Qunita Brunson/Benson Boone (05.03.2025)

Trumps’ First 100 Days/Executive Orders

• Uh, Ok. I guess we're running out the clock on these standard JAJ/Trump cold opens.

• The way JAJ shouted the word “POPE” and the “Elmo deportation/Harry Potter” jokes got me (although maybe they should've went a bit harder on JK herself than Harry Potter fans in general, but hey…who am I to judge?)

• Mikey Day as Stephen Miller is a nice touch and at least Marcello as Rubio accurately mirrors my own reaction to seeing him in this role.

• On the surface, JAJ as Trump just listing off a bunch of real and fake executive orders doesn't make for much of an entertaining cold open (hell, anything involving politics doesn't, really) but at least this broke from the typical format of these “JAJ as Trump speaks directly to camera” cold opens and was also fairly short and directly to the point. C-

Monologue 

• Sorry Randy Newman, but Quinta Brunson, Sabrina Carpenter and…Dwayne Wade? Ok, have just officially given short people many reasons to live!

• Anyway, while I would’ve much preferred another sincere monologue from Quinta over this 2010-ass song and danceologue, I have to say Quinta and some genuinely surprising cameos (seriously I'm surprised Sabrina could squeeze this into her schedule on such short notice, isn't she still on a big tour right now?) livened this up enough for me to stay interested.

• I did like Quintas’ joke about how they tried to cast her as one of the children on “Abbott Elementary” and that was her one show that she wrote and created. B-

Will & Todds’ Radical Experience 

• I liked the idea behind this once it was established (after that everything felt heavily telegraphed) but it felt like a very unambitious premise saved by the performances of Kenan and Quinta. 

• Yeah, Dismukes and Marcello didn't quite do the most convincing Bill and Ted impressions ever, but hey…they weren't playing Bill and Ted, they were playing Will and Todd. That's different. These may be technically “original” characters for all we know (and even if they weren't, they weren't dissimilar enough to completely obscure what they were legally “parodying” here, so…yeah, I got what they were going for and I'll let it slide).

• I did like how this ended on basically a cheap reveal of everyone leaving the phone booth they literally just disappeared into and basically just blew a special effect immediately. B+

OnlySeniors

• Speaking of very static premises only Kenan and Quinta could save…

• I liked the execution of this, but my only problem is that it felt like the exact type of thing we've seen before. It's pretty much just the same OnlyFans type sketch from Halseys’ 2019 episode but executed in a pretape much like Rectix from Adam Sandlers’ 2019 episode.

• Ego and Devon were great in this and Mikey and Heidis cameos really helped keep this going (no pun intended). C+

Leadership Summit

• Hmm…this reminds me of the sexual harassment sketches from Oscar Issacs’ episode in season 47 or Shane Gillis’ first episode in season 49…but it's not about sexual harassment, it's about two different ways to misunderstand the phrase “compliment sandwich”, so…it works a little bit better from me.

• They really gave all of the best lines to Quinta in this. I liked her back and forth with Sarah and the “BurSweeto/baby back ribs” stuff was…okay.

• Hey, two different references to The Simpsons theme song in the same season within a month of each other! Am I the only person who's OK with that?

• Ok, I’m not crazy about the idea of Bowens’ long hair white trench coat cookie crumbles guy becoming a recurring character 

• This sketch seemed a little too unfocused in spots, but not to its own detriment or anything, so…I didn't hate it. B-

Ferry Altercation

• Oh, I see they're bringing this back for a third time (second this season alone). Well, it was worthy of the buzz it got the first time, so…I get it.

• …and I guess that wasn't a glaring technical error, it actually does look like that if you were to drive to the Staten Island Ferry?

• I did like Mikeys’ Coke lines/single ladies bits and Chloes’ “nuts/kiss my ass” bits.

• I don't hate that they appear to be trying to top the sexual raunchiness each time. 

• I'm glad they didn't go for the obvious joke of having Dwayne Wade appear as Quintas’ “big, cool boo” and rather went with Kenan as her father who served in “eye-rack”.

• Colin as himself referencing that money pit ferry of his (and Pete's) was a fun way to end this.

• I can't fully say this beats the one from Quintas’ first episode yet but it for sure beats the one from Martin Shorts’ episode this season. B+

Forever 31

• Well, I like seeing that the show still has enough faith in Jane to trust her with the “cute young 20 something chick” but this felt a little too much like something we've seen before, too.

• More specifically, it felt like they were trying to do another “big dumb hat/tiny red glasses” sketch but executing it as a pretape in the style of “Chonk”, “Fashion Coward” or that Temu parody from last season's finale.

• I guess my main takeaway from this sketch is that it's another piece satirizing female fashion and beauty trends so I'm not the target audience for it at all. C+

Two Bitches Vs. A Gorilla

• Hey, speaking of female led sketches that I immediately recognize are not written for me…

• Yeah, I feel like this is gonna get a ton of shit on line since it's another SNL sketch that solely exists for the show to reference an online meme in order to cling to whatever shreds of relevance to a young audience it still has…but I can tell Ego and Quinta had a lot of fun with it. JAJ did fine with his part, too (even if you could kind of see him waiting for his cue for a sec on camera).

• Plus, it feels like it was constructed in a very different manner from pretty much any other SNL sketch in recent memory (aside from The Continental), so…there's that.

• Come to think of it, there is a chance that Quinta being in this will be the main thing that keeps it from getting SNL “dragged” online (do the kids still say “dragged” anymore?) 

• Yeah, I think that it's quite a few weeks too early to be able to tell whether or not SNL or John Mulaney had the better comedic non social media take on this meme yet (I'm leaning toward Mulaney but we'll have to wait until the 28th to see if he actually does this or if there's another twist on this bit to be revealed later). B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• I gotta say I really loved how Jost leaned into and then later called back to that “oh hell no/two dolls” commentary.

• I also liked Che's Pam Bondi/Tattoos/University of Alabama/Yeah on Nitrous Oxide jokes as well as Josts’ Bin Laden joke.

• This Update actually felt really fun because Jost & Che weren't really mocking the audience that much as they were each other and they had enough energy to really suggest that this is their third to last show.

• It's nice to see Longfellow as himself at the desk again. I liked how he gently moved away from his laid back, snarky persona and went for sheer outlandish silliness to put this one over.

• It's especially nice to see Sarah and Bowen at the desk as actual human characters, but this almost felt too unfocused for its own good, too. 

• The best way I can describe the voices they're using is “they're both doing Bowens’ Fran Liebowitz if she were learning how to do a Pittsburgh dirtbag accent in real time.”

• Yeah, Applebee's sure as hell is a trash ass restaurant but there may have been too much meta fourth wall breaking with those “Asian glaze” jokes and Benson Boone appearing as himself as an Applebee's waiter.

• This commentary was a nice break from Sarah and Bowens’ usual Update nonsense and it almost had everything going for it, but something felt…off. 

• Yeah, I'll say this about Benson Boone. He can do all the backflips he wants on stage, but it's not enough to distract listeners from the fact that they're trying to place this exact melody they've heard…somewhere before recently, they're just not sure from which other male pop act yet. (Who the hell was it his second song reminded me of? The Jonas Brothers? The 1975? Harry Styles? No…). B-

Narcotics Anonymous 

• Hmm…a sketch where Kenan infiltrates a cocaine support group in an obvious attempt to…score more Coke?

• I guess Quintas' gotta find a way to work in one sketch about cocaine into each of her episodes, huh?

• Well, this is a genuinely creative premise that I can't say I've seen before on SNL. Good On ‘em. Kenan, Mikey and Quinta in particular really sold the hell out of this.

• When you look at this and then look back at the sketches in Ariana Grande and Bill Burrs’ Episodes, season 50 actually managed to break the curse of Elordi and maintain a solid track record when it comes to “support group” sketches. B+

The Greats

• I guess Quintas’ always gotta find a way to play a man in each ten-to-one sketch in her episodes. Is that in her contract or something?

• Well, I suppose I like the idea of her playing an increasingly brain damaged Ali-style trash talker of the boxing world more than I liked her playing the horniest boss in the world alongside Sarah.

• I did like JAJ as the announcer and how this went for a more subtle style of performance based live humor rather than Sarah Sherman pretape style blood and gore.

• Anyway, while Quinta, Devon, Kenan, Andrew, Longfellow and…Jane? were great in this, is wasn't my favorite segment of the night that played upon Quintas’ height.

• More than anything, this reminds me of a Kids In The Hall sketch where Bruce McCullough kept challenging a guy to a fight, getting knocked on his ass and ignoring everyone else's desperate pleas (even from Scott Thompsons’ Queen Elizabeth) to stay down.

• What I really want to know is, when's Jerry “Jackrabbit” Tulane gonna fight James “The Gentlemen Masher” Corcoran? B-

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
3. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
4. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
5. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
6. Quinta Brunson/Benson Boone (05.03.2025)
7. Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)
8. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
9. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
10. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
11. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
12. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
13. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
14. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
15. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
16. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
17. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
18. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
19. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

• This was one of the better episodes of season 50, but it doesn't quite have Quintas’ season 48 episode beat.

• It is clear that Quinta is one of those beloved hosts who still brings a fresh spark and unique creative energy to the show. In fact, she blends in so seamlessly with the rest of the cast it's almost like she could've BEEN a cast member in another universe.

• Still, Quinta bought just a bit more to the show than Jon Hamm did, but still not enough to disguise the fact that the writers are leaning on old, reused sketch/parody templates and internet memes too much (which is the only thing that keeps this episode just out of the top five for me).

• As far as cast airtime, Ashley, Jane and Devon came very close to being shut out of the show entirely but narrowly avoided that fate. Everyone else got a fair amount of airtime

• Aside from that, I can't think of anyone who truly “dominated” the show aside from maybe Kenan?

Closing Thoughts 

• Next week, Walton Goggins makes his hosting debut. As I've said on my last SNN Patron Feedback Appearance and in a previous blog entry, I'm glad the show is going after (mostly) proven TV comedy stars to finish out the season instead of big names (or names from outside if the world of entertainment that are so big they have no business playing themselves on the show).

• Before that on Thursday, May 8th, I will post a blog of my top five Bill Hader sketches from season 31 of SNL as that is the topic of the next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast (with special guest, SNNs’ own Jon Schneider!). After that, we will be doing a full length review of the Hugh Laurie/Beck episode as we enter season 32 (which will of course be released after my review of the Scarlett Johansson/Bad Bunny episode that will serve as SNLs’ 50th Season finale). See you guys then!

Julia Loius-Dreyfus/Paul Simon (05.13.2006)

This blog entry is a companion piece to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader podcast. Give it a listen, won't you? 

You can either finish reading this blog post first and then listen or you could just listen first and then come back to this. Do whatever you want. It's up to you. I certainly won't mind.

Parallel Earth

In an alternate timeline, 43rd U.S. President Al Gore (Himself) addresses the nation on such crucial issues as giant renegade glaciers, bailing out the big oil companies and keeping the nations’ trillion dollar budget surplus inside the good ol’ lockbox.

• Even though the “lockbox” callback didn't quite land and this was a pure liberal fantasy (Michael Moore AND George Clooney on the Supreme Court? Come on, guys…) and seemed like it only served the purpose of the show indulging Gore's wish fulfillment even more than The West Wing Short from the episode he hosted four years earlier, parts of this were quite funny if you can get around Gore's typical dry, stuffy delivery.

• Gore's lines about having created “an anti hurricane and tornado machine” and George W. Bush being a mere MLB commissioner being tasked with tapping phones to find out which players are steroid abusers made me laugh.

• I also liked the lines about Six Flags Tehran, Afghanistan becoming a popular spring break destination, Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming “El Presidente” of “Mexifornia” in order to solve the immigration issue which has a strong economy. Other than that, the rest of this may have been lost to the mid aughts time fog. 

• I also liked his segue into LFNY being “the scariest thing we Americans have to fear.” C+

Monologue 

Julia Loius-Dreyfus discusses how “New Adventures Of Old Christine” captures the right audience and debunks the myth of her breaking “the Seinfeld curse” after chance encounters with Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld (Themselves)

• Very nice of Julia to acknowledge her time as a cast member AND the fact that she is the first female alum to host the show!

• The rant about retitling “Old Christine” with the words “New” and “Adventures” to appeal more to men instead of using other proposed titles like “Football Christine”, “Barbecue Spaceship Christine”, “Coke Off A Whores’ Ass Christine” and “CSI: Christine” didn't quite work for me but Julia did her damndest to put this over.

• I did like how this monologue incorporated another pre-taped “Digital Short but more upscale” piece with Julia bumping into Jason Alexander in the streets of NYC.

• Jason and Julia's interaction mostly worked for me with Jasons pathetic Costanza-like unraveling at Julia having a legitimate hit sitcom after his two failed shows in a row followed by Jason being hit by a car after excitedly running out into the street once Julia tells him she could try to get him on this week's SNL. All of this played out well in a funny and entertaining way.

• The ending with Jerry having cut the wires that led to the stage light falling and missing Julia felt kind of awkwardly shoved in. It didn't totally make sense and felt like a cheap excuse to get Jerry to make a filmed cameo just so the show would be able to say they had a “Seinfeld reunion” and the press could run with that as a headline.

• Speaking of which, it's a bit telling that Michael Richards wasn't involved in this monologue…and this would've been several months before the incident at the Laugh Factory. I think the best case scenario would be that he was simply asked to participate and declined.

• I am curious to know who wrote this as it doesn't seem to be totally in SNLs’ voice in this period (unless maybe Tina, Seth or Colin Jost contributed to the “Old Christine” rant at the beginning?) and the Jason/Jerry cameos make this feel like they got someone like David Mandell or another former Seinfeld scribe to come on as a guest writer this week? B-

Tech Pack

You'll be “blown away” by this new device that allows you to store your phone, mp3 player and digital camera on your body as you run through the airport.

• Get it? Because it's a wrap around waist fanny pack with extra wiring and a game show buzzer to “control” all of your devices that looks like a suicide bomb both up close AND from a distance!

• This was a decent blackout piece that worked well enough. The only thing that may have aged this was that the advent of smartphones may have rendered this obsolete but Sudeikis sold the sheer obliviousness of this well. C+

Bum Attention

Jen (Dreyfus) is distraught that the is the only one of her three friends at lunch not to get grossly hit on by a creepy, dirty, bum (Hader) on their way to lunch. Her friends (Dratch, Poehler, Rudolph) feel bad enough to pay this man to say something to her.

• Pretty straightforward concept here. While this may have been an inauspicious start for him in this episode, Bill may have been the only male member of this cast who could properly sell the sleaze of this.

• Amy and JLD were the only ones on the female side who could make this work as well. I can't really imagine any other female host that could've made this work better.

• Sudeikis was great as the maitre d trying to kick out Hader’s character.

• James’ Taylor's “Shower The People” was the funniest possible needle drop here.

• I remember having read somewhere that this exact sketch was originally cut from the Billy Bob Thornton/Creed episode nearly five years earlier. Really would've been interesting to see how this played out then. C+

Morning Show

Cohosts (Wiig) and (Sanz) are plagued with production problems including audio problems rendering the weatherman (Armisen) inaudible, word of an old crew members sudden death on his 72nd birthday not getting around before air and a repeating peppy theme song accidentally playing over guest author (Dreyfus) relaying how her harrowing story of drug addiction inspired her new book.

• While I mostly liked the idea behind this sketch, it felt like a big case of “been there, done that” for me as I know for sure I've seen MADtv do several “local newscast goes horribly wrong” sketches around this time (hell, even SNL already did one of these with Ferrell and Gasteyer four years earlier and MADtv even based an entire sketch around that “leather chair making accidental fart sound when sat on” gag with JLD here).

• Unfortunately, this sketch didn't really escalate itself to any interesting or creative new places those previous sketches didn't.

• I suppose the “Happy Birthday, Stan!” callbacks were funny and JLD played her part well, though.

• The gag with Horatio walking back to his chair but tripping, falling and having to grab JLDs’ boobs for leverage was funny…but the fact that it was Horatio of all people makes it play…differently today. I'll explain why later. C-

MySpace Seminar

At the Learning Annex, hip 27 year old Danny (Samberg) teaches a group consisting of one dorky 40 year old suburban mom (Loius-Dreyfus) and six obvious middle aged pedophiles with flimsy covers (Hader, Forte, Meyers, Parnell, Sanz, Sudeikis) how to create and fill out their own MySpace profiles.

• MySpace references and cheap pedophile jokes? Is this the most 2006-ass SNL sketch ever? It has certainly aged weird for a sketch that may have been a well loved deep cut from this era (I'll get to that part a few bullet points from now).

• For starters, I'll say that Julia brings her own take and unique presence to the “cloying mom” role that we wouldn't get from Amy, Maya, Kristen or Rachel (some of whom have already played these roles in the past so much it's easy to picture any of them here).

• Similarly, Seth is bringing his own unique take to the “creepy, degenerate budding pedophile” role that's way further off the beaten path than what the other guys are giving us. His “Dateline” joke actually landed despite how telegraphed that might have felt. 

• Speaking of Seth, I have a feeling he may have written this sketch as well since it matches his style, he was co head writer with Tina this season (probably preparing to step up and fill that role full time once Tina left) and it reminds me a bit of the “Coach Burt” sketch from Steve Buscemis’ 2011 episode that I know he did write.

• Bill's few lines (and Jason's one) here aren't necessarily the big laugh getters in this sketch but he does a good job setting the tone here (as well as setting up some plausibility that the sketch is actually targeting MySpace and even just the internet itself for not doing a better job of safeguarding themselves against online predators instead of just being an “lol pedophiles” sketch).

• Speaking of parts of this particular sketch that have aged weird…Horatio playing one of the pedophiles in this sketch is…well, maybe a little too on the nose if you're aware of the lawsuit against him. That being said, his mini nervous breakdown while explaining his username “9thGradeSk8rBoi” username was actually funny.

• Forte seems to be playing a primitive, muted version of his classic Jeff Montgomery character here. It still works here and is still very funny particularly his fake typing and insincere “ooohh noooo I don't want thaaaat line read when Andy suggests he change his username from “NaughtyGirlHotStuff”.

• The ending with Finesse entering as a cop looking for his own class as the pedophiles rushed out and Horatio simply placing a plant in front of his face and standing in a corner worked for me. B-

Paul Simon - “How Can You Live In The Northeast” and “Outrageous” 

• Not much to say about these performances. I liked the songs even though they were semi Mellow deep cuts.

• He sure has a lot of questions to ask us though. He's like some kind of cross between Bob Dylan and Joan Osborne.

• I guess Paul just had some new album out at the time and given his connections to the earliest years of SNL I can see how they wanted to book him to make this episode feel like more of an “event”?

Weekend Update w/Fey & Poehler 

Al Gore (Himself) and Amy Poehler debate the merits of global warming

Finesse Mitchell delivers a commentary on the do's and don'ts of high school prom fashion

Tina's grandfather Wolfgang Fey (Armisen) has difficulty with the automated phone system (Dratch) used to sign up for prescription Medicare

David Blaine (Samberg) attempts to hold his breath at the Update desk for nine minutes…but only makes it to 21 seconds

• The only joke I liked during this Update was Amy's lone about new body armor for soldiers in Iraq looking “too goofy” (“Donald Rumsfeld said ‘that's good…we only ordered seven of them’).

• At least Tinas’ joke about high schoolers breaking their virginity pledges “if she's on her game” continues a minor THEME!!! for the night.

• If the bar starts at a new satellite channel for toddlers having a hit show called “CSI: Poopy Town” or New Jersey changing its slogan to “I Love NY”, something is seriously wrong.

• Good thing this Update was overstuffed with commentaries.

• Al Gore's second cameo of the night surprisingly didn't play well. It seemed like it mostly served the function of letting him plug “An Inconvenient Truth” against Amy playing up her “dumb blonde” persona. 

• I did like the part of Gore's commentary where he just showed a heavily redacted White House memo with just the words “CONJECTURE /UNSUBSTANTIATED/ LOONEY TUNES!!” and “Everything…is…great…drive…big…car…a lot.”

• Armisens’ segment playing Tinas’ grandfather trying to sign up for a Medicare prescription plan over the phone was…OK. I kinda liked the ending with him having accidentally ordered 18 tickets to Scary Movie 4 at a Magic Johnson Theater. It was funny enough but other than that it was just “lol old people and their Medicare problems”. Maybe with my new job this hits a little too close to home to be funny…but even when I saw this nearly 20 years ago it wasn't that funny either.

• Strangely, Finesses’ commentary might have been the funniest part of this Update. It was just some harmless riffing on outlandish teen prom fashion.

• I especially liked the “boots”, “pimp/magician” and “Skittles” jokes as well as his own admission that his mom took him as his date to her own prom because she couldn't find a babysitter.

• Sambergs David Blaine commentary is a close second to Finesses’ since he sold it on sheer Samberg goofiness alone with a small assist from Sudeikis.

• Seems odd to me that they put all that makeup on just his hands to achieve that “prune hands” effect when it wouldn't have taken THAT long to just soak his hands on water. C+

Charades 

In this vintage GSN rerun from 1979, host Bert Convy (Parnell) gives clues to stewardess Beth Burns (Poehler) and housewife Debbie Wagner (Dreyfus) that celebrity guest judges Rich Little (Hammond), Nipsy Russel (Thompson), Charo (Maya Rudolph) and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner (Forte) must guess based on the crude, accidentally blatantly sexual gestures Beth & Debbie must resort to making.

• This sketch was just…all over the place.

• Premise-wise, it was purely ribaldry. The only twist is that the panel of 70s celebrities are only able to guess Poehlers’ guesses correctly and make Dreyfus the butt of cheap sex jokes making Dreyfus lose and Poehler the reigning champion.

• Still, there's some fun to be had if one can see the forest for the trees.

• For instance, Kenan's chipper acting and less raunchy guesses (“checking for hernias?”) were delightful.

• Darrells’ jammed in bursts of dated-even-then impressions (“as W.C. Fields would say ‘ah yes, a housewife'”) and Parnells’ mock-polite-annoyance was possibly the funniest part of this whole sketch. 

• Seriously, Darrells’ portrayal of Rich Little as an out-of-touch dated hack does come across quite a bit funnier if you've seen the actual Rich Little “Christmas Carol” special from 1979.

• Chris' acting does remind me quite a bit of his acting opposite Jimmy Fallon as Kevin Pollack in that Celebrity Poker sketch from season 29.

• Forte as Caitlyn Jenner seemed like it was just there for set dressing and Armisens’ Carlin isn't quite as good as he seems to think it is. In fact, it's pretty much a watered down version of Rick Moranis’ George Carlin from SCTV. His constant guessing of “party at ___________s’ house” got old quick.

• Maya as Charo, while visually dazzling and understandably over the top, was probably the biggest thing weighing this sketch down. The “casting couch” type jokes were a bit off putting but hey, at least she's not slut shaming herself? C+

Unsolved Mysteries

Actress Michelle Armstrong (Dreyfus) is filming a reenactment of the abduction of Sandy Patterson (Wiig). She tells director Sean Driscoll (Parnell) that she has trouble suspending her disbelief at the outrageous story that somehow involves aliens (Forte) “led” by Dracula (Armisen) as well as E.T. (Forte V/O) a handful of gremlins and ghosts, and Col. Sanders (Hader) rescuing her. 

• Chris and Julia were both solid in straight roles while Kristen, in a rare feat, manages to play one of her paint-by-numbers over the top wacky/crazy lady roles (and this character, we're supposed to believe, is legitimately, mentally ill with Parnell simply enabling her) in a restrained enough capacity to NOT steal focus from any of the other players and place the focus onto herself. In fact, she seemed to be doing a milder version of her Target Lady voice here. I even liked how she over pronounced the hard T when she said “I was so fright-ened”.

• I got a kick out of the sounds of moaning ghosts including one's who just said “boo” and simply “ghost” (were Steve Higgins and Jason Sudeikis doing those voices?) as well as the prop E.T. arm hanging out of a closet.

• Bill really nailed his brief absurd walk on asking if his Col. Sanders is supposed to enter through the window.

• I even thought the ending where Darrel Hammond as Robert Stack came on to inform us that JLDs character was seemingly abducted by Cap'n Crunch was fun and thematically appropriate.

• The only criticism I have of this sketch is how it seemed like a cheap excuse to throw a bunch of random 80s pop culture references together (“monkeycheese” style as…a certain other popular SNL podcaster would say) and 2006 seeming like an odd time for an Unsolved Mysteries parody. I mean, I'm not even sure Robert Stack was still alive at this time let alone if Unsolved Mysteries was even on in reruns anywhere but hey…SNL got away with a lot of “random 80s pop culture reference” sketches around this era (in fact, a lot comedy did…particularly this show and internet comedy…I guess 80s nostalgia was just particularly en vogue in the mid aughts) and they mostly worked regardless of the time fog so, I think I can let this one slide. C+

Digital Short: Peyote

In a PSA for Peyote, Will Forte attempts to talk Andy Samberg out of suicide while they both appear to be in altered states.

• This was essentially a near blackout length gag and it was very funny, but at the same time rather complicated to explain without visuals, but I'll give it a try.

• The idea is that at first we see very tight shots of Forte (looking up & speaking through a megaphone) and Samberg (looking down slightly and leaning tightly against a wall with the corner of a window just above him in frame).

• About 38 seconds in we pull out to reveal both Forte & Samberg are on the sidewalk, Samberg standing with Forte on his knees and Jorma Taccone walking by and shooting them both a dirty look. The tag line for the whole thing is “Through Good Time And Bad: Peyote”

• Essentially, this digital short is basically a cross between “Lettuce” and “Close Talkers” but this was a great piece of brief drug induced absurdity to place in the ten to one spot that was a very uniquely Forte/TLI joint. B+

Overall Thoughts

• Boy, this episode was all over the place, wasn't it?

• There may have been a couple of lowkey classic deep cuts in this episode but overall it felt shockingly…forgettable given all the names involved (and especially when you compare it to both of JLDs’ subsequent host outings).

• I think the one thing bringing this episode down a little was the palpable sense of burnout lingering through the proceedings. 

• I mean, the lead off sketch was a dusted off dress cut from four seasons ago and Update especially felt like it was running on fumes. 

• They must've been pinning their hopes on Julia putting a lot of sketches over (which, hey…I get it) but this episode really had the feeling of “we're really just running put the clock on this season so we can get to figuring out how we can reconfigure the show in the face of looming cast departures and upcoming budget cuts at NBC”.

• At least they seemed to have been able to figure out a way to make Julia the main focus of the show without making it seem like cast airtime was unbalanced at all. No cast member was completely shut out of the show.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, that was an episode more notable for its significance in the context of SNLs history more than…most of the sketches from it that aired.

• …and hey, if you haven't already done so BEFORE reading all of the preceding words for whatever reason, please find the time in your day to listen to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast that I essentially wrote this specific blog entry for.

• Yes, I know about 90% of this blog is literally a transcription of said podcast as these are essentially all the notes I prepared for said recording, but still…I put a lot of effort into both and it would mean the world to me if you took the time to listen to the podcast I made with Deej in addition to reading this blog.

• Speaking of, the next entry on this blog will likely be a full length review of the upcoming Quinta Brunson/Benson Boone episode of SNL which will air on the night of May 3rd (so, naturally, that review will be posted to this blog on the evening of May 4th).

• The next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast will be available two weeks from today and it will feature our first ever guest! That's right, Jon Schneider, the main host and creator of The Saturday Night Network himself will join us as we each count down our personal top 5 Bill Hader sketches of season 31!

• Deej and I are both eternally grateful to Jon for giving us each our first shot on his show and continuously having us both on as part of his Patron Feedback shows. Naturally, we always wanted to have him on with us as a guest at some point down the line but very recently Deej and I discussed it and decided that Jon should be our FIRST EVER guest because it just wouldn't seem right to have it any other way as we start bringing on guests in general…so yeah, we moved those plans up quite a bit.

• Now, I know I have been teasing some potential upcoming guests for our podcast myself (whom I have since reached out to privately and fortunately they both have expressed interest) but I was actually just hinting at two other people I wanted to possibly get on for a very specific season 32 centric discussion that I have no idea when we'll get to record at this point…so, I guess I should hold off on saying any more about those tentative plans until they get nailed down in the near future.

• Anyway, see you soon!

Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)

Cleansing Of The Temple

• Okay, as soon as I heard Steve Higgins intoning the word “Easter” over an very clearly biblical/Christian themed text crawl, I knew fucking EXACTLY where this was headed.

• Seriously, this is like, what the fourth of these types of cold opens they've done since they hired JAJ to join the cast? Hell, it's the second one they did this very season.

• (*sigh*) Well, I guess I liked the following jokes from JAJ as Trump “messiah made of the economy”, “look at your 401k and say ‘Jesus Christ'”, “price of eggs/just can't crack it/end joke”,“the most homophobic people you see see dressing as gay as possible”, “I don't go to church on Easter either”, “pray/prey/predator” and “lump shaped”.

• I kinda liked the extra wrinkle/challenge of the freeze frame being Mikey tipping a table over.

• Really, the only thing saving this (or even making it watchable) are the meta jokes directed at Emil, Mikey, Sarah, Kenan and Ego here.

• I'm choosing to think Kenan's early exit ISN'T a Morgan Wallen reference and that they've gotten all of that nonsense out of their system.

• All in all, one of the more tolerable “JAJ/Trumps talks directly to camera over historical freeze frame” cold opens if you give it a fraction of a chance. C+

Monologue 

• Well, I certainly like that Jon is playing himself as the same “gleeful idiot” character he played so well on 30 Rock. I find that fun.

• You know, I remember a lot of people saying Jon Hamm could be the next Alec Baldwin even as early as October 2008 when he FIRST hosted (y'know, back when that would've for sure have been meant as a compliment).

• I actually see one more Baldwin parallel here in that by the time Hamm had first hosted, Baldwins’ subsequent monologues all devolved into him gratuitously waxing nostalgic about personal highlights from each of his previous hosting stints, so I like the idea of Jon Hamm doing an equally charmingly pathetic/narcissistic monologue about all 14 of his cameos in the past…14 years. God, that's like…almost one cameo a year for each year he HASN'T hosted, right?

• While I wasn't too crazy about how telegraphed that “aimless monologue” joke felt, I do like that the cameo turned out to be Kieran Culkin. He was a solid host who made a few unexpected cameos, too. Let's hope they don't make us wait another 14 years to see HIM host again, right? 

• The only strange thing about this monologue was how it ended on Jon clearly waving Kieran over to come back on stage only for the camera to cut away before he could be seen again. B-

Check-To-Check Business Channel 

• My visceral reaction to the title alone was “ooooooooffffff” but the sketch itself made me go “oh, this is supposed to be relatable in the fun way (*phew*).

• I liked Egos’ “Top Ramen” joke as well as Kenan's cheap brand name alternatives (“Uncle Bubble”, “Sgt. Munch”) and Dismukes’ Funko Pop report. B-

PDD: Missing Girl Pizza Party

• I feel like placing a Please Don't Destroy Short this early in the lineup may feel like Lorne & the shows’ way of making something up to the boys. Anyone else?

• Anyway, I do like how this was another short that took the boys out of the office and how framing this as a gritty crime procedural set up Jon Hamm to immediately play wildly against type more.

• I liked how Hamm immediately started playing a fragile manchild instead of the no-nonsense police chief you might expect him to play in this setting.

• I also loved how this wasted no time in devolving into chaos, getting everyone sucked into the pizza discussion. It's nice to see PDDs’ rapid fire pacing be put to effective use once again. 

• Other highlights were John Higgins firing a gun into the air, Ashley as the missing girl's mom and Jane as the delivery girl. B-

Guess The Correct Answer

• A game show sketch after the SECOND commercial break? Well, NOW I've seen everything!

• I didn't like how rapidly Jon Hamm just laid out the whole joke of that sketch, but I did like how that allowed this to have a very quick not quite “blackout” but still very “get in/get out” style pacing and nature to it (even if Ashley and Emil could only be used as set dressing here).

• Longfellow is still a decent game show host (even if part of me would've liked to have seen JAH get another chance to play one). I did like the ridiculous character name of “Marky Mark Brandon Marcus”.

• This sketch felt like a sort of inverted prequel to Hamms' role in "I Didn't Ask For This" from October 2010. C+

The White Potus

• Geez, even the live studio audience seems to be having an extremely mixed reaction to this.

• I wonder how many people just noped out or had a rage stroke from the combo of that title immediately followed by Chloe doing an inexplicable Parker Posey impression in the same room as JAJs’ Trump with slightly more makeup? I did like the quick visual of him swallowing a McNugget whole from a bottle like a pill.

• Speaking of Chloe, her playing “Melania Trump” as Parker Posey in The White Lotus feels like they're DEFINITELY making something up to her that she must've taken way too personally and made a big deal about.

• I do like the zoned out vibe JAJ gave to his Trump for this and while I'm grateful he is still Baldwins’ official replacement in the role, I will admit Baldwins’ take on Trump still would've fit this particular sketch like a glove (again, not that I would’ve particularly liked to see that).

• Apparently, the guy playing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick was just actor Jon Gries, shown here in a clip just straight up taken from a White Lotus episode he was in. Okay. I didn't know you could incorporate cameos THAT way.

• Also, THAT’S the guy who.played Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite? Wow.

• Hey, we got an Alex Moffat cameo! Since he left a few years back it's just this and I THINK being in the background of the Mulaney New York musical from the 50th for him?

• Oh, hai Scarlett. Bye, Scarlett.

• If RFK Jr HAS to become a recurring character/impression on this show, I'll take Jon Hamm in the role over Alec Baldwin any day.

• I thought Sarah's huge buck teeth were supposed to be an “RFK Jr. wants to ban fluoridated water” joke until I watched the SNN Hot Take show where Jon explained that Sarah was supposed to be playing Aimee Lou Woods’ character from the show and then I thought “Oooooooh right, I guess that explains the cockney accent too, huh?” 

• Yeah, please don't ask me how or why I know who Aimee Lou Wood is either.

• Hey, Ashley Padilla got her first political impression as AG Pam Bondi. Congratulations, Ashley. I can tell you're DEFINITELY gonna make it on modern SNL. Good to see Heidi bring back her classic beloved Kristi Noem impression again (*eye roll emoji*).

• I did like how they used Marcellos’ Rubio impression here, though.

• Hey, there's Beck Bennet again…as shirtless Putin. Great. Even if it's his most well remembered “political" impression…and even though it's still more subtly tinged with exactly as much cheap homophobia as it was back in 2017…it's nice to see Beck again.

• Hey, a sudden Lizzo cameo. She had one decent line there.

• Like, I'm not gonna say this whole pretape was WORTH airing just for the Moffat/Bennet cameos…but they were clearly the highlights. I did just watch both clips of Alex as Terry Fink on Update the other night and that plus his putting a watch in a blender reminded me of how great Alex was on the show, so…Yeah.

• I was surprised to find that this was only five minutes long when I tried rewatching it on YouTube. Even though it felt like a mini-epic with its use of many different characters and sets, turning this into a pretape obviously allowed them to tighten this up substantially but the heavy & specific political focus of it made this feel like I was watching a cold open/debate sketch from season 45 (or maybe the fact that I ended up writing an unprecedented 16 different bullet points worth of my own commentary on this sketch is making it feel like a 13 minute long sketch in my mind?)

• God, that moment with JAJ/Trump pointing a gun at Andrew dressed as fucking Uncle Sam talking about placing a tariff on China is like the most hamfisted political joke I've ever seen on SNL. Seriously, that felt like something one would only see in a fucking New Yorker cartoon. That and the sudden (merciful) ending with Kenan as Tiger Woods are things I was thankful were only dream sequences.

• My other main takeaway from this was that not having watched any of The White Lotus I can still somehow tell that this sketch was densely packed with specific references to the show meant to make people who DO watch it laugh. At least from that, I can tell this was a labor of love so…Yeah, that part of it was far from my biggest problem with this pretape.

• I wonder if Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider came back this week to write this 2017-ass sketch? I mean, it's obviously written by people who are VERY pop culture savvy and juuuust savvy ENOUGH about politics to semi-tenuously connect the hottest prestige HBO show to the current Trump administration, so…yeah, this just SCREAMS them to the point I'd be surprised to find they DIDN'T write this. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• This was a week where Che had the lions’ share of better jokes. That's all I really care to say about the Jost/Che portions of Update.

• Bowen as Chen Biao? Man, this episode really DOES feel like a throwback to 2019 in all the worst ways!

• Boy, he must've REALLY grown to hate this character over time since he's giving it even less effort than he gave any of his performances as J.D. Vance (maybe that's what that “Peasant Elegy” joke was a subtle reference to?)

• Jesus, was Egos’ “Miss Eggy” commentary from last week THAT big a viral hit or has it understandably become an inner office inside joke at SNL?

• Thankfully, Emil showed up to give us perhaps the sharpest and funniest moment of the entire episode.

• …which was almost immediately followed by Sarah giving us something that, I think, was cut from last week's show? If so, I can see why because this was definitely her most juiceless and aimless performance to date. 

• At least Sarah tried to open with some attempt at classic Squirm gross out humor and end with a different angle of the Update set we haven't seen.

• I did like Colin, seeming to actively fight his own giggly discomfort at reading the lines on his cue cards and fully accepting being the butt of the joke during this commentary (by the moment he winks at the camera after delivering that “any chair can be a toilet” joke you can see what I'm talking about).

• Yeah, they definitely should've switched the order of Emil and Sarah's commentaries at least. C-

Randy & Trevor's Baby

• Did…this sketch use the same opening establishing shot as Bronx Beat?

• Anyway, I feel like this sketch is at least spiritually a sequel to the sketch Bowen did with Adam Driver last season where they just talked about TRYING for a baby. 

• The only twist here is that Jon Hamm is Bowens’ partner now and they actually DO have a baby but they defiantly deflect whenever anyone asks where it came from.

• With all the loud questioning of logistics, it's like this sketch was starring Bowen Yang, Jon Hamm and FOUR Mikey Days.

• Oh, and apparently Lizzo is their baby. Ok, sure. Whatever.

• I did like the AAPI joke…and at least this sketch was loud enough to keep me from tuning out completely. C-

Herpastopper

• Yeah, we may have seen medication ads deconstructed on SNL and other comedy shows before so, this doesn't feel TOO fresh.

• Still, I liked the slightly more creative meta angle of “the person in slo-mo always has herpes, especially if they're rock climbing.”

• Ego and Heidi did fine here.

• I did like Mikeys’ meta reaction to Hamms’ line about how the person having the most fun dancing in slo-mo in a whole group always has herpes as well as Jons’ reaction to him suddenly finding himself rock climbing. 

• I also liked the breakdowns of other types of medication ads (wives wearing oversized jerseys for erectile dysfunction, children's drawings for clinical depression, dancing in an office as an indicator of either diabetes or diarrhea).

• Well, I certainly liked those parts all more than the racial breakdown of these types of ads anyway. Oh hai, Devon & Jane. C+

New Employees

• Hey, I'm a new employee at my job right now. I mean, I didn't have to go that deep into my personal life during my orientation (I mean, I wasn't gonna talk about this blog or my podcast right off the bat to people I just met so I had to think of clever ways to deflect).

• Besides, workplaces don't spend this long on “getting to know you” stuff (not any place I've worked anyway) since they want to get you actually working on your own as quickly as possible. Maybe this sketch would work a little better as, like, a college freshman orientation with a younger host, like say, Mikey Madison?

• Anyway, I liked how Hamm kept revealing more ridiculous details about his parents’ death and how they made decent use of Ashley and Andrew here…but that's about it. C+

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
3. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
4. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
5. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
6. Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)
7. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
8. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
9. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
10. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
11. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
12. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
13. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
14. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
15. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
16. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
17. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
18. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Closing Thoughts

• Well, Jon Hamm certainly hasn't lost his touch. He's still a strong comedic performer who's game for pretty much anything and it seems like the show will pretty much always know how to use him.

• This episode was a little uneven, but Jon elevated pretty much all he was in as much as he could. Obviously, they wouldn't have been able to reach the same electric highs of last week's Jack Black episode but it was another case where the shows current staff put on the best show that they possibly could with a well liked now four time host from a different era that has at least one all time classic stand out episode from back in the day under his belt.

• It's nice to see Jon Hamm perform again on this show all these years later, but neither he nor Jack are able to completely cover up the shows’ various foibles on their own.

• The main difference between this show and last week's, in my mind, is a weaker bottom half that left me a bit more frustrated the more I sat with this episode and chewed on it.

• There's a cast imbalance again at this point. Marcello, Devon and Jane only appeared in pretapes tonight while Dismukes, Ashley and Emil are making decent gains and almost jockeying back and forth for who has the biggest breakout moment. Meanwhile, JAJ and Longfellow keep only being used in one specific role. 

• The show seemingly keeps pushing Bowen, Heidi, Ego, Mikey and Sarah in ways that increasingly disappoint and yet somehow…no one seems to be absolutely dominating the show right now…not even any recent hosts, oddly enough.

Overall Thoughts 

• After a two week spring break, Quinta Brunson returns to host for her second time. This is actually a pleasant surprise as two years ago, Quinta hosted one of the truly promising standout episodes of season 48 before the show lost steam and the dual strikes seemed to derail the shows’ momentum entirely. 

• There were a lot of fresh, unique concepts brought to the show the last time Quinta hosted, so let's hope she can bring some of that creative spark back next month.

• In the meantime, the next post you'll see on this blog will be a full length review of the Julia Loius-Dreyfus/Paul Simon episode from season 31 of SNL which Deej and I will be covering on the next episode of our We Heart Hader Podcast. The blog and the podcast should both be released on Thursday, April 24th. 

• After that, Deej & I might just be welcoming our first ever guest on the We Heart Hader Podcast! Spoiler alert: if you know either one of us, it'll probably be the exact person you're thinking it's gonna be…but you'll have to wait and listen to find out for sure. See you then!

Steve Martin/Prince (02.04.2006)

The following blog entry is a companion piece to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast which you can listen to here.

The Sabotage Of Baldwin

Steve Martin makes a mad rush to 30 Rock from a sexy dinner date with Kelly Ripa (Herself) when she reveals to him that Alec Baldwin (Himself) is hosting SNL tonight, tying his hosting record. Steve sneaks in and strangles Alec, wraps his unconscious body in a rug and dumps him out a window onto the skating rink.

• Already this episode has a unique and special feel to it. This cold opening is pretaped (like a much more refined Digital Short) and sets up a meta backstage runner. Plus, the return of Steve Martin as a host after a 12 year absence (minus a few small cameos here and there) makes this feel like a big “event.”

• The gag with Steve taking a Viagra was a bit cheap, but like I said…setting up a runner.

• The gag with Steve hailing a limo instead of a regular taxi was fun.

• Even as a gag, it seems a little weird to have Alec back “hosting” so soon after he actually did host in real life just barely three months earlier (or at least a cameo this soon from Alec WOULD'VE seemed strange prior to 2016) but hey besides the “runner” of it all at least it adds to the “meta/backstage” nature of this cold open since Steve set that record back in the days when Lorne was cool with having him, Buck, Elliott, Eric Idle & Michael Palin host multiple times in the same season.

• Fun fact: longtime SNL writer James Anderson plays “Jimmy” the wardrobe guy who gets Alec ready for the show. Even as divisive of a figure as James is in the online SNL fan community I liked the “inside baseball” feel this adds to this cold open. I also love how Steve snuck in with a fake beard to match his own.

• I loved Steve just casually and nonchalantly just “sneaking” past a cleaning lady and then casually walking through a hallway, holding a body rolled up in a rug while chatting with Andy Samberg.

• I especially love Steve not even letting Lorne finish his line “We can't find Alec! Somebody call Tom Hanks!” before suddenly punching him (which us where we get our very first glimpse of Bill Hader in this episode, by the way). Very rapid fire Tim-and-Eric-esque timing on that one. B+

Monologue 

Steve shares vague, half-muddled memories and super tightly cropped photos of his time with the original SNL cast. He then praises the women of the current cast and welcomes Maya Rudolph back from her four month maternity leave. Suddenly, the Viagra he took before leaving his dinner with Kelly decides to kick in.

• Ah, I see we're starting the live portion of the show now.

• Immediately I liked Steve's line “it's gonna be HARD TO KEEP FROM CRYIN’!”

• My favorite gag in this might be his attempt to tell an old anecdote while constantly correcting himself on the exact date and concluding the story took place in December 1980 because he remembers John Belushi asking about holiday plans.

• The bit with Steve showing old show photos from the ‘70s but super cropped/pulled into closeup so you can only see Steve's face was fun too as a quick gag to move this along.

• Wow, it's uh…real nice to see Maya back again after such a long absence from the show this season. She and Steve's obligatory mention of Prince made for possibly the ideal conclusion to the “Viagra countdown clock” from, oh roughly 15-20 minutes ago. 

• Luckily, Steve Martin is one of the few male comedians out there with enough charm and likeability to wash out the “horny/dirty old man” vibes this gives off. B+

A Teddy Bear Holding A Heart

This Valentine's Day, get your wife the gift that says “No, I certainly DIDN’T forget that today was, in fact, Valentine's Day and Yes, I was DEFINITELY planning to give you this extravagant gift of a small stuffed animal well in advance!”

• While it may now feel like this is the type of sketch SNL does some version of every single Valentine’s Day, this was actually the first if at least three of this type of “sarcastically fancy ad for the cheapest gift imaginable”.

• Forte and Poehler as the couple sold this well as did Wiig and then writer Liz Cackowski as the spectators.

• Paula Pell was great as the announcer for this.

• Some cute quick filler material, not much else to see here. C+

Oprah

Oprah Winfrey (Rudolph) invites author Stone Freeman (Martin) on her show to come clean in a very serious interview and admit that his devastating new memoir “Skating At The Bottom Of The Ocean” is 100% true…as he gradually admits that the book is 100% full of lies.

• Obviously, this sketch is a reference to the then current controversy surrounding author James Frey exposed as a fraud after his memoir “A Million Little Pieces” was revealed to be full of largely fabricated details about his life...and the Oprah invited him back on her show to berate him in an interview.

• I guess the writers and Maya thought this would be the best possible excuse to use her Oprah impression that she's so fond of since they knew she would be back at work this week.

• I did like the fake audience reactions within the sketch getting to the point where Wiigs’ voice was the lone audience member shouting “oh my God” to which Maya replies “exactly, lady.” 

• Maya uttering the line “steaming pile of shizz” caught me off guard. I did like her line to Steve “you doopity duped me” and that James Frey had just “dicked her over…as Maya Angelou would say”.

• Anyway, this seemed to be a little dry on the surface but it was full of fun dialogue with Steve having to constantly contradict every word out of his mouth.

• I especially like Steve pulling the old “hey, look over there” trick on Maya and then just tearing our a full page of the book she just read from. I also liked Steve briefly trying to trick Maya into leaving, acting as if he was the host and she was the guest.

• I can see how some might not find this sketch funny due to it being tied to a now long forgotten real life news story that happened the week it aired nearly 20 years ago, but if you look past the surface there's a lot more cartoonishness in the execution that can still put it over at least for me personally. B-

Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford

A groundbreaking, revolutionary new debt relief/money management program is centered around not buying things unless you actually have enough money saved to pay for them.

• This was a simple, straight forward sketch with Parnell as a pitchman and Poehler and Martin as the couple in need of debt relief (but simply can't grasp the concept of NOT making purchases solely on credit that they can't pay off).

• None of these characters have names or even much else in the way of identities, so they might as well just be playing themselves. It's rare to see something like that from any long established sketch show with a well known cast.

• This was another sketch that fit Steve Martin like a glove. He's one of the best of all time at selling “smart humor based slightly in stupidity” so it's only natural to place him with the two members of this SNL cast who are also the best at this exact thing.

• Boy, if this was live, Steve must have had to make one hell of a quick change to make it in on time here (even if said “change” was just him taking off a wig and beard and putting on a jacket).

• Bill Hader’s voice can be heard at the end as the announcer. His pitches for things like “a monthly subscription to ‘Stop Buying Stuff magazine” were neat.

• Perhaps what worked best about this particular sketch is that it had such a timeless, ageless feel to it, so it's kind of funny that the shoe sandwiched it between two other sketches that are certainly neither timeless nor ageless. B+

Hamas Party

Steve has some second thoughts about his latest “corporate” stand up gig in Palestine as he learns that he is about to go on stage at the Election Victory Party for Hamas, broadcast live on Al Jazeera…until he is told he can get paid extra and shamelessly promote “Pink Panther.”

• Right out of the gate, we get Steve talking lovingly on a cell phone to a woman he identifies as “Britney Spears”...in 2006. Continuing the “Steve Martin lusts after younger women” theme tonight, I see?

• We get our first live Bill Hader appearance of the night…playing one of three Palestinians/Hamas members along with Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers (gee, I wonder if he and/or Colin Jost wrote this one?)

• Well, we may be getting two white guys and a predominantly Hispanic man playing three middle easterners but this doesn't score quite as bad as you'd think on the “oopsie-doo” scale since it's quite forgettable really. The guys’ attempts at “accents” are doing most of the heavy lifting here.

• Speaking of continuing themes, we get another instance of “foreigners being hopelessly behind on American pop culture” comedy trope as the Hamas members confess to Steve that the only movies of his anyone in Palestine has seen are “The Jerk” “The Muppet Movie” and “The Man With Two Brains” (and of course Bills’ line that “the previews for ‘My Blue Heaven’ look hilarious”).

• Speaking of Bill, I noticed he kept touching his mustache in this sketch and I'm wondering if this was due to his anxiety or if his mustache was hastily applied and about to fall off?

• I did like Bills’ “EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEEEE!” line at the end.

• Perhaps the thing that ages the worst about this sketch (given what we've learned via modern social media about the actual Israel/Palestine conflict in recent years) is the idea that someone in the entertainment business appearing to publicly take a staunch pro-Palestine stance would be shameful or antisemitic on its own (even if it may still be treated as bad PR by the producers of the new “Scream” sequels of whoever) but it's probably for the best that we not get too heavily in to this topic right now and just move on. 

• …but hey, at least we got the added wrinkle to this sketch of “Steve Martin makes fun of himself for completely selling out.” C-

Digital Short: Two Inches 

Two old, dear friends (Martin & Forte) catch up and have a friendly chat at a near kissing distance. Things get a bit tense but they quickly apologize to each other.

• This was a rare Samberg/TLI-less Digital Short but it expertly blended real heartwarming pathos with Steves’ charm and oddball Forte humor.

• I still get a kick out if these early Digital shorts where they were clearly experimenting with the format and how they would use them in the show. B+

Quick Zoom Theater 

In a hospital scene sponsored by the Cannon Ultra Zoom camera, each line read is punctuated with a dramatic music sting and an unnecessary quick zoom.

• Even though this came off like blatant product placement (almost as much as the actual product placement for Polaroid the original cast had to do at one point) there was fun to be had.

• Parnell was a fun, dramatic host and everyone (Armisen, Rudolph, Martin, Thompson) played well off each other, heightening the most banal doctor's appointment.

• I liked Kenans’ botched closeup and I liked Steve trying to force a closeup on his own after uttering his final line to Armisen (“she's carrying your BABY!!!”) B-

Prince: “Fury” & “Beautiful, Loved & Blessed”

• What else is there to be said about this man that hasn't already been said?

• Even though he can be a bit pretentious at times and he was quite a bit rude and dismissive to “Weird Al” Yankovic for years, there's no denying his flair or his sheer musical talent.

• These songs may have been deep cuts but they certainly highlighted his excellent guitar skills supremely well.

• His second song prominently features guest vocals from a woman named “Támar”. I wonder whatever became of her?

• He dropped a Mary Katherine Gallagher “Superstar” reference at the end of his second song.

Weekend Update w/Fey & Poehler 

• Amys’ “ban on human/animal cloning/Bad news for the mangaroo” joke stood out to me for it's sheer strangeness. Her “Brownback Mountain” joke was OK but…meh.

• The Tina/Amy double handed “Samuel Alito/abortion ban” joke may still be hauntingly prescient today.

• The “African History Museum/congressional Black Eyed Peas” jokes may have been the hackiest things in this episode.

• Tinas’ joke about a 17 year old high school girl setting a new record “playing against the Knicks” stood out as a nice antidote to the types of cheap, misogynistic WNBA jokes we got frequently from Michael Che last year.

• A rare shockingly short Tina & Amy Update with no guest commentaries. After the last Update of theirs, I just reviewed…this (while not absolutely perfect) is a substantial improvement. C+

Super Bowl National Anthem 

Aaron Neville (Sanz), Aretha Franklin (Thompson) and Dr. John (Sudeikis) are too distracted by their own hunger and dry, cocoa butter starved skin to make it through their own rehearsal for The National Anthem at the Super Bowl.

• After seeing Kenans’ Aretha Franklin, I think I may have spoken too soon on what the hackiest thing in this episode was. Thank God Kenam swore off female/drag roles when he did.

• I get why they would want to use Horatios’ Aaron Neville in this sketch (that year's Super Bowl WAS in New Orleans after all) but I still don't get why this impression even exists in the first place (when even they themselves admitted in the 50th anniversary “In Memoriam” that it shouldn't have.

• Frankly, the only thing this sketch had going for it was Jason as Dr. John. If I'm not mistaken, this happens to be Jasons’ first live appearance in this episode. Amy and Seth were OK in their straight roles. C-

Backstage

Steve wants to renegotiate his contract with Lorne mid-show after instant high ratings and glowing reviews have come in. He wants to get paid $5500 to host instead of his usual rate of $5000 for hosting. When Lorne refuses, Steve refuses to go on and finish the show. Lorne forces his hand by pointing out that Jimmy Fallon (Himself) and a potentially brain damaged Alec Baldwin are on standby.

• A nice conclusion to this episodes’ “runner”. A little dry with the salary talk but Steve gets to really poke fun at his “sellout” image here (and I liked Lornes’ revelation that he earns 12 million per show).

• Nice of Jimmy to make a quick cameo here. At this point, Jimmy is more removed from hosting “Late Night” than he is from leaving SNL.

• This got in, got its punches in and got out pretty quickly. B-

Prince Show

Prince (Armisen) and (Beyonce) interview Drew Barrymore (Wiig) and Princes’ personal chef (Martin)

• Speaking of impressions the show now admits are problematic…

• This is the second to last Prince Show ever to air. I remember watching this one with my mom. She kept comparing this to John Belushi & Joe Cockers’ duet of “Feeling Alright” from 1976 (not too far removed from Steve's first hosting stint either) but Prince never showed up on screen (to the disappointment and confoundment of many, I'm sure).

• I have heard that Fred and Maya did get to watch Prince rehearse in an effort to ask him if he wanted to be in this sketch. They missed their chance because after his performance he took a sharp left and walked right past them.

• I see Fred is wearing a different wig to more exactly match Princes’ real hair which we saw on stage just now.

• Anyway, this sketch had its moments. It obviously felt like it was missing something, but it was largely saved by Steve doing a slightly less ridiculous French accent than he did in “Pink Panther.”

• Wiig did a serviceable Drew Barrymore. Again, I like revisiting these early moments I'm Kristen's tenure where we got to see her genuine talent for impressions.

• The rest of this was typical Prince Show shtick I've been pretty ambivalent towards since it aired but Maya as Beyoncé looked real…nice this time. C+

State Of The Galaxy 2145

The Brian Williams 3000 (Meyers) reports on the State Of The Galaxy address given by Earth President George Q. Bush (Forte) with commentary from Hologram Chris Matthews (Hammond) and Hillary Clin-tron (Poehler, Dratch)

• Seeing Seth play Brian Williams feels odd since I've seen Forte play a dead on Brian Williams that he admittedly stumbled ass backwards into while trying out a totally different unrelated impression. The real Brian Williams of this era was never quite as boisterous as Seth portrayed him.

• Good use of Hammonds Chris Matthews here, too.

• While this sketch was well-performed, visually dazzling and I for sure liked the Space Mutiny-esque elements to it, the rest of the dialogue was almost white noise to me. It was a little too closely tied to the politics of the second term of the Bush 43 administration to truly be funny.

• “The Expedia.com US Capitol Building” feels like something Mike Judge edited out of the second draft of the Idiocracy screenplay.

• The gag that they are “very close” to capturing Bin Laden in 2145 got a bigger reaction in 2006 than it could've after May of 2011 for obvious reasons

• Bill can be seen here as a very elderly, wizard-like vice president who gets up and runs away in a panic when Fortes’ Bush states that “every American over 50 will be launched into the deep recesses of space” to solve the social security crisis.

• Horatio is seen as a speaker of the house who mistakenly applauds when Fortes’ Bush announces that Jupiter has pledged to destroy Earth within the year.

• What was the gag with both Poehler and Dratch playing a two-headed version of Hillary Clinton at the end? We're they also supposed to be robots or just some kind of two headed clone? Or were they just a two headed robot? I didn't quite get that one. B-

Digital Short: The Tangent

Joel (Armisen) is discovered on the street by two movie studio executives in the middle of a long, rambling endless rant about a restaurant. Joel is signed to a movie deal and cast in a space epic alongside Scarlett Johansson (Herself). After promoting the movie with interviews on MTVs’ TRL and Late Night With Conan O'Brien (Himself) the movie bombs at the box office and he is shunned. He is chewed up and spit out by the movie business before he can even bring himself to stop talking.

• TWO Digital Shorts? In one episode? In THIS economy? Neither of which have Andy Samberg in them? Just one of the many oddities of season 31 as SNL transitioned into a new era, I guess.

• Anyway, this was a fun inventive sketch that was stylistically very different from anything else on the show at the time.

• It seems like this may have been one of Armisen's ideas as it featured his usual collaborators and played to his better comedic instincts. It just came across like this was unique to him and his sensibilities as a writer. 

• Either this character is just the polar opposite of Nicolas Fehn or I'm detecting slight hints of Documentary Now! here.

• It's obvious this was made for a different episode but got cut at dress and used again here to fill time. Scarlett Johansson was in this and she hosted a few weeks prior to this episode. 

• This was kept afloat quite a bit by cameos from the likes of Conan and Brian Williams (weird sketch placement, huh?). I'm glad this did eventually air because it was quite fun. B+

Surfers

Ted (Martin) stubbornly refuses to accept that his surf group is kicking him out of the circle for being old, unhappy, just genuinely ruining the surf sessions and being the “un-gnarliest bro-ham in the tube”.

• This is definitely the weakest sketch of the night. I remember thinking this even at 15 when I first saw this episode.

• Bill Hader appears in this along with Samberg (who makes his first live appearance here and also wrote this sketch), Wiig, Sudeikis, Meyers, Forte and Armisen.

• The main thing this sketch had going for it was that it pretty much ran one joke into the ground. It's a shame this got a worse and worse reaction through the week because Steve, Andy, Jorma & Akiva fought so hard to make it work and yet it still pretty much bombed on air so badly it's a failure that still sticks with Steve to this day (at least according to the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast). Oh well, I'm sure the signs were there all along. D+

Naturally Crafting

Midge Hartsinger (Dratch) welcomes guest Jack Patrick (Martin) onto her craft show to make heart shaped organic Valentine's Day wreaths. He repeatedly turns down her invitations to stay the night or “crash” here at Craft Holler since he can drive in even the worst of snowstorms with his four wheel drive and abundance of supplies…until his passions get the better of him seeing her in winter gear and notices they have been snowed in.

• This sketch may be honestly better than I remembered. It's not up to much premise wise but only Steve Martin and Rachel Dratch can perfectly sell the budding tension of this perfectly.

• One highlight of this for me was when Steve mistakenly flubbed a line and “crash holler” when he was supposed to say “craft holler” and overcorrected himself the next time he had to say it. B-

Overall Thoughts

• This was honestly a stranger episode than I remembered, but not a disappointing one in the slightest.

• The episode was pretty much dominated by Steve and Mayas’ returns (still, nobody except Finesse was completely shut out)

• Still, at the same time, there was enough reliance on pre-tapes (and enough impressions done by people who shouldn't have really been playing the roles they were playing) that it felt like I was watching a season 10 episode.

• Maybe the abundance of pretapes was to cover for Steve Martin not being as able to participate in much of the show due to age or just nerves from not having performed live in several years?

Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)

Trumps’ Tariff Speech

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

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

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

• Hey, Dismukes is a commerce secretary. Neat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monologue 

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

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

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

Love Match

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flamin’ Hot Preparation H

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

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

One Uppers

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

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

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

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

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

The First Play

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

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

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

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

Goth Kid On Vacation

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

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

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Making Love

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

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

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

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

Bass Lake Jam Session

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

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

• Is that Dismukes on drums?

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

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

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

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

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

• Oh hai, Devon & Ashley.

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

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

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

WWII Times Square Kiss

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

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

• I did like the added detail of Jack's character just being an anti-Asian propaganda cartoonist whose work is considered too shockingly racist even for war time in the 1940s. C-

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
3. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
4. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
5. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
6. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
7. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
8. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
9. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
10. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
11. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
12. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
13. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
14. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
15. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
16. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
17. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

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

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

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

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

Closing Thoughts 

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

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

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

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

• Have a good one, guys!