An ailing Jean Smart suppressed her coughs but not the questionable quality of the material, and Jelly Roll was a mesmerizing and impassioned musical guest on the star-studded season premiere of the 50th season of Saturday Night Live. Here's everything that happened this week.
The Cold Open
Andrew Dismukes played handsome ABC News anchor David Muir and quickly threw to Kamala Harris, portrayed by SNL alum Maya Rudolph, who was making a stump speech. Rudolph drew cheers for lampooning some of Harris's slogans and mannerisms, and then introduced VP nominee Governor Tim Walz, who was played well by comedian Jim Gaffigan.
To conjure Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, another superstar alum, Andy Samberg, surprised us with an unexpected and amusing cameo.
Muir then sent us over to a low-energy Donald Trump rally, where James Austin Johnson played the floundering GOP nominee, who was behind bulletproof glass, which was removed when Bowen Yang's JD Vance appeared briefly.
But then, we were sent back to Harris's rally, where SNL all-star/possible cast GOAT Dana Carvey played a senile, malfunctioning President Joe Biden, which was fun, and then this very long and eventful cold open drew to a close.
The Monologue
Hacks star Jean Smart stifled a cough and made some jokes about hosting the Season 50 premiere, and then sang us a song about New York City. Smart made a funny joke about once thinking the show was called Saturday Night Laughs, and peppered an earnest ode to NYC with the odd one-liner. A little stilted and odd, Smart did her best with this song/spiel thing.
The 100,000 Pyramid Celebrity Edition
Devon Walker played Michael Strahan, the host of this game show, where celebrity contestants included Chloe Fineman's Hawk Tuah girl, Smart's weird chimp lady, Marcello Hernández's Bad Bunny, and Kenan Thompson's disgraced North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson. A physical comedy and impressions showcase, this was half-decent at best.
Spirit Halloween
This funny and cleverly produced remote ad promoted the weird thing where, when a commercial property is abandoned, it becomes a Spirit Halloween for six weeks or so.
Scholastic Meeting
Smart played a romance novelist who was commissioned to write a math textbook, but the problems she wrote about math were all steamy, smutty, and sexual. Smart sniffled a fair amount throughout this sketch but had a triumphant moment at the end of this amusing production.
Jelly Roll
Gospel-infused country singer appeared with a huge band, including at least a 10-piece choir and almost as many musicians, who all helped "Liar" pop through the tv screen.
Conjuring a 12-step recovery meeting with a semi-circle of empty chairs, Jelly Roll and his mighty band performed "Winning Streak," which covered that exact subject matter in an affecting manner.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost began Update with a joke about Donald Trump calling Kamala Harris a "mentally disabled person," at a rally hours earlier in the day, while Michael Che handled the Mayor Eric Adams fiasco, which was amusing. Jost ridiculed the senate report on the botched Trump assassination attempt, and then mocked Trump for giving $100 to a would-be voter. Che riled up the crowd with a stereotypical joke about Chinese drivers. The anchors then dug into the Diddy allegations and got in a brief barb at Mark Robinson.
Devon Walker appeared as indicted NYC mayor, Eric Adams, basically destroying him for his pre-legal issues quirks and oddness.
After a tough Menendez brothers joke by Che, Jost made a dumb Minions joke, and later dug into the TikTok trend of translating Hitler speeches. The viral baby hippo, Moo Deng, was portrayed by Bowen Yang, and made an impassioned speech to their fans, begging for privacy, while occasionally getting sprayed in the face by a hose. A strange satire of upcoming musical guest Chappel Roan's attempts to publicly address mental health struggles and parasocial intensity, Yang made this bit of physical comedy work well enough, though Roan would have every reason to cancel her scheduled appearance on this show.
The Real Housewives of Santa Fe
In a satire of these vapid reality shows, Heidi Gardner and Smart played characters fighting, which turned into a cast brawl about who exactly was a business woman, while Andrew Dismukes played a waiter desperate to deliver some sizzling fajitas. This was just a lotta yelling and stupid.
History of the Sitcom
Bowen Yang played the host of a CNN documentary series, which explored an early version of "I Love Lucy," where a dramatic actress played by Smart, preceded Lucille Ball, and gave the comedy a dark turn. This was elaborately staged for a very slight and unfunny idea.
the talk talk show with Charli XCX
Bowen Yang played Charli, who was joined by Sarah Sherman's Troye Sivan. After a round of "brat or nat," Smart and Chloe Fineman appeared as Susanne Bartsch and Kaitlin Collins for a weird segment. Ego Nwodim appeared as US House Rep Jasmine Crockett, and made joke nicknames about various Republicans and then this disjointed sketch, which mocked how much influence musicians are said to have on socio-political discourse, limped to a conclusion.
Cut for time (but better than many things that aired): A Father's Promise