I’m back with another season of reviews! This time, we’re taking a look at Season 48.
Cold Open
Peyton and Eli Manning break down the cold open of the season premiere.
• A rare appearance of the host in a cold open. He looks almost exactly like Peyton Manning! And it’s great to see Andrew get a lead role right off the bat.
• I was initially excited to see a non-political cold open for once, but then it cut to a view of Mar-a-Lago and I knew exactly what we were in for. Apparently SNL thought they could spice up their usual Trump nonsense by having sports guys comment on it.
• Our first look at one of the new cast members! I’m sure Michael Longfellow was thrilled to have his only line be “Right this way, ma’am.”
• Andrew as Eli: “And, you know, that might be the only time we see him tonight.” That line is kind of unfortunate in retrospect given how they’ve been treating Michael so far. At least it isn’t the only time he appears in this episode.
• Heidi as the South Dakota governor is literally portrayed as a vampire. This is the level of satire we’re at these days.
• Some meta-commentary where they point out how all of the “fun” impressions such as Fauci, Lindsey Graham, and Rudy Giuliani can’t be in this sketch because they were all played by Kate McKinnon.
• They make an attempt at “mocking” the show’s lack of political balance by having Peyton say that they spend too much time on Trump jokes while Joe Biden is losing his mind. So, let me get this straight. They know what the problem is, yet they’re not going to do anything to fix it???
• Another appearance of Mikey as Don Jr. While I hated those bits with him and Eric, it does feel a little sad seeing him doing this all by himself now that Alex Moffat is gone.
• Super random cameo from Jon Hamm for no reason.
• I have no idea who the hell “Corn Kid” is, but it’s a terrible way for Devon Walker to make his debut.
• Marcello Hernandez and Molly Kearney make their first appearances by doing a stupid dance, which I’m going to assume is more TikTok bullshit.
• We get another random guest appearance, this time from Shaun White. Oh, but they point out how random it is, so that makes it okay, right??? No, it doesn’t.
• I like how all of the new guys get to join in on the LFNY at the end.
• Jeez, that was such a chore to get through. It was just seven minutes of SNL acknowledging all of their problems, but laughing them off so they can keep doing them.
Notes: Not only do we have four newbies, but we also have a new logo for the first time since Season 39! Another important thing to note is that Cecily Strong is absent from the first few episodes of this season.
Monologue
Our host talks about his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and growing up as a fan of SNL.
• The photo comparing him to Rachel Maddow was hilarious.
• After a slow start, he shows us a video he made as a child where he and his sister reenact a Spartan Cheerleaders sketch. As I said in my review of the Oscar Isaac episode, I love it when we get glimpses of our hosts as children.
• Funny twist where he says that his sister is playing Will Ferrell’s character. There’s also a glimpse of their other sister in the background, who he claims is supposed to be Lorne Michaels.
• I wonder what that is on the TV in the background.
• Overall, Miles pretty much won me over with this sweet little monologue.
Sketch: Send Something Normal
Celebrities are challenged to respond to their DMs in a normal way.
• Great, another game show…
• I’m guessing the host’s name (“Halen Hardy”) is some kind of dirty innuendo, because these game show sketches have become extremely predictable.
• Mikey doesn’t look or sound a thing like Adam Levine, who he gives a bizarre feminine voice. The reason Levine is even in this sketch is because he was in some kind of scandal that week related to messages. I’ve completely forgotten what it was.
• I’m not that familiar with what Armie Hammer sounds like, but I’m sure JAJ is doing a good job.
• Kenan is still on this show, and his impressions are just as bad as ever. Whose idea was it to cast him as Neil DeGrasse Tyson? Oh, and just to prove how out of place he is, he immediately stumbles over his lines.
• Bowen is also one of the contestants, and he gets in a pretty funny line about how he’s been able to do so well on this show because he’s gay. As a side note, I’ve decided to stop calling him “Asian Terry Sweeney” that much. Whenever he does something annoying, I probably will.
• This sketch is just washing right over me. Was this really a good choice for a lead off sketch?
Film: BeReal
Two bank robbers have their heist interrupted by BeReal.
• Mikey was born to play a bank robber.
• This looks like it was shot at an actual bank.
• After a promising start, this suddenly takes an unwelcome turn where it’s revealed to be an advertisement for something called BeReal. I have no idea what that is.
Sketch: Charmin Bears
A Charmin bear comes clean to his family after getting accepted into Toilet Paper College.
• Ugggghhhh!!! For the millionth season premiere in a row, we have a sketch that’s meant to shill for someone else’s products.
• Punkie Johnson (who somehow got promoted this season) has a surprisingly big role in this sketch as the daughter bear. She looks upset at having to be in this.
• If you wanted to know just how bad this sketch is, Kent Sublette is credited as a writer for it.
• These toilet puns are atrocious. But once again, they think that pointing it out will excuse it.
• Yet another sketch that just ends with a random dance party. Seems to be a theme that I’ve been running into lately.
• If you thought this couldn’t get any shittier, well, guess what? This sketch is also plagiarized!!! A YouTuber named Joel Haver released a sketch a couple months prior to this which also revolves around a Charmin bear wanting to pursue a career in dancing. Even though Haver said this was probably just a coincidence, I have my doubts, especially considering that Sublette’s former writing partner James Anderson has been known to plagiarize material before.
Sketch: Rooftop Bar
Two finance bros try to make conversation at a bar.
• I think I see writer Gary Richardson as an extra in the background.
• Mikey and Miles have great chemistry as these annoying frat boys.
• Special props go to Mikey for all of those voices he’s doing.
• I would rate this a little higher if it didn’t end so abruptly. But still, I find this sketch a little better than I did the first time I saw it.
Fake Ad: AMC Theaters
Nicole Kidman (Fineman) enjoys her time at the theater.
• Ugh, another Chloe Fineman vanity piece.
• Is this a parody of a real ad?
• For once, Kenan has some good moments here with his befuddled reactions to Kidman’s monologuing.
• I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t get a chuckle from the audience members all standing up and saluting the movie screen.
• A bizarre twist where Kidman suddenly displays demonic powers and starts speaking in a creepy voice. I don’t know why this is happening, but I think I like it.
• Punkie gets a great role as an usher who takes a look inside while all of this is going on, only to become terrified of Chloe Kidman’s powers.
• Kenan: “Da [bleep] just happened?!?”
• Overall, this started out kind of slow, but the demonic finale saved this from being the usual annoying Chloe sketch.
• A weird note is that the bumper that follows this sketch still has the previous logo.
Musical Performance: “Rich Spirit”, “N95”
Weekend Update (featuring Mitch McConnell, Herschel Walker, and A Spotted Lanternfly)
• Despite the show’s new logo and identity, Weekend Update has not been updated (see what I did there?) to match.
• Sick joke about Carl DeSantis not wanting to teach children about Hurricane Ian in schools.
• I did get a chuckle from Colin’s joke about Biden forgetting that Kamala Harris is still alive.
• JAJ takes over the Mitch McConnell impression here, while Kenan debuts one of Herschel Walker, which we’ll be seeing a lot in these next few episodes. By the way, this is apparently the first time James has ever appeared on Update, and thankfully not the last.
• McConnell’s voice needs some work, but JAJ looks almost identical to him. A hell of a lot better than Beck’s impression, though. I’m not that familiar with Walker, but I know for a fact that Kenan sounds absolutely nothing like him. This is just the first step towards the awful season Kenan will end up having.
• Newbie Michael Longfellow gets a commentary in only his first episode! He’s here to talk about his conservative family members.
• I liked the brief joke about how the anti-vax articles his father tries sending him keep giving his computer a virus.
• Right off the bat, Longfellow is coming off as an extremely likeable person. And while I’m sure there’s some sarcasm sprinkled in there, he has a good point that we shouldn’t distance ourselves from family members that have differing opinions than us.
• Great dig at Bill Maher.
• Sadly, all the goodwill from that last commentary gets ruined by Bowen Yang dressed up as a bug. It’s just your typical showboating Bowen commentary and little else.
Sketch: Grimace
Grimace from McDonald’s shocks his fellow mascots with a new look.
• What’s with all the product placement in this episode? This is the third sketch to have some kind of real brand in it.
• Mikey is a perfect choice to play Ronald McDonald. I like all the airtime he’s been getting in this episode.
• Then Miles shows up as Grimace in the most disturbing makeup ever. The voice he’s using is great, but that makeup…UGH!!!!
• I have no idea what the joke with Grimace revealing himself to be bisexual is all about. It just seems like a random thing that someone came up with when they were bored.
• Awful tagline at the end: “Ba-da-ba-ba-ba, I’m lovin’ both.”
Musical Performance: “Father Time”
Sketch: Caribbean Queens
Two talk show hosts on a Caribbean vacation interview all of the guys at their hotel.
• Ugh, another talk show sketch.
• The use of the actual “Caribbean Queen” made me think that this sketch wouldn’t be uploaded online, but it was, and all they did was lower the pitch on the song.
• Punkie is totally wasted with a bit role where she has to speak in a stereotypical Jamaican accent.
• Kenan’s wearing his old Kenan and Kel hairstyle again.
• Yet another sketch that just ends with a random dance party. Why are there so many of these lately???
Final thoughts: I have no idea what to say about this episode. While there were some bright spots (namely the lack of Cecily), it has a feeling of “been there, done that”. Miles Teller was an okay host, but not too memorable.
Best sketches: Monologue, AMC Theaters, Longfellow’s commentary
Worst sketches: Charmin Bears, Grimace, Caribbean Queens
Next review: Brendan Gleeson/Willow
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