Season 48 overview

While we’ll never really know exactly what Season 48’s final plan was, the episodes that did air do not paint a bright picture of the future. Despite all of the fresh blood being hired, the show was way more focused on pushing the same few veterans on us. Let’s take a look and see how each cast member fared…

Repertory Players

Mikey Day: Mikey had one of his best seasons in quite a while…when they bothered using him, that is. He got a lot of airtime in the first few shows, but then it was up and down for him. A lot of other fans have theorized that this might be his last season, and given the lack of focus he had in several episodes, I’m beginning to see what they mean. Still, the good stuff he did this season (the Black Heaven sketch with Chappelle and that film with Jake from State Farm) is more than enough to call this a strong season for him. And, hey, he had a lot less explaining roles this year!

Andrew Dismukes: Despite being promoted to a repertory player, Dismukes’ airtime is just as bad as ever, being forced to play second fiddle to less talented players such as Chloe and Bowen. On the nights they actually remembered to use him, though, he did amazing. He has a delightful bizarre streak that I’d love to see more of, provided that they don’t fire him over the summer.

Chloe Fineman: Blecch!!! Chloe is just as annoying as ever. I’m glad other people are starting to catch on to her flaws, because it’s something that needs to be addressed. Her constant staring at the camera and chipmunk voices irritate me more than they amuse me. If she does come back, I hope she reins those annoying habits in.

Heidi Gardner: What the hell happened, Heidi? Despite now being the senior member of the female cast, she has inexplicably taken a turn for the worse. There were so many sketches this year of Heidi playing a “wacky” new character, like that godawful mother character on Update. But even with these new annoying habits, I still like Heidi, and I wish she would go back to what she excels at, instead of trying to be a “star” like Kate McKinnon or, ugh, Kristen Wiig.

Punkie Johnson: Oh, that’s right, Punkie got promoted. I’d forgive you for not knowing that because she had the least amount of screen time of any cast member this season.

Ego Nwodim: After a couple of really strong years, this season was a bit of a step back of Ego. She returned to the “sassy black woman” cliche a little too often, and don’t get me started on those awful Lisa sketches.

Cecily Strong: In her final half-season, Cecily was even more out of place than ever, but she still got a shit ton of focus for some reason. In fact, she had more screen time than any of the four newbies. Let that sink in…

Kenan Thompson: This is the season where I finally reached my breaking point with Kenan’s eternal presence on the show. He had way too many sketches this season where the only joke is him yelling, to say nothing about his constant giggling and unprofessional moments. It’s gotten to the point where I cannot stand anything Kenan does anymore, and just wish he would leave already.

Bowen Yang: Ugh, I can’t believe how bad Bowen was this year. He gets way too much time to mug and act like a campy gay stereotype. Whatever happened to the more absurd stuff from his first couple seasons? I guess we’ve got no time for that now that the media is eating his inanimate object impressions up.

Featured Players

Marcello Hernandez: I really like this guy and I can’t wait to see what he has planned in Season 49. The fact that we have a Hispanic dude in the cast again really came in handy this year with all of the Hispanic hosts that appeared, and we usually got a sketch in those episodes where he plays off them in Spanish. Mad respect, bro. Hopefully we can get an Italian cast member hired next.

James Austin Johnson: James gets the award for the biggest growth arc this season. He moved away from doing nothing but impressions and started doing a lot of really solid character work, my personal favorite being the cucked father from the Travis Kelce episode. The only problem I have is the overuse of his Trump impression, and not a lot of use of his Biden. You know, the President?!? Why are there so few sketches about the fucking President in this season?!!?? But I digress.

Molly Kearney: Molly who? Despite making such a big deal in the press about hiring a non-binary cast member, SNL proceeds to treat them like shit and only cast them as fat male celebrities. 

Michael Longfellow: Out of all the newbies, this guy was the standout, despite not getting as much airtime as Marcello. He quickly found a niche for himself on Update doing commentaries, some as himself, and others as goofy oddball characters like the Statue of David. 

Sarah Sherman: Sarah is still a welcome presence on the show with her patented bizarre sketches, such as the woman with googly eyes and the news reporters with deformed mouths. She’s also unafraid to be different on Update with her Sarah News segments, which are better than Che and Jost at this point. However, I have noticed a troubling trend where they’ve been starting to put her in cheap drag roles as old men. 

Devon Walker: Essentially a replacement for Chris Redd, Walker sadly hasn’t gotten as much screen time as him. You generally only saw him when there was a black host. This is a shame, because I like Devon and want to see him succeed on the show. But, as we saw with Redd, he tends to suffer because Kenan automatically gets all the black roles.

Michael Che and Colin Jost: I am beyond sick of these two chuckleheads. They are the longest running Update anchors (for some reason), and they were only funny for about the first four years or so. Just let Sarah take over the desk!

Now it’s time to rank the episodes. This is gonna be hard because most of them were just blandly average.

Best episodes: Dave Chappelle/Black Star, Steve Martin, Martin Short/Brandi Carlile, Austin Butler/Lizzo, Michael B. Jordan/Lil Baby, Travis Kelce/Kelsey Ballerini

Worst episodes: Megan Thee Stallion, Aubrey Plaza/Sam Smith, Woody Harrelson/Jack White, Ana de Armas/Karol G

Now it’s time for us to rank the sketches. This should be easy…

Best sketches: Monologue (from Teller), New Cast Advice (from Gleeson), Headshots (from Gleeson), Eyes (from Gleeson), Drunk Uncle commentary (from Harlow), JNCO Longs (Cut), COVID (from Schumer), The Looker (from Schumer), Monologue (from Chappelle), Barber Shop (from Chappelle), both Sarah News commentaries, Black Heaven (from Chappelle), Election Night (from Chappelle), Big Boys (from Palmer), United Tingz of Aubrey (from Palmer), Kenan & Kelly (from Palmer), Monologue (from Martin), The Science Room (from Martin), A Christmas Carol (from Martin), Christmas Epiphany (from Butler), Jewish Elvis (from Butler), Plirts (from Butler), Blue Christmas (from Butler), Good Morning Today (from Jordan), Towel Guys (from Jordan), State Farm (from Jordan), Falling Down (from Jordan), Mario Kart (from Pascal), Protective Mom (from Pascal), Cologuard (from Harrelson), The Hippo (from Harrelson), American Girl Café (from Kelce), Self-Defense (from Kelce), Mama’s Funeral (from Kelce), Straight Male Friend (from Kelce), Family Meeting (from Kelce), School vs. School (from Ortega), Road Trip (from Ortega), Waffle House (from Ortega), James’ impressions commentary (from Ortega), Jingle Pitch (from Ortega), Drug Dealer (from Brunson), Street Eats (from Brunson), Monologue (from Shannon), Shannon 2K23 (from Shannon), American Girl (from de Armas), Spanish Class (from de Armas)

Worst sketches: Charmin Bears (from Teller), Grimace (from Teller), Blood Oath (from Gleeson), Hot Girl Hospital (from Megan Thee Stallion), Deer (from Megan Thee Stallion), Hole and Bussy commentary (from Megan Thee Stallion), Cold Open (from Harlow), Joker (from Harlow), Bartenders (from Harlow), Monologue (from Schumer), Jurors (from Schumer), Tammy the Trucker commentary (from Schumer), Jets Fans (from Schumer), WKTVN News (from Schumer), Cold Open (from Palmer), Ultrasound (from Palmer), Marzipan (from Butler), Miss America (from Plaza), Avatar (from Plaza), Party In Palm Springs (from Jordan), Waking Up (from Pascal), both Lisa from Temecula sketches, Jail Call (from Harrelson), Slingshot (from Harrelson), Beautiful Gym (from Harrelson), Garrett From Hinge (from Kelce), Too Hot To Handle (from Kelce), The Parent Trap (from Ortega), Midwife (from Brunson), Fart Baby (from Shannon), New Choreographer (from Shannon), Nails (from de Armas)