Cold Opening – Domingo Birthday
Domingo (MAH) & Squad surprise (AND) & (CHF)
- Ugh. Seriously SNL? We’re getting this overhyped Fowlie/O’Sullivan TikTok pandering dreck right out of the gate? Something always felt creepy seeing a sketch that’s targeting mega pop stars’ fanbases written by a duo 20+ years older than them, but I digress.
- I see, so this sketch has now “graduated” from later in the night to the cold open spot? Does Lorne think this is a new Wayne’s World or something? or is Bowen being absent tonight (at least from the live show) canceled out plans for a Trump/Santos (shudder) cold open?
- I remember some fans saying Chloe is “great” in these sketches. You mean sitting there laboriously recapping the sketch for us as if we do not have any eyes? Such an MVP of the show!
- On the other hand, boy does it feel painful to watch Andrew in these sketches. I just hope he has a great season overall, as it is sad seeing him play so many straight men who barely, if ever, do anything funny.
- Yikes, even for these sketches’ standards, that is some rough singing. Not even the great Ashley Padilla is making this any better for me, and it feels sad this is the biggest role so far that Veronika had on the show. Being a part of this pandering crap.
- I’ll say that Sabrina is coming off fairly likable and comfortable already. I’m intrigued by her as host from now.
- This parody of that Taylor Swift song (“The Fate of Ophelia”) is doing nothing for me. But hey, if Fowlie/O’Sullivan want another mega pop star to pander to (and get bus tickets, too – why not?), then I guess Taylor Swift is next on queue.
- All-in-all: no. NO. I am all in for having fun, apolitical cold opens once in a while, but this?! This TikTok-pandering crap that won’t even get the show any new long-term fans (and frequent commenter John has a great comment about such pieces in my season premiere review), is just the wrong way to go. Everything about this cold open, from the lazy rewrite, performances and pacing was off-putting and unfunny to me. Next, please.
Rating: *
Monologue
host talks album cover, misconceptions
- As expected, Sabrina is coming off comfortable in front of a live audience. Her delivery is also really good, especially for a mega pop star. No signs of nerves or anything as well.
- I didn’t care for the “joke” around her so-called controversial album cover. Photo-based humor just ain’t my thing.
- A good turn with Sabrina going into the audience and interacting with them. The pink lighting is also a nice touch.
- What’s with the Kenan part? Boy, can this season’s monologue writers just write a coherent monologue for once? Sabrina is good here, but she is clearly doing all she can to elevate such writing.
Rating: **1/2
Boys Podcast
snacks podcast turns political
- A podcast sketch? Between this and the cold open, am I watching a Charli XCX rerun from last season?
- The visual of Jane in that getup is something I didn’t need to see. Speaking of Jane, it says a lot she wasn’t one of the “Squad” members in that cold open.
- I’ll say, nice seeing a lot of Veronika already in tonight’s episode.
- I got nothing to say about this sketch so far besides how very dull it is. That podcast sketch from last season was a lot better-written. The performances aren’t exactly thrilling me, outside of Veronika and Sabrina. I also dislike the voice Chloe is using. She’ll never be the lead woman of the show. Just give it up, man.
- Ugh at the goated vegetables line.
- This sketch is picking up as soon as JAJ showed up as Trump. They should’ve gone into this part of the sketch much quicker, as the first three minutes were too slow-moving, especially for our post-monologue sketch.
- Typical JAJ Trump lines, but he is giving me my first real laughs in this sketch. I especially liked his obligatory Santos mention and the No Kings protests.
- This season is so far 3-for-3 with underwhelming leadoff sketches. What the hell? I do not recall the last season that had such a losing streak with these by this point.
Rating: **1/2
Plans
couple’s (host) & (BEM) plans go awry
- Nice seeing Ben being paired with the host in only his third episode as a cast member.
- A laugh from the title reveal. I’m also really liking the voiceover in this. Is that JAJ? If so, he is doing an uncanny imitation of horror movies’ typical “sinister” announcing.
- The horror-style presentation of a mundane activity reminds me of prior pretapes the show did, and this piece’s visual style looks a lot like that 2024 pretape from the Jack Harlow episode in season 48.
- The laughs aren’t much in this, despite decent performance. And boy, I hate to say it, but man does Mikey look ancient in that wig.
- Andrew is fucking hilarious in his brief portion in this. Love his look, voice, etc. Priceless.
- All-in-all, yet another short this season that sadly didn’t work fully for me. Nice lead work from Ben & Sabrina, at least.
Rating: **1/2
ShopTV: Pillow
suggestive pillows from (host) derail cheesy Southern show
- If his awful performances so far this season weren’t evidence enough, he should’ve left, now Mikey brings back this sketch with a THIRD female cast member as his co-host, with Ashley taking this spot. Am I going to watch this guy till he is at a nursing home performing for us? Is S75 going to be Mikey’s last?
- Oh, and after being so underused and lost the first two episodes, is Mikey now going to be suddenly used again? I won’t sit through another season with him eating up airtime doing his tired, spent shtick while promising new male hires keep getting fired.
- I admit cracking up at the bit with JAJ at the start, even when it was basically the same as the one from the season 49 installment.
- Sabrina is fine in this role, but the cheap visuals are doing nothing for me.
- Not even Ashley Padilla can do much to elevate this sketch for me. I blame the lame writing for that.
- By this point in the season, I think I’m done with Mikey screaming. Between this and his role in The Rudemans last week. And I thought this guy had nothing to show for before the season started, but holy hell. As they say, my expectations were low, but….
- Overall…. I got nothing more to say. With dullness, as stated endlessly of late, there’s NOTHING to say. And the less said about Mikey screaming and reacting for the billionth sketch in his tenure, the better.
Rating: **
Girlboss Seminar
woman (host) offers seminar about female empowerment
- This is the sketch that was being setup during the dress rehearsal taping preview a few hours ago.
- Boy, from the outfits to Sabrina’s wig, this sketch screams annoying camp. Am I watching yet another Fowlie/O’Sullivan sketch tonight? Then again, that awful theme songs sketch last week wasn’t theirs, so who knows? I shudder to think of the notion that multiple writers nowadays ape that Anderlette crap, which is the LAST thing this era needs, with the pandering they’ve been doing already.
- Being very familiar with Jeremy pre-SNL, I feel bad for him being in such an old, tired and unfunny campy sketch. At least he & Tommy are performing their parts quite well. Sabrina is also heavy lifting such a premise and is coming off quite likable, which is another positive, as the writing is whatever for me.
- Great, we are now getting audience members, for the second show in a row, calling out the “weirdness” of what’s happening onstage. Gee, thanks for that, I forgot to wear my eyeballs for the sketch.
- Man, watching Sarah & Chloe in this makes me miss Heidi & Ego even more. At least, with them, they would’ve added something to their roles.
- Yet another “moment” with Kenan. Is this all that this performer going to do this season? Much like Mikey and Chloe, he has no place on the show by now.
Rating: **
Grind Song
prom is the time for crotch-grinding
- Considering the “quality” of SNL’s musical shorts in this era… best get into this one with caution.
- Of course, Bowen Yang, who is nowhere to be seen in the live episode tonight, gets the first part of this pretape. Never got why they let him sing so often. He doesn’t have “it” in these.
- It figures they’d do a grinding song considering who the host is. Meh. I’m not finding that many laughs to be found here. Despite Sabrina and the cast clearly having a lot of fun. The cinematography is also way too dark for me, which is a big gripe I’ve been having with them in recent seasons.
- While I should be glad seeing Ashley Padilla getting tons of airtime so far into tonight’s episode, it is sad THIS is an episode where it happened. She is performing in some of the worst sketches in her tenure so far.
- This season hasn’t been impressing me much with its pretapes so far. By this point last season, I already dished out 5 stars to one pretape. Hopefully, this is just a slump coming back from the summer.
Rating: **
Musical Performance – “Manchild”
Weekend Update
The Movie Guy (MAH) talks about Halloween movies
TOB talks about growing in the Midwest
- Ah, if anything, I’m sure Update will put this episode back into focus! /s
- Not even the audience is into this Update so far. I’d love to say they’ve grown sick of them as much as I and some other fans became, but I guess they are there for the Sabrina.
- Lovely, as if this episode hasn’t been dreadful enough, we are now getting a Movie Guy commentary? And, atop all that, two, no THREE Marcello “characters” in two episodes? Fucking kill me.
- As usual, the “joke” in this commentary is dreadful and unfunny. Much like all the other Marcello “characters” there is no core or something to grab you, outside of the screeching and “hilarious” accent work from Marcello.
- I still remember how Andrew Dismukes would be torn apart online by some fans when he would do a sketch or a desk piece, especially during his brutal underuse in season 48. (Remember the whole period with Michael Longfellow being used to trash Andrew? I certainly still remember and look where both are at now.) Yet, where are those fans nowadays? Not only with the crap Marcello constantly does, especially wasting airtime on Update, but the babying of Jane Wickline and the so-called “hate” she is getting for being called out for the crappy performer she is. All of this makes this era of the show come even worse than it already is.
- Oh, “LOL” he is confusing names and clearly isn’t watching the movies he is supposed to be reviewing. When did I SEE that before?! (Blood proceeds to gouge and eat his own eyeballs.)
- Man at some of these jokes so far…. Asian Murderers? Was that supposed to be funny? Who writes this crap?!
- Nice seeing Tommy doing a desk piece, even when I was underwhelmed by the Kam debut behind the desk. I’d take these pieces than the crap this season has been throwing at me so far behind the desk.
- Funny Tommy mentions being one of eight kids. I can relate to that, as I am, believe it or not, the second youngest from fourteen kids from both my dad and mom’s side.
- Tommy’s delivery and performance is quite likable and helping this piece for me, even when so much of it is generic, passable relatable humor. I’d take these types of desk pieces over this era’s DOGSHIT recurring characters. My god, this era is rivaling the late ‘00s in terms of recurring characters I despise, and many of them from a certain cast member, Marco Fernando or something?
Rating: **
Appliance Store
Washing machines (host) & (VES) sing show-tunes while washing & drying
- Yet another Ashley appearance tonight in a major role. Can you tell me again why the hell this performer hasn’t been upgraded to repertory by now?
- Oh, nice seeing a Veronika showcase, considering how very well-aware I am with her humor pre-SNL. This has been a good episode for the newbies so far (Kam excluded), which is the only positive I’m finding in it.
- I wanted to say I’m pretty surprised, between this episode and the last, how much more airtime the newbies have been receiving compared to past seasons. I hope this is a sign of confidence in them moving ahead. They’ve been some of the few positives this season has, alongside the focus on absurdist humor. All the while most of this cast’s vets come off out of place and even more spent.
- Speaking of absurdist humor (which sadly this episode lacked big time), this premise is a lot of fun for me and is very throwback-y in a way. Makes me remember those catchy 1920s musicals I’m a sucker for. Knowing Veronika, this is right in her wheelhouse.
- Fun, silly and catchy vocal harmonies between Veronika and Sabrina. I’m not a Sabrina Carpenter listener, but her vocals are great here and so spot-on of those types of musicals.
- The audience isn’t giving this sketch the reception it deserves, as they’re absolutely dead in this. In fact, they’ve been pretty dead in general in tonight’s episode. That’s sometimes the case when huge pop stars host. I remember the season 45 Harry Styles (an episode I remember liking a lot) having deadly audience reactions to multiple sketches, even some good ones.
- I love the second musical number, especially the quick catchphrases by Veronika & Sabrina. The latter’s softly-delivered “yum!” cracked me up so much.
- Veronika is terrific in this so far. Just beaming with endless charisma and energy. She is also making such a fun duo with Sabrina, who is obviously beyond a natural for such a sketch. It makes me wish she got better writing tonight. This piece’s charming, goofy nature makes it one I definitely could’ve seen during the show’s original era, or as one of the musical pieces Christine Ebersole did in S7.
- The Ashley/Andrew/Kenan portions are adding nothing to the sketch and serve to make the structure confused, as usual with much of SNL’s sketches of recent years. With that said, they aren’t harming the sketch too badly as I’m getting laughs and lots of enjoyment from the Sabrina/Veronika portions.
- Not sure I cared for the ending, especially after such a fun final number.
Rating: ***1/2
Office Birthday
birthday surprise causes farting meltdown from co-worker (ASP)
- Ashley Padilla has been getting Kristen Wiig/Amy Poehler-levels airtime of late. Once again, can you tell me why this performer is still a featured player? She is carrying the whole show on her back this season already. This also makes it so clear how much the show has no confidence in Sarah and Chloe as leads of the show.
- Ugh at the big fart coming from Ashley’s character. Knowing how damn fantastic she is, I’m hoping she’ll be able to salvage such a sketch.
- I do admit loving Ashley’s very lengthy, awkward reaction to the fart which gave me some big laughs that masked the thin writing (or the smell?) of this sketch.
- Ben breaking from Ashley’s lines is endearing. By the way, my screencaps are clearly taken from dress substitute for the West Coast airing, as I do not recall him breaking during the live airing of this sketch.
- Is Sarah Sherman going to spend this whole season being relegated to playing dull straight man roles? With her & Andrew, the show’s two most oddball players, turning often bland, no wonder the show has been struggling. Then again, if stuff like her loud, overlong New Yorker piece she did and The Rudemans last week are examples of Sarah having “comedic” showcases nowadays…. oof.
- A very thin and dumb sketch that really shouldn’t be working, but goddamn Ashley Padilla is killing it in this role. She reminds me of those Kristen Wiig performances in her early seasons that made her a superstar. I’m not sure if that’s Ashley’s trajectory moving forward, but she’s been having a fantastic season so far – the MVP of the season by a mile thus far. I just hope she gets better writing than this.
Rating: *** (mainly for Ashley’s performance)
Musical Performance – “Nobody’s Son”
Social Experiment
MAH does faux-social experiment around bigotry
- This Martin Herlihy pretape was cut from the first two weeks of the season. Reading about it, it certainly seemed much more interesting than most of what got on the air.
- A solid concept around this piece, which is a lot more than I can say about the material in this episode. I’m also getting strong Nathan Fielder vibes, which is obviously refreshing for this era of SNL.
- I also really liking the commentary this piece is making about people’s perception and bigotry. The absurdist visual with multiple Frankenstein’s Monsters all over the short is very amusing and memorable. It helps that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of my personal favorite novels of all-time. (By my username, you can probably guess my favorite….)
- The Martin portions are solid and aren’t overdone. I especially love how he is trying to frame the short his own way.
- The “racist/slightly problematic” part with Jane was absolutely priceless.
- Some great laughs from the so-called signs of bigotry upon seeing these “monsters” in the movie theater. SNL mocked Wokeness many times before, but the “super serious” method this short has is handled expertly. This feels SO out of the norm with modern SNL, in the best possible way.
- The whole portions with Kam and Veronika were great. I especially loved the visual of Martin between all those monsters.
- These writer-credited shorts have been the best thing with the show of late, considering the marked decline in quality everywhere else on the show. Glad I finally had what I consider to be the first standout pretape of the season.
Rating: ****1/2
Cut For Time: Biohacker Chuck Spyro
biohacker (JAJ) details routine
- John: Thank you to Blood Meridian for very kindly letting me review the first cut piece (hopefully far from the last) of season 51!
- Cut Update pieces are rarely released by the show so this feels even more special.
- I’m not sure if it was intended, but JAJ’s voice reminds me of a raspier version of Dana Carvey’s Casey Kasem impression.
- Someone in the Youtube comments suggested JAJ could play Gavin Newsom. I didn’t see it before, but I do now.
- This mockery of a bro who has too much money and not enough intelligence isn’t new, perhaps epitomized by Alex Moffat in the “Guy Who Bought a Boat” desk pieces. One difference here is the writing is not in need of reminding us what a loser he is by having him reference it (which always annoyed me in those pieces, well-performed as they were). They trust us to understand this ourselves.
- I enjoy some of the pathetic details added on to his busy day, like eating Chick-fil-A nuggets while scrolling Raya for 4 hours.
- Don’t need Che recapping/reminding us of moments we can figure out ourselves (“you lose weight AND height?”)
- A blunt, dark, perfectly delivered line: “More likely to put a gun in my mouth than a piece of fruit.”
- Another pointless Che explain-the-absurd line (“27? You’re fully grey!”) but I like how JAJ’s character takes it as a compliment.
- Somewhat clunky ending with his neuralink going off but I like the beat of him jogging away from the desk.
- This isn’t anything fantastic, but JAJ’s delivery is superb. JAJ is the rare presence on this show who exudes confidence but never smugness. He never begs the audience to hang on his every word. He is mature and adds depth to a very shallow experience.
- I have repeatedly felt that (similar to Ashley at present) JAJ is simply too good for modern SNL. That may sound elitist, but when I compare this to anything else thrown onto Update this season (and many seasons), I can’t help it. I’m glad he’s there, but I just hope the show appreciates him while he’s still there.
Rating: ***
Goodnights
Segments Ranked from Best to Worst
Social Experiment
Appliance Store
Office Party
Plans
Boys Podcast
Monologue
Grind Song
Girlboss Seminar
ShopTV: Pillow
Weekend Update
Domingo Wedding
Final Thoughts:
- The string of post-Update pieces is going to give this episode a nice boost in the rating average, but that certainly won’t make me forget the unbelievable laziness and dullness which dominated the first half of the night, making it downright unwatchable, and even said pieces in the back half weren’t strong enough to turn this episode around overall for me. I know some fans would say I should expect this type of an episode with Sabrina Carpenter, but I had no problems with her as host, as she committed and was clearly there to have fun. It is the writing to be blamed.
- Before this season started, I decided against having lengthy rants like I did last season about the poor quality of the show and just take every episode at face value. I’m certainly committing to that, but watching this episode and the season premiere has me puzzled. What type of fans does SNL want? Where is its identity in this era? Why does it keep pandering to an audience that will never come to it? Why does the show have so many writers who seem to either fill up space or not have a distinct comedic voice? Do we really need to go back to the Anderlette Camp-N’-Vamp? Many years afterwards? So many questions left unanswered, so little laughs to be had.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
Up Next:
- Miles Teller & Brandi Carlile are back, November 1st.
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
Yeah, this overall episode was pretty much as I expected. I didn’t really care for anything in the first half, but I liked the segments in the second half. Wait, didn’t I feel the same way about the Bad Bunny episode this season as well? Huh. I guess those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I don’t know why they keep bringing Domingo back. I mean, I DO know why, but it’s incredibly unnecessary. Everyone online has already said it, but it just doesn’t work as a recurring sketch, and it was never funny to begin with.
Ngl, when The Movie Guy came on, I literally muted my TV because I couldn’t stand to see it on my screen. But even with it muted, I still took issue with Marcello’s constant mugging.
I wasn’t entirely certain about the surprise sketch, but I feel Ashley’s performance made it work for me.
The 10-to-1 was my favorite of the night. It was great to see Martin get a sketch on, and the result was friggin’ priceless.
So yeah, I didn’t like this one on the whole. Don’t have much more to say beyond that.
Very good review once again Blood! I know suffering through this episode wasn’t easy, so please know that your efforts and hard work are very appreciated.
Now I’d like to go on a bit of a mini-rant: Domingo for me epitomizes everything I despise about this current era of SNL. If ever there were an indication of how weak the writing of modern SNL has become, this sketch becoming super popular is exhibit A. In my best Stefon voice, this sketch has everything: a fairly dull and one note premise complete with cucking and pop culture pandering, the show’s resident two oddballs being reduced to either a background singer or a straight man spelling out the joke for us and reacting like we’re idiots, a hammy and one note cast member being front and center positioned as the “star” of the show, so much reliance on vamping, stanning, and trying desperately to appeal to the TikTok crowd, and a completely forced and unnecessary attempt to make the sketch recurring when it had ZERO legs to stand on. The thing is, the first installment of this sketch, while nothing special, was at least passable and I can somewhat see why it went viral. I’m not a huge Ariana fan, but if I was, the novelty of seeing her sing off key and being game would be fun. That said, is Lorne THIS desperate for recurring sketches that this is the best he can do? Is he/the show seriously this lazy to where any sketch that goes viral will get an endless amount of repeats with zero deviation or any interesting alternate angles? Just “hey, recognize this pop song we’re singly badly off key on”? The fact that SNL tried desperately to force this sketch to be on the same level as Wayne’s World, Stefon, or even Ms. Rafferty is absolutely pathetic and speaks more than ever to how out of touch, old, and tired Lorne has become and why he needs to retire. I sincerely hope to NEVER see another installment of this awful Fowlie/O’Sullivan dreck.
Anyways, sorry, had to get that off my chest.
The first half of the show (including Weekend Update) somehow managed to be even BELOW my expectations for this episode. I absolutely HATED the first 2-3 minutes of that Boys Podcast sketch. It was like a weird blend of Gen Z Hospital and Where’s Cooter: no real jokes, just a group of people repeating and overusing Gen Z slang over and over and over again with no funny dialogue to be found. The whole sketch was basically “how do you do fellow kids” until JAJ’s Trump came in, which again really is showing SNL’s age. And while things got better once JAJ joined in, he couldn’t salvage it. It’s sad to see a performer like him being given material this tepid and half-assed.
Don’t even get me started on that ShopTV retread (Mikey, please hang it up and GTFO. You’re actually ruining your legacy by staying on this long) or the Grind song (Big Dumb Line 2.0). Or watching a great oddball performer like Sarah Sherman reduced to explaining/restating the joke and reacting to the whole Girlboss Seminar sketch. I felt legit sad watching her in that. I know her starring sketches have been hit and miss, but at least she’s actually doing SOMETHING in those. But having a terrific oddball performer stuck in thankless roles like this is just depressing. This girl could and should be the queen of 10-to-1 sketches and be the heir to Will Forte and instead the show is wasting her. If I were Sarah, I would seriously consider quitting the show at this point if this is how I’m gonna be used moving forward.
I will say I actually enjoyed the Plans pretape a fair amount. Maybe it was because of how the material surrounding it was so awful, but at least it had a clear cut premise, was a spot on parody of horror movies, and Sabrina and Ben were acting their asses off (might be my favorite Sabrina performance of the whole evening tbh).
You’ve said everything that needs to be said about Update and especially the Movie Guy bullshit, so I won’t waste my breath on it further.
Moving on to the back half, things definitely improved, but there was still a fair amount of shakiness. Ashley Padilla should not be working her ass off to just barely salvage a thin one joke fart sketch. This material is beneath her and she deserves better. The Martin Herlihy Social Experiment piece was brilliant and was the only thing all night I well and truly loved with virtually no criticisms (except that I kind of wish someone else were in Jane’s spot, but it was brief enough that her wooden delivery wasn’t a dealbreaker). The Veronika piece was fun, cute and charming and a nice little slice of variety even if it didn’t really give me many laughs. Still, at least it was something different.
Anyways, sorry for this comment being so long and turning into a mini-review, but that first half was so awful and demoralizing that it almost broke me and I had to get it off my chest. Sabrina was a good host and committed, I’ll give her that. I just wish, much like Charli XCX last year, she’d been given better material. Most of these sketches were just a waste of her. I sincerely hope this break will help the show. At the very least, I’ll be glad to not have to endure any more Fowlie/O’Sullivan for a little while.
I think the biggest difference between Forte and Sarah is he had much more sketch experience and was a stronger writer for himself. Sarah is at her best in some of her quirky pre-tapes but they are few and far between. If Forte was on the show now he might have the same limitations, as the show has so little trust in any of their performers, but for the most part the only time Sarah has been allowed to have a personality is Jost Roast.
This was better than I was expecting (I was expecting a dud to be honest), but this was still a VERY meh episode. While nothing fully flopped for me, NOTHING in this episode stood out as strong, which is pretty sad considering even the weak season premiere had one strong sketch.
I was expecting Domingo to come back, so I wasn’t upset, but it was still unnecessary to bring back. I’m honestly more upset that The Movie Guy came back, which is a character I never want to see EVER AGAIN.
I’m disappointed in myself for really liking the Boys Podcast sketch, since I really feel like I shouldn’t like it, but I honestly thought the conversations each cast member had were really funny. Also, I have to be honest, Jane was really funny, and convincing in her role here. Also, JAJ as Trump appearing out of nowhere and doing his usual schtick was hilarious.
The Surprise sketch is the 2nd sketch this season where they give Ashley a dud script, tell her “Go act”, and she makes it really funny, and a highlight in an episode. It was also probably my favorite sketch of the night.
It felt nice to see Tommy get an Update commentary. He is likable, but his comedy wasn’t really creative, or anything new or interesting in my opinion. His final line was GREAT though.
I’m REALLY excited for Miles Teller, and I hope the November string of shows is when this new season finally takes off.
I definitely liked this episode more than you, but I couldn’t help but agree with pretty much all of your points given here.
This was absolutely a downgrade from Amy’s episode, but I also think we’re starting to see the cast starting to shift to what I assume will be our main players if Lorne gets the guts to fire most of his cast. Ashley is obviously really making her place as a star, and Ben & Jeremy are already making a mark, Ben with his more major roles and Jeremy making the most of his short screenttime. Being familiar with Jeremy, I am impatiently waiting for him to get his own showcase.
Even Jane for me is working more, with only her performance in the lawyer sketch from last episode hurting any comedy or pacing. She even gave me the biggest laugh from the Grind pre-tape, right at the very end, but of course humor is subjective and such.
I think, unfortunately, Domingo is here to stay. His sketch was absolutely the most viewed from this episode, so even the large pandering of it probably isn’t enough to warrant dropping it as a recurring sketch.
And I’m right there with you in feeling that Martin pre-tape felt very Nathan Fielder-esque! It felt like I was watching someone with charisma hosting Nathan For You, and it was fantastic for it. I’d love to see Martin keep making these.
Anyways, I’m hoping the next episode will feel a bit more cohesive, now that the writers and performers have had at least a bit of time to gel together a bit. Maybe wishful thinking, but still.
Great review as always!
Just my guess but I think this is it for Domingo unless Sabrina returns or unless they get desperate with another female pop star. Even then this may be it.
This was better than the Bad Bunny episode for me, because it had higher highs, but geez some of these sketches were PAINFUL to sit through. Especially the beginning of that Snack Homiez sketch. Personally the appearance of James’s Trump didn’t even salvage it, given how sick I am of the impression. And do I need to say anything about the third Domingo appearance?
I hope that the poor quality of this episode and the Bad Bunny episodes are because of who was hosting and the amount of pandering to the younger audience that a young pop star will bring to the show, rather than an indication of the quality of the rest of the season. Fingers crossed for the next round of episodes.
I do think the pandering due to the host’s demos is a big factor, but once upon a time the show could pander and manage some degree of competence. The inability to write basic sketches is a whole other issue. Other than Domingo I didn’t even think they were pandering very much to Sabrina fans. They just can’t write live sketches and the pre-tapes are mostly padded repeats.
This episode going into it I was barely excited for as I felt it was going to be probably the campiest episode this season, that said while there was a lot of camp in this I still enjoy this for the most part and it’s probably my favorite episode of the season tbh.
I am probably everyone else expected Domingo to appear, and I always been neutral him and same with this particular sketch mainly thanks to the addition of Ashley and Veronika in this I felt was very good as both of them had me subtlety laughing in this. Also, for some reason the wig on Ashley made me laugh. And plus is good that they just got it right out the way, and I rather have Domingo as the cold opened then another lame political opening. The song they performed, as well as how they sung them amused me too, and I agree with how comfortable Sabrina looked doing this, which I appreciated.
The podcast sketch was probably my least favorite thing of the night. I can’t remember a single joke or really anything anyone said in it and despite good performances playing teenage boys (particularly Jane and especially Veronika) from the girls, this did nothing for me and James coming in as Trump was unneeded imo.
Even though Plan was a typical trying to make a relatable premise a horror movie trailer that seems to be pretty common for the show to do nowadays I actually really enjoyed this mainly thanks to Ben and Sabrina’s acting in this as well as the brief part with Andrew as the actor.
The pre-tales in general in this episode I really liked because grind song had potential to be very lame, but to me they really elevated, especially with all the cast members joining in and some great parts between Veronika, Ben, Jeremy, Ashley, and Jane. And I also feel with Bowen gone for the live show. This was the absolute right way to use him in this one thing.
Farting was good thanks to Ashley‘s typical solidness as a performer, this was also another part of an Ashley sketch that I know is where she kinda takes her time with her punchlines as it was a very long fart, and she was so upset by the even saying Jesus Christ at one point. I definitely agree with you that this premise was whatever and probably Ashley‘s worst sketch even though I still think this is a good one.
Social experiment I think it’s actually a ***** sketch, literally everything and this was so great and Veronika and especially Kam crack me up in this. It was also fun seeing a bunch of people in Frankenstein and cat in the hat costumes and Martin played a great host in this.
Overall, I feel like I’m definitely higher on you on this episode which I lied thanks to Sabrina as a house which I felt you’re in a great job and everything as well as two fun and performances from her and I feel yet another pretty decent usage of our cast. And I might even be as bold to say this season so far is already miles better than S50. Speaking of Miles excited to see him back and hope his episode will be better than the last one he hosted which while not his fault was still pretty weak.
As usual, solid review Blood with excellent takes on various things and can’t wait to see more of them for the rest of the season!!!
Correction:
“Which I lied thanks to Sabrina as a house which I felt you’re in a great job” was meant to be “which I liked thanks to Sabrina as a host, which I felt she did a great job”.
It honestly suprises me how much people stand by this cast. I can kinda understand people who love Bowen and Sarah if they’re not comedy nerds and like the basic stuff, but why on Earth Mikey and Chloe still have fans/defenders after the weak seasons they’ve been having and how they really don’t have a purpose on the show aside from being annoying is beyond me.
Thanks as always for your very hard work on these reviews. And for letting me review the cut for time piece.
This was certainly an interesting episode to think about – much more than it was to watch.
The dead audience should have been a wakeup call for the show, as should the criticism I’ve seen online today from stans who are finally calling the show out, but my guess is they will blame Bowen not being there, blame the new hires, or blame the audience of a pop figure.
Domingo does not ever work outside of Ariana, and I don’t care if it’s “fake” or not, I do NOT want to hear 3-4 minutes of off-key singing – what an awful way to start a show, enough to almost make me regret wanting non-political cold opens. What I would have done, tired of Trump interruptus as I fear I may become, is to have all this buildup and then have Trump walk out instead of Domingo. If you really want to push the envelope, have him say something awful like, “Domingo’s been deported.”
The fart sketch was pretty much only salvaged by Ashley delivering a miraculous performance compared to what she was given to play. This was a bravura moment yet also made me sad because I just kept thinking she deserves to be on a better show. I’m wary of how the show will use Ashley going forward – right now I am unsure if she is going down the Kristen Wiig path that started around season 32 where they began throwing any kind of old shit at her because they thought she could pull it off. That squandered almost all of the potential Kristen brought to SNL and did nothing to improve the writing problems. No amount of talent will make up for vacuous writing and production. I’ve seen talk everywhere of how she should be promoted – which I rarely see among all stripes of fans and shows just how special Ashley is – but while she deserves that pay bump, what I really want for her is to be able to write and produce her own material, on here or elsewhere.
I rewatched Shop TV for your review as I was completely zoned out the first time around. I usually gave these a kind word in the past, but I just can’t take Mikey anymore, for all of the reasons you pointed out. He seemed more desperate than ever trying to get this over. He also looked exhausted. Ashley and Sabrina were fine, but it was mainly the little character moment for JAJ at the start and Kenan’s pervy call-in that made any of this work for me.
The podcast sketch had a genuinely clever idea by having Trump pop in as the guest. For that alone I’d put this above the first two leadoffs. Unfortunately, as you said, the pre-Trump portion went on much too long. Making matters worse is that Chloe was HORRIBLE. The voice made me think of Land of Gorch, which isn’t good. The mugging – unbearable. She could not even pretend to play a tween and she shouldn’t have tried. Sabrina, Veronika, and yes, even Jane were much better. I’d go as far to say this was Jane’s best sketch performance and her best episode so far. I’m willing to praise cast I don’t care for if they warrant it. Chloe (and Marcello on Update, which you already put into words better than I could) did not.
The speaker sketch had a fun idea with the dummy and Sabrina becoming incoherent. This was absolutely gutted by the excessive cutaways to Sarah and Chloe who – yet again – proved they aren’t suited to these types of react roles. Even if they had been, it was completely unnecessary to go back to them what felt like 15 times.
I enjoyed the washing machine sketch more on a rewatch, but I feel bad for Veronika that this was her major debut. I’m always glad to see Ashley and Andrew teamed up but I’m not a fan of opening sketches with characters being unpleasant to each other and then moving to a totally different premise. James Anderson and Kent Sublette did this frequently and somehow their worst habits remain. Then you add in the weird “stop” moment with the washers that just confused me and you add in the dead audience and ultimately a fun premise on paper got lost in the wash (pun intended).
The first two pre-tapes were just such blatant retreads I almost wish they’d replayed old pieces – not sure there’s a difference anymore.
Plans I could mostly praise just for giving Ben a lead role, and Sabrina was fine, but I just don’t need this anymore. I could sense the part where they ran out of ideas and went into repeat mode (it was when Ben got to the medicine cabinet). I’m not interested in more of Mikey and Sarah in these parts. And I am tired of hearing about how “relatable” these pieces are. Maybe if you have a trust fund. How many people do you know who go out night after night to expensive restaurants and fancy theatrical productions?
The grind pre-tape was passable, but I just kept thinking how much they were trying to rip off the musical pre-tapes of seasons 39-42, especially “Twin Bed.” This left me dispirited because I was hoping they’d finally try something different with PDD gone and instead they are just going back to water down material from a dull decade ago. I was also dispirited because one of the extras reminded me of Emil, who should still be there.
I was more positive about Martin’s pre-tape, which, beyond the Nathan comparison you mention, also made me think of the Albert Brooks pre-tapes from early season 1. A little meandering and padded but mostly worked fine. Martin also has the perfect presence for this type of presentation. And I did enjoy the beat of him breaking into the home of the “girlfriend” he’d broken up with three months earlier…then called her a racist. Little details that showed us how awful and delusional he was without trying too hard.
I felt bad for Tommy because it was impossible not to compare his debut to Longfellow, especially as he went along. The audience wasn’t there for it either. I think he’s going to need some work to get past one season. The Longfellow comparisons aren’t his fault (and he doesn’t remind me entirely of him – he also reminds me of early Seth Meyers), but it’s tough not to just think they brought him and dumped Longfellow to save a few bucks.
Anyway, thanks again. And I do hope, unlikely as it may be, the show will not learn the wrong lessons from this episode’s mixed/poor response. Keep showing the newer cast, just try, if you can, to relearn any rudimentary ability to construct a sketch, and try something – ANYTHING – new in a pre-tape. Film yourself kicking a can down the road. I don’t care. Kicking a can down the road is very apt for modern SNL anyway.
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.
I liked Grind
And I disagree on Audience Voice being bad and Mikey Yelling.
But not saying anything isn’t his fucking job.
I’m pretty sure, Jesse, that Justin meant himself and what he wanted to say but deciding not to in his comment regarding the episode.
Correct, Thank You Mr. Blood.
This was a weirdly aggressive response. Is defending online reviewers your job?
Hope the Martin Herlihey shorts become a regular thing, for me he was always the funniest PDD member so More Martin-centric shorts in this vein sound promising to me. Best thing in the episode for me, the whole exchange with Kam (who I hope to see used more eventually, im seeing a bit of a Tracy Morgan/JB Smoove like potential with him, he would be a natural playing the type or “ridiculous black guy” roles Tracy used to do, he just needs to find his own Brian Fellow) killed me especially. Jane’s exchange made me laugh too, I feel like her energy (or lack there of, lol) works better in pre-tapes a lot of the time.
Every once in a while a sketch comes along that crushes incredibly hard with me but leaves the rest of the fanbase shrugging. A few years ago, I stumped hard for a sketch called “The Talk” from the 2021 Owen Wilson episode. I felt it was a fabulously performed speed run through killer jokes with just the right sprinkling of honest to goodness actual satire. Everyone else thought it was “meh.” And here we are again with tonight’s podcast sketch – my favorite sketch of the season so far (to be fair, there were only four good to great sketches before this) or, as Blood and others put it, “underwhelming” and “dull.” To be fair, I’ve seen some mild praise for the sketch in other corners of the web and it seems like it’s gaining momentum with the SNL Reddit, but in the places I actually care about (basically here)…nothing. Shout out to Nylan for being a lone voice in the wilderness over the last couple days.
So first I’m going to guess why this one didn’t go over here: We don’t know Veronika, we’re ambivalent about the host, we’re sick of Trump and we hate the other two castmembers. Also, and this is me projecting on y’all a little bit, it’s a female heavy sketch (once again, see “The Talk”).
I’ll give a couple reasons why I enjoyed the sketch so much (like, five stars for me):
1. I have been driving a carpool of teen boys for a few years now. This is precisely what it sounds like. This isn’t some “How do you do, fellow kids” as James incorrectly asserts. This is an EXACT replica. This is a massive strain of culture that is ripe for some gentle prodding. And they got the beats right (and it helps when you don’t cast Mikey Day, maybe one of the more glaring errors of Gen Z Hospital).
2. I am vaguely familiar with the source material. I’m not, like, a fan of the real podcast, but this content has occasionally popped up in my reels and confounded me.
3. The performances. I’ll grant that Chloe is just doing a Kyle Mooney impression, but I think she largely hits the necessary threshold here. Everyone else? Fabulous. Yes, even Jane, who gives her fir honest to God great performance on the show.
4. The flow. I like the slow build. I like that the sketch works to acclimatize the audience and has some silly fun with the self-contradicting wordplay of the jocky tween slang. I found it relatable to my experience, but also just inherently good fun.
5. The satire. I think I get most excited when SNL weaves its political satire into the show in a way that isn’t bleedingly obvious. This was a good, self-contained scene, but the sudden inclusion of Trump was a hilarious jolt and a great way to skewer the normalization of cruel idiots via the manosphere.
Anyway, I thought the sketch was lowkey goated. The rest of you uncs are absolutely cooked.
As for the rest of the show…well, I enjoyed two additional segments, so I can’t really complain. I’ll jump right to the end and point out how effectively Martin Herlihy’s piece utilized Kam Patterson without playing off his race or his supposed edginess. It was just the small circular bit of absurdity in an otherwise strong piece. Kam played it perfect. There is hope for this castmember.
And with another castmember, we are beyond hope and fully in the realm of “this is an exciting thing that is happening right now.” Ashley Padilla is the rare castmember who can transcend their material through her acting. Some people are stars who have a special connection to the audience, but they can’t really make every bit of material work for them. We loved Wiig, Carvey, Farley, Mackinnon, etc…but if the sketch was death on paper, it remained death on the screen with them. Then there are those special other people who can just make shit WORK. And yeah, we are talking about the Phil Hartman realm. This week’s fart sketch was Ashley Padilla saying “material be damned, I’m gonna make this fucker fly.” Now, if you have any room in your heart to embrace a fart sketch, then you’re already set. But if you’re cynical to such a thing (not to mention the fact that the sketch bore a STRIKING resemblance to an I Think You Should Leave sketch), then what Padilla was able to wring out of this thing was nothing short of a miracle. She has undoubtedly shot to the front of the female cast, but her trajectory knows no limitations.
Quick hits:
– Domingo is positively as bad as everyone has ever said. It’s just a noxious cocktail of mini-spirited, cacophonous emptiness. It belongs in hell.
– What is even the hook of Movie Guy? What is the joke?
– The show just hired a slew of new writers. I pray that one of them has been tasked with writing actual monologues.
– We are at the point where when Mikey Day shows up on screen it’s like a jump scare. Has anyone ever felt so “not of the current cast”?
– Actually, after 20-whatever seasons, it fully feels like Kenan’s just dropping in for cameos. He doesn’t really feel organic to the show anymore either.
– The other pre-tapes were fine. I smiled politely through both.
– I think the Girlboss thing was almost good, but the sketchsplaining was suffocating.
– There was some fun business in the margins of the washer and dryer sketch, but I was unmoved by the main course, despite impressive vocal performances.
– I am pro-Tommy Brennan and I thought he did good work. That said…Michael Longfellow could do this and also had a couple other gears. Dig Tommy’s Dawson hair though.
A few things to say:
1. “mini-spirited”?
2. I believe the joke of Movie Guy is that he doesn’t know shit about what he’s supposed to be doing. That being said, it ain’t a funny one.
3. “Has anyone ever felt so ‘not of the current cast’?” Well, you could say that about Darrell Hammond and Fred Armisen back when they were in their final year(s).
1. Yeah, I find all of these cucking sketches to be kind of weirdly mean-spirited.
2. Don’t forget he has an accent too. That also appears to be a part of what they’re going for.
3. Yeah, Darrell Hammond might be the king of the “completely separated from the culture of the show” guys. I think Mikey and maybe Kenan have entered into that full state. Didn’t always love Fred, but he always felt relatively connected to the show to me.
Ha, just realized I wrote “mini-spirited” and not mean-spirited. And when you pointed it out, I STILL didn’t pick up on it. I’m cooked.
When I saw that I honestly couldn’t tell if it was a typo or some new young person lingo I wasn’t hip to yet lol (probably because I still had the Foodie Broz podcast on my mind)
Haha I hate to admit it, but I’m with you on everything you said on the podcast sketch. It’s a sketch I didn’t expect or want to like, but it’s the one I’ve been hearing the quotes from it floating around in my head ever since it aired. And these are the kind of appearances I’d rather see from JAJ’s Trump, much funnier in out of the ordinary sketches where you wouldn’t expect him, rather than the tired 10 minute cold opens.
“Shout out to Nylan for being a lone voice in the wilderness over the last couple days.”
Thanks Carson haha. It’s felt like that quite a few times over my tenure as “SNL fan”.
The Martin Short and Ryan Gosling episodes in particular were some interesting weeks of my life when it came to reacting to fan reception.
“Anyway, I thought the sketch was lowkey goated. The rest of you uncs are absolutely cooked.”
As a late Gen Z-er, this was lowkey accurate. Goated impression, Carson.
I forgot to say this in my first comment but as someone who is in SNL’s demographic right now (I’m 17), I hope they realize that all of the pandering is NOT worth it.
My most hellish weeks of feeling like a man against time in my SNL fandom are the weeks immediately before and after Shane Gillis hosts.
Carson. Thank you defending the Snack Podcast sketch. Like many, I didn’t like it at first but it has seriously grown on me. The performances are especially excellent from everyone involved and it really is an accurate portrayal of how pre-teen talk these days. There is always one sketch a season that I don’t like it all that eventually grows to be one of my faves of the year. This is one of those.
Hell yeah dude. This rocks. Also, I am all about certain sketches experiencing a new life due to second consideration.