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!

Ranking All The Vincent Price Sketches From Worst To Best

This blog entry is a companion piece to the latest episode of the "We Heart Hader" podcast out now. Give us a listen, won't you?

6. Halloween Special 1960 - Jon Hamm/Rihanna (10.30.2010) 

• This is definitely the weakest of all the Vincent Price sketches. You can tell it's running on fumes creatively. The skeleton puppet was a fun opening though (probably the best thing about this one).

• This is officially nothing but repeated impressions at this point because besides Armisen's Liberace, we get Wiigs’ Judy Garland (same solid impression, more drug jokes that seem lazier and lead to an out of nowhere “putting a man on the moon” joke) and Hamms’ JFK (which we only saw a brief glimpse of last time he hosted in the Obama Variety Special sketch but we could've seen his unused Dean Martin impression instead).

• JFK + Liberace = Double the sex jokes (almost nothing but, at least Hader adds some self awareness to them as Armisen delivers one liners at a Merv The Perv like pace).

• It's official. Fred Armisens’ Liberace has officially become “Flanderized”.

• This was the last Vincent Price sketch that made it to air, which at least means they knew the exact right time to end these.

5. Christmas Special 1954 - James Franco/Muse (12.19.2009)

• The smoke machine gag is pretty weak. Haders’ still the strongest part of these but something officially feels “off” with these starting here.

• While we are officially repeating previously used impressions here, that's not the main problem. Wiigs’ Katherine Hepburn is more fine tuned here. The gag with her bringing a freshly cut tree to the studio and killing a live racoon she found in it (but not before it bit her and infected her with rabies) might have been my favorite part of this. 

• James Franco as James Dean is definitely one of those things that sounds better on paper. He's too raspy for…really anyone to be able to tell how good the impression is (which seems to just be posing and pouting for him because the voice and general vibe from him just appears to be “fey, repressed vaguely southern guy”)

• The implied fellatio at the end is the official “tipping point” I mentioned earlier and officially marks the point when cheap gay jokes just overtook these all together (and given that James Franco is involved makes these age just badly enough to be included in the SNL50 “In Memoriam” montage).

4. St. Patrick's Day Special 1961 - Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys (03.11.2006)

• Vincent still tries to “spookify” St. Patrick's Day, tracing it back to ancient druid rituals. Bill still anchors this flawlessly in his first season alone.

• Darrell Hammond's flabbergasted Don Knotts/Barney Fife is surprisingly strong right out of the gate. It was rare in this era for him to be used to this great of an effect in a non political role.

• Kristen Wiigs’ Kathryn Hepburn isn't as strong as her Judy Garland but she sells it on sheer energy alone.

• The “bagpipers drown out Vincent” gag could've been executed better.

• Matt Dillon does a solid Rod Serling. His and Vincents’ passive aggressive comments toward each other were a great note to end this on.

3. Thanksgiving Special 1958 - Eva Longoria/Korn (11.19.2005)

• This is the first and longest Vincent Price sketch of then all clocking in at 07:24 and somehow feels the most low-key. It's about two minutes longer than the others. It's understandable why these would be tightened up a bit in the future.

• This is a very strong, very funny debut for this series of sketches. It's extremely well performed by all involved. 

• Vincent Price seems to have the easiest time getting the show under control in this one. I got a kick out of his attempts to “horrify” and “Halloweenize” Thanksgiving (feasting on a decapitated fowl, his stumbling over the line “naked, blood soaked manbeasts feasted on the entrails of…peasant children” may have been him just getting over Lornes' “why now?” moment, stating it came from either a bizarre pagan ritual or the pilgrims making it up, giving up and admitting he doesn't know much about Thanksgiving because he only went to a small school with three other guys and then dramatically stating “NEVERTHELESS!”)

• Sanz does a surprisingly strong Alfred Hitchcock. Hammond doesn't get much as Clark Gable but he's pretty solid. Wiig especially shines as Judy Garland (even though this sketch seems to mine most of it's laughs from Garlands’ drug problem).

• Still, one of my favorite gags in this is the “most doctors recommend Chesterfields” from Amy Poehler (not that far off from a real ‘50s cigarette commercial, by the way) followed by Hader’s exclamation of “who the hell makes 12 second cigarette commercials?”

• Personally, I would have cut Armisen and Longorias’ parts. I can see why getting to perform in these roles in these sketches would be a big deal to them but their Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (or as Vincent calls him “America's favorite illegal immigrant”) impressions weren't quite there yet. 

2. Valentines Day Special 1966 - Alec Baldwin/Jonas Brothers (02.14.2009)

• Yeah, an episode with The Jonas Brothers as musical guest during the height of their Disney teeny bopper period was definitely the ideal episode to air this sketch in. Even though they're not in this sketch, these old Hollywood film references are definitely gonna land with the JoBro fans who are definitely still gonna be up by the time this airs. Anyway, moving on…

• The revolving bookcase gag is OK, but doesn't play as well as the scissor lift. Hader is still the “glue” of these, but we've officially lost his attempts to “horrify” each holiday with this iteration.

• Alecs’ Richard Burton is OK but Wiigs’ Carol Channing is quite stellar. They're both impressions I can't quite judge the accuracy of because I can only compare them with other impressions I have seen (Bill Murray and John Candy have previously done Richard Burton for example and Ryan Stiles has done Carol Channing on “Whose Line”) but every impression here feels very lived in. Alecs’ role suits him well and Wiig disappears into her role in a way I don't think I've seen her do anywhere before or since. Even Casey Wilson plays a woman who gets little chance to prove herself with no lines (and she looked damn good doing it too).

• Someone on an old message board (possibly S-N-L.com?) pointed out how these may have become the new Celebrity Jeopardy of its era with Haders’ Price serving the Ferrell/Trebek role and Armisens’ Liberace as the Hammond/Connery role. You can definitely see that here.

• The misplaced hand gag played extremely well (especially near the end) and this iteration may have hit just the right amount of raunch before they reach their tipping point.

1. Halloween Special 1959 - Jon Hamm/Coldplay (10.25.2008)

• This is probably the most famous of these sketches due to it's frequent inclusion in modern Halloween Special compilations (and airing during a strong period for the show I'm general). The gag with the malfunctioning scissor lift played very well and was funny.

• Fun fact: Jon Hamm was originally going to play Dean Martin in dress rehearsal but was able to adeptly switch into James Mason in moments notice. Nonetheless, Hamm is a great addition to these and has some of the best lines (“two old fashioneds”, “regina/vagina”).

• Fred Armisens’ Liberace makes his debut here and would become a mainstay in these sketches at this point. I've seen better Liberace impressions than Armisens (Dave Thomas’ from SCTV for one, Bruce Mahlers' from Fridays for another) but something about this role really suits him. 

• Armisen and Hamm sort of usher in the transition of Hader’s Vincent Price character into “flustered straight man who has completely lost control of his own show to these three drunken, oversized lowkey degenerates.”

• I can't really gauge the accuracy of a Gloria Swanson impression but we start to see some “late era Wiig hamminess” creep in here even though she's fairly restrained with few lines in this one.

• Since John Mulaney has joined the writing staff this season, this is officially the first Vincent Price sketch he has written on (wonder who wrote the first two though?) It makes sense that Mulaney would bring these back just as a way to get Hader on the show more since the first two were so solid. Plus, this one feels tightened up quite a bit and it has a lot more energy than the first two. Maybe Mulaney had a better sense of how to make these play live?

Closing Updates

• The next episode of “We Heart Hader” should be out two weeks from now. It will be all about Bills’ guest appearances as Tom McDougal on the first two seasons of “The Mindy Project”. 

• As of this writing, my next blog post is going to be a full length review if the Shane Gillis/Tate McRae episode of SNL airing March 1st. My review of it should be posted on this blog by late in the evening on Sunday, March 2nd.

• Ok, I didn't think Shane's last episode was the worst one ever, but is still a pretty poor and disappointing choice for the first episode back after the outstanding 50th anniversary special.

• I mean, I get that with the Oscar's taking place on Sunday, March 2nd not a lot of A-list actors or Hollywood talent are going to be available that week, but surely there must be better comedians or even other former SNL alumni available? Hmm?

• Oh well. See you a week from Sunday! Take care, everybody!

Kristen Wiig/Raye (04.06.2024)

Okay, here's my review. Like many of you, I've had some problems with the way SNL used Kristen Wiig in sketches in the latter part of her tenure. Fortunately, this episode didn't use her as a host in the same way. This episode worked mostly by focusing on Kristens' strengths as an actress and what made her work as a cast member when she first started out in the show. Thankfully, the two recurring characters of hers they dug out of mothballs for tonight were both semi obscure deep cuts that actually worked the few times they were done in the late 2000s/early 2010s rather than her big, hammy, over the top, scenery chewers that have already made previous comebacks because they somehow made a strong impression on more casual viewers. This may not have been the absolute best show of the season for me because it was a little uneven compared to Bargatze/Foo Fighters and the highs weren't quite as high as the ones in Driver/Rodrigo but it is still a top three episode for me nonetheless. The casts airtime felt pretty balanced (moreso than last week except for only Longfellow seemingly getting shut out but at least Molly and Punkie were allowed to make a bit of a comeback). Hell, you know it's a really solid episode when even Andrew Dick of all people says he can get on board with the parts that he saw (and Andy, if you happen to be reading this...you didn't miss much from the cold open but I would highly recommend you check out this monologue if you can. I'll fully lay out why two paragraphs from now. Also, if you make it to my review of the final sketch of the night...I'd be curious to know what you think of my assessment of it). Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

TBS March Madness Postgame - This was a surprisingly muted cold open for an episode with...this host (kind of a bummer that a sketch wity both Devon Walker and Kenans' Barkley got this muted a reaction from me), but I guess it shows they know what audience Wiig would draw and...that the knew how to play to that audience, I guess? Good to see them finally off set that women's basketball sketch with Paul Reiser...30 years later. I didn't even mind Heidi in this but once she started talking aboyt how hard she works her girls I started wishing Melissa McCarthy could be in this (even if it would be a carbon copy of a sketch she did 11 years ago). At least it was nice of them to give us a break from tired, moribund political material when we really needed it. C-

Monologue - Wow, I liked this a lot more than I thought I would (even the "saying 'hi' to the band" part at the very beginning). It seems like it was going for the same thing Tina Feys' monologue from 2018 was going for but in a less needlessly self-indulgent, demeaning middle finger to the audience way. Instead of talking down to the audience like we were all idiots for not madly embracing big flashy stunt cameos in big flashy political roles to serve the shows' commitment to big and flashy yet ultimately tootlhess political commentary, they actually appeared to be on the audiences side for once as they addressed a legitimate concern we've raised recentlt. Does the ever growing, ever expanding and thus far FAR less exclusive nature of the modern day five-timers club renders is meaningless or does it still truly means anything anymore? I have to say though, it truly does mean something to me that they finally gave Paula Pell the proper fitting acknowledgement for her contributions to the show and her place in its history. Thankfully, if the show had to be loaded with cameos as it would've been a few years ago (will Paul Rudd EVER truly have made up for lost time due to his five timers club show being canceled due to an Omicron Covid outbreak?), they were mostly pleasant people I didn’t mind seeing again and they were mostly condensed to the monologue. Even Matt Damon turned in a genuinely funny performance although when he was explaining where he got his five timers jacket from I kept thinking "dude, just say Affleck let you borrow his...he legitimately hosted five times and that joke actually works better". Fred felt a little tacked on but he was fine. Glad to see Jon Hamm is aa worried he'll never get to host again as we all are. He truly deserves even a fourth time. Still, I wish I could get inside Marty Shorts' head just to find out his rationale of WHY he thinks his episodes where he cohosted with Steve and/or Chevy don't count at all toward his total. Ryan Gosling was OK too. I'm just glad to see him make up for how disastrous the last episode hosted by a season 32 alumni wher next weeks' host makes an actual cameo with Lorne during the monologue turned out to be. I did also appreciate how if you look closely, you'll see how this joke carried over into the goodnights with each castmember (even Longfellow...and Raye...and apparently Kaia Gerber who we'll see later starting with the first pretape of the night if you can manage not to blink) each having their own five timers jacket. Yes, as much as we were all expecting Wiig to make a big deal out of joining the five timers club, truly something this subtly off the wall would've been preferable to another big blowout sketch with the whole set. B+

Ticket To Ride - Ok, as soon as I could visually tell Wiig was NOT playing Surprised Sue and she uttered the phrase "I'm afraid of being Jumanji'd" I knew I was getting into this. It felt a little repetitive (as some escalating heavily detail oriented Dismukes sketches cam) but I loved the perfectly comitted intensity and conotrolled chaos of it (especially from Wiig & Dismukes). A frigging Forte cameo was the active ingredient of the perfect ending to this. B+

Pilates - This oddly felt like a premise for a "trendy" pretape that should've been done at the beginning of Wiigs' era as a cast member (you know, when it would've only felt two years out of date at most instead of twenty. I only say this because it immediately made me think of Amy Poehlers' "Sesame Street/Cookie Monster/Pilates Monster" joke from an April 2005 Weekend Update which was mere months before Wiig first joined the show). Still, I liked the details that went into the writing of this and the fact that it gave Molly, Troast and Punkie SOMETHING to do (it's about time someone threw each of them a bone). Even though it felt a little flat and static for a fake horror trailer that Sarah Sherman has a substantial supporting role in (thankfully I stopped myself from getting my hopes up because that descriptor NEVER turns into what I hope it does) I enjoyed this enough. C-

Secretaries - Ok, I actually liked this much more than I did when it appeared in Pete's episode this season. It REALLY helpee that Wiig & Hamm were there for Heidi to play off of as they're obviously both much better suited at playing these types of '50s/'60s office archetypes and selling them without getting too ridiculous and over the top. This also ended at just the right place before it got too annoyingly cartoonish. Glad one of my Twitter mutuals on Reddit was able to post a dress report that confirms my personal theory that the big table break was planned but didn’t go as smoothly on air as it was supposed to in dress. C-

Jerrys' Retirement - I really do appreciate that at this point in the night, the only true recurring Wiig character we've gotten was not just a deep cut that I actually remember enjoying the first two times they did it, but an ensemble piece where the cast played off each other well. I was relieved when this moved away from Bowen (even though he, Punkie, Chloe F and somehow Paul Rudd) and I actually laughed at Wiigs' "Gail" (channeling Kate McKinnon perhaps?), Armisens' "rock & roll shorts guy" and Fortes' Hamilton. Even Damon had funnier lines than he had in the monologue expertly expertly crafted for him here. It's too bad Bobby Moynihan couldn't make it this week because Marcello awkwardly grabbing the mic and then farting into it doesn’t hold a candle to Bobby's guy who says "WHAAAAAATTT?!?" and drops it. B+

Update was a pretty mixed bag. As far as jokes, the only ones that really worked for me from each anchor were Josts' podium/cocaine like and Che's Kanye joke and cicadas/mouse genitals line (the assist from Jost really helped). The rest of them really just washed right over me. No need to offset that cold open there, Che. I ended up liking Marcellos personified NYC earthquake much more than I thought I would because he sold it in only the way he could have. It felt like this was written specifically for Marcello and not like he was just slotted into a potential Bowen/Longfellow role. I didn't care too much for Kenan as the literal face of the eclipse but it was nice of him to provide some balance and pick up some slack so Marcello doesn't have to sustain that energy the WHOLE time. I was legitimately glad to see Wiigs Aunt Linda again. She was definitely at the top of my list of "recurring Kristen Wiig characters I had no actual problem with" (and that was mostly because she was only used in her first two years before the show tipped the scales away from "playing to her actual strengths" and "overindulging her as the next big beneficiary of the shows' 'star system'"). I even laughed at the line "don't get smart, Tina & Amy." I just wished she could get her desk slapping habit under control. B-

Go Karts - This was all right, but I couldn't really get to into it because I didn't feel like there was enough there. It didn't really go anywhere at all (pun not intended). Still, I appreciate how it made a decent use of each cast members dramatic acting chops to the exact degree this sketch called for it (well, except for Mikey but Wiig, JAJ, Troast & Dismukes were great in it). C-

La Maison Du Bang - Ok, while I hate to overuse this phrasing/joke structure in my reviews but this really TRULY felt like they threw Les Jeunes De Paris in a blender with those two Soul Train/New Jack Thanksgiving Time-Life record sketches in a blender with some diluted Deep House Dish and sprinkles of "don't make me sing/dance" other recent PBS Retrospective sketches. I didn't hate it but I felt there was nothing to really grab on to here. It just kept moving along from the next dadaist song & dance gag. It legit felt like they tried to replicate the pacing and audience confusion of a Turn-on episode and condensed it into one sketch. That may seem like a wild, swinging for the fences comparison but I say that with my full chest because Wiig, Mikey, Bowen & Chloe F (and at this point, let’s face it...JAJ & Dismukes) had the innate ability to arrest my attention but the material they were given didn’t keep me comfortable for very long. Ego and Chloe T could've kept me comfortable but they were on the screen only in very short bursts. Speaking of Ms Troast, I'm glad they finally gave us even a bit more than two seconds of her singing. I just wish they could do the same again without making her singing or her voice itself the central gag. Still, everyone in my favorite Discord server* seemed pretty high on this one so I'm sure it might grow on me if I ever decide to rewatch it. C-

*I know I post links to these reviews in two different SNL relayed Discord servers so in case you happen to be reading this from the other one, I won't reveal which one is which.

Now, for my updated ranking of season 49...

1. Nate Bargatze/Foo Fighters (10.28.2023)
2. Adam Driver/Olivia Rodrigo (12.09.2023)
3. Kristen Wiig/Raye (04.06.2024)
4. Ayo Edeberi/Jennifer Lopez (02.03.2024)
5. Kate McKinnon/Billie Eilish (12.16.2023)
6. Timothee Chalamet/Boygenius (11.11.2023)
7. Emma Stone/Noah Kahan (12.02.2023)
8. Bad Bunny (10.21.2023)
9. Pete Davidson/Ice Spice (10.14.2023)
10. Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott (03.30.2024)
11. Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande (03.09.2024)
12. Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgraves (03.02.2024)
13. Shane Gillis/21 Savage (02.24.2024)
14. Dakota Johnson/Justin Timberlake (01.27.2024)
15. Jacob Elordi/Renée Rapp (01.20.2024)
16. Jason Momoa/Tate McRae (11.18.2023)

Well, that was the most pleasant, confident and self-assured I've seen SNL manage to be this season. Next week, Ryan Gosling hosts for his third time. Now, he has previously hosted one very strong damn near classic episode and one disappointing dull and lifeless episode so...batting average isn't great there but I know his comedic chops well enough to go into this one with an open mind. Hopefully they can carry on the good vibes from this week into the next week and Ryan Gosling had proven that wouldn't be a problem with him as host. See you then!

Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.02.2022)

Okay, here's my review. One thing I think we can all agree on is that this was the strongest, most focused, least lethargic season premiere of SNL we've seen since at least season 40 or 38. Whether it was truly the beginning of a "new era" outside of a few new cosmetic changes is debatable, but in spite of its flaws, this had a lot going for it. There were hints of sharper writing and more balance and breathing room within a (slightly) smaller cast, but it is still clear some changes still do need to be made in spite of this premiere giving the fans some things that they wanted. My biggest take away from the night is that this is officially going to be the era where the show pushes Bowen, Chloe, Ego and Heidi as the stars of the show (especially with the latter two being the most senior players...of those who joined after season 42). Cecily may (or may not) be temporarily absent from the show but aside from her, nobody felt truly shut out from the show (all the new featured players got something on. Hell, even if only two of them got any substantial speaking roles they were each mentioned by name in the cold open, which...hey, that's something). Anyway, let’s break it down, shall we?

Manningcast - Wow, right off the bat we get faint signs of more experimentaion in a new era (or at least, hopefully, the shedding of the previous era's tired political and topical trappings wrapped in meta commentary that while reminiscent of Tina Feys' last monologue fortunately came across as more genunely self-deprecating and less doubling down and actively flipping off the audience). Still, in the face of JAJs' Trump having his rundowns and his Wordles taken away and being dragged and dropped into the template of a Baldwin era Trump cold open, I'm choosing to remain optimistic that this is SNL signaling that they are leaving this type of cold open, this type of aimless, scattershot Headline Challenge political humor in the past rather than continue it. Surely, even Lorne has to have recognized by now that it's long past the time when they needed to rely or lean on this sort of thing for any reason whatsoever, right? Right?!? (*crickets*). Hmm, anyway, as much as I know realize sketches with cast members and/or special guests playing sportscasters commenting on the show in real time feels like a dated, played out trope (especially in recent years with the likes of Chappelle, Rousey and Portman but they even did TWO with Fran Tarkenton for God's sake) Miles Teller having a dead on Peyton Manning impression in his back pocket (and actually resembling him with the right wig, I might add) was something I did not expect so, it was strong and smart move for the show to open with that. I guess SNL is now two for two in opening the season with unexpected great impersonations from people making their debut appearance on the show, am I right? Speaking of debut appearances, kudos on the four new hires for managing to not get completely shut out of their first episode (even if I would find out that they were all just doing viral TikTok memes that I somehow missed but hey at least by they were criticising themselves for doing just that rather than just merely hazing the new cast members and forcing them to poke fun at their own lack of airtime like they would do just a mere nine years ago? You know, the last time they hired a large group of people in the face of massive established cast departures?) Speaking of cast usage, while I wasn’t crazy about how Mikey and Bowen were used, I did like how they worked Heidi and Sarah in there. The Jon Hamm and Shaun White cameos were fun. I did like how they used a semi-expected cameo that actually makes sense from someone SNL fans genuinely want to see again given their established history with the show and their connection to the host to call themselves out for the unexpected cameos that don't from bafflingly chosen celebs being airdropped into random political flavor of the week roles and then set *that* up to poke fun at the hosts' image and career status in a fun way rather than an overly nudge nudge wink wink say no more way. Again, I choose to take this as a sign that they will stop doing this altogether and leave it in the (recent) past where it belongs. B-

Montage - I love how they strictly adhered to the "one new logo every eight years" rule like clockwork (and this one is VERY reminiscent of SNLs' first three seasons which I also love) and I especially liked how we've once again moved away from still images and went back to the very fluid, one long shot, visual storytelling style openings we previously only got in seasons 11 and 29 (but with the classier, more upscale twist we previously saw in seasons 21 and 44/45). Also, am I crazy or was Cecily absent from this montage? It's pretty strange that I just watched the premiere of a new season and I'm still not able to tell you if she is still employed by this show or not. I know people have said she may be back after she finishes doing her play in Los Angeles (and she just did this exact thing two seasons ago), but I'm gonna give it another month just to see if she truly sticks by that "Irish goodbye" comment she made to the press around that same time.

Monologue - Miles effortlessly carried his confidence and ease at light self-deprication over into the monologue. Plus, he showed us what a longtime fan he was from childhood so it wasn’t hard for me to connect with him on a personal level. He seems like someone who worked well with the cast all week. It's really gratifying to see a host who was rumored to be, well, "difficult" behind the scenes in past projects deliver the exact type of monologue SNL fans have grown to love over the past four years (a heartfelt sincere slice of life monologue that allows them to share their deeply personal connection to the show from a very young age). B+

Send Something Normal - Of course, RIGHT after I praise SNL for trying something different they go RIGHT back to leading off the show with a game show sketch! This wasn't even that original of a premise either. Still, I appreciate everyone's level of commitment to this sketch most if all in the face of it's minor conceptual flaws. Miles Teller wasn't exactly the best suited host for the "game show host" role. Mikey looked nothing like Adam Levine but he had the most appropriate voice for the part. JAJ as Armie Hammer felt like a last second between dress and air addition to this sketch. I mean, he was one of four contestants, for one thing. I like to imagine him telling the hair and makeup people he didn’t have an army hanmer impression as they hastily applied his beard and the writer of this sketch (who was also in the room with them) just saying "screw it, just do your Adam Driver, no one's gonna be able to tell the difference". Kenan as Neil Degrasse Tyson is always fun but an odd choice here. I mean, it felt like this sketch was written by one or two of the five people left on Earth who remembers Neils' real life minor #MeToo era harassment scandal and figured "well, he's never even posted anything remotely normal publicly anyway so...yeah, he's gotta be next. Bowen as himself was a nice meta twist that I appreciated but only didn't feel as tacked on as JAJs' Armie Hammer because his whole part seemed to be a callback to Mikeys. C+

BeReal(ButNotRobbed) - Well, I certainly appreciate the time and effort SNL took in explaining what BeReal was to its viewers OVER the age of 25 who are still *just* active enough on "dishonest" social media platforms to have missed this thing and gotten left out but I'm still having a hard time believing BeReal is...well, if you'll pardon the expression...REAL. It's seems so obnoxious it feels like a fake social media app from a Netflix movie. Still, I have to applaud the airtight execution of this thing. C+

Dance Of The Charmin Bears - The thing that I appreciated about this sketch the most (aside from it's just right length and tight writing) was that it continued showing the strength of this current casts performance skills and this season's established comittment to experimenting with more conceptual humor. Other than that, I found it a bit "on the nose" that they used a Lizzo song in this as it felt like a sketch that would've gotten cut from her episode last season (and, of course, would've been liked a lot less if it hadn't). B-

Rooftop Bar - Once Ego and Chloe, walked in I immediately flashed back to Mikeys' performance as Link Bronwin in the dating show sketch Regina Kings' episode. I ended up liking this a lot more than I liked that on as Mikeys' awkard cringe performance wasn’t as telegraphed here as it was there. Heidi played off them well and it was just the right length for what it was. C+

Nicole Kidman For AMC - I do love how you didn't really need to have seen the original Nicole Kidman ad at all to appreciate this. I like to think of it as the 2022 version of thst Simpsons THX parody from the early '90s ("TURN IT UP!!! TUUUURN IT UUUUUPPP!!!") I also loved how this just got in, went for a weird supernatural Vanessa Bayer and Larry David for Totino for The X-Files Reboot style twist, and just got out. (I'm sure the real Nicole Kidman would know a thing or two about cults. Didn’t she used to be married to the poster child for one in the '90s? Hiyoooo! Sorry, just to bust out that obscure South Park quite there). Mostly, I liked that Chloe finally did another thing that I could fully get on board with. B+

Update was a bit of a rollercoaster. It was odd to see Jost start out string with sharper jokes and a disassociative Che trailing him until he got to that MTG joke. Mitch McConnell might have been the role JAJ was born to play (in his first ever Update feature at the desk, nonetheless). He and Kenan made their segment funny but it's a shame that the string of Oswald Bates-lite malapropisms the writers came up with for him wasn’t as ridiculous as most of the real Herschel Walker's pulbic statements. Micheal Longfellow made a strong, low key debut although mentioning the Sydney Sweeney MAGA family reunion photo commentary was way too forced and labored of a setup for Jost to bring out for him if you ask me. He had great standup material and he was in control of what very few visible nerves he may have had. He didn't feel like he was there JUST to replace Pete (or bring back what they had with Pete) but his dry delivery made me feel like he and Dismukes might cancel each other out (until I remembered what else Dismukes was in tonight and Longfellows first Update standup commentary was a lot more focused and polished than Dismukes "Brink!" commentary from over a year ago was). As much as I feel like the shows' gonna get some flack for letting just the regular white guy get his big showcase out of this seasons group of four newbies, it was still good to see at least one of them break through. Bowens' lantern fly commentary felt at once fresh and almost too within Bowens' comfort zone. It's the same type of absurd anthropomorphic insect humor and patented outlandish absurdity Bowen has strangely become known for yet it felt like wild format breaking for SNL to have this premise worked into an Update feature instead of just written separstely as it's own sketch which is the type we've already seen too much of in the past 25ish years of sketch comedy in general (as it was written specifically as a parody of Maury or Jenny Jones or whatever the trash daytime talk show de jour is now). A somewhat still surprisingly high energy Dismukes as The Masked Si...uh, Buckwhe...er, um, "crops" was the perfect capper to this. B-

Swole, Bi Grimace - I can't believe they found a way to turn a cheap throwaway line from the Avengers'/GOT Family Feud cold open in Sandlers' 2019 episode into its own sketch, but they did it. Still, I remember really zoning out on that one as well as the "Santa becomes thin and kimd of a dick" sketch from Paul Rudds' 2013 episode (which this also reminded me of) so to me, aside from Kenans' speaking part and in spite of Bowen and Sarah trying their hardest, this was the weakest sketch of the night. D+

Carribean Queens - As much as I feel like this is a talk show sketch trope we've gotten our fill of during the Cecily/Kate/Aidy era (hell, even during the Wiig/Poehler years) it's nice to get a different spin on it that shows' Heidi and Ego's dynamic and chemistry (careful what you wish for). Punkie played well off them and good for Devon Walker for managing to sneak in there, too. B+

Well, that was probably the best season premiere we could’ve hoped for in this era. We haven't had a new season premiere that felt like they were doing more than just "shaking off the cobwebs" in a while. Next week, Brendon Gleeson makes his hosting debut. Not knowing much about this man aside from the fact that he played Donald Trump in that "too soon?" Showtime miniseries where Jeff Daniels played James Comey and Joe LoTruglio played Jeff Sessions, I'm just excited for the prospect of an episode hosted by a low-key character actor at the beginning of the season that leaves them more room to experiment more with newer, lesser used cast members. See you soon!