of season 13 getting heavy Emily Marsh vibes from Celeste in that wig?

• This may have actually been my favorite sketch of the night. My biggest laugh came from how blatantly visible Jacks' wires were and how they were just in service of smashing him into candy glass and breakaway furniture.

• Some of Jack's casual insults to Als' character were pretty funny too like "absolute mood hoover" and "shut your mouth, you piece of virgin" as well as his whole rant about all the different ways "Neverland sucks now".

• I wasn't too crazy about the ending though. Once Al's character said something about how "we've all got weird exes" I was expecting a reveal that his "weird ex" was Tinkerbell or something more creative than just "everyone suddenly comes around on the idea of a three-way".

• Still, even this was a bit more entertaining than the few "drunk and/or depressed jilted Peter Pan or Tonkerbell Tinkerbell barges into Wendy Darlings' house and behaves inappropriately" sketches that SNL US has done with the likes of Ed Asner, Claire Daines, Jim Parsons or even Robert Deniro". B-

Falling Down A Hill w/Helen Birch

• This was a fun, near black out length piece of condensed quiet physical comedy. It reminded me quite a bit of Phil Hartmans' "Robot Repair" from SNL US. 

• I'm not quite sure if Celeste is impersonating the actual UK artist & author Helen Birch but if she is, this would be a very sympathetic and understanding portrayal of her....if she actually did fall down a hill while filming her own British TV show. B+

Robert & Judith & Henry & Ethel

• Hmm...Jack Shep as an Ed Wynn-esque 1930s flapper drag queen seems like it's going to be a bit much. This also feels like the type of hammy Bowen Yang centric sketch that I didn't care much for (mainly because I'm not the target audience for).

• Still, as literally cartoonish and purposely stereotypical as this seems, I can appreciate the way he's absolutely throwing himself into this character. I did like him saying he slept in a graveyard and his shoes were filled with blood and the sheer boldness of his line about "stepping quickly into each other's holes".

• The twist with Celeste actually taking a liking to Sheps' character felt a little predictable but I liked how she made her slapsticky entrance hitting Jack with the door causing his cake to go slightly into his face.

• I liked Emma's character as well because she's the only one who made this over-the-top, transatlantic accented, old timey style of acting work for her and not add to the sheer sensory overload of this sketch. Plus, her being in the same sketch as Annabel made me realize that it WAS Annabel in DadSwap and that I CAN still tell the two of them apart. C+

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
3. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
4. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, as much as I hate to say it...this might have been the weakest of SNL UKs' initial run so far (it still easily wipes the floor with the episode of SNL US that aired mere hours after it, but that goes without saying).

• It might be due to the fact that this is the fourth of four episodes in a row (it's rare SNL US does that many in a row but these kids are just starting out) but this felt like the most wildly uneven episode of SNL UK yet to me.

• Writing wise, the show has made great progress in maintaining its unique British identity which I appreciate seeing (even if it comes at the slight cost of making some sketches feel that much less accessible to an American audience)

• Unfortunately, the portions of this episode that DID feel accessible to me as an American viewer were just the basic tropes and elements that I could distinctly trace back to what I have seen numerous times on SNL US (which this episode of SNL UK had the most of out of any of them so far).

• One thing I did like about this episode is that they gave a lot more screen time to Celeste Dring (who I felt has been a bit underused to this point and has the previous sketch experience with her group "Lazy Susan" to have earned some of her own showcases on this show).

• They seem to not only continue to be pushing Jack Shep as the star for viral clicks but also pushing Jack and Annabel together as a duo in a way I find a little obnoxious.

• They also seem to have pulled back on George Fouracres a bit but I have heard one of his close friends has died within the past week or so so that might have been his choice and if so, it's conmendable he even showed up at all. 

Closing Thoughts

• This coming weekend, SNL UK will return with a new episode hosted by Nicola Coughlan and musical guests The Foo Fighters.

• I liked what Nicola bought to Tina's episode so I'm glad they got her back as an actual host so quickly. 

• Although I'd much rather discover a new British act I've never heard before, good on SNL UK for now having had both a well known American host AND a well known American musical guest!

• Hopefully, I'll have the time and energy to get my review of that one out sooner rather than later so you can all read it in a timely fashion but you'll probably see my review of the Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood SNL US episode from 2007 well before then. See you again real soon!

SNL UK: Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.04.2026)

Starmers' Address

• Hmm..still not too crazy about opening the show with sudden applause but it didn't exactly detract from this opening or seem completely out of place so I'm not too bothered by it this time.

• I can't say that this was the worst SNL UK cold open thus far, but it does feel the most like any "typical" SNL US cold open that we could've seen them do stateside in the past 15 years (especially about four or five years ago during the brief window of time when James Austin Johnson played then President Joe Biden...so yeah, it felt the most like these two specifically).

• Yes, this really does combine SNL US' approach to commenting on the politics of Obama and Biden administration's with their "line of cast members each coming on to deliver a few lines and then leave" structure of cold opens (like this one in particular) except this one is more straight forward and direct in their calling out of Sir Keir Starmers' faults.

• Good to see Fouracres bring this back. His Keir Starmer is a fun impression to start the show off with as proven in the premiere (well, as "fun" as you can have with any type of political humor these days). I do also like how purely British this cold open is in that they only address England's troubles without dragging any of America's numerous problems into it (aside from a vague reference to our troubles with Iran and Israel here and there).

• Als' Harry Kane is a fun character, too. I'll admit it is the one British cultural reference I have no context for here so I can't say much about the impersonation itself. 

• I do get that the basic characterization here is just "big lunkhead athlete gives your standard, media trained post game interview that clearly requires all the innate charisma he can muster" and I did chuckle seeing that element get shoehorned in here.

• I do like Emma's Olivia Coleman impression, though. I mean, it might not be as accurate as Cecily Strongs' impression (seen here) but I am familiar with Olivia mostly through her work on Mitchell & Webb adjacent sketch shows (which is ironic since this sketch does assume US audiences mostly know her from performances the Cornetto film trilogy and Oscar bait dramas like "The Favourite") and I do see that Emmas' doing this impression out of affection and admiration, just playing off Olivia's personas from the likes of "Bruiser" and "Hot Fuzz".

• Annabels' Peppa Pig was a nice bit of light absurdity to end this cold open with. I liked their very minimalist, light on nightmarish prosthetics approach to bringing this kiddie cartoon character to life.

• The group "Live From London..." didn't bother me here either but I wish just once they could try just a segue into a solo version of that. C+

Monologue 

• Hmm...I admire Riz Ahmeds' ability and eagerness to poke fun at his own background the types of roles he always gets, but on the other hand...that's the very thing that makes this feel too much like any typical SNL US monologue done by an actor not known for their comedic roles in the past eight years.

• I do like how he tied his own identity crisis rant into a meta comment on how SNL UK hasn't even had one genuinely British host yet (but I can at least tell they're taking baby steps in that direction). 

• Riz is a very confident host which sets a great tone for the rest of the show. I like how he tied this whole monologue together with his "we Brits like it when things are a little bit crap" speech. As much as I could unpack and parse, this was a very rousing and fun monologue to start the show off with. B+

Why Are Phones?

• Immediately, I got heavy Lonely Island vibes from this pretape. It seemed like a direct cross between their "Rescue Dogs 3D" digital short and their "Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions" song from the Andy Samberg hosted 2009 MTV VMAs (in that this also seems like it would've worked better as a movie awards show segment than on a sketch show what with all the clips from actual modern smart phone scenes from TV and movies that they must have had to pay for clearance to air...which I'm just now realizing may be the thing keeping this off YouTube as a standalone clip).

• Putting that aside, I do appreciate how thoroughly and intricately they deconstructed the tropes of how movie characters use smart phones (particularly the "fictional apps only" thing) and how seamlessly they transitioned into doing tge same for the similar trope of why cops seem to only socialize with other cops evdn when they're off duty.

• Interesting way for them to work in Ayoade Bambogye into this sketch and give her some screen time.

• I did see someone say that it's funny that both versions of SNL did their own country songs this week and that SNL US' was better. I might honestly call it a draw on that one myself. 

• I mean, the SNL US "Words To Live By" felt like it was modeled after actual (modern) country pop music and this felt like it was more...trying to parody square dances or bluegrass by comparison? Plus, this one felt like it had less reason or justification to be framed specifically as a country song.

• Anyway, fun pretape to follow the monologue even if, like the monologue, it felt maybe a little too dense and briskly paced for its own good. C+

Great Big Crab Man

• Ok, I gotta get this out if the way right up top. Before I actually watched this sketch, I noticed the title of the YouTube upload was "Traitors: A Very Confident Mistake". Weird way to describe the sketch, first of all. They must've been chasing YouTube views with that title.

• Secondly, I wasn't quite sure how this was supposed to be a "Traitors" parody as I haven't watched "Traitors" enough to be familiar with it outside of the fact that Alan Cumming is the host and no one appeared to be doing an impression of him. 

• Then, I remembered that "Traitors" is yet another show adapted from a European reality show and skimmed over enough "Traitors UK" promo material to see that Celeste was actually doing an uncanny (well, at least visually) impression of actual "Traitors UK" host Claudia Winkleman. I'm guessing Emma must've been impersonating a specific contestant based on the strong choice she made with that accent.

• Anyway, that being said, this was also a very fun sketch (even if it feels like it heavily borrows from the template of this fairly recent SNL US sketch). The sights and sounds of (who I assume was) Fouracres in the big red crab costume played well against the rest of this sketch. Plus, it does actually confront a lot of blatant racism you hear about going on a lot in England and it does feel shorter and more direct on rewatch. Riz and Ayoade in particular were also pretty great here. B-

Operation

• This sketch was a real roller coaster, but I loved how thoroughly they committed to this from a writing and performance stand point of taking the viewer along all these different turns along the way

• I do appreciate how this wasn't solely focused on Rizs' singular obsession with clean pulls in the Operation game (because ot was starting to feel just like this SNL US sketch) and that the writers showed us Riz and Celeste reconciling their relationship RIGHT as she is about to leave him.

• I also liked the visual of Al made up as a real life version of the Operation patient followed by the additional "twist" of Riz not realizing his operation skills don't translate to real lifesaving abilities as he is baffled by all the blood and internal organs he has to pull out of Als' character with cooking tools.

• By the way, I also appreciate how this sketchs' inevitable vomit by Jack was tastefully done into a bucket as invisibly as possible and I got a kick out of the police accidentally setting off Als' light up nose buzzer when they accidentally hit his stretcher against the doorway.

• Once again, props to the writers for making this sketch as grounded and realistically, consequentially absurd as possible. This may have been the most Pythonesque sketch SNL UK has done yet insofar as they were able to stop themselves from getting "too silly" before the actual ending. B-

OG FM

• Ok, this is definitely just a refined and reskinned SNL US sketch. Specifically, it's Jimmy Fallons' Z-105/Joey Mack sketches mixed with "The Shout Out Show" from early 2002 with Hammed, Ayoade and (hilariously) Al playing their parts as basically Kyle Mooneys' "REAL HIP HOP" character.

• Still, all the cast members and Riz performed this extremely well. Each of their lines were very funny and I liked how this built to an actual well executed climax with Riz just straight spitting fire at the end. I'm sure they wrote this sketch specifically to play to his strengths since he did mention being a rapper in the monologue. B-

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Navy Jibe/Yellow Submarine, Easter, New Online Subscription Laws

• Anias' Best Jokes: Bridge Bombed, Navy Jibe #1, Zuckerberg Bunker, Police Guns Found

• Emma as "Generic Love Island Bimbo" definitely felt like a Colin Jost/Cecily Strong Update two-hander from the FIRST Trump presidency (or like something from the actual Love Island parody SNL did in 2019 with Phoebe Waller-Bridge). 

• Sadly, while I liked her performance I have to say this is the one time in the entire run of SNL UK so far that they didn't manage to automatically improve on a pre-existing SNL US formula. I only say that because any comedy show could do this and it would only really land with people who actually watch and keep up with Love Island or any other reality show (which I do not so this was just a bit of cute, cockney white noise to me).

• I think this goes without saying how troubling it is that now even SNL UK is doing Update characters in big animal costumes. 

• Seriously though, Jack's adorable doormouse does feel like a more palatable version of something Lorne would've made Bowen, Sarah, Marcello, Kenan or Michael Longfellow would do.

• Still, I'm grateful that Jack found a way to do this without going too garishly over the top with it.

• Al and George's "skin on skin contact father and large adult son" commentary may have been the comedic high point of this Update. Much like Jack earlier, I love how committedly they both sold the absurdity of this premise without trying too hard. B-

The Bastard Seagull 

• Did...this sketch open with canned applause fading out?

• Anyway, this might have been my favorite live sketch of the night and my singular favorite performance from George Fouracres in the entire run of this show at this point. He pretty much owned this sketch and made a meal out of his role, especially near the end.

• Riz also played quite well off of him and did a great job of matching his energy. Hammed gave a very fun Kenan Thompson-coded performance in this as well.

• I don't want to sound like a broken record but I feel like there's truly an insane number of modern SNL sketches from tge past decade or so that fit this format of "group of people jump all over one main characters blowing their single minded obsession with an incredibly minor personal issue out of proportion where most enabling them by pressing for more information while one or two others just urge them to move on" but I had too much fun with this to really care enough to even try and remember a previous example of this.

• I appreciated how it ended just before they belabored the joke but just shoving a Seagull puppet in front of the camera and just segueing into the second musical guest performance just felt a little too tacked on to me. Otherwise, a near perfect sketch. A-

Bunny Lamaze

• Yeah, SNL US has done a few "strange lamaze classes" in the past few years but this felt a bit closer to the "outlandish gay couple trying for a baby in a physically impossible way" sketches that Bowen Yang did in recent years with Adam Driver and Jon Hamm. 

• Still, this at least added an additional layer of absurdity to this with the implication that the Easter bunny is unaware that the chocolate eggs he half lays/half defeated every year are 100% chocolate and thus edible and thus they can't be raised like children.

• Hammed and Riz played their roles well and certainly elevated this material. It must've taken some incredible restraint on the show's part to not cast Jack in Hammeds' role but I guess...Hammed just looked more realistic as a giant bunny rabbit? C+

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
3. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• While I very much appreciate how committed the writers were to fully fleshing out all the premises and concepts they had this week, I feel like there was some major backsliding in terms of this show establishing its own unique British style and identity.

• I only say this because nearly every sketch in tonight's episode felt like a major punch up on a sketch SNL US would've done or has done already.

• For this reason, I had to rank this episode as only the second best of this first series so far. That isn't to say the debut with Tina was the worst episode so far. This is just saying that while the show has established itself, they didn't quite take as many risks as they did last week with Jamie.

• Riz was a very strong host and I feel that cast balance has improved. They seem to be using George, Al and all the women more this week although they're holding back a bit more on Hammed and Larry.

• They seem to be using Jack a bit less but since they obviously want to lean into him as someone who draws in a younger audience, at least they're using him just enough to not have him feel like he's dominating the show...so that's good.

Closing Thoughts 

• The next episode of SNL UK (which will probably air tonight or tomorrow depending on when and where you're reading this at this point) will be hosted by English comic Jack Whitehall. He's a bit divisive and a bit posh from what I've heard (and he apparently played at the Riyadh comedy festival last fall) but not totally hated. I'm unfamiliar with him myself so I have no idea what to expect. I'm sure he'll do portions of his own act for his monologue but I just hope he doesn't give us an insane Ben Elton style rant.

• At this point, it's probably a safe bet that you'll see my review of the upcoming Colman Domingo/Anita episode of SNL US before you get to see my review of that one. One thing you may get to hear before you read that is the upcoming new episode of We Heart Hader podcast (which should hopefully also be out as you're reading this) where Deej and I continue to review Documentary Now Season One with "The Eye Doesn't Lie". 

• After that, we'll return to reviewing season 33 of SNL US with the Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood episode for which I will also post a review of on thus blog which you can read while SNL US at least will be on a break (great timing on that one, huh? I'm not totally sure if SNL UK will also be on a break or not by then). Anyway, see you real soon kids!

SNL UK: Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)

Prince Andrew Meets With MI5

• Hey, they didn't open the show with sudden, screaming out-of-nowhere applause this week! Instead decided to...hold off on that until after the historical opening voice over...that doesn't have an opening text crawl. That's still an improvement. Now, if only they could do something about those pesky group shootings of "Live From London" and do a solo one just once...

• Speaking of, was that Fouracres doing the opening voiceover? Sounded like it could've been him. Plus, it's nice of this show to give us some variety with its cold opens and not give us George as Kier Starmer for two weeks in a row.

• Still, this "secret plan meeting" format does feel like something modern SNL has done both in the recent past and distant past (see the two Charlie's Angels parodies they did in 1979 and 1987) but with a "royal scandal" twist this time. I think they pulled off executed this quite well (moreso than SNL US did whenever they tried something like this in recent years).

• OK, I get them wanting to push Jack Shep as...well, maybe not the "star" or "face" of SNL UK and I understand his Princess Diana impression got the show a lot of positive buzz online recently but...that was a rather odd way to work in him holding a picture of his Diana impression just to remind us that he was the one who did it.

• Celestes' Cunk-like deadpan on all of her lines was the icing on the cake for me. I particularly liked her jab at Prince William. I also liked Ayoades reply of "turn to page 72, it will" to Jack's Andrew saying this news would "kill mummy" if it came out.

• I wasn't clued all the way into what was going on with Larrys' Peter Mandleson (had to do a bit of Googling to remind myself of exactly which part of the Epstein scandal was being referenced there) but hey, that just speaks to this show further establishing its own unique British comic identity.

• Emma Sidis' Fergie may have been the comedic high point of this for me. She may be the hidden gem of this show. From what I've seen so far she's shown quite a bit of range and an ability to sink into different characters well. B-

Monologue 

• Hmm...Jamie's pretty stiff in delivering this monologue (although I did get a kick out of the "following broadcast guidelines" joke).

• He seems pretty nervous...and I'm betting this is real because it seems too odd to be made up.

• He should have enough charm to put over the "lol ain't I secretly quirky?" vibes of this monologue but he looks like he's having way too late second thoughts about revealing this part of himself on a new English comedy show that critics are struggling to hate as much as they wanted to.

• I guess I missed the broadcast glitch that took place here. It would've probably been the most interesting part of this monologue, sadly.

• Part of me wishes I could've seen this "live" live so I could've actually Googled "Jamie Dornan Potato Rocks" BEFORE the actual results would've been SEO'd into just being various fluff write-ups of this very monologue.

• Hey, Chris O'Dowd! Smart of them to get an actual proven funny person to make a cameo in this monologue! Unfortunately, he couldn't save this.

• This reminds me a little of another SNL US monologue. Specifically, Elliott Goulds' 1980 monologue from the ill fated season six premiere where he shows off his collection of women's panties. They both have the same "is this the best thing for a host to be doing for an audience with an unestablished brand new SNL cast as the only ones supporting him?" vibes.

• Yeah, this monologue didn't quite fill me with confidence that the rest of the show would be great. C-

British Themed Pub

• OK, now this is DEFINITELY an old SNL format (and more proof that they're pushing Jack Shep as the show's Pete/Marcello/Bowen type main draw for young people with a rap video that sounds like it's designed for online virality)

• Al and Jack definitely had the best verses in this but I liked Hammeds' too. God, even lyrically this is much better than the type of modern rap videos SNL would do.

• It's nice to know that traveling to vastly diverse foreign lands just to spend most of your time reveling in their simulations of you own culture isn't ENTIRELY an American (maybe it's just a white thing or an English speaking thing or a colonizer thing?)

• I liked Emma suddenly bringing some sad self awareness to this. Even though the twist of Jamie suddenly showing up just to take them to an Irish themed pub felt pretty telegraphed, I liked how they pulled it off because even Mr. Grey was spitting bars here and seemed much more in his element than he did in his monologue. B-

Hostage Situationship

• Smart of them to put this after the monologue with the pub song as a buffer. Jamie actually did work here because he was much more dialed in. He's definitely more in his comfort zone parodying a Taken-style kidnapping scene in an action/thriller type film. Plus, he switched from "intense and menacing villain" to "light and girly bestie" back and forth with ease.

• Nice to see this episode showcase the female cast more by giving Annabel her own lead off sketch. She also seems to have the ability to slip in and out if different types of characters given how different this performance was from what she did in the pub song.

• A kidnapping victim getting bogged down in her relationship status with her guy friend does seem like something I could see both modern SNL US and BVSS doing. Thankfully, the way they executed this was closer to the latter than the former.

• Jacks' video response was pretty "meh" but it did serve as a nice transition into the real ending with Annabel having taken Jamie's gun and running off with it (but leaving him with her phone for some reason?) once he threatens to kill her. B-

Night Time Incident

• It was a little hard for me to get keyed into this but it made more sense on rewatch. I do know Jools Holland as a talk show host/music presenter/interviewer in British TV but I didn't know he also regularly hosts New Year's Eve specials in England (or that their Daylight Savings Time is about three weeks after ours...or how/why he would just steal peoples hours from clocks not pushed forward but I guess that's just the absurdity of it all).

• Still, I enjoyed the impressions of Mr. Holland from George, Paddy and Al (because "they don't call (him) 'Jool' Holland). Emma's Jessie J was a fun impression, too but odd to see in 2026 as I thought she had to give up live performing for much of the same reasons Huey Lewis did.

• Ironically, I usually remember to set the clocks on my stove and microwave each daylight savings time because they're two of the only three devices with clocks in my house that don't set themselves back ir forward automatically due to them not being connected to the internet in any way (and since when has any DVD player had a clock that tells the time?)

• Usually, ending buttons on these types of sketches are pretty dammed annoying but this worked because it was just a government PSA and it didn't turn out to be for some wildly unrelated bullshit.

• Anyway, it's good to see SNL UK is already getting a handle on SNL US' old "making a horror movie/psychological thriller trailer out of some banal real life situation" trope and easily figuring out how to do that better, too! B+

The Battle Within 

• Oh, look. It's SNL UKs first ever "host is hot" sketch. I was wondering if they'd even bother with THAT particular well worn SNL US trope this week.

• Well, at least it's nice to see them give Celeste her first showcase sketch in a non-supporting role, but sadly there wasn't anything remarkable about this sketch (aside from how they transitioned it into the first Wolf Alice performance...who were a much more interstellar choice of musical guest than Wet Leg, by the way).

• This reminds me of another specific SNL US sketch from 1998 where Molly Shannon played a children's clown visiting a sick girl played by Alec Baldwin...as himself because his character "Cassidy" had a condition that makes a six year old girl resemble a handsome middle aged man and she can only sleep on satin sheets with satin pajamas. You'd have to see it to make sense of it. Unfortunately, there's no video of it online and my description of it doesn't quite do it any justice.

• Anyway, that was kind of a boring sketch with a premise that they couldn't go anywhere with. D+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Nazi Scandal, Fergie, OnlyFans, Clavicular Arrest, Chelsea, BTS

• Anias' Best Jokes: Houthi Missle, Energy Bills, Tube Manners,

• I really liked the "hand in hand" segment. Both Paddy and Ania delivered great dark jokes in a unique straight to camera segment. I especially liked Ania and her hand sanitizer at the end. Hell, it even reminded me if something Jost & Che did in their first US Weekend Update from 2014 back when they seemed fresh.

• Jesus, you can even say "cumming so hard you drop your poppers" on British TV after 9pm GMT?

• I do like that they're making Paddys' BTS analysis/obsession a recurring theme

• Hey, nice to see Ayoade get her own big showcase after being pretty much left on the sidelines last week.

• She was fine here, but her segment seemed like it was weirdly cut down or something because it seemed a little rushed and didn't have a conclusion.

• Ayoade roasting Paddy was still pretty funny though. At this point, I'd rather see one of Paddys' cast mates roast him for being an scruffy, schlubby loser then see one of Colin Josts castmates roast him for...being an imagined creep behind the scenes or just being a low key dork who somehow married and had a kid with an actress who's way out of his league. Still, the back and forth between her and Ania should've been rewritten to make more sense. B-

Gluing Wraps

• Huh, a minor fast food related annoyance gets blown up into an Oliver Twist-like musical number set in a Dickensian work house. As challenging as this was to parse at times, this turned out to be a lot of fun! I found it quite reminiscent of the types of mini-epic sketches with big musical numbers that the show Fridays would regularly open with during their early 80s run.

• Annabel was great as the dynamic lead here. I'm impressed with the sheer variety of different roles she's handled with ease. Jamie played the villain well. Emma and George were great here, too. George pulled off his Pythonesque pepperpot drag role quite seamlessly here.

• Sadly, we may not have gotten another "45 Seconds With Fouracres" this week but as long as they're giving him enough parts in other sketches that his total airtime spread across the entire show totals up to at least 45 seconds (if not more), I'd be fine with that. A-

Beanz Bros

• I loved all the deranged and twisted details crammed into this sketch about this familys' checkered past. 

• I also liked how it also functioned as a showcase for Larry (who had the funniest line in this sketch). I liked that we're finally starting to get a bead on what his comedic style is.

• This was definitely my favorite pretape of this episode. A+

Rugby Player

• WHOA HOLY SHIT!!! 

• Just when I think this episode couldn't possibly get more deranged or bugnuts crazy (if you'll pardon the expression) they give us visually implied castration (well, more than just "implied") in an attempt to impress a former rugby player.

• This show is truly doing things that it's US counterpart TRULY could not get away with in their wildest dreams (even with Sarah Squirm as a full time staffer)

• I mean, I heard Great Britain had much more relaxed TV censorship laws than we do here in the states but JESUS!

• ...and of course they have to transition directly from this into the good nights because how else are they going to top themselves tonight? A+

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• This episode was a bit more uneven than lasts weeks, but the back half was filled with a lot of wild surprises that really hyped me up. Sure, there were a few sketches that I wasn't crazy about but most of them grew on me on rewatch and what actually did hit with me really hit much more strongly compared to last week.

• I initially struggled with how to rank these two episodes against each other because this episodes' monologue and movie set sketch drag it down a little but it's last three sketches made up for that just by working much better than most of last week's entire show did.

• Jamie Dornan seemed a little shaky at first, but he actually surprised me and showed he was into it. I guess I wouldn't have been surprised had I seen him in "Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar".

• Cast usage seemed a little more balanced since they focused more on the exact cost members that weren't featured as much last week (especially the women). It's great to see this show getting a good handle on how best to use it's own much more manageable cast.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, that was fun. Next week, Riz Ahmed makes his SNL UK hosting debut. He's definitely one of those actors whose name I've heard but I know I haven't gotten around to seeing anything he's been in yet. It will be nice going into one of these completely blind with no preset expectations.

• Next week may be a little crowded since SNL US makes its return from this two week break it's been on with host Jack Black and musical guest Jack White. The following week, Colman Domingo makes his hosting debut. 

• I liked Jack's previous episode from last year and Colmans' undoubtedly a huge get for the show right now so I'm hoping they can bring a fresh, renewed energy to the show that can compete with SNL UK, being filled with young and hungry writers and performers eager to prove themselves as they are vs. SNL US being filled with some if the same voices that have been hanging around for the last 5-20 years leaving others fighting for scraps.

• Also, please listen to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast where we review the Brian Williams/Feist episode from season 33. After that, we'll be reviewing Documentary Now Season One with "The Eye Doesn't Lie".

• See you again real soon, kids!