SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)

Simon & Carpenter (Homeward Bound)

• Wow. Strange but intriguing combo right off the bat. Appreciate the deep cut, though. 
• I do like the “wasn't born yet/neither were her parents” jab which Paul seemingly took in stride.
• I gotta say Sabrina's doing a good job of holding her own against Paul vocally here.
• Seems a little somber to open rather than close with, but no complaints here.

Montage

• While this was visually dazzling, I found it a bit strange that Darrell Hammond only announced the musical guests but I also realized that if they announced all the cast members and guests on the show that might take five whole minutes. Plus, I do like the small sense of surprise this lends to the show.

Monologue 

• Overall, I liked Steve's monologue (especially the end…heh, great job, Steve! Loved the whole thing!) but (*looks around and whispers once he is absolutely sure Steve Martin is out of earshot*) I honestly liked his 40th monologue a bit better. That one felt a bit more fresh and original (probably since we hadn't seen Steve host with or without Marty as recently in the lead up to SNL40 as we had leading up to this one).

• I guess neither Steve nor Tom Hanks were entirely wrong about the monologue being “the weakest part of the show”.

• Those “diversity hire” and “Gulf of Steve Martin” jokes came off odd to me but the rest of Steve's stand up.

• I especially liked the sudden Letterman cutaway and the “writers’ tribute”

• I heard Steve (and possibly Mulaney & Marty?) were workshopping material for this monologue at the Comedy Cellar a few days ago (and you can kinda tell since quite a bit of it seems personal and not about SNL in particular).

• Yeah, I think maybe more than just two hosts may have committed murder, John (but that's a discussion for another time).

• Marty's cameo was fine. He gave it just the right energy that the “ICE! Get him!” gag came off just right and didn't feel too inappropriate.

• I mean, full disclosure, I may mot have laughed as much at the Martin Short/ICE gag because something like that actually happened to my sister at her job…but I'm also dealing with recent unemployment and a much more recent death in the family right now. I'm not gonna let either of those things affect my enjoyment of this special. I'm using it to distract myself from those things anyway. Moving on…

Lawrence Welk

• Wow, is it just me or is Armisen really showing his age more than ever in his Lawrence Welk role?

• Well, I've always been pretty ambivalent towards Dooneese…but I have always liked Ferrells’ Goulet. I also liked Kenans’ contortionist and the idea of Gasteyer and Johansson as backup Singers.

• Most of all, I…can put up with them shoving Kim Kardashian into the background of this sketch where she can't steal too much focus until Wiig does a drum solo on her skirt covered ass which…guys, c'mon.

• I did like the surprise gag of Dooneeses’ sudden third hand making an appearance.

• It makes sense that they would work this into a new 21st century anniversary special that airs in prime time (especially the first third) but I probably would've liked this a bit better if it didn't so closely resemble the second iteration of Lawrence Welk/Dooneese they actually did during Ferrells’ second hosting stints (and the one with Jon Hamm they did during Wiigs final episode really).

• They also did this as the cold open to the Betty White/Jay-Z episode from May 2010. I mention that as a positive because with this in a prominent spot at the top of the rundown and all the former cast cameos, this really does feel like a much bigger version of the “event” that episode was…which is good.

Black Jeopardy 

• Ok, now HERE'S something I could always get on board with! I liked them including Tracy as “Darius” and Eddie as Tracy.

• Eddie's impression of Tracy was fun. The voice he used was a bit high but he's got Tracy's delivery down perfect. If anything, Eddie just sounds like a much younger version of Tracy (or he may have been channeling Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock/TGS more than Tracy Morgan of SNL fame).

• I really liked them using Black Jeopardy as a way to address the shows’ troubles with diversity that apparently lead into it's troubles attracting (let alone keeping) a black audience at times.

• I did like the “wrong” guesses of In Living Color, Showtime At The Apollo and Soul Train (as telegraphed as they seemed).

• I do appreciate how they tried to work in Chris Rock and Tom Hanks’ character “Doug” to make it seem reminiscent of the Jeopardy sketch from the LAST big anniversary special (as sloppily executed as those seemed but, hey they never have enough time to rehearse the live sketches in these so I can forgive that) but was the audience just…AFRAID to laugh at the “handshake” gag they rehashed from the original Black Jeopardy…that had Tom Hanks in it?

• Even if it came out feeling like the second Black Jeopardy sketch in history that Eddie Murphy participated in that was slightly…botched. This was the first genuine highlight of the special for me.

Stone & Shannon

• Ok, I guess this was one of three definite “crowd pleasing” moments they just HAD to do but I appreciate the meta acknowledgement of this being too “on the nose”.

• I guess a similar meta acknowledgement of how Sally O'Malley should chronologically be 75 now would've been too much to ask or just ruined the whole bit. I don't want to nit pick. It's supposed to be a fun night.

Physical Humor Montage

• Ok, if we do absolutely HAVE to have some clip packages in this I do appreciate what a unique and clever theme this feels like.

• I do like how they expanded on this theme so it could include everything from Chevy, Farley and Mollys’ falls and general body slams to genuine heartfelt dancing to modern pretaped blood and gore (even sneaking Aykroyd's Julia Child in there).

Kelsey and Matts’ Vow Renewal

• Oh God, here it comes. Let's just get the most inevitable moment out of the way. 

• I do like Shannon and Short flubbing their way through this intro.

• I heard a rumor that Steve Carell was originally supposed to be in this but had to drop out at the last minute. Is there any truth to this? Is that why Marty's in this?

• Hey, there's Sabrina of course. I think maybe they wanted to make sure they put her only two segments on as early as they could since they figured she might have young fans who need to get to bed early in case they're school ISN'T closed for Presidents’ Day. (I know she's not exactly a teeny bopper or anything but I do know she got her start on the Disney Channel, so a lot of youngins must've followed her from there).

• Ok, back to this sketch. Don't put it off any longer.

• I guess they're spoofing a song from Wicked I don't quite recogni…oh, it's “Defying Gravity”. Cute.

• Yeah, this by far my least favorite “You Belong With Me” parody ever. (I mean, it's T. Swift so I don't think we really need to ask ourselves “why now in 2025?” here). I think you can all easily guess what my actual favorite “You Belong With Me” parody is but just in case…

• Yeah, Sabrina. What the hell IS this song? I mean, really.

• The inclusion of Bennet, Mooney, Samberg & Yang might have been my favorite part of this. Sadly, it crumbled after this with the introduction of Pedro Pascal as Domingos’ bro “Renaldo” (who may or may be Bi, apparently) and Bad Bunny as “hot brother, Santiago.”

• Couldn't they have just said Matt cheated on Kelsey with Sabrinas’ character and left it at that?

• This last third of this seemed like a jumbled mess with all the additional “lore” to the Domingo saga they tried to tack on but at least it somehow didn't feel like it ran on too long or anything.

Deep Thoughts

• Oh hey! I really dig this quick little palette cleansing throwback to the era that introduced me to the show!

Poehler & Fey's Q&A

• Overall, I liked this much more than the Seinfeld hosted Q&A from tye 40th (much more clear, concise and coherent, free of any moments that will age horrendously years from now) and it managed to beat the high bar set by the Hanks hosted Q&A from the 25th.

• Mostly I liked this for how they tried to pack some sheer strangeness into this (especially with Paytons’ odd commercial rant which was the perfect note to end this on).

• Hey, Conans’ in the audience! 

• Tina & Amys’ “beauty secrets” were very funny and I liked the back & forth between Quinta & Tim (although I am enough of an SNL nerd myself to point out that Sade was actually on in November 21, 1992 and December 14, 1985 but NOT March of 1993)

• I'm…not really sure Blake & Ryan should legally even be there (I mean, I'm sure they need a break from everything) but I did like how they didn't even address the lawsuit drama (maybe outside the “what have you heard?” part)

• I liked Nate Bargatze teeing up a random tribute to a specific wardrobe crew member named Donna.

• The Lovitz bit was funny and I liked the back and forth between JLD, Driver and her dog. Good to see JLD finally make an appearance at one of these anniversary shows!

• Gee, I sure hope Cher has the answer to MY question: why the hell is Kevin Costner here?

• I especially like the Keith Richards/Zach Galifianakis bit but now I have another question: how come Mick Jagger has never been at one of these anniversary shows?

• I could've done without the Hamm/Bad Bunny bit (and Momoas’ bit if I'm being honest).

• I liked the Seth/Sharpton/Romano bit for the self awareness (they pretty much said what I was thinking)

• I also liked Fred Armisens’ bit referencing an obscure cut sketch from his era. Only a true SNL nerd would appreciate the humor in Fred Armisen calling a 2005 episode “pretty bad…front to back”.

• I appreciate how they didn't make the Kevin Spacey/Kanye jokes feel too gratuitous either.

Digital Short: Anxiety

• While there may have been a small part of me that may have preferred a Please Don't Destroy or TV Funhouse over this, I will always have a certain fondness for The Lonely Island and their digital shorts so this was a welcome sight.

• I thought the Duran Duran/Flock Of Seagulls-esque heavy 80s synth pop beat dovetailed well with the theme of this (although I feel like they could've backed off the IBS stuff a little bit) and I appreciated the Molly & Ana cameo. Bowen and Andy work very well together (even if this mostly seems to be Bowen gently airing out some personal issues with the show itself). 

• Somehow, I doubt that Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal were among the cast members who suffered the most anxiety while on the show.

• Of all the vintage anxiety A.I. deep fakes in this, the melting Mr. Bill was my personal favorite.

• I also appreciate how well they worked in Sarah, Parnell, JAJ, Kenan, Taran, Beck and Forte along with various crew members.

• Speaking of Forte, did the first two verses of this remind anyone else of his “Women's Herstory (Did You See What I Did There?)” Weekend Update song from March 2010? Come to think of it, this whole song sounded like they just mixed that with "Space Olympics" and an inverted version of “Here I Go (feat. Charli XCX) but I don't really have a problem with that.

Nothing Compares 2 U

• This might have been a stronger performance than their number at the homecoming concert on Friday night.

• This song fits Miley Cyrus’ and Brittany Howard's vocal and musical styles so well it almost makes you forget how “out of left field” the choice of song feels.

Weekend Update w/Jost, Che & Meyers

• Ok, well…I guess they didn't have too many other choices if they DIDN'T want to just repeat what they did at SNL40 but Jost & Che had decent jokes and seemed to know what wouldn't be appropriate for this event.

• I especially liked Che's “Norm/O.J” joke and Josts’ “Chevy/Kenan” and “Quademic” jokes.

• Mostly, I liked how this was more focused on showcasing the best (well, most of the best) characters from 2010s era Weekend Update and their original performers rather than having the big name celebrity guests reenact their favorite characters from the 20th century. I liked seeing Drunk Uncle, (I especially cracked up at the line “cam you yassify my chickpea pasta?”) Cecilys’ now pregnant party girl and especially Fred and Vanessas’ “Lornes’ Friends From Growing Up”. 

• Wait, didn't Colin himself write most of these? What a coincidence (if true).

• I loved seeing Bill Murray subtly tease Colin Jost with his own Top Ten Update anchor ratings (even though it seems like he or someone mixed up his old Oscar picks with the old top ten bit from Wayne's World for some reason?)

• I especially liked Murray's “ignorant slut” callback as well as his “girl on girl” and “could OJ have really done it?” lines.

• Boy, I guess ol’ Billy here decided to treat anyone who hosted Update during the non-Lorne years who wasn't a blood relative of his like the best supporting actors and actresses at the Oscar's, huh? (Sorry Charlie, Gail, Mary, Christine, Brad, Christopher, Joe, Tim, “Fernando” and most of the hosts from late season 9 and early season 10).

50th Close Encounter (*someone whispers in Casey's ear*) oh, what's that? They actually did fewer than 50 of these? Hmm, that sounds about right

• I figured they might be doing another one of these. Well, it's definitely a decent way of working Kate and Aidy into this special

• Hamm, Pascal and (especially) Harrelson are nice additions to this.

• This is another series of sketches I've always been pretty “eh” on. They never quite hit right for me because of all the manufactured breaking but I don't hate it.

• These do hit all the same beats comedically and the addition of Ana Gasteyer? Nope? Nora Dunn? Hmm, not quite? Meryl Streep? Yes! Wow! Meryl Streep as Colleens’ mother is putting this above all the others already.

The Stagehand

• Wow, I never thought a “Chad” Short could make me this emotional. This was a great way to work in Laraine as herself into the show. I also liked how this was different from other Chad pretapes in that it wasn't centered on Laraine either falling for him or hitting on him in some way.

• While we're on the subject of the surviving original female cast,I do wish they could've somehow worked Jane Curtin into the actual show though, but hey…I understand that Jane may have only wanted to be in the audience given what she's said publicly about her experience on the show and the fact that she seemingly only likes to appear on camera in every OTHER anniversary show since she wasn't featured in the 25th (and if not…well, I also understand why some cuts definitely had to be made)

50 Years (Sandlers’ Song)

• Jack Nicholson makes his obligatory “huh, why hasn't this guy ever hosted?” appearance.

• Speaking of goofball cast members that the youngins’ like bringing unexpected emotion out of me, I loved how Sandlers’ song here had the exact right mix of nostalgia, reverence, accessible inside jokes about the show and sheer silliness.

• I especially liked the digs at Speilberg, NY mag critics, anti semitic musical guests, nepo interns, Downey and Jost. I wonder how much of this is from Sandlers’ own personal experience with the show anyway?

• Who the hell is this “Speedy” guy anyway? I'm genuinely curious.

• This also seemed to serve the same function that the actual “In Memoriam” reel that Bill Murray introduced in the 40th Anniversary since referenced much loved cast AND crew members who are no longer with us. I guess this provides some balance for those who may think this special was too focused on modern recurring sketches and lacked real sentiment or proper tributes to the shows’ history and to those we lost.

• Funny that he should mention Forte and show a clip from the “Spelling Bee” sketch as I'm wearing my “Business” t-shirt with the image from that sketch on it as I type this.

History of New York (Hotdogs & Heroin)

• This was another heavily recurring sketch I was expecting them to bring back for tonight and honestly I wasn't totally against this.

• Even though we literally got another big Mulaney musical four and a half months ago the last time John hosted a regular episode, this felt appropriate for a big 50th anniversary celebrity gala special that they'd go all out for. 

• Also, it still feels even more appropriate to give Mulaney a spotlight to acknowledge his contributions to the shows’ comedic sensibilities (and just modern comedy tastes in general stand up or otherwise) given how big of a name he's become in the world of comedy in general.

• Maya Rudolph, Adam Driver, Paul Schaffer and G.E. Smith did a stellar job with the first number.

• Nathan Lane was a pleasant surprise but “Cocaine And Some Vodka” to the tune of “Hakuna Matata” didn't quite work for me (thankfully that was really the only one)

• The Forte/Sudeikis/Wiig Les Miserables Times Square number was fun if not incomprehensible. Jenna Ortega and Kevin Costner really made it for me.

• Perhaps what I liked most about this one was how it made full use of the studio space and sprawled around from set to set, into the audience and back to home base.

• This was honestly a really fun way to dig Kates’ Rudy Giuliani out of mothballs. Lin Manuel Miranda was a fun addition to this and they really slammed ol’ Rudy here.

• I'm already sick of seeing Sarah play male political roles after seeing Kate & Aidy do that exact thing so much for nearly four years, but I did like Mulaney calling her out on the weakness of her Bloomberg impression. I always liked Armisen's portrayal better anyway.

• Oh, so THAT’S what they put out that casting call for a 7 foot tall guy for. A non-impression of Bill Deblasio. Ok. It was also nice to see Devon Walker as Eric Adams again.

• The Scarjo/Rudd/JAJ “Suddenly eBikes” number was fun too. I got a small kick out of Spade sitting out the finale. Nice enough way to work him in there. 

• I liked the small callbacks to Diner Lobster previous Mulaney Musicals in the “One Day More” finale. Nick Jonas? OK.

• Most of all I liked how they snuck in Taran, Ana and most of the male cast members from that mid-to-late 2010s era when these were more or less a regular fixture on SNL as Mulaney kept hosting (Alex, Beck, Kyle, Cecily, Mikey et al).

Baldwins’ Best Commercials 

• Ok, maybe literally any other person in this building could've read Alecs’ lines here (I did like that “Alex” joke) but he is part of the shows’ history for a reason and he did just fine with his material here (although “Third Year Veneers” landed better for me than “After Update” sleeping pills did).

• I did like his inclusion of Sarah here and I liked how this commercial montage was a mix of old crowd pleasers and quick deep cuts.

• This may seem like an obvious choice for a clip package, but I liked how they did something different here considering that at the 40th, some of these commercials were just folded in to the general pretape/short film package we saw. I always thought it made a bit more sense to give the fake commercials their own segment anyway.

50th Bronx Beat (*someone else whispers in Casey's ear*) What? Oh, don't tell me…

• This is another “take it or leave it” sketch for me. I appreciated the Conan “shoutout” and I'm glad they did more than just playfully flirt with Miles’ Teller (why him of all people, though?)

• Looks like the fixed the mic/audio issues for the YouTube edit

• Speaking of “take it or leave it” estrogen heavy talk show sketches, I genuinely appreciated seeing Mike Meyers as Linda Richman again. 

• While I wasn't always the biggest Coffee Talk fan, I am always intrigued to see characters from long gone eras of SNL interacting with one's from this century.

• Honestly, it's nice to see Mike Meyers dig another old Chara out of mothballs that WASN'T Wayne Campbell or Dr. Evil.

• Most of all, it's gratifying to see the show acknowledge the similarities between these two sketches and make me feel like I wasn't the only person who wanted to walk up to Maya & Amy in the middle of one of these and say (with love of course) “Hey ladies, Mike Meyers just called. He wants Coffee Talk back”.

• I did like Mayas’ “stem cells/snail sperm” line and Amys’ line about “only drinking six days a week”

• Yes, it's both the 50th anniversary of SNL and the 34th (?) anniversary of Mike Meyers repeating these same jokes in every Coffee Talk sketch he's ever done.

• (*Casey sees a third person approaching him and tries to cut them off*) Ok yeah, I know this isn't literally the 50th Coffee Talk either. I wasn’t even gonna make that joke again. Thank you. Moving On…

Lil Wayne & The Roots

• Well, at least this was the only time we saw Dave Chappelle on this special considering he just hosted the second to last regular episode that aired before this special (and a lot of people certainly weren't happy about it then).

• Yeah, possibly the weakest musical performance of the actual special (the concert on Friday night was AMAZING but who cares?) but hey, I'm a sucker for that song “Lolipop” (heh, see what I did there?)

• Speaking of the Homecoming concert, anyone else legitimately get chills during that Lonely Island medley? (particularly the “Dear Sister” shoutout?) Anyone else hoping they'll eventually put up the ENTIRE Culps medley on Peacocks’ YouTube channel? I mean, that was my second favorite moment of that whole show and I'd like to watch it as a standalone clip in more than just bits and pieces online.

In Memoriam (for sketches & characters that did NOT age well)

• I do love the misdirect here but even more than that I love that they just leaned straight into the fact that as a show that has been around 50 years they will have a LOT of material that will not hold up now so, yeah…they might as well put it all out there since they know people are gonna complain about all of these (or have already done so at some point…or made some idiotic comment along the lines of either “lol this was the actual funniest part of the show” or “lol remember when SNL was actually funneeeeyyy?” or that this is somehow disrespectful to do this in place of an actual SNL40 style In Memoriam reel. Grow up.)

• So yeah, while I did like this initially, it does lose a bit of it's luster the more I chew on it and see other useless online reaction to it.

• Is it just me or did they PURPOSELY leave out that clip of Jimmy Fallon as Chris Rock out if the pixelated "questionable makeup" montage? (And yes i've watched it closely enough a few times to notice it wasn't actually in there). However, I do see that they included Horatio Sanz as Aaron Neville in there, so…I feel a bit vindicated there from when I mentioned it on the premiere episode of my podcast. (See that, Deej?)

• Their definition of “body shaming” is a bit more questionable than the clips they labeled as such.

• Speaking of “questionable definitions” did they conveniently forget their own retconning of Canteen Boys' age by the time they reran that Baldwin episode when they labeled it as “child molestation”? Ah, who cares? I'm not gonna defend the sketch since it's pretty tasteless either way (it could still be labeled as “gay panic” either way) 

• Plus, people can still at least use it as a cudgel against Baldwin himself (hell, the show itself even did that when they still prominently featured him more than the actual cast).

• Perhaps most shocking of all would be their decision to exclude Trump and Musk from their list of “questionable hosts”. I mean, why SHOULDN'T they be up there with Simpson, Blake, Diddy and Fogle? As Jost said during Update, they know this may be their LAST season anyway.

• One thing I'm surprised by is the treatment of the “Word Association” sketch. I remember just before SNL40 (y'know, the LAST big anniver…ah, you know what I'm talking about by now) they aired the sketch completely uncensored (with a content warning beforehand, but still) and treated it with the utmost reverence as if it were as groundbreaking as “All In The Family” was at the time. I'm not even going to argue with their decision now to air a censored/beeped version of the sketch. I'm just gonna say that I think it's quite baffling.

Debbie Downer 

• Ok, I'm glad Rachel Dratch is finally getting her flowers (and getting featured as much as her female cast mates, really) and I appreciate seeing Fallon actually keyed into a modern day SNL sketch performance. I even liked a lot of Dratchs’ jokes. Other than that, this came off pretty damn awkward.

• Did anyone else think that we were getting a five timers club/platinum lounge sketch at first until they realized that Drew Barrymore was the only actual five timer onscreen and that Jimmy Fallon and Ayo Edeberi have only hosted four times between them?

• Speaking of sketches that feature Fallon and Dratch together, is anyone else a little bit disappointed that we got this instead of an Update on what Sully & Denise have been up to these past eight years? I realize it might be a bit of a stretch to fit them into the theme of this special but we kinda already got a cameo from Debbie in the 40th…but not a full sketch like this, so…Yeah, all right. Now that I think about it this is actually fine.

• Robert Deniro was actually OK here. He didn't really help this feel less stilted or anything (Barrymores’ intense energy with him was…odd) but I liked his speech about wanting a break from the state of the world with this special (hell, as I've stated much earlier that is the exact same reason I was watching this). I also liked his sternness with Dratch and his gently strangling her.

• The “I can't have children/I told you that, Jimmy” line was cute and not too over the top but, eh.

Scared Straight

• Here's another late 2000s/early 2010s sketch that I may have semi soured on due to it's repetition, forced breaking and over reliance on “scatalogical” humor but looking back I remember liking these a lot in spite of all of those things. I guess I've been too mentally conditioned by the “samey-ness” of seasons 34-37.

• I do like how they used Marcello and Longfellow as the “young punks” in this but Mikey Day seems a little old for his part. Maybe Emil or Dismukes could've been used here instead?

• I did like how they referenced Harry Potter as the first movie…because, what the hell? This feels like as right a time as any to urinate all over J.K. Rowlings’ legacy…y'know, given what she's like now.

• Most of all, I liked how they worked Eddie Murphy (couldn't he have played Tyrone “C-I-L-L My Land Lawd” Green?) and Will Ferrell (someone must've been watching himself some Reno 911 recently) into this. 

• Even though the “scatology” can get a little gratuitous in these at times, I appreciated the added meta twists of Murphy and Ferrells characters referencing real life movies they starred in.

• I also liked the added twist of Ferrell's character initially putting a positive twist on things trying to show the kids the upside of prison life before getting aggressive. I especially like him rushing through the first half of his own “Elf” reference and getting straight to the point on that one.

• Everyone's timing and delivery seemed a teeny bit off due to breaking and probable lack of rehearsal time but, hey…that honestly just made it more fun.

• Did I just hear Eddie try to slip through an MF bomb on air? Boy, I was sure THAT would've gotten people talking…but somehow it didn't.

Garrett Morris Presents “Don't Look Back In Anger”

• Nice to see Garrett again introducing one of the more poignant Schillers’ Reel films of the original era. 

• It functions well as a Gilda/Belushi tribute (in that it reminds me of the type of tributes they gave just to those two specifically in the 15th and 25th anniversary specials)

Paul McCartney Medley 

• Even though Sir Pauls’ voice…ain't what it used to be, he's still got it and this was a very strong performance nonetheless.

• I guess I was wrong about which singer/songwriter named Paul should've closed this special (especially since Macca is literally performing a song with the words “and in THE END” in it). Nice additional Farley nod, by the way.

Goodnights

• I got a big kick out of seeing Gary Kroger (right next to Lorne) Terry Sweeney, Ellen Cleghorn, Finesse Mitchell and (eventually) Chevy Chase featured so prominently right up front on stage.

• I also thought Laraine holding up a photo of Gilda was very sweet.

Now, I've determined that there was enough new live content in this special for it to qualify as two actual episodes of this season and thus it should be ranked with the rest of season as such, so…

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
3. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
4. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
5. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
6. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
7. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
8. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
9. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
10. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
11. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
12. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
13. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Ranking All Of The Previous SNL Anniversary Specials From Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Show (02.16.2025)
2. SNL 40th Anniversary Special (02.15.2015)
3. 25th Anniversary Special (09.26.1999)
4. 15th Anniversary Special (09.24.1989)

Ranking All Of This Seasons Official SNL50 Branded Retrospective Material From Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (02.14.2025)
2. Ladies And Gentlemen…50 Years Of SNL Music (01.27.2025)
3. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
4. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Season 11: The Weird Year (01.16.2025)
5. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Five Minutes (01.16.2025)
6. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Written By: A Week Inside The SNL Writers’ Room (01.16.2025)
7. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - More Cowbell (01.16.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Even though it got off to a slightly rocky start and had a strangely rushed and jumbled together feel from the get go, I absolutely loved this special. It was the very best I could've hoped it would be for the culmination of SNLs’ big 50th anniversary special airing in the year 2025.

• I mean, hey…when you're covering five whole decades of television history you kinda HAVE to rush through or gloss over some things from the distant past, so…why NOT just focus as much attention and effort as possible on legitimizing sketches and performers from the last 20 years to honor the last 50? I'm sure others my age and younger appreciate that because in a way, our eyeballs and YouTube clicks and what not seemed to be the main thing pushing it past 31.

• I especially liked how it was “sketch heavy” enough that it genuinely felt like two regular episodes of SNL smashed together rather than just a collection of famous celebrities just introducing a series of clip packages in tuxes and evening gowns.

• I also liked how it captured the exact same vibe that the homecoming concert did (in that it properly honored the shows’ history without feeling too self indulgent or up it's own…y'know)

• It's also fitting and appropriate that the 50th anniversary honor what SNL gradually became after the 40th (or mostly just from years 41-47) where most of the current cast are basically treated as glorified extras who are only there to support the big, flashy celebrity cameos and two to three “standouts” of the current cast that Lorne Michaels THINKS all of America is waiting with baited breath to see on our screens! I say this with love of course since they have briefly backed off of this for a bit one or two seasons ago where the cameos were mostly fun and unexpected and not JUST there to fill big political roles but most of season 50 (including tonight) felt like we were headed back in that direction anyway.

• I'm especially glad they granted me the only wish I had for this special; that it would be much less focused on showcasing old clips and more on creating new live moments that were unique to a special anniversary show. (huh, maybe the SNL social media team DOES pay some attention to the SNN Patron Feedback shows after all)

• Speaking of…

Special Thanks

• I'd like to congratulate our dear friends Jon Schneider and James Stevens of the Saturday Night Network on securing their gig doing red carpet interviews for this event! Good job, guys! It's truly rewarding to all of us who follow you to see all the hard work you guys are doing paying off!

• I'd also like to thank Jon specifically for creating SNN and not only giving me a space to start getting into podcasting myself but also for connecting me with someone who also wanted to start their own SNL related podcast and put out an open call live on air for a new co host.

• Of course, I'd also like to thank Deej Barens for creating the We Heart Hader Podcast, inviting me into her podcasting space and allowing me to be her cohost. It feels incredibly gratifying to be able to help create and launch something that I consider to be a spin off to the SNN Patron Feedback Shows (at least in spirit).

Closing Thoughts

• Well, for the most part, that lived up to all the hype for me. 

• You may have also noticed that I eschewed my usual letter grades for each segment and avoided using any harsh profanity. I also went a bit lighter than usual on plugging my podcast. I chose to do those things out of reverence and respect for the occasion and the shows’ massive history.

• My next blog post is going to be a ranking of all of Bill Hader’s Vincent Price sketches from best to worst. That should be out next Thursday to coincide with the release of the next episode of the “We Heart Hader” podcast.

• After that, I am most likely just going to write up full length reviews of whatever the next planned episode of SNL is that will be airing March 1st so, I hope to have that ready to be published by the evening of March 2nd (as is my standard procedure!)

• Have a good lower half of February and stay warm and safe out there, everyone.

Ranking Each Vinny Vedecci Sketch (Worst To Best)

This "special edition" blog post is meant as a companion piece to the latest episode of me and Deej Barens' podcast "We Heart Hader" which I, as always, will encourage you to go listen to if you're reading this.

9. Drew Barrymore - 10/10/09

• This may have been the weakest of all the Vinny Vedecci sketches for me, personally.

• The "et/E.T" and "Whip It" jokes were real low points (as sad as that is to say about a Devo reference). Drews' line about how "this must have never happened before" was an even more tired button on a lame tired trope.

• The Letterman/Mrs. Vedecci references and "female director/speaking of your breasts" jokes were OK but they felt a little too telegraphed for my liking. The Letterman jokes at least added a nice topical wrinkle to these.

• On the plus side, we at least get to see Vinny Jr as a belligerent drunk now.

8. Catherine Zeta Jones - 10/23/05

• This is the characters' first appearance in SNL. He doesn't host a talk show yet, but he does run a hotel in Italy. Rather than playing herself, Catherine is playing Vinnys' wife. She, Beppo (Armisen) and Sanz all run the hotel together.

• Sudeikis, Poehler & Thompson are three American tourists who enter asking to use their phone because their bus broke down. Sanz tells them the bus will not work so they are forced to stay the night.

• This sketch plays upon a well worn comedy trope of foreigners making numerous references to '70s/80s American pop culture as if they just got them there.

• Vinny and his wife frequently fight (especially when he tries to hit on Poehlers' character) but quickly make up. Hader treats "ma bella" as something of a catchphrase.

• They also do imitations of the tourists in nerdy, nasal voices (especially Armisens character). This also plays upon some slight racial tropes with Hader making an out of nowhere Rodney King reference to Kenan and at one point simply saying "we are not afraid of you".

• The tourists all leave by the end with the reveal that Sanz has stolen their passports.

• This wasn't the best debut for this character so it's probably for the best that the setting is changed and the writing is focused and tightened up. Hader undeniably brings a fresh new energy and charisma to the show that was sorely needed at this time.

7. Robert Deniro - 12/04/2010

• Same old intro but even the stiff Walken-lite presence of latter day Deniro on SNL really adds something to this and Bill plays off him greatly with his abundant energy.

• Deniro killing the "deer" from Deer Hunter, angry drunk Vinny Jr and the "you talking to me?" gag were the highlights of this.

6. John Malkovich - 12/06/08

• Armisens' character lies and says Malkovich told him he could speak Italian. Vinny mimics Malkovichs' voice expertly.

• Vinny plugs his own film similar to "Being John Malkovich" titled "Being Vinny Vedecci" which is 20 hours of pornography spread across an 8 DVD box set.

• Naturally, with this being Bobby Moynihans' first season, we are introduced to his character of Vinny Vedecci Jr. A small boy who smokes just like his proud papa.

• Not the strongest of these sketches but the impression and "pornography is sex film?" joke may be the highlights of this one.

5. Seth Rogen - 04/04/09

• The "glasses" gag with Armisen was just an unnecessary button on a tired intro trope of these sketches.

• Here Seth Rogen learns that he is known in Italy as " The Bear Man" and all his films are part of the "Bear Man" series of Horror films. 

• "Super Bad" being known as "Bear Man And A Very Very Handsome Gentleman" was cute.

• Vinny imitating Seth's voice (dead on of course) may have been one of my biggest laughs of the tail end of season 34. Glad to see that still holds up today.

4. Zach Braff - 05/19/07

• Set is more minimal as it would be for other installments. Columns and reflected light are removed.

• Vinny does Peter Falk/Columbo impression after learning Zach Braff made his acting debut in "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (which Peter Falk was NOT in).

• Zach learns that Scrubs is dubbed over to be very intense as it is shown as the #1 drama in Italy. The Italians do not find this show funny. The edited out of context Scrubs clip might have been the comedic high point of this. The editing made it obviously better, I'm sure.

• Zach is then asked to kiss a puppet that sprays "vomit" on him which highly amuses the crew. Karate Gorilla is bumped, much to his frustration. That got a laugh out of me.

• Zach Braff seemed an odd fit for this sketch in the first part, but they made it work. This wasn't as good as the JLD installment, but far from the worst of these.

3. Shia LaBeouf - 05/10/08

• Refreshingly, this is the only Vinny Vedecci sketch NOT to begin with the hassle over the host revealing they do not speak Italian followed by Vinny getting into a shouting match with his spaghetti chomping producers (Armisen and a silent Forte). They immediately clear up the confusion by having Vinny explain that he speaks English.

• The Transformers/sex change joke annoyed me slightly back in 2008 but definitely wouldn't hold up today. The smoking arrest (especially with Lorne and Cue Card Wallys' cameos) and Indiana Jones dubbing jokes make up for that though.

• The "HE HATES SNAKES!!!" Joke with Sambergs' sudden appearance may be the high point of this episode. In fact, it almost seems like a gag taken straight out of a Vincent Price sketch.

2. Julia Loius-Dreyfus - 03/17/07

• This is the first sketch with Vinny in his new permanent setting as host of a Charlie Rose-like talk show (in all ways possible, apparently).

• Vinny gets into shouting matches with his spaghetti eating producer (Armisen) over JLD not being fluent in Italian. This will essentially be the opening of all but one installment of this sketch.

• JLD is plugging "New Adventures Of Old Christine" but Vinny does his impressions of Michael "Kramer" Richards (a strong one, reusing and improving upon the one he developed for the Matthew Fox monologue earlier in the season) and a squeaky high pitched barely accurate Jerry. He then reveals he does JLDs voice in the Italian dub of Old Christine. 

• He brings out his daughter (?) Fabiola (Maya Rudolph) to recite the days of the week in slightly broken English as Vinny asks "you put her on show?"

• Vinny then puts a foam cowboy hat on JLD and makes her join in on a song she does not know. She is pecked by a man in an ostrich costume. This continued the theme of 80s/90s pop culture references from the debut sketch as he mentions his guest on his next show will be Jan Michael Vincent of Airwolf fame.

• This character seems to still be finding its own identity and doesn't rely quite as much on stereotypical sex, wine and cigarette jokes as much as in later installments. It seems more occupied with mimicking the real life confusion and horror of American actors appearing in foreign language talk shows. This is reminiscent of "Weird Al" Yankovics' appearance on Japanese television in 1984 performing "Eat It".

1. Jon Bon Jovi - 10/13/07

• The traditional opening gag is made slightly funnier by Vinny outright stating there would be no translator because he assumed a man named "Bon Jovi" would be fluent in Italian. 

• Despite this being the fourth time we've seen this character, he visibly struggles to speak in English more than he has done previously.

• Vinny does his Silvio/Van Zandt impression and Armisens character does his Paulie Walnuts because Bon Jovi mentions he is from New Jersey which of course means...Sopranos reference. This is the last time he extrapolates or free associates to get to an impression or makes an American geography reference so Vinny feels a bit more removed from his original character here. 

• Bon Jovi is not pleased at all to learn he is spokesman of a tobacco brand that prominently features 7 & 8 year Olds (not kids...MEN!) smoking Blaze cigarettes.

• Vinny calls off the robot horse after learning that the "steel horse" he references in "Dead Or Alive" is merely a tour bus.

• Vinny singing "Living On A Prayer" in "Italian" was a cute button on this but having the real Bon Jovi call him out on not speaking REAL Italian was a funnier ending (despite it kind of selling the sketch out and breaking its own reality a but too much) but I can forgive that because I remember this sketch being one of two real bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming episode that showed plenty if evidence if Bon Jovi taking himself and his image too seriously to have much (if any) real fun.

...and, that's it for now. My next blog post might just be a mini-review of the upcoming SNL 50th Anniversary Special. If I have enough stray observations to share with you guys after watching it, I will post them here. 

If I do, in fact, post a whole new blog just about SNL50, you can expect something resembling my "mini-review" of Saturday Night (2024) from a few months ago (or my blog post about the SNL 40th anniversary special from a decade ago...but, y'know obviously a lot better written this time). 

Aside from that, the next episode of "We Heart Hader" will be released in two weeks. It will be another SNL related episode mainly focusing on Bills' assorted game show host parts in sketches over the years (aside from "Vince Blight" from "What's That Name?" who will, of course, be the focus of his own "character spotlight" episode some time down the road). Whether or not I will put together a new blog post to go with THAT one...well, I haven't decide yet but don't count on it.

I'd like to tell you about some more future plans for the blog and podcast, but I think it's best to wait until Deej and I have the next few episodes scheduled and planned out better first. 

For now, just count on my next blog post being a full length review of SNLs' next planned regular episode after the 50th anniversary special...whenever that may air. If I decide to suddenly change course and make another blog post related to the podcast, I will tell you here but you can always find out what my plans for this blog (and the podcast) are by following my three main socials where I regularly announce new blog posts and podcast episodes (Twitter, Bluesky & Threads).

See you again real soon!

Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)

Founding Fathers

• Huh, an opening text scrawl. This should be a slightly more creative and pointed/poignant cold open than normal. Hey, wait a minute…

• Ok, Lin Manuel Miranda reprises his biggest role. That's unexpected. 

• Ah, I knew it. Well, even as Trump it's at least nice to see more JAJ airtime.

• Aside from the Office/Barron/Melania jokes and calling out the waste of an LMM cameo, not much of this is hitting with me so far.

• Nice jab at Elons’ relationship with his kids but a lot of this feels sadly toothless and hard to get into (aside from those “makeup” & “Eric” jokes)

• I liked the idea of a meta-jab at SNLs political sketches but the Hegseth/Zuckerberg joke was pretty awful.

• Well, if nothing else it's nice to see SNL go back to making political cold opens feel like as much of a non-event as they did prior to season 42. Yes, we got Lin Manuel Miranda but that at least served this sketch well and it wasn't exactly them going heavy on the stunt casting like they did when Baldwin was still hanging around. I'm just grateful a current cast member who's been on the show less than four years so far is playing the sitting president. C+

Monologue

• Right out of the gate, we're already directly addressing the double duty bookings. Allright. I would’ve liked the Gary Busey shout out a bit better if he'd done more with it.

• I'm liking this lower key, more sincere, less energetic monologue. It's more reminiscent of his season 46 monologue than his season 49 one so I'm on board with it right out of the gate.

• I like the goofy, meta self depreciating nature of this monologue with Kenan STILL beating him out for an imagined award he just wanted to finally read a speech for (even though we all know damn well that Timmy still has plenty if good years ahead of him to win various types of awards. I mean, look at Leonardo Dicaprio).

• Yeah, I got news for you Timmy. I WISH SNL did more “weird stuff” like this because this feels like the “weirdest” thing they've done in at least three years. B-

Bungee Class

• Oh, is this a very slight twist on the SoulCycle sketches from season 45 or an even slighter twist on the “booty” workout sketch from Megan The Stallions’ episode from season 48?

• It's nice to see Longfellow in a sketch even if he's just there to be tag team emasculated by Hedi and Timmy.

• Oh, and I see it's mostly just an excuse for everyone to swing around loosely. Too bad we didn't get some genuine non-manufactured breaking moments out of this. Sadly, this feels like an absolutely minimal twist on the Cecily Strong/Jason Bateman mall Santa sketch from season 46.

• I will admit I liked the Jimmy Carter joke and the Cinnabon cake thing was alright. Among other things, this needed a stronger ending. Hell, it needed an ending in general. C-

Medcast

• Huh, another “lol dudes and their podcasts, amirite?” sketch. Ok. I can get into it (not just as a podcaster myself…which I don't think should disqualify me from being able to talk about this sketch, by the way)

• I gotta say while this isn't the most ambitious premise ever I do like the way Andrew Dismukes and Heidi Gardner are coanchoring this. I like how they snuck in Ashley, Emil and Marcello, too.

• I wonder how Theo Von is gonna react? (‘cuz that's clearly who Dismukes’ character is a parody of here). His interaction with JAJ cracked me up.

• The only other critical thing I can say about this was that while I didn't hate seeing Mikey in this, he definitely felt like he was playing a role he should've aged out of by now. B+

New Barista Training

• Jane Wickline had some good lines in this. Timothee somehow looks impossibly young in this.

• This seemed way too scattershot for its own good at first but then Timothee and Kenans’ stand up jokes made me crack up.

• I feel like they leaned a bit too hard on the “big ol’ woman” jokes (and Mikey may have lapsed a bit too hard on his old habit of loudly over explaining whatever's’ going on in any given sketch) but still this might be the live highlight of the night for me. 

• I've heard that Carl Tart wrote this. Good for him. Part of me was expecting that PDD wrote it given how similar it was to their “Jim Hensons’ Kings Of Comedy Babies” pretape with Pete from last season but Carl really got something notable on the map here. B+

Oedipal Arrangements 

• Ok, I could already tell this was headed straight into Incest Town from the get go. It lingered there for a bit too long before taking an all too brief detour into Longfellows’ Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but I appreciated how strongly and intensely committed he and Heidi were to it. C+

Educational A.I. Podcast

• Hmm, while I appreciate the idea of a sketch where the basic message is “generative A.I. produces nothing but muddled trash and should be shunned” (and how restrained this was for something where Bowen was a main part of the comedic focus) I feel this sketch was a little too aimless and directionless for it's own good. At least Andrew, Ego and Marcello had the best lines in this though. C+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Jost & Che each had their share of decent jokes this week among the detritus. I liked Josts’ Trump/Lincoln, I.C.E./Churches, D.E.I, Spelling Bee and Oatmeal jokes. I liked Ches’ Bobert/MTG, Emilia Perez and Price of Eggs joke. They almost made up for how much of a letdown his Elon Musk joke was.

• Nice to see Ego back at the desk doing a niche yet still accessible character that seems more subtly played and laser focused this time. I chuckled at her “bowl cut/plate/Appalachian trail” string of jokes. 

• I especially liked seeing Dismukes and his puppet papa at the desk. I felt like I knew exactly what it was going to be (especially since it seemed like Jost was going to be doing similar jokes himself when he first started) but Andrew sold the hell out of it and injected it with some much needed wholesomeness that made up for it not going for hard laughs. I even liked the reveal at the end that Dismukes wasn't the sole puppeteer. 

• Overall, this felt like one of the more friendly and welcoming Jost/Che era Updates in a while and I liked that vibe it gave off. B+

If A Bunch Of Dumb Little Dogs Talked & Acted Like People

• Ok, I DEFINITELY spoke too soon when I called Medcast “unambitious” but this was…cute. Timothee, Marcello and Mikey weren't bad in it and I liked all the ladies’ parts. 

• Bowens’ part could've been cut but Kenans’ was OK. At least they knew exactly how long they needed to linger on that one. D+

Grandmas’ Birthday

• Ok, I got a little nervous when I heard the name “Kelsey” but thankfully I noticed Marcello was playing a distinctly non-Domingo role.

• Well, the “sudden medical emergency” nature of this sketch has me intrigued.

• …and even though this is essentially a long drawn out fart joke, I appreciate how this is played fairly subtly and with a drawn out, uncomfortable shock at the sheer strangeness of what they just saw. C-

An SNL Animated Short: God

• Well, on the one hand, even if it ain't no TV Funhouse I like the idea of a new regular animated segment appearing on SNL.

• On the other hand, I feel like the idea of “Gods’ team pitching and working out the kinks on the universe” is an idea we've seen executed better on SNL before (particularly in the Anya Taylor-Joy episode and in a cut sketch from Kristen Wiigs’ season 42 episode) so I felt like I couldn't fully get into this.

• Still, while the idea of Chalamet playing God as a seemingly Coke-addled manchild/bro type wasn't exactly the best twist on this, I did laugh at the “Gooby, the creature with the sun in his mouth”. C+

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
5. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
6. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
7. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
8. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
9. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
10. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
11. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
12. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

• I have already seen some out there declare this episode the best of season 50 so far. While I wouldn't necessarily argue with that sentiment, (hell, there's a couple things in particular that kept it well out of my top five for this season) I clearly didn't rank it that high myself (but this episode did cause me to rethink my season rankings so far and rearrange them in a way I feel makes much more sense).

• To me, this episode couldn't quite escape the January blahs (or just the season 49/50 blahs in general) it does stand out. I do appreciate the shows willingness this week to genuinely experiment in the writing department and try some new things instead of falling back on old recurrers like Tiny Horse and Rap Roundtable (although part of me does hope the one I heard they tried at dress rehearsal that got cut does find its way to YouTube)

• Most of all, I appreciate that this episode allowed cast members like Andrew Dismukes, Michael Longfellow, Mikey Day, James Austin Johnson and (to a lesser extent) Ashley Padilla, Jane Wickline and Emil Wakim to make up for lost time as they have barely been on at all lately.

• Timothees’ more matured and mellowed performances as host certainly helped as well. His musical performances were intriguing enough and part of me is actually surprised they got Sandler to cameo just to introduce him.

• Overall, this was a slightly better lead up to the 50th anniversary special next month that I was expecting. Even though I personally found it a bit uneven in spots, there was a decent spark to it. Even during sketches with derivative and slightly unoriginal premises on display, the execution had something that saved them.

Closing Thoughts 

• The next new live “episode” the show has advertised is the SNL 50th Anniversary Special airing in Prime Time on Sunday, February 16th. After that, there will be another new live episode airing on Saturday March 1st with an as of yet unannounced host/MG lineup.

• I may make it a point to watch the 50th anniversary special. I'll see if I have enough thoughts on it to cobble together a decent sized blog entry but in the near future, you may want to look out for a few more retro SNL reviews here. Specifically, ones for the Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys episode from season 31 and Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne episodes from season 32. As far as Deej and I have talked and planned it out so far, those will be the next full length SNL episodes we cover on the We Heart Hader Podcast. 

• Who knows? We might be able to get our first ever guest to come on for one of those episodes! Only me and Deej have even the foggiest idea who that may be. Chances are that guest has no idea they're even gonna be invited on yet. Hell, it could even be you, yes, YOU out there reading this sentence right now.

• As far as what we HAVE set in stone for the pod, the next episode of We Heart Hader will be our first character spotlight on Vinny Vedecci which, with any luck, SHOULD be released this coming Thursday January 30th (and come to think of it, I may have enough notes to cobble together a blog entry for THAT one too!)

• In the meantime, feel free to check out our first two shows if you haven't yet. Feel free to leave a rating and review, if you'd be so kind. See you in a few weeks!

Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)

Week Old Pre Show Thoughts 

• (*sigh*) Well, just when we all thought we dodged a bullet when Bill Burr was announced as host a few months ago SNL was like “haha, you didn't think we'd let you off THAT easy, did you?” Still, it makes it marginally more bearable than Dave Chappelle is hosting the last show of this administration instead of the first show of the next one.

• Seriously, WHO ELSE has dropped out of hosting this season? I'm thinking someone may have dropped out last month and they found themselves scrambling to find a replacement for this month (more due to the Los Angeles fires than this being “awards season” most likely) because if they actually had this planned and booked that far ahead the only reason they waited until last week to announce it MUST have been to minimize any online backlash or bad press towards the show as much as possible.

• Still, being the obsessive SNL completionist that I am, I will give this episode a chance and go into it with an open mind just like I did his last one in 2022 (and other more groan-inducing host choices in the years leading up to that one). Considering how his 2022 episode turned out, my baseline expectation for this episode is just going to be an extremely mid (at best) cold open, a monologue that will undoubtedly be the most insufferable part if the show (if not the whole season if we're lucky) and some surprisingly decent live sketches that may only use our host sparsely mixed with some pretapes and Update features that turn out to be the only appearances that Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman make all night.

• Seriously though, I get why a lot of people chose to (at least jokingly) just tune out tonight's episode and just focus on the one we got coming up next week instead and I respect that choice. I chose to actively engage this episode for the sake of this blog in case some of you out there decided you'd rather read my takes on this episode before you decide whether to actively give your clicks and attention to any individual part of it online or otherwise. It sure helps that I had no other plans tonight and the snow and freezing temperatures we just got where I live kept me from wanting to go out anywhere after work tonight but more importantly I know if you're reading this than you trust my judgment on what SNL episodes and sketches are truly worth watching probably more than anyone else so…thank you. I'm very grateful to any and all of you taking the time to read this right now. I'll try to steer you in the right direction and not let you down.

• Anyway, let's get on with the show…

MSNBC Reports

• Hmm, another season 43 style topical grab bag style cold open. Great.

• I liked the idea of subtle underplayed cold open parodying MSNBC anchors. Hell, I even like Squirm playing a subdued Rachel Maddow (badly biffed lines and all) and Marcello quoting DMX/Eminem lyrics in a scholarly, dignified tone but I just don't think “the media being too obsessed with Trump's outlandish tweets to responsibly report on real news” is a fresh enough premise. That's something that's for sure been done to death eight years ago.

• Ego and Heidi had some good lines and I liked the “Trump/Up” tweet. Chloes’ impression is probably the one I liked the least. Personally, I think Michael Longfellow should've played Chris Hayes instead of Andrew Dismukes.

• JAJs rambling as Trump was OK but Bowen as George Santos was just pure white noise to me. C-

Monologue 

• Jesus, that home base stage lighting is certainly a choice. Hey, at least that's something we haven't seen before.

• HA!!! I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW Lorne wouldn't let old host booking habits die that easy!

• My God, Dave is rapidly devolving into brutal self parody with that mock humble smug smirk followed by that “I hate poor people” line.

• Boy, he's really toeing the line of “this is what turned people against him” with those “sodomites/West Hollywood” jokes, ain't he?

• Now, he's just burned off the lamest Luigi joke possible before going all the way back to September for an “eating the dogs and cats in Springfield, OH” joke.

• Oh Christ, he's comparing “being famous” to “storming the beaches of Normandy” with a fake smile. Maybe I spoke a little too soon when I said “I hate poor people” was self parody.

• Diddy jokes? Well, I guess…how ELSE could he follow “storming the beaches of Normandy?”

• He's debating whether or not he's too ugly to be invited to a “freak off” over Family Matters’ Carl Winslow. Well, at least its’...something different. How in the hell that “snitch energy” bit is killing with this audience (even with the obvious jerk off motion) is beyond me. At least with the “baby oil/crisco” stuff he's just devolving into a run of the mill, garden variety hack now.

• Ok, now he's transitioning into a drawn out serious story about meeting Jimmy Carter in the middle east 20 years ago that's genuinely poignant and heartwarming if nothing else. Now, that he's reaching the “sermon” part of his set and we're 25 minutes into the show at this point, this must be coming to a merciful close.

• Haha, somehow the funniest part of that monologue might have been him getting cut off right as he said “we've got a great show tonight”.

• I've seen worse standup material from Dave Chappelle on this show. There still isn't a ton that immediately stands out as “controversial” to me or anything as outright bad as the Kanye/Kyrie stuff from his 2022 monologue even after having chewed on this one a bit and seen what the other online reactions were. D-

Immigrant Dad Talk Show

• Well, I'm glad to see Marcello bring back this character. I just wish he would've made Emil his new co host rather than Chappelle who seems to absolutely be phoning it in here. 

• I will admit the “let me TikTok to you”, “OCDeez Nutz” and “fourth C/pussy” jokes made me smirk.

• Ok, the scene with Mikey kissing Dismukes was way too telegraphed for my liking but I did like Dismukes giving Mikey a piggyback ride out of nowhere. Devons’ cameo was nice. C-

Evacuation Alert

• The sheer surprise insanity of this sketch was enough to intrigue me. I did like Dave, Ego and Devons performances as well as the blood spray from Longfellow and the stuffed dog. It's nice to see fake blood worked into a sketch in a way that didn't feel like a tiree crutch.

• Chloe and her fake French kids could've been cut but other than that, this may have been the highlight of the show for me. It's nice to see something in a similar vein as that Ego & Beck short from Daves’ 2020 episode. B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Ok, I liked Josts’ Biden “ungrateful bastards” joke and Che's MLK/dementia/bra size jokes. I liked the sheer strangeness of the “soup drops” joke. Other than that, not much else hit for me except for Jost really throwing himself into the Louisiana/Jabba The Hut accents.

• Uh oh. RFK Jrs’ confirmation hearing is next week? Does this mean we could get a Baldwin heavy cold open on the 25th?

• I did like how Jost & Che seemed to be having some natural, almost wholesome fun without it seeming like they were trying to subtly “out edge lord” each other or who can subtly troll the audience…at first.

• Oh, its’ been a minute since Longfellow did a commentary as himself on the show and this commentary on the pitfalls of TikTok is actually funny. It's nice to see him attempt some low key Lovitz style “acting” moments. 

• I can't really think about the fact that Longfellow is talking about how TikTok (but more importantly smartphones in general) have destroyed people's attention spans and ability to engage meaningfully with the real world while I am typing this entire review of the show on my own phone, glancing back and forth between my phone screen and my TV screen. After all, the more I think about it, the more it cements for me the fact that this is the ideal way to watch an entire live episode of SNL all the way through, with plenty of much more meaningful distraction.

• Ok, is Josts’ “Hear Me Out” segment something that was tossed around for a joke swap and actually written this week because they were running THAT low on ideas this week? Was Louis C.K. a guest writer on Update this week? I can't think of any other reasons this might have been conceived.

• Hey, Squirm as Nosferatu sounds like something that's genuinely within her natural wheelhouse and SHOULD be showcased on the show (especially in this of all episodes) but it feels a little too long and the obligatory Jost roasts aren't hitting for me aside from the “nose/cocaine” ones. The jealousy stuff is OK and the period stuff was a decent left field addition just for how she pulled Josts’ reaction out of it. Other than that, while this wasn't my favorite thing Sarah has done on the show, it's still a bit better than a lot of her recent output simply by being extremely “on brand” for her. C+

Police Sketch

• Hmm, a strange yet interesting sketch premise that allows Devon and Kenan to play well off each other. 

• I liked how the part where Kenan played it silently built to something. I also liked how it mixed some absurdity with some low key slice of life vibes. 

• Dave Chappelle not being in this sketch helped because he wouldn't have fit in Kenans’ role that well anyway. This would've been much too sincere and wholesome for Dave. B-

Pop That Balloon

• Yeah, there's no way I've seen whatever the hell YouTube thing this was based on but I generally liked this all the same.

• I only sense this is a real thing because I think I may have seen Ego post about it on her socials. Either way, this looks like something she may have had a hand in writing.

• Kenan and Devon played dumb sleazes very well and I liked Andrew's character.

• Although I feel the Player Haters segment went a little too long, I appreciate that they tried to naturally Trojan horse them and Ashy Larry on us rather than try to awkwardly force them into another prestige HBO drama or something. Even GloRillas’ cameo felt natural and not too shoehorned in.

• Huh, I'm actually surprised Jane Wickline was willing to appear onscreen with Dave in this. Too bad this appeared to be her and Ashley's only appearances all night. Sadly, they both still did better than Emil this week. 

• This was a nice showcase for all the ladies of the cast nonetheless. B-

Ranking The Season (Best To Worst)

1. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
2. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
3. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
4. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
5. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
6. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
7. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
8. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
9. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
10. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
11. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)

Ranking Each Of Dave Chappelles’ Episodes From Best To Worst

1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest (11.12.2016)
2. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
3. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.07.2020)
4. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, that was certainly the weakest of Dave's four SNL episodes so far (mostly due to it just having the stink of 2024/25 and season 50 all over it).

• Still, there were a few bright spots here and there so there were some pleasant times to be had. If nothing else, it was the MOST uneven and oddly paced Chappelle hosted SNL episode ever. I know, I know, they're all “uneven” and “oddly paced” due to the length of his fucking monologues nowadays bur this one also frontloaded itself with most of it's weaker material leaving most if the better stuff for the end (and sprinkled over Update a bit somehow).

• Still, I can't be too mad at it since I got pretty much exactly what I was expecting from a Chappelle SNL episode; but just a much more empty “mid” version of that formula given his previous outings.

• I would say this episode is almost on the same level as Martin Shorts’ from last month. They both felt empty but whereas Shorts’ was overloaded with guest cameos and recurring sketches, Chappelles’ was overloaded with mostly his standup material and other than that they mostly tried to do different, more original, unique things this week in a few spots (Evacuation, Police Sketch, Longfellow on Update). There were still a few recurring sketch templates though (cable news cold open, recurring talk show, YouTube related pretape). Too bad what they tried to do different wasn't enough to excite me about this episode. The highs weren't that high (considering it was a January episode and all) but the lows weren't as low as I was expecting (considering who the host was).

• As far as cast airtime goes, Emil sadly got shut out entirely. Ashley, Jane, JAJ, Kenan, Chloe, Mikey, Heidi and somehow Marcello took some hits but made their presences known. As expected, Ego & Devon had strong nights. Surprisingly, we saw a bit more of Bowen and Sarah than expected and Dismukes …reminded us he is still on the show.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, SNL has officially entered 2025. Whoopee.

• Next week, Timothee Chalamet returns to the show for his first time as host and (somewhat surprisingly) his first time as a musical guest! Timothee has been a solid host in the recent past and I'm intrigued to see how SNL is going to commit to something it hasn't really officially tried before because MY GOD they've got to try SOMETHING even remotely different at this point. See you then!

Shameless Podcast Plug

• The second episode of “We Heart Hader” is officially available on Spotify, Audible, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever else you can get your podcasts from. 

• This episode is titled “No Small Roles” where Deej and I each examine various bit parts, from substantial support roles to “blink and you'll miss him” type bit parts and evaluate whether the whole movie is worth seeing just for Bills’ part or if you're better off just watching a clip of his role online.

• Deej and I just recorded episode three this past Wednesday. It will be our first SNL “Character Spotlight” on Vinny Vedecci. 

• Hope you're listening and enjoying the podcast so far! Please feel free to rate and review!

Steve Carell/Kanye West (10.01.2005)

White House Press Briefing

Tim Russert (Hammond) throws to President George W. Bush (Forte) insisting that the Hurricane Katrina devastation in New Orleans was "getting better" as he has been there "seven times". He gives evasive answers on the federal budget, the war in Iraq and the investigations into other prominent Republicans to Terry Moran (Sudeikis) Wolf Blitzer (Parnell) and Nora O'Donnell (Poehler).

- Fortes' George W. Bush may not have been as technically accurate or as crowd pleasing as Ferrells' but his whiny defensiveness works here. Still, he doesn't do a whole lot to liven up this dry ass late period Downey material.

- Parnells' Wolf Blitzer gets sudden unexpected laughter. Fortes' FEMA rant gets unexpected clapter with the line "who's in charge of this situation?" The "wake up calls" ramble was a solid way to end this. C+

Montage 

Same as season 30 but in wide-screen with Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis credited as featured players (Sudekis officially joined the cast in May of 2005).

Monologue

Steve Carell, coming hot off the critical and commercial success of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (which just made $100,000,000 at the box office) and the first season of The Office, sings of his greatness (compared to other "frat pack" comedic film stars of this time).

- Steve Carell mentions this is the first SNL episode filmed entirely in high definition. He then claims he auditioned for SNL in 1995 but lost to Will Ferrell. Ten years later, Carell would tweet that this was an untrue joke. That tweet has since disappeared along with Carells' entire Twitter feed. Funny that he would still name check Ferrell twice in this monologue.

- This felt like a cute, quaint throwback to the years when an R-rated comedy was seen as a viable box office success by most studios. Amy, Kenan and Horatio made decent cameos.

- I did like the the "Stillers' a big kiss ass and Owen Wilson is gay" line as well as the repetition of "money falls from my ass". C+

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley insurance agent (Forte) is tougher on a high school girl (Poehler) and her friend (Samberg) than her own dorky, eager to please, push over father (Armisen)

- I remember this being one of the better non-Digital Short commercial pretapes of this season. Unfortunately, the show having repeated one too many times throughout the season lessened its impact.

- Sambergs' first appearance on the show (well, his first pretaped appearance but still...)

- Fortes' line to Armisen "Dammit, Frank. Grow a pair!" was the perfect button to end this on. Already, this episode feels worlds away from the doldrums of season 30. B+

Jet Blue Flight 292

A passenger (Poehler) on a Jet Blue Flight watches a CNN report on the very same plane she's on having malfunctioning landing gear which will cause an emergency landing in Los Angeles. She is much more frightened than her oblivious ignorant husband (Carell) and even the plane's pilot (Parnell V/O) about their situation as she watches anchorman Aaron Brown (Hammond) discuss their doomed, sealed, fate with aerodynamics expert Greg Benedetto (Meyers) and psychologist Dr. Daniel Lane (Hader). She is extremely relieved that this plane has landed safely.

- This feels like the type of specifically hyper topical sketch that the show could've only pulled off in mid to late 2005.

- Steve played the dumb husband well and his "three weeks in Burbank" line got a laugh out of me.

- Haders' first ever live appearance on SNL. He does a great job of switching between "stuffy professor" voice and "casual slightly freaked out regular guy" voice between his two lines in this sketch. Still, he doesn't quite compare to Amy Poehler playing "existential terror" perfectly. 

- Not only is this Bill Haders' first ever appearance on the show, it's also a young Colin Josts' first sketch as a writer that made it to air. Impressive for two different newbies!

- Seth's part was fun with the computer models of the exploding plane and fire trucks. Darrell was great at displaying a callous, morbid detachment as he strung this sketch together. B-

Anderson Cooper 360

Anderson Cooper (Meyers) reports live on the scene from the damaged site of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (Mitchell) thanks those who turned out to support the cause, including big name Hollywood Celebrities who showed up in person. We see Tony Danza (Armisen), Sharon Stone (Poehler), Al Pacino (Hader) and Aaron Neville (Sanz) very ineptly help build a house for displaced Hurricane victims Mamie Thibodaux (Rudolph) and her son Gartrell (Thompson). Ray Romano (Carell) has even showed up to calm down an angry, gun toting Sean Penn. Suddenly, Geraldo Rivera (Hammond) shows up to steal the focus before being scared away himself by errant gunfire.

- Seths' not exactly known for his impressions but you can tell he's trying to hit some really specific beats and tics with his Anderson Cooper and that works well enough for me. He did a fine job anchoring this sketch (no pun intended). Maya and Kenan as mother and costumed son were a nice touch and set up a nice callback later. Finesse as Mayor Ray Nagin didn't add a whole lot but I liked his rant about Sean Penn and his boat full of guns.

- It's a bit strange to think that SNL could mine this much comedy out of a natural disaster that got the attention of the entire country, but it was after roughly six weeks and it's more satirizing self serving media coverage than anything.

- Not only that, but this sketch somehow got four different mini applause breaks for four different impressions. 

- Speaking of, Hader has his first real breakout moment and nearly runs away with this sketch with his DEAD ON Scent Of A Woman/Frank Slade era Al Pacino impression. Seriously, he pretty much nails it! That was the first big applause break of this sketch and got him a lot of buzz on SNL message boards at the time (even around Conans' offices that time as well as you can see from his first appearance).

- The second big applause break comes from Steve Carells' Ray Romano. Maybe not as good as Haders' Pacino but...it's serviceable even if it feels more like Carell affecting a generic goofy voice than anything. It's at least good for a callback to "Sean Penns' boat full of guns" gag.

- The third applause break came from Horatios' Aaron Neville. Oof. Well, in spite of the strange use of makeup and prosthetics and the general "oopsie doo" nature of it all, it's a little less awkward than it was as the focus of it's own sketch last season (see "Aaron Nevilles' City Court" from season 30s Hilary Swank/50 Cent episode). At least it makes Armisens' Tony Danza seem much less awkward than it really is.

- The fourth applause break was from Darrell Hammonds Geraldo Rivera suddenly running scared from gunfire. I've always liked this impression of Darrells and this was definitely the best use of it. I'll say the same about Amys' Sharon Stone even if I was always pretty ambivalent about that one. The callback here to the three costumed sons was a nice touch.

- Overall, this was a real, multifaceted time capsule of a sketch but it was still the real highlight of the episode and they were wise to make it feel like the real centerpiece of the night. B+

The Needlers

Neil & Karen (Carell & Dratch) come to regret their decision to announce their engagement to intensely bickering Sally & Dan Needler (Poehler & Meyers)

- This is now a recurring sketch as it was the followup to a very similar sketch from the previous seasons' Johnny Knoxville/System Of A Down episode from May of 2005. The main difference is that the names of Amy & Seth's characters were changed from "Henderson" to "Neddler".

- This feels like something only Seth & Amy have the right chemistry to pull off and put over. 

- The combination of Amy and Seths' natural warmth mixed with their penchant for snark helps keep this from becoming too offputting.

- Steve and Rachel play uncomfortable bystanders real well. Sudeikis had possibly his best lines in the entire show as the waiter. B-

Girls Gone Wild Katrina

Doug Stanhope (Sudeikis) swims through the wreckage of Katrina offering fresh water and shelter to women who will flash their breasts on camera.

- Wow. This wasn't quite as tasteless as I remembered (in fact, it's a little more grating and repetitive with all the censored flashing and screeching) but still, the audience is pretty much stunned into near silence as if the barely knew how to react. 

- It serves as a scathing indictment of the culture that gave us "Girls Gone Wild" in the first place, that's for sure.

- I'll also say that I liked the cheap digital camera feel of this. This also looks and feels different than any pretape SNL has done in the past. I wonder if Jorma and Akiva were involved in filming this seeing as it would be their first show as writers, too? C+

Backstage

Lorne convinces Maya her eighth month of pregnancy is unnoticeable on camera and asks Finesse to make sure Kanye isn't going to say anything too crazy on live TV. An immediately suspicious Kanye walks out for his performance of "Gold Digger" and "Touch The Sky" and has an awkward reunion with Mike Myers (Himself).

- After appearing in this episode, Maya would go on maternity leave and miss quite a great deal of this season up until the Steve Martin/Prince episode in February of 2006.

- It's amazing that Kanye once had the ability to convince America he had something resembling a sense of humor about himself. I genuinely have to wonder what really happened to Kanye over the years that made him increasingly self absorbed.

- Mike Myers was fine here. He did a fine job of mining his own awkward discomfort...six weeks later.

- Even Maya was charming here but Finesse and Lornes' parts felt like something that could've been cut from this (especially Mayas' "he still works here?" line). 

- Maybe this wasn't the best "meta/backstage" sketch the show has ever done, but hey...I'll take it. C+

Weekend Update w/Amy Poehler & Tina Fey Horatio Sanz

Amy Poehler immediately announces Tina is on "assisgment" maternity leave as she has just had her first child. 

Horatio Sanz is filling in the anchor chair and delivers an editorial explaining why President Bushs' increasingly damaging scandals make him look like "a genius".

Finesse Mitchells' report on the New York club scene turns into a story about his accidentally picking up a cross dresser.

Featured players Bill Hader and Andy Samberg introduce themselves with a "friendly new guy impression off".

- Horatio Sanz delivering Weekend Update jokes is truly a sight to behold. He's not necessarily bad, but you can sense an awkward stilted discomfort in his delivery...kind of like Aykroyd in season 3 but worse. His panda bear mating joke has aged particularly poorly given certain personal revelations about him that came out in more recent years. His Bush editorial was fine though. He seemed more in his element there.

- As far as Amys' jokes went, her first one (about what was "hurting the nations' image" at that time) was the only one that hit for me. All her others just slid right out of my brain.

- Finesses' stand up bit is...pretty embarassing at this point. This is definitely something that would NOT have flown at any point in the last ten years or so. Still, he debuted his catchphrase "snap famous" with this one which he would use as the title of a future standup special, so...at least HE got something out of it.

- At least they already have a new cast member who could deliver MUCH better commentaries on the NYC club scene five years down the road...

- Obviously, Bill and Andys' debut was the true highlight of this Weekend Update. According to The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast, this was mostly written by Andy Samberg. Bill Hader may have helped as he and Andy had been bonding and becoming friends at this time.

- According to him and Seth, all of Andys' attempts at writing original weird sketches were bombing at table reads and getting cut so they took someone's suggestion to write an Update feature since it's typically much easier for new cast members to break into the show that way.

- It expertly showcases Bills' talent for mimicry with Andys' penchant for silly abstract goofiness. You can see how these two guys would be major players in making the show feel fresh and relevant to a new generation again. 

- Speaking of, even though all of Bills' impressions in this episode have been strictly apolitical and of movie stars (only two of which were still alive at the time and one of which was still somewhat relevant to modern audiences in 2005) it didn't hurt him or this episode at all seeing as he and Andy were just the type of fresh blood the show needed to move it into a new direction at this time. C+

Lundford Twins Feel Good Variety Hour

The Lunford Twins (Armisen and Carell) emcee an old timey Hee Haw/Smothers Brothers type musical variety show from 1967 with special guests Canadian singer Connie Brenda (Rudolph), the Lunford Dancers (Forte, Parnell, Dratch, Danielle Flora) "cry song" king Dimothy Daniels (Thompson) and of course Dorothy Winkster as "Granny Crabtree".

- This was a sequel to a sketch that originated with the Paul Giamatti episode from the previous season. I do have to wonder if Tina and Maya had a hand in writing the first one? It definitely feels like something that would be well within their wheelhouse especially since they both did lowkey one woman tributes to 70s variety shows on Mayas' short lived 2016 sketch show with Martin Short.

- This was fine. It might have felt a little dry years ago but it wasn't too self indulgent for a musical sketch that Fred Armisen was front and center for.

- It's the type of sketch that grows on you over time. I might not really have been able to appreciate this at all today without having seen the various 70s variety offerings the That Week In SNL Twitch stream occasionally provides (especially on "weird nights").

- Fred and Steve did a fine job anchoring this. Maya performed her song well (I liked how much of an obvious "I Am Woman, Here Me Roar" knock off it was) and Kenans song may have been the funniest part of this.

- The dance number was fun. Longtime SNL coreographer Danielle Flora was obviously filling in for Tina this week as she was one of the dancers in the last installment. That was NOT writer Liz Cackowski as some people had originally thought. B-

TV Funhouse: Fun With Real Audio

Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee gives long winded, evasive legalese filled answers to questions in everyday situations to even the simplest of questions.

- I liked the visual gags of Judge Roberts having sex with his wife (very toned down by Smigel standards) in the McDonalds' drive thru, discovering a Janitor is Chuck Schumer in disguise, at a Rolling Stones concert and getting beat up as a Referee at his kids Little League game. 

- Otherwise, this was another political piece that felt too tied to one very specific point in history and partly confirmed my suspicion from this time that Smigel was losing his edge a bit and TV Funhouse was starting to run out of steam with political "Real Audio" stuff. C+

Debbie Downer

Debbie (Dratch) is immediately smitten with similarly minded Bob Bummer (Carell)

- Wow, between this, Nick Burns, Merv The Perv and The Needlers the early to mid 2000s turned out to be a real underrated golden era for "recurring characters that have their own opening montage and theme songs", didn't they? Boy, those made comebacks in a big way!

- I was never that big on Debbie Downer (the revival in Daniel Craigs' season 45 episode was just fine) but this might have been my favorite. Carells' facial expressions, "boing" sound effect and his theme song really added something to this. B-

Overall Thoughts

- This had to have been one of the stronger season premieres SNL has seen in some time (especially coming off the downward spiral that lead into one of the most historically weak SNL seasons of all time). 

- There was a lot of promising stuff that hinted toward a newer, brighter era for the show that would lead to it producing more creative and formative humor for my generation and beyond. Maybe Seth filling in for Tina as head writer this week helped give this episode a fresher feel?