Dakota Johnson/Turnstile (10.03.2026)

RNC Midterm Ads

• Huh, so I guess they're NOT doing a spoof of the big congressional hearing everybody else was riffing all week. Meh, that news story was enough of a joke to begin with. What else could they say about it? Besides, this episode ended up having enough stunt cameos already.

• Instead they're doing an RNC midterm PSA thing? Hmm...this could work. I mean, it couldn't be worse than the sketch that's just like this we got back in season 28 with Darrell Hammond as Guiliani, right? (which...if you're on a certain Discord server or Twitch stream, I frequent, you should prepare yourself to see very soon).

• I like the idea of them using Marcellos' Marco Rubio to deliver this secret "OMG Trump TRICKED us" message entirely in Spanish. That might have been the shows' best use of his Marco Rubio yet. Hell, it might have just been their best use of Marcello in general in a while.

• Ditto for this Mitch McConnell impression Mikey is doing. I'm surprised they didn't just do this in last week's episode since it would've easily crushed anything he did then. I especially liked the meta LFNY moment there.

• I also liked the way they used Jeremy's JD Vance, too...but just when you think this is gonna be a trimmed and concise cold open they were just gonna move right on from, we get Josts' Hegseth again.

• I think they may be overusing this impression but I actually did like some of Josts' lines about testosterone, praying soldiers as well as the slam poetry.

• ...and here comes JAJ as Trump, something they had plenty of alternatives to for this cold open but they chose to go with anyway.

• I didn't mind JAJs appearance here, but it did kinda kill whatever momentum was left in this cold open at the same time. B-

Monologue

• Wow...somehow Dakota was even more icy, distant and unenthused than I expected her to be. Boy, she's really all over the place here.

• ...and now she's talking about publicly dating and subsequently breaking up with musicians. Wheeeeeeeeee. Fun.

• I think it goes without saying how much Leon Pendarvis' brief cameo in this holding a rose was the best part of it.

• Speaking of musicians and dating...there's only one person in the world who would garner that level of out of nowhere screaming applause in the middle of this tense, muted ass monologue.

• Yeah, this probably would've been a bigger get a few years back, but somehow now...not so much. With how here newest songs have been received, this kind of feels like Taylor and the show being mutually in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surprisingly, this cameo didn't do much for me. D+

Press Your Luck

• Game show sketch. Post monologue. Yaaaaaaay.

• ...and Dakota is bringing the exact same monologue energy to...her Elizabeth Banks impression? I mean, I don't exactly hate it...but her part could've been played just as easily by nearly any other female host and still not have affected this sketch at all.

• I don't exactly hate Kenan or Marcellos opening lines either. Hell, I even liked Marcellos' later call back to his.

• Ok. Thank Christ for Ashley Padilla.

• God, this works WAY better than you would expect something to that's basically two and a half steps above that God awful Jeopardy sketch with Bad Bunny from last season's premiere.

• I mean, this obviously has way more competent writing and performing than that one ever could've hoped for, but still... B-

Mean Scary Girlfriend

• Hey, I just saw Saidah, Jane and Grace in another pretape. Boy, am I glad I didn't blink just then.

• Ok, finally something that actually harnesses Dakotas icy and overwhelmingly aloof energy in an appropriate role and setting. I especially liked her TPUSA/lazy eye jokes.

• This makes great use of Grace's whole deal as well as Ben and Tommys' just...general haplessness, too.

• Weirdly, Marcello is probably the last male member of the cast who SHOULD be in this sketch when you have so many other guys who can pull off put upon losers with no confidence and very little going for them better than him. Hell, I would've easily put Jeremy in Marcellos role. B-

Eric From Legal

• So, Ashley and Sarah are sitting around a hospital cafeteria table...and Dakota has now joined them...and she's doing a Fran Drescher-esque NYC accent?

• Thankfully, Jeremys' character revealing sad, pathetic "gossip" about himself in the third person turned out to be the main focus of this.

• Ok, does this sketch really NEED a sassy, inexplicably queer-coded Kenan character in a ridiculously loud outfit? They've been going to that well with him A LOT in recent years and this sketch may be the most egregious example of it needlessly taking away from an otherwise solid sketch. C-

Guns For Women

• Well, a vagina shaped prop finally made it to air. Granted, it still had to be pixelated but somewhere, Michael O'Donoghue is still looking up and smiling.

• Another fine pretape that made good use of Dakotas insane energy, but...something about this just felt too "all over the place" on first viewing.

• Throughout this whole thing, I got a vibe that the writers couldn't decide if they wanted to make a series of thinly veiled clitoris jokes or a series of thinky veiled "pink tax" jokes about the ridiculous of products aimed at and sold to women or to just be absurd with phrased like "vagun" and "glunt" but Ashley and Veronika did a great job providing some much needed counterbalance to all of that while acting as very vocal voices of sane  reason throughout. B-

Throne Of The Dragonborne

• I like that they at least had the relevant cultural awareness to frame this as you, the viewer clicking open your HBO MAX app to watch this (just like they framed last week's High School Musical sketch as you, the viewer logging into Disney Plus on your computer/web browser to see it).

• I don't know if this sketch is worth the money they spent on that giant smoking dragon head. I'm getting mild season 20 Wizard Of Oz/Mad About You Aliens vibes.

• Ben was alright here...I guess. This wasn't his worst performance ever. Maybe they are figuring out better, more restrained ways to use Ben...but I wouldn't say he's on his way to becoming the next male lead of the show or anything.

• Was the "brother-style" stuff just a reference to...the incest not being such an "open secret" on the OG Game Of Thrones or House Of The Dragon and the gag here being that...is is?

• Ok, I did like the Tim Allen/Home Improvement grunt (heh, I almost typed "glunt" there) being thrown into the mix of fire dragon roars at the mere hints of Ben undressing.

• Speaking of unnecessary flamboyant Kenan characters appearing mid sketch...

• While I wasn't crazy about Kenan's eunuch character, I did think he was better deployed here than his character in the gossip sketch was (especially since he showed up as the sketch was getting to the point where you feel it's getting too long and are thus relieved to see a quick sudden ending) and I did get a kick out of his "you tell me" reveal of him not having a penis.

• I do wonder why the choice was made to give Kenan's character a not so subtly Lorne Michaels/Dr. Evil/Maya Angelou coded voice here? It wasn't a bad choice mind you, just an interesting one. D+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: Hegseth/Mike Meyers, CNN Press Pool Removal, Only Hispanic Could Survive Fall

• Ches' Best Jokes: White House Ballroom, Uphill Climb 

• I've never been more thankful for something to turn out to be another Jost roast (that seems awfully similar to an old Conan O'Brien/Max Weinberg bit) than when Che of all people uttered the phrase "Cornell University". 

• I mean, if HE of all people were going to even mention it, this was the best possible outcome.

• Speaking of, the sudden cutaways to a giggling Che were probably the best part of Mikey & Marcellos' long as hell,  pointless, white noise ass Link/GTA commentary.

• Ok, I guess I liked the "dress/tunic" stuff from Mikey. Just wish he wasn't completely given free reign to just try to provoke Marcello and Che to break because it seems like that's what all this was. God, I hope they don't just keep carving out spots for Mikey to keep doing this EVERY week.

• Hmm...Kam Patterson on a rumored Glee reboot? Let's see where this goes.

• Ok, I do have to chuckle at Kam doing jazz hands while shouting "HAMILTONNNNN!!!"

• I like the turn of this turning out to be a semi meta piece for Kam and Che to bond over their shared inability to be their authentic selves on a show heavily dominated by white writers being the ones giving them the majority of their material.

• What I actually like more was Che telling Kam how the staff and audience want to see Kam talk about his own life and be his "true self" only to set up the twist of Kam revealing his life stories and "true self" to be pretty much unairable on live network TV.

• The only drawback to this is how it can feel a little muddled to anyone who's not intimately familiar with Che & Kams non-SNL stand up routines to the point where if it weren't for Che's "strait of hormuz" line and the jab about hom having worked at the show for nearly 35 years I'd suspect he'd written most of this.

• Speaking of Che, I like the idea of Sarahs' new over the top character showing up to roast Che's dating life rather than Josts' whole deal (even invoking the name of J.K. Rowling to do so...her and Mrs. Potato Head were really the only names of potential matches for Che I liked).

• I think I'd like it a bit more if she hadn't come in at a point when Update in general was already just way too damn long and self indulgent.

• ...and at least it was nice to see Jost & Che had much more fun giggling amongst themselves at certain crowd reactions than we did watching all 19 damn minutes of this Update. C-

Colorado Vicky

• Ooh, a live sketch that puts Jane and Veronika together...inbetween Sarah, but still...let's hope this goes somewhere good.

• Hey, Saidah finally shows up in a live thing! Grace is there, too!

• Well, I'm not crazy that they just used Grace and Saidahs' background as TikTokers as just a jumping off point for...a sketch where Dakota plays a TikToker? 

• After giving this a chance, I do like how intensely dark and disturbing she and JAJ (who, in case you couldn't tell by the way I've been writing this review so far, really captures my current mental state pretty well) ended up making this.

• The only thing I didn't like about this sketch was how the back and forth between JAJs' grim interjections and Dakotas deranged TikToks just kinda spun it's wheels and needlessly stalled on the way to revealing that they're now a couple...but this ended up being my favorite live sketch of the night by far, so I don't really give a shit.

• Hell, this might have been my favorite ever SNL sketch that references my home state repeatedly in an indirectly disparraging manner! (Sorry, Mikey). B+

Amazing Tales Of Truth

• I like that this made use of Veronikas' great singing chops in a near blackout length sketch (by today's standards). What I didn't like was later hearing online that this was part of a multi part runner that they must've initially cut from dress and then suddenly decided to air just this one part of simply because the show was running long and it was the only thing left they had time for.

• I wanted to like the idea of Andrew hosting a bad anthology show that somehow isn't able to focus on the extraordinary real occurrences it WANTS to show you, but...I didn't quite know what to make of it. Something just felt...off. C+

Ranking Season 52 From Best To Worst

1. Dakota Johnson/Turnstile (10.03.2026)
2. Jalen Brunson/KATSEYE (09.26.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• Yup, this episode is right up there with the last one. Still, this one did have one thing going for it that last week's didn't; a returning host with just enough previous experience doing this show that the staff has figured out the ideal ways to work her and her entire public persona into sketches.

• No, not all of the material in tonight's show was well suited for Dakota but what was suited for her does show you, the viewer, how and why she has a good enough relationship with the show to have hosted three times and cameoed twice in just over a decade.

• It's just too bad she also happens to be one of those hosts who can't seem to make their enthusiasm for doing the show translate on screen or in sketches at all...and even if she could, it's not like the current writing staff would be able to do her or any other cast member for that matter any favors.

• Yeah, what didn't function as a showcase for certain cast members who only joined the show after Dakotas' last time hosting (or just Dakota herself in a couple of very specific niche cases) still had the same listless, DOA energy as most of the previous week's season premiere.

• Of course, that last bullet point was mostly to say that Veronika, Jeremy & Ashley (well, most of the women really) really scored tonight (Grace took a small hit, Saidah made an even smaller gain as did Tommy). Andrew, Marcello, Kam, JAJ and Ben (who they still seem to he figuring out how to use the most effectively) did solid support work. 

• Kenan seemed to only have been used in the most obnoxious Kenan trope this show's had in recent years and Mikey has just enough seniority to just be given Carte Blanche to be as ear-splittingly self indulgent as possible in his own substantial chunk in the middle of the show. Neither of those things should be happening.

Closing Thoughts

• Next week, another two time host, Shane Gillis returns to host. Ugh. Thank Christ there's also gonna be a new SNL UK and MST3K coming out that same weekend.

• Seriously though, while I'm not a fan of Shane's standup and find his comedy in general to be a little crass and "bro-y" for my personal taste (and his fanbase certainly doesn't do him any favors there), he has shown that he has better sketch instincts and sketch experience than both Dakota Johnson and Jalen Brunson (which...isn't saying much and could also be said about just about anyone, but still...)

• I think the best we can hope for with this episode is just an average show with a real iffy monologue. I don't know how they would produce something that much better than the past two shows, but somehow...they could pull it off in a few spots. See you soon!

Jalen Brunson/KATSEYE (09.26.2026)

Trump, Mamdani & Harp

• Seems appropriate that we'd get Ramy as Mamdani this week (it is a New York show after all)

• This is a slight improvement over the "JAJ/Trump at U.N" cold open I was expecting. The only lines I really liked from him in this one were "I don't go to church on Christmas, nor Easter" and "not with that last name". Everything else was pretty much white noise to me.

• Instantly we get a reference to this weeks' musical guest, huh? And it's a reference to  their biggest hit that they didn't even perform tonight?

• ...and then we get a reference to the host and his team like two minutes later? Again, NYC show, NYC audience.

• I see JAJ beat me to the obvious retort to that "this could be us but you playin" reference.

• I should've expected Ashley as Natalie Harp. Unsurprisingly, she might be the best part of this.

• One thing I did like about this cold open that permeated the rest of this episode is the restraint it showed. Usually, SNL season premieres are dominated by the shows seeming compulsion to catch itself up on everything big that happened over the summer (mostly in pop culture and/or sports) but aside from a couple of throwaway references to the Knicks championship and the movie "Obsession" the writers of this cold open didn't try to force in reference anything that happened earlier that this month. 

• Maybe it's just because this summer was just such a long painful slog with nothing much else worth remembering from it besides food borne illnesses and the like but it's nice that someone at the show realized that isn't what the audience really wants to see. C+

Montage

• Huh, I thought I heard they were shooting a new intro for this season? Guess they were just filming new shots of Jane and Ashley due to their promotion?

• If they were doing that, why not film a new shot for Sarah? She's in between both of them and of all the things, that haven't made visual narrative sense in this intro since season 50 ended, Sarah driving a bus sure sticks out like a sore thumb.

Monologue

• Ok, I immediately like Jalen and the shows' ability to poke fun at themselves in tandem.

• I liked the song fake out too. I liked Kenans' Stephen A. Smith impression (maybe not quite as much as I've liked certain other Stephen A. Smith impressions I've seen on this show)

• There wasn't much else I liked that much about this monologue, sadly. I mean, Jalen interacted well with his teammates but that was to be expected.

• The entire second half of this monologue felt like one big inside joke that anyone who doesn't follow the Knicks isn't in on, but it was smart of the show to make Jalen feel like he's somewhat in his element this early on. C+

Office MVP

• Since when the hell has Pizza Hut had sandwiches? They got melts and they've had p'zones. Those aren't even close. Yeah, small nitpick but still...

• Anyway, yeah...I can definitely tell where this sketch was going by the time Ben finished delivering his first line. 

• This is just the basketball version of that carnival sketch with Tom Brady from season 30 isn't it? 

• This feels more like an inside joke that you don't need to be a basketball fan to get (for better or worse). Oh well, I'm sure bith sketches needed some level of timing and expert control even on the athletes' parts to even pull off missing on purpose properly.

• Huh, so...Jalen pulling out that whole basket of wrappers followed by Mikey slapping his face was a enough to keep me from tuning out completely.

• Still, the twist of Jalens' character revealing himself to be...himself felt too telegraphed (as did most of the rest of this sketch).

• Speaking of, did that last part remind anyone else of that Simpsons softball episode where Mike Scioscia was suddenly more excited to be working a regular job at the nuclear plant? Did one of the writers happen to see that episode recently?

• I liked the lighting and smoke machine at the end and after hearing that there was a second set of cue cards being kept handy in case Jalen missed his final shot I think I can understand and forgive the lack of a live ending. C-

Dream Academy Season 2

• So, they're spoofing whatever reality competition tonights' musical guest got their big break on...just because they're here? All right. Fair enough. Casting Jalen as the coreographer seems like a waste but at least he wasn't the main focus.

• Saidah makes her debut...in a low-impact straight role. Too bad this ended up being her only appearance of the entire night.

• Hey, this is a two hander between Jane and Grace her debut! All right! Ashley, Sarah and Veronika are doing solid work in this, too. Veronikas' really getting a chance to show off her pipes.

• I did like the reveal that Jane and Grace were only in the show because they witnessed Ashley's character involved in a hit and run.

• I wasn't expecting the girls from Katseye to actually be in sketches at all, but I actually liked how game they were to sing a fake pop song with the ridiculous lyrics Jane and Graces' characters came up with. Doesn't quite make up for their blatant lip syncing during their actual performances, but still...

• Nice of them to give this episode a little boost. Just when we needed a flashy little pick me up to distract us from the host's lack of charisma we get an ensemble piece from SNLs strong female cast with a taste of some new talent. B+

Group Therapy

• This sketch is basically a support group for "men who's girlfriends were bought on stage during the Chris Brown and Usher tour"? What the hell year does this sketch take place in? 2012?

• Oh, Jalen just made a reference to TikTok, so...apparently this sketch takes place this decade?!?

• Surprisingly, Jalen may be the best part of this sketch for me. Too bad they didn't either just put him at the end of the sketch or just end the sketch with him because I didn't really care for Ben or Marcellos' parts.

• Hell, this sketch didn't even HAVE and ending! Just an abrupt cut off and slam right into the next one. At least it didn't go on too long. C-

High School Musical: The Next Generation

• Wow, speaking of "what the hell year does this sketch take place in?"

• I remember the original High School Musical craze well enough that got a kick out of the wig they put on Jalen.

• Aside from that one line from Kam, this does feel like a more tasteful and less "punching down" version of the same "High School Musical" parody this show actually did the last time an NBA MVP hosted a season premiere 19 years ago (which you can read my thoughts on here and listen to here)

• I have to say Jeremy and Jalen played off each other in a way that made this funny to watch (despite it feeling three or four times the length of the previous sketch). Jeremy made the absolute most of this that he could (as did Tommy in what turned out to be his first and apparently only sketch appearance of the night).

• I have to say, in this SNL era I can appreciate a pretape based around physical humor that just stays at the level of "semi-violent humiliation ritual" abd doesn't escalate all the way to "gratuitous gore fest". Having Sarah not be anywhere near this probably helped.

• Veronikas' part felt a bit predictable but I liked how it was executed. Jalen is surprisingly convincing lip syncer. C+

Airport Massage Chairs

• Well, I'm not crazy about Mikey's role in this sketch...but I liked how Ashley, Jalen and Kenan played off him. Kenan might have actually been my favorite part of this (not saying much but still)

• Oh, that's right. Andrew Dismukes is still in the cast. I got a kick out of his reveal that they were flying on "Ay Chihuahua Airlines".

• Smart of the show to put Jalen in a sketch like this that doesn't ask a lot of him other than not breaking despite Mikey's best efforts (even when it probably should've...or just done this sketch with another host even if no one who could match Mikey's commitment could've made this less irritating).

• To the best of my knowledge (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), this is the third Mikey Day sketch that takes place in Denver and the second SNL sketch overall to take place in Denvers' airport. I only mention this as someone from the area who...found those bits of trivia more personally interesting than the sketch itself. C-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: Hegseths' Slur (for the delivery more than the punchline),

• Ches' Best Jokes: Trump TV, Mitch McConnell, Choosin' Texas

• Hey, another Jane piece! She's killing it with her delivery on this one.

• That Jewish Barbie joke felt like one that would've been better delivered by Paddy Young over on SNL UK. In an Jost/Che US Update that's already operating at a deficit just by airing the same night as a straight up bonkers as hell Paddy/Ania UK one from earlier in the same night, it feels particulary egregious (not offensive, mind you...just in the wrong place in the right time).

• Damn, that Gen Z sex joke from Che sure felt like it would've been right at home in Tinas' era of Update (derogatory). Strange that we'd get one of those from both Weekend Updates tonight.

• Hey, nice to see Jeremy's Tucker Carlson again! Someone else needed to inject some genuine fun into this Update. I especially liked the Spider-Man/Tom & Zendaya run of jokes. This was probably the weakest of all of Jeremys' Tucker Carlson segments so far but it certainly stands out in thus episode.C+

Parent Teacher Conference

• Hmm...not sure where this sketch is going. Seems like it might be an aimless mess.

• Jalen seems to be the only one...not understanding the assignment here. Everyone else seems to be have been rightly trusted to give this sketch exactly as much as they need to give it.

• Ok, JAJ and Dismukes got a chuckle out of me at the end. Ben was a decent straight man. 

• This sketch was all right. I just couldn't get that into it. C-

Shark Tank

• Huh, I saw the preview of this from dress rehearsal shown during the game and at this point I was wondering if it was cut.

• Yeah, while I like the slight Beck and Kyle vibes that Ben and Jeremy bought to their performance...it was a rather thin premise that couldn't not be too repetitive to entertain.

• As soon as I saw how Sarah was dressed, I could see where the rest of this was going.

• I guess I was foolish & naive to expect this sketch to have different contestants to be coming through with different products to pitch.

• Jalen is no impressionist but not even a stronger Damon John impression from Kenan could've saved this.

• Speaking of, I liked some of JAJs' dialogue as Mr. Wonderful (mostly his dressing down of Ben and Jeremy where he revealed himself to be a vampire born in 1601) more than I liked his actual impression (which sounded a bit more like a younger 80s era Trump to me).

• Yeah, Sarah, JAJ and Jeremy gave it their best but there was just nothing here. D+

Old Friend

• Yeah, this felt like the exact type of character I've seen play countless times in the past decade. 

• Thank God Grace and Kam showed up when they did because it was going absolutely nowhere fast. 

• Man, Jalen seemed just as burned out as I was by the end of this episode. D+

Overall Thoughts

• Given that this was a modern SNL season premiere hosted by a New York athlete who I've heard (and now seen) isn't exactly "Mr. Personality" off the court, my expectations for this episode were pretty much at the floor. This episode didn't exactly exceed them but I have to say it had a couple of small things going for it that actually made it one of the better season premieres in recent SNL history by a very thin margin.

• For one thing, there wasn't as much blatant pop culture chasing as there had been in previous season premieres. Also, we got to see a few brief moments of spark from certain featured players that kept this episode from feeling as throughly, uniformly dull and uninspired as the last few season premieres. Those factors combined to make this episode mildly uneven at best (mostly from a writing perspective).

• I was hoping with Chloe Fineman out of the way we'd see a shift in cast dynamics but it mostly seems that outside of figuring out what to do with Saidah (and Sarah at this point honestly) they've got the female side of the cast figured out. 

• Unfortunately, it feels like we may need at least need Mikey, Tommy, Andrew and Kenan to move on for now to balance out the male side of the cast since they dominated the show and were unfortunately given some pretty weak and tiresome material to do so with. We all know Tommy and Andrew didn't "dominate" hardly anything but...maybe they should move on for his own sake at this point?

• Also, this episode seemed to focus heavily on Ben, Jeremy, Veronika, Grace and Kam as far as featured players went...which I'm fine with but I'd like to see a bit more of Grace in the coming weeks. Maybe I shouldn't have expected her to get a big showcase in her first episode, but she has the whole season ahead of her. Ben is someone I can put up with in smaller roles but he's not exactly the future of the show.

• JAJ and Marcello did fine in small supporting roles (outside of the cold open, of course). I'm fine with Marcello continuing in this small scaled back role.

Closing Thoughts

• Next week's episode will be hosted by returning three time host, Dakota Johnson. Having seen Dakotas' first two episodes, I'm still struggling to understand why that previous sentence can be true.

• Looking over her first two it seems the problem may have been a combination of her being both a boring host and the cast and crew not knowing how to write for her (which may not have been as big a problem in her more recent episode from 2024 since at least that one produced a couple more memorable moments with her).

• Maybe that won't be a problem this time. I have seen Saidahs' "nepo baby mom" character in a few of her TikTok videos, so I hope she's already pitched something to Dakota in that vein and is able to get herself some more substantial screen time this week. Hell, I hope this means we see more of Ashley and the newer/featured women in this episode anyway. They're the ones that provided most of the few brief bright spots in this one anyway.

• I hope you've enjoyed reading this review as well as my review of SNL UKs' newest episode as well. I'll be coming out with a review of the SNL US season 33 finale in a few weeks with Steve Carrell and Usher (time truly is an annoyingly flat circle). That one will also be the subject of an upcoming podcast with two very special guests that Deej and I had a hell of a time booking on the show schedule-wise. You guys will find out who they are in due time. See you soon!

SNL UK: Amelia Dimoldenberg/Rachel Chinouriri (09.26.2026)

Oasis (ft. Andy Burnham): Don't Get Scammed In Anger

• I got a good chuckle out of the word "NORTH" bring blared out like that right at the top of the episode as well as how goofily decorated in a mod/posh fashion his office seemed to be.

• I was wondering how often they'd use George's Andy Burnham impression. Doesn't seem like he's done enough lately to warrant a cold open in the past couole of weeks but the writers found an angle somewhere between UK/Russia relations and his speech at the U.N. general assembly this week.

• Nice to see Celestes' Angela Rayner character again. I guess the real Rayner is still in government as a member of Burnhams' cabinet?

• Freddie & Jack as the Gallagher bros from Oasis? Pretty solid impressions from both (better than their Russian accents anyway). I guess this sorta makes up for the poor response that James Austin Johnson and Sarah Shermans' Oasis/Gallagher impressions got from actual Brits a while back.

• Ooooooooooh, I see. Burnhams' being scammed by two Russian spies/Oasis catfishers...who are also the actual Gallagher brothers because Oasis was been a 30+ year Russian Psyop this whole time. Funny concept. 

• I got a kick out of Celeste taking replacing one of the framed photos on the wall with a t.A.t.U poster as well as Jacks' line about the song "Wonderwall" being originally titled "Wonderful Wall" about the Berlin wall.

• I guess they're now forming a "take" on Burnham around how much of a gullible, naive idiot they perceive him to be? Well, at least they're not portraying him as a spineless worm who can't stand up to Russia.

• I wasn't crazy about George's speech at the end. Fun cold open even if it's not my favorite of series two so far. B-

Monologue

• Ok, so...it's just about the show she's ending.

• Reminds me of Bill Haders' 2018 host monologue (the part about him thinking "Barry" was a conflict of interest specifically)

• The jabs at SNL UK and various Britich KFC equivalents having less fame and history than their American counterparts and Ed Sheerhan being an Elmo-like puppet were pretty sharp. She's doing fine for a non-actress/influencer host so far.

• This feels a lot like a typical "introduce yourself to the audience as if this is the first they've ever heard of you" SNL US host monologue, but I don't really mind. 

• This is pretty much the best I could've hoped for her monologue if it wasn't going to contain any guest out-of-nowhere guest cameos. It feels like it ran out of steam bit at the end though with the whole "be yourself" speech.

• Speaking of, upon a rewatch of this monologue, I noticed she said she had an "upcoming romcom" so I gues she is actively making the transition from "YouTuber/influencer" to "red carpet interviewer/presenter" to "actress who pretty much plays herself in her earliest roles" (which I guess makes Awkwafinas 2018 SNL US hosting stint the only true precedent for a YouTuber host pre-Amelia). So, I guess her doing this show is just part her getting her comedic acting sea legs before starting on that romcom of hers. C+

Harry Kane For Babybel Waxy Cheese

• I'm guessing this pretape is an elaborate spoof of a slightly less elaborate actual commercial for an actual waxy cheese Harry Kane endorses? 

• Seems like it's hitting all the tropes of typical big flashy athlete endorsement commercials of the past 30 years or so. 

• Nice way to work in Amelia and Freddie (who must have been parodying some specific announcer the way he was made up).

• Already, I like how they've more than made up for the severe lack of George and Al in last weeks' show by this point. George as the FIFA president was worth a chuckle.

• Nice way to work in Paddy outside of Update as "the guy who breaks up fatbergs".

• No idea who Emma was playing but i liked the Jennifer Saunders vibes she gave off and the sheer oddity of her just straight up biting George like a vampire to get the waxy cheese back.

• The show must have some pretty mixed feelings about Harry Kane. Als' portrayal of him isn't exactly the most flattering but it is a bit nicer than the rather scathing Samaritans joke Ania told about him in a previous Update this season.

• Then again, the show has also just depicted the FIFA president as basically just living in a sewer (which I totally get) along with this Fiona Bruce person who they...also have apparently depicted as a vampire? So yeah, the show must REALLY hate them.

• Not all of this hit for me, but I liked the absurdity of it. C+

Night At Madame Tussauds

• Ok, I chuckled at Amelia's "Marylin Monroe/Dua Lipa" and I liked Jacks Chris Martin impression.

• Speaking of, I was wondering who that black extra next to that one writer portraying Marilyn was supposed to be. I thought he might've been Lenny Henry until I noticed he was wearing a trench coat while also holding a sonic screwdriver so...he obviously must've been Ncuti Gatwa.

• So, I guess this is a cross between "Night At The Museum" and "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"?

• I like these Beatle impressions and the Chaplin/Hitler gag from Larry. Speaking of Beatle impressions, George has now gone from playing Ringo to playing John and Freddie is now Ringo. That leaves...Celeste as George and Paddy as Paul. I guess that makes enough visual sense.

• I like the idea of Emma as Tom Hiddleston (just anachronistic enough to work even if her performance and general presence came off more Tom Jones than Tom Hiddleston) but this part feels like it could've been tightened a bit (and I kind of saw that "cold dead eyes" gag coming)

• Nice ending twist with Al's character having been an Elvis wax figure this whole time. I liked the writing behind this even if bordered on being a little too Rick and Morty-ish even for this show...and even if it just so happens to be the second live sketch of the night that involves people being tricked by celebrities. B+

Fashion Sense and Sensibility

• The idea of Al Nash being a male lead in a Jane Austin-esque period romance piece is intriguing enough.

• The premise of George, Emma and Amelia just ragging on Als' big cargo jorts isn't much on paper but the flourish they're putting into it is putting this over.

• I liked the gag of one pocket just containing Skittles and another just containing old, useless receipts.

• Hammed as Als' father is the icing on the cake here (although the reveal of both their pants having the word "juicy" on the back didn'tdo much for me). I got slight Brian Blessed vibes from Hammeds' performance.

• The twist ending with George and Emma putting their differences with Al aside and allowing them to marry Amelias' character when Al points out that their whole family wears five toed athletic shoes was just as strong a conclusion to this premise as anything else they could've come up with. B-

Love Is Blind

• The premise of Al's character being half horse isn't much by itself but the "glue factory" and "oats" gags being played out with typical reality show melodrama works for me.

• Amelia seems to be in her element here. I like that she played it all the way up to the ending so straight  like she didn't even notice or care Al was half horse.

• For a sketch parodying a reality show, this sure had a decent level of sweetness, charm and real heart to it with Amelia and Al seeming to make a genuine human connection with each other.

• I don't think we needed the ending button of Als' character being disappointed in Amelia's rack...but I still liked the rest of this sketch enough that that alone couldn't ruin it. B+

Apartment Fire

• Aurora Borealis?!? (sorry just had to get that out of the way)

• This is another sketch with almost too simple of a premise but the performances are selling it (especially Jack and Larry as the exasperated fire fighters). For once, Jack playing his part over the top with big line readings was actually appropriate. Al and Amelia were fine in it.

• Nice to see George as the fire chief again even if I didn't much care for this speech either. His turn in this sketch really reminded me of his performance in the sketch from Nicola Coughlans' episode where he had to land the plane (which was another sketch like this that I'm a bit more lukewarm on in hindsight).

• I'm not that crazy about George's ending speech but I loved his commitment and I liked how this ended with him suddenly saving Annabels' character who was their left behind daughter. C+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Trump Meets Burnham, Netanyahu, Paul Bros, Weinstein

• Anias' Best Jokes: Trump/Xi State Visit, Sam Altman, In Hock/Keech, Blair Workout

• Nice Chevy/Jane moment with his transition from that Netanyahu joke to that Wes Streeting joke.

• That Tommo arrest joke with the Ken dolls reminds me of a very specific and very cheap joke Tina & May did on SNL US 21 years ago.

• This East London mosquito bit feels like a VAST improvement on an SNL US Update formula that Bowen, Marcello, Kenan and Sarah have been made to follow in the last few years. Still, the general UK specific humor behind it put it over for me.

• That Labour party conference joke from Ania (the one that she broke during) had real Jost/Che joke swap energy (especially with Paddys' reaction of disgust). That had to have been a cold read, right? Like somebody threw that in between dress and air?

• Jesus, that "perv glasses" joke from Paddy has to be the absolute raunchiest and most gleefully grotesque visual joke ever pulled off on either version of Weekend Update. Sarah Sherman would be green with envy if she saw it.

• That had to be the most memorable Update SNL UK has ever produced. Holy shit, Paddy & Ania really swung for the fences tonight. A-

The One Show

• Not crazy about this being Ayoades' first appearance of the night but at least she isn't completely shut out of the show. She and George play phony pleasant morning show hosts well.

• This seems like it's going for the same level of absurdity as last weeks' "The Shape" but more chaotic. 

• I do like Freddie's commitment to the intense punishing nature of this. This is a great breakout showcase for him.

• This reminds of those sketches All That used to do with Josh Server as the physically tortured on location weatherman for Channel 6 1/2 News who would always be on the scene at the North Pole or a literal desert or some such place and Chrisy Knowings as the oblivious in studio local anchor.

• I'm surprised it took this long for a sketch where Amelia literally just plays herself but I did like how she was able to provide a warm, sympathetic ending to this with the reveal that she herself has the wide, thick feet that Freddies' character is doing the worm to raise awareness for. B-

How To How w/Hayley or Kayley

• Speaking of sketches, I'm surprised didn't air earlier in the show...

• I like how this sketch is just a blackout length jump in to an insane conversation on a "Call Me Daddy" type dumb millenial white girl type podcast just mid way through.

• This feels like a much streamlined and improved version of what that SNL US Update commentary with Chloe Fineman as Alex Cooper and Veronika Slowikoska as Alix Earle was going for. B+

Ranking SNL UK Series Two From Best To Worst

1. Amelia Dimoldenberg/Rachel Chinouriri (09.26.2026)
2. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
3. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)

Ranking All Of SNL UK From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Amelia Dimoldenberg/Rachel Chinouriri (09.26.2026)
4. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
5. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
6. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
7. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)
8. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
9. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
10. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
11. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• This may have been the strongest episode of series two so far. It was by far the most consistently entertaining and least uneven with no real lows and one very strong high that stood out above the rest.

• I had tempered my expectations for this episode based on the host alone but Amelia really delivered. She did pretty much exactly as well as I would've expected and the show proved it was able to work with her and ingratiate her into the show rather than having to work around her.

• Plus, it helps this episodes' reputation that it aired on the same night as another dull as dishwater season premiere of Saturday Night Live US (which you can also read my review of on this very blog).

• Cast usage was pretty consistent. They seemed to have used Annabel Marlowe and Ayoade Bambogye a bit less but thankfully they evened out everyone else's airtime using George, Al and Hammed much more (and continuing to use Jack, Emma and Freddie in ways that play directly to their comedic strengths.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, we know the next episode of SNL UK airs on October 10th. As of this publishing, we now also know that the host will be Danny Dyer, a name I have only heard in an old Rubberbandits song prior to today. I had always assumed he was just a TV presenter but today I found out he is an actual character actor who's been around and working for a number of years. Hope he does well! 

• We also do know who the host and musical guest for SNL US is that same night and, well...let's just say ol' Danny Boy ain't exactly facing stiff competition.

• Still, I hope you enjoy reading my reviews of the upcoming episodes of SNL US and UK in the next month (including their most recent US season premiere which aired the same night as this episode and my review of the SNL US season 33 finale with Steve Carrell and Usher which Deej and I will be covering on the podcast in a few weeks).

• See you again real soon!

Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket (05.10.2008)

The following blog post is a companion piece to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. Give us a listen, won't you?

Clinton's Qualities

Hillary Clinton (Poehler) explains how being a sore loser with no ethical standards and a base of racist supporters somehow makes her a better choice to be the Democratic nominee for President.

• Wow...for a show that offered up a blatant endorsement of her three months earlier they're sure taking some wild ass flailing swings at Hillary Clinton here. Seriously, this might have been the roughest they've been towards her since she was still in the White House as first lady. If this was another Jim Downey piece, he must've been letting his "slight conservative leanings" run wild here.

• Still, it gave us a nice break from seeing Freds' Obama again and Amy performed this with an expert mix of charm, poise and an absurdist, tounge in cheek deadpan that was almost enough to obfuscate and offset the sheer vitriolic bluntness of this material. 

• I did get a kick out of her lines about expecting to recieve an endorsement from Rev. Jeremiah Right (iykyk) and how she'd be willing to simultaneously play both the race and gender cards despite that not even making sense.

• This cold open does seem pretty damn ironic in hindsight when you consider the fact that Hillary would go on to run against a guy who would turn out to be both a sore winner AND a sore loser who also had a base of blatantly racist supporters. B-

Monologue

Shia Labeouf agrees to answer any non-plot specific questions about the upcoming "Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull". Unfortunately, the only questions are from Sean Connery (Hammond), Short Round (Poehler) and a melted up Major Toht (Forte) wondering why they weren't cast as well as an audience member (Sudeikis) who somehow accurately guesses the ending.

• Shia handled this well and seems like he has matured a bit from his previous hosting gig but boy, what an auspicious film for him to be plugging.

• Jason did a fine job as a seemingly clueless audience member who somehow guesses the ending. I got a chuckle out of his line about not knowing who Speilberg & Lucas are and yet spouting a nonsensical (mostly inaccurate) ending that's just a riff on the most clichéd modern sci-fi/adventure/fantasy movie tropes of the past 25ish years 

• I have a feeling that this entire monologue was written as an excuse to just use Hammonds' Connery in something again. I thought the idea of him being mad about being left off the "Last Crusade" lunch box was kinda funny and a good setup to the one decent joke they wrote for him in this.

• Amy Poehler as a small Asian boy with a heavy accent? Hey, this is 2008. I certainly don't see how that could be seen as questionable or a necessary cut at all!

• The true highlight of this was the bonkers makeup job they did on Forte as Toht, but when the highlight of a monologue is just a particularly gruesome piece of prosthetic rather than anything actually written for it...something may be seriously wrong. 

• The part with Shia accidentally spoiling Indys' death in the movie (spoiler alert: he doesn't die but he might as well have because this one pretty much killed any residual good will toward the franchise) was possibly the best way to end this little bit of cringe comedy that wasn't quite as fun as I remembered it to be. C-

Macgruber (Pt. 1)

MacGruber (Forte) is now working with his estranged son Merril (Labeouf) who, to his father's shock and disgust, inadvertently outs himself by handing his dad a vial of anal lube to help diffuse a bomb.

• Well, this one is mostly here to set up a runner but I would say it's also notable for being the closest MacGruber gets to actually being competent at his job before inevitably becoming distracted by something absurdly trivial.

• I do like how well Kristen and Will play up the "all the air getting sucked out of the room" awkwardness (especially the first of two times we will see Fortes' expression of barely concealed disgust). B-

It's A Match

Detective Rob Perkins (Hader) questions washed up 70s game show personalities Pam Sumpter (Poehler), Steven Neilsen Perry (Armisen), Sarah Annette Boob (Wilson), Nancy Nan George (Wiig), Chipsey Boday (Thompson) and Dirk Densten (Labeouf) on the sudden backstage murder of host Guy Lange.

• Ok, this is clearly just a Mr. Show style "let's just purposely avoid using any real names or references in our little parody" Temu Match Game sketch with Amy as Brett Somers, Fred as Paul Lynde (but named after Charles Nelson Reilly), Casey as a composite of any number of '70s TV sexpots (but mostly Fannie Flagg it seems), Kristen as Marcia Wallace (both Kristen and Kenans' characters might have had a little Debralee Scott in them?) Kenan as Nipsey Russell and Shia as Doug Henning.

• Bill is DRESSED like Colombo but obviously he's not doing his Peter Falk since that wouldn't make a ton of sense here. Instead, he is playing it straight as a generic stern '70s detective questioning everyone.

• Functionally, this is pretty much a Vincent Price sketch for Bill. He isn't the center piece of this like he us in those, but he is, once again, playing the role of "put upon host who grows increasingly frustrated at his guests lack of professionalism and basic competence." Naturally, he does a great job anchoring this.

• This was actually a fresh and creative premise of 70s celebrity game show panelists treating a sudden murder investigation like it's part of the game they're there to play, writing down their answers and presenting them as jokes one by one instead of grieving taking there friend and colleague's sudden death seriously (boy, they are in some serious denial, huh?)

• Surprisingly, Shia seems to be doing the best with his impression with Kristen and Kenan each a close second and third respectively. I say "surprisingly" in Shias' case because, as the youngest person in this sketch, he'd probably be the least likely to know who Doug Henning actually was.

• Why they didn't just do a straight "Match Game" parody and use the real names of people they were parodying I have no idea but I think it might have to do with the sketch itself taking place at a murder investigation and what I see as a general attitude of "well, Shias' still got young fans from his Disney days who probably tuned in and they sure as hell won't recognize what this is a parody of...so screw it".

• I did like everyone writing the same answers in response to the questioning of Bill's detective as a play on the various tropes of  bawdy "tee hee" 70s game shows (i.e. "making whoopee" and "in Steven's bedroom" in response to "where was the last place you saw your host?").

• Again, I'm not crazy about Fred playing once again playing another in a seemingly endless string of hacky gay stereotypes (and it doesn't help that he eventually capitulates to his own playful public outing when he admits to having a "secret life") but at least it was based on a real thing from the time and was at felt naturally written into this sketch at the exact moment it was called for.

• Some other stray moments I liked were Amy's holding up two cards with devil horns drawn on them to either side of her head and Kenan saying writing "getting my hair done" instead of "making whoopee" as to not upset his wife.

• I could've sworn Casey said she was "crying and eating pound cake" in her water bed instead of "making mouth whoopee" but that's not in the Peacock copy I am watching so they must've changed that between dress and air and inserted the dress version into all reruns. 

• Speaking of Casey's character, if she "auditioned for this show in Steven's bedroom"...would that make both Steven and the murdered game show host both bisexual? Ah, no need to nitpick. Strong sketch all around. Definitely my second favorite live piece of this episode. B+

Scared Straight

Officer Matthews (Sudeikis) introduces three teen shoplifters (Hader, Labeouf, Samberg) to prisoner Lorenzo McIntosh (Thompson) who spouts movie references, threats of gay sex acts and just general aggressive nonsense at them in a failed attempt to scare them straight. 

• Yup, this is the debut of one of this eras' big cookie cutter recurring sketches. It sure does hit all familiar beats, just not in such a boisterous, over the top manner because it's the first outing and none of said "familiar beats" have been established yet. 

• I do remember Stooge in his reviews constantly comparing these to Chris Farleys' Motivational Speaker sketches and saying that Kenan was obviously trying to start his own version of Farleys' Matt Foley character. While I see some similarities in how the characters are introduced (especially in the Phil Hartman-like way Jason introduces Kenan and brings him out), I think these sketches do become their own seperate thing soon enough.

• Kenan seems to have already settled on what his character will be as he's playing this role the exact same way he's always done. Still, since Jason isn't quite as incredulous in his part yet (hell, he doesn't even jump up on his desk at the end yet) and Kenan isn't hitting his threats to the teens as hard. He's even focused more on menacing them in general and threatening them with a more natural delivery.

• His first threat seems to be more focused on his Sharpied on face tattoo than pulling an obvious 80s/90s family movie reference out of nowhere. Even though Kenan's "deposit here" line seems to get the shocked gasp of a reaction that the writers may have secretly been hoping for deep down, he doesn't go quite as over the top or play as fast and loose with putting over the immature gay sex jokes as he would in future installments. 

• Sure, he's just as physical with Bill and Andy but more in a physically imposing way and not in such a fun, loose, brotherly way. All the little pieces and elements are here, but it would take a few seasons worth of time, repetition and finding the right chemistry before these become the exercise in deliberately making cast members break that these would soon become.

• As far as the movie references go, "Gone In 60 Seconds" was a logical and reasonable place to start building up from before absolutely reaching for nonsense like "Goonies" and "Weekend At Bernies'".

• I also liked Kenan's listing of "hats" and "newspapers" repeatedly among the odd items he stole, thinking the boys actually stole cars when all they did was shoplift a copy of Grand Theft Auto and suddenly telling Bill he knows plenty of necrophilliacs.

• Bill usually plays one of the teens (the one who usually calls Kenan out for his most blatant movie ripoffs which usually turn out to be at least his third ones). He didn't break as much here as you'd expect, but he did have a funny moment when he was the only one starting a slow clap until Andy & Shia give him a sideways look.

• Anyway, nice debut sketch for a series I've always appreciated...just not as much in live real time repetition. C+

MacGruber (Pt. 2)

Back from his stay at camp, a now "normal" Merril (Labeouf) is quizzed by MacGruber (Forte) on Bible verses and female genitalia while only Vicki (Wiig) is asked for bomb diffusing items. His dad tries to stop him from leaving which inadvertently causes a vibrating dildo to fall out of his backpack.

• Huh, placing this directly after "Scared Straight" was definitely...a choice.

• There wasn't much to this either. I liked the brief visual gag of Will nodding approvingly upon seeing Shia check out a passing woman from behind.

• I did get a brief kick out of Shias' half-hearted, insincere response of "the vagina, MacGruber" to Will asking his favorite part of a woman (to which Will of course tacks on "don't forget about the breasts").

• How did Merril think he was going to escape a room that's always either sealed in, welded shut or locked from the outside?

• The reveal of the dildo was one of the more bluntly risque things I've seen on this show. As much as I liked seeing Fortes' face if disgust again, this felt like it played for a beat too long. C+

Suze Orman Show

Suze Orman (Wiig) answers questions about female hair care and advised viewers to spend their recent economic stimulus checks however the hell they want and interviews failing buffet/nightclub owner Josiah From Miami (Labeouf) about how he should spend his stimulus money.

• Huh, I don't remember them ever having done more than two of these, but OK. I guess this week it was topical, too bad after this specific week it wasn't memorable.

• While overall this felt like a much shorter and weaker carbon copy of the version of this sketch that appeared in Jonah Hills' episode, this still had its moments.

• I got a kick out of Kristen showing off her snap on collar and detailing the absurd length she goes to travel by borrowed speed boat and rented car to a female specific barber shop in Arizona.

• Shia playing his character with an NYC/Jersey Guido type accent really added something to this. I liked the detail of his club being named "Regrets" and Kristen advising him to go and spend his stimulus money on a five o'clock shadow face tattoo because a) his own facial hair grows in patchy and b) she has a tattoo of buttons going down her chest so she always feels like she is wearing a jacket. 

• The idea of bathing in beef bullion cubes instead of saving money on self tanners got a chuckle out of me. C+

Digital Short: Best Look In The World

Andy Samberg and Shia Labouef sing a ZZ Top esque song about how a button down dress shirt and black socks with absolutely no pants (or underpants) is the best look in the world for grown men.

• Well, if you thought the precious episodes' "Daquiri Girl" was bad...

• The really sad thing is that this one actually had some writing and effort put into it whereas "Daiquiri Girl" was just improvised and cobbled together at the last possible secondg...which makes this one UNintentonally bad...the worst kind of bad.

• There was a time where I would've been much more generous in my assessment of this short. That time has since passed since I can no longer simply appreciate "Best Look In The World" for its sheer random goofiness.

• The lyrics aren't even that coherent but even with the captions/subtitles on there's just too much free flowing garbled nonsense here for me.

• I guess I still like the brief shot of Bill as an illiterate genie and the "cool down" part just find but...they don't get many laughs out of me.

• I liked the part where an oblivious Andy just grins mindlessly and says "right on" when Shia slowly walks away from him after telling him the song they both participated in was "pretty disturbing" but again...this Digital Short gives us absolutely nothing to work with. D+

My Morning Jacket Performs "I'm Amazed" And "Evil Urges"

• Really dug the dynamic sound of this band (especially the very honky tonk infused early 70s rock sound to their first song

• Quite possibly the strongest musical guest of this season

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Liberty City residents Vlad (Hader) & Niko (Armisen) would like to counter the violent image of their hometown that is portrayed in the new Grand Theft Auto video game

French Def Jam comedian Jean K. Jean (Thompson) returns with some new material on rising "petrol" prices, foie gras and old "Asterisk & Tintin" cartoons

• Seth's best jokes: Gas Prices Increases, Amy Winehouse arrested, SAAB Used Cadavers

• Amy's Best jokes: Houston Teens Arrested

• Bill and Fred's GTA Vice city commentary may have been the sole highlight of this Update. This may not be saying much since there was very little written material given to them and this did seem like it was edited down quite a bit after dress rehearsal but they really sold it and they nailed the stiff herky-jerky NPC video game movements.

• The Weather Channel pick up lines bit felt straight out of season 30 (like most of this Update) and would've been extremely iffy if Seth & Amy didn't have the perfect chemistry to make it come across as fun and charming (ditto for Amy's delivery of that R. Kelly joke). Man, this was another Update that wasn't worth it for the jokes at all.

• Zut alors! It's the return of Jean K. Jean (speaking of bits that only get by on the performers charisma). This was all right, but I can only take so much humor that is specifically designed to go over my head. The foie gras bit was fun though. Incroyable! C+

La Revista Della Televisione

Vinny Vedecci (Hader) interviews Shia Labouef about Indiana Jones, his recent smoking related arrest Transformers (despite not knowing anything about the subject)

• Ok, now you might know that not only have I already given my thoughts on this particular sketch (and all the other Vinny Vedecci sketches) on this blog but Deej and I have already done the same on the podcast before. I don't have a ton of new things to say on it or anything, but looking back at that blog post where I ranked all of these, I can see why I ranked this one third. 

• A few positive moments stand out such as the "arrested for smoking" gag (with brief terrified reaction shots of Italian versions of several crew members and even an exasperated, white suited Lorne himself lighting up) which somehow plays well even if that particular arrest of Shias' has been looooong since forgotten among his many other transgressions since then and the fact that this is the sole edition that breaks format and does away briefly with the translator joke by having Vinny clearly state that his English is good enough to conduct this interview without one.

• The one big negative that really drags this down is this is the "transformers/penis or vagina" gag that gets called back to twice (the second time being with brief shots of Wiig and Sudeikis each in drag as the "transformers" that got bumped for time) which...even in 2008 felt like the cheapest of laughs and in 2026 is just...simply not done (even if the entire joke is played off of a fictional characters non-malicious ignorance as it is here).

• The highlight of this sketch may have been the moment where Vinny goads Shia into discussing Indiana Jones' likes and dislikes (his dislike of snakes in particular) just so he can shout "HE HATES SNAKES!!!" to cue up a drop of plastic snakes that occurs so late and way off the mark that Vinny has already begun setting up a question about the film "Disturbia" by the time it happens followed by a shot of Vinny chewing out a slack jawed Samberg in a tank top standing by a lever. There was a gag that involved Vinny dubbing the voice of one of the goons who tears out a human heart in "Temple of Doom" that didn't work for me.

• Like I said, this was one of the better early installments of this even if it didn't exactly have all it's elements working in its favor. B-

MacGruber (Pt. 3)

Merril (Labeouf) is back to help his dad (Forte) and Vicki (Wiig) diffuse a bomb. This time, he's bought his "platonic" male friend Scott (Samberg) with him much to MacGrubers' chagrin. When MacGruber asks to see his sin kiss Vicki to "prove" his sexuality...Merril vomits on her.

• This was a decent if not jarring and slightly cynical end to this runner. 

• One might ask why this didn't end with MacGrubers' son getting to truly be who he is in defiance of his dad's controlling close mindedness, but this wouldn't truly be MacGruber if that were allowed to happen because as we've seen with his dad's alcoholism and plastics surgery addiction, living out a self destructive lie runs in the family.

• As intentionally squicky as the ending vomit was, executing it with "blink and you'll miss it" timing right as the explosion happened was what made it work for me. B-

Admirers

Emily (Wiig) and Stacy (Poehler) find themselves mutually attracted to all the unsettlingly stiff and statuesque men in the same restaurant as them with bizarrely frozen facial expressions are either pained and fearful (Armisen, Samberg, Forte) or just creepily deranged (Hader, Labeouf, Thompson)

• Ok, this sketch has been a deep cut favorite of mine for eighteen years now. It's definitely my favorite piece of this whole episode.

• Everyone really shined in this. The woman played their parts well (even Casey Wilson as the waittress who brings them drinks bought for them by Will, Bill, Kenan and Fred).

• Andy set the tone for this absurdity really well, initially. Fred, Bill and Kenan matched his energy and stylistic choice really well, especially Bill whose near rigor mortis rictus grin is the face most viewers of this sketch would probably say is the funniest. 

• Freds' would be a close second as he looks like he is just straight up ugly crying. Andy is a close third as he looks like he is just right on the verge of doing the same thing. Andy & Bill are the only guys that noticablly move during this sketch (Samberg darts his eyes back and forth while Hader does raise his glass in toast to the ladies) Andy & Bill also look the least like they are just creepily peering at women while Kenan looks the most like he is doing that but hey, it still works. 

• I'm not quite sure what Will was going for other than looking like a crash test dummy who wished to become human but it still works and it would be a crime to not include him somewhere in a sketch that is this wonderfully odd. Shia just did a simple, crooked goofy smirk and that was it. A little unambitious but it worked for this sketch.

• Of course, the moment that made this entire sketch (and episode for me) was the sudden "doy doy doy doy doy" ditty that started playing in each guy's head when the girls wonder what they are thinking. That never fails to crack me up no matter how many times I see it.

• Although Shias' "doy doy doy" seems almost an octave out range with the others, he was a nice backup vocalist for Andy and helped him carry his own tune. Still, I get the feeling that Shia may have understood the assignment the least here.

• The only other criticism I have of this near perfect sketch would be that the line about how Andy's character looks both happy and scared could've been cut since it kind if needlessly explains the joke but other than that this was just stellar. I even liked Anys' line at the very end saying they should all just have an eight-way because "when it rains, it pours". A-

New York Funky Style

A mom (Poehler) from Decatur, GA takes her daughters Monica (Wiig) and Melana (Labeouf) shopping at an Anthropologie on a trip to New York City. With the help of a random store clerk (Wilson) she hopes to find the right looks for each daughter to bring back home after experimenting with New York Style funky fashion and accessories.

• Well, first things first...one semi meta clock punch I did like was how one of Amys' many shopping bags said "NBC Experience" on it with the modern peacock logo and everything. While I didn't much care for the rest of this, it has started to grow on me on rewatch.

• I could be wrong, but...I'm guessing this is a James Anderson/Kent Sublette co- written sketch? I feel like this entire thing had to be based on a real interaction one of those guys saw in a store recently at that time. Either way, if it is them it's definitely the side of their writing that never really clicked with me.

• Oh look, there's Casey in another thankless role in a row as a customer service employee whose main purpose seems to be complimenting two women and saying how beautiful they are. Whoopee.

• The big tent poles of this sketch seem to be the sight of Shia in drag...as a mouse, insecure, mannish young woman and Amy simply repeating the words "New York", "funky" "no" and "yes" as many times as she can in one sketch when not expressing concerns over her second daughters' mannish physical appearance to Casey's character.

• I liked Amy's line to Kristen about how her second outfit makes her look like such a convincing New Yorker that people will come up to her on the street and ask "which subway train to take to get to the Empire State Building?"

• I didn't exactly hate this sketch. I just have no idea who it was for, honestly. What would've improved the run down of this episode just a bit would've been if this had switched places with "Admirers". C-

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Christopher Walken/Panic At The Disco (04.05.2008)
3. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
4. Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
5. Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
6. Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley (04.12.2008)
7. Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket (05.10.2008)
8. Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
9. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
10. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
11. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• This episode was solid, but not quite as fun or as much of a collection of back to back bangers as I remembered. It's one of those episodes where you just remember what hits the most because the highs are quite high but the lows are merely forgettably bland and not enough to drag down the episode.

• Shia still showed himself to be a game host who was up for just about anything but at the same...he gave off this vibe that he was taking himself much more seriously as an actor. I say that not because he was plugging an ill fated Indiana Jones film but now that he was getting some dramatic roles under his belt and just got his first big popcorn blockbuster he seemed like he wanted to move away from comedy and exclusively toward drama from this point (which he definitely got to do for sure anyway you look at it). 

• I say all of that as speculation as to why this episode as a whole felt noticeably less "fun" than his first one from the previous season since he wasn't quite as energetic here as he was then, but again, I guess he had grown and matured a bit since then in the previous year.

• For cast usage, Bill, Will, Amy, Kenan and Fred seemed to have the strongest nights. Andy, Kristen and Casey each come in a close second as they mostly were relegated to solid support roles. Jason and Darrell were definitely seen the least, sadly and didn't have the best weeks in terms of appearances.

Closing Thoughts

• The next SNL Season 33 episode I will take after this will be this season's finale with host Steve Carrell and musical guest Usher. I don't exactly remember this being a stand out episode of this season either, but it will finally be nice to finally close the book on season 33 of SNL.

• Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this review (and hopefully listening to the podcast episode that it was written for) just as much as I hope you've enjoyed reading my reviews of SNL UK series two I've been posting. I've got two more of those coming soon with my review of the upcoming Jalen Brunson episode of SNL US and Amelia Dimoldenberg episode of SNL UK. Knowing the way I write about SNL US vs how I write abiut SNL UK, I'm sure I'll have my review of the former posted here quicker. See you again here real soon!

SNL UK: Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)

Ed, Charles And D.I.A.N.A.

• Ok, King Charles meeting with A.I. executives. This could be interesting.

• I liked how they included Celeste in this. Is Freddie just playing Elon Musk?

• Wow, very strange way to work Jack Sheps' Princess Di and the "A.I. could very possibly kill all humans" story into the same sketch (even with the context of Charles Spencers' recent memoir) but after seeing it take on a dark anti-A.I. apocalypse bent I started to get into it.

• Larry is turning out his strongest and most engaged performance as King Charles so far.

• Annabel as Ed Sheerhan was a nice touch and a nice counter balance to the grimdark A.I. apocalypse of this sketch. It comes across more like Kate McKinnons and Noel Wells' impressions of Justin Beiber from about a decade ago (or even Kate McKinnons impression of Ed Sheerhan from that time) but its' still a nice use of her musical background and singing voice.

• It's pretty funny how the writers' attempt at a pastiche/style parody of mid-2010s Ed Sheerhans' music just ended up sounding like that "10,000 Hours" song by Dan & Shay with Justin Beiber. Just speaks to how cookie cutter most male pop stars of that time were.

• A bit odd that both of this seasons SNL UK cold opens have followed the same structure of "other British people in the news this week suddenly intrude on King Charles" but it just goes to show you that even when SNL UK attempts one of these "let's just jumble every big news story of this week into a sketch" type cold opens they have a better handle on how to make those work effectively and actually NOT seem jumbled together. It's something SNL US needs to learn thing or two about.

• Quite a bleak, nihilistic ending with Larrys' King Charles suddenly declaring that "nothing matters" but it's the same kind of take on mocking world leaders I have come to expect from SNL UK by this point (and unfortunately the same approach to making the entire show I've come to expect from SNL US). B+

Monologue

• Quite an odd entrance. Not a bad one, though. I liked him tripping over the stairs, followed by his cousin suddenly tripping over him followed by the first words out of his mouth being a blunt "I was in Fleabag".

• I also liked his line "It's so fun and creative and comedy to be here."

• I wanted to like the premise of a host struggling to remember what he was in but until the song came on, I wasn't into the execution. It reminded me of John Goodmans' monologue from season 25 of SNL US only slightly more charming and less exploitative.

• Hey, Ncuti Gatwa has returned to remind Jamie which one of them was in Sex Education! Funny how he makes this cameo just as I get to appear on a podcast discussing the episode he hosted.

• Between this and Jeff Goldblums' monologue from last week, this might be my favorite musical monologue of SNL UK series two so far. 

• However, if you ONLY are able to view this episode on Peacock here in the states you might like to know that in the live Sky TV airing Jamie broke out giggling after the first line of his song and joking said something like "can we start over? No? Ok." Apparently, Peacock saw fit to cut that moment for some reason.

• Hey, it's...Al Roberts, Jamies' costar from "Steth Lets Flats". It's a shame I haven't seen that show but based on this interaction between the two of them it sure looks neat. This adds quite a bit of charm to the ending to this monologue. I especially liked the gag of him cold reading an upcoming acting credit of his.

• After chewing on this one a bit, I actually liked this more on rewatch and appreciate what a strong subversion of typical SNL host tropes this turned out to be. B-

The E-Bike Song

• I appreciate that we're really getting to see this different, more gleefully dangerous and reckless side of Jack Shep that we didn't get to see in series one (even if its just in service of one tongue in cheek joke about how e-bikes and lime scooters are dangerous as hell and expensive)

• I liked the inclusion of a rapping Freddie & Celeste, Jamie as a cop and Annabels' face on the green bike bucket (smart of them to get someone who can actually sing on this one). I even got a kick out of the older gentlemen playing Jacks' loved one in the middle.

• That musical mix of modern day PinkPantheress/Charli XCX-lite style dance pop and early millennial Albie Wobble Selekta style of British rap that permeated this short dovetails nicely enough with this. (Yeah, that's right. I just dropped a Kyle Gordon reference for lack of a better comparison. Big whoop. Wanna fight about it?)

• Still, even though this got a bit catchier and funnier on rewatch, between this and Wednesday nights new South Park episode...I'd say the latter was my preferred bit of e-bike based humor from the week. C+

The Rower

• Wait...so, this ISN'T an Odyssey parody?

• Weird time for Jamie to be doing a Bronson Pinchot impression.

• Yeah, this is definitely another sketch archetype I know I've seen on SNL US numerous times. One of the lesser known deep cuts from the classic Peyton Manning episode of SNL US immediately jumped to mind when I saw that (and so did the Riverdale sketch from Halseys' 2019 SNL US episode now that I'm thinking about it). Even if I hadn't seen either of those sketches, I'm sure I would've found the execution of this too awkward and lame to get into it.

• I liked how well Celeste played the role of the exasperated director, but other than that Jamie was playing this like either he didn't know what this sketch was supposed to be or was gently trying to take it in his own direction. D+

The Shape

• Ok, this looks pretty funny. It may actually make this sketch better for me that I have no fucking clue if it's parodying a real game show or not.

• This is decently absurd right out the gate. I'm getting some slight Mitchell & Webb "Numberwang/Remain Indoors" vibes.

• I actually like everyone's performances here. Jamie and Emma do a great job leading this. The various audience asides from Jack, Ayoade and Freddie were OK. A-

Why Did You Dump Me?

• I can sense that this is going for a similar level of absurdity as "The Shape". I like it as a vehicle for Emma, but I didn't like it as much as "The Shape".

• I liked that this did eventually switch gears into self awareness but I didn't care for how abruptly they made that shift or how long they lingered on Jamie explaining to Emma exactly how weird and crazy she is.

• I can tell this is a bit too weird to be that closely based on a real thing (except maybe Billy On The Street but like...an extrapolation of it?) so the closest thing from SNL US I can compare this to is...The Denise Show with Adam Sandler. Not bad. B-

Entertainment Exchange 

• I like that we're getting a lot of Celeste and Freddie this week (and way more Hammed than last week). I was even fine with the way Emma played the straight woman. 

• I'm not crazy about this sketch, though. It feels pretty empty and I've know for sure I've seen this premise on SNL before (specifically with the Spectrum cable sketches in recent years and the "Gym Call" sketch with Timothee Chalamet from 2023 that doesn't appear to legitimately be on YouTube for some reason).

• Heck, this even reminds me of the famous "change for a dollar" sketch from Mr. Show but much weaker.

• I did like Emmas' closing line just being her straight up wishing she never had kids. I would have placed this elsewhere in the rundown so it didn't end up being one of he sketches that leads into the host introducing the musical guest. D+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Kraft/Epstein, Piddington/Paddington, Pond Sex

• Anias' Best Jokes: Sheerhan/Macklemore, Robert Kraft, Roast Prices Rise

• Yeah, the whole Sheerhan/Macklemore/Kraft run of jokes were the strongest part of Update for me. Maybe the Paloma Faith joke would've hit harder if I knew who she was?

• That non-joke of briefly mentioning the lib dem party without a punchline and then quickly moving on to the Spencer memoir jokes was such a Chevy Chase/Jance Curtin level bit of humor from Ania.

• Again, I haven't seen "Stath Lets Flats" but what I could parse out from what I did see was charming enough. Jamie and Al have good enough chemistry to have made this level of silly bumbling fun to watch. Maybe I should check out Stath Lets Flats if it's streamable somewhere? B-

Woman Of Darkness

• Hmm, let's see where this goes...

• Seems like Jack found a version of his character from last week's Bi King Kong sketch that actually works

• Ok, this is a decent Sarah Sherman-ish performance from Emma I could jive with.

• ...and Jamie's character thinks she's hit and wants to hit on her. Fantastic.

• ...and he wants Jack's character to wingman him after his first failed come-on. Now, he wants to bail because she wants kids.

• ...and there's a button that turns this into a safe sex PSA. Yes, that's something we always want to see at the end of an SNL sketch.

• Ok, so...this went nowhere interesting. Not even the performances could save this lame premise.

• The fact that I can't really remember another time I've seen this exact premise speaks volumes. The closest thing I've seen to this on SNL US was The Twilight Zone sketch with Pamela Anderson but even that had a better ending. D-

The X-Factor Final 12 Performance

• Ok, how the FUCK is this the first we've seen of Al Nash or George Fucking Fouracres all night?

• So...is this just 2011 era X-Factor nostalgia and the only thing even close to approaching a joke is the height of Jamie's hair as he realizes his wig is too large on air and the camera rig rips it off?

• This reminded me a lot of the opening of the 2003 SNL US Super Bowl Halftime show where pretty much the entire 2002-03 cast portrayed different American Idol auditioned as well as the SNL US Digital Short from 2012 where Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig just had really huge afros (and just a hint of WIll Ferrells' "Mark Jensen Family Christmas" from every SNL US Christmas special you've seen in the past 20 years).

• I liked Celeste, Paddy and Anias' appearances in this. Celestes' whole look was pretty funny. I dug the throwback to Paddys' running BTS gags. I heard Ania was apparently supposed to be playing a member of Little Mix. If so, she actually does make a pretty damn convincing Jesy Nelson and/or Jade Thirlwall.

• Actually, upon rewatch this was pretty funny and charming if you view it more as just a fun end of show musical number with the cast...y'know, like the exact thing it's meant to be parodying. I can't believe it took me a whole day to realize that this was just another example of SNL UK just parodying a specific piece of viral media from several years ago (even certain hosts from series one have done this in their monologues). Fun way to end the episode. B-

Ranking SNL UK Series Two From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
2. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)

Ranking All Of SNL UK From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
4. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
5. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
6. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)
7. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
8. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
9. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
10. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• I will admit, I struggled with this episode a bit because I may have went into it with the wrong mindset. Before I actually saw any of it, I had heard from a trusted source in a certain Discord server I tend to frequent (who lives in England and saw the live airing in real time) that this episode wasn't particularly good.

• Still, I had to reserve my actual judgement for after I actually SAW the episode and the first two times I watched it in full (through my own personal means and connections I won't explain further here) I got a strange vibe and noticed how each sketch felt a bit derivative of something else (in various ways, some more than others).

• After watching this episode twice with two completely different groups of online fans (including the whole crew I recorded those podcasts with where I talked about Ncuti and Riz Ahmeds' episodes) I was able to parse out what actually worked and what didn't (much moreso with the second group, sorry ladies).

• I also grew to like Jamie more as a host. He was clearly a better fit for SNL UK than Jeff Goldblum was (since he IS an actual British actor, after all). Jamie truly blended in seamlessly with this cast while still bringing his own unique off beat vibe to the proceedings.

• Yes, it did feel like an uneven episode but that was because they took more chances than last week which naturally resulted in a few things here and there that didn't work here and there but what worked grlt really solid and hit harder than any of last week's high points.

• I do like that they took some swings at some more absurd dadaist level humor (most of which landed).

• As for cast usage, my biggest problem with this episode was the lack of George and Al, of course. However, I do like how they used Jack & Emma this episode. They were two cast members I was on the fence about (to borrow a phrase from Ed Sheerhan) but I'm now fully sold on by how they pur certain sketches over.

• I liked how they worked in the rest of the cast as well (especially Celeste, Freddie, Annabel and Hammed). Everyone else dud some solid support work. Heck, I even liked Royal Bloods' performances just fine. They were pretty good for a band who's sound could best be described as "heavily, heavily watered down Motorhead".

Closing Thoughts

• Next week, serial Chicken Shop Dater Amelia Dimoldenberg will be hosting this show. I know that she has rather tenuous connections to both versions of SNL but this sets something of a dangerous precedent for booking content creators and influencers with no real acting experience as hosts. I think the best we can hope for is that Amelia will just gel and vibe well with the rest of that cast as I'm sure they'll be able to carry her.

• I'm sure I'll also have my review of the upcoming season premiere of SNL US airing the same night, hours later posted here even sooner with host Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks. It's funny how this happens as I'm about to wrap up my coverage of an old SNL season that also had a premiere hosted by an NBA MVP (funny how things sometimes come full circle like that sometimes) but I've heard that Jalen doesn't quite have as much charisma off the court as Lebron or Michael Jordan or even Charles Barkley did. 

• I think the best we can hope for THAT SNL episode is that any number of the seven (!) featured players on SNLs' current cast get to do something that really makes them stand out from the bunch. See you again real soon!