Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)

Cleansing Of The Temple

• Okay, as soon as I heard Steve Higgins intoning the word “Easter” over an very clearly biblical/Christian themed text crawl, I knew fucking EXACTLY where this was headed.

• Seriously, this is like, what the fourth of these types of cold opens they've done since they hired JAJ to join the cast? Hell, it's the second one they did this very season.

• (*sigh*) Well, I guess I liked the following jokes from JAJ as Trump “messiah made of the economy”, “look at your 401k and say ‘Jesus Christ'”, “price of eggs/just can't crack it/end joke”,“the most homophobic people you see see dressing as gay as possible”, “I don't go to church on Easter either”, “pray/prey/predator” and “lump shaped”.

• I kinda liked the extra wrinkle/challenge of the freeze frame being Mikey tipping a table over.

• Really, the only thing saving this (or even making it watchable) are the meta jokes directed at Emil, Mikey, Sarah, Kenan and Ego here.

• I'm choosing to think Kenan's early exit ISN'T a Morgan Wallen reference and that they've gotten all of that nonsense out of their system.

• All in all, one of the more tolerable “JAJ/Trumps talks directly to camera over historical freeze frame” cold opens if you give it a fraction of a chance. C+

Monologue 

• Well, I certainly like that Jon is playing himself as the same “gleeful idiot” character he played so well on 30 Rock. I find that fun.

• You know, I remember a lot of people saying Jon Hamm could be the next Alec Baldwin even as early as October 2008 when he FIRST hosted (y'know, back when that would've for sure have been meant as a compliment).

• I actually see one more Baldwin parallel here in that by the time Hamm had first hosted, Baldwins’ subsequent monologues all devolved into him gratuitously waxing nostalgic about personal highlights from each of his previous hosting stints, so I like the idea of Jon Hamm doing an equally charmingly pathetic/narcissistic monologue about all 14 of his cameos in the past…14 years. God, that's like…almost one cameo a year for each year he HASN'T hosted, right?

• While I wasn't too crazy about how telegraphed that “aimless monologue” joke felt, I do like that the cameo turned out to be Kieran Culkin. He was a solid host who made a few unexpected cameos, too. Let's hope they don't make us wait another 14 years to see HIM host again, right? 

• The only strange thing about this monologue was how it ended on Jon clearly waving Kieran over to come back on stage only for the camera to cut away before he could be seen again. B-

Check-To-Check Business Channel 

• My visceral reaction to the title alone was “ooooooooffffff” but the sketch itself made me go “oh, this is supposed to be relatable in the fun way (*phew*).

• I liked Egos’ “Top Ramen” joke as well as Kenan's cheap brand name alternatives (“Uncle Bubble”, “Sgt. Munch”) and Dismukes’ Funko Pop report. B-

PDD: Missing Girl Pizza Party

• I feel like placing a Please Don't Destroy Short this early in the lineup may feel like Lorne & the shows’ way of making something up to the boys. Anyone else?

• Anyway, I do like how this was another short that took the boys out of the office and how framing this as a gritty crime procedural set up Jon Hamm to immediately play wildly against type more.

• I liked how Hamm immediately started playing a fragile manchild instead of the no-nonsense police chief you might expect him to play in this setting.

• I also loved how this wasted no time in devolving into chaos, getting everyone sucked into the pizza discussion. It's nice to see PDDs’ rapid fire pacing be put to effective use once again. 

• Other highlights were John Higgins firing a gun into the air, Ashley as the missing girl's mom and Jane as the delivery girl. B-

Guess The Correct Answer

• A game show sketch after the SECOND commercial break? Well, NOW I've seen everything!

• I didn't like how rapidly Jon Hamm just laid out the whole joke of that sketch, but I did like how that allowed this to have a very quick not quite “blackout” but still very “get in/get out” style pacing and nature to it (even if Ashley and Emil could only be used as set dressing here).

• Longfellow is still a decent game show host (even if part of me would've liked to have seen JAH get another chance to play one). I did like the ridiculous character name of “Marky Mark Brandon Marcus”.

• This sketch felt like a sort of inverted prequel to Hamms' role in "I Didn't Ask For This" from October 2010. C+

The White Potus

• Geez, even the live studio audience seems to be having an extremely mixed reaction to this.

• I wonder how many people just noped out or had a rage stroke from the combo of that title immediately followed by Chloe doing an inexplicable Parker Posey impression in the same room as JAJs’ Trump with slightly more makeup? I did like the quick visual of him swallowing a McNugget whole from a bottle like a pill.

• Speaking of Chloe, her playing “Melania Trump” as Parker Posey in The White Lotus feels like they're DEFINITELY making something up to her that she must've taken way too personally and made a big deal about.

• I do like the zoned out vibe JAJ gave to his Trump for this and while I'm grateful he is still Baldwins’ official replacement in the role, I will admit Baldwins’ take on Trump still would've fit this particular sketch like a glove (again, not that I would’ve particularly liked to see that).

• Apparently, the guy playing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick was just actor Jon Gries, shown here in a clip just straight up taken from a White Lotus episode he was in. Okay. I didn't know you could incorporate cameos THAT way.

• Also, THAT’S the guy who.played Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite? Wow.

• Hey, we got an Alex Moffat cameo! Since he left a few years back it's just this and I THINK being in the background of the Mulaney New York musical from the 50th for him?

• Oh, hai Scarlett. Bye, Scarlett.

• If RFK Jr HAS to become a recurring character/impression on this show, I'll take Jon Hamm in the role over Alec Baldwin any day.

• I thought Sarah's huge buck teeth were supposed to be an “RFK Jr. wants to ban fluoridated water” joke until I watched the SNN Hot Take show where Jon explained that Sarah was supposed to be playing Aimee Lou Woods’ character from the show and then I thought “Oooooooh right, I guess that explains the cockney accent too, huh?” 

• Yeah, please don't ask me how or why I know who Aimee Lou Wood is either.

• Hey, Ashley Padilla got her first political impression as AG Pam Bondi. Congratulations, Ashley. I can tell you're DEFINITELY gonna make it on modern SNL. Good to see Heidi bring back her classic beloved Kristi Noem impression again (*eye roll emoji*).

• I did like how they used Marcellos’ Rubio impression here, though.

• Hey, there's Beck Bennet again…as shirtless Putin. Great. Even if it's his most well remembered “political" impression…and even though it's still more subtly tinged with exactly as much cheap homophobia as it was back in 2017…it's nice to see Beck again.

• Hey, a sudden Lizzo cameo. She had one decent line there.

• Like, I'm not gonna say this whole pretape was WORTH airing just for the Moffat/Bennet cameos…but they were clearly the highlights. I did just watch both clips of Alex as Terry Fink on Update the other night and that plus his putting a watch in a blender reminded me of how great Alex was on the show, so…Yeah.

• I was surprised to find that this was only five minutes long when I tried rewatching it on YouTube. Even though it felt like a mini-epic with its use of many different characters and sets, turning this into a pretape obviously allowed them to tighten this up substantially but the heavy & specific political focus of it made this feel like I was watching a cold open/debate sketch from season 45 (or maybe the fact that I ended up writing an unprecedented 16 different bullet points worth of my own commentary on this sketch is making it feel like a 13 minute long sketch in my mind?)

• God, that moment with JAJ/Trump pointing a gun at Andrew dressed as fucking Uncle Sam talking about placing a tariff on China is like the most hamfisted political joke I've ever seen on SNL. Seriously, that felt like something one would only see in a fucking New Yorker cartoon. That and the sudden (merciful) ending with Kenan as Tiger Woods are things I was thankful were only dream sequences.

• My other main takeaway from this was that not having watched any of The White Lotus I can still somehow tell that this sketch was densely packed with specific references to the show meant to make people who DO watch it laugh. At least from that, I can tell this was a labor of love so…Yeah, that part of it was far from my biggest problem with this pretape.

• I wonder if Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider came back this week to write this 2017-ass sketch? I mean, it's obviously written by people who are VERY pop culture savvy and juuuust savvy ENOUGH about politics to semi-tenuously connect the hottest prestige HBO show to the current Trump administration, so…yeah, this just SCREAMS them to the point I'd be surprised to find they DIDN'T write this. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• This was a week where Che had the lions’ share of better jokes. That's all I really care to say about the Jost/Che portions of Update.

• Bowen as Chen Biao? Man, this episode really DOES feel like a throwback to 2019 in all the worst ways!

• Boy, he must've REALLY grown to hate this character over time since he's giving it even less effort than he gave any of his performances as J.D. Vance (maybe that's what that “Peasant Elegy” joke was a subtle reference to?)

• Jesus, was Egos’ “Miss Eggy” commentary from last week THAT big a viral hit or has it understandably become an inner office inside joke at SNL?

• Thankfully, Emil showed up to give us perhaps the sharpest and funniest moment of the entire episode.

• …which was almost immediately followed by Sarah giving us something that, I think, was cut from last week's show? If so, I can see why because this was definitely her most juiceless and aimless performance to date. 

• At least Sarah tried to open with some attempt at classic Squirm gross out humor and end with a different angle of the Update set we haven't seen.

• I did like Colin, seeming to actively fight his own giggly discomfort at reading the lines on his cue cards and fully accepting being the butt of the joke during this commentary (by the moment he winks at the camera after delivering that “any chair can be a toilet” joke you can see what I'm talking about).

• Yeah, they definitely should've switched the order of Emil and Sarah's commentaries at least. C-

Randy & Trevor's Baby

• Did…this sketch use the same opening establishing shot as Bronx Beat?

• Anyway, I feel like this sketch is at least spiritually a sequel to the sketch Bowen did with Adam Driver last season where they just talked about TRYING for a baby. 

• The only twist here is that Jon Hamm is Bowens’ partner now and they actually DO have a baby but they defiantly deflect whenever anyone asks where it came from.

• With all the loud questioning of logistics, it's like this sketch was starring Bowen Yang, Jon Hamm and FOUR Mikey Days.

• Oh, and apparently Lizzo is their baby. Ok, sure. Whatever.

• I did like the AAPI joke…and at least this sketch was loud enough to keep me from tuning out completely. C-

Herpastopper

• Yeah, we may have seen medication ads deconstructed on SNL and other comedy shows before so, this doesn't feel TOO fresh.

• Still, I liked the slightly more creative meta angle of “the person in slo-mo always has herpes, especially if they're rock climbing.”

• Ego and Heidi did fine here.

• I did like Mikeys’ meta reaction to Hamms’ line about how the person having the most fun dancing in slo-mo in a whole group always has herpes as well as Jons’ reaction to him suddenly finding himself rock climbing. 

• I also liked the breakdowns of other types of medication ads (wives wearing oversized jerseys for erectile dysfunction, children's drawings for clinical depression, dancing in an office as an indicator of either diabetes or diarrhea).

• Well, I certainly liked those parts all more than the racial breakdown of these types of ads anyway. Oh hai, Devon & Jane. C+

New Employees

• Hey, I'm a new employee at my job right now. I mean, I didn't have to go that deep into my personal life during my orientation (I mean, I wasn't gonna talk about this blog or my podcast right off the bat to people I just met so I had to think of clever ways to deflect).

• Besides, workplaces don't spend this long on “getting to know you” stuff (not any place I've worked anyway) since they want to get you actually working on your own as quickly as possible. Maybe this sketch would work a little better as, like, a college freshman orientation with a younger host, like say, Mikey Madison?

• Anyway, I liked how Hamm kept revealing more ridiculous details about his parents’ death and how they made decent use of Ashley and Andrew here…but that's about it. C+

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
3. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
4. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
5. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
6. Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)
7. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
8. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
9. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
10. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
11. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
12. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
13. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
14. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
15. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
16. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
17. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
18. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Closing Thoughts

• Well, Jon Hamm certainly hasn't lost his touch. He's still a strong comedic performer who's game for pretty much anything and it seems like the show will pretty much always know how to use him.

• This episode was a little uneven, but Jon elevated pretty much all he was in as much as he could. Obviously, they wouldn't have been able to reach the same electric highs of last week's Jack Black episode but it was another case where the shows current staff put on the best show that they possibly could with a well liked now four time host from a different era that has at least one all time classic stand out episode from back in the day under his belt.

• It's nice to see Jon Hamm perform again on this show all these years later, but neither he nor Jack are able to completely cover up the shows’ various foibles on their own.

• The main difference between this show and last week's, in my mind, is a weaker bottom half that left me a bit more frustrated the more I sat with this episode and chewed on it.

• There's a cast imbalance again at this point. Marcello, Devon and Jane only appeared in pretapes tonight while Dismukes, Ashley and Emil are making decent gains and almost jockeying back and forth for who has the biggest breakout moment. Meanwhile, JAJ and Longfellow keep only being used in one specific role. 

• The show seemingly keeps pushing Bowen, Heidi, Ego, Mikey and Sarah in ways that increasingly disappoint and yet somehow…no one seems to be absolutely dominating the show right now…not even any recent hosts, oddly enough.

Overall Thoughts 

• After a two week spring break, Quinta Brunson returns to host for her second time. This is actually a pleasant surprise as two years ago, Quinta hosted one of the truly promising standout episodes of season 48 before the show lost steam and the dual strikes seemed to derail the shows’ momentum entirely. 

• There were a lot of fresh, unique concepts brought to the show the last time Quinta hosted, so let's hope she can bring some of that creative spark back next month.

• In the meantime, the next post you'll see on this blog will be a full length review of the Julia Loius-Dreyfus/Paul Simon episode from season 31 of SNL which Deej and I will be covering on the next episode of our We Heart Hader Podcast. The blog and the podcast should both be released on Thursday, April 24th. 

• After that, Deej & I might just be welcoming our first ever guest on the We Heart Hader Podcast! Spoiler alert: if you know either one of us, it'll probably be the exact person you're thinking it's gonna be…but you'll have to wait and listen to find out for sure. See you then!

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!

Lizzo (4.16.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This was definitely the strongest show of SNLs' April 2022 block mostly due to the host. The writing and running order still contribute to a show that's a little uneven but Lizzo really bought the energy and confidence she was expected to bring and really put the entire show over for me. It wasn’t all her (she and Dismukes worked surprisingly well together) but you can visibly tell she definitely lifted morale throughout the week (even if most of the visual evidence of this came across through points in the show where the entire cast was near breaking). Plus, this is the first show in a long time where every single cast member (minus Pete who has been M.I.A for two months now) got some screen time. Some of the underused women got their showcases tonight and even Aristotle got some small supporting parts (which isn't much but still must beat how the show has been treating him the past few weeks). Anyway, let’s get to it.

A Message From The Easter Bunny...And His Friends - I knew the very idea of us getting a non-topical non-grab bag cold open that was just pure evergreen Bowen weirdness (that's lighther on the camp) but this still had its moments. Kates' Fauci impression has passed its' shelf life and Cecilys' MTG may be getting there (but I did like the brief "God Bless Russia" joke) Good to see Redd as Eric Adams again. Only he could make a dicey NYC subway shooter joke work. Still, knowing what I now know about Eric Adams as a person from the actual news (particularly his treatment of homeless encampments in New York) I feel like SNLs take on Eric Adams shoukd be way more vicious. I'm still not sure what to make of Mikeys' Elon Musk other than it being basically a reheated version of Alexs' Mark Zuckerberg. Chloes' Britney was wasted here. I'm not too crazy about Kyle's Jared Leto either but I did like his "don't review Morbius" joke. It's nice to see JAJ settle into his role as Trump but the prospect of SNL NEEDING someone settled into that role is something I don't like to think too much about. I did like the Cap'n Crunch/Count Chocula/Little Ceasers' stories and Bowens' Bunny expressing his sheer confusion at them. I'll also admit to liking his "Covid will be over by Easter" joke as well. C+

Monologue - It's nice to see Lizzo start the show off right with the exact amount of confidence we expected of her, delivering a thoughtful personal monologue (apparently Lizzo had the most confidence out of anyone abour the material she had). B-

Guess That! - Jesus, another post monologue game show? This is, like, what, the fifth one in a row? The only thing close to a laugh this gave me was Kenans' name bring "Clint Litoris" but the rest of this seemed pretty aimless until it became obvious that the entire premise was "Lizzo plays an overconfident aggrieved dumb person who argues with Kenans' host over a minor slight". I appreciate Ego getting in on this, but it felt too little too late for me until Ego told her "People's Court" story and Kenans' host suddenly having a negative total on his podium despite not playing the game. C-

TikTok, Too - I figured this was going to be what we would get when The Standby Line Girls hinted we would get the return of a pretape from Billies' episode. I didn't mind since I did like the first one and I have to say this one was an improvement as it felt more focused and concise. It had an actual ending instead of just wrapping up four loose recurring themes. Plus, a lot of the cast just had better material from the first one (in particular Melissa, Chloe, Kate, Punkie, Andrew, Chris, JAJ, Mikey/Heidi, Ego & Sarah). I especially like the ending just being a simple reveal that JAJs' weird crawling guy is actually the father of our TikTok viewer (who, for some reason, unless his mom made a huge glarimg typo in one of the texts she sent him that she never caught also happens to be 27 years old and is somehow still in high school, still studying for the LSATS and has strong GoGurt flavor preferences...possible tribute to the Twitter persona of former SNL writer Dan Licata?). I also liked how Cecily made up for her absence from the first one by covering for Pete's absence from this one. Hey, if Aidy resembles any character from Euphoria...it's GOTTA be Kat, right? Also, were both of Bowens' contributions to these TikTok sketches just specific parodies of real viral TikTokers? I think i recognized who his "crying whille eating noodles" guy from the first one was supposed to be but the audience seems to have beaten me to recognizing his Tom's Diner cover artist tonight (which is a video we definitely need the full length version of, by the way!) B+

Black Eyed Peas 2008 Studio Sessions - Ok, thankfully I was able to let my aversion toward the inevitable creeping slide into full on late 00s nostalgia get in thecway of me enjoying this. Although Cecilys' Fergie is a little dodgy (especially when you compare it to Mileys' from season 36) this was pretty much perfectly cast. The premise was a bit thin (seemed better suited for a lame standup bit from someone like, say...I dunno, Dave Attell or a Family Guy cutaway than a full on sketch) but the performances (especially Chris and Bowen) really put it over for me. It didn't go on too long but it still felt like it could've used some cuts (like the "Let's Get It Started" reference because I know that song HAD to have been recorded way earlier than April 16, 2008). Overall, this wasn't too bad for a dated feelong sketch that needed real tightening up. C+

Six Flags Grandpa - As much as I'm not crazy about the prospect of MORE pointless mid-to-late 00s nostalgia as over explained by Mikey and/or Aidy with small dick joke liberally sprinkled throughout, I have to say I do like the prospect of Sarah getting her own vehicle out of this. I do like how Ego and Aristotle got in on it. I do like how Kyle and Kate basically ceded the spotlight to them, too and the semi-emotional ending here worked for me too. C+

PDD: Horny Zookeeper (ft. Lizzo & Andrew Dismukes) - This might have just replaced "Three Sad Virgins (ft. Pete Davidson and Taylor Swift)" as my favorite PDD SNL short of all time so far. I don't know what it is about the weeks where the show has big name female double duty pop stars return to the show as either hosts or musicial guests (and yes, I'm counting the one that got cut from Billies' episode in this because thst worked for me) that has made them produce all their straight up bangers so far but hey, more power too them. Also, I'm intrigued to hear more abour Dismukes history of literally getting away with murder. B+

Update seemed to have a running theme of "jokes I would've really hated if anyone other than Colin Jost or Michael Che were telling/saving face from them." That Sonic/Tails/Knuckles joke seems like it was beamed forward in time from season 45. Che clearly had the better Elon Musk Twitter joke but Jost made up for his short comings tonight with that dumbbell joke. Other than that, nothing else stood out to me. Thankfully, Melissa rolled in at the end to debut her new non-impression character "guy who is trying standup for the first time and immediately regrets it as all his jokes are just harsh slams against his nephew." I love getting to see the occasional glimpses into this side of Melissa that wants to give us more creative conceptual character work. I love that this also seemed more personal for Melissa as it seemed based in her own personal background and family culture. I also liked that the entire bit seemed to just be the longest setup to another slam on Jost ever done on Weekend Update. I know a lot of people probably would have preferred Aristotle got a character on here but Melissa has still gotta be second from the bottom on this season's list of "cast members who got the most airtime" so, hey I'll take it! B-

Debauched Orgy Prep - I appreciate that they went for a full cast ensemble piece (minus Melissa, Jost, Che, JAJ, Heidi, Chloe and the still absent Pete) at a point in the season of heavy cast imbalance (yes, even Aristotle scored here) but this might have been the weakest sketch of the night for me. Kate, Kyle, Sarah, Lizzo and Dismukes tried to give us something to save it (and so did Aidy with the unintentional comedy of the camera accidentally cutting away from her at a seemingly pivotal reveal-that-was-already-kinda-botched moment for her character) but other than that there wasn't anything for me to latch onto here. Honestly, Cecily and Bowen as the anchors of this sketch gave me bad flashbacks to that Cleopatra sketch from the lackluster Awkwafina episode from season 44. C-

Beverly Gas Joins The Devry Symphony Orchestra - I suppose it was inevitable that we would get a sketch that revolves around Lizzos' famed flute playing ability. I suppose I can see how it might have presented a challenge to not also make Lizzos' famed twerking abilities a part of it too. Still, I wasn't crazy about this either but the ending was admirable. Aidy and Kenan tried their hardest but I still couldn't fully get into this one. Also, this sketch HAS to have set a new record for "most castmembers near breaking in a single sketch", right? Glad to see everyone having fun here, though. C-

Steve's Investment - Good to end the night on pure unrestrained Dismukes madness. The ending was a little bleak for me, but the sketch itself still worked. B-

Now, for my updated rankings of the season so far...

1. Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile (10.23.2021)
2. Keiran Culkin/Ed Sheeran (11.6.2021)
3. Simu Liu/Saweetie (11.20.2021)
4. Billie Eillish (12.11.2021)
5. John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem (2.26.2022)
6. Oscar Issac/Charli XCX (3.5.2022)
7. Lizzo (4.16.2022)
8. Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna (4.2.2022)
9. Jake Gyllenhaal/Camilla Cabello (4.9.2022)
10. Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía (3.12.2022)
11. Paul Rudd/Charli XCX (12.18.2021)
12. Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift (11.13.2021)
13. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)
14. Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (1.29.2022)
15. Will Forte/Måneskin (1.22.2022)
16. Ariana DeBose/Roddy RichBleachers (1.15.2022)
17. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
18. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)

Well, that episode certainly carried the cast and crew into May. Speaking of which, next month SNL returns for its final block of shows this season with Benedict Cumberbatch as host. I remember his 2016 episode being pretty bad but that wasn't his fault so I definitely think he deserves a second chance to host during a week without any approaching dark clouds about to loom over America's collective heads and during a point when the cast and crew have had two weeks off instead of one and they've just produced the standard three shows in a row rather than four, so...y'know less burn out. See you then (oh, amd before I forget...make sure you catch me as a guest on the next SNL Network Patron Feedback show on Tuesday 04/19! Yes, that's the right date. I know those moved from Thursday to Wednesday but Jon has said he will be out of town on Wednesday).