Jack Harlow October 29, 2022

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

Megan Thee Stallion October 15, 2022

Last week, Brendan Gleeson hosted a pretty solid episode with some great performances from Willow. This week, we have our first double duty host and musical guest with Megan Thee Stallion. The last time Megan Thee Stallion appeared on the show was in the season 46 premiere with host Chris Rock. Of course, I was familiar with her music but I wasn’t sure what to expect with her as a host.

The “Jan 6th Final Hearing Cold Open” felt like it was back to regularly scheduled programming after two previous cold opens that weren’t super political. I loved how it opened with “You’re watching C-SPAN. Can you believe that stands for Cocker Spaniel?”. There were also so many great impressions, especially with a lot of newer cast members taking over impressions from cast members who had left. I loved Michael as Adam Schiff, Heidi as Liz Cheney, Kenan as Bennie Thompson, Mikey as Jamie Raskin, Chloe as Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah as Chuck Schumer. I loved Heidi’s Dick Cheney jokes and that she had “Big Dick Cheney Energy”. I also loved the message board excerpts that were used as evidence. There was also an appearance from James’ impression of Donald Trump sitting on a gold toilet being brought a can of Diet Coke. I also loved how the last line before “Live From New York” was “It was a fun country while it lasted”. Even though it was expected for political cold opens to return, I thought this was a hilarious cold open and a great start to the show.

In Megan Thee Stallion’s monologue, like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did think the British accent/Bridgerton bit was a little weird and unexpected. I loved the plug for her website, which is a real website, and how they showed it on the screen. I also thought the Popeye’s bit where she talked about her signature sauce no longer being on the menu was also funny. Overall, I thought this was a pretty funny and solid monologue.

The first sketch of the night, “Hot Girl Hospital”, I weirdly felt like this could be an actual show. Maybe I’m saying this because I love medical shows like ER and Chicago Med. I loved seeing Punkie and Ego as leads in this sketch. I also loved the appearances from Marcello and James and later from Devon and Sarah. I thought the reviews of this show were funny and that it was “coming this Hot Girl Fall”. I thought this was a really good sketch and I could tell that they were all having fun with it, which I love to see.

I absolutely loved the “We Got Brought” music video sketch. I thought the song itself was great and very catchy. I thought everyone in this was hilarious, especially Bowen. I loved the awkwardness that was in the sketch and how relatable it was. I would love to see more of these music video sketches and I wish they would release this song as a single like they did with past song sketches.

The “Deer” sketch was absolutely hilarious. I especially loved Kenan’s character and how he couldn’t see the deer. I thought it was funny how they had an image of a bunny riding on the back of a deer. I also loved the deer puppet and that it was in the house, had a knife and pulled down the pants of Kenan’s character. I see a lot of deer where I live and I could absolutely relate to a lot of what went on in this sketch.

The “Girl Talk” sketch was great and I loved this talk show concept. I loved the name of Ego’s character “Mo’nique money Mo’nique Problems”. I also loved the line “so why don’t we get our subtitles on for any white people or men tuning in?” when the subject matter was complex. I also thought it was funny how there was an extra long subtitle about the war in Ukraine. I also thought Andrew’s character was funny. 

“Please Don’t Destroy- Wellness” was a good sketch. I did think the dancing, therapist hallucination, and the teeth bits were funny. I also loved at the end that it was “sponsored” by Oral-B mouth guards. Overall, I thought it was a good sketch but not my favorite PDD sketch.

Megan Thee Stallion had two performances that night. Her first performance was for her song “Anxiety”, which I liked the pageant theme of the performance. Her second performance was a medley of her songs “NDA” and “Plan B”. I thought both performances were great and now I want to maybe start listening to more of her music.

Another solid Weekend Update had Colin Jost and Michael Che performing jokes about Trump, the January 6th hearing evidence (mostly the calls made by Nancy Pelosi), the Georgia Senate debate, and Kanye West and Elon Musk. Chloe and Heidi appeared as Debbie Hole and Stacey Bussy, two Texas moms telling families not to watch Hocus Pocus 2. I thought it was funny how they said they were for “family, church, and laughter”, called everything about Halloween demonic and Satanic (I know some people who think that), and Chloe’s character getting possessed by a demon at “SNHell”. I loved how Heidi’s character said “we sold a lot of leggings to be here” and when they had to leave at the end they had said they got tickets to see Wicked. I also loved how Devon made his first appearance at the Update desk and had some funny commentary about adjusting to living in New York. I also loved Devon’s interactions with the audience. I thought it was hilarious that when he asked the audience if he looked like a catcaller, there was an audible “yeah” from an audience member. I also thought it was funny when he asked “where my straight boys at?”, there was no response. I love how every single week they have had a new cast member at the desk and I’m hoping Molly makes an appearance in the next episode’s Update.

“Workout Class” was a pretty funny sketch. I loved the modified versions of the workouts with Heidi and Chloe’s characters. I thought the sketch made some good points about body shaming and body acceptance. I also would highly consider taking a workout class similar to the one in the sketch.

“Women’s Charity” was another funny sketch I found super relatable. The statistic they showed near the beginning, “roughly three out of ten women between the ages of 18 and 29 are single”. For reference, I’m 27 and very single so this hit very close to home for me. I also loved how they showed Kenan singing “Hallelujah” and then “Gangsta’s Paradise”. I also loved the different sweatshirt logos they showed. I also loved the name of the charity, “St. Andrew’s Center for Shivering Girls”. I also loved Heidi at the end holding a dog asking what she is going to wear now to walk the dog.

“Classroom” was a sketch that I thought was very fitting for the end of the show. I loved how Ego’s character started off with an “inspirational” speech. I also loved how the other characters were telling Ego’s character “Miss, this is an Honors level Physics class” and “this is a STEM school”. I thought Ego’s character’s reactions were funny as well as her pulling the fire alarm and not being able to work the door. I thought this sketch was a funny way to end the show.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good episode. It was obvious that Megan was having fun doing the sketches and that’s something I like seeing. I loved seeing Ego and Punkie in a lot of sketches and that’s something I hope continues as well as the new cast members being in more sketches. There were some topics of sketches that me being a white woman wouldn’t completely understand and that’s okay! That’s the beauty of diversity and that’s one of the great things about comedy is getting to hear other points of view. I know there were a lot of people out there who got to really enjoy the episode and I really hope Megan Thee Stallion gets to host again!

This is my take on the episode with host and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion. My next post will be about the episode with host and musical guest Jack Harlow. 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

Brendan Gleeson/Willow October 8, 2022

Last week, the premiere episode was hosted by Miles Teller with musical guest Kendrick Lamar. This episode had some great sketches and good musical performances to bring viewers a solid season premiere. This week, Brendan Gleeson makes his hosting debut with musical guest Willow, who also makes her official debut. Willow made her first appearance last season performing “psychofreak” with Camila Cabello.

The show opened with a game show called “So You Think You Won’t Snap” which brought up many different recent news headlines. I was glad to see them switch it up from the typical political cold open. Not saying that I don’t love a political cold open but it’s great to see them do something different. I thought Bowen was great as the game show host and thought it was funny there was a “Today Show-size glass of wine”. I felt like I would love to be on this type of game show and I would probably have some similar reactions that were in the sketch.

I thought Brendan Gleeson’s monologue was great and I liked it more than I thought I would. I loved when he brought out his mandolin and thought it was a fun take on the typical musical monologue. I thought the Colin Farrell cameo was funny, especially when he came out wearing a fake mustache. I loved when Colin Farrell joined in on the song and the jam session with the band at the end of the monologue. I thought this monologue was funny and that Brendan just seems like the nicest, sweetest guy.

The “Try Guys” sketch is one sketch where I have some mixed feelings since I knew they would eventually do a sketch about this. I did think it was funny how it started as a CNN news report about President Biden and then it cut to being about the Try Guys. I did love the casting, set design, wardrobe, and hair and makeup. Other than that, I didn’t like how they were basically poking fun at workplace misconduct. I’ve watched a lot of Try Guys videos over the past two or so years (it was one of the many things that got me through the pandemic). I watched the brief video that Keith, Zach, and Eugene released on the Try Guys channel talking about what had happened and then the episode of their podcast where Zach and Keith talked in more detail about everything. I suggest that everyone should watch those videos to gain more insight into the situation. In the end, real people were involved and this was and still is a very serious situation and I think the show could’ve handled the sketch better.

“New Cast Advice” was a super funny sketch and I loved how all of the new cast members were in this sketch. I loved how Devon, Michael, and Marcello gave chill and typical new cast member answers while Molly’s answers were about them being hired for the sole purpose of killing Putin. I loved how Molly said that Former Secretary of State John Kerry, Bill Gates, and Kelly Ripa were at Lorne’s place. I also loved the lines “I have to kill! Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself”. I also thought it was funny when Molly said that Lorne told them that cast members are usually not asked to go on kill missions and they cut to Kenan asking if he didn’t have to kill Osama Bin Laden and then holding a gun at the end of the sketch. I hope they continue having new cast members featured in more sketches.

I thought “Blonde” was an okay sketch. I did think Chloe’s impression was great but other than that, I felt like they just used the same joke over and over again. To me, this wasn’t much of a memorable sketch.

“Headshots” was a sketch that started off just okay but picked up a little bit towards the end of the sketch. I thought Brendan was great in this sketch and I especially thought the photoshoot was great. We also had our second Colin Farrell cameo of the night, who joined Brendan in the photoshoot. I thought it was also great to see Andrew lead in a sketch and I hope to see more of that this season.

“Please Don’t Destroy-Tommy” started off and ended up being different from past “Please Don’t Destroy” sketches. This sketch had Martin, John, and Ben outside of their office playing high school student versions of themselves. I loved the truck scene at the end with the subtle nod to The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I liked the change from the typical office “Please Don’t Destroy” sketches.

Willow gave two performances of her songs “curious/furious” and “ur a <stranger>”. I didn’t really know what to expect since I don’t really listen to her music. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed both performances. I also thought it was cool at the end of “ur a <stranger> she put her guitar through the TV that was below the drum set and then kicked the mic stand down.

Weekend Update brought Colin Jost and Michael Che telling jokes based on the usual current events such as the midterm election races, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, President Biden, and Kanye West. There were two guest segments with Ego as “Black Ariel” and new cast member Marcello making his Update debut. I loved how in the beginning of Ego’s segment she said, in character, “you can just call me Ariel” and “I don’t call you White Colin to your face”. I also thought it was funny when she said she grew up “Bezos rich” and is “pro-SeaWorld”. Marcello’s segment was a hilarious commentary about baseball since the postseason is going on. I absolutely loved the commentary, his impression of a batting stance, and commentary on Aaron Judge hitting sixty-two home runs this season. Personally, I wish they brought up Albert Pujols hitting seven hundred career home runs this season but that’s probably my bias as a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals showing. I hope Marcello gets to be featured more and deliver more hilarious commentary like this appearance. 

“Blood Oath”, I thought, was a pretty weird sketch. Although this wasn’t a type of sketch that I usually look forward to, I did think it was funny with blood spraying everywhere. I also thought it was funny how Chloe was trying to keep herself from breaking character with all the blood going everywhere. This sketch did remind me of all the past sketches where they had blood spewing everywhere.

“Eyes” was another sketch I thought was pretty weird. This seemed like a sketch that Sarah would write. I did think the googly eyes were pretty funny as well as Sarah’s character thinking the water cooler was a person and her character’s dramatic exit near the end of the sketch. I did think that this was a typical sketch that would end the episode.

Overall, I thought this was a solid episode. I thought there were several funny sketches although I wish there were a few different sketches that were shown. I would love to see which sketches got cut for time. Brendan Gleeson, however, I thought did a great job hosting and I would love to see him host again.

This is my take on the episode hosted by Brendan Gleeson with musical guest Willow. My next post will be about the episode with host and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion. 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

Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar October 1, 2022

It is that time of year again! A new season is upon us! As Lorne Michaels mentioned at the most recent Emmy Awards, this would be a “transition year”. This was in response to the exit of several long time cast members and eight cast members in total exiting the show for various reasons. That being said, four new cast members were hired prior to the start of the season. The new cast members are Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker. Kearney also makes history as the first non-binary cast member. Another change to the cast included Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson being promoted to repertory status. Other changes to the show included  new opening credits, a new font and logo, as well as a new variation of the opening theme music. As of right now, the opening credits do not contain Cecily Strong due to her commitments to the revival of the one-woman show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in Los Angeles. Strong has confirmed that she will be returning towards the end of October once the show has completed its run.

For the season 48 premiere, Miles Teller was tapped to host for his first time with returning musical guest Kendrick Lamar. Teller hosted to promote the movie Top Gun: Maverick. Lamar’s last performance as musical guest was back in season 40 with host Woody Harrelson. 

The show opened up with a cold open that was a parody of Peyton and Eli Manning’s ESPN show. At first, I didn’t even know that it was Miles who was playing Peyton Manning. I thought the impression was great and I loved the rare opportunity the show used to use the host in the cold open. I also thought Andrew was very funny as Eli Manning. I loved how they did a play-by-play of the sketch as well as the commentary on the recent cast departures. I loved how when they saw it was a Trump sketch, Miles as Peyton went “Oh good, Trump sketch. Way to mix it up”. I also loved Bowen mispronouncing corgis, Sarah peeking through the window, the stats shown, and Devon, one of the new cast members, as Corn Kid. I also loved how all four of the new cast members made an appearance as well as getting to say “Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night” with the rest of the group. I also loved the cameos from Jon Hamm and Shaun White, even though White’s appearance was very random but I’m guessing that was the point. I also loved Jon’s dig at Miles since they were both in Top Gun: Maverick. I thought this was a great cold open and I loved the self-deprecating and meta humor of the sketch.

Miles Teller’s monologue, I thought, was very funny. I loved how his friends thought he looked like Rachel Maddow and then showed a side-by-side picture. I also thought it was funny that when he was learning piano for Top Gun: Maverick that his piano instructor was J.K. Simmons, in reference to Simmons’ character in the movie Whiplash. I also loved how Miles mentioned how he grew up watching the show and performed the sketches in his living room with his sisters. I also thought it was funny how they showed a home movie of Miles and his sister doing the “Spartan Cheerleaders” sketch. I think it’s great how many hosts talk about how they grew up watching the show and how much the show has meant to them.

The “Send Something Normal” sketch was a pretty good game show sketch. I thought it was funny that Mikey was playing Adam Levine, James was playing Armie Hammer, Kenan was playing Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bowen was on as himself. I pretty much knew the direction of this sketch when the first two impressions appeared in the sketch and where it was going. I thought it was funny how every contestant wanted to see the most liked vacation photo as well as Bowen’s DM coming from Dua Lipa. I did think this sketch was funny.

I felt that the “BeReal” sketch was one that was coming with how popular the app was becoming. I’m not on the app myself but I’m familiar with the concept of it. I loved how Miles’ character was engaging with the hostages and asking them about BeReal. I also thought it was funny when Mikey’s character asked if everybody in the bank worked for the app. I also thought it was funny how even the security guards were using the app. Even though I saw a sketch about this app happening, I did think the sketch was funny.

The “Charmin Bears” sketch was one that was funny but also pretty weird. One thing that was a little weird were the bear costumes. The name of the degree was laughable with it being called a “Bachelor of Flushing Arts” along with the other names mentioned. I thought it was funny how Miles’ character wanted to be a dancer. I did think that Bowen’s character was funny. I loved how when his character mistook the kitchen for the bathroom, he said “you have my deepest apologies”. I did love the dancing at the end and thought that was a funny way to end the sketch.

The “Rooftop Bar” sketch was one that I wasn’t sure of the direction it was going. It ended up being really weird, especially with Miles and Mikey’s characters interacting with Chloe and Ego’s characters. I did like Heidi as the bartender and thought she was a great comic relief in this sketch. I honestly could’ve done without this sketch and now I’m wondering what sketches were cut for time.

The “Nicole Kidman AMC Ad” was a great way to utilize Chloe and her spot-on impressions. Her Nicole Kidman was so spot on. I thought it was funny how at one point they had Chloe floating in the air with a changing voice. Kenan and Punkie were also great in this sketch. Again, I thought this sketch was super funny and shows off another one of Chloe’s amazing spot-on impressions.

As previously mentioned, Kendrick Lamar last performed on the show back in season 40. His first performance was a medley of “Rich Spirit” and “N95”. I thought this was a good performance but the strobe lights were a little strong. His second performance was “Father Time” featuring Sampha. I thought this was another good performance. 

Weekend Update brought the return of Colin Jost and Michael Che to the desk for another season. It brought the usual and expected jokes about Russia, President Biden, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ response to Hurricane Ian, King Charles III, and the typical jokes about members of United States politics. I thought it was funny that James and Kenan appeared as Mitch McConnell and Herschel Walker, respectively. Even though I liked James’ impression, it did make me miss Beck’s impression. Kenan’s impression was very funny and had some great one-liners. I thought it was great that Michael, another new cast member, made an appearance as himself with commentary on having conservative family members. I loved how relatable this commentary was. I also thought it was funny how Michael called Colin a Republican, to which Colin responded that he was more of a “Bill Maher liberal”. Michael responded saying again that Colin was a Republican. I also thought it was funny that Michael said he was only a Republican when he was in Boarding Group A. I also thought it was funny that Bowen appeared as a Spotted Lanternfly and it was done in the style of a mix of “Jerry Springer”, “Maury”, and “Dr. Phil”. I also loved when Andrew came out as a corn crop and the two of them began fighting. Overall, I thought Weekend Update was funny and a good start to Weekend Update this season.

I thought that the “Grimace” sketch was going to be funnier than it ended up being. My main issue with it was that they kept referring to the fact that Grimace had just come out as bisexual as well as the change to his appearance. Maybe I just didn’t get the joke but I wasn’t sure why they kept referring to Grimace’s sexuality. Then, by the end of the sketch, all of the other characters said that they were also bisexual. Honestly, I was very confused by the point of the sketch. This was definitely one of my least favorite sketches of the night. I was also not surprised this sketch aired after Weekend Update.

I thought that the “Caribbean Queens” sketch was a really funny way to end the show. Ego and Heidi were great and I think they are the new sketch duo to watch. I thought it was funny how they had a segment called “Google if Billy Ocean is Still Married”. Punkie was hilarious in this sketch as well as Devon playing Frank Ocean, who Ego and Heidi’s characters said was Billy Ocean’s little brother (there is no relation between the two).

Overall, I thought this was a good start to the season. That being said, I think Lorne was right that this season will be not only a transition year but also a rebuilding year. A lot of big names left and those losses were felt. Cecily was also missed in this premiere but there is a sense of relief knowing that she will be coming back in a few weeks. I’m also excited to see what the new cast members bring to the new season. I also think that Miles Teller was a great choice for hosting and I would love to see him host again in the future.

This has been my take on the season 48 premiere hosted by Miles Teller with musical guest Kendrick Lamar. My next post will be my thoughts on the next episode with host Brendan Gleeson with musical guest Willow. 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

Season 47 Second Half Recap

So, as things would have it, I’m here posting another compilation recap post. Between the holidays, family commitments, starting a new job (and then resigning from that job), other personal matters, and a recent bout of COVID, the blog ended up being put on the backburner despite my best efforts to start posting regularly again. Nevertheless, I’ve never stopped posting midseason and I’m not going to start now.

I felt the second half of the season was very strong with many great hosts, musical guests, and memorable sketches. Instead of doing separate posts for each episode, I’ve listed each episode below and wrote some of my favorite sketches and Weekend Update segments. I did, however, write a separate review of the Christmas episode since that was such a unique situation with having to retool the episode due to the rise of the Omicron variant and the majority of the cast and crew being sent home. So here are some of my favorite moments from the second half of season 47.

Billie Eilish

- Fauci Holiday Message Cold Open

-Christmas Cards

-TikTok feat. Billie Eilish

-Lonely Christmas

-Weekend Update: Andrew Dismukes’ Amazing Animals

-Weekend Update: Punkie Johnson on Her Family’s Holiday Rules

-Hotel Ad

Ariana DeBose/Bleachers

-Monologue

-Urkel Reboot

-Winter Formal

-Eric Adams Press Conference

-Weekend Update: Elmo and Rocco

-New Governess

Will Forte/Måneskin

-Ingraham Angle Cold Open

-MacGruber sketches

-Kid Klash

-Cinema Classics: Gaslight

-Weekend Update: Chen Biao on the 2022 Olympics

-Weekend Update: Sarah Sherman Roasts Colin Jost Again

Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry

-Tenant Meeting

-Now I’m Up

-Dog Show

-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on the Latest Trends

-Good Morning Columbus

John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem

-Ukraine Cold Open

-Monkey Trial

-Blue River

-Please Don’t Destroy: Good Variant

-Five-Timers Club

-Subway Churro

-Cupid Shuffle

Oscar Isaac/Charli XCX

-Paw Patrol

-Inventing Chloe

-Weekend Update: Kate McKinnon on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

-Weekend Update: Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour on Rihanna’s Pregnancy

-Aidy’s Dream

-Home Repair Show

Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía

-Monologue

-Amazon Go

-Porch Scene

-Please Don’t Destroy: We Got Her a Cat

Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna

-Fox & Friends Cold Open: Supreme Court Confirmation

-Post-COVID Show

-Short-Ass Movies

-Seat Fillers

-Weekend Update: Senator Marsha Blackburn on Judge Jackson’s Confirmation Hearings

-Baby Clothes

Jake Gyllenhaal/Camila Cabello

-Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmation Cold Open

-Dream Home Cousins

-Cabaret Night

-Chucky

-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on Today’s Most Popular Trends

-Couples Counselor

-Truck Stop CD

Lizzo

-Easter Wishes Cold Open

-TikTok feat. Lizzo

-Six Flags

-Weekend Update: Colin Jost’s Driver Cesar Perez

-Orchestra

Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire

-Mother’s Day Gifts

-Blue Bunny

-Just Like You

-Weekend Update: Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Overturning Roe v. Wade

-The Understudy

Selena Gomez/Post Malone

-A Peek at Pico

-Irish Play

-Inventor Documentary

-Weekend Update: Baby Yoda on His Spiritual Awakening

-Weekend Update: Field Correspondent Sarah Sherman Gives an SNL Studio Tour

-Baby Monitor

Natasha Lyonne/Japanese Breakfast

-Final Encounter Cold Open

-PSA

-Summer Gig

-Weekend Update: Pete Davidson Says Goodbye for Now

-Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on Summer Trends

-Women’s Commercial

Up until the day of, the Christmas episode was scheduled to go as planned with Paul Rudd making his fifth hosting appearance with Charli XCX as the musical. But, as we’re still in a pandemic, COVID and the newer Omicron variant had to throw a wrench in the plans. It was clear that this episode was not going to be like others and maybe resemble more of the “at home” episodes from earlier in the pandemic. The show was mostly pre-recorded with Kenan and Michael being the only cast members on the episode. This episode also didn’t have a traditional cold open, the opening credits (the end credits scrolled the names of the cast members), have a musical guest, or say “Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night”. Tom Hanks and Tina Fey appeared in the beginning, along with a hilarious pre-recorded video from Steve Martin and Martin Short, to officially welcome Paul Rudd into the Five-Timers Club. It was planned for Candice Bergen, Jon Hamm, and Jimmy Fallon to make an appearance during the episode but that plan was scrapped. Jimmy would end up saying a month later that he tested positive for COVID the day of the Christmas episode. Tina Fey also did Weekend Update with Michael since Colin had also tested positive. Update was done at home base without the set, Tina and Michael sitting in director’s chairs, and with Paul, Tom, and Kenan as an audience. Since the vast majority of the cast and crew were sent home, there weren’t any live sketches. However, there were two sketches that were pre-taped that were shown, which were HomeGoods, An Evening with Pete, and The Christmas Socks featuring Charli XCX. The time was also filled by showing some past Christmas themed sketches introduced by Tom, Tina, and Kenan. These sketches included ones that are usually shown during the annual Christmas special, such as Dick in a Box, Naughty Elves, with Ryan Gosling, Steve Martin’s Holiday Wish, Now That’s What I Call Christmas, and Christmastime for the Jews. Some other Christmas sketches they showed were some of my favorites, such as Holiday Pageant with Paul McCartney and Martin Short from season 38 and North Pole News Report with Eddie Murphy from season 45. Another sketch they showed that wasn’t necessarily a Christmas sketch but nevertheless very funny was Dan Charles from when Paul Rudd hosted back in season 39 that featured the then-musical guests One Direction. They also showed a sketch from season sixteen when Tom Hanks hosted called The Global Warming Christmas special. I thought it was so cool that they brought back a really vintage sketch and this was a sketch that I know I’ve never seen or even heard of before.

Overall, with the situation they were dealt with, I thought this was a very solid Christmas episode. It was a great mix of pre-taped sketches from earlier that week and sketches from seasons past. Although I think everybody would have preferred the usual episode format, myself included, the health and safety of the cast, crew, and everyone else involved obviously comes first and, heaven forbid if this happened again, they would be able to pull off an episode like this again. I obviously preferred this episode to the alternative of scrapping the episode entirely but obviously I would have respected the decision if it had ever come to that.

Before the season finale, it was announced that Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney would be leaving the show. Months later, it was announced that Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari, and Melissa Villaseñor would not be coming back. Just within the last couple of weeks, Chris Redd also announced his departure from the show. This marks the first time since the end of season 20 that the show has had this many cast members leave the show either by choice or being fired. For reference, season twenty had twelve cast members leave, however some of these departures were midseason. It’s crazy to think that this is one of the biggest cast departures of my lifetime (I was born during the last couple months of season 20). It’s also crazy to think that, with the exception of Kenan, I’ve seen the debut of everyone in the current cast as a cast member. That being said, it’s made some of these departures hard. I know this is the nature of the show and cast members come and go but it doesn’t make it any easier when they leave. For example, Kate and Aidy’s departures have been particularly hard for me. I started really watching the show around the time the both of them joined. They were always these constants that I looked forward to seeing every Saturday night. I mean, if Cecily had announced she was leaving at the same time, that would have made it even harder (thankfully, we have Cecily for at least next season). Pete’s departure was probably the only one out of all of them where I pretty much saw it coming. His career outside of the show was starting to take off and he was only in a small handful of sketches in the second half of the season. I honestly thought he would have left sooner but eight years is a good run. I was a little surprised that Aristotle was let go but also not really because he did have some good characters, of course a lot of his stuff kept getting cut for time which happens when there’s a large cast. I also thought Kyle would have left last season when Beck left but I guess he wanted to go one more season. I was, however, really shocked to see Alex, Melissa, and especially Chris announce that they were leaving. I mean, I knew they weren’t going to stay for a super long time but I expected them to maybe stay another year or so. Even with these departures, I’m curious and excited to see how the new season goes with the new cast members who I’ll talk about more in my season premiere post.

This has been my recap of the second half of season 47. I plan on doing a better job of posting more consistently and do better planning so I don’t fall behind again. As always, thank you all for your continued support and for always live tweeting with me. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @SNLBlogger for SNL news and live tweeting every new episode during the season. See you for the season 48 premiere!

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Simu Liu/Saweetie November 20, 2021

On the last episode of SNL, Jonathan Majors made his hosting debut with returning musical guest Taylor Swift. This episode didn’t have many memorable sketches but Taylor performed the ten minute version of her song All Too Well.

This episode was the Thanksgiving episode with host Simu Liu and musical guest Saweetie. I was a little familiar with Simu Liu only because of the recent movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to hosting SNL. I also wasn’t too familiar with Saweetie other than one of her songs and her collaboration meal with McDonald’s, which I did try (it was good but I’m just not much of a Big Mac person).

Here is my review of the SNL Thanksgiving episode hosted by Simu Liu with musical guest Saweetie.

Sketch Rundown:

Jeanine Pirro Cold Open:

I absolutely loved this cold open and I love Cecily’s impression. I also thought that Mikey was great as the judge from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. I also loved Chloe and Chris’s characters and the banter between them. I thought the liberal tears mug was a funny prop. I also thought Alex was great in this and it was especially funny that he was failing at the water bottle flip. I was also glad to see James bring back his Trump impression which is still scary good. I also found it fitting that this impression would take a dig at the all female Ghostbusters reboot (which, if you know me, is one of my favorite movies of all time). I also loved the word search rundown.

Simu Liu Monologue:

As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t know what to expect since I wasn’t that familiar with Simu Liu. However, I thought this was a very funny monologue. I loved his Thanksgiving jokes and the jokes about how he got the role of Shang-Chi. I also loved his story about how he used to dress as Spiderman for kids birthday parties. I also thought it was funny how he ended his monologue by saying “I’m Shang-Chi bitch!”.

Karaoke All-Stars:

I really liked this sketch and thought it was very funny. I loved Kenan and Chloe in this sketch. I loved the singing and the jokes about Radio Shack. I thought it was hilarious when James and Melissa sang as Homer and Marge Simpson. If I’m being honest, I would totally watch a sketch of all the karaoke performances. I thought this was a great sketch to start the show.

Target Thanksgiving Ad:

I loved this sketch and found it so relatable. Honestly, I could have used those AirPods with the Thanksgiving I had this year. I also loved the dog digging through the trash. I also loved the line at the end “Target: Let’s Do It All Again At Christmas”. 

New Military Weapon:

I absolutely loved this sketch! I thought the dog was so cute and how it was called Dog Head Man and that it was “a female dog’s head on a human man’s body”. I also thought it was hilarious when it was putting the gun together and when the dog was eating the sandwich. It was also hilarious when it was trying to diffuse the bomb. This sketch reminded me of a past sketch from a few seasons ago but I can’t remember who was the host. This sketch had to be not only my favorite sketch but also the best sketch of the night.

Republican or Not:

When I first saw the title of this sketch, I thought that I would be good at a game like this since I’m from Missouri. I did love the concept of the sketch. I also loved it when Kenan had the bucket of popcorn and that the sponsor of this game was the city of Orlando. I also thought it was great when Cecily did an impression of Liz Cheney.

Walking in Staten:

I thought this was a funny sketch and a great parody. I was also surprised to see that Big Wet came back after appearing in the Squid Game sketch back in the Rami Malek episode. I thought it was funny that Marc Cohn made an appearance in a parody of his song. I also thought it was cool that Method Man made an appearance. There was also an appearance from YouTuber Chris the Hobby Guy. I thought this was a great sketch and a great musical parody.

Saweetie “Tap In/Best Friend” Performance:

Like I mentioned, I’m not that familiar with Saweetie’s music. That being said, the only song of hers I know was “Best Friend”, the second song of this medley. I did think this was a great performance.

Weekend Update:

I thought this was a solid Update. I loved the character appearances this time. I know a lot of people don’t like Kyle’s Baby Yoda but I think it’s so cute but also so creepy at the same time. I thought it was funny that Baby Yoda was coming out with an album and was dating Mama Bear from The Berenstain Bears. I also loved that he brought back his feud with Baby Groot. I loved getting to see Aidy as Mother Earth. I loved her line “I’m gonna miss humans after you burn”. I really liked this character and I hope we get to see this character again.

Thanksgiving Baking Championship:

I absolutely love these types of sketches. I thought it was funny that throughout the entire sketch Pete was just continuously eating cake. I thought Simu’s character’s cakes were hilarious and thought it was funny how the cakes would scream and the one vomited all over Heidi’s character. I also loved the line “I think my cake is so bad I opened a portal to Hell”.

Simu and Bowen:

I thought this was a funny pre taped sketch. I thought it was great to see Simu and Bowen play off each other. I also thought it was funny when it was mentioned “It’s like we’re the Spiderman meme”. I also thought all of the different awards were funny as well as the different acceptance speeches that were given. 

Saweetie “Icy Chain” Performance:

I thought this was another great performance. Even though I said I’m not super familiar with Saweetie, I thought she put on two great performances.

911 Call:

I thought this sketch was kind of funny but also typical for the last sketch of the night. I thought it was funny when Kenan’s character was hiding under the table. I also loved the lines “Old people gotta stop smoking weed” and “I put a book in the oven instead of a turkey and now my kitchen’s on fire. Classic stoner move”.

Overall, I thought this was a solid episode with some very memorable sketches. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this episode. I really hope that Simu gets to host again.

Some SNL news that broke right before the goodnights was the death of SNL cast member and writer Peter Aykroyd, the brother of original cast member Dan Aykroyd. Peter Aykroyd was 65 and died two weeks before his 66th birthday. His cause of death was listed as “septicemia from an internal infection precipitated by an untreated abdominal hernia”. This was confirmed by Dan Aykroyd through his publicist. My deepest condolences go out to the Aykroyd family and friends of Peter Aykroyd.

This has been my take on the SNL Thanksgiving episode hosted by Simu Liu with musical guest Saweetie. I’ll be back with a new post with host and musical guest Billie Eilish. Be sure to connect with me and follow me on Twitter at @SNLBlogger for up to date SNL news and live tweeting every new episode. See you during the next episode!

Thanks for reading!

Lauren