SNL Reviews: Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11/8/25)

Cold Open: Press Conference

Someone collapses in the Oval Office during a press conference, and the President takes the opportunity to ramble on about dumb stuff.

• Andrew’s RFK Jr. wig is hilarious.

• And now the focus suddenly switches to more Trump rambling???? 

• Trump: “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Dr. Oz is on the case!”

• He has some funny lines in here (I like the part about Mamdani converting), but I can’t stress how tired I am of this same format. But, as always, I don’t fault how amazing JAJ’s performance is.

Monologue

Nikki does standup about spray tans, beauty treatments, and her boyfriend.

• I have no familiarity with this woman at all.

• A big groan right away from her line about how Manhattan is “Epstein’s original island”.

• What’s with the applause when she says she got a spray tan? 

• Lame jokes about Donald Trump’s skin color.

• There’s nothing worse than a female standup, and this woman, while not the worst I’ve seen, is just so bland. 

• Now we’re getting into jokes about sex trafficking? 

• This did NOT need to be nine minutes long. At least when Chappelle does long monologues, he makes them…you know, funny.

Sketch: Karaoke Night

Incestuous undertones ruin a family gathering.

• Take a shot!

• Sweet! Another pairing between Andrew and Ashley!

• *sigh* This whole incest routine is making me uncomfortable. As soon as they got on stage, I knew exactly where this sketch was headed.

• Making things worse is Sarah reacting to everything and explaining it because the audience is apparently made up of morons.

• Not even Andrew’s dorky dad character can save this.

• Nikki and Tommy are definitely game for performing this, but they should have just left this in dress rehearsal.

Fake Ad: Hudsacillin

The new anxiety medication that keeps you from having to go through the Jennifer Hudson “spirit tunnel”.

• I don’t watch celebrity-hosted talk shows, so I have no idea what this whole Jennifer Hudson tunnel thing is all about.

• Some laughs from the usual slow-motion montages that we get in these ad parodies.

• I like the brief shot of Marcello going through the tunnel. This is the last time we see him tonight, by the way.

• I wish I had more to say about this, but what else am I supposed to do when I come across a parody of a show I had no idea even existed?

Sketch: Beauty and MrBeast

A modern retelling of the classic tale with Internet superstar MrBeast as the Beast.

• How do you do, fellow kids?

• I’m proud to say I have never watched a single one of MrBeast’s videos, so I have no idea how accurate Ben’s impression of him is.

• Most of the costumes in this sketch are recycled from that Beauty and the Beast sketch in the Willem Dafoe episode. Kenan plays Cogsworth here, as he did in that sketch.

• For somebody who grew up in Canada, Bowen’s French accent is shockingly poor. 

• The only laugh I’ve gotten so far is how one of the critic “reviews” is just MrBeast saying how he’s going to build the world’s largest LEGO tower.

• The sumo wrestler bit at the end also made me chuckle. Other than those two bits, though, I found this sketch very baffling.

Fake Ad: American Girl XL

The new life-size doll attracts a ton of creeps.

• Okay, what’s with all of the American Girl product placement on SNL within the last ten years? This is the fourth time I’ve reviewed a sketch involving them.

• The dolls’ creepy vacant stares are great.

• Amazing juxtaposition of the women innocently showing off their new dolls with the perverted men taking pleasure from them.

• Nice closeup of Ben lovingly stroking his doll’s feet. Dan Schneider would be proud.

• Andrew: “I made up my own backstory for Jessica. She’s from Lithuania!” Nikki: “No! She’s American!” Andrew: “Well she is now!” *camera zooms in on their wedding ring*

• The “churning butter” bit is so gross, but so funny.

• JAJ finally gets to play a sexual predator. He brings the sketch to a perfect conclusion with a scene involving a hot dog.

Sketch: Mechanical Bull

Two girls travel through time and space on a mechanical bull.

• Already a big laugh from Jane’s odd drunk character.

• Kenan’s overused voice was actually pretty good in this sketch.

• Ah yes, we finally get another JAJ musical number! 

• This is the kind of absurdity I love to see on this show, but we unfortunately don’t get to see it very often for some dumb reason.

• I love the bit where the military tries to kill them with missiles. 

• Kenan and James start breaking when they sing the last line of the song. 

• My words cannot do this song justice. Go out and seek it for yourself.

Musical Performance: “12 to 12”

Weekend Update (featuring Pete Davidson)

• Another “This is fine” reference? Still behind the times, I see.

• Ugh at the loud applause from the audience when Colin announces that Mamdani has won the mayoral election.

• I laughed at the Cuomo joke, as well as the one implying that he groped the Mexican president.

• Colin and Michael have actually had some good jokes tonight. Hopefully this Update will only get better.

• *Pete Davidson shows up for no reason* Welp, guess I spoke too soon.

• So what the Hell is he doing here? He’s here to swap inside jokes with Colin about that stupid ferry he owns. Barf!

• On the plus side, Pete looks like he’s in a much better place now than he was when he left the show. 

• Surprisingly short Update. I’m glad we didn’t get any stupid mascot commentaries for once.

An in-depth analysis of BM Korea’s Baby Einstein

 In 1999, a company called BM Korea released their own versions of Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart. As you can imagine, they did not actually have the rights to the franchise, and when Julie Aigner-Clark discovered these releases, she promptly sued them for ripping her off. BM’s unofficial releases were taken off the market, and they promptly released ripoff videos called “Baby Genius” (which has yet to surface online) and “New Baby Mozart”.

While the BM Korea release of Mozart has few edits, mostly limited to on-screen text identifying the classical music, their release of the first video is totally different. Let’s go over it, scene by scene…

Intro: The video tutorial seen on the early releases of Baby Einstein is here, but it’s been overdubbed by some kind of Korean song. Pictures of flags corresponding to the different languages have also been inserted.

Hello!: The first Bear-in-the-Box clip has been shortened a bit, but remains in English. Following that is the intro, where BM Korea have inserted their own card with a translation of the video’s title.

Fish: Unchanged

Machine Ball Factory: What’s this doing here?!? Yeah, I forgot to mention earlier that a bunch of clips from Baby Bach have been added to this version of the video. The audio during this scene is of Julie’s rendition of Humpty Dumpty that’s supposed to be later in the video.

Patterns: “Leise, Peterle, Leise” has been replaced by what sounds like someone counting in Korean.

Roly Poly Cow: Unchanged

New Scene: Instead of the Rock-a-Stack, we get new footage of someone placing magnetic blocks on the screen. I have no idea what’s being said here.

Train segue: Unchanged

Aiueo: Unchanged

Jack and Jill: Unchanged

Fruit: This scene replaces “Numi, Numi”, and instead of flowers, we have pictures of fruit. The audio during this scene is “J’avais”, which is supposed to be later in the video.

After this comes three more scenes from Baby Bach, namely a fire truck, Sierra Clark playing with a rattle, and a toy piano.

Backe, Backe, Kuchen: Dubbed over by a Korean version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. At least the lady remembered to clap her hands.

Hola!: Instead of Spanish, we hear someone greeting us in Chinese.

Cardboard Bricks: Unchanged

Candles: The Russian lullaby that normally comes here has been dubbed into Korean, though it has the same tune as the original. 

New Scene: We now get, I kid you not, footage of naked babies. This scene in general was one thing that made Julie Aigner-Clark particularly upset when she found out about this video.

After that, we get a picture of a Korean drum, and Baby Bach footage of a mouse eating cheese.

Edo no Komori Uta: Normally, there should be pictures of dolls here, but BM Korea replaced them with the wind chime that’s supposed to come near the end of the video. They also fade to black and start the wind chime footage over again so it doesn’t transition to the metronome that normally follows it.

New Scene: Pictures of various things, like a monkey plush, fruit, a still shot of the train that appears throughout the video, and a toy plane.

Spiral Bead Lamp: Instead of counting in German, we hear someone counting in Chinese.

After this, we get more Baby Bach footage of Sierra playing with a trumpet, a trumpet toy, and a flipping dog (Flipsie?), complete with awkward cuts in the audio.

Fun Links: “Habi, Beybi” is replaced by some kind of wacky Korean song.

Foam Blocks: The Hebrew alphabet is replaced by someone who is not Julie Aigner-Clark singing the Alphabet Song in English, although the sound of the blocks falling at the end is left intact.

Malenki’ye Gusi: Redubbed with a Korean version of “Frere Jacques”. The backing track is the music that plays during the “Jack and Jill” scene, albeit awkwardly cut around Julie’s voice.

More Baby Bach footage of a toy trumpet, Sierra playing peek-a-boo, and a toy truck being loaded with coins follows this.

Musical Clock: Unchanged

Konnichiwa!: Unchanged

Bo Peep: Unchanged

Xylophone: Unchanged

New Scene: Korean flash cards with pictures of various things on them are displayed. This is then followed by a mechanical duck toy waddling around. Ironically, this duck later appeared in an actual Baby Einstein video (Neighborhood Animals).

Candles/Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Unchanged. However, a scene from Baby Bach with a barnyard toy is inserted between it and the next scene.

Patterns/Japanese 1-20: Unchanged

“New” Scene: A bubble-blowing bear from Baby Bach is accompanied by a Korean poem.

Bonjour!: Unchanged

“New” Scene: Baby Bach footage of a cat toy is accompanied by a Chinese version of “Frere Jacques”.

French 1-20: Instead of a mobile, this plays over Baby Bach footage of various carnival related toys.

Metronome: Unchanged

Rattle: The Spanish audio is replaced by a Korean poem.

Little Miss Muffet: Unchanged, but is then followed by more Baby Bach footage of a dinosaur hatching from an egg, an accordion, and a chicken.

Sakura: Instead of vegetables, this plays over pictures of flowers.

Duck Rattle: Instead of German, the duck greets us in Korean.

Niji: This plays over footage of the rings on the Rock-a-Stack appearing.

Then, we get the entire Brandenberg Concerto sequence from Baby Bach for some reason, complete with the balloons that pop up at the beginning.

After that, there’s some promos for other shows BM Korea likely illegally distributed, including Plonsters and another show I don’t recognize. Then, finally, we get the credit sequence, which has been translated into Korean.

SNL Reviews: Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11/01/25)

 Cold Open

President Trump interrupts a mayoral debate on NY1.

• “You’re watching NY1.” This is gonna suck!!!!

• Immediately we begin with Kenan doing a horrible meta joke about how his character is the “least famous person to be impersonated by SNL”. Can you please just leave already???

• Great to see our host appear in the cold open. Come to think of it, he was in the cold open of his last episode, too,

• This time he’s playing Andrew Cuomo. Okay, he doesn’t look or sound a thing like Cuomo, but I’ll give him a chance.

• We get some tired jokes about how he has a thing for women’s breasts.

• *sigh* A pointless appearance from Ramy Youssef as Zohran Mamdani. Say, didn’t you have a Muslim guy in the cast last year that you did nothing with and then fired him for no reason? That was awesome.

• I sure love it when the characters explain every single joke and action for us, like we’re fucking blind. 

• *double sigh* ANOTHER FUCKING CAMEO already??? This time from Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa?!??

• I think the top comment sums it up best: the actual debate is “more humorous than this could ever hope to be”.

Monologue

Miles talks about how he dressed up as the Roxbury Guys for Halloween.

• That’s odd. Just like last time, his monologue involves him reminiscing about an SNL-related incident from his childhood.

• The old photo of him and his sisters as the Roxbury Guys is pretty funny.

• Miles: “We just look like little Greek men.”

• Now we’re getting into more serious territory when he talks about how he and his wife lost their home in the Palisades Fire earlier in the year. 

• A fairly short monologue and not as good as his last one, but at least it was quick.

Sketch: What Did I Do Last Night?

A game show where hungover contestants have to remember what they were doing the previous night.

• “Gay Fopay”???? UGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! 

• Funny visual of Miles dressed as an ear of corn.

• Kenan, referring to Veronika’s cat costume: “If you were at the shelter, you’d be put down, girl!”

• Kam looks almost unrecognizable as the guy who comes out and plays the sax.

• I love the video footage of Ben pissing on an ATM.

• While not the worst game show sketch I’ve seen, it definitely didn’t belong on the show this early.

Film: Property Brothers

The Property Brothers help Trump renovate the White House.

• I got an immediate laugh from Miles playing both of the Property Brothers.

• Uh-oh, I’m a bit weary with the turn this has taken towards making fun of Trump’s White House renovations.

• As much as I’m happy to see James get more screen time, I question the need to see his Trump more than once in a single episode.

• Okay, I’ll admit, he actually does have some funny bits here, and this is a nice change from his usual routines.

• A super hacky joke regarding Melania’s Halloween decorations, which is about 8 years out of date.

• Speaking of Melania, Chloe’s “impression” is just awful. Now I’m actually kind of relieved she didn’t do an accurate voice in that White Lotus parody last season.

• I love the picture of Trump as Master Chief.

• *sigh* Another joke trying to imply Russian collusion in the 2016 election…

• I won’t lie, I did laugh at Trump deporting all of his construction workers.

• Overall, I’m surprised at how many decent jokes were in this, but there were also a ton of old, outdated ones as well. Special props to Miles for playing both of the lead roles.

Sketch: Hockey PSA

PSA filming goes wrong.

• Ashley looks like Anne Robinson here.

• I laughed at Andrew’s line about how he and Ashley were responsible for the J.G. Wentworth commercial where they sing on a bus. I also love how they’re characterized as snobbish art film directors who would have no business directing a simple hockey PSA.

• Being someone who has no interest in hockey, I had no idea Nashville even has a team.

• Great running gag with Andrew’s character claiming responsibility for various horrible commercials that everyone hates. He deserves an Emmy for his performance in this sketch alone.

• Not caring for the main joke of this sketch so far.

• Nice dig at the infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial.

• The whole Predator confusion gets old after about a minute, but I love the kid’s gleeful delivery of “This is the Predator that forever altered the course of my life!” Who is this kid and why is he is so many sketches? He should be in the cast by now!

Film: Gone Without A Trace

The story of three husbands whose wives mysteriously “disappeared”.

• Ben is all over this episode so far.

• I’m really liking where this is going, and I don’t even watch these Netflix documentaries.

• Funny reveal that their wives didn’t actually disappear at all, and were just busy doing stuff by themselves.

• Solid performances all around from everyone.

• Shockingly, Kenan probably had the best part of the entire sketch, when he encounters “two small men” (his children) who chase him into the hallway.

• I love the bit with Miles immediately going on Tinder when he thinks that his wife will never come back.

• Nice ending with Kenan getting “attacked” by his kids again.

• Overall, that was surprisingly good. The pretapes this season have been decent so far.

Sketch: Newspoint

Strange goings-on interrupt a news broadcast.

• Surprisingly committed pratfall from Mikey at the start of this sketch.

• This seems like a dumb sketch on paper, but I’m enjoying it so far.

• I’m shocked at how well Chloe’s doing as the anchor, especially compared to how little she’s given a shit in the last few episodes.

• Priceless visual of Miles’ character looking at anime titties on his computer, and punching the screen when Kenan takes notice.

• I can imagine the writer of this sketch coming up with the idea after noticing how many news broadcasts have these wide open views of the newsroom in the background.

• Great delivery from Bowen after his character gets electrocuted.

• This episode is on a roll with these last two sketches!

Musical Performance: “Church & State”

Weekend Update (featuring George Santos and Two People Who Just Hooked Up)

• Michael Che’s anti-women shtick is really getting tired at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if he genuinely holds those views.

• Sick 9/11 “joke” regarding Giuliani’s poll numbers.

• *Bowen enters as George Santos* GYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! What is this doing on Update again????? 

• Thank God that Bowen is out of here in a few episodes because I’m tired of ranting about how awful his commentaries are.

• Finally, a genuine laugh from the joke about Kamala Harris losing the Cameroonian election.

• Pretty good slam at Kid Rock.

• Ah, another pairing of Ashley and Andrew after how good they were as a duo earlier.

• Just like before, their chemistry in this commentary is absolutely killer. 

• Andrew: “Democrats need to say, look, it’s too big! Would you be willing to…try something smaller???”

• Even the brief bit of jabbing at Colin was amusing enough.

• I wonder if any of this was ad-libbed. Ashley and Andrew’s performances come off as a bit too casual for it to be just a sketch. If I’m wrong, though, major props to them for making it sound real!

• Well, it only took four episodes, but this is the first commentary all season that I actually enjoyed. That is unbelievable.

Sketch: Press Conference

A reporter hijacks a murder press conference to promote his comic book.

• You know a sketch is gonna be good when it starts with JAJ wearing a mustache.

• What a bizarre concept…but I love it.

• Something about Andrew’s delivery in this sketch is very Jason Sudeikis-esque. 

• Ashley continues to prove how essential she is to the cast when she suddenly appears as a loud, screeching character telling JAJ to mind his own business.

• I love how this gradually turns into the reporters asking nothing but “Gar-Girl” questions. 

• This whole part about radioactive turds entering the water supply and turning into rain is just amazing.

• The actual killer showing up just to ask Gar-Girl questions is great, too. I love his corny line at the end where he’s relieved that he’ll be able to get some reading done in prison.

• Overall, Andrew’s amazing night continues. 

Musical Performance: “Human”

Sketch: Italian Restaurant

Two flirtatious waiters interrupt a couple’s romantic date.

• Here’s a fun game I just came up with: every time there’s a sketch in a restaurant, take a shot! 

• Yippee, more bad Italian stereotypes…

• I’m surprised that this is the first we’ve seen of Marcello tonight. He was not missed at all.

• Boy, this is some really hacky shit. Is this a rejected Carol Burnett sketch or something?

• Now this is turning into another sketch where Mikey gets cucked? No thank you!

• Not helping matters is that this sketch seems to have been shortened for time reasons. You’d think that they would upload the full dress version online, but they did not.

Final thoughts: Color me shocked. That was actually a pretty good episode, much better than the last time Miles hosted. Even most of the bad stuff wasn’t too horrible for once. 

Best sketches: Gone Without A Trace, Newspoint, Two People Who Just Hooked Up commentary, Press Conference

Worst sketches: Cold Open, George Santos commentary, Italian Restaurant

Next review: Nikki Glaser/Sombr

SNL Reviews: Sabrina Carpenter (10/18/25)

Cold Open: Kel Squad

Domingo and crew surprise a man on his birthday.

• *groan* Not Domingo again. At least they’re getting him out of the way early.

• How many times is Andrew’s character going to get cucked by Domingo? You’d think he would have broken up with his girlfriend by now.

• This feels even emptier than the previous installments due to the lack of Ego and Heidi. I miss those two…

• As bad as this was, it’s not even the worst thing Marcello does tonight…

Monologue

Sabrina talks about her new album’s cover, and interacts with the audience.

• The album cover joke was really dumb.

• I’m guessing some of these audience members are actually writers, but SNL Archives doesn’t list any of them, so I don’t know.

• Kenan playing his one-millionth sassy black guy role. Can somebody start a petition or something to get this guy off the show for good?

• Well, that was certainly a monologue. It started, it ended, and I yawned.

Sketch: Snack Homiez

A podcast about snacks turns political when Trump gets involved.

• This sketch immediately starts with Chloe in drag speaking in an irritating voice. I’m really going to hate this, aren’t I?

• As if that weren’t enough, everyone else in this is also in drag speaking with irritating voices! 

• Jesus, what the fuck is this doing on so early? The only joke is these idiots speaking in dumb millennial slang. And it never fucking stops.

• It feels like they were trying to copy the “Banger Boys” sketch from last season, except that sketch was funny and it had actual boys in it. This one is just embarrassing.

• After THREE FUCKING MINUTES of nothing but this zoomer shit, Trump is brought on as a guest, presumably as a way to “make up” for his absence from the cold open.

• Why would Trump even be on this podcast anyway? Who cares, right? At least it gives the writers an opportunity to make jokes about him being fat!

• JAJ is trying his damndest to save this, but the sketch unfortunately fell apart long before he showed up.

• This is the third episode in a row where they stuck a Godawful sketch right after the monologue. What is going on in the writer’s room this season???

Film: Plans

The horrifying story of a couple who forgot about their big plans.

• Nice to see Ben Marshall with his first lead role! 

• This is a pretty well shot and edited trailer (I love the distorted effect on Sarah’s voice in that flashback), but I’m not really laughing so far.

• Okay, this is picking up a little bit with Mikey’s character who is obsessed with internet videos.

• I seriously thought Mikey was asking Ben to look at pictures of his dong the first time I saw this, but no, he was talking about his dog.

• Nice creepy shot of Sarah’s head unnaturally poking out of the clothes. 

• So, what exactly happened at the end? Sabrina suddenly has a creepy face and looks excited to have her cousins over, even though she was previously shown to be dreading their arrival? I don’t get it.

Sketch: ShopTV

A designer shows off her new luxury neck pillow.

• Again with this sketch? Jeez, as if we needed more evidence that Mikey is way past expiration date on this show.

• I did get a laugh from the Jesus trick or treat bag.

• Ha ha, the neck pillow looks like a vagina!! Aren’t you just dying of laughter right now????

• What else is there to say about this that I haven’t said about the other ones already? I am officially over Mikey Day and his juvenile sketches now. And that really hurts me to say, because he was once my favorite cast member.

Sketch: Girlboss Seminar

A woman offers a seminar about female empowerment.

• Just from the title, I can tell I’m gonna hate this. My feelings are then confirmed when Sabrina and others show up in severely gay outfits.

• The woman sitting next to Chloe reminds me of Devon Walker in drag. This only makes me miss Devon more.

• The live airing had an atrocious technical glitch where Sabrina’s microphone went out for a little bit. This has thankfully been fixed in the online upload.

• Boy, this is just comedy cancer so far. I’m getting that sinking feeling again this is another Jimmy Fowlie “masterpiece”.

• Not even the Sabrina dummy getting thrown out the window was enough to make me laugh.

• It should also go without saying that I’m not a fan of Sarah explaining and reacting to everything.

• Now we’re making fun of people who suffer from concussions, because that sure is a hoot and a holler, right?

• Kenan suddenly materializes out of nowhere so he can do his tired reacting routine. This does lead to the only funny part of this sketch, however, when a Jeremy dummy fails to go out the window all the way, so Kenan has to push it out.

Film: Grind

A song about “grinding” at the prom.

• Incidentally, this film is Bowen’s only appearance in the episode, as he was at some lefty protest that night.

• Oh man, this has everything I hate about modern SNL pretapes. The lighting sucks, the choreography sucks, and the lyrics are trying way too hard to be edgy.

• Where the hell has Dan Bulla been this season? We could use more of his Midnight Matinee stuff again. Instead, we’re stuck with bland shit like this and that Hunting Wives “parody” from last week.

Musical Performance: “Manchild”

Weekend Update (featuring The Movie Guy and Tommy Brennan)

• Great, more hacky George Santos jokes…

• Enough with the jokes about Colin being racist!

• Aw shit, not the Movie Guy again. Why do they keep bringing this one-note stereotype back?

• This is exactly the same format as the first two times he appeared, but somehow even worse.

• The whole part about “‘Tewie Griffis” (Stewie Griffin) is some of the hackiest shit this character has ever spewed out.

• Marcello hasn’t been doing too bad this season so far, but with the return of both Domingo and The Movie Guy in the same episode, he’s quickly regressed into his worst habits.

• Again with the K-Pop Demon Hunters shilling? This time, it’s mentioned as part of a lame Spirit Halloween joke that’s been told a million times before (including on THIS VERY SHOW).

• The Prince Andrew joke is pretty good. 

• Ah, now we get to know Tommy Brennan a little better. He’s our second newbie to get a commentary after Kam Patterson did in the premiere.

• I love his thick Minnesotan accent. He should do a project with Mister Metokur or something, just to see who’s more intelligible.

• Nice to hear that he’s a fellow Catholic! Seems like Lorne loves hiring Catholics (Tina Fey has admitted as much).

• I like his euphemism for masturbation: “Tommy Time”

• While not the funniest commentary, this was a nice and charming way to introduce us to Tommy’s style of humor.

Sketch: P.C. Richard & Son

Washing machines sing show tunes while washing and drying.

• Yay, I love product placement! 

• What the fuck is this? Singing washing machines??? Am I watching a rejected All That sketch?

• It’s sad to see Veronika’s first big role had to be in this sketch. She’s performing the Hell out of it, for sure, but the material is just blah.

• Did I mention this was written by Jimmy Fowlie? As if I needed to tell you that with the focus on shitty show tunes.

• The worst thing about this sketch is the lack of the funny P.C. Richard jingle. Come on, can’t you guys at least give me something to laugh at???

Sketch: Surprise

A birthday surprise leads to an outbreak of farts.

• Ashley has been in pretty much every single sketch tonight!

• Aaaaaaaaaaand now we get a gigantic fart. This episode just keeps sinking lower and lower.

• Ben can be seen trying not to crack up at several points. Someone must be smoking a joint or something offstage because I can’t imagine why he’d be laughing at the actual sketch.

• As is the case with some other fart-centered sketches in the past, that’s apparently Steve Higgins making the noises. 

• Ashley is trying her damnedest to save this sketch, but it was pretty much D.O.A. as soon as the farts started. 

Musical Performance: “Nobody’s Son”

A Film by Martin Herlihy: Social Experiment

Martin conducts a “social experiment” regarding bigotry by dressing people up as Frankenstein’s Monster.

• Please Don’t Destroy may no longer exist, but Martin Herlihy is still around to contribute some short films of his own. This first one got cut from the previous two episodes.

• Already some laughs from the “serious” stock footage montage.

• Great reveal of an entire theater full of people all dressed as the Frankenstein Monster. 

• The top comment on the YouTube upload is by one James Colgan, who claims he is one of the costumed individuals. He says the best part of his experience was going to lunch in full costume.

• I like how all of the test subjects immediately leave the theater only seconds after entering.

• Great line from Martin about why he chose Jane as a test subject: he thought she would be “woke” because of her haircut.

• The scene with Martin’s girlfriend in bed is hilarious, as is the running gag about an old lady who appears to be asleep but is actually dead.

• Nice bit with Kam as the one subject who has no reaction to the monsters, but that’s only because he’s never heard of Frankenstein before. 

• I love the awkward “We Are The World” parody at the end. Reminds me of the time that Phil Hartman’s interpretation of the character sang “We Are World” with Tonto and Tarzan.

• Overall, this is definitely the best part of the entire episode. I look forward to covering Martin’s other films! 

Final thoughts: Another bland, trend-chasing episode. This might have been even worse than the premiere. Sabrina Carpenter did fairly okay for a musician host, but I still wasn’t impressed because of my ambivalence towards her. On the bright side, though, Bowen’s absence was very refreshing, and I liked the Martin Herlihy film at the end.

Best sketches: Social Experiment

Worst sketches: Cold Open, Snack Homiez, Girlboss Seminar, The Movie Guy commentary, Surprise

Next episode: Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile

SNL Reviews: Amy Poehler/Role Model (10/11/25)

Cold Open: Pam Bondi Hearing

Bondi is unresponsive during a Congressional hearing.

• Huge applause for Amy as Pam Bondi, a rare instance of the host in the cold open.

• The dialogue here is just atrocious. No different from any of the other political sketches we’ve gotten for the past decade or so.

• Andrew’s Cajun “accent” is straight out of that Maine Justice sketch, except not funny.

• Our first of MANY references to the Epstein files we’ll be getting for the next few months.

• That line about Amy Klobuchar having a Pokémon’s name was hacky as fuck.

• Speaking of hacky, now we have Tina Fey as Kristi Noem.

• I have no idea who Noem is or what she sounds like, but Tina is not trying at all. It’s literally just the voice she used for Sarah Palin, which, now that I think about it, is ground zero for all of this cameo bullshit we keep getting on SNL these days.

• Speaking of hacky yet again, there’s a line where Noem says she laughed at the ending of Old Yeller. Because she’s eeeeeeevil!!!!! Or something!

• Jesus, even without Trump there, this cold open is unbelievably boring and shitty.  

Monologue

Amy chats about various topics, including the show’s 50th anniversary, her new podcast, and the current state of the world.

• Wow, a joke about drug use at SNL. So edgy and original!

• Nice of Amy to point out how tonight’s episode is airing on the 50th anniversary of SNL’s premiere. Unfortunately, this is then followed by another drug joke.

• Uh-oh, she’s bringing out the new cast members. Gee, I wonder what’s gonna happen?

• What a shock! She asks them to leave! I sure love it when SNL makes “jokes” about how useless its new hires are!

• No offense to Amy, but this monologue made her come off as extremely unlikable and smug. 

Sketch: The Rudemans

A lady introduces her boyfriend to her standoffish family.

• Ashley with a lead role right off the bat!

• I like the subtle joke of Andrew saying that he’s had to do this “hundreds of times”.

• Oh dear, I am not liking the turn this has suddenly taken with Ashley’s rude family, complete with a bootleg Debbie Downer theme song.

• Not to be nitpicky here, but am I supposed to believe that Amy and Bowen gave birth to a fully white child? This is just more of shoving Bowen in there whether or not it makes sense.

• Now Mikey suddenly exists in the sketch because they’re trying to justify his 10th fucking year on the show.

• This sketch is like what would happen if someone made an entire family of David Spades. The only difference is that Spade was funny when given the right material, whereas this is just embarrassing. 

• The dialogue in this is horrible, by the way. It seems to have been taken from a Joss Whedon script that was thrown out.

• Ugh, now we have Sarah doing a hacky pratfall. Leave that shit in the nineties where it belongs!

Fake Ad: Non-Non-Alcoholic Beer

The non-alcoholic beverage that still gives a buzz.

• An ad about non-alcoholic beer? I liked it better the first time…*David Spade voice* when it was called “CouplaBeers”. *Spade voice off* 

• Now, let’s be fair and give this the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure it’ll be good in its own right.

• Andrew’s performance is pretty good, but I can’t help but feel this is kind of bland.

• Kam Patterson is wasted with a single line of stereotypical “black” dialogue.

• Okay ending with Andrew speeding off after getting pulled over for a breathalyzer test.

Sketch: Miss Lycus The Fast Psychic

A TV psychic rushes through her show.

• The look of Amy’s character is already worrying me, as is the fact that this sketch is credited to Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan.

• Amy’s performance here is great as usual, but I’m not caring for the repetitive formula.

• I love the dopey grin on Ben Marshall as his wife (played by Ashley) brings him out to prove that he is in fact still alive.

• Nice bit with the fast-scrolling list of names of people who are not actually dead, complete with sped-up music.

• Pretty funny line about how Veronica’s mother is Hillary Duff, but not that Hillary Duff.

• You know, I’m actually not finding this sketch too bad.

• I saw someone in the comments claim that this character is supposed to be based on a real psychic named Sylvia Brown. After searching her up, I can safely confirm that this is indeed who she is supposed to be.

• Marcello has a great bit at the end as a guy who supposedly drowned, but is actually alive and soaking wet. Nice work by the makeup team there.

• Overall, surprisingly not bad for a Jimmy Fowlie sketch.

Film: The Hunting Wives

The second season of the “lesbian Republican drama” is anything but.

• Yay, another parody of a Netflix show that I’ve never seen! I know the reason they keep doing this is so they can get some easy clicks, but that doesn’t make it fun for someone like me who has no idea what’s going on.

• The first thing Amy does in this sketch is flash her breasts at Chloe. Ummmm…okay. 

• The critic reviews are dumb and cliche. I was about to say that the one comparing it to The L Word was actually kind of funny, but then they revealed that it was written by “A.I. Scott”, because these people have A.I. on their minds constantly.

• Aubrey Plaza makes an appearance as some lady who gets guns pointed at her when she reveals she’s a lesbian. Get it, because all Republican women are homophobes!

• Well, that was a waste of my time. 

Sketch: Work Birth

A woman goes into labor while at the office.

• Kind of fitting how Amy’s playing a pregnant woman here given how her tenure as a cast member ended.

• You can see some kind of camera equipment on the side of the screen as Amy takes a seat.

• Not sure about the turn this has taken with Amy sitting in a kiddie pool waiting to give birth, but she is committed as always.

• The voice Ben is using here sounds like an impression of Bowen’s “macho” voice.

• Mikey just took his shirt off for some reason…things are getting way too chaotic for my tastes.

• There was no need for Kenan to be in this sketch just so he can do his tired reacting shtick.

• Speaking of tired, the baby turns out to be a fully-grown Bowen doing his usual gay routine. Yawn, another ho-hum sketch.

Musical Performance: “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out”

Weekend Update (featuring Rhonda LaCenzo, The Couple You Can’t Believe Are Together, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Seth Meyers)

• Let’s see, jokes comparing Trump to a fictional character, jokes painting everyone at Fox News as a racist…it’s all so tiresome.

• Ugh, here comes Sarah as a loud, obnoxious character again. I don’t think I need to say any more.

• I forgot all about that Mark Sanchez story. The media sure buried that one quick, huh?

• I hate that I laughed at the edited video of Colin dancing with Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

• Ha ha, Colin Jost is a Nazi! That joke sure hasn’t gotten old yet! 

• Are you kidding me? We’re doing these Jane and Marcello characters again? Weren’t the first two times enough?

• Ah, now time for more cameos, as Tina and Seth Meyers have shown up to join Amy in a Joke-Off.

• So far, I’m not really finding the guests’ jokes better than the one Colin told.

• Nice, a child pregnancy joke from Tina. You see, the joke is that people in Tennessee are all inbred!

• I did kind of laugh at Amy’s final joke about how the baby broke her record for having the “loosest vagina”.

Sketch: Experienced Lawyers

Oddball law firms one-up each other during a commercial.

• Right off the bat, I’m laughing at the look of James and Andrew’s characters.

• Impressive wall-breaking entrance from Amy.

• I’m liking the format of this sketch so far.

• Wow, has Ashley been in every single sketch in this episode? I love it!

• For once, Jane’s awkward delivery actually enhances a scene.

• The “CLONES, ACTIVATE!!!!” scene is hilarious.

• Sarah’s scene representing “Dracu-Law” has shades of her excellent early work on the show.

• Bowen and Kenan kind of bring this to a limp end, but overall, this was definitely a highlight of the episode.

Musical Performance: “Some Protector”

Sketch: Emo Mom

A mom goes through a phase of acting emo.

• I like how much airtime the featured players have been getting in this episode.

• Funny characterization from Amy as a moody goth bitch.

• Thank you, Chloe, for pointing out that Amy just started vaping! 

• “When A Period Becomes A Comma” is a pretty good name for a book.

• Yay, another lifeless performance from Jane Wickline. I get that she’s supposed to be an emo here, but she could not look any less enthusiastic if she tried.

• Oh my God, I just noticed the family portrait on the wall with everyone making the cheesiest smiles possible, and now I can’t stop laughing.

• Great shot at the end of Amy’s infected tattoo.

• I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed that sketch this time around.

Sketch: Theme Song Masterclass

Two television composers share how they came up with famous theme songs.

• Uh-oh, looks like we’re in for a Bowen showcase here…

• Even worse, Amy and Bowen’s characters are named “Lydia Calabasas” and “Leonard Margarita”, respectively. Ugh, enough with the “funny” names.

• Jeez, this “first draft” of the Severance theme song…I find it really hard to believe that this sketch was not written by Jimmy Fowlie or Ceara O’Sullivan.

• Great, now the students are explaining why that was a horrible song. I’ve never seen Severance, but I didn’t need this sketch to explain to me that this song would not fit in with the show.

• Jane: “Why do these all sound like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?” Ummm, no they don’t? What are you talking about, Jane?

• No idea what to think about that running gag of Bowen threatening to assault Jane, except that it isn’t funny at all and is actually kind of disturbing.

• Kenan is now playing a thinly-veiled variant of his Treece Henderson character. Please end this sketch already!!!

• Yippee, another ending where everyone dances. 

• I can’t believe they actually let this on the air. What actually good sketch did they cut in favor of this one?

Note: A dedication for Diane Keaton is show before the goodnights. I don’t know why, considering she never even appeared on the show.

Final thoughts: While not perfect, this was miles better than the season premiere. Most of the cast actually got something to do, and Amy did her usual great job as host. 

Best sketches: Miss Lycus The Fast Psychic, Experienced Lawyer, Emo Mom

Worst sketches: Cold Open, The Rudemans, Rhonda LaCenzo commentary, Theme Song Masterclass

Next review: Sabrina Carpenter

SNL Reviews: Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10/4/25)

My SNL Reviews are back, baby!!! I decided that my mental state has recovered enough for me to want to continue.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s do the time warp again!!!

Today’s Retro Decimator Quote is...

"My favorite female cast member just continues to get better. I’m really eager to see what she does going forward." (from my Season 47 overview, 2022)

This was in regards to Ego Nwodim's stellar year she had in Season 47. Little did I know that the following season would go on to be her worst one...

Cold Open

Pete Hegseth’s address is interrupted by President Trump

• A text crawl…is it too late for me to retire my reviews again?

• On the plus side, I love how the first person we see is one of the new cast members!

• Sadly, he’s only there to introduce the real focus of this sketch, Pete Hegseth, played by Colin for some reason.

• For the record, this is Colin’s 13th season on the show. This is absolutely unbelievable. When I started watching regularly, he was only in his 5th. He outstayed his welcome long ago, and I don’t know why SNL hasn’t realized that yet.

• I don’t know how accurate Colin’s “impression” of Hegseth is, but knowing him, it’s probably not.

• *sigh* Another one of those routines where Trump interrupts a sketch to talk about himself. Why do they keep going back to this format????

• If you’re wondering whether or not he’s gotten any funnier since my last review…don’t worry, he hasn’t. 

• I don’t see the point in discussing this any further when it’s exactly the same as every other time they’ve done this. Moving on…

We have several new cast members this season, most of whom I have never heard of. The newbies are Jeremy Culhane (who we just saw in the cold open), Kam Patterson, Tommy Brennan, Veronika Slowikowska (what a mouthful), and our old friend Ben Marshall from Please Don't Destroy, who have unfortunately broken up (although Martin Herlihy will still be contributing solo films). 

The intro is also the same as last year, but obviously with the newbies added and Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim removed. 

Monologue

Bad Bunny talks about unimportant stuff before auditioning for characters he’d like to play.

• As I write this, Bad Bunny has just come off of the worst Super Bowl performance known to man, rivaling the already shitty Black Eyed Peas performance from like 15 years ago. With this added knowledge, I’m sure I’m going to hate his performance in this episode even more.

• Those videos of him dancing aren’t funny in the slightest and are only there to make his stans in the audience wet themselves.

• Pointless cameo from Jon Hamm in one of the videos.

• That line at the end where he tells us to learn his language so we can appreciate his Super Bowl performance is so Goddamn smug and arrogant that I can’t believe nobody in the audience booed him.

Sketch: Jeopardy!

A contestant fails to phrase his answers as questions.

• It feels like every year, the first sketch of the season is a game show.

• This is clearly the same set used for the Black Jeopardy sketches.

• It just feels so wrong to see a Jeopardy! sketch without Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek. Andrew is doing a fine job as Ken Jennings (despite not looking a thing like him) but Trebek is dearly missed.

• Why, oh why, is Kenan Thompson STILL on the show???? He’s approaching his 25th fucking season, and he was only funny for about nine of them.

• Nice to see Veronika with a big role right up front.

• Hoo boy, I am not a fan of this one-joke sketch so far. And, again, Bad Bunny is coming off like a smug douchebag.

• This had no reason to be the lead-off sketch. This is something that belongs after Update.

Fake Ad: ChatGPTio

A more “authentic” version of ChatGPT.

• And now we get our obligatory “let’s demonize AI” sketch.

• Seeing Chloe in this role just makes me miss Heidi even more. 

• *sigh* Mikey is also still on the show for some reason, despite wearing out his welcome years ago.

• *double sigh* Another sketch where the only joke is Marcello babbling in a thick Spanish accent. Am I the only one who thinks these kinds of roles are kind of racist?

• Bad Bunny is adding nothing to this.

Sketch: The Donor

A couple asks their friend to be their sperm donor.

• Surprised it’s taken this long for Bowen to show up.

• The reveal of Bad Bunny’s character already sets a bad tone for the rest of this sketch.

• Yep, just as I feared, this guy is the main joke of the sketch. 

• To make things even more cliche, Kenan also appears as a creepy character. I’ve lost count of how many times he’s done that.

Sketch: K-Pop Demon Hunters

SNL tries to piggyback off of the success of an overrated movie.

• Kinda weird how we have two sketches in a row where the leading ladies are Chloe and Sarah.

• Chloe says she’s excited to see the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie. I can’t help but wonder if this is an in-joke directed at Maya Rudolph, as Anderson is her husband.

• Ugh, now we get the main “joke” of this sketch, which is how Bad Bunny’s character is obsessed with K-Pop Demon Hunters, an extremely overrated animated film that came out that summer. I don’t think I need to tell you who wrote this sketch, do I?

• I hope the writers got paid by Sony every time they say the name of the movie in this sketch. I’m not going to count how many times they say it because I don’t want to get AIDS.

• Boy, Bad Bunny’s performance in this sketch is so awful. I don’t know what happened between his first hosting gig and this one, because this is clearly not the same guy!

• Somehow they were able to get Huntrix (the band that was in the movie) to appear in this awful sketch.

• I did kind of chuckle at Sarah randomly saying that she’s on the Epstein list.

• Figures that Bowen would be involved in this sketch in some way. I have no idea who he’s supposed to be playing, but he isn’t funny.

• Dear God, Bowen starts singing….I think I can move on to the next sketch now.

Musical Performance: “AAHH Men!!!!”

Weekend Update (featuring Kam Patterson and Dobby the House Elf) 

• *triple sigh* These cretins are still here, for some reason. When I initially ended my blog last summer, I did it in hopes that SNL was about to make some huge changes to the show. While they certainly did that, apparently Weekend Update was thought to be perfectly fine, even though it is the part of the show that needs the most improvement.

• A really hacky joke where Trump’s plan for peace in Gaza has a drawing of a woman’s breasts on it.

• Ugh, I forgot about that awful part where they dub Chloe as Jennifer Coolidge over a clip of Trump speaking. What’s the point? Oh yeah, we need to keep pushing Chloe as a “star” even though everyone’s sick of her by now. 

• Newbie Kam Patterson has a commentary where the “joke” is that he keeps skirting around the fact that he’s going to say the n-word. Not a good first impression. 

• HUGE applause for some reason when Che says Zohran Mamdani’s name. I take it the audience is filled with Arab Communists?

• Though cheap, my biggest laugh of this entire Update came from Che’s joke about Andrew Cuomo’s new political ad being “Honka-honka, shhhh!”

• Jesus Christ, another fucking “mascot” commentary. This time, it’s Bowen as Dobby the House Elf, who is here to talk about…ugh, J.K. Rowling’s transphobia. This can not end well.

• I thought nothing could top the hippo commentary from last season’s premiere, but this is definitely worse. 

• There’s a blooper where the strap on his costume comes loose, causing him to ad-lib “Dobby’s come undone!” Sadly, that’s probably the highlight of this travesty of a commentary.

• Seeing crap like this makes me all the more glad that Bowen leaves the show halfway through this season. The amount of time that they gave over to this untalented baby to do whatever the fuck he wanted is honestly ridiculous.

• And that’s how we end Update. Nothing has improved since last season.

Sketch: Inventing Spanish

A look back at how the Iberians invented the Spanish language.

• Once again, it seems like Bad Bunny is barely trying with the delivery here. I know English isn’t his first language and everything, but still, you’d think he’d at least give some effort.

• Marcello is mugging up a storm here. I can’t believe I used to like this guy.

• Because SNL is trying to justify Kenan staying on for the millionth year in a row, they throw him into this sketch despite it not making sense for a black guy to be there. His Spanish accent is unsurprisingly awful.

• This feels like a thinly veiled rehash of sketches like the Washington ones with Nate Bargatze, or that Godawful one from the Season 46 finale with the angels creating the first man. I am not a fan of any of those, so I imagine I’ll like this one even less.

• Guess we can add Spanish to the list of accents Mikey is terrible at. Given that his character is said to be from Barcelona, it would have been kinda funny if he did an impression of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.

• Random Benicio del Toro cameo. Yeah, why not? Let’s just keep padding the cameo count some more!

Musical Performance: “Gorgeous”

Sketch: Parent-Teacher Conference

A principal is attracted to her student’s hot dad.

• Figures Ashley’s only role is stuck near the end of the show.

• Some chick in the audience has a laugh that sounds almost exactly like Roseanne Barr.

• Unsurprisingly, Ashley is doing a masterful job here.

• Some huge laughs from the disturbing drawings that Marcello’s character has created.

• Even Bad Bunny is doing pretty fine here.

• Andrew slowly seems to be taking over Mikey’s role as SNL’s resident cuck. 

• Finally, a genuinely strong sketch! Too bad it took them until the end of the episode to do it!

Sketch: El Chavo

SNL’s latest attempt to pander to Latin viewers.

• Not content with shitting all over Sabado Gigante, Marcello is now doing the same to El Chavo del Ocho. The first time I saw this episode, I immediately turned off the TV when this sketch started.

• I have seen a grand total of one episode of El Chavo, so there’s probably going to be some in-jokes here that I don’t understand.

• So far, the only joke is that they’re doing an exact recreation of the intro (complete with the same Jean-Jacques Perrey music), except the “funny” part is that they’re doing it this time instead of the original people.

• Andrew looks pretty dead on as Don Ramón.

• The part where Andrew gets slapped by Chloe is so badly staged. Her hand comes nowhere near him and the sound effects are delayed.

• Now they’re throwing in Kenan to try to “improve” this sketch? Good lord, I don’t know how many more bad accents I can take from him.

• Oh, and Spanish Jon Hamm appears at the end for no reason.

• While this definitely didn’t make me feel as dead inside as those Sabado Gigante “parodies”, I’m baffled as to how other people can praise this boring, muggy shoutfest.

Final thoughts: As I feared, nothing has changed from the last season. There’s still too much Trump, too much trashy social media shit, too much Marcello, and still too much Colin Jost and Michael Che. Bad Bunny just coasted through the entire episode giving half-assed performances because he knows his idiotic fans will eat it up anyway.

Best sketches: Parent-Teacher Conference

Worst sketches: Jeopardy, The Donor, K-Pop Demon Hunters, Dobby the Elf commentary

Next review: Amy Poehler/Role Model

Pre-Code Crime Comics Are Magical

I want you to imagine an ancient society that has been lost to time...a magical society that most scholars barely understand...

This was a society where it was normal for people to have names like "Joe the Boob"

Certain individuals were known to have flesh-colored blood

They spoke a strange language of grunts and insults that nobody else would be caught dead using

Foul language did not exist

Some had the ability to camouflage their hands to be the same color as their clothing

While others partook in the consumption of paper

To learn more about this amazing society, follow this link: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=32867