COLD OPENING: CNN Town Hall South Carolina Cold Open – SNL

PREMISE: Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) holds a town hall on CNN moderated by Gayle King (Punkie Johnson) and Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson).

• Feels rare to see Punkie do an impression.
• I’m as ready for Kenan to leave as anyone, but he can still mine laughs from his Barkley impression. He had some funny lines here, such as his suggestion that his show with Gayle King be called ‘Gay-Bar’ and the bit promoting FanDuel.
• This cold opening isn’t too bad so far. The ‘town hall’ setting isn’t letting JAJ’s Trump go the tired route of rambling and pop culture references, and I’m getting some laughs from his exchanges with the various panelists in the audience.
• Ok, we did get a rant, but the midnights breakdown was actually pretty funny.
• Nice to see Devon’s Tim Scott yet again. He’s still killing it in the role, although I wish he had a little more airtime.
• Nikki Haley’s cameo stopped this cold opening DEAD in its track. It was a terrible idea in the first place, and the writing went in every predictable direction it could.
• Ok, I KIND OF liked the idea of Ayo appearing to call out Haley on her answer to the Civil War question a few months ago, but all it did was try to humanize her (Haley) in a way she doesn’t need to be. Jesus, SNL, do better.

RATING: ** ½ (Halley brought it down half a star)

MONOLOGUE: Ayo Edibiri

PREMISE: Ayo Edibiri discusses her whirlwind year of success and shares some rejected sketch ideas.

• Nice to see Ayo get such huge applause upon her entry.
• Aw, her tearing up a bit is so sweet.
• Her line about being the first black woman to admit she was from Boston was very funny.
• As expected, Ayo is coming off as charming and has several amusing anecdotes and lines about her upbringing.
• Ayo’s rejected sketch ideas aren’t that funny on paper, but her delivery and charisma are making it work for me.
• Overall, a fun, breezy monologue with good energy. I’d like to think is a good omen for the rest of the show, but we shall see.

RATING: *** ½ 

GAME SHOW: Why’d You Say It?

PREMISE: Contestants are confronted over their confounding Instagram comments.

• Hmm, this premise has some potential.
• Mikey ducking out immediately after hearing the concept of the game reminded me of Jason Sudeikis doing the same thing in the classic Who’s On Top? sketch with Bill Hader and Alec Baldwin.
• Ayo’s increasingly distressed, long-winded responses to her writing ‘Die’ on a video of Drew Barrymore are cracking me up.
• Andrew’s part about his AOC comment is hilarious.
• Very good sketch overall.

RATING: ****

MUSIC VIDEO: Dune Popcorn Bucket

PREMISE: A group of teenagers sing about losing their virginity to the Dune popcorn bucket.

• I guess this is a fun, timely concept, but this whole thing washed over me and didn’t make me laugh once. Not much else to say about this.

RATING: * ½

SKETCH: Drugs on Campus

PREMISE: A student (Andrew Dismukes) microdoses on shrooms, shocking his friends (Ayo Edibir, Mikey Day).

• Mikey and Ayo’s over-the-top performances carried this sketch, which was built on a thin premise and didn’t contain much laughs in the writing.
• Andrew is solid in his role as the straight man. That’s about all I can say about this sketch.
• Marcelo’s brief part made me laugh.

RATING: **

SKETCH: Bad Couples

PREMISE: A reporter (Bowen Yang) interviews random couples about how they met.

• Nice to see Molly and Michael at the top a sketch.
• Is it just me or is Michael’s suit huge on him?
• I enjoyed this sketch quite a bit. All the interviews with the couple were funny, my favorites being Chloe and Mikey as the incestuous couple and Punkie and the older guy as the couple who met in a cult.
• Bowen gave a very good performance here. I’ve been critical as hell of him all season but he dialed it way back there and gave a good ‘straight man’ role.
• Interesting seeing Martin Herlihy in a sketch.
• The ending with him and Marcelo was nice, and the twist involving Molly was a good capper.

RATING: *** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST AND MICHAEL CHE

FEATURING: CJ Rossitano (Sarah Sherman)

• Best Jokes: Biden / Border, Chicago / Ceasefire, Ted Cruz, Black History Month, Suits Reboot, Pizza Hut, World Beauty Pageant
• For the fourth week in a row, Colin and Che actually seem newly enthused and have a smattering of strong jokes and quips.
• Sarah’s bit as Colin’s long lost son didn’t really do that much for me, but I did like the part about Colin’s penis. It was a little different from the normal ‘Sarah trashes Colin’ routine, which is a nice change of pace.

RATING: *** ½  

SKETCH: Trivia Quest

PREMISE: A game show host (Ego Nwodim) forms a bond with a contestant (Ayo Edibiri).

• I’m probably forgetting something, but it feels like months since Ego got a true showcase. This is only her second appearance tonight, which is disappointing because I really think her and Ayo would make a good team. Is anyone else thinking they may be phasing out Ego? I hope not, as she’s my favorite of the veterans in the cast and still consistently delivers in utility roles and hasn’t resorted to hammy, indulgent pieces a la Bowen and occasionally Kenan.
• Oh no, is this another ‘let’s bash Mikey’ sketch?
• Ayo and Ego were a lot of fun and had great chemistry in this sketch. Their interactions were funny, as were the increasingly angered reactions from Sarah and Mikey.
• Not too great a sketch, but pretty fun.

RATING: ***

FILMED PIECE: Stuck in the Elevator

PREMISE: A group of people get stuck in an elevator and gradually form a new society.

• Oh man, this was awful. It had a poor joke with Ayo and Bowen constantly trying to convince Andrew, Sarah and Kenan to hook up, and the ‘Elevator Town’ twist was flat-out stupid.

RATING: *

SKETCH: School Hypnotist

PREMISE: A hypnotist (Andrew Dismukes) visits a school classroom.

• A Dismukes showcase? This should be fun.
• This could’ve been a fun, oddball sketch with a great Dismukes-y premise, but this was a horrible one-note sketch built entirely around Ayo’s character being bisexual.
• Ayo, to her credit, performed the HELL out of this, but nothing could save this. I actually felt embarrassed for her. Also, is it i just me or does she bare a passing resemblance to the Pat character in this sketch?
• The whole twist that Ayo’s character was doing this all just to show off her singing voice was horrible. Just a bad, bad sketch.

RATING: *

SKETCH: PEOPLE’S COURT

PREMISE: A hairdresser (Ego Nwodim) is sued by a former customer (Ayo Edibir)

• Nice to see Ego and Ayo in another sketch.
• Great reveal of Ayo’s missing scalp.
• This was a great little oddball 10-to-1 piece, with lots of funny lined and snappy back-and-forth’s from Ego and Ayo. Kenan and Devon also got laughs as the judge and the bailiff.
• Ego’s “brain out, ass up” line was great.
• Another scene stealing appearance from Punkie.
• Weak ending, but Kean’s delivery made me laugh.
• This is the first SNL sketch with an entirely African American cast.

RATING: ****

EPISODE MVP: Ayo Edibiri provided the expected fresh, funny energy she was expected to bring and elevated an uneven but not terrible episode. She committed to every sketch and had great chemistry with several cast members.

BOTTOM LINE: An improvement over the last two episodes, both of which were quite bad, although this was by no means a great episode; we got two genuinely great sketches, but also a lot of forgettable or flat-out bad sketches, and I can’t blame anyone for being disappointed that this episode wasn’t better than it was given the host. Also, the Nikki Haley cameo goes right up there with Trump and Musk hosting as an all-time “what the fuck were they thinking?” moment.

COLD OPENING: NFL Championship Sunday

PREMISE: NFL announcers go into crisis mode at the thought of no football.

• Nice seeing JAJ and Dismukes right up front.
• The Boeing revel after JAJ’s “shake, rattle and roll” quip was pretty funny.
• The main premise of football season sending men into an existential crisis had promise, and there were some scattered funny lines throughout, but overall this was a very low-energy, underwhelming cold open.
• The “When I See You Again” ending was lame and came across the writers having no idea how to finish this sketch.
• The LFNY segue was awkward as hell.

RATING: **

MONOLOGUE: Dakota Johnson

PREMISE: Host Dakota Johnson explains ‘out of context’ quotes before getting hijacked by Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon.

• Johnson seems a lot looser and more comfortable than she did the last time she hosted in 2015.
• Her talking about being at the 40th anniversary and pointing out she was seated in front of Trump and behind Taylor Swift is an interesting curio, at least.
• The “most powerful person in the world” fakeout was funny.
• And of course, Justin Timberlake has to come and suck the air out of the monologue by making it all about him. I was so glad whan Dakota mocked him by pointing out that it’s been 10 years since he last hosted.
• Aaaaand there’s Jimmy Fallon in full Bary Gibb regalia. It’s gonna be a long night, folks.

RATING: * ½ 

SKETCH: WAITERS

PREMISE: Nervous waiters (Sarah Sherman, Johnson) constantly mess up the orders during a family dinner.

• Nice to see JAJ and especially Molly and Devon again so soon, plus Troast. Good selection of newer cast members for this sketch.
• It’s also nice to see Sarah stretching her range beyond her signature style and taking on more nuanced roles. She was very good in this.
• This featured very strong performances from everyone, but the premise went nowhere. None of the misinterpreted and increasingly nonsensical lines made me laugh, and the whole sketch just had a really dead energy to it.

RATING: * ½

FILM: Home Videos

PREMISE: Family secrets are revealed in a shocking home video.

• Lots of airtime for newer cast members tonight. Especially good seeing JAJ appear again as well as Dismukes, Sarah and Marcelo.
• Funny reveal with the Maury Povich parody.
• I’ve been critical of Mikey’s performances this season, but his douche-y performance here made me laugh. It’s also good to see Sarah in more utility and supporting roles where she can stretch her range.
• This wasn’t anything great, but it made me laugh enough to give it a passing grade. I especially got a kick out of Marcelo attacking Mikey with the chair.
• The ending with Marcelo gave me a good laugh, as did Dismukes’ reaction.

RATING: ***

SKETCH: THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW

PREMISE: The same goddamned thing as the previous ones.

• Oh boy, here we go…
• Once again, we get no mention that Robin Gibb is in fact dead, and has been for some time.
• Jimmy, to his credit, does his usual excellent job at getting into character for this sketch. He’s consistently excellent in these sketches and rarely if ever breaks.
• Even though it’s not THAT late into the show, it does feel a bit odd that this is Bowen’s first appearance.
• As much as I came into this groaning, I have to say the 10-year layoff is affording a bit of goodwill towards these sketches.
• Jimmy’s unhinged ranting at Kenan was great and for some reason him and Justin singing the Goldfish jingle Bee Gees-style mad me laugh. It got even crazier with the Saltburn reference and the “Staying Alive” / “Licking the Drain” parody.
• Jimmy’s Barry voice is slipping in and out occasionally.
• The zipline bit with Bowen’s Andrew Yang was anothe bit that made me laugh at how deranged and random it was.
• The riffing on Australia while introducing Dakota’s impression went on a bit too long.
• Nice bit getting the audience involved in the “rib cage as a lobster trap” bit.
• Overall, I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder, as I actually really enjoyed several parts of this installment. I wouldn’t mind waiting another 10 years for it, though.

RATING: *** ½ 

FILM: PLEASE DON’T DESTROY – ROAST

PREMISE: Martin, John and Ben meet Dakota Johnson, which turns into the two parties roasting each other.

• Ah, PDD, please make me laugh.
• Some very good slams from Dakota towards the PDD Boys; I especially loved when she called them the Lonelier Island and also referenced the Three Sad Virgins video with Taylor Swift.
• The Bigger Splash slam was hilarious.
• A very good, quick and funny PDD piece. The first above-average SNL piece in weeks.

RATING: ****

SKETCH: Big Dumb Cups

PREMISE: Airheaded spokeswomen (Johnson, Chloe Feinman, Heidi Gardner) shill their new product.

• A timely sequel to Big Dumb Hats.
• Much like Bowen, it feels a bit weird to see Chloe Feinman just appearing now.
• Dakota’s “…are you physically or at least spiritually blonde” was so bizarre it made me laugh.
• I also laughed at Heidi’s Trader Joe’s line.
• There’s some funny lines here and there, but the sketch as a whole went on a bit too long and didn’t do anything too different with the format.

RATING: ** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST & MICHAEL CHE

FEATURING: A guy named Ethan (Bowen Yang), tarot reader Jan Janby (Heidi Gardner)

• Best Jokes: DeSantis Endorsement, Trump Comeptency Test, Debanking, Godzilla Nomination, Spirit / Jet Blue Merger, Disney Maternity Wards
• Pretty fun energy to Update so far.
• Bowen’s piece wasn’t quite as interminable as his last few, but it still had a lot of the self-indulgent hallmarks that make Bowen a very hard cast member to root for currently.
• Heidi’s tarot card reader was a fun bit, and it was good to see Che get the sort of roasting Colin usually gets. Nothing here made me laugh out loud, but it was harmless fun. I did enjoy the “OnlyFans” bit.

RATING: ***

SKETCH: Book Club

PREMISE: A book club meeting goes in an unexpected direction.

• Both Ego and Punkie make their first appearances all night.
• They couldn’t find a role for Chloe Troast?
• This was terrible, terrible sketch with a dumb twist. Dakota did try and sell the material as best she could, but this went absolutely nowhere and the Shark Tank cameos at the end added nothing to a sketch that was already devoid of content. Not much else to say here.

RATING: *

SKETCH: Lost Bag

PREMISE: A woman (Johnson) goes through the contents of a lost bag with an unhelpful attendant (Devon Walker).

• Devon’s voice and mannerisms are cracking me up. I’m truly impressed by how much more presence and confidence he has this season.
• This premise definitely had potential, but ultimately I felt it didn’t really go far enough in how bizarre the contents of Dakota’s bag could’ve been.
• Michael Longfellow is once again wasted, but he manages to mine some laughs in his supporting role.

RATING: **

EPISODE MVP: Tough call in such a weak episode. I’d say maaaaybe Dismukes or Sarah Sherman. It was nice to see some of the cast members I’ve had issues with lately (Bowen, Mikey, Chloe Feinman) more subdued tonight, but it didn’t really help the show at all.

BOTTOM LINE: The second weak episode of SNL in a row. While not quite the interminable trainwreck the Elordi episode was, this was as forgettable and bland as SNL gets. Johnson was not a bad host, but she didn’t really work to elevate the material, either.

COLD OPENING: The 95th Annual Christmas Awards

PREMISE: Awards are given for the worst in Christmas related activities and traditions.

• Heidi and Bowen in an awards sketch? Let’s see how this turns out.
• A big groan at the ozempic joke.
• The award categories are pretty funny; I got a good laugh at JAJ as the grandad with the Frasier board game.
• Devon’s panicked “Please play us off” when his white girlfriend (Sarah) kept talking was perfectly delivered.
• Chloe Troast once again absolutely crushes it with another fantastic comic use of her impressive singing ability. Her incorrect lyrics to Do You Hear What I Hear? were funny.
• Great description of Mario Lopez as “the Leonardo DiCaprio…of hotel tv.”
• Marcelo as Mario Lopez saying the award for Worst Plug was given posthumously was hilarious.
• Huge applause for Kenan as the grandpa who had trouble in the bathroom, and I liked his “I’m horrified to accept this award.”
• Bowen and Heidi are doing a good job as your typical corny award show hosts.
• A pretty good cold opening and a refreshing turnaround from last week’s disastrous opening. It was also really nice to get an opening that utilized the entire cast.

RATING: ***

MONOLOGUE: Kate McKinnon talks about how she’s constructed a human personality through her sketch work, sings I’ll Be Home for Christmas, reminisces with Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig.

• Man, this a hot crowd.
• Aw, Kate! You can see how meaningful it is for Kate to be back at SNL and on that stage again. For all my faults with Kate’s last few seasons, I still love Kate and cherish her best years as much as any performer of her caliber.
• I like how Kate talks about how we rarely see her out of character: it felt both funny and very real and vulnerable. Kate is coming off as super charming and likable throughout this.
• “Ever since I left this job I’ve been trying to assemble a human personality. So far? I have a hat.” Great line.
• The montage of Kate as freakish characters next to hot celebrities was a great bit.
• I was worried when they brought out the piano, but Kate’s alternate lyrics to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” were very funny.
• Yet another fantastic bit with Kate showing her original NBC ID photo.
• The cameos from Maya and Kristen were utterly pointless and dragged down a great, fun monologue. None of their jokes about their Wikipedia pages landed with me, and their presence felt obsequious as it often does for both Maya and Kristen.

RATING: ****

Sketch: North Pole Special Report

PREMISE: A bizarre Scottish woman (Kate McKinnon) frantically informs a reporter (Mikey Day) of a whale attack on local elves.

• Oh, come on, SNL! Really? A sketch starring Eddie Murphy from four years ago rewritten for Kate to do a goofy accent? Do better.
• That said, Kate’s delivery and some of her lines are making me chuckle, even if this is nowhere near as funny as Eddie’s.
• Kate vomiting elves as candy was funny and a nice subversion of the expected grossout.
• Weak ending.

RATING: ** ½

COMMERCIAL / FILM: PONGO

PREMISE: Anatomtically correct pet Pongo haunts mother (Sarah Sherman) to the point of insanity.

• I always like seeing Dismukes and Sarah in a sketch. That said, the premise to this sketch didn’t sell me at first.
• The visual of the anatamoically correct, featureless Pongo is amusing.
• The ‘horror movie’ twist with Sarah was good and gave this sketch a bit of a boost. Squirm gave a great performance and the constant stalking of her by Pongo was really funny.
• Kate doing her usual solid work as a demented character.
• Good ending.

RATING: ***

SKETCH: ABBA Christmas Album

PREMISE: ABBA (Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Bowen Yang, Maya Rudolph) promote their 1978 Christmas album.

• JAJ describing ABBA as the “Fleetwood Mac of cold weather” was hilarious and accurate.
• WHY IN THE EVERLOVING MOTHERFUCKING HELL ARE MAYA AND KRISTEN FRONT AND CENTER IN SKETCHES TONIGHT? They have virtually zero connection to Kate’s tenure on SNL.
• A sketch with four performers oscillate wildly between fantastic and unbearable? Oh boy.
• Yea, this is doing nothing for me. The song parodies just aren’t funny.
• Okay, the Fa La La La parody of Mamma Mia has me in hysterics.
• JAJ has some good lines as the announcer.
• Overall, a dumb and tepid sketch, but not without highlights.

RATING: **

SKETCH: Embarrassed Mother

PREMISE: Mother (Kate McKinnon) reveals her insecurity when giving Christmas gifts.

• Oh, god. This was un-fucking-bearable. Everything about this screamed ‘leftover Wiig’ piece. Kate’s gestures and cadences were eerily Wiig-like. I laughed at nothing here.
• Not even JAJ as the douchey dad could save this, but it’s nice to see so much of him tonight.

RATING: *

MUSIC VIDEO: Tampon Farm

PREMISE: Folk singer (Kate McKinnon) sings of a farm where women gather to make tampons.

• MORE KRISTEN & MAYA??????
• A nice showcase of Kate’s underrated singing voice.
• Great reveal of the Tampon Farm punchline through the soaring, catchy chorus.
• The description of how the tampon is cultivated was hilarious.
• PAULA PELL!
• Funny visual of Billie Eilish shaking tampons from a tree.
• Good little bit at the end with Marcelo.

RATING: *** ½

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST & MICHAEL CHE

FEATURING: Rich Auntie with No Kids (Ego Nwodim), activist Hattie Davis (Daphne Skeeter).

• Best Jokes: Rudy Giuliani, Obamacare, Nikki Haley / Chris Sununu, Teenage Boys Not Having Sex, Vincent Van Gough AI, Albert Einswine, Bald Eagle Killing 
• The Chris Sununu joke was so lame it made me laugh.
• Jost and Che seem noticeably peppier and sharper tonight. I wonder if it’s in anticipation of a later segment.
• Ego’s Rich Auntie commentary was a lot of fun. As usual, Ego did a great job with the characterization and her delivery was excellent, drawing big laughs out of even some of the weaker jokes here. She had a lot of funny lines, but the best was probably Django Unchained one. Pitch-perfect performances like this show why Ego deserves to be one of the major cornerstones of this era.
• The Christmas Joke Swap…wow. An absolutely hilarious, instant classic segment that kept topping itself with each joke. It was an absolutely brilliant twist to bring out the African American activist (played by Daphne Skeeter), which just added to the awkward hilarity of the bit. 
• The “Am I right?” bit was absolutely priceless.
• HOLY SHIT the Coretta Scott King joke.
• Overall, the best Update in quite some time. I’m probaby overrating it a bit, but the Joke Swap was such an all-timer moment that it gives it a deserved boost.

RATING: ****

SKETCH: Yankee Swap

PREMISE: A yankee swap between coworkers goes in surprising directions.

• This is Kenan’s first appearance since the cold opening.
• A promising premise.
• Kenan’s joyful reactions to the Boogie Woogie Santa are great, as is him swapping the sickle cell cure for it.
• Another very funny, scene-stealing Punkie Johnson performance to add to the great season she’s been having.
• Kenan’s “I’m a little burrito” was a great ending.

RATING: *** ½

SKETCH: Cinema Classics

PREMISE: A look at the holiday classic Meet Me in St. Louis.

• The return of Reese De’What.
• Chloe Troast does a great Judy Garland.
• Not much to the premise of this, just Kate screaming and bugging her eyes for five minutes.
• The whole “F You” bit fell flat.
• The bloody ending was unexpected at least.

RATING: * ½

SKETCH: Whiskers R We

PREMISE: Barbara DeDrew and her new intern (Billie Eilish) celebrate the annual holiday cattacular.

• The return of a Kate favorite and a good vehicle for Kate and Billie to display the excellent chemistry they had in Billie’s 2021 episode.
• Several funny lines at the beginning of the sketch, particularly “a cat is a dog who’s a bitch.”
• Bille’s character’s name being Pawdrey Hepburn seemed to trip her up and make both her and Kate laugh.
• Very funny lines about the named Mrs. Claws sleeping with Santa Claus.
• Billie’s vocal imitation of Kate’s character keeps slipping in and out.
• The cat’s names are all making me laugh (Cindy Clawford, Cat Sajak, etc.) as are the descriptions of their behavior.
• Predictable twist with Billie being Kate’s daughter, but it was executed well.

RATING: *** ½  

EPISODE MVP: Kate McKinnon. Despite some of her more polarizing traits popping up, Kate for the most part performed admirably as host and lifted up some lesser material. It was great to have her back and her return lent the show a fun energy.

BOTTOM LINE: A weird episode. Little was great, but I can honestly say they at least really tried with almost everything. Several promising premises tonight, even if very little made me laugh out loud. We at least got an absolute all-timer moment with the Joke Swap, which was as ballsy and off the beaten path as SNL gets these days.

COLD OPENING: C-SPAN – ANTISEMITISM HEARINGS 

PREMISE: Three college presidents (Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Feinman) are grilled by Elise Stefanik (Chloe Troast).

• A touchy subject matter that I’m not sure this era of SNL can handle properly.
• I’m liking that Molly and Chloe Troast are leading this sketch.
• Heidi, Chloe F., and Ego are good as the stuffy college presidents who can’t denounce antisemitism properly.
• Chloe Troast is selling the hell out of her role as Elise Stefanik.
• This sketch was strongly performed, but the writing was abysmal. It didn’t seem to have anything to say in terms of satire, and the jokes didn’t land despite everyone’s best efforts. They bungled this really bad.

RATING: * ½ 

MONOLOGUE

PREMISE: Adam Driver reads his Christmas list.

• It’s so great to have Adam Driver back on SNL. Right off the bat, you can tell he loves being there and is willing to commit to anything.
• Great line about how Santa hasn’t liked SNL “since Kattan left.”
• The portion with Adam at the piano reading his very weird Christmas list to the camera was very funny, especially “Wokeness Killed Han Solo.”
• Another funny line with Adam asking Santa kill couples making TikTok prank videos.
• The aborted staring contest with the camera was great.

RATING: *** ½ 

SKETCH: SKI LODGE

PREMISE: A gay couple (Bowen Yang, Adam Driver) commit to the biologically impossible task of having a baby the natural way.

• This sketch absolutely washed over me once I realized the premise. This wasted Driver, and I can’t help but feel deflated when Bowen is the lead in anything these days. To his credit, Adam did try to sell this, and Bowen was more understated than he usually is these days.

RATING: * ½

FILM: OLD FRIENDS

PREMISE: Two old friends (Mikey Day, Driver) reconnect over the holidays.

• I expected this to have a dark twist, but I still really enjoyed this. Adam was the perfect choice for this type of creepy character and I liked Mikey’s increasingly exasperated reactions.
• Funniest parts were Adam’s love of his life being his gun, the text about Mikey’s mom having big ones, and Devon as Big Filthy.
• Lame Facebook twist at the end.

RATING: *** ½

SKETCH: Dinner Party

PREMISE: Two middle aged dads (Andrew Dismukes, Adam Driver) face off on who excuses who to put their plate down.

• Driver and Dismukes are a great pair and they look hilarious with those mustaches.
• This was the exact type of weird, random sketch I was hoping they’d do with Driver, and this did not disappoint. Adam sold the absolute hell out of his premise, using his trademark intensity for dark comedic purposes.
• Andrew was also fantastic in this, especially his sinister ‘nah nah nah.’
• The ‘little car’ conversation was hilarious.
• Adam asking Andrew “so you wanna die tonight” was another great part.
• Great ending with Kenan.

RATING: ***** 

SKETCH: ShopTV Christmas

PREMISE: Two hosts (Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day) are aghast by penis shape chocolate made by local candyman (Adam Driver).

• This is bringing back bad memories of that Southern talk show host with Cecily and Taran.
• JAJ’s patriotic nativity made me laugh.
• Adam is great as the awkward chocolatier, and his performance is selling what is a very thin and juvenile premise.
• Ego calling and asking if the chocolate vibrates was funny.
• I’m not hating this as much as I should. Adam is somehow making this kind of work and is garnering some laughs from his total commitment.

RATING: ** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST AND MICHAEL CHE – featuring Marcelo Hernandez and Chloe Feinman

• Best Jokes: Biden Sentence, Adams Approval Rating, Shohei Ohtani, Derek Chauvin, Nick Cannon, Buffalo Bills
• *sigh* After last week, I’m really ready for Jost and Che to leave, and the first few jokes are doing nothing to assuage this feeling.
• Oh, enough ‘Colin is a conservative racist’ jokes.
• Ok, the Eric Adams fakeout made me laugh.
• I really wanted to like Marcelo’s commentary, since he is very charismatic and knows how to work a crowd, but this fell flat with me for the most part and even Marcelo admitted this wasn’t his best material. 
• Props for a somewhat ballsy Derek Chauvin joke. Actually, this isn’t too bad an Update on the Jost / Che front.
• What the hell was Chloe’s commentary? Is Save the Last Dance somehow relevant again? Was there any comedic through line to this? This just seemed like another ego-driven Chloe piece designed to be all about her rater than entertain the audience.
• Um, nice to see Julia Stiles, I guess.

RATING: ** ½ 

SKETCH: Airplane Baby

PREMISE: Mature baby (Adam Driver) weirds out fellow passengers.

• A bizarre premise, but this seems weird enough for Driver to make something out of.
• As expected, Driver is really committed to this character, and he manages to draw laughs out of some lines that really aren’t that funny.
• Sarah Sherman is perfect in her role as Adam’s mother.
• Adam’s crying is hilarious.
• The parts with Heidi and Kenan as the weirded out passengers are falling flat.
• Adam freaking out over Pookie Bear is great.
• Overall, I’m really not sure what to make of this sketch at all. Writing-wise, this was bad, but Driver was so into this that he elevated it to decent territory.

RATING: ** ½ 

COMMERCIAL: ELDER PSA

PREMISE: The elderly warn against doing pranks against them.

• SNL is really drawing quite a bit of material from TikTok and similar avenues lately.
• Adam is great as the crusty war veteran.
• JAJ is also quite funny in his performance.
• Punkie makes her only appearance all night in this pretape, which is disappointing considering she’s been having a great season thus far. Even with her airtime reduced, she still made me laugh in her brief segment.
• Kenan put no effort into his performance, but him calling his grandson a “little black bastard” was a funny ending.

RATING: ***

EPISODE MVP: Adam Driver obviously stood out tonight as he always. He used his trademark intensity to mine some nice laughs and elevated a lot of the weaker material, which unfortunately made up a good chunk of the show. We did get one classic piece (Beep Beep) and a few other sketches provided some amusement, but this episode overall was a far cry from the classic he hosted in 2020.

Other notable performers who stood out tonight were Chloe Troast, Heidi (who had a much better night than usual), and Andrew Dismukes.

BOTTOM LINE: A disappointing episode, but not terrible either. Just exceedingly average and not really much thought given to most of the writing, instead banking on Driver’s appeal to sell these sketches. Not the worst episode of the season, but maybe the biggest let-down given how good Driver’s previous episodes were.

COLD OPENING: The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer

PREMISE: George Santos (Bowen Yang) holds his final press conference,

• I’m not liking Sarah Sherman as Wolf Blitzer. It feels very in line with the casting of Kate McKinnon as every male Trump sycophant under the sun, even if Sarah has yet to cross that line into ‘smug and hammy’ that tainted Kate’s performance. This sort of casting just feels very cheap and played out.
• MASSIVE applause for Bowen’s George Santos. I’m just as tired as Bowen’s Santos as I am everything else he’s done this season, but he actually had some funny back-and-forth’s with the rest of the cast during the Q&A segment.
• The Candle in the Wind parody was absolutely awful. It killed any momentum, not to mention it felt very self-indulgent, which is a feeling many of Bowen’s pieces have been giving off lately. I didn’t laugh at a single line, and it was clear Bowen was doing this more to amuse himself than the audience. Bowen has become such an extremely unlikeable performer for me.

RATING: * ½ 

MONOLOGUE: Emma Stone Joins the Five-Timers Club

• Funny bit with Lorne being revealed as Emma’s husband that she might while working on the show.
• This is a wild crowd tonight; the applause for Tina Fey went on forever. She seemed very surprised by the welcome, too.
• Tina didn’t really have any funny lines during her part.
• Candace Bergen adds some life to this with a few funny lines, such as the one about a peephole in the ladies’ wing of the 5 Timers Club so can Martin Short can watch.
• This is dying a pretty fast death. Maybe the 5 Timers Club shtick should be retired; there hasn’t really been a particularly funny introduction sequence since Timberlake’s in 2013.

RATING: **

SKETCH: Question Quest

PREMISE: A game show contestant (Emma Stone) wins the host’s (Michael Longfellow) pet tortoise, much to her confusion.

• A lead role for Michael Longfellow? Is the sky falling?
• In all seriousness, great to see Michael FINALLY get a real lead role and he did a great job here. He had the same touch Bill Hader had whenever he played a game show host, where there seemed to be something sinister and dastardly lurking beneath the surface.
• The premise of Longfellow giving away his pet tortoise to Emma as a game show prize was funny, and this got better as it went along. This was a great use of the weird, off-kilter energy I desperately want to see more of from Longfellow.
• Punkie was hilarious in her supporting role as an overly confident but very dumb contestant. Her confusing ‘tortoise’ with ‘tortilla’ was especially amusing.

RATING: ****

MUSIC VIDEO: Fully Naked in New York

PREMISE: New Yorkers find freedom in public nudity.

• What a concept.
• ANOTHER Bowen musical piece? Not looking forward to this one.
• Some nice cinematography to this piece, and the song is a bit catchy, but nothing here is making me laugh except Sarah trying to catch rats.
• They’re really getting mileage out of Chloe Troast singing.

RATING: * ½ 

SKETCH: Tree Lighting Performance

PREMISE: Treece Henderson (Kenan Thompson) and his band (Bowen Yang, Emma Stone) perform at a tree lighting at a hotel.

• Oh dear God, is this Kenan as Treece Henderson?
• Yep, this is one of those Treece Henderson sketches.
• This honestly wasn’t so bad. I got some laughs from a couple of Kenan’s goofy lines, Emma’s lewd trumpet player character, and even Bowen with that raspy voice made me chuckle a few times.
• Kenan’s “What are you, a human dumbass?” was hilarious.
• As usual with these sketches, they go on too long and throw in one too many jokes that just don’t work. Kenan is forced to ham it up in an effort to keep the energy going and the whole sketch feels sloppy and underwritten as a result.

RATING: **

PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: AI

PREMISE: AI technology recreates missing Emma Stone footage using Punkie Johnson.

• This was a great rebound after last week’s very average PDD.
• Punkie continues to have a stealthy MVP season. She was hilarious as the AI version of Emma Stone, and her constant horniness towards Martin was great.
• This got even funnier with Marcelo as Ben and everyone else acting like Ben speaking Spanish was totally normal.
• Priceless delivery of ‘let’s do it’ from Martin, a great capper to this very funny PDD video.

RATING: ****

SKETCH: What’s in the Kiln?

PREMISE: Hosts (Chloe Feinman, Heidi Gardner) and a guest (Emma Stone) discuss pottery.

• Some good character work and chemistry between Heidi and Chloe here, but the writing was nothing. I couldn’t find a single comedic moment or hook throughout this entire sketch. It was literally just talking.
• I guess the joke was how bad the pottery looked? If so, it didn’t make me laugh.

RATING: *

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH MICHAEL CHE & COLIN JOST

• Best Jokes: WNBA
• A pretty dreadful Update for Jost and Che. Barely any one of the jokes made me so much as chuckle, and the ones that I forgot about within seconds. It is so beyond time for Jost and Che to hand over the Update desk to fresher hands.
• Longfellow’s Old Fashioned Cigarette commentary gave him more much needed airtime tonight. He had several funny lines here and got to showcase his usual brand of dark, patience testing comedy. I especially liked his aside to the camera telling kids ‘cigarettes make you skinny and popular.”

RATING: **

SKETCH: Make Your Own Kind of Music

PREMISE: Mama Cass (Chloe Troast) and her producer (Emma Stone) discuss the potential uses for her hit song “Make Your Own Kind of Music.”

• Chloe does a very good impression of Mama Cass, and I’m glad her singing is becoming a weekly occurence. 
• This sketch was absolutely pointless, despite Emma’s uber-comitted performance. It encapsulated the sort of TikTok-inspired writing that often taints sketches of this nature, and on top of that the central joke (incongrously happy songs soundtracking violent or depressing movie trailers) just wasn’t that funny.
• Emma at least totally committed to her character, which was at least somewhat amusing.

RATING: * 1/2 

SKETCH: Posters

PREMISE: Posters (Stone, Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day) try to help student (Marcelo Hernandez) with physics.

• The return of these? Okay, then.
• Marcelo is an overall much better performer, but I kind of missed Pete in these. Pete just does the whole ‘vapid doofus’ routine a bit more convincingly.
• The jokes about Mikey’s David Beckham not looking as attractive as he usually does got played out real quick, and is a joke that has been used with Mikey one too many times.
• How many times throughout his tenure has Kenan used the word ‘dookie’?
• I absolutely hate the voice Emma uses for this character. I get that it’s an accurate take on this type of obnoxious TikTok-based model, but it still grates on me and further hinders any enjoyment I can get out of this sketch.
• Yea, this was weak. Once again, nothing here made me laugh and it just became a chore too sit through after awhile.  

RATING: *

COMMERCIAL: Diet Coke by Olay

PREMISE: Olay uses a skin care ingredient women have been proven to love.

• It feels rare these days for the last sketch of the night to be a pre-tape.
• Also when was the last time the host wasn’t in the last sketch?
• This was a pretty funny fake ad, particularly the voiceover by JAJ, which had several great lines such as ” ingredients scientifically proven to be…Diet Coke” and “just soda stuff.”
• The cultish turn at the end was pretty amusing.

RATING: ***

EPISODE MVP: As good as Emma Stone is, I gotta give it to Michael Longfellow. Dude’s had a rough go at it this season with bland straight man roles and generally literal air time. Tonight, we saw the sinister, edgy side of Longfellow fans have been clamoring for all season, and he delivered in both his spotlight pieces.

BOTTOM LINE: Oof. SNL really whiffed with this one. It’s fitting that PDD and Longfellow had the night’s strongest pieces, since their style goes most directly against the tiresome crowdpleasing antics of the show’s ‘stars.’ We got a self-indulgent Bowen piece, SNL masturbating to itself with another Five Timers’ routine, and an absolute trash heap of an Update (minus Longfellow). Emma Stone’s previous episodes aren’t classics by any means, but you could always count on a couple of very strong, conceptual pieces that added style and variety to the show (Christmas Candle, Wells for Boys, The Actress). Tonight had nothing like that and largely wasted the always game actress in an episode ostensibly celebrating her.

COLD OPENING: Biden-Jinping Meeting

PREMISE: Panda given by the Chinese president (Bowen Yang) steals Joe Biden’s (Mikey Day) thunder at a press conference.

• Mikey continues to be a good Biden. I laughed hardest at his calling Jinping “President Roman Numeral Eleven.”
• The ‘Q&A’ with the press (Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Andrew Dismukes, Molly Kearney, Marcelo Hernandez, James Austin Johnson) was very funny. I especially liked Ego’s “I have a question…you’re old” and Mikey doing the ‘fake elevator thing’ to escape from Longfellow’s question.
• Boy, the crowd is eating up Bowen as the panda. Unfortunately, this is a typical smug Bowen vamp piece that he’s been churning out like clockwork for some time. His puns are atrocious and delivered so coldly. I did not like his part at all. 
• Woof at that ‘panda express’ line.

RATING: ** ½ 

MONOLOGUE

• I’m still not sure Jason Momoa isn’t an AI creation.
• Some pretty fun, amusing lines from Jason, such as his one early on about his mother still recovering from giving birth to him. His enthusiasm was tremendous (much like every other aspect of him) and it’s nice to see a solo monologue from a host who’s truly excited to be there.

RATING: ***

SKETCH: Old-Timey Movie

PREMISE: Various pedestrians (Day, Momoa, Chloe Feinman, Kenan Thompson) ruin footage of L. Frank Baum (Michael Longfellow) with their mugging antics

• Not liking Bowen’s performance as the Baum expert at all.
• Good to see Michael Longfellow have a prominent part in a sketch.
• This was hardly the greatest premise in the world, but it was fun; Jason and Mikey had good chemistry and their various vulgar gestures towards the camera were funny.
• Bowen’s passive-aggressive responses to Heidi’s question really grated on me here.

RATING: ***

MUSIC VIDEO: Rome Song

PREMISE: Men (Momoa, Thompson, Day) rap about their obsession with the Roman empire.

• Chloe Troast has such a nice singing voice, which we are now seeing for the second week in a row. Also, Punkie, Chloe, and Ego is an interesting trio as the wives.
• I didn’t laugh once at this entire music video, aside from maybe Mikey’s “When they took a sh*t, they sat next to each other” line. This premise felt very much like the type of video Pete Davidson would do, and that’s…not a compliment.
• The Astrology twist was dumb.

RATING: *

SKETCH: Nightclub Line

PREMISE: Bouncer (Jason Momoa) insults club rejects.

• Marcelo looks like Dismukes with hair slicked back like that.
• What is Jason’s accent?
• I chuckled a few times at this, but overall I wasn’t a fan of the premise and couldn’t understand a good chunk of Jason’s dialogue.
• Kenan coming out as the boss, also with a Spanish accent, was not a good way to end this sketch.
• Sarah and Michael are not unattractive people.

RATING: * ½ 

SKETCH: Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade

PREMISE: Hosts (Bowen and Ego) interview stereotypical Thanksgiving travelers at Newark Airport.

• *sigh* Bowen again.
• A variation on the First Day of Spring fashion show from Ana De Armas.
• Once again, I don’t have much to say about this sketch. None of it made me laugh, and having Bowen as one of the leads didn’t help.

RATING: *

PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: Ramen Order

PREMISE: John constantly derails Martin and Ben ordering food by complaining about his breakup.

• Ah, PDD, please make me laugh.
• The usual funny PDD shorts, although this definitely didn’t live up to their other pieces so far this year. No jokes really stood out, but this still had the same fun, goofy energy I enjoy in all their shorts.

RATING: *** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST & MICHAEL CHE – with George Santos (Bowen Yang), Draymond Green (Devon Walker), Remember Lizards (James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes)

• Best Jokes: Biden / Israel, Rupert Murdoch, Fraud 
• Some really tired jokes from a really tired duo.
• Bowen’s George Santos commentary was exhausting. I could call every beat from a mile away, from his exaggerated cattiness with Colin to the Pitch Perfect reference. Another tired Bowen piece.
• Devon’s Draymond Green commentary was pretty funny. No lines really stood out, but his performance was fun and he made me chuckle throughout the piece. Devon is becoming a very consistent, fun and reliable performer who can elevate material that’s not particularly great.
• James and Andrew’s Imagine Dragons parody was dead-on and hilarious. They absolutely nailed everything I hate about Imagine Dragons, and their look was priceless, especially Andrew’s wig and his expressions while singing.

RATING: ** ½ 

SKETCH: Cast Away

PREMISE: Long lost fiance (Momoa) Laird awakens old feelings in Elaine (Chloe Feinman), to the chagrin of husband Dennis (Andrew Dismukes).

• A Cast Away parody in 2023? Let’s see where this goes.
• The expected hot host / thirst trap sketch. I can’t say I laughed much at this, but Dismukes’ straight man performance was great and his increasingly baffled reactions to Chloe’s obvious longing to be back with Jason amused me.
• The push-up contest gave me a good laugh.
• Chloe getting tossed around by Jason was a weak ending.

RATING: ** ½

FILMPED PIECE: Battle of the Sexes

PREMISE: Charna Lee Diamond (Sarah Sherman) tries to make strides in women’s tennis.

• I’m really loving the look to this piece. The clothes, the hair, and the visual quality are absolutely on point, as are the commentators played by Heidi and Ego.
• Even though I more or less guessed where this was going, the initial gag of the ball going through Sarah was absolutely hilarious, as was everyone’s reactions to it.
• Now this is getting even better with Sarah getting decapitated by Jason’s next serve.
• Overall, a great piece highlighting Sarah’s brand of twisted humor and also featuring excellent performances and cinematography. A really good piece all around.

RATING: ****

SKETCH: Cab Driver

• Feels like Kenan has been barely in the show tonight.
• This was a pretty funny sketch, mostly thanks to Jason. His dumb questions in response to Ego’s bizarre medical discoveries about him made me laugh, especially asking if ‘per night’ was a holiday for cats.
• Lame ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ ending.

RATING: ***

EPISODE MVP: Honestly, no one stood out tonight. It was such an average episode that no one was able to run away with a particular sketch or moment that really made me laugh out loud. I guess I should give it to Momoa, who had great enthusiasm and was very committed to his performances.

BOTTOM LINE: As average an SNL as they come. Only one piece rose to the level of great, and everything else ranged from average to entirely forgettable.

This will be a new feature on Nasti Thoughts, where I will review each new episode of Saturday Night Live within 24 hours of its airing.

The legendary NBC sketch show’s latest episode was hosted by Timothee Chalamet, now free to promote his bizarre looking Wonka remake, with supergroup boygenius as the musical guest. Here is a recap along with my thoughts on the sketches and musical performances in the episode.

COLD OPENING: Republican Debate / Trump Blasts Oponents

PREMISE: Lester Holt (Kenan Thompson) moderates a debate featuring candidates Chris Christie (Molly Kearney), Nikki Haley (Heidi Gardner), Vivek Ramaswamy (Ego Nwodim), Ron DeSantis (John Higgins), and Tim Scott (Devon Walker)

• I was hoping we’d see Che again as Lester Holt, but Kenan is doing a serviceable job.
• Molly as Chris Christie is a no-brainer, and the “my wife said I can try this one more time” was a great way to kick things off.
• Heidi as Nikki Haley’s “Excited to look good in comparison” line was hilarious.
• JOHN HIGGINS as DeSantis? Oh, I love this casting. His smile alone had me really excited to see him in action.
• Um, not sure how about I feel about Ego as Vivek Ramaswamy. On the one hand, it highlights SNL’s continued diversity problem; on the other hand Ego looked hilarious and gave a very funny performance.
• Rounding out a very solid lineup, Devon is fantastic as Tim Scott. His voice and mannerisms had me in stitches, especially his opening defensive spiel about having a girlfriend; the ‘human love’ part is especially hilarious.
• And…aw, this whole thing was fakeout for James to come in as Trump. I was very interested in seeing where this was going to go, because it up until he came out the sketch had noticeably sturdier writing than most political sketches these days and all of the jokes were really landing with me. 
• James does his usual great job as Trump, and he had some funny lines, but it also felt very ‘been there, done that.’ That made it doubly disappointing that we didn’t get to see an actual debate sketch.
• Ok, I do love the meta part where James calls out the castings of Ego and John in their respective roles. As a critique of the show’s penchant for stunt casting, I especially loved how they acknowledged Paul Rudd would be DeSantis if he actually had a shot.
• Some very funny sexist slams against Nikki Haley.
• “How do you forget about Chris Christie? Easy, just walk way” had me dying. 
• The line about pinning the fraud charges on “probably Eric” was very funny.

RATING: Not sure, honestly. This sketch was cruising to an easy **** if not higher, but the Trump fakeout killed its momentum considerably, despite some very funny lines peppered in here and there. I think I’ll round this out to a ***.

MONOLOGUE

PREMISE: Host Timothée Chalamet talks about shooting a Chanel perfume commercial with Martin Scorsese and celebrates the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike before rapping about having a baby face with Marcello Hernández.

• Right off the bat, Chalamet seems relaxed and very game, as he was last time.
• “Lorne kept calling me Wynona.” Heh, there is a passing resemblance to Wynona Ryder in him. 
•  The “Shameless Self Promotion” parody of “Pure Imagination” was great and had several funny lines.
•  Fun bit with Timothy interacting with the audience.
• Always fun to see Marcelo and the rap about them both having a Babyface was great and kept up the great energy this monologue has had so far.
• Punkie absolutely steals this with her Nicki Minaj-esque rap about her relief not having committed statutory rape and it continues what has been a very strong season for her. I’m so glad Lorne and the writers have FINALLY found material this woman excels. Punkie has inherited Tracy Morgan’s ability to walk into a sketch and score huge laughs with just one line delivered in their unique, manner.
• Not sure the Kenan part at the end was needed, but it didn’t take away from anything.
• Overall, a really strong and funny monologue.

RATING: **** ½ 

Sketch: Museum of Hip-Hop Panel

PREMISE: SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta (Chalomet) sticks out like a sore thumb in a professional discussion on hip hop.

• Chalamet brings back the character he did in that “Yeet” sketch with Pete the last time he hosted.
• A tired and unfunny ‘pun name’ trope with Ego’s Nunya Bizness.
• James’ Rick Rubin is hilarious to me. Having watched a lot of interviews with the man, James is nailing the incongruity of Rubin being a very zen, soft-spoken white dude yet a formidable figure in the world of gangsta rap.
• Timothee gives another very strong performance as this character, though I admit I’m really not a fan of it. It’s one of those characters I personally find annoying even when the point of the character is how obnoxious and annoying they are.
• Kenan’s dignified “What happened to Brother Guap Lord?” made me laugh out loud.

RATING: ***

SKETCH / COMMERCIAL: The Woman in Me Audiobook Auditions

PREMISE: Various celebrities audition to be the voice for Britney Spears’ autobiography’s audio format.

• This template is usually good for some laughs.
• As usual, Chloe Fineman’s Britney Spears is dead-on and funny.
• Heidi’s Allison Janey is another impression I always enjoy seeing and she scored her usual laughs with it here.
• I DID NOT need the return of Chloe’s annoying impression of Chalamet.
• Took me a minute to recognize it was Timothee playing Scorsese. He looked hilarious as him, although his part wasn’t much overall.
• I also didn’t need Mikey’s bit as Steve-O from Jackass, although it was a decent impression.
• The tradition of John Mulaney being played by women on SNL lives on in Sarah Sherman, who doesn’t get the voice like Melissa did, but she’s got his unique speech pattern and delivery down cold.
• Big laugh from Molly perfectly imitating that dumb Kevin James meme.
• Yet another ‘meh’ Chloe Fineman impression, this time an accurate but not particularly funny Natasha Lyonne.
• Bowen actually does a pretty dead-on Fred Schneider from the B-52’s.
• We get it Chloe, you can do impressions.
• Ego’s Jada reappears, with another very tired reference to ‘the slap.’
• Kenan’s Neil DeGrasse Tyson bit was very funny.
• James Austin Johnson’s Werner Herzog deserved a better reception, it was probably the funniest part of the entire sketch.
• No effort whatsoever given to Punkie’s Ice Spice.
• The other Chloe, newbie Chloe Troast, did a great Maggie Smith.
• What even was Longfellow’s Bill Hader? And this was Michael’s only appearance all night. I’m really disappointed along with many SNL fans about Longfellow not having any showcases this season. He came in pretty hot last year with scene-stealing sketch roles and some Update pieces that showcased a truly Norm-esque style of edgy, patience-testing comedy. But this season? Just bland supporting roles. Michael has so much potential to have a special niche in the show’s immediate future and he should be given more chances to carve it.
• Poor ending with a reprise of Chloe’s Chalamet.
• Yikes, a very weak edition of the usual fun ‘impressions showcase’ pieces. The writing was almost non-existent and while some of the performances scored laughs, there was nothing to write home about in that department, either.

RATING: **

SKETCH: Gym Call

PREMISE: Gym employees (Timothee Chalamet and Mikey Day) help a woman (Heidi Gardner) find her gym bag.

• Not much to say about this one, the premise was okay, and the performances from Timothy and Mikey as the gym bros were funny initially but kind of grated on me as the sketch went on. I chuckled at some lines but nothing really stood out as particularly funny. Ultimately, I felt it went on too long and the part with Sarah added absolutely nothing.

RATING: ** ½ 

FILMED PIECE: Giant Horse

PREMISE: Earn (Chalamet) reconnects with his newly grown horse to help save humanity.

• A pretty good sequel to a very well received piece from Timothee’s first episode. This was not as good as Tony Horse, but it was still quite funny and a good continuation of the Tiny Horse video.
• James is hilarious once again tonight, this time as basically Emperor Palpatine.

RATING: *** ½ 

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: boygenius performs “Not Strong Enough”

• Love the Beatles aesthetic.
• This was a wonderfully dreamy and emotive performance of a great song from a great band. Phoebe Bridgers especially possesses such a natural joy for performing that is utterly infectious.
• Gorgeous harmonies on the chorus. The sound mix is excellent for this performance.
• Great breakdown and crescendo towards the end of the song.
• Nothing bad to say here. Fantastic performance.

RATING: **** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE

• Best Jokes: Biden Campaign, Bankman-Fried / Alternative Currency, Couples Who Go to Therapy, Barbra Streisand / Siri, Instagram Ap, Israel School, Jared Leto Promotional Plan 
• Another lazy slap joke.
• Some very weak and predictable jokes to start.
• Ok, things got better starting with the Biden joke.
• The Bankman-Fried jokes were very good.
• The “Israel School” joke is classic Che.
• Heidi brings back her “Extremely Busy Co-Worker” character, Crystal.
• As usual, Heidi is uber-committed to this character, but everything from the mannerisms to the evasive answers to Colin’s questions was completely redundant.
• Lame Britney Spear punchline to this piece.

RATING: ** ½

SKETCH: Troy Sivan Sleep Demon

PREMISE: A woman (Sarah Sherman) has nightmares about Troye Sivan (Chalamet)

• Interesting premise, at least for me.
• Bowen is great as the doctor, and it’s good to see him doing more understated work.
• Chalamet is good as Sivan, but again the writing here is very weak.
• Bowen is saving the hell out of the sketch for me, which is saying something given how unrelentingly critical I’ve been of him lately. His lines about Sivan being “gay famous” and even him doing the Sivan dance gave me big laughs. Come to think of it, Bowen had a good night in more subtle roles in Nate Bargatze’s episode as well. Hopefully, this is the start of a comeback for Bowen, who started off as one of the most exciting SNL hires in recent memory but has since fallen into a bit of self-parody mode.
• The boygenius cameo at the end was funny, and the crowd really ate it up.

RATING: **

PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: JUMPER

PREMISE: The PDD boys try to talk down a suicidal musician (Chalamet).

• Another very funny look to Timothy in this sketch.
• I absolutely loved this, as I do most PDD shorts. I liked how the humor in this was a bit darker than their normal stuff, and of course it brought back some flashbacks of that great Jumper sketch with Hader, Forte, and Paul Rudd.
• The fake, gurgly songs Timothy kept playing were hilarious, as were the reactions from John, Ben and Martin.
• “This song is about when my mom passed away. Then why does it sound like that?”
• There’s been some controversy around the Hamas joke, but I personally found it hilarious. It wasn’t poking fun at the tragedy, and the sketch didn’t glorify or try to humanize Hamas in any way. It was an extreme example of how profoundly out of touch Timothy’s character is.

RATING: **** ½ 

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: boygenius performs “Satanist”

• Another wonderful performance of a fantastic song. Nothing else to say.
• Love the red lighting.

RATING: *****

SKETCH: Little Orphan Cassidy

PREMISE: Unwanted orphan (Chloe Troast) communicates her plight to the moon (Timothy Chalamet) via song.

• Ooh, a Troast led sketch.
• Chloe’s deep singing voice caught me off guard and had me laughing out loud.
• Funny twist that Chloe is 26 and oblivious to the fact that she’s too old to be adapted.
• This entire sketch was absurd and hilarious. It just got funnier as it went along and was anchored by a fantastic breakout performance from Chloe, as well as very solid straight man work from Timothy.

RATING: *****

SKETCH: CALM SLEEP STORY

PREMISE: Chalamet participates in a Calm Sleep Story recording session.

• Wow, where has Andrew Dismukes been all night? Shame that is his first appearance of the entire episode. I’ve been championing Andrew for a few years now to be the show’s lead, as he has shown he has the ability to be believable in both straight roles and his patented oddball pieces that we see too few of these days. On top of that, Andrew just has a warm, likeable presence that I enjoy seeing in sketches.
• Good to see Punkie in yet another lead role. She’s on her way to be an MVP this season, and she was once again great here, especially when she called Timothy “a chatty little bitch.”
• The story Timothy read was very funny and got better as it went along, as did his exasperated reactions.
• Good fakeout with Andrew’s “emotional breakdown” at the end.
• An absolutely shocking, out-of-nowhere Alec Baldwin cameo. Wow. I don’t know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I’ll always have love for Alec’s SNL work; his Trump aside, the man is probably the show’s greatest host. He has countless classics to his name and the range he always displayed in his episodes was ‘off the charts’ good. To me, Baldwin is an invaluable part of SNL’s legacy. That said, he just has too much baggage nowadays for me to find funny. I’m in no way part of the ‘Baldwin is a murderer’ brigade, but the Rust incident is just too dark to not be in the back of my mind whenever I see him now. Also, as pointed out by others, this incident has aged Alec tremendously. He looked haggard and worn here, though I will say his appearance didn’t lessen my opinion of this sketch.

RATING: ****

EPISODE MVP: A couple of people stood out tonight. As stated, Timothee was a fun, committed host who delivered some very good, likable performances in pretty much every sketch. Chloe Troast also deserves honors for a fantastic breakout sketch and the best sketch of the night. Finally, James Austin Johnson and Punkie Johnson stole their small moments and got big laughs out of some thin writing.

FINAL THOUGHTS: a pretty good hour of SNL, elevated by a very game Chalamet. The strong pieces were very strong, and the weaker material wasn’t offensively bad by any means. It was nice to see less of the cast members I’ve had issues with this season (Mikey, Bowen, Kenan) effectively used in smaller roles and more time be given to the likes of Punkie, JAJ and a breakout from Chloe Troast.

There come a time in every legendary rock act’s career when releasing new material is entirely superfluous: the legacy of their back catalog is so strong and timelessly influential that they can coast off the back of it through touring and endless ‘deluxe’ reissues and somehow maintain their freshness and relevance in the musical landscape.

Think about it; have Paul McCartney, The Who, or Elton John released anything in the last 15, 20, or 30 years that you listen to with the same regularity or sense of awe that brought you to them all those years ago? Probably not, aside from a stray latter day gem here and there. Yet we still line up to spend thousands to see them in concerts, watch their tv appearances, and yes, but their new albums even if they are going to collect dust within a few months.

Perhaps no act embodies this more than The Rolling Stones; one could argue that as far back as the early 1980s’, the Stones have been the equivalent of a museum artifact, something that you need to experience for bragging purposes but doesn’t really possess the same visceral thrill as when it was all brand new. Opinions vary, and some will defend their later work as being slept on, but most agree that they haven’t released a truly vibrant, essential Stones record since 1981’s Tattoo You.

The last Rolling Stones album of original material was 2005’s A Bigger Bang; since then there have been two original singles in 2012, 2016’s excellent blues covers record Blue & Lonesome, and the Covid-centric single “Living in a Ghost Town” in 2020.

For years, rumors have swirled about another album of original material from the Stones, but it seemed to be nothing more than that; the time spent touring, their respective ages, and the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2019 all seemed to supercede any need to hunker down and release a new Stones album.

However, the tide began to turn after the band’s 60th anniversary tour in 2022; both Mick and Keith took photos of them heavily at work in the studios jamming on what sounded like new songs. Then, in an unprecedented move, the band elected not to tour in 2023. Initially, rumors began to swirl about the band’s health, but those were quickly supplanted by further images of the band hard at work.

Finally, the band began a very cryptic social media blitz hinting at something big, resulting in the announcement of their new album, Hackney Diamonds.

The album’s first single, “Angry,” came out to a fair amount of hype but quickly faded from memory; it’s the kind of slick ‘Stones by Numbers’ rocker they’be been putting out since 1989.

However, things began looking up with the release of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” The song, featuring stellar contributions from Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, recalled the sparse ‘street corner gospel’ vibe of Exile on Main Street. And with that, excitement began to build among the rock cognoscenti and Stones fanatics alike.

Several rock magazines who got an early listen have praised Hackney Diamonds, including ones that had been notoriously harsh on the band’s other post-Tattoo You efforts. Does the record truly live up the hype? Let’s see.

“Angry” is admittedly an underwhelming opener, but things immediately perk up with the sweet and catchy “Close to You,” a classic rough hewn Stones love song with a classic punchy groove and a vibrant Jagger vocal; the song ascends fully into the classic Stones motif with a brilliant saxophone led breakdown as Ron Wood and Keith Richards crunch away at the guitars like starving men at a smorgasbord.

“Depending on You” keeps thing at a surprisingly slow pace, but it’s not for the worse; it’s the latest in the canon of Stones country songs, an avenue which has produced classics such as “Sweet Virgina” and “Far Away Eyes.” “Depending on You” isn’t quite up to those lofty standards, but it’s a rock solid entry bolstered by Jagger’s surprisingly vulnerable vocals, as well as the lyrics which have surprising nods to mortality, a subject the Stones seemed to defy until the death of Charlie Watts in 2021.

The pace picks up big time with the grunge-y “Bite My Head Off,” a classic nasty Stones rocker dripping with attitude and swing. The lyrics are raw and nasty, Keith’s riff instantly gets stuck in your brain, and Mick’s barking vocals are amazing for a man of 80. It’s also significant for featuring none other than Paul McCartney on bass, a truly momentous union on a track befitting such an event. 

“Whole Wide World” continues the upward swing in tempo, with Jagger adapting some alternate accent as he spits out another string of surprisingly reflective and vulnerable lyrics that reflect the band’s defiance in the face of age and criticism, as well as a touching tribute to the enduringly frayed bond of Mick and Keith. “When you think the party’s over, but it’s only just begun,” Mick sings with true excitement and pathos as if it’s a promise to fans that the band’s story is far from over.

“Dreamy Skies” is another, more traditional country tune, and it’s a nice diversion after the punchier attack of the previous songs. It’s the kind of song you pour yourself a drink to at midnight and just take in the air around you, a perfect chill ballad delivered with surprising authenticity for guys from Dartford doing Amrerican country.

“Mess It Up” is significant as it’s one of two tracks to feature Charlie Watts on drums; it’s distinct in that the rhythm has more of the signature Stones ‘swing and swerve’ jazzy style that defined Watts’ style, and it’s a solid swan song for the man known as the Wembley Whammer that puts him front and center aboard a slinky, danceable groove that he embellishes upon beautifully.

“Live by the Sword” also features Watts, and again it’s very obvious it’s him driving the song along. This is another great classic sounding Stones rocker, one that could easily occupy a space on Black and Blue or Some Girls with its punkish aggression and snarly vocals.

“Driving Me Too Hard,” along with “Angry,” is one of the album’s weaker tracks, a typical mid-tempo Mick ballad whose hallmarks could be called from a mile away. Thankfully, the record picks right back up as Keith takes the mic with the soulful “Tell Me Straight”; Keith’s ballads have regularly been highlights of latter day Stones albums, and this song is no exception. It’s only issue is it’s a bit too brief, but Keith still gets a totally impactful little ballad out of it.

“Sweet Sounds of Heaven” is perfectly placed as the record’s climax; as mentioned it’s an excellent, powerful and life-affirming ballad with a classic Stones gospel sound and top-notch contributions from Lady Gaga recalling Merry Clayton’s classic wailing on “Gimme Shelter,” as well as Stevie Wonder on keyboards recalling the seminal contributions of Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston on the band’s best 1970s’ records.

Closing the record is “Rolling Stone Blues,” the classic Muddy Waters blues number that gave the band its name 62 years ago. It’s appropriately stripped down, with just Mick on vocals and harmonica and Keith on guitar, and it’s a truly sublime experience to hear the Glimmer Twins take things back to basic and really vibe off each other on a song totally in their wheelhouse. If this is the last song the Stones ever release, it’s a fitting coda to their career.

Hackney Diamonds isn’t a perfect record, but it’s clearly a labor of love for the band and it easily eclipses almost anything they have done since 1981; it’s the first album since perhaps Undercover where the weakest tracks don’t dip below ‘solid,’ and at 12 tracks and forty eight minutes it lacks the bloat of Bridges to Babylon and A Bigger Bang. It’s not a crown jewel in their discography, but a nifty little gem you’ll want to dig up every so often.

RATING: ****

John Mayer’s career trajectory has been a curious one: he started off as the manifestation of every guitar playing nerd nesting under the tree of your college quad, before pivoting to a more introspective guise for his 2006 album Continuum. A series of ill-conceived comments and whirlwind affairs turned the tide against him and his music, with many labeling him as rock’s biggest douchebags. Mayer took the backlash to retreat and reinvent himself once more, honing his already exemplary guitar chops with an eight-year stint with Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, which led Mayer to rediscover himself personally and musically. 

Mayer, now 45 and 22 years removed from his first album, has worn other hats throughout his career, but these are the most significant, and they’re the ones that helped Mayer become the humorous, thoughtful modern troubadour that was on display for the last of three solo shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Armed with an arsenal of guitars, the show was an intimate, stripped down affair that made the vast arena feel like a small theater or club; it wasn’t just the bare-bones arrangements of the songs that created the vibe, but Mayer’s casual, disarming charisma and showmanship.

Mayer isn’t just a great musician, he’s a natural showman whose between-song dialogue often had the crowd in stitches; a sloppy attempt at “Vultures” on the piano had Mayer hilariously poking fun at his rudimentary piano skills, which he countered by following it up with a gorgeously rendered “You’re Gonna Love Forever in Me.” He even poked fun at his early lyrical immaturity in the prelude to his infamous hit “Your Body is a Wonderland,” which hit the crowd’s nostalgia button as they enthusiastically sang and swayed along to the endearingly cheesy 2003 hit.

He built enough trust with the crowd to play a new song (words Mayer said send “a chill down the spines of the audience”), “Drifitn’,” and acknowledged a fan’s request to hear “Wheel,” a song they had not heard despite having seen Mayer 20 times since 2004. The final round of applause was so rapturous that Mayer came back out for an unplanned encore, his cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling.”

Even in an acoustic setting, Mayer’s guitar playing is a force to be reckoned with: his playing was thoughtful, nuanced, and soulful on every song, particularly on the evergreen “Gravity” and a reinvented “Wild Blue.”

The show showcased the full depth of his artistry as well as his growth as both a musician and a person. If you have a chance to go see him, don’t hesitate. It’s a worthwhile 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Set list:

1. Slow Dancing a Burning Room

2. Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey

3. Wild Blue

4. Queen of California

5. Why Georgia

6. Who Says

7. Shouldn’t Matter But It Does

8. Neon

9. Driftin’

10. In Your Atmosphere

11. Vultures *

12. You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me*

13. Changing*

14. Stop This Train

15. New Light

16. Gravity +

17. Your Body is a Wonderland

18. Covered in Rain

19. Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967

20. If I Ever Get Around to Living ~

21. Edge of Desire ~

Encore:

22. Wheel

23. Free Fallin’

* Mayer on piano

+ Mayer on electric guitar

~ Mayer on double-neck acoustic