Last week, Megan Thee Stallion returned to the SNL stage but this time pulling double duty as host and musical guest. She delivered a great show with some great performances. This week, Jack Harlow makes his SNL debut also pulling double duty as host and musical guest. It appears this is also the first time in SNL history that we’ve had back to back double duty hosts and musical guests. I didn’t really know who Jack Harlow was except for the song “First Class”. That being said, I had no idea what to expect from Harlow as a host.
The “PBS NewsHour- Republican Momentum Cold Open” had great impressions from Heidi, Kenan, Mikey, and Cecily who returned after a three-episode absence. Kenan’s Herschel Walker is always great and at this point expected to be seen in politically-themed sketches. Mikey was great as Dr. Oz, which is an impression the show hasn’t seen in a while. I loved how he called the Phillies the “Pennsylvania Phillies” and a Philly cheesesteak a “Philadelphia cheese and steak” as well as promoting a weight loss drug near the end of the sketch. I also loved Cecily as Kari Lake and saying that Arizona is “the Florida of the West”. Overall, I thought this was a great cold open with a lot of great impressions.
Jack Harlow’s monologue was pretty okay. As I mentioned before, I had no idea what to expect since I didn’t know much about him. I did think a lot of the self-deprecating jokes were funny but other moments felt a little awkward at times. I did like that he went into the audience and interacted with an audience member. I feel like that kind of interaction is one we don’t see a lot. Feeling that the monologue was just okay, I was little concerned about how the rest of the show would turn out.
The “Joker Wedding” sketch reminded me a little bit of a lot of past wedding objection sketches but I did like the twist in this sketch. I loved how everyone in the congregation was asked if the best man should stay in his joker costume for the wedding. The Jeff Probst cameo was a little random, at least to me. I’ve never seen an episode of Survivor so I didn’t get a lot of those references. I thought this sketch was a little weird but it got better by the end.
When I saw the “Kanye Skechers Commercial”, I knew it was a matter of time before they did a sketch about this. I also wish that this was an actual commercial. I loved the potential shoe idea “Skeezy” and then Bowen saying that there hadn’t been a statement from Crocs. I also loved the ending ad for My Pillow and James’ impression of Mike Lindell. I absolutely loved this sketch.
The “Halloween Red Carpet Show” felt like the typical and expected Halloween sketch. I did think it was funny that Cecily’s character was named Tina Lefay. I’m not sure if that was planned or if it was a coincidence. I loved the “drunk dinosaur” and that inflatable costume as well as the “wasted white girl who can’t find her Uber”. I also thought it was funny that Devon’s character was a “slapped Chris Rock”. I also thought the shirt that said “the scariest thing in the world” on the front and on the back had the patriarchy misspelled with a “k” instead of an “h”. I also thought it was funny that Bowen’s character was in a Village People group costume. I also loved Molly as “drunk Dora” who only said “Tom Brady”. I also liked Kenan as a dad who forgot to take his kid trick-or-treating. I also thought the kid was funny and loved the Chipotle bag costume. Even though this sketch felt expected, I thought it was very funny.
“AA Meeting” was a sketch that when I first saw the set, I was a little worried with the direction it was going. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the direction of the sketch. I loved the movie idea about “lost luggage trying to find its way home”. I thought the artwork was funny and that Cecily’s character brought out a keyboard for the song. I also loved the suitcase puppets and the cameo from Tom Hanks. I absolutely loved this sketch after not thinking I would like it and I really want this movie idea to become a real movie.
The “Horror Movie Trailer” sketch was absolutely hilarious. I don’t like a lot of horror movies but I would absolutely see this one if it were real. I loved a lot of the memorable lines like “He fell off of his bike once!” and “But if Biden’s not gonna run, who will?”. I also loved that this was “from the producers of Smile and the twisted minds at Morning Joe” and it was called “2020 Part 2: 2024” and it was “coming in 2023”. I loved this type of sketch and everyone in the sketch was great.
“Bartenders” was a sketch that just wasn’t for me. I thought the dancing was pretty weird as the sketch itself. However, I did love the mispronunciation of mojito and ripping off the “fake” mustaches. I’m sure some people found this sketch funny but I honestly could’ve done without it. It’s the nature of the show that not all of the sketches are going to be winners.
For the musical performances, Jack Harlow performed a medley of his songs “Lil Secret” and “First Class” for his first set and “State Fair” for his second set. As mentioned, I only knew Jack Harlow because of “First Class” only because the song heavily samples the Fergie song “Glamorous”. As for the performances, they weren’t necessarily my favorite since I don’t really listen to Jack Harlow’s music but I’m sure fans of his enjoyed it which I also like to see.
This week’s Weekend Update had to be one of my favorites. There were a lot of great jokes, especially those about Elon Musk buying Twitter and Kanye West being dropped by many different businesses and brands for his disgusting antisemitic comments. However, my favorite part had to be the return of Bobby Moynihan and Drunk Uncle to the desk! This was a complete surprise not just to me but to other viewers as well. This appearance and the character itself was as funny as I remembered. I loved the TikTok dances and the quiet quitting as well as him saying Chris Pratt was “not my Mario”. I thought it was funny how he said he thought Kanye was crazy and the one time where he called Colin “Seth” as well as calling the pandemic the “pan-Demi Moore”. I loved seeing Bobby again and the reappearance of one of the greatest Weekend Update characters of all time.
“David Pumpkins Returns” was a sketch that was expected but I absolutely loved it! I figured it would happen since Tom and Bobby were already there and I couldn’t see them not doing this sketch. It was very similar to the original sketch but honestly I’m not mad at it. I loved seeing the Michael Myers and Pennywise costumes and thought Sarah was great as Annabelle. I also loved how Ego’s character said “I can’t with that little bitch” after seeing Annabelle. I also thought it was funny that they said David S. Pumpkins was from Ibiza. James was great as Freddy Krueger and I loved when David S. Pumpkins was wearing a similar glove to Freddy. I always thought the ending of this sketch was funny and I’m so glad they were able to bring this sketch back for the Halloween episode.
“The View: Jack Harlow” was a sketch that I didn’t think would happen. I knew about the Ted Cruz interview and that it was interrupted by climate change protesters though I haven’t seen the actual interview. I did like a lot of the impressions of the hosts. I thought Ego’s impression of Whoopi was good but I didn’t really like Sarah’s Joy Behar impression that much. I was glad to see Chloe as Sara Haines and Punkie as Sunny Hostin. I was a little surprised they didn’t have someone to play Alyssa Farah Griffin since she’s the newest host but maybe they didn’t want to have a lot of cast members in this since it was the last sketch of the night. Usually I like The View sketches but this one was so weird and a little cringe. I thought having Jack as the guest on this sketch was a little unusual and wasn’t sure why they did that. In the end, I thought this sketch was super weird and went the typical direction as the last sketch of the night.
Overall, I was surprised by what I thought of this episode. Although I wasn’t a fan of Jack Harlow as a host, I ended up really liking and even loving a lot of the sketches. I was also glad to see Cecily back after missing the last three episodes and I was glad to see her being used in a lot of the sketches. I think having her back is going to be great for the rest of the season. It’s always good to have the veteran cast members in with the newer and newest cast members as the show tries to find its footing again after so many cast departures.
This is my take on the episode with host and musical guest Jack Harlow. My next post will be about the episode with host Amy Schumer and musical guest Steve Lacy. Make sure to follow me on Twitter at @SNLBlogger for SNL news and live tweeting every new episode. Thank you all again for your continued support!
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
