Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)

The following regular blog post is also a companion piece to the newest episode of Saturday Night Ladies, whose cohosts have graciously allowed me to be a guest on this week.

Saturday Night Ladies is the sister podcast to We Heart Hader launched by my regular cohost Deej Barens along with Shari Fesko and Demi Constantine (whom you might also know from the Saturday Night Network Patron Feedback shows).

As you can probably tell, I timed this publishing so as to no spoil what I would say on the podcast.

Give us a listen, won't you?

White House Press Conference 

• Hmmm....very bold, very risky choice. Let's see how they actually tackle this.

• Apparently Marcello is Dr Oz instead of Mikey? Ok. Fine, sure.

• Great RFK Jr there, Mr. Dismukes.

• Apparently, they're doing this JUST like they've done pretty much 99% of the JAJ/Trump cold opens they've done the past three seasons. 

• Don't know why I should've expected this to be that drastically different, but there are a few small touches of slight variance from JAJ here that I do like such as him tripping over the collapsed man and the "MRI/punch card" line. C+

Monologue 

• Ok, HERE'S what's sure to be the highlight of this episode.

• I wasn't that into the Trump/spray tan stuff until she transitioned into the insane "tan lung" class action lawsuit commercial.

• While I like how Nikki demonstrates her ability to flawlessly command the room with this set, I feel like I might prefer one of her previous specials to this monologue for how "safe for TV" this material had to be.

• I'm more used to seeing her starting with the raunchy sex stuff before winding down and transitioning into relationship stuff so it feels a bit strange to see her do the complete opposite here but the plus side is it brings the energy going up going into the first post monologue sketch (which is a crucial element to the show that they need to realize applies to live viewers)

• My biggest laughs in this monologue were the nails/short boyfriend "they go inside him/gun on the top shelf" stuff. 

• The "showering with her nephew" stuff was the perfect thing to end this on. B+

Family Karaoke Night

• Yeah, I figured the entire joke here would be "lol oblivious incest vibes" once Nikki & Tommy got on stage.

• Having attended the taping of Nikkis' "Good Clean Filth" special where she talked about having kissed her dad on the lips until she was 26, I figure this must be a Nikki-centric idea she bought to the show. Knowing now that Tommy has gone on tour with Nikki, I can definitely see more how this got on.

• Speaking of, this might be the first Tommy-centric sketch so far in his tenure. He already seems to be a slightly divisive cast member, but...this really didn't sway my opinion of him either way. We've seen his standup on Update but I haven't really gotten to get a bead on him as a sketch performer yet.

• Ok, I think this would be as good a place as any to say I'm really not crazy about this fairly new trend of Sarah being relegated to "straight woman sitting at table reacting in shock and disgust at everything" roles in sketches (even as much as she sells the absolute shock and horror of it all here).

• I do like how hard the sketch ground to a halt after Sarah's "humping his sister" line (especially after that Boyz II Men needle drop felt a little too obvious).

• The bit about the brother and sister sleeping in the same room until Nikki went to college and getting separate beds at 17 definitely felt like a Nikki punchline.

• I did get a kick out of Dismukes' Dad character singing "Too Close" with Nikki and Tommy singing "You've Got A Friend In Me" to Sarah but it felt like it ran a couple of beats too long in between those moments.

• Ending with Nikki deeply tongue kissing Sarah? Ok, I don't have a huge problem with that. C+

Hudsacillin

• Hmm. "The Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnell"? This feels like something I don't quite know was a thing because I've only see one or two clips of this on social media completely removed from any real context.

• Hell, I didn't even remember Jennifer Hudson even still HAS a morning show until just now. Do Kelly Clarkson or Drew Barrymore still have either of theirs?

• The biggest kick I got out of this was Nikki listing various bad dancing styles she tried at home in front of the mirror that didn't work.

• The thing that makes this work is, again, how specific this idea feels to Nikkis' mind that only she could do this and would have to play herself in it (although if these "spirit tunnel" videos truly are enough of a viral phenomenon that an SNL pretape could be based around them, I find myself agreeing with Jon Schneiders' take that some other testimonials could have saved this. I truly wouldn't have minded some extra cameos here because I can't really see how a cast impression would've improved this...especially not one of Chloe's).

• Still, I guess that's one of two things that separate this from most SNL fake prescription ads with the other being that it's a pill that actually makes you sick (similar to "Flaritin" from season 38?) instead of helping you achieve your goal which...yeah, seems like a better ending than just having Nikki dance happily. Steve Higgins voice over at the end really hung a lampshade on what a cop out that would've been.

• Speaking of the ending, I did also like the meta twist with Marcello dancing on the tunnel because he really wants it. C+

Beauty & Mr. Beast

• Boy, this sure feels like a non idea someone blurted out when called on at the Monday pitch meeting who had no other ideas.

• Nikki, Kenan and Bowens' costumes looked as slapdash and thrown together as the writing of this whole sketch felt but I did get a kick out Kenans' line about realizing $2500 isn't a lot if money.

• I liked how they at least found an impression for Ben Marshall that he could legitimately pull off. I did get a kick out of Bens' line about his "top half being beast and his bottom half being completely smooth". 

• This almost seems like another case where a cast member has too much of a soul or just too much behind the eyes to play whoever they're impersonating but Ben pretty well captured Mr. Beasts' empty eyed, soulless, half rictus grin that I keep seeing on all these weird snack products he slaps his name and likeness on at every frigging store I've gone to in the past year and a half which due to my advanced age are the only thing I know him from and thus  the only cultural context I have for this fucking guy.

• I guess beyond that Mr. Beast is a YouTuber who makes videos where he has regular people undergo bizarre challenges for amounts of money that are still less than the obscene riches he makes off doing this? 

• Hmm...maybe my only takeaway from this sketch SHOULD just be that it's just another one of those pieces where they explain some YouTuber or social media influencers' whole "deal" just to point out how sadly ridiculous it is that they're worth billions of dollars? That premise alone is becoming the new "tale as old as time".

• This started off feeling like something that would've been RIGHT at home on the old "MAD" Cartoon Network show if Mr. Beast had been around 15 years ago. Once Kenan and Bowen began singing "You're Depressed" to "Be Our Guest" (which parsed about as well as the rest of this sketch...which is to say not very well), it started feeling like something out of a Family Guy cutaway gag (and apparently there's evidence out there that this exact premise was done by Studio C, produced as early as last year but only aired/uploaded as early as last week, which isn't a great look for either side. I'd chalk it up to "parallel thinking" if the timing didn't seem so wonky, but...this sketch seems like it was destined to catch a fair amount of shit from smug pissant GenZers on social media anyway...and if you are one who's managed to find this review and make it this far, congratulations)

• The "I Don't Get It" - Every Person Over 25" review gag was my biggest laugh in this. That really hit and may have been the only time that a fake review gag in an SNL sketch was legitimately funny. Also, I'm vaguely familiar enough with who Kai Cenat is to get a chuckle out of "Kai-sablanca". C+

American Girl XL

• I can't believe the sheer number of sketches SNL has done about creepy grown ass men behaving inappropriately inside an American Girl doll store in the past eight years. 

• Ok well, now that I think about it's only been three but still...it's pretty weird that SNL has mined that very specific idea for comedy that many times.

• Of course, the guys all sold the creep-tastic nature of this and the timing of Nikkis concerned sideways looks at each of them was flawless. Due to the rapid fire pacing of this pretape, there were too many individual moments to list as favorites but I will single out most of Bens' lines and Kams' "biracial" doll being made to look like his brothers' wife as favorites.

• JAJ just suddenly barging in to take over the spokesperson role from an increasingly creeped out Nikki got possibly the biggest laugh of the whole show from me here. A-

Runaway Mechanical Bull

• I was hoping we'd get some kind of fun Nikki & Sarah (!!!) collab and even though there seemed to be quite a lot going on here for a live sketch, this turned out to be quite fun for the sheer heights of detail heavy absurdity it reached. 

• JAJ singing an Arlo Guthrie type score to this was just the icing on the cake. He reminded me quote a lot of the "train traveling/riding the rails" song from MST3Ks' "Girl In Lovers Lane" episode.

• Even Janes' first lines before suddenly just bailing on the sketch made me laugh (even if that's something they did before too in last season's Timothee Chalamet Starbucks sketch, IIRC)

• This functions well as a white trash companion piece to the "Two Bitches Vs A Gorilla" sketch from last seasons' Quinta Brunson episode.

• I liked the fourth wall twist of Sarah being called by her real name and the unintentional one of a pair of errant panties lying on the platform Jeremy was supposed to lay himself across to make is appear that was floating through space. A-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Che's best jokes: Curtis Sliwa/squirrels, FOX News on Mamdani, GenZ/"paying w/cash is 'cringe'"

• Josts' best jokes: RFK Jr, Mexican President, SeaWorld

• I'm genuinely surprised the extended applause break at Josts' first mere mention of Mamdanis' victory didn't result in another quick band shot at the end of the show from something getting cut for time.

• Oof. Yeah, that "Trump doesn't have to pay SNAP benefits" joke should've been cut...and the "Michael Jackson biopic" joke should've been rewritten.

• This wasn't a great Update Joke-wise for Jost & Che but at least it's great to see them actually having fun doing this again.

• Wow. Genuinely wasn't expecting a Pete Davidson cameo this...or any week really (especially to talk about his Staten Island Ferry fiasco w/Jost) but in spite of his reminding us that he did, in fact, play the Riadyh Comedy Festival...I enjoyed this more than I thought I would (which...I can say about a lot of stuff Pete did, but nonetheless).

• With his jokes about his father's death, potential ICE run ins with Staten Islanders and him, Jost & Che being potential Epstein clients in an episode hosted by Nikki Glaser, it's nice to see an attempt at making gleefully dark humor a running theme throughout tonight's show.

• More specific things from Pete I liked were his Lorne/Tina joke and the Classic Pete/"New" Staten Island jokes. B-

Sorority Meeting

• I like how intensely specific and weird this premise was right from the get go. It felt like something modern SNL would otherwise never attempt.

• Am I the only one who legitimately couldn't tell whether that was Tommy or Mikey under that "Rocky Dennis in White Chicks" looking mask until it came all the way off? 

• Seriously, the face screamed Tommy but the voice gradually suggested this was Mikey.

• I liked how Ashley was just straight up shamed for being the only one genuinely catching on to Mikeys' ruse (for which no other explanation was seemingly given besides watching bikini car washes from inside a garage with towells on his lap) as he was literally peeling the mask off to eat a donut.

• I liked even more how the cast soldiered on with this sketch in the face of what appeared to be a crucial prop malfunction with the vape smoke not appearing through the eye holes as they were literally explaining how that was supposed to be happening and the tears just barely working or even being visible (and how they obviously put up the dress version of this on YouTube where the complete opposite of this happened).

• Fortunately, what made up for it was how flawlessly the cut to the pretaped segment of Nikki pulling off her "mask" and revealing herself to be Andrew Dismukes was. B+

SNL Animated Short: Brad & His Dad

• Of all the odd one off attempts at animated segments SNL has tried to get off the ground in the post TV Funhouse era, this one I definitely liked the most because it clearly had the most effort, thought and care put into it since any previous animated segment put on SNL since Robert Smigel was still regularly producing them.

• It felt different and a lot more heartfelt than anything we've seen on SNL since at least the Jack Handey era. In fact, it felt very noticeably and stylistically different from the previous animated segments Mikey & Streeter did for the show last season.

• Speaking of, I can definitely tell that's Mikey as Brad...but who did the voice of the father? Was that Streeter or Dismukes?

• Anyone else get legitimate Kids In The Hall vibes from this? It felt like a ditect cross between one of their filmed sketches and the [adult swim] shows "China, IL" and "Brad Neelys' Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio".

• Anyway, the best moments for me here were anytime the dad put on a video game headset (especially the brief "never say that to me because I'm white" rant) as well as the playground/drone scenes (especially the ending call back).

• I get how the football scene gave some people nice, warm Peyton Manning flashbacks but it didn't quite hit the same for me (pun unintended yet unavoidable). B-

Pilot Announcement

• Well, I have been wanting to see more JAJ character pieces or just more non-Trump sketches with JAJ as the main focus. This was definitely more the latter than the former but he did well with the role he was given here. Kam as his wilder copilot giving him sexting advice was a nice touch even if he didn't exactly steal the scene or anything.

• With as many sketches set on delayed flights with rambling pilots and sketches about dating apps and sexting in general the show has done in recent years, he really had the chops necessary to elevate this into something unique. 

• This also might have been Sarah's best performance all night. I know, she’s still just "reacting to something" but I liked how she at least showed she's capable of having a similar type of chemistry with Dismukes that he has shown he has with Ashley to the point where they can bring each other just barely noticeably close to breaking.

• I also liked Kenan and Bowen silently gesticulating at each other as JAJ described specifically what type of gay guy he wanted advice from.

• As much as I love Nikki, this is the one sketch she didn't particularly shine in but good on her for letting some underutilized cast members share the spotlight. B-

The Make Believe Meadow

• Not quite sure which specific children's book this is a loose parody of (I'm guessing a cross between Narnia, Alice In Wonderland & Winnie The Pooh?) but one thing I am certain if is that Mikey and Jeremy's obsession with pinwheels made this feel too much like a bad ten-to-one Fred Armisen sketch from sometime between 2008 and 2010.

• More specifically, I am thinking of Freds' "calculator" sketch with John Malkovich from December 2008 and his "sparkling apple juice" sketch with Bryan Cranston from October 2010.

• While I do appreciate everyone's commitment to this premise (especially Mikey and Bowen), I can't say they put this over because this fundamentally just wasn't for me. C-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
3. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
4. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
5. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• I think I can safely say without my person bias creeping in that this is the best episode of the season so far. It got off to a slightly uneven start but ended up being the least uneven episode of the season so far (which is probably the worst thing I can say about it).

• Nikki was an excellent host if not a slightly green live sketch performer and I definitely think she should return at some point.

• This episode delivered everything that I was hoping for from any episode hosted by a stand up comedian who is new to the show in that their unique presence delivers a creative spark in the process and encourages the show to try out ideas they wouldn't try any other week (even if some of those ideas don't quite have universal appeal).

• I'd even go as far as to say that with the way this season has been going, I got almost the same thing from this episode that I got from John Mulaney's first two episodes from 2018/19 (which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Nikki doesn't have the home field advantage of having written for the show for a number of years before her stand up career really took off).

• Cast usage was still a bit strange tonight, but I liked seeing a lot of Kam, Jeremy, Tommy, Dismukes & Sarah (as they slowly but surely figure out how to better use her), JAJ (being highlighted in non-Trump roles) and Mikey & Bowen (as long as they're playing to their better instincts as performers).

• I'm not quite as down on Marcello as some others are (like I definitely am with Chloe) but it's nice to see them being put on the back burner for a bit to give others a chance to shine along with Ashley & Veronika this week (and I'm NOT down on them at all but again, they've been doing a lot of solid work this season so it'll be nice to see them give others a chance to shine.

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, Glenn Powell makes his hosting debut for the last show before Thanksgiving. These Thanksgiving adjacent episodes are typically a wash and I'm certain there won't be the same spark there was this week but I'm also sure that Glenn will be a game host who will bring some enthusiasm to the show.

• Hey, don't forget to listen to me in the newest episode of Saturday Night Ladies talking about this episode!

• Also, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of We Heart Hader where we continue our "No Small Roles" series and talk about Bill's guest spots on animated TV shows.

• In the coming weeks on We Heart Hader, Deej and I will be doing another "Impression Spotlight" episode focused on Bills' James Carville followed by the start of our SNL season 33 coverage with the LeBron James/Kanye West episode. See you then!