NCAA Final Four Post Game Show
- Hey, an off the beaten path cold open choice!
- Nice to see they're using Kam in something, but that Chappel Roan...oof.
- Always nice to see Kenans' Charles Barkley. I don't know if I'm that crazy about the direction this is taking though.
- Ok, the Kalshi/Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Kristi Noem thing was funny.
- All right, Ashleys' Pam Bondi was nice to see, too.
- I did like Kenans' joke about Pam Bondi looking like "a womens' basketball coach who got fired for pulling on a girls' braid"and his LFNY segue.
- Not the best cold open of this season but far from the worst. Just...an odd mishmash of various things.. Sounded like the audience didn't know what to make of this or how to respond either. Very weird energy already. C-
- Well, I know Jack Black has always been a bombastic rock & roll/song and dance guy and he's always tried to bring that energy to his monologues on this show...so, seeing an actual five timers club sketch would feel quite odd. Let's see what they do here.
- Ugh, a bearded Jonah Hill in 2026 being the first cameo in this means this might automatically be the weakest monologue Jack Black has ever done on this show.
- I will admit I did like the creepy/spooky vibe of this one among other things. I appreciate the show getting Candace, Melissa and Tina to cameo.
- I especially liked what Tina bought to this one with the meta "this is my fifth five timers club sketch" joke and the "SNL UK One Timers club jacket made from Paddington" jokes.
- I wasn't crazy about adding Domingo to this either (especially since I was half expecting him next week...yes, along with that other Domingo I already heard we were getting...you know, that Colman fella?) but bringing in Jack White just to wang Domingo over the head with a frying pan might have been my second favorite part of this.
- Hey, there IS a "musical guests only" wing of the five timers club! Jack White just confirmed it! You hear that, Jon and Bill? I am vindicated!
- I love how they actually did end this with an actual musical number as well. This was a very fun way to sneak in our musical guests' biggest hit "Seven Nation Army". That was my favorite part of this one. B-
Kathy
- I liked Jacks' "gym" adlib upon entering this sketch.
- I guess I was a fool to expect a sequel to that "One-Uppers" sketch from last year, but I automatically like this better.
- I immediately liked all the odd little details Ashley added to this character (especially her medication and the "numbers"game on her phone). This feels like a character Cheri Oteri would've played about 25-30 years ago.
- I also love the Andy Kaufman/Great Gadsby-esque "extreme testing the patience of the audience" nature of this. B-
Words To Live By
- Ok, I liked the reveal of JAJ doing a country song and the reveal of Jack White playing a half forgotten guitar solo more than I liked the reveal of what this turned out to be.
- This also feels like one of those things that could've been done with any host because Jack Black isn't the most convincing at playing a country singer. Hell, I barely buy him hiking down a mountain let alone up one but I get the writers wanting him to play a guy who is told the meaning of life by Kenan's ancient mystic.
- This felt like a premise that I should've seen done before on SNL or elsewhere. Hell, even the twist of the guys remembering the name of the Men In Black memory erasing device seemed completely telegraphed. Jack Black didn't add much to it but I did like the ending with Dismkues just belittling his child. C-
Ultimate Dojo
- Well, I liked JAJs' anecdote at the very beginning.
- Is this going to just be a Marcello acting class sketch but with a weirder more indiscriminate eastern European accent and replacing acting with self-defense?
- It sure looks that way. Well, I'm liking this a tiny bit more than I feel I should.
- I will admit that having Jack Black play a martial arts teacher is a deceny use of his age defying physicality.
- Oh my god. Kenan is playing a character that is the exact same age as me.
- Well, I DON'T like what Ben is adding to this sketch, but I am getting a kick out of the constant chanting of "estopit, estopit, estopit" during their silly slap fights leading up to the move they're supposed to be demonstrating. Too bad they're far funnier than the reveal of what the moves are supposed to be.
- The comedic highlight of this sketch may be the final reveal of Jane being the toughest, most badass "poo-pil" Jack and Marcello have ever taught and her back and forth with Jeremy. C+
Carry On My Wayward...Husband?
- Ok, yeah...this looked like it was going to be another tired ass "been there, done that" 30 year old premise but I ended up REALLY liking the execution and sheer pageantry of this.
- Great way to work in Jack Blacks classic rock singing talents. I also got a kick out of JAJs explanation for why his tighty whites were suddenly visible.
- Sarah and Chloe had some good back and forths with each other and once again Jane Wickline comes in clutch. B+
- Josts' Best Jokes: Pam Bondi/Esptein Files, Healthcare Attacks, Canadian Pizza Hut
- Ches' Best Jokes: Trump Presidential Library, Chicago, New Jersey
- Sarah Sherman as Kristi Noems' husband. Why? Seriously, why?
- At least this feels like something Sarah came up with on her own and not something Lorne ordered her to do...but when the genuinely funniest parts of this bit are another tired "remember when Kristi Noem shot that dog?" joke and a sudden cut to Jost air-motorboating, something may be seriously wrong.
- ...and Che's back to those damn WBNA jokes again. Great.
- Hey! Kam as Black Snape! This could be good!
- Yeah, Kams' really crushing this! Decent ending to a very uneven Update. C+
The 300
- Automatically, this is much better than the other 300 parodies that SNL did when 300 actually came out...almost 20 years ago (especially the one they did in 2009 when Gerard Butler actually hosted).
- Still, it kinda dragged until we got to Jack Black being cussed out by child. I did like Dismukes taking an entire day to list off various reasons why he wasn't picked, though. C+
Spring Break AirBnB
- This seemed like another very thing premise that feels like it should've been done before but wasn't yet. Still, it's really the type of thing only a paring of Jack Black and Melissa McCarthy could make this entertaining.
- I definitely ended up enjoying the bits of physical business between Melissa, Jeremy, the Jurgens and the doorknob than I thought I would. B+
Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst
- Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
- Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
- Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
- Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
- Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
- Jack Black/Jack White (04.04.2026)
- Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)
- Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
- Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
- Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
- Harry Styles (03.14.2026)
- Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
- Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
- Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025)
- Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
- Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)
- Well, this was a fun one. I'd say it's a lot like Jack Blacks' episode from last year in that it feels like a much better episode than it really is at the time just because his manic energy helps put things over more and most of the season that just preceded this was was just dull and disappointing. This episode felt a little more sparse and empty from a writing standpoint sadly.
- At this point, I don't know if I've been more spoiled by SNL UK or have just gotten burnt out on a combination of SNL US and both my work and family lives, but all I have left to say about this episode is that I enjoyed it more than my lack of anything at all to constructively or critically say anything about it would indicate.
- Maybe I'm subconsciously holding back a bit with the critical thinking part of my brain because I know in addition to the blog you just read I also have to review the third episode of SNL UK this week along with composing a review of the Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood episode both for this blog AND the podcast (the latter of which my cohost Deej had been encouraging me to "hold back" on for production and editing reasons) but I know I gotta make a conscious effort to not spread myself too thin creatively over the next couple of months, so I'll just wrap this up here.
- Next week on SNL US, Colman Domingo makes his hosting debut. Seeing as he is an acclaimed, Oscar nominated actor at this point in his career, this is a big get for SNL. Plus, he has sketch experience with Kate from "The Big Gay Sketch Show", so they better not do him dirty.
- I will have a review of that episode posted here around this time next week. The very next blog post you'll see from me on this blog will be a full length review of the Riz Amed/Kasabian episode of SNL UK which as of this writing/posting I have gotten to watch in full on Peacock but haven't gotten to take any notes on whatsoever yet (but spoiler alert: I may or may not compare it favorably to this one and post it on Tuesday at the earliest).
- Also, coming this weekend will be a new episode of the We Heart Hader podcast where Deej & I continue with Documentary Now Season One and "The Eye Doesn't Lie". Two weeks after that will be our review of the SNL US Fey/Underwood episode from February 2008 which, of course, I will also review on my blog.
- Boy, the timing of this is quite fortuitous since both Deej and I will have reviewed Tina's first hosting stints on both SNL US AND SNL UK by that point! See you all again real soon!
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