Steve Carell/Usher (05.17.2008)

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?

Commencement Address

Graduating seniors receive their diplomas from The Pounder School during their spring cap and gown ceremony.

• Man, it's never gonna NOT feel weird having to write and/or talk about a commencement or prom sketch in October.

• Anyway, it's nice that they could make this technically an all cast piece (even if only our host had any spoken lines whatsoever and everyone else was either a silent alumni in the background or an extra walking up to get a diploma.

• So, this is basically the exact same joke as the two cold opens Robert Deniro did when he hosted several years before this but with the framework of "let's just punch down on middle easterners just for the fuck of it" taken out and replaced with the framework of this being a unique specialized school for kids who couldn't fit in anywhere else? Well, at least this is being delivered by someone like Steve Carell who can be committed to reading purposely ridiculous lines in a straight face poised manner rather than someone like Robert Deniro who at that point in his career was content to just stumble through it.

• Also, I've heard this was written by the legendary Jack Handey? He is credited with writing an "additional sketch" in this episode and I have kind of a hard time believing this is what he contributed. Sure, the premise and setup to all the dirty names seems just as simplistic and evergreen as anything else he's ever written for this show but beyond that he's never gone that risqué (although Carrells' line about how each student present must feel like "square pegs being squeezed into round holes" should've been a dead giveaway as to where this was headed). I'm sure a lot of the dirty names and puns were pitched and contributed by other writers on a Thursday night.

• Really, the only similarity between this and anything else from Handeys' era at the show is how this has the same energy as Dennis Miller on Update when he would just race through a string of jokes at breakneck speed because he just knew they would bomb otherwise.

• I do like how they took the time to add middle names to most of these as to not totally make the joke blatantly obvious (in the case of "Mike Anthony Hunt" it may have been absolutely necessary to get this past standards and practices).

• A young, long haired Colin Jost can be seen accepting his diploma under the name "Harry Charles Wombus".

• I actually do like the brief meta-ish "Who's Dick Hertz?" moment with Steve sternly and disappointedly addressing the childishness of that prank. Kristens' facial acting was nice during this bit too. I always like when an "lol dirty names" type sketch can take some time out to do some quick self reflection and acknowledge it's own stupidity in some way.

• If I absolutely had to pick any favorite names out of this bunch, they'd probably just be "Lotta Christine Semen", "Chlamydia Marie Carrier" and the entire run at the end beginning with "Yuwanna Nailer" and ending with "George Michael Steinbrenner".

• I'm still a bit surprised that one could get away with using the phrase "Major Dildo Pounder" on NBC in 2008 (even in late night). 

• I do also like the brief moment after Steve says LFNY when we see everyone do the traditional "toss your cap/motorboard into the air move you see at every graduation before we cut away to the intro. C+

Monologue

Steve Carell is physically and mentally unable to concentrate on his monologue. His wife, Nancy Carell (Herself), gets him to admit that this is due to nerves and not the six Red Bulls and various Sour Patch Kids and circus peanuts he falsely told the audience he consumed earlier in the day.

• This was a fairly fun and unique monologue premise that only Steve had the inherent goofiness to sell us on. I'd be hard pressed to think of any other host who could pull this off. Among some of my favorite lines from Steve in this were "feels like my hair is growing", "feels like all of my organs are fighting each other right now", "I can only see the color yellow" and "I'm seeing into the future and the past at the same time...very strange, very unsettling".

• It's nice to see a monologue where the host walks off the stage (or into the audience) that doesn't either involve a sprawling musical number, a backstage tour or a visit to the five timers club lounge (of course Steve couldn't go backstage because the door he so hilariously ran into seemed to be locked from the outside).

• I got a kick out of Steve walking through the sparse floor seats to get back on stage then suddenly stopping to sit in a strange mans' lap only to ask him to rub his head.

• Hey, it's nice to see Nancy make an odd cameo on the show (or any one season only cast member for that matter). I liked that she suddenly told Amy that she goes through this every morning and I got a kick out of Steve's closing line about hiw this should only happen again if he has to be in one of the sketches.

• This was a fun monologue that inspired a lot more confidence in the rest of the show than that cold open did. B-

Clinton/Obama: There Can Be Only One

Shown in a very tight split screen close up, Barack Obama (Armisen) and Hillary Clinton (Poehler) deliver an almost perfectly in sync message of democratic party unity.

• Huh, apparently this wasn't a parody of any real political ad from the time but rather this series of ads nobody remembers any more for the 2007 NBA finals (which unsurprisingly the host of this season's premiere is in because time truly is a flat circle)

• Also, it looks like they may have tried to actually apply some bronzer to Freds face or otherwise tried some post production or camera trick to make him look...tanner? I guess that since they knew ahead of time that this would be a pretape they tried every trick they could in the book to at least make us think his Obama was at least working on purely a visual level.

• Once you get past how initially jarring the visuals are you can appreciate some of the funnier lines in this sketch mostly from Amys" Hillary such as "ruthless ambition" over Freds' "charisma", "I deserve this" and about having her eye on the Democratic nomination...in 2012.

• Although Fred (who seems to just be using his own voice in this case although really here it doesn't matter) had a couple of decent lines about how any democrat would carry the state of California in the general election anyway and his saying "only one mathematically viable" over Amys' "and its' anyones' race" after they both say "now, two candidates' remain". The rest of this just seems lost to the time fog. C-

Deal Or No Deal

Contestant Stu Barnsford (Carell) puts up with snide belittling comments from his bitter angry father (Forte) whom he still lives with on his search for the million dollar briefcase. Stu has turned down an offer of $211,000 from the banker and only the one cent, one dollar, five dollar and million dollar. Host Howie Mandell (Armisen) and model Rebecca (Wiig) do him no favors as they endlessly draw this process out to fill time.

• This might have been the high point of the show for me. Forte pretty much made this for me and Carell played off him well with expertly pathetic vibes. Among the many sad, pitiful details about the life of Steves' character that Will revealed were that he quit air conditioner repair school after one day because "it was too cold" and that after he gave up on breeding alpacas their whole backyard is now full of "dead alpacas".

• Freds' Howie Mandell impression never seemed up to much. It was always a little too goofy for me. Kristens' subtle mugging and miming was fine. I liked her goofily and then solemnly admitting to drinking before the show. 

• Come to think of it, Kristen may be basically doing a reigned in version of what she would later do when impersonating Kathie Lee Gifford on the show but it was actually funny here and served this sketch well. I liked Amy and Caseys' brief lines as the other two goofy voiced models.

• I did like the endearing ending to this where Steves' character reveals the only real reason he still lives with his father is because he's all he has after mom moved out and questions what he would do if he used any prize money to move into his own place...as they both struggle to accept the reality that Steve just lost out on one million dollars as Kristen reveals that was the case she just opened...meaning that is not the case Steve had selected. B+

Two A-Holes Do Karaoke

The A-Hole couple (Sudeikis & Wiig) enrage karaoke night host Peter Pops (Carell) with their lack of karaoke knowledge or etiquette.

• Ok, I got a kick out of Kenan tearfully dedicating his rendition of Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" to Anna Nicole Smith.

• Once Steve pulled out a name card with just gum stuck to it, you could see where this one was going.

• As usual, Bills' voice narrates the title card of these. This is the second to last of these Jason and Kristen would ever do. It may be one of the lesser, more forgettable ones but it still has a lot of great moments.

• I got a kick out of Jason's attempts at guessing what happened to the nonexistent band. 

• I loved how increasingly petty Steve's character became with his bitter contempt for them once Kristen decided she wanted to tell lame jokes and do extremely minimalist impressions (like a cow and Yoda eating grass).

• I especially liked Jason and Kristen making Steve guess what song they wanted to do (which, of course, turned out to he Sir Mix-A-Lots' "Baby Got Back", the first song Steve guessed) and reacting in disgust when Steve guessed "Brown Eyed Girl" because according to Kristen "that songs' about buttsex".

• Of course, Jason and Kristen standing silently as a backing track of "Baby Got Back" with only brief backing vocals from Kenan played was a funny juxtaposition.

• I was a little impressed that they managed to pull off the live sketch visual of Steve's ears steaming like a tea kettle in anger. 

• Anyway, that was a fun little sketch with a snappy pace to keep the show moving. B-

Digital Short: Japanese Office

Ricky Gervais (Himself) smugly derides the US version of the Office for shamelessly ripping off his original UK version and shows clips from the Japanese sitcom that inspired him in creating the original.

• Even though this would probably land better for SNL fans who also happened to be huge Office US fans at the time it first became a hit, this is probably the most well remembered piece from this episode among SNL fans in general...and ironically with the way culture has evolved and the with the way it has aged since, it's probably the least easiest to talk about.

• Still, I have to say...it's hard to actually be mad at or offended by. I do seem to remember this, Belushis' Samurai and the infamous Chris Farley/Mike Meyers/Alec Baldwin Japanese Game Show sketch from season 20 come up in conversation during (*sigh*) upcoming three time SNL host Shane Gillis' controversy from several years ago when he was initially hired to join the cast and then immediately fired once his infamous Chinatown comments from his old podcast resurfaced...and honestly, I see each of those SNL sketches as a real apples and oranges comparison when held up that happened with Shane Gillis (ok, maybe not so much the season 20 one but still...)

• I don't see this as "punching down" as much as this cast just wanting to have the same fun they did during Rainn Wilsons' monologue when he hosted the previous season. It's not like they're going crazy with the makeup or anything. It's mostly just Jason and Kristen doing the same Jim and Pam impressions they've already done on the show...just while wearing black wigs...and with Steve just playing Michael Scott and Bill Hader being worked in to this as a Japanese Dwight Schrute simply because they wanted to play up his real life resemblance to Rainn Wilson a bit for the sake of this sketch.

• Plus, they all appear to be speaking actual Japanese and using real Japanese phrases rather than just mumbling out some offensive made up gibberish made to approximate that dialect. Kristens' accent and constant giggling come the closest to being "iffy", but nothing to egregious here. 

• Hey, they've even got a few actual Asian extras too fill out the background. Also, Kenan is there as Stanley, because...why not, it's fun?

• I got a kick out of the brief shot of Darrel Hammond as Regis Philbin suddenly doing a very loud, flashy borderline seizure inducing commercial for tampons with very Hello Kitty-ish branding and the brief shot of the early 2000s-ish walking robot dog toy at the end.

• It's also a bit ironic that in a sketch that features white cast members playing Asian roles that Ricky Gervais as himself may be the most problematic thing about it. Granted, the Ricky Gervais of 2008 is an entirely different beast of the Ricky Gervais of the past 15 years or so...but it doesn't help that his closing line here is a giggling "it's funny...'cause it's racist" (delivered in an tongue in cheek yet smug manner as if he were deliberately trying to deflate any possible defense of this).

• Anyway, fun sketch for the time...still a little fun but not too much fun eighteen years later. B-

McCain 2008

Sen John McCain (Himself) declares his strong opposition to wasteful, pork barrel spending in government and makes the case that this quality along with his advanced age makes him the strongest and most qualified candidate for the presidency.

• Well, Sen. McCain does have a history and good relationship with the show (having previously hosted six years prior to this episode) so naturally he'd be a good enough sport to make a cameo poking fun at his old age. This is not the last time he would show up on SNL in some capacity this year (or even this episode), but this would be the weakest and least memorable SNL appeal during his 2008 campaign.

• I liked his joke about how even his youngest great-great-great-great-grandchildren being near retirement age and the bit about wasteful government spending on a device that jams gaydar just fine, but he rest of this felt like a little too much nice political humor with limited appeal delivered in a quiet muted fashion to only mild audience reactions. C-

Usher Performs "This Ain't Sex" And "Love In This Club (ft. Young Jeezy)"

• If you're familiar at all with Usher, this is just your typical heavily choreographed post-Confessions era run of the mill R&B dance club slop.

• The first song felt like a throwback as even musically (maybe moreso than choreographically) it was clearly an homage/pastiche to P.Y.T era Michael Jackson.

• Pretty funny how I'm reviewing this episode in 2026 right after SNL had just done a real half assed sketch based on Ushers' recent tour with Chris Brown. Time truly is an annoyingly flat circle.

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Himself) urges the Democratic party to take their sweet time on picking their candidate in this election.

Rev. Jesse Jackson (Hammond) and Rev. Al Sharpton (Thompson) stop by to give Sen. Barack Obama advice on representing his race during his campaign

• Seth's Best Jokes: Britney Spears Car Accident, Heavy Marijuana Use Study, Worlds' Austrailianest Man, Speedo Arrest

• Amy's Best Jokes: George W. Bush Gives Up Golf, 10 Year Old College Student

• Sen. McCains' appearance was charming and a lot funnier and better delivered than his earlier appearance in the show. I did like his brief "fight amongst yourselves" to Seth and Amy as well as his comments about the conventions and suggestions that the Demoratic party that they "kick the tires" on John Edwards a bit more.

• As I may have said before, I don't really have a huge problem with Darrells' Jesse (which I would also just throw in the "Japanese Office" category) or Kenans' Sharpton...but their commentary here was pretty much white noise (outside of the various "take it ways" which weren't even up to much) and had a real "should we be doing this right now"? feel to it. C+

The Charlie Flitt Show

Weight loss guru Charlie Flitt (Carell) interviews guest Beth Cassiola (Poehler), her fiance Larry (Hader) and recovering alcoholic/maid of honor mother Rhonda (Wiig) on their journeys through weight loss, weight gain and addictions.

• Wow, this was almost way too dry for its own good. Most of the actual jokes in this sketch were purely visual and those were just the various shots of Steve,Amy, Bill and Kristen bursting through tearaway portraits of their formerly fat/thin/drunken selves whenever they were introduced (or in Steves' case any time he simply entered the frame...which is a beat they hit so many times it felt like they were trying to solely make it funny through repetition but didn't know how to properly pull that off).

• The only bit of dialogue I liked at all was Steve comparing his addiction to Google Images to Amys' addiction to caffeine and exercise just for the sheer oddity of it. The less said about the reference to Jared Fogel and the Subway diet the better (hell, it will be bad enough when Jared himself makes an actual cameo in SNLs' very next live episode) but I did like Steves' comment to Amy "that is a lot of dried bread, but you look great".

• Other than that, the rest of the dialogue in this sketch makes this feel too much like an actual example of the type of obscure daytime talk show or local fitness infomercial it is supposed to be spoofing. Seeing the actual "Fit Tv" bug in the corner does make me wonder if that was an actual deep cable channel from the time period that is no longer around today?

• Speaking of daytime talk shows, I wonder if Steves' dance with Fred as the DJ was supposed to be a  reference to Ellens' talk show? That would be another thing that makes this sketch age weirdly.

• The audience Q&A bit with Kenan, Jason and Fred didn't do much for me, but hey...at least it was an easy way to get Darrell on the show in a non-impression role...and set up the introduction to Bills' character.

• The visual of Bill in a fat suit and facial prosthetics isn't that funny on its' own but the way he played off his characters' shame and disappointment over losing 300 pounds through gastric bypass surgery and then recently having gained it all back "due to personal stress" was what put it over (given that he only really had one line himself).

• I did like the added detail of Kristens' character being a recovering alcoholic lead to her bursting through a photo of herself as a staggering, bleary eyed drunk with a half asleep expression holding a liquor bottle.

• Anyway, yeah...this was a very awkward sketch that payed to such a muted, dead silent response from the real studio audience that I actually wonder how this did well enough at the table read and dress rehearsal to make it on air? D+

CPR Training

Thomas (Carell) accidentally breaks open the chest of his assistant Greg (Samberg) while demonstrating chest compressions. He tries to keep his cool and wing it in front of his students (Sudeikis, Thompson, Wiig) as they all watch him hemorrhage to death.

• This was a neat, fun little Sambergian gross out sketch. Kenan had some great lines here. Steve was OK. I just...would've expected him to bring a bit more to a sketch like this for some reason (seems like he tried on air in a way that didn't work).

• The gags with Steve trying to retrieve his wrist watch from Andy's chest cavity and then visibly inflating his lung while performing mouth to mouth on him were pretty funny.

• Hmm...I wonder if the fake blood hose was being operated by Jorma or Akiva? It seems like someone sure was purposely trying to get blood into Andy's mouth to get him to break. Whoever it was, you can actually see them in the shot sneaking under Andys' fake gurney at the beginning (which is probably the main reason why they replaced this sketch with the dress rehearsal version in reruns).

• Other dress changes include Andy's final line (you know, the one about him having just recently found a nickel in a pile of dog turds) wasn't in the original airing. It replaces a line where Andy says he "just got a free watch from the coolest guy (he) knows".

• Having Usher appear at the end just to turn this into an NBC More You Know PSA for no apparent reason (in the live airing it was just an American Red Cross PSA) wasn't exactly the worst possible ending to this sketch at the time...but considering how many modern sketches have sudden PSA/advertising buttons at the end, you could feel that the seeds for something dangerous had been planted by this point. B-

Bless This Child

A married couple (Carell & Wiig) perform an entire musical prayer (complete with choreography) for their new baby

• This was another fun little physical/musical sketch that got in and out without overstaying its welcome at all. 

• I did like visuals Steve and Kristen wiggling and swinging their baby around wildly as part of their dance routine.

• I also appreciated Steve acknowledging that their baby was just a doll and he was ready to move on to a real one followed by Kristen's reveal of her pregnancy followed by Steve swinging around a dummy of her.

• See, THIS is evergreen enough that I'd sooner believe Jack Handey wrote it over the cold open. Neat little humble ditty to quietly end a quiet season on. B+

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. Steve Carell/Usher (05.17.2008)
10. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
11. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
12. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this was an awkward, low key way to end an unusual season...but at least it didn't feel like a burnt out one.

• Steve did fine with what he was given and clearly tried to save or elevate everything he possibly could, but this episode may have really began his reputation for being one of those great comedy people who are great in their own movies & TV shows but can't host a strong SNL episode to save their lives.

• That's all just to say this was a very average episode with no real highs or lows rather than a dire one.

• As far as cast usage goes, no one really dominated (although Amy, Kristen and Fred may have had strong nights) and everyone got used in something or another.

• Sadly, this wasn't a great night for Bill & his appearances on the show...but we all know his luck would change by the beginning of next season thanks to a certain new writer joining the staff.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, the next episode of the We Heart Hader after this one is going to be our review of "Mr. Runner Up: My Life as an Oscar Bridesmaid" which is the two part second season finale of Documentary Now! 

• We still haven't decided whether or not to divide that into two episodes of our own podcast yet, but we do know that after this we'll have wrapped up our Documentary Now coverage on the podcast for good.

• As of this posting, we haven't decided how to cover season 34 of SNL for the podcast yet, but I've got a couple of non episode specific podcast topics from that season we could do (I think you can probably guess which ones I'm talking about...but you'll have to wait until you can listen to them to find out what they are for sure).

• ...and of course, I will also be covering the latest episodes of both SNL UK Series two and SNL US season 52 on this blog. One of those two will likely be the next thing you see a blog post about on here. See you again real soon!

SNL UK: James Norton/The Streets (10.17.2026)

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SNL UK: Danny Dyer/Sasha Keable (10.10.2026)

Royal Family Reunion

• Hmm, another royals cold open. This time without Larrys' King Charles or Emmas Camilla. Instead we get Jacks' Harry and Ayoades' Meghan. These impressions have improved.

• We also get Freddies' William and Annabels Kate. These impressions are OK. Not doing much for me but they've been given serviceable material. I did chuckle a bit at the "prince ginger pubes" crack, though.

• Oh, THERE'S George and Emma. And THERE'S George as a creepy, Palpatine like Prince Andrew.

• Yeah, Larry and Especially George are really saving this sketch for me.

• Good thing they cut it short just as Larry flubbed his last line in a big way (maybe THAT'S why this one isn't on YouTube yet? They've made these kind of edits before). B-

Monologue

• Ooh, another Jamie Demetriou type cold open with a bit of two man physical shtick (instead of Chevy like pratfalls he's doing some rough and tumble action movie like fight stunts which for some reason cause the announcer to say his name about three times as if he didn't walk out unexpectedly). 

• Next, Danny's making this whole Monologue a "WILL HE SAY IT?" Thing but with the C-word he allegedly isn't allowed to say since he used a similar T-word in reference to a former Prime Minister on live television? Already this is amazing. 

• Another way this episode is much like Jamie Demetrious' monologue is that Danny gets a sudden visit from the costar of the current TV show our host is on. She didn't add much but it was nice to see that level of semi continuity between episodes.

• Yeah, once he started talking about all the different accents he could do, this started to go a bit downhill. Not that it's was bad, it just meandered a bit too much. Interesting to learn he's distantly descended from some royalty.

• Nice of him to end with a very sincere thoughtful uplifting statement on being a good, true to yourself person in the age of social media before transitioning that into...another c-word mislead?

• Yeah, this monologue got off to a strong start but ended in a rather strangely unhinged way. It almost lost its own thread to the point where it felt like a few different monologue concepts rolled into one since they couldn't fully settle or decide on just one.

• Still, it was entertaining if not a little confusing. It's just the type of monologue you'd have to really be keyed into to be able to understand (and in that regard, it doesn't really help that the YouTube clip of it has been heavily censored). C+

The Tube

• Huh, this is the THIRD type of the specific sketch they've given us in less than a full calendar year?

• I liked the showcase for Freddie and I liked the gag of Jack choking to death on a Boba pearl while driving. You know those things are chewable, right?

• I liked the basic gag being the dramatizing of how stupidly simple operating a tube is but the gag of him repeatedly pressing the "backwards" and "open door" buttons instead of the "forward" button would get a bit old if this wasn't dressed up like an action thriller trailer. 

• This isn't my favorite Freddie showcase of this season but it's still nice to see SNL UK fully knowing how to use its newest cast members right out of the gate.

• The gag of Freddie taking until Annabel delivers her baby the following month to simply press the right button after heavily  sweating it out Airplane!-style was a funny little detail but sadly once you take away all the bells and whistles from this one you start to see how derivative it truly is. C+

Victorian Pickpockets

• I like Danny, Celeste and Emmas' performances. Jack, Annabel and Larry are doing the most they can with it. Unfortunately, I don't think this is really going anywhere.

• The premise of a modern CPS worker investigating the the Artful Dodger/Oliver Twist gang for child abuse and neglect just feels like it's too...basic to be that funny (especially with the whole "lol implied pedophillia" aspect to some of the jokes.

• I actually thought that Emma might have been this weeks' musical guest, Sasha Keable, when she entered the scene. Speaking of Sasha Keable, I quite liked her performances and the whole "Adele meets Tori Kelly" vibe to her sound. I thought I'd just add that here since I don't have much else to say about this sketch. C-

Marriage Blessing

• Ooh hey, something similar to this happened to me in my life (not at this level of intensity though)

• The interplay and role play between Danny and Freddie makes this for me. Emma and Celeste were great in this, too.

• I liked the twist of this being another in a series of low level diamond heists. B-

Chill As Hell Gay Guy In His Twenties 

• Huh, very odd Pythonesque choice to transition to this actual pretape set in an Oceans' Eleven style heist out of a live sketch with a surprise heist ending, but I liked it.

• Part of me was hoping that the conceit of this sketch would just be an ongoing list of increasingly useless and/or unnecessary heist crew members...but having Jack just play a...whatever the exact opposite of a heightened version of himself is was OK.

• I liked how positive everyone turned out to be towards Jack's character at the end as it was revealed he's pretty much just part of the heist crew for pure moral support. Annabels' cameo was OK if not a tiny bit convoluted. 

• Even the "it was a dream" ending was just odd enough to work for me...but the additional ending of Jacks' agent calling him to offer him a role where his character dies of either AIDS or an assault depending on the viewers choice was a teeny bit too jarring. B-

Paint Colors Meeting

• This feels like a variation of that "What A Life" sketch from Nicolas' episode crossed with that ice cream tasting sketch Benedict Cumberbatch did on SNL US in 2022.

• I do like the twist of Danny just straight up drinking paint just to get some insane out of body vision quest experience to base the name off of. I do like the "blink and you'll miss it" visual gag of Danny bring hooked up to an IV drip while sitting in an office chair.

• Having Danny's character just straight up explode from drinking too much paint and then have his coworkers decide to name the resulting shade "R.I.P. Gary" in his honor was about as good of an ending as this sketch could've hoped for. B+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: MP Drinks Beer, Worlds' Tallest Tory, Greens In Crisis, Christa Pike (good on ol' Pads for making those as classy as he could)

• Anias' Best Jokes: Keir Starmers' Old Seat, Prostate Cancer Research

• Paddy and Ania calling on an "average person" to weigh in on the Gaza situation was a fun little format break.

• Somewhere, Brian Doyle Murray stirs as Ania Magliano delivers this absurdly long list of items that Prince Andrew stained with his own semen.

• Not sure what to make of Emmas' delivery robot commentary but at least it was concise and underplayed. Felt like something from Seth Meyer's solo era of Weekend Update on SNL US.

• I like how Paddy and Ania are playing thos whole "hosts dating" joke (speaking of something previously done during the BDM era of SNL US Update).

• That spider joke from Paddy should've been cut. It was too long and awkward to work for me.

• I liked this George commentary. I immediately got a kick out of him removing the cheapest bald cap wig ever upon coming out. Feels like an improvement on something either Kate McKinnon, Chris Redd or Pete Davidson would've done on SNL US Update during their own Covid era.

• Having a guest commentator call out a small omission on the Update map is something I don't think I've seen on any SNL Update feature before.

• I do appreciate this having an extra meta layer of George just using this Update feature to bemoan his lack of airtime on the week of his birthday. If anyone in this cast has earned their right to do such a thing on this show by this point, it's definitely him.

• That was a fun Update even if it was very mildly uneven, too. B-

 

British Armageddon

• It's a bit strange to see a sketch that just opens with a (probably A.I. generated, sadly...knowing this show) shot of an asteroid heading toward Earth get an extended round if (possibly canned if Hammed is just straight up delivering his lines over it) applause (maybe not that strange in 2026, but still...)

• This sketch feels a little too SNL US but I like how it's being played by Danny and Hammed. I'm getting slight "Alas Smith & Jones" vibes from it. 

• I don't love or hate this one. It's a semi- unique and quirky premise that's just kinda...there and being elevated as much as it can be by its performers. C+

Boy Band Reunion (Older And Wiser)

• This was another very simple premise but it was pretty perfectly cast and performed. The way this was written really made this pop, too since the song had plenty of great lines.

• Given that Celeste is quite prominently featured in this and it's basically the type of musical number her group/show "Lazy Susan" would do all the time...I'm assuming she had a major hand in writing this? Maybe she saw how the X-Factor sketch blew up online and was inspired to create something similar?

• I'm guessing this is a riff on the group "Take That"? I'm not familiar with the UK boy band scene of the early 2000s but I have heard OF "Take That" so I'm guessing this mostly them and an amalgam of some others? Ah, it doesn't totally matter. I've seen enough US boy bands have years later middle aged reunion tours. This is a universal concept.

• I liked Larry's inclusion as the incredibky cheesy host introducing them and Jacks' inclusion as the member who passed away in a boat "accident". 

• I do agree that Al probably had the best voice of the group. Their argument break down just before the final chorus was pretty funny. B+

Ranking SNL UK Series Two From Best To Worst

1. Amelia Dimoldenberg/Rachel Chinouriri (09.26.2026)
2. Danny Dyer/Sasha Keable (10.10.2026)
3. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
4. 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. Danny Dyer/Sasha Keable (10.10.2026)
5. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
6. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
7. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
8. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)
9. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
10. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
11. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
12. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this episode felt just a little underwhelming compared to the past couple of shows (no real strong highs or dire lows) this season but it was still a solid, consistently decent show with a host that showed he was game for just about anything right out of the gate.

• This episode had a pretty low bar to clear with Shane Gillis hosting the US show several hours later...and it obviously cleared it and that's all I really asked of it.

• Celeste, Freddie, Emma and Jack had good nights. Al, Annabel and Hammed had decent nights. Not their absolute best nights, but they still got on a bit. George didn't have a great night, but I think they realized that and made up for it as much as they could (especially with George being presented with a cake at the goodnights).

Closing Thoughts

• Next week, SNL UK returns with James Norton and The Streets. He's certainly not the James or "Jim" Norton I know...which is actually good. It'll be fun to go blind into another SNL UK with a host I know nothing about. Hope you enjoy reading my review of that one in a weeks' time when it comes out (in the absence of a new SNL US that week, of course).

• I've also written a review of this weeks' SNL US with Shane Gillis and Rosalia which you can read here if you care to. You might find that I've been a bit more generous to that episode than some. That's probably because I saw this SNL UK episode you just read my review of first.

• I'll also be coming out with a review of the SNL US season 33 finale with Steve Carrell and Usher in the coming weeks. Deej and I will also be reviewing that one on the next We Heart Hader Podcast which we just recorded with special guests John Trumbull and Darin Patterson of the SNL Nerds podcast. 

• Speaking of which, we actually just released a new episode of We Heart Hader with returning guests Ajax from the Cover Wars podcast and Andrew Hunter Scholey from the podcast North Of Normal. We covered the "Test Pattern: Final Transmission" episode of Documentary Now Season Two. Hope you have as much fun listening to this one as the four of us did recording it. See you again real soon!

Shane Gillis/Rosalia (10.10.2026)

USS Lincoln

• Oh,this is DEFINITELY another Jost as Hegseth opening. On the USS Lincoln.Wow. Maybe a bit dated but fitting given this weeks host.

• Even though I can tell Colin doesn't really have his heart in this anymore, I did like the visual gag of his Fireball Whiskey Bandolier and how he played off the failed christening prop. Kams' part was pretty funny. 

• Oh yeah, the livestreamed execution thing is probably one of the big reasons why they wanted to do this cold open.

• Hey, JAJ as RFK Jr! That might be the highlight of this cold open for me simply for it being the least run into the ground political impression the show has right now. I'm at least glad to get to see this instead of...y'know the other big political impression they put JAJ in most cold opens with these days.

• The Linkin Park quote from Jost at the end was OK. Not sure if this will be the weakest cold open of the season yet...but at this point it's a strong contender. I'd rank it a solid second at this point in the season but lets' see how the rest of the season goes. C+

Monologue

• All right, here we fuckin' go...He's...talking about his weight? Oh well, I liked his little jab at his own Bud Light ads at least.

• Eh, this hiking stuff is...unexpected. Pretty meh so far. Not good or bad, just...there. Now, he's talking about going to a public gym. Ok....and now he's mentioned how gyms' are full of gay guys....aaaaaaaaand now he's giving detailed descriptions of girls' "whorish" work out shorts. Greeeeeeaaatt.....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnndddnow he's name dropping Joe Rogan and Theo Von. Faaaaaantastic.

• OK, I do like this whole "gas station egg"thing. It's worth a chuckle. Now, he's moved on to how mean his sisters are...who are, of course, very similar to him...physically. Not into this as much...but I did chuckle at the sudden"bitch hips" comment.

• Now, he's talking about how his haircut is similar to Adolf Hitlers. Yeah, you ever think you should shave that mustache, bud? I mean, that can't be helping.

• ...and the monologue just mercifully ends right at the phrase "You're either gay or you're Hitler. That's where we are as a country."

• Well, at least...he wasn't self consciously reacting to his own seemingly losing the crowd...and at least this monologue wasn't very long. I mean, even the "whore" stuff doesn't seem THAT worth an uproar.

• Well, at least the for sure worst part of this episode has just ended. Let's see what else they got. D+

Cop Talk Show

• Huh...well at least this sketch seems right in Shanes' wheelhouse. Thankfully, Mikey's part is mercifully short and reigned in.

• Good use of Jeremy. I liked the rolled down window gag. Kenan as Shanes' "sponsor" was worth a chuckle. Good use of Grace and especially Kam. Ben being tased was pretty funny.

• Oh...Veronikas' coming out as a drunk, high actress. Smart of them to end this here.

• You know, this sketch is starting to remind me a lot of that "Late Night With Chris Hansen" sketch Bill Hader did in 2009.

• This feels like a sketch concept that could've been done just as easily 30 years ago (and probably would've been seen as fresher then) but hey, anything that works with Shane's general presence in this episode without being completely offputting should be counted as a victory. B-

It's My Room Now

• Ooh, hey a musical pretape that pairs up JAJ, Dismukes and Tommy. This might go somewhere good.

• OK, I do actually like the concept of a Lonestar-alike country pop wedding band song actually turning out to be about what the father of the bride imagines he would do with his daughters' old room now that she's moving out.

• Sure, this shows' gonna get some shit online from rabid Tim & Eric fans from supposedly ripping off the bit Frank Stallone did on that show...but, who cares? This was genuinely funny.

• Nice interaction with Saidah. I wasn't too crazy about Marcello being included in this as a Zumba instructor Ashley eventually leaves Shane for but I did like how they weaved it into the ending.

• I did like the ending twist this took with Shanes' dad character suddenly going into a black mold induced hallucination where Ms. Pac Man has to talk him out of suicide after he knocks down the wall between his daughter and wifes' room. B+

Green Eggs & Ham

• Well, if the estate of Dr. Suess wouldn't let "Weird Al" Yankovic just put the words to this book to the tune of U2s' "Numb" and put that on an album because it has "no educational value" I can't imagine they'd react to this that well.

• Ok, so it's basically just Shane as a maybe not that much older Mikeys' loser adult failson trying to stop him from being scammed...again...and getting into a low level fight. As much as this toes the line into "a little too real" territory, this works pretty well for me.

• Hey...THERE'S the big thing this sketch will be remembered for! I should've guessed this would've happened with Shane at some point. Honestly, it was the one thing for him (and Mikey) to self consciously ad-lib about.

• I was watching live on my own local NBC affiliate. Shane's accidental f-bomb was muted. It was 9:45pm. I've heard the f-bomb went out unmuted on Peacock. I knew I should've watched there instead bit I'm sure the uncensored clip will he easy to find.

• I didn't mind Sarah appearing as Thing 1 being the bar trash girlfriend of Shane's character...but I'd wish they'd have done more to make her part feel less pointless. Did one of them blow a cue or something? It seemed like Shane just straight up forgot he was supposed to kiss Sarah and then either she forgot a line or he skipped ahead a line and she couldn't deliver one or something. What the hell happened there?  

• I did get a brief chuckle out of Marcello scrambling into the scene in a toy car as The Cat In The Hat with a blatant drinking problem but the ending with Sam-I-Am turning out to be a scammer was a bit predictable. Otherwise, this was a solid sketch that probably could've been done a little bit better by pretty much any other male host. B-

New Type Of Shoe

• A History Channel sketch in the middle of a Shane Gillis hosted episode. I don't know about this one...

• Ok, we got the second throwaway Hitler mention of the night out of the way.

• So, this is just about the invention of sneakers...and Shane is the guy who came up with that name...because he is the first to notice how they make it easier for a man to cheat on his wife?

• Eh, pretty weak concept. Not that it's being executed badly. Just a little dry. I did like the ending though. Kept this from going on too long. C-

Upfront Heating And Cooling

• Ok, Shane is basically describing all the ways his HVAC employees are creepy dirtbags. Again, right in Shanes' wheelhouse (not derrogatory).

• This feels like an improvement on the formula that gave us "CouplaBeers" two seasons ago.

• It's a shame that Saidah is still only being used sparsely in pretapes at this point...but then again, I wasn't expecting to see much of Saidah at all in this episode...and this was the best use of her all night. Same goes for Veronika in this, honestly.

• This was one of those rapid fire gag a minute pretapes with almost too many individual moments to break down but I'll say the moments that hit for me were the window lockers, Ben's cut off testimonial and Shane berating Mikey just after telling us how his relationship with "Hailey" deteriorated. The shot of him blasting trashy nu-metal in his car really sold that for me. B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: Nobel Prize, USS John Wilkes Booth

• Ches' Best Jokes: Shock Gloves

• Hey, a JAJ solo impression feature! I'm not to crazy about this impression, but I like the material he's been given. It's more about the performance than the impression for me.

• Hey, a two hander between Ashley and Grace! I'd love to see where this goes.

• Guess we're just running the ball to Ashley on this one? All right. She's handling this well enough that I don't mind that they're not escalating this with Graces' character. Nice to see her get some airtime, though. Even nicer that Update ended on this at roughly a quarter of the length of last weeks.

• Decent Update. Only one joke from Che was truly dire (you know the one) and the rest were just kinda...there. It was the commentaries that made this one for me. C+

Saying Goodbye

• Hey, another live Grace appearance!

• So, Shane is just trying to engage Sarah in something very trivial. This is low key enough that it should work no matter what.

• I do like that Ben is playing Jelly Roll instead of the show booking the real one as a cameo at this point. I got a kick out of Marcello as "cool Jesus" hinting at the possible death of Shanes' character along with Grace as his mother who suddenly dies mid sketch. I even liked how they worked in Rosalias' cameo here.Not a bad sketch. Just maybe a little too telegraphed. C+

Chess Tournament 

• Huh...so, this is what they were putting Jeremy in makeup for during that commercial bumper. He, Mikey and Tommy are working well off each other.

• Hey, another Grace sketch! I should've expected her and Shane to play some kind of white trash couple (but it was Veronika we were all expecting Shane to work with a lot tonight and somehow it only really happened once).

• Anyway, this was the moment that really sold me on Grace Reiter as a cast member. Yeah, you could definitely see why she'd get compared to Aidy here but at the same time you also get to see her really disappear into the type of role that either Aidy, Cecily or Kate would have thrown their way about ten to fifteen years ago while also still bringing her own unique personal touches to it.

• A trashy disruptive couple being unnecessarily loud does remind me of one of the early Spartan Cheerleader sketches from Ferrells' first season (I want to say the first one but I'm not totally sure) but hey...if it actually works in this episode, who cares how derivative it is?

• Hey, Janes' still in the cast! I genuinely wasn't expecting to see her at all tonight. B-

Ranking Season 52 From Best To Worst

1. Shane Gillis/Rosalia (10.10.2026)
2. Dakota Johnson/Turnstile (10.03.2026)
3. Jalen Brunson/KATSEYE (09.26.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, it certainly doesn't say great things about how this season is going so far that this turned out to be its strongest episode so far. Yeah, that's obviously gonna change (probably in the next couple of weeks) but this speaks volumes about weak host bookings and even weaker writing and cast usage.

• Speaking on just this episode though, it delivered pretty much what I expected it to as far as the monologue being extremely dire and the some of the sketches being surprisingly decent.

• Man, as long as I live, I may never know how Shane Gillis can be such a weak live performer (in both sketches and stand up) who somehow has this ability bring some of the better sketch premises and writing out of this SNL cast and crew. I know, he's produced some of his own sketches prior to getting to host SNL...but I've seen enough of them to know that his sketch sensibilities and those of his "Gilly & Keeves" collaborators are in a completely different ecosystem from those of SNLs and yet somehow this show's able to reign him in enough to just barely put him over.

• Anyway, Shane was...just competent in his sketch work. Some of his roles worked, otter sketches left me wondering how much better literally any other male host could perform in his role. Most of his best performances were in pretaped sketches that his presence was just a little more consequential to.

• One thing that surprised me was how strong of a night Grace had and how little he seemed to work with Veronika. JAJ, Dismukes, Jeremy and Tommy had quietly decent nights. We saw Kam and Kenan as much as I assumed we would. 

• Marcello, Ben and Jane seem to have been scaled back a bit. Thank God Mikey was more reigned in than he's been. Sorry, Saidah. This just wasn't gonna be your night to begin with but your very new and there's still a whole season ahead of you.

Closing Thoughts

• After two weeks, SNL US returns on Halloween night with appropriately scheduled "Obsession" star Inde Navarrette as host (hell, I may actually watch that movie before then). God, it will be so refreshing to have a new SNL US episode with a first time host I can actually have some POSITIVE expectations for!

• Thankfully, there well be two new SNL UK episodes airing in that time before the crew across the pond goes on at least a nine or ten week hiatus of their own. I hope you'll enjoy reading my reviews of those as well. Oh, and I've also reviewed the latest SNL UK episode with Danny Dyer and Sasha Keable which you can read here.

• I've also got an upcoming review of the SNL US season 33 finale with Steve Carrell and Usher in the can coming out before the end of the month (probably next week). You'll be able to read that one on this blog at the same time Deej releases the episode of We Heart Hader we recorded covering that episode (again, probably in the next week) with special guests Darin Patterson and John Trumbull of the SNL Nerds podcast. We had a great time recording with them and I can't wait for you all to hear it. 

• Speaking of which, we actually just released a new episode of We Heart Hader with returning guests Ajax from the Cover Wars podcast and Andrew Hunter Scholey from the podcast North Of Normal. We covered the "Test Pattern: Final Transmission" episode of Documentary Now Season Two. Hope you have as much fun listening to this one as the four of us did recording it. See you again real soon!

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!