Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)

Trumps’ Tariff Speech

• Speaking of numbers, I guess we're back to paint-by-numbers JAJ Trump Cold Opens again, huh?

• Well, at least they're making, uh, improvements to his makeup here.

• The “Make America Great Depression Again” stuff was OK, I guess.

• Hey, Dismukes is a commerce secretary. Neat.

• The forced Borat reference was completely unnecessary and the Cheesecake Factory McDonald Island jokes were…eh.

• I did like the gag of Trump explaining the “formula” though. Kind of reminded me of the equation in the background of the White And Nerdy video.

• The “reciprocal/bedroom” joke was good for a “wait, what? Oh nevermind” type near shock laugh.

• C'mon guys, that brief “God's country” callback wasn't worth a frigging applause break. Even JAJ himself looked slightly annoyed at having to deliver that nonsense. I liked the 30 Rock/Tina reference just fine.

• At least Mike Meyers’ Elon likened this up a little. The “self vandalizing Tesla” animation may have been the true highlight of this. I also liked the “tariffs sound dumb” ending. 

• Part of me has to wonder if JAJs line “it's time to never see you again” could possibly mean that Mike Myers has too busy of a schedule to play Elon again at any point in the season and this is his last cameo of season 50? C+

Monologue 

• After everything I saw last week, it's so nice to see Jack Black call band guitarist Maddie Rice by her first name and then kick off the show with a big Tenacious D style musical number that sprawls around the studio…even if all he's doing so far is just listing all the big paycheck family friendly films he's done since he last hosted.

• Heidi and Marcello were great sports. You can tell Heidi was clearly having a blast.

• Huh, quite odd to see them not call ANY attention to Bill Burr and Kieran Culkin being in the audience (straight from tonight's performance of “Glengarry Glen Ross” I see). B-

Love Match

• Hmm…this is the hardest sketch to get a bead on I've seen on this show in YEARS.

• I chuckled a bit at Marcellos’ “the true answer is butt” line.

• The premise seems to be “what if a regular, sincere guy dressed like Indiana Jones whole vehemently denying knowing anything about Indiana Jones at all?”

• I have to say this feels like a premise we've seen numerous times but Black & Dismukes are acting the hell out of this.

• This does seem like a very Andrew Dismukes-centric idea too as it is reminiscent of his “Joker Wedding” and “Jumanji” sketches from the past few years.

• I chuckled a bit more at his line about Marcellos’ character looking 12 years old and JAJs’ character looking just like Jane Lynch.

• Most of all, I liked the very tight writing and pacing of this. Even once we saw Bowen revealed to be a guy dressed as Capt. Jack Sparrow (possible Lonely Island shout out there?) this never felt like it overstayed its welcome. B-

Flamin’ Hot Preparation H

• Ok, I liked how hard this leaned into its own gleeful stupidity and I liked how it gave us two back to back Jack Black/Andrew Dismukes pairings. (Yes, that was Andrew as the voice of the cheapest CGI Chester Cheetah you've ever seen).

• It was nice to see Jack Black INTENTIONALLY sweating his ass off for once (pun unintended but fuck it, I went with it anyway). C+

One Uppers

• Another “hip group of young, trendy people at a restaurant” sketch AND another “people constantly try to out do one another” sketch rolled into one. How…innovative?

• Ok, so maybe the framework of this isn't very new but I do admire the show risking a minor derailment and nearly throwing its own timing out if whack just for the sake of putting something on that very nearly defies accurate description. 

• Seriously, the best way I could describe this was just “Eagle Screech Whip Pans”.

• I did like the needle drop of Disturbeds’ “Down With The Sickness” during one of Ego's closeups.

• Even just a stupid fart noise punctuating Sarah & Dismukes announcing that they were “poly” just before Heidi summons the cheapest eagle puppet you may have ever seen made me chuckle when couched in with this chaos. B-

The First Play

• Another unique and creative premise on display here that genuinely feels the least like anything they've done before.

• I immediately liked the idea of people witnessing the historic moment of the first ever acting performance treating it as a dialogue or normal conversation because they may be unfamiliar with the basic concepts of “acting” or “pretending” even just “lies”.

• I loved the gag of Longfellow pulling a red streamer out of Bowens’ chest plate to simulate his stabbing death.

• I feel like the promise of later nudity in the play was a kind of cheap ending but this sketch (and this host in particular) had enough gravitas to put that over. A-

Goth Kid On Vacation

• I liked the bait-and-switch/mislead of this better than the main joke once it got revealed but hey, nice use of Longfellow here.

• I liked Jack Black singing “Black Parade” (THEMES!!!) possibly most of all here. C-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Come on, guys. Just let this Morgan Wallen thing die already!

• I liked Che's “Trump will not stand for plundering/Chinese tariffs/D.E.I. school funding/Matt Gaetz” jokes just for how much bite he gave them. Josts’ “#WhyVinDieselTrippin” and Kid Rock jokes were Ok.

• I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see Marcello and Jane's severely mismatched couple return. I actually liked these characters during their debut in Mulaney's episode from November and I still think this is the best use of Marcellos “loud shouting man” persona.

• Among Marcellos’ stand out jokes were Romeo & Juliet, going “stupid on a woodwind”, Doctor Who and doing dishes/cooking.

• The gag of Jane deadpanning risqué, suggestive/aggressive lines still works.

• The Russell Brand/Chris Brown flashback from Jost worked for me the way they intended, though. I ALMOST liked that code breaker joke.

• I liked Josts’ Subway Nachos/Goofy stuffed animal joke but the HBCU joke that preceded it may have been the point when the joke portion of this Update started to lose its sharp focus (hey, at least Che got through another whole Update without another “hey, it's the ‘90s”). The Hooters joke could've derailed it completely but the next commentary stopped this whole Update from falling off a cliff.

• I was DEFINITELY on board with Ego “Ms Eggy” Nwodim as a Queen Of Def Jam Comedy from the get go (even if her “voice” seemed to be a mix of Lisa From Temecula, Esther from Sanford & Son, her “TSIDDAHN!!!” teacher and her “Rich Auntie With No Kids” among possible others.  

• Her reaction to certain unexpected audience reactions really made this for me (and made me genuinely wonder if there could be any “fallout” from this or if this portion could be included in any possible 10pm “vintage” rerun slot). B-

Making Love

• Right off the bat, this seems like an exact cross between a similar high wire sketch from 2019 with Cecily Strong and Chance The Wrapper and both of Melissa Villaseñors’ “dirty talk” sketches with Aziz Ansari and Donald Glover.

• The “champagne” joke worked for me. Not sure we needed Bowen as the “third” but Brandi Carlile as the “fourth” fully justified his appearance.

• I could see this not quite working as well with any lesser hosts (or musical guests for that matter) but Jack Black and Brandy Carlile really had the gravitas to hit this out of the park. 

• I also liked how they pulled out to reveal the stagehands operating the cables on the side of the stage. B-

Bass Lake Jam Session

• Hmm, what if a cover performance of Tom Pettys’ “Free Fallin'” had so many bass players it literally caused structural damage to the pier it was being played on?

• Well, this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jack Black is the only performer on Earth that can make this specific sketch premise work. I love how he provided the detail heavy nature that needed to work.

• Is that Dismukes on drums?

• Thankfully, this didn't turn out to be a sketch that Heidi would ruin with her newest impossibly dumb one off character being the main focus. I mean, I wasn't exactly worried this sketch would tank when I saw her show up. Well, let's just say I was more…distracted…than worried and leave it at that (‘cuz I couldn't quite tell if those were 100% her real ones either…but anyway, moving on).

• I got a kick out of Marcello bringing up spoons and then saying they were just for crack.

• I got a kick out of Bowen bringing up his base in a keyboard shaped carrying case.

• Hey, any sudden appearance of The Simpsons theme song is A-OK in my book!

• The gag with Ego's dog being a bass player too was just goofy enough to work for me.

• Oh hai, Devon & Ashley.

• This reminded me a bit of an MTV Spring Break sketch with Cameron Diaz where Amy Poehler is taking song requests and is increasingly frustrated that everyone keeps requesting “That Don't Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain…even Tracy Morgan. Anyone else? No? Care to watch the sketch on TikTok? No? How about this other sketch from season 27 that the Preparation H thing reminded me of?

• Anyway, a surprisingly strong sketch for the back half of the show. 

• …and yeah, while I'm posting links to random season 27 sketches i found on TikTok I might as well share this one with you since it was the one that this sketch apparently reminded everyone else of. B+

WWII Times Square Kiss

• Hmm, I feel like I may have heard a joke with this exact same premise somewhere recently, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this one. 

• All the performers in this did a fine job of selling those old timey ‘40s voices. Kenan and Mikey were…there, too.

• I did like the added detail of Jack's character just being an anti-Asian propaganda cartoonist whose work is considered too shockingly racist even for war time in the 1940s. 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. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
7. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
8. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
9. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
10. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
11. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
12. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
13. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
14. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
15. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
16. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
17. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

• Ok, this may or may not be a hot take but I say this episode may be perhaps the strongest contender for best episode of the entire season (if you don't count the 50th anniversary special from February as an “episode” like I do).

• I know that last week set a ridiculously low bar for this episode to clear but the show played so well to Jack Blacks’ dynamic energy and strengths as a host that you would think he may have been heavily involved with the writing and pitching.

• It also helped that after a week packed with old recurring sketch templates this episode gave us a lot of fresh, unique ideas that felt very original for this era of SNL (or at least put some new twists on some old concepts we may have seen before).

• While Ashley and Devon took some minor hits in airtime this week, it still felt like a week where no cast member was shut out entirely. In particular, James, Andrew, Heidi and Ego made great strides this week.

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, another four timer Jon Hamm makes his return to hosting after a 15 year absence of his own (minus the odd cameo every now and then).

• Whether in cameos or as a host, Jon Hamm was always a performer the show knew how to use effectively and two of his three host outings are certified classics, so let's hope that SNL can keep this weeks good, strong vibes going and hopefully ride that energy all the way to the end of the season next month.

• After I review that episode, the next post you're likely to see on this blog will be a review of the Julia Loius-Dreyfus/Paul Simon episode from season 31. Of course, this is going to be the next full length SNL episode that me and Deej will review for the We Heart Hader Podcast.

• Oh, that reminds me. You'll also be seeing a review of the Steve Martin/Prince episode on both the blog and the podcast this coming Thursday, April 10th.

• Have a good one, guys!

Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)

Founding Fathers

• Huh, an opening text scrawl. This should be a slightly more creative and pointed/poignant cold open than normal. Hey, wait a minute…

• Ok, Lin Manuel Miranda reprises his biggest role. That's unexpected. 

• Ah, I knew it. Well, even as Trump it's at least nice to see more JAJ airtime.

• Aside from the Office/Barron/Melania jokes and calling out the waste of an LMM cameo, not much of this is hitting with me so far.

• Nice jab at Elons’ relationship with his kids but a lot of this feels sadly toothless and hard to get into (aside from those “makeup” & “Eric” jokes)

• I liked the idea of a meta-jab at SNLs political sketches but the Hegseth/Zuckerberg joke was pretty awful.

• Well, if nothing else it's nice to see SNL go back to making political cold opens feel like as much of a non-event as they did prior to season 42. Yes, we got Lin Manuel Miranda but that at least served this sketch well and it wasn't exactly them going heavy on the stunt casting like they did when Baldwin was still hanging around. I'm just grateful a current cast member who's been on the show less than four years so far is playing the sitting president. C+

Monologue

• Right out of the gate, we're already directly addressing the double duty bookings. Allright. I would’ve liked the Gary Busey shout out a bit better if he'd done more with it.

• I'm liking this lower key, more sincere, less energetic monologue. It's more reminiscent of his season 46 monologue than his season 49 one so I'm on board with it right out of the gate.

• I like the goofy, meta self depreciating nature of this monologue with Kenan STILL beating him out for an imagined award he just wanted to finally read a speech for (even though we all know damn well that Timmy still has plenty if good years ahead of him to win various types of awards. I mean, look at Leonardo Dicaprio).

• Yeah, I got news for you Timmy. I WISH SNL did more “weird stuff” like this because this feels like the “weirdest” thing they've done in at least three years. B-

Bungee Class

• Oh, is this a very slight twist on the SoulCycle sketches from season 45 or an even slighter twist on the “booty” workout sketch from Megan The Stallions’ episode from season 48?

• It's nice to see Longfellow in a sketch even if he's just there to be tag team emasculated by Hedi and Timmy.

• Oh, and I see it's mostly just an excuse for everyone to swing around loosely. Too bad we didn't get some genuine non-manufactured breaking moments out of this. Sadly, this feels like an absolutely minimal twist on the Cecily Strong/Jason Bateman mall Santa sketch from season 46.

• I will admit I liked the Jimmy Carter joke and the Cinnabon cake thing was alright. Among other things, this needed a stronger ending. Hell, it needed an ending in general. C-

Medcast

• Huh, another “lol dudes and their podcasts, amirite?” sketch. Ok. I can get into it (not just as a podcaster myself…which I don't think should disqualify me from being able to talk about this sketch, by the way)

• I gotta say while this isn't the most ambitious premise ever I do like the way Andrew Dismukes and Heidi Gardner are coanchoring this. I like how they snuck in Ashley, Emil and Marcello, too.

• I wonder how Theo Von is gonna react? (‘cuz that's clearly who Dismukes’ character is a parody of here). His interaction with JAJ cracked me up.

• The only other critical thing I can say about this was that while I didn't hate seeing Mikey in this, he definitely felt like he was playing a role he should've aged out of by now. B+

New Barista Training

• Jane Wickline had some good lines in this. Timothee somehow looks impossibly young in this.

• This seemed way too scattershot for its own good at first but then Timothee and Kenans’ stand up jokes made me crack up.

• I feel like they leaned a bit too hard on the “big ol’ woman” jokes (and Mikey may have lapsed a bit too hard on his old habit of loudly over explaining whatever's’ going on in any given sketch) but still this might be the live highlight of the night for me. 

• I've heard that Carl Tart wrote this. Good for him. Part of me was expecting that PDD wrote it given how similar it was to their “Jim Hensons’ Kings Of Comedy Babies” pretape with Pete from last season but Carl really got something notable on the map here. B+

Oedipal Arrangements 

• Ok, I could already tell this was headed straight into Incest Town from the get go. It lingered there for a bit too long before taking an all too brief detour into Longfellows’ Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but I appreciated how strongly and intensely committed he and Heidi were to it. C+

Educational A.I. Podcast

• Hmm, while I appreciate the idea of a sketch where the basic message is “generative A.I. produces nothing but muddled trash and should be shunned” (and how restrained this was for something where Bowen was a main part of the comedic focus) I feel this sketch was a little too aimless and directionless for it's own good. At least Andrew, Ego and Marcello had the best lines in this though. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Jost & Che each had their share of decent jokes this week among the detritus. I liked Josts’ Trump/Lincoln, I.C.E./Churches, D.E.I, Spelling Bee and Oatmeal jokes. I liked Ches’ Bobert/MTG, Emilia Perez and Price of Eggs joke. They almost made up for how much of a letdown his Elon Musk joke was.

• Nice to see Ego back at the desk doing a niche yet still accessible character that seems more subtly played and laser focused this time. I chuckled at her “bowl cut/plate/Appalachian trail” string of jokes. 

• I especially liked seeing Dismukes and his puppet papa at the desk. I felt like I knew exactly what it was going to be (especially since it seemed like Jost was going to be doing similar jokes himself when he first started) but Andrew sold the hell out of it and injected it with some much needed wholesomeness that made up for it not going for hard laughs. I even liked the reveal at the end that Dismukes wasn't the sole puppeteer. 

• Overall, this felt like one of the more friendly and welcoming Jost/Che era Updates in a while and I liked that vibe it gave off. B+

If A Bunch Of Dumb Little Dogs Talked & Acted Like People

• Ok, I DEFINITELY spoke too soon when I called Medcast “unambitious” but this was…cute. Timothee, Marcello and Mikey weren't bad in it and I liked all the ladies’ parts. 

• Bowens’ part could've been cut but Kenans’ was OK. At least they knew exactly how long they needed to linger on that one. D+

Grandmas’ Birthday

• Ok, I got a little nervous when I heard the name “Kelsey” but thankfully I noticed Marcello was playing a distinctly non-Domingo role.

• Well, the “sudden medical emergency” nature of this sketch has me intrigued.

• …and even though this is essentially a long drawn out fart joke, I appreciate how this is played fairly subtly and with a drawn out, uncomfortable shock at the sheer strangeness of what they just saw. C-

An SNL Animated Short: God

• Well, on the one hand, even if it ain't no TV Funhouse I like the idea of a new regular animated segment appearing on SNL.

• On the other hand, I feel like the idea of “Gods’ team pitching and working out the kinks on the universe” is an idea we've seen executed better on SNL before (particularly in the Anya Taylor-Joy episode and in a cut sketch from Kristen Wiigs’ season 42 episode) so I felt like I couldn't fully get into this.

• Still, while the idea of Chalamet playing God as a seemingly Coke-addled manchild/bro type wasn't exactly the best twist on this, I did laugh at the “Gooby, the creature with the sun in his mouth”. C+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
5. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
6. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
7. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
8. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
9. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
10. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
11. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
12. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

• I have already seen some out there declare this episode the best of season 50 so far. While I wouldn't necessarily argue with that sentiment, (hell, there's a couple things in particular that kept it well out of my top five for this season) I clearly didn't rank it that high myself (but this episode did cause me to rethink my season rankings so far and rearrange them in a way I feel makes much more sense).

• To me, this episode couldn't quite escape the January blahs (or just the season 49/50 blahs in general) it does stand out. I do appreciate the shows willingness this week to genuinely experiment in the writing department and try some new things instead of falling back on old recurrers like Tiny Horse and Rap Roundtable (although part of me does hope the one I heard they tried at dress rehearsal that got cut does find its way to YouTube)

• Most of all, I appreciate that this episode allowed cast members like Andrew Dismukes, Michael Longfellow, Mikey Day, James Austin Johnson and (to a lesser extent) Ashley Padilla, Jane Wickline and Emil Wakim to make up for lost time as they have barely been on at all lately.

• Timothees’ more matured and mellowed performances as host certainly helped as well. His musical performances were intriguing enough and part of me is actually surprised they got Sandler to cameo just to introduce him.

• Overall, this was a slightly better lead up to the 50th anniversary special next month that I was expecting. Even though I personally found it a bit uneven in spots, there was a decent spark to it. Even during sketches with derivative and slightly unoriginal premises on display, the execution had something that saved them.

Closing Thoughts 

• The next new live “episode” the show has advertised is the SNL 50th Anniversary Special airing in Prime Time on Sunday, February 16th. After that, there will be another new live episode airing on Saturday March 1st with an as of yet unannounced host/MG lineup.

• I may make it a point to watch the 50th anniversary special. I'll see if I have enough thoughts on it to cobble together a decent sized blog entry but in the near future, you may want to look out for a few more retro SNL reviews here. Specifically, ones for the Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys episode from season 31 and Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne episodes from season 32. As far as Deej and I have talked and planned it out so far, those will be the next full length SNL episodes we cover on the We Heart Hader Podcast. 

• Who knows? We might be able to get our first ever guest to come on for one of those episodes! Only me and Deej have even the foggiest idea who that may be. Chances are that guest has no idea they're even gonna be invited on yet. Hell, it could even be you, yes, YOU out there reading this sentence right now.

• As far as what we HAVE set in stone for the pod, the next episode of We Heart Hader will be our first character spotlight on Vinny Vedecci which, with any luck, SHOULD be released this coming Thursday January 30th (and come to think of it, I may have enough notes to cobble together a blog entry for THAT one too!)

• In the meantime, feel free to check out our first two shows if you haven't yet. Feel free to leave a rating and review, if you'd be so kind. See you in a few weeks!

Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)

Week Old Pre Show Thoughts 

• (*sigh*) Well, just when we all thought we dodged a bullet when Bill Burr was announced as host a few months ago SNL was like “haha, you didn't think we'd let you off THAT easy, did you?” Still, it makes it marginally more bearable than Dave Chappelle is hosting the last show of this administration instead of the first show of the next one.

• Seriously, WHO ELSE has dropped out of hosting this season? I'm thinking someone may have dropped out last month and they found themselves scrambling to find a replacement for this month (more due to the Los Angeles fires than this being “awards season” most likely) because if they actually had this planned and booked that far ahead the only reason they waited until last week to announce it MUST have been to minimize any online backlash or bad press towards the show as much as possible.

• Still, being the obsessive SNL completionist that I am, I will give this episode a chance and go into it with an open mind just like I did his last one in 2022 (and other more groan-inducing host choices in the years leading up to that one). Considering how his 2022 episode turned out, my baseline expectation for this episode is just going to be an extremely mid (at best) cold open, a monologue that will undoubtedly be the most insufferable part if the show (if not the whole season if we're lucky) and some surprisingly decent live sketches that may only use our host sparsely mixed with some pretapes and Update features that turn out to be the only appearances that Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman make all night.

• Seriously though, I get why a lot of people chose to (at least jokingly) just tune out tonight's episode and just focus on the one we got coming up next week instead and I respect that choice. I chose to actively engage this episode for the sake of this blog in case some of you out there decided you'd rather read my takes on this episode before you decide whether to actively give your clicks and attention to any individual part of it online or otherwise. It sure helps that I had no other plans tonight and the snow and freezing temperatures we just got where I live kept me from wanting to go out anywhere after work tonight but more importantly I know if you're reading this than you trust my judgment on what SNL episodes and sketches are truly worth watching probably more than anyone else so…thank you. I'm very grateful to any and all of you taking the time to read this right now. I'll try to steer you in the right direction and not let you down.

• Anyway, let's get on with the show…

MSNBC Reports

• Hmm, another season 43 style topical grab bag style cold open. Great.

• I liked the idea of subtle underplayed cold open parodying MSNBC anchors. Hell, I even like Squirm playing a subdued Rachel Maddow (badly biffed lines and all) and Marcello quoting DMX/Eminem lyrics in a scholarly, dignified tone but I just don't think “the media being too obsessed with Trump's outlandish tweets to responsibly report on real news” is a fresh enough premise. That's something that's for sure been done to death eight years ago.

• Ego and Heidi had some good lines and I liked the “Trump/Up” tweet. Chloes’ impression is probably the one I liked the least. Personally, I think Michael Longfellow should've played Chris Hayes instead of Andrew Dismukes.

• JAJs rambling as Trump was OK but Bowen as George Santos was just pure white noise to me. C-

Monologue 

• Jesus, that home base stage lighting is certainly a choice. Hey, at least that's something we haven't seen before.

• HA!!! I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW Lorne wouldn't let old host booking habits die that easy!

• My God, Dave is rapidly devolving into brutal self parody with that mock humble smug smirk followed by that “I hate poor people” line.

• Boy, he's really toeing the line of “this is what turned people against him” with those “sodomites/West Hollywood” jokes, ain't he?

• Now, he's just burned off the lamest Luigi joke possible before going all the way back to September for an “eating the dogs and cats in Springfield, OH” joke.

• Oh Christ, he's comparing “being famous” to “storming the beaches of Normandy” with a fake smile. Maybe I spoke a little too soon when I said “I hate poor people” was self parody.

• Diddy jokes? Well, I guess…how ELSE could he follow “storming the beaches of Normandy?”

• He's debating whether or not he's too ugly to be invited to a “freak off” over Family Matters’ Carl Winslow. Well, at least its’...something different. How in the hell that “snitch energy” bit is killing with this audience (even with the obvious jerk off motion) is beyond me. At least with the “baby oil/crisco” stuff he's just devolving into a run of the mill, garden variety hack now.

• Ok, now he's transitioning into a drawn out serious story about meeting Jimmy Carter in the middle east 20 years ago that's genuinely poignant and heartwarming if nothing else. Now, that he's reaching the “sermon” part of his set and we're 25 minutes into the show at this point, this must be coming to a merciful close.

• Haha, somehow the funniest part of that monologue might have been him getting cut off right as he said “we've got a great show tonight”.

• I've seen worse standup material from Dave Chappelle on this show. There still isn't a ton that immediately stands out as “controversial” to me or anything as outright bad as the Kanye/Kyrie stuff from his 2022 monologue even after having chewed on this one a bit and seen what the other online reactions were. D-

Immigrant Dad Talk Show

• Well, I'm glad to see Marcello bring back this character. I just wish he would've made Emil his new co host rather than Chappelle who seems to absolutely be phoning it in here. 

• I will admit the “let me TikTok to you”, “OCDeez Nutz” and “fourth C/pussy” jokes made me smirk.

• Ok, the scene with Mikey kissing Dismukes was way too telegraphed for my liking but I did like Dismukes giving Mikey a piggyback ride out of nowhere. Devons’ cameo was nice. C-

Evacuation Alert

• The sheer surprise insanity of this sketch was enough to intrigue me. I did like Dave, Ego and Devons performances as well as the blood spray from Longfellow and the stuffed dog. It's nice to see fake blood worked into a sketch in a way that didn't feel like a tiree crutch.

• Chloe and her fake French kids could've been cut but other than that, this may have been the highlight of the show for me. It's nice to see something in a similar vein as that Ego & Beck short from Daves’ 2020 episode. B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Ok, I liked Josts’ Biden “ungrateful bastards” joke and Che's MLK/dementia/bra size jokes. I liked the sheer strangeness of the “soup drops” joke. Other than that, not much else hit for me except for Jost really throwing himself into the Louisiana/Jabba The Hut accents.

• Uh oh. RFK Jrs’ confirmation hearing is next week? Does this mean we could get a Baldwin heavy cold open on the 25th?

• I did like how Jost & Che seemed to be having some natural, almost wholesome fun without it seeming like they were trying to subtly “out edge lord” each other or who can subtly troll the audience…at first.

• Oh, its’ been a minute since Longfellow did a commentary as himself on the show and this commentary on the pitfalls of TikTok is actually funny. It's nice to see him attempt some low key Lovitz style “acting” moments. 

• I can't really think about the fact that Longfellow is talking about how TikTok (but more importantly smartphones in general) have destroyed people's attention spans and ability to engage meaningfully with the real world while I am typing this entire review of the show on my own phone, glancing back and forth between my phone screen and my TV screen. After all, the more I think about it, the more it cements for me the fact that this is the ideal way to watch an entire live episode of SNL all the way through, with plenty of much more meaningful distraction.

• Ok, is Josts’ “Hear Me Out” segment something that was tossed around for a joke swap and actually written this week because they were running THAT low on ideas this week? Was Louis C.K. a guest writer on Update this week? I can't think of any other reasons this might have been conceived.

• Hey, Squirm as Nosferatu sounds like something that's genuinely within her natural wheelhouse and SHOULD be showcased on the show (especially in this of all episodes) but it feels a little too long and the obligatory Jost roasts aren't hitting for me aside from the “nose/cocaine” ones. The jealousy stuff is OK and the period stuff was a decent left field addition just for how she pulled Josts’ reaction out of it. Other than that, while this wasn't my favorite thing Sarah has done on the show, it's still a bit better than a lot of her recent output simply by being extremely “on brand” for her. C+

Police Sketch

• Hmm, a strange yet interesting sketch premise that allows Devon and Kenan to play well off each other. 

• I liked how the part where Kenan played it silently built to something. I also liked how it mixed some absurdity with some low key slice of life vibes. 

• Dave Chappelle not being in this sketch helped because he wouldn't have fit in Kenans’ role that well anyway. This would've been much too sincere and wholesome for Dave. B-

Pop That Balloon

• Yeah, there's no way I've seen whatever the hell YouTube thing this was based on but I generally liked this all the same.

• I only sense this is a real thing because I think I may have seen Ego post about it on her socials. Either way, this looks like something she may have had a hand in writing.

• Kenan and Devon played dumb sleazes very well and I liked Andrew's character.

• Although I feel the Player Haters segment went a little too long, I appreciate that they tried to naturally Trojan horse them and Ashy Larry on us rather than try to awkwardly force them into another prestige HBO drama or something. Even GloRillas’ cameo felt natural and not too shoehorned in.

• Huh, I'm actually surprised Jane Wickline was willing to appear onscreen with Dave in this. Too bad this appeared to be her and Ashley's only appearances all night. Sadly, they both still did better than Emil this week. 

• This was a nice showcase for all the ladies of the cast nonetheless. B-

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
5. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
6. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
7. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
8. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
9. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
10. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
11. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Ranking Each Of Dave Chappelles’ Episodes From Best To Worst

1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest (11.12.2016)
2. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
3. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.07.2020)
4. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, that was certainly the weakest of Dave's four SNL episodes so far (mostly due to it just having the stink of 2024/25 and season 50 all over it).

• Still, there were a few bright spots here and there so there were some pleasant times to be had. If nothing else, it was the MOST uneven and oddly paced Chappelle hosted SNL episode ever. I know, I know, they're all “uneven” and “oddly paced” due to the length of his fucking monologues nowadays bur this one also frontloaded itself with most of it's weaker material leaving most if the better stuff for the end (and sprinkled over Update a bit somehow).

• Still, I can't be too mad at it since I got pretty much exactly what I was expecting from a Chappelle SNL episode; but just a much more empty “mid” version of that formula given his previous outings.

• I would say this episode is almost on the same level as Martin Shorts’ from last month. They both felt empty but whereas Shorts’ was overloaded with guest cameos and recurring sketches, Chappelles’ was overloaded with mostly his standup material and other than that they mostly tried to do different, more original, unique things this week in a few spots (Evacuation, Police Sketch, Longfellow on Update). There were still a few recurring sketch templates though (cable news cold open, recurring talk show, YouTube related pretape). Too bad what they tried to do different wasn't enough to excite me about this episode. The highs weren't that high (considering it was a January episode and all) but the lows weren't as low as I was expecting (considering who the host was).

• As far as cast airtime goes, Emil sadly got shut out entirely. Ashley, Jane, JAJ, Kenan, Chloe, Mikey, Heidi and somehow Marcello took some hits but made their presences known. As expected, Ego & Devon had strong nights. Surprisingly, we saw a bit more of Bowen and Sarah than expected and Dismukes …reminded us he is still on the show.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, SNL has officially entered 2025. Whoopee.

• Next week, Timothee Chalamet returns to the show for his first time as host and (somewhat surprisingly) his first time as a musical guest! Timothee has been a solid host in the recent past and I'm intrigued to see how SNL is going to commit to something it hasn't really officially tried before because MY GOD they've got to try SOMETHING even remotely different at this point. See you then!

Shameless Podcast Plug

• The second episode of “We Heart Hader” is officially available on Spotify, Audible, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever else you can get your podcasts from. 

• This episode is titled “No Small Roles” where Deej and I each examine various bit parts, from substantial support roles to “blink and you'll miss him” type bit parts and evaluate whether the whole movie is worth seeing just for Bills’ part or if you're better off just watching a clip of his role online.

• Deej and I just recorded episode three this past Wednesday. It will be our first SNL “Character Spotlight” on Vinny Vedecci. 

• Hope you're listening and enjoying the podcast so far! Please feel free to rate and review!

Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)

Long Brewing Pre Show Thoughts

Hi, everyone. I know it's been a rough week, but if you found yourself in the right headspace to read this review as a bit of distraction, I'm glad you're here.

I'd like to start this review by copying and pasting an actual Facebook status I posted eight years ago around this time. I feel the message is still relevant this week.

"Wow.

I'm stunned. Crushed under the weight of the world and completely at a loss for words right now.

Still, I can't even imagine the things that are racing through the minds of my friends who, unlike me, are NOT straight white cisgendered men.

We, as humans, will somehow make it through this just as we have made it through other disastrous events before.

We just need to find the reserves of courage and strength within ourselves (and MOST importantly) EACH OTHER to get to that light at the end of the tunnel, no matter what happens.

So, if ANY of you out there (especially those women and those POC/LGBTQ individuals out there) like ME need to reach out to another human being and feel less alone in this world...

I'd like to be here for all of you. PLEASE reach out to me if you have any feelings of anxiety or general panic you would like to express. 

I feel for you and can empathize with all of you while I process this. We are all human and we will all find our way."

Yes, that was a depressing time for me as well. Eight years later, I mostly feel a numbness more than an outright depression. 

Maybe I'm just older and a bit more jaded or maybe the fact that he got elected and served a four year term once already helped me absorb some of the shock of this but I'm grateful for two things I have now that I did not have then; a job and a steady income. 

Yes, at least I do have a schedule to adhere to and more structure in my life to help distract me and get me through the next few weeks and months.

So, if you're struggling right now just know that I'm here for you and I care about you. Take some time for self care and to do what you need to do in your own life and whenever you're ready come back ready to fight. We'll figure out a way to fight back against this thing once we know more about what's actually going to happen.

Now, on to the show...

Plea To Trump

- Like many of you, I was also wondering what this week's cold open would be and how they would address the week's events striking the appropriate balance between "appropriately maudlin" and "appropriately funny". Part of me was hoping they would do something more original than...what we got eight and four years ago around this time.

- Well, I'm glad they didn't go full on "Hallelujah/somber musical number" mode (not sure that was warranted this time and the moment when Kate did it is usually looked on derisively now...even if it probably "met the moment" better than most of the material in this episode did). They actually tried to give us something with a hint of satire to cut the treacle. It's always nice to see SNL buck even the most basic expectations with it's cold opens. Bowens' "breathalyzer" line made me chuckle and if they had to throw the newest cast members under the bus, I'm glad this turned out to be FAR from the only screen time they would get.

- This gave me strong flashbacks to the cold open to the Shelly Winters episode of Friday's from January 1981 shortly after Reagan got elected (look it up on YouTube kids) or the monologue Jon Keister did on Almost Live shortly after the Republicans took congress in 1994. This is more in line with what the show should be aiming for in terms of political sketches.

- JAJ (boy, he must be going through a range of emotions, right now, huh?) as Rambo Trump (I think the Weird Al/UHF fan in me helped me appreciate that one) and especially Carveys' Elon Musk were my favorite parts of this. Well, I liked Carveys' Elon better than his Biden anyway. 

- Sure, I've seen more accurate Elon impressions than Carveys' warmed over Hans but I just generally approve of any portrayal of Elon Musk that makes him out to look like the big fuckin' dumbass he really is. B+

Monologue 

- Huh...well, the flu/plane/foot stuff didn't do much for me but the "God made this guy" bit got this off to a decent start. I laughed at Bill calling Kamala a "real estate agent who speaks through her nose". I also liked the "Trump goes to McDonald's" stuff and his Shaquille O'Neal impression was fun and genuinely not dicey at all. 

- Speaking of "not meeting the moment correctly" the "pantsuit" rant is gonna make pretty much all of social media insufferable for a day or two...but then again Bill Burr complained about a lack of "empathy" so...as always, you can at least tell his heart's in the right place. 

- Does Bill Burr seriously think that the first assassination attempt WASN'T...ah, never mind, let's not go there right now. C+

Firefighters

- I liked how Bill played off the sheer deranged absurdity of this like it was nothing. 

- I'm not surprised at all that Steven Castillo came back to write this. Anything with homemade cartoon porn seems like it would be right up his alley. Nice use of JAJ & Emil Wakim, though. B-

Buffalo Wild Wings

- Ok, it took me all of three seconds to figure out that this would be the obligatory "Mikey adjacent Boston Masshole" pretape. Still, he and Burrs' wildly off topic rants and their hockey fight at the end made this funny. B-

The Best Of Snakeskin

- Good to see another JAJ/Dismukes musical pairing (with an assist from Sarah) that actually works after "Remember Lizards" fell flat.

- I remember, in his last season (possibly the 47 premiere?) when Pete Davidson did a Weekend Update commentary deconstructing 80s hair/glam metal. This basically felt like that was thrown in a blender with "Best Of T.T. & Mario" and "Chucky Lee Byrd" but the way this was performed and written really helped save this. 

- My only complaint would be that the "molestation" references were a little overdone. B-

The Janitor

- I can see how this seemed a little too silly, overlong and unfocused for some but the performances from Burr, Dismukes, JAJ and Thompson were what put it over for me. 

- I have grown some appreciation for the "genius mathematician/dumbest Janitor ever" duality that was secretly a secret theme in this.

- JAJ as Robin Williams whole character was nice even if his whole beats felt a bit too telegraphed. C+

Calling Dad

- It's nice to settle down a bit and focus on something that has a point. Still, it feels like it might have been a little much this far into a Bill Burr hosted episode to have another piece focused on how older men communicate and/or stifle their emotions. I mean, it kinda feels like we may have covered that territory in "Buffalo Wild Wings" and "Snakeskin" but it's nice to see something with sharper and more grounded writing than those. B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

- Jesus, it's called "reading the room", Colin. Look into it.

- Even Che seemed focused tonight. He even bought back his "guy who's no longer hiding his drinking problem" character. That was fun during the pandemic. Hell, he only got one sexist joke and one "it's the 90s" reference in tonight. Good on Che for finally showing some restraint.

- Nice to see another high concept character from Ego at the desk. I especially like the gun and ballot stuff. The ending was a nice micro format break from Update.

- I was never all that crazy about Kenans' "Willie" character but I did like the "hide" and "hitting Lorne" bits. C-

We Are Bald Men

- I like the sudden appearance of a silly 1950s MST3K style marching band song coming out of nowhere. Something about this made it feel timeless, like it could've been done in any previous era of the show (mainly the 80s and early 90s, give or take some specific "famous bald man" references). Even though it didn't go anywhere, it was a nice bit of near blackout silliness. B-

Trauma Support Group

- Weirdly, the biggest laugh I got out of this was probably at the Tubi jokes. Otherwise, it felt like another Bowen vanity piece, but toned down and edited take away focus from him. This ended up being my least favorite sketch of the night.

- Burr gave an odd performance in this. It felt like he was trying to play against type in a way that didn't quite land. 

- Nice use of Jane (who's taken a bit of a hit tonight but at least she's already established herself by this point and this leaves room for other newbies to get some airtime).

- I like that Ashley Padilla got a substantial role in this but again, I'd like to see her more in the show outside of straight support roles. C-

Funniest Table

- Wow. Spoke too soon, huh? I feel like I've seen elements of this sketch elsewhere, but I like that Ashley is finally getting something big. Not crazy about how repetitive her part is or how she's giving off strong "female Kyle Mooney" vibes, but she is giving it her all. C+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
5. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
6. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Overall Thoughts

- This may have been the most divisive episode of the season, but for some reason I enjoyed it.

- It was another uneven episode but it was uneven in a good way. The writers felt like they had to take some wild swings through most of the middle of this episode.

- Comparing this one to Bill Burrs' 2020 episode, that one was filled with reoccurring or reused premises and even hackier political material so, really aside from the monologue, most of this episode was better than his last one.

- Most of these choices paid off when they were focused on just giving us some non-topical silliness, but the stuff at the top of the show (y'know what most of America ACTUALLY pays attention to) is guaranteed to rub some people the wrong way, so...no real difference there except that most of the pressure was off so they felt more free to do whatever the hell they wanted.

- Cast use is still pretty even. Everyone made an appearance tonight (except Chloe, but no big loss there). Jane Wickline took a bit of a hit this week but at least that left room for the other newbies to fill the void. Emil Wakim in particular had an unusually outstanding night for a first year featured player. Ashley Padilla really made her presence known, but I still feel like I haven't gotten a bead on her real personality as a performer yet.

- Also having strong nights tonight were Ego, JAJ, Dismukes, Bowen (for better or worse). Marcello, Sarah, Devon, Heidi and Kenan were reliable background presences.

- I do like how they minimized JAJs' Trump impression this week and let him mostly pop up on smaller roles he could really score in. JAJ is a likable performer, so the audience should get plenty of chances to see what else he can do so they don't get sick of him for one of the main reasons they turned on Alec Baldwin years ago.

Closing Thoughts 

- Well, that was that. Next week, two time musical guest Charli XCX makes her double duty hosting debut just in time for Thanksgiving.

- This is one I am cautiously optimistic about (emphasis on "cautiously" there). While I certainly like seeing her on the show, I could never tell whether she had any real comedic chops or not. Dua Lipa seemed like she did but her episode was disappointing for reasons that mostly had to do with the writing.

- I'd say we might be past the era where female pop stars host SNL and can produce solid episodes, but Ariana Grande did just that a month ago (and she managed to do it without bringing out the worst of Bowen either

- Then again, the shows closest to Thanksgiving tend to be disappointingly weak anyway, so...who knows? Anyway, stay safe and warm out there everyone!

John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)

 Sudden Pre-Show Thoughts

- Ok, when I heard Kamala Harris was actually appearing on the show tonight, I had some... mixed feelings. For one thing, I've been feeling that we may be past the point where it would be considered appropriate let alone hip, cool or media savvy for an active presidential candidate to make an appearance on this show since...well, since the time one of THIS race's candidates actually hosted nine years ago at the start of his first campaign but that's also the least of my worries at the moment.

- I mean, as heavily skewed as the polls seem to be right now (at least not counting the ones you somehow see from Elon Musk on that damn former "bird" site he's been running into the cold, cold ground), all signs point to her gaining significantly on Trump in recent weeks. I certainly don't want for her or the show to accidentally jinx that. I mean, I think she's definitely held her own in recent "hostile" interviews and not taken any reporters bait or anything, so...she's not in any SERIOUS danger of losing at this point, riiiiiiiight?

- I immediately flashed back to John McCains' appearance on the last pre-election episode of 2008. It was pretty obvious that he was there to loosen up and have fun as even HE was aware he was likely going to lose that election. I certainly didn’t want anyone heading into a potential Kamala Harris cameo with that mindset (after all, if I were a supporter of TFG I wouldn't still be watching the show closely enough to be able to maintain this intensely detailed blog about it, would I? I mean, HE hasn't even TWEETED about it in at least five years). Speaking of...

Last Campaign Stops

- JAJs' Trump ramble seems a bit sharper, more biting and focused than normal. Getting their potential last possible jabs in before the show goes off the air, I see?

- ...and the Dem Ticket Cameo Crew comes in to lay on the schmaltz and slow the momentum a bit, I see. I liked Carveys' "riff" line and Sambergs' "Doug" lawsuit joke, but that was it. Also, it's strange to hear just the word "Twitch" alone get a round of applause, but...OK.

- I see the Kamala cameo is amounting to...literally just the Clinton/Poehler cameo of March '08 but just done 3 Coolidges 3 mirror style. I was a little disappointed at this being the conceit of Kamalas' cameola...yeah, Ok, I'm not gonna try to riff on that part but I will say that the real Kamala did make that "open doors" line land better than it had any right too.

- Still, for something that was obviously written and conceptualized at the last possible minute after the cameo appearance was arranged like, a day or two earlier, this was a nice sincere moment that I ultimately can't get too mad at in the moment (and I don't really see too much for Twitter to get mad at right now either). 

- I know there is a real sense of mutual love and respect for one another between Maya and the current vice president. I can see this as the real Kamala just wanting to unwind for a night and have fun before possibly the most tense moment of her entire life next week. 

- Depending on what happens on Tuesday night, we could turn a more critical eye to this later on, but for right now, I'm not gonna be too hard on it. C+

Monologue 

- Gee, I feel a bit worse for Mulaney having to follow that than I should've. Him starting off with a riff on "descending height asians" didn't exactly put me at ease.

- While this one didn't exactly charm me as much as Mulaneys' previous five SNL host monologues, I did genuinely laugh at his "hand bandaid/traditional catholics/118 year old grandpa jokes." His "physical therapy" bit was charming as well. C+

What's That Name? Election Edition

- Ok, the way they used this as the framework for the actual Tim Kaine cameo and Squirms' Margaret Atwood in service of stinging jabs at the emptiest, most overly performative kind of liberalism makes up for the "Longfellow filling in for Hader" thing.

- Don't get me wrong, I like seeing Lomgfellow get the game show host roles for as long as he can get them. He just may not have the timing or the stage presence that Hader bought to these sketches. This dragged in some spots, but that's not necessarily a dig at ol' Mikey Longs here. I'm still just as glad to be in the Longfellow business as anyone. 

- Jon Schneider raised an interesting point I hadn't considered in his latest SNN hot take show for this episode that the placement of this sketch right after a sincere emotional moment with the actual democratic party candidate currently running makes the jokes hit harder. B+

Midnight Matinee: Beppo Goes Home

- This was a long journey, but I really appreciated the focus on thoroughly unexpected sweetness over cheap gore and shock value. This is what the Squirm/Dua Lipa Elephant Man short from May should have aspired to be. 

- I think "Midnight Matinee" has more than earned its place in the SNL pretape pantheon with this short. I just hope if Dan Bulla keeps making "it's about the journey, not the destination" style comedy his WHOLE thing he branches out a little more in terms of how to pull off exposition. B+

Port Authority Duane Reade Milk Medley

- Ah, I should've figured another NYC centric musical medley would be what Pete Davidson cameos for.

- This was as much of an unfocused mess as most of the rest of these, but I still liked it better than "Subway Churro". 

- Kenan struggling not to break through parts of the Possum Lion King number was perhaps the best part of...that number. I wasn’t crazy about the "bum fights" joke.

- Sadly, Marcello as singing shampoo was my least favorite part of this. Pete and John calling each other by their real names were the funniest part of that one. 

- Bowen singing "Master Of The Bus" to "Master Of The House" was...well performed but not something I knew what to make of right away. Was that Pete who giggled loudly upon Bowens' entrance.

- Chloe singing "Chalamet" to "Cabaret" is something that probably should've been more hated if it weren't the best possible use of her Timothee Chalamet character (I can hardly call it an impression)

- I liked seeing Devons' Eric Adams again, but the "Prince Of Turkey" number was lost on me.

- Andy Samberg singing "Baby Bear Carcass" to "Alexander Hamilton" was the best possible way to end this. Too bad the lyrics to that closing Grease parody were swallowed up by audience applause. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

- I liked Josts' "audited" joke but wish he could've gone a little darker with it. His "Yankees fans stealing" joke was solid. Plus, he addressed that Kill Tony/Puerto Rico controversy in the classiest way the show possibly could (for better or worse). Che's "MSG rally" jokes were...serviceable but his "popsicle" joke was possibly the most soul crushing thing I've ever witnessed on a 21st century Weekend Update.

- Heidi's Reba commentary was a mess, but she had decent lines in it. That impression was way the hell off (her voice ain't that deep) but I liked the Gwen Stefani/methodist-athiest/papa Pennywise jokes.

- The Marcello/Jane pairing was stronger than it had any right to be. I mean, I probably laughed more than I should have at what amounted to "Marcello turns your eardrums to fine powder while Jane is ten times mousier than normal" but somehow they both pulled their weight to put this over for me.

- I see that Pete didn't appear on Weekend Update at all...and I didn't see Jost during the goodnights at first glance. Hmm, doesn't do much to squash those rumors of beef between the two, does it? B-

Sitcom Pioneers: Family Bonds 

- Ah, a "Switcheroo" retread? OK, let's see where this goes.

- Speaking of performers putting things over way more than they had any right to be put over, Kenans' Little Richard was quite fun here. I mean, I've seen better Little Richard impressions in sketch comedy, but Kenans' was very unique to him, and it livened up this sketch quite a bit.

- The only real complaint I have about this is that the Bowen/Mulaney scenes dragged a bit and hurt the pacing. I thought this was a fine "Switcheroo" sequel even if it didn't quite measure up to the densely packed writing of the original. B+

Harvey Epstein For City Council

- This comes across as a direct cross between Jon Hamms "Pat Finger/Deldeaux" and Will Ferrels' local candidate who had his genitals burned off in a fire from season 24. I liked those sketches, and I liked this too.

- Mulaney really sold the hell out of this (and I say this not having seen any footage of the actual Harvey Episode Mulaney is impersonating here) with some assists from Heidi, Sarah, Andrew & (thankfully) Ashley. They didn't have to do too much heavy lifting here as the writing behind this was strong enough to support it. B+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
4. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
5. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Ranking Each John Mulaney Episode (Best To Worst)

1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett (03.02.2019)
2. John Mulaney/Jack White (03.14.2018)
3. John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem (02.26.2022)
4. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
5. John Mulaney/David Byrne (02.29.2020)
6. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.2020)

Overall Thoughts 

- For better or for worse, this IS the first time that SNL season 50 felt like the exact type of "event" it deserved to be in 2024. The show was still a bit uneven writing wise but the energy in the studio was the highest it's been all season at this point (even as much as that's due to Mulaney being hyped up as host and certain other cameos).

- John Mulaney did a fine job hosting as expected (as seriously "hands off" as he felt this time), but this episode is better viewed through the lens of season 50 and the history of elections playing out on the show than among the all time pantheon of John Mulaney hosted episodes. It's definitely going to be better remembered as a big "of the moment" episode for its time (like his 2020 episodes were but in a much less dire way) since it lacks some of the more unique comedic experiences that made Mulaneys' early episodes (and his second to last one) stand out as well as they did. 

- The few attempts to call back to the recurring sketches he first helmed as a host mostly fell flat and came up empty. Still, the few highs were decently high this week (again, mostly energy more than writing) and the lows were merely "mid".

- Cast airtime feels slightly imbalanced but this week, but that's mostly due to Mulaney and outside cameos dominating the show paired with Ashley and (now sadly) Emils complete underuse in live sketches (at lesst Ashley delivered one of the better standalone lines in the back half of the show). 

Closing Thoughts

- Well, that was the energy and enthusiasm boost this show needed to help push season 50 over. SNL may have just earned it's keep.

- Next week, Bill Burr hosts for his second time, and I know I'm not alone in stating that I'm so relieved that they didn't make a worse choice here.

- I may have to reevaluate Burrs season 46 episode. I remember liking what Burr bought to the show, but I also remember still having ranked it at the bottom of my rankings list from that season while othersI know ranked it at the top. Keep in mind, this was still the second episode ever from that season so that just may be me not being used to the far less electric, much more muted vibes that a limited, masked socially distanced Covid era audience bought to the show. 

- Maybe THAT audience just didn't know how to react to him in sketches. Oh, well. Maybe a full audience will elevate him and help him push through some potentially awkward and REALLY dead energy to come (God forbid it comes to that). See you then!

Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)

 Family Feud Election Showdown

- Huh, I certainly wasn't expecting them to dig this template out of mothballs. They were always the strongest use of Kenans' Steve Harvey impression. That "Diddy parties" joke made me laugh. I always liked...some of these, but I'm not sure the current cast/visiting cameos can really pull these off. 

- This wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's not completely inappropriate. I wouldn't have made it the cold open, though...but OK.

- All this season's big cameos still work in this format, I guess. It's not the most ambitious thing they've done, but I haven't been expecting much from this season's election material going in.

- I guess it was real slim pickings this week for the cold open. They didn't have much else to choose from besides "wow, Kamala Harris sure did a lot of interviews this week, didn't she?" and yeah, I can see how hard it would be to stretch that alone into a cold open, so they just had Maya acknowledge that quickly and...move on?

- When Carveys' Biden gets more laughs out of me than Gaffigans' Walz, something may be wrong.

- JAJ as Trump has gotten a bit more...visually jarring. Hope he's not wearing out his voice too much doing this. I liked the brief "where's Melania?" fakeout here but other than that, the writing for the republican side if this was just...a whole lotta nothing. At least this ended much quicker than I was expecting and at least this was more watchable than the Game Of Thrones vs Avengers Family Feud Cold Open they did a few years back (but not that much better than the Trump vs Hillary Family Feud from a few years before that). C-

Monologue 

- So, she's basically singing Justin Timberlakes' 2011 monologue to the tune of Jean Smarts' monologue from...last month?

- Oh, I see. It's now a medley including "Baby One More Time" and "Don't Speak". The Miley impression was...fine.

- It's like they suddenly remembered Arianas' Tidal sketch from 2016 was a viral semi-hit and thought on Thursday "oh wait, we forgot to write another one of these for her...ah, screw it, we'll just make that her monologue this time."

- Bowen in drag. Should've expected that.

- Meh. Not a great start so far, but the hardest part may be out if the way. Let's see what else they got. D+

Singing Bridesmaids

- Ok, now she IS singing...again. Now, it's a purposely bad, off key parody of "Espresso".

- The lyrics are just as jumbled as the original but at least I can sense that the point of this song seems to be to humiliate Andrew Dismukes' groom character. He might be the strongest part if this sketch, so...good for him. I liked his "rhyme scheme" line.

- I'm starting to think this may just be just his "island castaway" sketch with Jason Momoa from last year...just set to pop music and set arcade wedding.

- Now, Marcello shows up as the guy they were singing about. Not crazy that the ending was so rushed here, but at least it did end. I was starting to think it never would. D+

SNL Midnight Matinee: My Best Friend's House

- Hmm...new title card? Possible new branding for pretapes?

- Nice use of Pee Wees' Playhouse style puppetry in this. 

- This was obviously more "cute" than "funny" until the insane sudden reveal if Mikeys ' dad being a serial killer.

- Sarah appears as a severed head in a fridge. Honestly, a bit surprised she didn't have a much bigger part in this. Still, this one of the more successful outings of the "sudden explosive, near vomit inducing gore" pretapes she's been involved with in the past couple of years.

- A Dan Bulla Short? Good for him getting to branch out into directing from *just* writing. Since his ending vanity card indicates he also wrote/directed/produced "Tiny Horse", "Shrimp Tower", "Meatballs" and "Pongo", it looks like they might have been grooming him to take the Smigel/PDD/TLI mantle since...season 49 or 46 at the earliest? B-

Charades

- Jane and (especially) Emil are featured prominently in this. Let's see where this goes. (Spoiler alert: no where for Jane and Emil sadly).

- Bowen seems to be playing a more low key grounded role here and his chemistry with Ariana actually works for me here. I like the idea of them sniping at each other. 

- Arianas' Judy Garland-esque 40s actress voice is a strong choice (is that her "big theater kid energy" coming out or...has it really been that long since she acted?) but it works well with the antagonistic energy of this.

- Dummy fight!

- This might have been my favorite live sketch of the episode. Well done. B-

Celine for UFC

- This may not be the first time Ariana has done her Celine Dion impression on SNL, but the sheer strangeness of this was enough to pique my interest. I didn't laugh a whole lot at it but, still...not bad. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

- Josts' "subway series/livestreamed car crash jokes" and Che's "R. Kelly" jokes were the only things from them that rose above the level of "white noise" for me. Che almost had something there with his his "78% of black voters" rant but...he didn't quite put that over for me.

- Hey, another wonderfully deranged, manic one-off Ego Update character! This was the exact type of performance I've always liked seeing from her! I especially liked the "drone/STD/USB" joke. Makes me feel a bit guilty about those new earbuds I ordered from Amazon on Wednesday, but...oh well.

- JAJ/Squirm is a pairing we have yet to have seen. Their Gallagher bros commentary may have been goofy and juvenile but...it certainly felt unique to their voices so it was easy for them to make this fun. C-

Sounds Of The Italian Renaissance 

- More JAJMukes nonsense leading into some Samberg/Rudolph nonsense mixed into a white sauce and drizzled over some pizza pasta to reveal that...Ariana is playing a castrati?

- This may seem quite juvenile but once we got to "opium induced coma" this had a "slightly writerly feel" to it. The thousand yard stare from Ariana added a likable oddness to this. It's at least nice to see Maya and Andy being used in the odd non political sketch deep in the show (like Maya was early on in season 46) as long as they're hanging around. Maybe they could get Gaffigan and Carvey in on this? Wouldn't hurt, imo.

- Once again, this sketch had not even a trace of an ending. They just took the longest way possible to there "how do we even follow THAT?" point of the sketch and just slammed on the brakes there, as if they had to make some abrupt sudden cuts out of nowhere. That was the only thing this had really going against it. C+

3 Jennifer Coolidge(s) 3 For Maybelline 

- I didn't mind either Chloes' or Arianas' Coolidge impressions. I certainly wasn't expecting them to have both of them do their impressions together Fallon/Jagger style. I mean, it's not great that this is mostly making me wonder why the actual Jennifer Coolidge hasn't hosted yet, but it's not taking anything away from this episode at this point.

- Carvey as Coolidge was a nice (if not jarring) addition to this. (Careful what I wish for, huh?) Thankfully, he kept this from getting too monotonous (even if all his impressions sound like they're running together now). 

- I wonder if this was originally a pitch Chloe was saving for the real Jennifer Coolidge if the last writer's strike didn't happen and she got to host the season 48 finale? C+

Hotel Detective

- Wow, helluva quick change for Ariana there. They really slammed into this one. (*someone whispers in Caseys' ear*) What's that? Oh, there WAS no quick change? Oh, this sketch is actually a pretape of a live sketch that was originally cut from dress rehearsal suddenly tossed in because the soundboard froze for a like a full minute before Stevie performed "Edge Of Seventeen" and thus the entire shows' timing was thrown out if whack so a planned Reese De'What sketch about The Blob had to be cut? OK, then. 

- They haven't put any live looking non commercial pretapes into the show since at least 2002 so this felt like an interesting throwback in multiple ways.

- One good thing to come out of this episode was the opportunity for JAJ to do another old timey, fast talking 40s G-man voice. Nice of them to let Dismukes get in on this action. Ariana already did one of these but at least this sketch actually called for it. Plus, this also had a writerly feel to it, so...while I can see why this would've gotten cut (redundancy) it's nice to actually see it because it actually grows on you after multiple viewings. I have a feeling this would've gotten thrown up on YouTube either way.

- Ariana does Judy Garland and Dismukes does...either Charles Bronson or Rod Steiger? Either way, Andrew's enunciation was certainly...a strong choice.

- Wow, sudden Rod Serlongfellow! OK, that may have been the best ending to anything this entire episode could've asked for. I mean, I've seen better Rod Serling impressions on SNL but it was a breath of fresh air in this episode. B+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
3. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Overall Thoughts

- This was far from the worst show of the season so far, but not quite the best. It was wildly uneven. 

- It got off to a rough start but it took a lot more chances than either of this season's previous episodes. For the most part, they paid off and the episode grew on me.

- Ariana Grande turned out to be a strong host who worked well with any cast. She really elevated the material and the cast and writers really knew how to play to her strengths. 

- Bowen didn't quite have the big night I was expecting him to have in an Ariana Grande episode. Fortunately, JAJ and Dismukes had surprisingly strong nights. Chloe, Kenan and Longfellow did well, too.

- Jane and Emil continue to barely earn a paycheck while Ashley Padillas' conspicuous absence continues. I heard she had her own Update piece cut, so...progress? Keep at it, Ashley. You'll get some lines on screen at some point.

Closing Thoughts 

- Well, this season continues to show unexpected signs of promise. Next week, Michael Keaton hosts for his fourth time with Billie Eilish as musical guest. SNL has pulled off successfully good episodes with both of these people at the helm before, so I've been looking forward to this episode the most out of any others that have been announced so far. Hope they don't let me down! See you next week!

(Oh, and soon I will be publishing a blog I wrote reviewing the new film Saturday Night. Keep an eye out for that!)

Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)

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Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (04.13.2024)

Okay, here's my review. Thankfully, this show was as strong as last week's with Kristen Wiig but I would rank it JUST below that one (which still places it squarely in my top five for the season). The highs were a bit higher for me personally but the lows were a bit lower. Ryan Gosling still proved himself a dependable host. Still, he didn't seem as comitted this time and he REALLY ramped up the breaking like he just didn't care. It was clearly infectious and while he obviously raised cast morale quite a bit this year, I can't say for sure he alone elevated that much of the material. Cast airtime was a bit scattered. Molly, Longfellow and especially Ms. Troast made up for lost time but Marcello, Bowen, JAJ, Devon, Punkie and possibly Kenan took some minor hits this week. Mikey, Heidi, Ego, Sarah, Dismukes and Ms. Fineman continue to maintain steady visibility on the show. 
Fair warning, this is possibly the most DENSE review I have ever written, but I still stand by it, so...last chance to turn back now.
To those of you choosing to stay, let's get right to it because there is a LOT to break down tonight.

Good Grief! Even More Close Encounters - Heh, and here I was thinking that "Papyrus" would be the only sketch from Ryan's previous hosting stints they COULD revive without the pre-Ego cast...because y'know I wasn't COUNTING on them getting any previous cast members to cameo but I guess Ryan used his Barbie connection to at least get Kate to make a cameo...a few months after she actually hosted, but whatever. Well, at least Ryan and Kate still have the sense to know that without the breaking brought on by bawdy suggestive physical bits, these really lose something but (if you'll forgive my phrasing here) having Ryan sliding an extended dick joke made this feel a bit...masturbatory? Oh well, even though Bowen is prone to breaking as well (and Sarah is getting there) they along with Mikey really balanced this out with a professional demeanor. Even though this kinda breaks the continuity of Ms. Rafferty now living with the alien planet permanently, I still liked the concise, non-blowout out ending to this even if it was another group LFNY. I will admit I kinda liked Ryans meta "same clothes" joke at the beginning. C+

Monologue - Last time Ryan started playing piano during his monologue, I had trouble NOT completely tuning out until Emma Stone shows up. Now, hearing Ryan sing a half baked parody of Taylor Swifts' "All Too Well" (I guess this means we WON'T be getting to see TayTay on the show to plug The Tortured Poets Department?) was enough to keep me engaged until Emily Blunt promptly showed up and just straight up started smashing shit over Ryan's head stunt man style in an effort to remind Ryan what movie he is SUPPOSED to be plugging (before she joined in on the singing and improved the musical portions of this monologue) and I legitimately started laughing. *Man, that was a long ass run on sentence. I really need to learn to either edit these better or cool it with the parentheticals and/or self conscious meta commentary on my own writing style.* Anyway, while I didn't really have a problem with the lyrics of the song or how it was performed, I thought for a brief moment that I might have been a little too hard on that cold open. I mean, if the premise of this monologue is Ryan Gosling dramatically "breaks up" with a character that he just played in a movie, I defy anyone (myself included) to call this any LESS "masturbatory" than...well, anything really. On top of that, this monologue cuts directly to a trailer for "The Fall Guy" that shows the exact scene Ryan just described where Emily Blunt busts his balls for crying to the exact song he parodies here in his car. Tell me THAT'S not "masturbatory"! Anyway, while portions of this episode truly made me feel that at least one person in the writers room thought they were still living in 2018, this monologue alone made me feel like the show itself (and possibly just America in general) could barely let go of the fall of 2021 (or even the fall of 2014 if you remember the monologue to Woodys' last truly great episode of this show) LET ALONE THE SUMMER OF 2023! Still, as I continue to examine this monologue, I'm picking up on something deeper. Maybe we're not just stuck in the past as much as we are just trying to cling to the last few moments in time when there was still a shred of what we now call "monoculture" where there was something big enough for the whole world to grab onto and popularize in an effort just to distract ourselves, even momentarily from just our own anxieties in life or even the true horrors of the real world we were too sad to really think about. Maybe I'm reading WAY too much into something here but I suppose that's just what you get when it's 1:30am and you've been up since roughly 7am because that's just what your body is trained to do now so you've been essentially microdosing caffeine throughout the afternoon just for THIS...just because you know some people out there you know online read these regularly and decide "yes, this is for me" and you're doing this for them and we're all mutually in an effort to distract ourselves from...something in our lives? Anyway, sorry for getting TOO deep there. Now, since I've more than said my piece on this monologue I'll just move on as QUICKLY (and thoroughly) as I can with the rest of my review before the density of my writing creates a black hole or a supernova somewhere. B+

But first, here's another fun Simpsons Gif that monologue gave me the perfect excuse to post...

Yeah, this is gonna be a long and DENSE review, so I thought I would just throw that visual gag in there to keep you guys engaged and awake. Ok, moving on...

The Engagement - I love that we actually open with a well written sketch with an actual beginning, middle and end. This also had some dark, writerly psycholigical thriller type details that it reminded me of the "Fliplets" sketch from Goslings' last episode that I actually enjoyed. It's like Goslings' character in "Fliplets" grew up and started the process of turning his life around. If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that Andrew Dismukes also wrote this and "Fliplets" because Goslings' last episode was Dismukes' first as a writer and both of these seem very much in his comedic voice. My only real criticisms of this wiuld be that Ryan seemed like he could've comitted to this a teeny bit more (he kinda broke mildly at an inappropriate time near the end and cut the tension too early) and also that Jojo Siwa reference felt too forced in. Otherwise, a solid opening sketch through and through. B+

Get That Boy Back - Wow, they FINALLY give Chloe Troast a break out moment where she is front and center AND she sings lead vocals! Just like I've been asking for! The assists from Gosling and Stapleton and the fact that this was a Carrie Underwood "Before He Cheats" pastiche that also felt well plotted with shades of "Barry" were icing on the cake. This may actually be a front runner for "favorite pretape of the season" for me. A+

Cuban Bar - This felt like a quarter of one sketch stitched on to three quarters of another, but really they were probably just too skittish to have Ryan sound like he was Marcellos' ventriloquist dummy without SOME explanation upfront as to why a white guy was doing a strong accent. They should've tried a different approach to making this feel like one cohesive sketch because the main focus seemed to be listing obscure pop culture figures who were supposedly going to be at a party Kenan couldn't attend because of an obligation to his significant other. I mean the whole "Jon Taffer/Hulu" rant was ok but didn't exactly save this for me. Yeah, that didn’t work for me. Other than the dogs' appearance at the end and Sarahs' "I love countries" line, this nearly devolved into pure white noise for me. C-

NewsNation A.I. Town Hall - Well, I'm sure some of you will have mixed feelings about them bringing back the template from the "Bert Sampson Google Talks" sketch with Jessica Chastain (also from season 43 incidentally) but that one was honestly a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, so I didn't mind. I especially liked how the expanded and improved on what they were doing this time starting with the fact that they didn't quite hang a lampshade on what they were doing here. I also actually enjoyed Heidi Gardner seemingly set a new record for "Hardest And Most Shamelessly An SNL Cast Member Has Broke On Air". Mikey and Ryan really captured the Beavis & Butt-head look and vibe expertly. While I felt the gag with JAJ, Molly, Dismukes and Marcellos' King Of The Hill cosplay was a bit telegraphed but I still appreciate that they put it in there nonetheless. B-

Update felt a little flat and uneven in some parts but a couple of unexpected factors at least bought the energy up a bit. I liked Josts' first two jokes just for the absurdity he was playing off of. I did like the slightly different than what I may have been expecting approach that Che and Jost took with those PJ obit jokes. I did like Che's Trump/Johnston joke. I wanted to like that Trump/abortion joke more just for the hard right turn after that long clapter baiting setup but the setup itself was a but clunky and hung a lampshade on most peoples problems with Che on Update this season (which they will address and attempt to correct/make up for later on). I didn't want to like Che's Golden Bachelor joke as much as I wanted to like the use of the phrase "sea-metery" as a punchline. It's nice to see Longfellow start to make up for lost time but this wasn't exactly my favorite commentary of his. I mean, the only time I could really get into it was the "duvet" rant and that was the very end. I did like the real Caitlin Clark stopping by to give Che his comeuppance for the string of borderline misogynist jokes right at the exact point he'd delivered the final blow that killed that horse. I also appreciated getting to see Che take the brunt of that "joke swap" energy instead of Jost for once. I genuinely laughed at that "Be. Funnier. Dumbass." punchline as much as Che did while delivering it. The only even slightly critical thing I can say about this is I feel like it couldn't been tightened up in the pacing department but then again we are dealing with a cameo (that was likely thrown together at the last possible second) from an athlete who hasn't been on the show before. For that reason (and that reason only) I got SLIGHT Dan Crenshaw vibes from this but this wasn't nearly as bad as that whole situation between Dan and Pete and Caitlin Clark isn't exactly someone I can see damaging American democracy or the voting process or anything by SNL "platforming" her. B-

Cookie Crumbles - Hmm, yeah...I could see this was going to be another shameless Bowen vanity piece that people are getting sick of so seeing what Ryan was going to bring to it was the only thing keeping me from tuning out. This went for an absurdist vibe and came up short for me. I think this places a distant third behind the records set by Larry David & Rachel Dratch/Lindsay Lohan (tie) in the category of "Most A Castmember Or Hosts' Shameless Breaking Has Improved A Sketch". I did appreciate the attempt at a twist ending even though part of me saw it coming. This made me think I was maybe a little too hard on that Cuban bar sketch from earlier in the show because this truly felt like two barely formed ideas just slammed together and stretched out at 2am Wednesday morning. C-

Erin Brockovich Deleted Scene - Anyone else notice Ryan was wearing a fake mustache over his ACTUAL mustache? Talk about putting a hat on a hat, am I right folks? Anyway, speaking of, I still can't really decide whether or not Ryan's breaking got to be too much by this point or if it was the only interesting thing about this Chloe Fineman vanity piece (and I do mean "vanity" because the fact that she got Julia Stiles to come back just to recreate a scene from "Save The Last Dance" makes me think she at least wrote or pitched this). Still, even if this wasn't the last sketch of the night it would've been easier for me to lose interest in what was essentially Chloe, Ryan and Kenan getting caught in a loop of reciting a bunch of goofy, pointless "lists" to each other. C-

Lists? Did I just type the word "lists?" Well, here's a list of the rest of this season's episodes I have subjectively ranked from best to worst so far...

1. Nate Bargatze/Foo Fighters (10.28.2023)
2. Adam Driver/Olivia Rodrigo (12.09.2023)
3. Kristen Wiig/Raye (04.06.2024)
4. Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (04.13.2024)
5. Ayo Edeberi/Jennifer Lopez (02.03.2024)
6. Kate McKinnon/Billie Eilish (12.16.2023)
7. Timothee Chalamet/Boygenius (11.11.2023)
8. Emma Stone/Noah Kahan (12.02.2023)
9. Bad Bunny (10.21.2023)
10. Pete Davidson/Ice Spice (10.14.2023)
11. Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott (03.30.2024)
12. Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande (03.09.2024)
13. Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgraves (03.02.2024)
14. Shane Gillis/21 Savage (02.24.2024)
15. Dakota Johnson/Justin Timberlake (01.27.2024)
16. Jacob Elordi/Renée Rapp (01.20.2024)
17. Jason Momoa/Tate McRae (11.18.2023)

...and hey, here's another list of me doing a similar ranking of JUST Ryan Goslings' previous episodes from best to worst

1. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges (12.05.2015)
2. Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (04.13.2024)
3. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z (09.30.2017)

So maybe I should just end this review here since I've already talked about the last sketch that aired...but wait, there's actually one more sketch I wanted to talk about, so why don't I just work in another format break this week just for fun?

Obligatory Band Shot...Wait, what's THIS?!? - Well, I AM grateful to the show for actually PROMOTING the thing that obviously got cut for time due to the truly historic amount of breaking in tonight's episode. I mean, I know the blame can't all be on Ryan there but it's like they just KNEW his breaking would just reach critical mass tonight and felt the need to prepare themselves and the audience. Anyway, I normally don't go that extra mile to include "cut for time" sketches in my reviews but since they mentioned this existed on air and encouraged viewers to seek it out (and this happens to be the only potential sequel/recurring sketch reprisal from Ryan Gosling I was actually interested in seeing) I'll make an exception this time and I will talk about it.

Papyrus 2 - Hmm, while I did like this and I did feel like this was a more than worthy successor to the original (which was really the only other sketch from Goslings' 2017 episode worth remembering) I get the feeling that this might still have gotten cut for time or at dress...just for being too dense for an already fairly dense episode. Still, I liked the way they included Sarah in a surprisingly grounded and appropriately subtle role for her. This is the most I feel like I've seen a Sarah Sherman character occupy the same plane of reality as every other character in an SNL sketch. I did like the character progression of Ryan's character in this (especially in terms of his sheer pettiness). I did appreciate both big reveals in this (both in the middle and at the end...I won't spoil them for you in case you are reading this review without having seen this). It was nice to see the show throw Kyle Mooney a bone even after his leaving the cast but the cosmic irony of him coming back once more just to be, once again, genuinely cut for time (and in the audience to see it in real time, no less) is a bitter pill for even me to swallow. B+

Well, the good vibes of April 2024 continue on SNL. Even if they peter out just a tad, let's hope the keep going on into May when Dua Lipa makes her double duty debut! Even though "Argyle" in which she made her acting debut seems to have bombed, I have seen a clip of her doing a guest host monologue on Kimmel during the Covid isolation era and she handled that well. I have no doubt that Dua Lipa will be a strong host.

Host? Did I just type the word "host?" Well, here's the name of one other "host" who's talk shows got me through middle school, college and...well, the last few years of my life honestly.

Conan O'Brien.

Yes, I had heard a rumor originating on Twitter/X that he would be the next host. Someone said they had a connection at the show who saw his name on a piece of paper. My first thought was that paper being tonight's rundown and he would be making a cameo in TONIGHT'S show (since he was already in NYC and in the building this week). Since that didn't happen, I guess that person just couldn't squint hard enough to truly make it out and just severely misread "Caitlin Clark" from a distance? 

My second thought was of that paper not being a list of already booked May hosts, but a list of hosts they were TRYING to book for either the mother's day show (hey, that's when they had Elon on a few years ago, so...stranger things have happened) or more likely the finale.

While it's still a long shot, I would truly love to see ol' Conesy come back to studio 8H just once more. He did make a cameo in Mulaneys' five timers club sketch just two years ago and his first SNL episode from March of 2001 (an all time banger, btw) was my first real exposure to him before those two years when Comedy Central was the cable channel airing next day repeats of Late Night instead of CNBC. Ever since then he's been an idol and a role model of mine, and it's just gratifying to see the output of love and respect he gets on Twitter/X during the rare times he does something outside of his podcast. Whether it's his graceful retirement from TBS or his new Max streaming series FINALLY coming out, it's nice to be reminded that Conan O'Brien will live on even through YouTube clips of his old work. We'll always have those and our memories of them if a time comes when he's no longer out somewhere in the world making people laugh with new content of his own.

So maybe, since it's now 3:15 am as I write this part, I can't milk a third callback out of that Erin Brockovich gag and this review had gotten WAY too long and abstract already, I'll just end it here by saying...

See you all in May!