INTRO: Tonight's a very special episode, as it's SNL's date-by-date 50th anniversary episode. Going in, I knew they wouldn't make a big deal about it, and I was right. Still, I'll go in later about whether I think this episode is worthy of being SNL's 50th.
COLD OPEN:
- Amy immediately in the cold open! Taking over from Ashley Padilla as SNL's Pam Bondi.
- I'm getting some good laughs from this cold open, even if it's nothing too special for me right now.
- It is nice to get a Trump-free cold open for once, and it feels strangely refreshing. Here's hoping we get a non-political one soon?
- Huge laugh from Jeremy's whole Epstein bit.
- Yeah, Amy's crushing it in this cold open, and it's not just her delivery carrying these lines.
- Tina Fey cameo, as expected. And she's SNL's Kristi Noem.
- Great reaction from Mikey.
- Solid delivery and chemistry from Fey and Poehler, as was to be expected.
- Strangely surreal to see Amy and Tina giving a LFNY together in 2025.
RATING: 7/10
MONOLOGUE: Amy Poehler
- Always a delight to see Amy at homebase.
- Good to see the new cast members get a small spotlight, even if this feels more fitting to happen in a premiere.
- Not the strongest of jokes, but Amy's making everything work here.
- A nice, more real segment as Amy talks about SNL going on for 50 years.
- Overall, I'm just delighted to have Amy Poehler back.
RATING: 6/10
SKETCH: The Rudeman's
- Immediately got Debbie Downer vibes from this sketch, and that's worrying for me. I only really liked the first Debbie Downer sketch for a reason I'm sure everyone is aware of.
- Yeah, this is just awfully tepid and boring.
- This is doing nothing for me at all. Even Mikey's sudden outburst at the end failed to get a laugh from me.
RATING: 1.5/10
(I think this sketch could've worked if literally anything happened. Sudden escalation, be crazy with it. This sketch is already absurd, just go as far as possible. You're allergic to recurring sketches in this era anyways, so don't worry about trying to top yourself next time. Kill someone in the sketch, for all I care!)
PRE-TAPE: Non-Alcoholic Beer
- A maybe unintentional laugh from a very young looking Andrew saying, "I'm getting too old for this."
- Good laughs from all of the reactions to Andrew's beverage, but I can't help but think about Vanessa in this sketch, as she's always sort of been the queen of smiling-through-absurdity in commercials for me.
- Loved Kam's line about the smell of gasoline.
- Good ending with Andrew running from Ben as a cop.
RATING: 7/10
SKETCH: The Fast Psychic
- I'm probably one of the younger people who immediately clocked this was going to be a Sylvia Browne parody.
- Amy feels so natural in this role, and she's absolutely killing the fast delivery here.
- Love the turn here with Amy just bluntly telling everyone their loved one is dead.
- Particularly laughed at the "My husband-"/"He's dead."/"No, actually, he's right here." exchange.
- Good laugh from Kam's shocked reaction to being told his father was dead, despite already knowing.
- Funny corrections scroll for all the people misidentified as being dead. It reminds me a lot of the corrections scroll that the Fox & Friends sketches have.
- Loved Jane's reaction to hearing that she's dead.
- Hilarious part with the camera panning over the audience while Amy rapid fires psychic readings, especially with the "Marry, F, Kill," bit.
- Funny walk-on (or I guess, stand-up) from Marcello at the end. Honestly, he does sometimes feel to me like a Hispanic Andy Samberg in these live sketches.
- Great ending with the call-back to the hard out at 7.
- Overall, absolutely flawless. Loved this to bits.
RATING: 9/10
PRE-TAPE: Hunting Wives.
- A parody of a show I've never seen in my life, so it's a 50/50 if it'll be enjoyable.
- What do you know, it's enjoyable. It's a bit funny seeing Amy and Ashley overshadow Chloe in a pre-tape so effortlessly.
- Aubrey Plaza cameo!
- A good bit with the homoerotic tension being broken by homophobia.
- A solid pre-tape, even if I think it might've worked better if I'd seen this show.
RATING: 6.5/10
SKETCH: Work Birth
- Feels like the kind of sketch Amy would've signed up for back when she was actually pregnant during her tenure.
- Amy's, of course, absolutely perfect in this role. I don't think anyone else could've pulled this off as well is she is.
- Amazing performance by Ben, who's playing a very Will Ferrel-esque role, as many others have pointed out.
- For all the wackiness of the sketch, it lost me a bit with Bowen's part at the end, but not completely.
RATING: 7/10
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: Role Model "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out."
- During this performance, I texted my friend many messages, including, "Is he supposed to sound like that???" and "Oh."
- Seriously, why does the audio sound so raw? And not in an artistic, interesting way. In a I'm watching my older cousin show off the new music he just wrote" way.
- I'm so out of the loop with Role Model, and I also didn't recognize Charli XCX when she entered, so this whole "Sally" bit did absolutely nothing for me.
- I don't really like rating Musical Performances, but this one gets a special 1/10 from me because what the fuck did I just watch? I understand, performance jitters, but still.
WEEKEND UPDATE:
- Solid Jigsaw joke.
- A new Sarah character.
- While I'm not really a fan of this, I doubt that "the Zohran voters would use this toothless commentary as an example how evil SNL is." This is light-hearted jabs given by a character that's obviously supposed to be in the wrong, this is the kind of stuff the right would take offense to but play off as being totally in on.
- The Jost-parting-with-Epstein bit wasn't all that funny, but not nearly worthy the anger I saw a lot of people give it because it's a joke about Colin being a sex pest.
- GRANT AND ALYSSA!
- As my profile picture on this website would suggest, I adore G&A. I understand that it's Marcello and Jane basically just tapping into their default performance mode, (Marcello shouting, Jane being awkward) but lord does it work perfectly for me. IMO, this is exactly how cast should be utilized, I don't see why it's a problem for them to be tapping into what they are best at doing, especially because the writing is always fairly solid for G&A.
- It's a bit obvious the show lost two writers of this sketch (2/3 of PDD), as it feels a lot more off than usual. I think Marcello might be using a different voice as well.
- The Sylvia Plath line is exactly what I mean when I say Jane's deadpan delivery can work sometimes.
- Good bit with the pumpkins, I love how earnestly Grant loves his pumpkin.
- More thoughts on these guys at the end, but it needs to be known G&A are in my heart.
- A Joke-Off! I expected Amy to return to the desk, and even Tina, but seeing Seth really made me happy. Despite the very eh feel Seth had towards the latter half of his solo desk era, I still have a very nostalgic connection to that era that makes me keen to his delivery style.
- Lots of good punchlines to this joke, though I think the previous one with Amy/Tina/Jimmy/Seth was a bit funnier.
- Very nice way to end Update, and felt like both cameos for Amy, and a nice nod to this being the 50th anniversary.
RATING: 8/10, if only because Sarah's commentary was a bit eh.
(Seeing as they're really all this era has going for them in terms of recurring characters, we're probably seeing Grant and Alyssa again. Personally, I think it'd be a crime to leave them at the desk. These characters can only really shine and grow by putting them in new situations, and thus, putting them in sketches. I saw discussion on Twitter about a a potential "meet the family" sketch, with Grant being the Boston Teenagers' kid and Alyssa being The Needlers' daughter, and while that's too cameo-heavy and nostalgia bait-y for me, it's the kind of direction I think these characters should go to, if they really want G&A to shine. It's funny hearing what they do in different situations, but it'd be funnier to actually see them.)
SKETCH: Experienced Lawyers
- Great entrance from Amy. Seeing a wall get burst through in the first half minute of the sketch says a lot about the escalation we're about to see.
- More and more lawyers appearing to try and best the previous' level of experience is hilarious, and I love how they're all tied to testimonials.
- Jane's flat delivery halted the sketch a bit, but not enough to fully stop it in its tracks.
- A really great part with "Clones, activate!" Absolutely love that.
- As many have pointed out, Jeremy's expression in this sketch is giving a lot of Bobby Moynihan energy, and honestly I can see him slowly becoming this era's Bobby Moynihan.
- Sarah absolutely killed me with the Draculaw entrance, and it's a pun I can't believe I haven't seen in another sketch or comedy piece.
- An eh reaction to Bowen as the great World Tree, but Kenan as Zeus managed to salvage this turn.
- Overall, an absolute classic with nearly zero flaws. I can see myself coming back to this over and over again, and I'm sure it'll be divisive between many people. please more sketches like this SNL please please please please.
RATING: 9.5/10
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: Role Model "Some Protector"
- Not much to say, just that this is an amazing improvement over the previous song. I actually enjoyed this one! 7/10
SKETCH: Emo Mom
- JAJ is absolutely killing it as a kind, suburban father.
- Amy is, of course, killing it as a menopausal mother going through her emo phase. And she looks fantastic to boot.
- Just great lines from everyone here, I love the back-and-forth between everyone. - Fun walk-ons from Jane, Kam, and Ben as goths, and they all look stunning in those outfits.
- The disgusting tattoo reveal at the end is, to use a strange analogy at 2 AM, kind of like the end of the Boombox Digital Short: almost more disturbing than it is funny.
- An absolutely killer piece.
RATING: 8.5/10
SKETCH: Theme Songs Masterclass
- This isn't doing much for me, even a minute in.
- As to be expected, solid performances from JAJ and Amy, but otherwise, really nothing to write home about here.
RATING: 3/10
OVERALL THOUGHTS: I'm aware some people weren't hot on this episode, but for me, it was fantastic, and exactly what the show needed after how rough the Bad Bunny episode was. While they sandwiched by two bad sketches (Rudeman's and Theme Songs), tonight was really solid. Highlights for me of course include Grant and Alyssa, Experienced Lawyers, and Emo Mom, but there was something enjoyable in practically every sketch.
Amy was, of course, a sketch stealer throughout the entire night, and I'm so glad she came to host. Overall, an episode with a few misses, mostly hits, and an absolutely classic? I think this episode is fairly fitting as a representation of 50 years of SNL.
I'll see you all next week for what I'm sure will be a heavy TikTok-pandering episode with Sabrina Carpenter hosting!
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