Sometimes, a Saturday Night Live episode spurs the primal desire within me to analyze it like a game analyst. To put it simply, I feel as though I am the Charles Barkley of SNL coverage. SNL 1-2.
Did Shane Gillis save SNL?
No. But it looks like SNL realized their Dakota-Johnson-sized mistakes last episode and knew they needed to put their best foot forward this week. Jalen Brunson was already off to a slow start; Johnson then missed the layup.
Am I the biggest Shane Gillis fan? No. Do I find him, at times, talented? Yes. And everyone knows comedians notoriously can bring something great to the show. (John Mulaney, please come home)
SNL pulled out their big guns tonight—utilizing Mikey Day, James Austin Johnson, and Andrew Dismukes to their full potential to start off the show.
The Dr. Seuss sketch was a standout for me tonight. Of course I can’t mention the sketch without addressing the fuck-sized elephant in the room. Shane Gillis’ brief, accidental profanity will surely be a clippable moment, but it shouldn’t overshadow what a great sketch and idea it was. Put both Andrew Dismukes and Mikey Day on the screen together, and you know you’re going to get comedy gold.
The Sneakers sketch was a great showing by Shane Gillis and fantastic comedy writing skills. (Which I know of from my many hours of watching Tina Fey-produced shows) The only disappointment I had tonight was the lack of Marcello Hernández on my screen. Following a hilarious episode on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, I was excited to keep my laughs going with Hernández on the big(ger) screen, but the universe, unfortunately, did not have the same feelings tonight.
I’m careful not to give Gillis too much credit though, as his monologue presented to us on a silver platter exactly why Gillis was fired from the show in the first place. At any point of time I would say calling women “whores” in your monologue probably isn’t the best idea, but with the current conversations around society’s perspective and commitment to women following the Cornell Rape crime definitely didn’t help Gillis earn back any brownie points he may have been aiming for. (The mentioning of close friends Theo Von and Joe Rogan, both of whom featured Donald Trump on their podcasts during his 2024 presidential campaign, certainly didn’t help either)
But the writers and cast members, whom the show is really about, certainly gave the audience a great viewing.
But then she came on the screen: musical guest Rosalía.
I have long heralded her as the most breathtakingly talented and brilliant musician, able to weave out-of-this-world visuals while effortlessly flexing her artistic abilities. (And I thought all this before the camera even cut to her performing her entire first act on pointe) To me, there’s Rosalía, and then there’s everyone else.
What a fool I was for even thinking this could be anyone’s episode but Rosalía’s tonight.
But you surely can’t talk about this episode without talking about Grace Reiter as well. As a longtime fan who has been patiently awaiting her new Netflix mockumentary sitcom Minimum Wage, I found this episode helped earn me proper “I knew her when…” bragging rights that will no doubt come in use very soon.
Making her first Weekend Update appearance alongside SNL princess Ashley Padilla, Reiter showed how willing she is to commit to the bit and deliver.
When she made another appearance in a later sketch, I was over the moon she was being utilized and featured so early into her SNL career. But it was the final sketch of the night where she was able to leave her mark. Following last week’s final sketch, a runtime of not even two minutes seemingly made with the only intent of featuring Veronika Slowikowska’s impressive singing voice, there wasn’t necessarily a high bar. But whatever bar there was, Reiter crushed it. Reminiscent of physical comedy queen Melissa McCartney, Reiter, just three episodes into her SNL career, proved that Lorne hasn’t completely lost it just yet.
And what would an SNL episode be without Weekend Update? Marking their twelfth year as co-hosts, Colin Jost and Michael Che earned the extra minutes their update desk has gotten these last two weeks. This week, instead of including a dizzying number of update guests, Jost and Che took turns showing off their chops and tenure in satirical news reporting.
James Austin Johnson also got to continue to show off his impressive talent, doing an uncanny impression of Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, that was both laugh-out-loud hilarious and oh-my-fucking-God-these-evil-billionaires-are-going-to-kill-us-all-thought-evoking.
As big a fan I am of both Jost and Che, and as sad as I would be to not have them on my TV every Saturday, it’s time for them to move on and make way for the new generation. I’m hoping that’s exactly what they’re planning on doing following this season and are simply having their fun and showing off with their longer-form Weekend Update segment as a victory lap. (Michael Longfellow you will forever be missed)
And as an avid SNL fan who also just so happens to work in the advertising industry, I of course have to mention the commercial breaks. Between the “this may harm your unborn baby” and the “possible side effects include cancer, suicidal thoughts, and death,” was actually some effective advertising that made you forget, for just a second, that not everything has devolved into AI slop just yet.
Of course, seeing Zendaya on my screen as the face of Prada is always a welcome sight, but I also found myself impressed by Folger’s return to its iconic jingle “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up Is Folgers in Your Cup,” in a new, expanded interpretation of the jingle. Walmart’s ad featuring Walton Goggins had me wondering just how big, exactly, Goggins’ check is for being the continued face of Walmart. And to top it all off, I couldn’t help but appreciate Banana Republic featuring Stealers Wheel “Stuck in the Middle With You.”
All in all, an impressive and redeeming episode that just so happened to unfortunately be held at the reins by Shane Gillis. Their upcoming Halloween episode, hosted by Obsession’s breakout star Inde Navarratte, will show if they can keep up their momentum coming out of this episode and successfully make the lay-up this time, maybe even in the form of a slam dunk.
Leave a Reply