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 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?!??

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 damndest 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.

• 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 Fowler 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