Who’s hosting Saturday Night Live tonight, January 22?
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Saturday Night Live returns tonight with another brand new episode. So who will fans see take the stage as SNL season 47’s latest host?
So far, the season has been dominated by first-timers. Starting with Owen Wilson and most recently Ariana DeBose, nearly every episode has been hosted by an SNL rookie. Only Paul Rudd entered Studio 8H with prior hosting experience.
Fans will see that trend continue on Saturday. Will Forte will host Saturday Night Live for the first time. He’ll be joined by musical guest Måneskin.
Of course, Forte is very familiar with Saturday Night Live. He was a cast member for eight years, providing SNL with a George W. Bush impression along with absurd characters like the Falconer, Tim Calhoun, and of course, MacGruber.
What to expect from Will Forte on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live fans should expect Will Forte to bring some of that absurd, bizarre comedy that became his calling card back to the show tonight. It’s hard to imagine Forte doing anything other than the so-called “10-to-1” sketches he delivered year after year.
He comes to SNL to promote MacGruber, the Peacock series based on his famous character that also received a film treatment. It feels like a new MacGruber sketch tonight is a no-brainer. The only question is whether or not his co-stars Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe could make a cameo.
Speaking of cameos, they are always a possibility when a former cast member returns to host. Fred Armisen popped up earlier this season when Jason Sudeikis made his triumphant return. So besides Wiig, there stands a chance that someone like Seth Meyers could assist Forte.
Saturday Night Live airs tonight at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The show will also stream live on Peacock.
Are you excited for Will Forte to host Saturday Night Live tonight? How do you think the former SNL cast member will do? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to check back with Last Night On for all the highlights.
20 SNL Cast Members Who Went On To Become Huge Stars
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The famous actors known today haven’t always been famous. Some have worked on TV commercials or short films to create a name for themselves.
Some were even cast members of the legendary comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL) that has been on TV since 1975 and continues to run today.
As the show has been on the air for a long time, it is obvious that the cast list for the show is quite long.
While not all the actors stayed there for a long time, the show definitely helped them move closer to becoming huge stars.
Here’s a list of all the SNL cast members who went on to become huge stars.
- Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey had been a cast member on SNL from 1986 to 1993. Carvey is known to have played many iconic roles as a cast member.
According to The Atlantic, Carvey was known for his impressions of George Bush. Carvey was even friends with Bush which made his performances more meaningful and real.
- Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy joined the cast of SNL in the 80s and has been said to have saved the show. According to Yahoo, at that time, the show wasn’t doing well because of a sketch that wasn’t well-received by the audience.
However, after Murphy turned it around.
When asked what Murphy was like, David Sheffield, the show’s co-writer said, “All the rest of the cast members were so damn nervous and afraid of making a mistake. He sat down, stared at the camera, and was so cool and so calm. He was just a natural.”
- Will Ferrell
Before being known for his iconic role of Elf, Ferrell was a cast member on SNL. He gained success and made a name for himself as a comedian on SNL.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ferrell received praises from people he worked with.
Lorne Micheals, the creator of SNL spoke about Ferrell, “I never rank, but Will’s definitely in the top two or three that have ever done the show. There’s no question.”
Kristen Wiig, one of his co-stars said, “Everybody loves Will, and it’s not just because he’s funny. I really think you can see people’s personalities”
- Jimmy Fallon
Today, Fallon is known as a host on his television talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. However, he started his career on SNL and was a cast member for 7 seasons.
He was best known for his celebrity impressions during his time on the show. In an interview with USA Today, he mentioned that he has a great relationship with Lorne Michaels and got the opportunity of becoming a talk show host because of Michaels.
- Sarah Silverman
The famous actress/comedian has an amazing career with notable movies on her resume however, there was a time when she was fired from SNL.
Many people may not even know that Silverman had been a cast member on SNL due to her short time on the show. She was there for one season before getting fired.
According to The New Yorker, There’s no bad blood between Silverman and SNL.
Bob Odenkirk, one of the writers of the show said, “I could see how it wouldn’t work at ‘S.N.L.,’ because she’s got her own voice, she’s very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn’t disappear into the character—she makes the character her.”
- Mike Myers
Mike Myers had been a cast member of SNL from 1989 to 1995. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Myers, along with Dana Carvey were part of “Wayne’s World”, a famous sketch on the show that spawned two movies.
While the first movie was quite successful, the second one didn’t do that well. The two actors reunited in 2015 on SNL and performed their characters once again.
- Adam Sandler
Today, Adam Sandler is regarded as one of the most successful actors in comedy movies. However, according to Screen Rant, he was fired from SNL during his time there. He was most known for his musical skits and performances of holiday songs.
One of the reasons he was fired was the show ratings. At the time, the show wasn’t doing well, so to change that, Sandler was let go.
- Tina Fey
Tina Fey is quite easily one of the most popular actors and writers. She is most known for writing Mean Girls. However, she started her career on SNL. She became a cast member in 1995 and left in 2006.
Along with being a cast member, Fey was also the Head Writer on SNL. She spoke about her experience as a Writer in an interview with Variety.
“Once I became a head writer at “SNL,” that was the beginning. You’re taking other people’s sketches, and you don’t take them away and manhandle them.”
- Bill Murray
Bill Murray joined the cast of SNL in 1977 while replacing Chevy Chase. According to an article on Ultimate Classic Rock, Murray had a rough start on SNL. There was pressure on him to do well as he was replacing a well-known star.
For the first few sketches, he wasn’t even noticeable by the audience. However, after a while, he did a performance where he apologized to everyone for not being funny.
It helped him become more comfortable with his environment and the audience. “I’ve seen people make that move before and fail, so the fact that I made that move and it was funny sort of took the pressure off.”
- Robert Downey Jr.
Today, Robert Downey Jr. has become a household name. He is most known as Iron Man, his character from Avengers. Who would have known Downey Jr. was a cast member on SNL?
However, he was fired from the show after just one season.
According to Screen Rant, Downey Jr. was introduced to the show by Lorne Michaels. However, during the season Downey Jr. was on SNL, the show didn’t do well. It garnered poor reviews from everywhere and was considered to be canceled, as a result, Downey Jr. was let go.
Even then, Downey Jr. doesn’t seem to have any hard feelings with anyone on the show and is doing well for himself now.
- Chris Rock
Chris Rock was a cast member of SNL from 1990 to 1993. He managed to stay there for 3 years. However, he was fired from the show.
He talked about his departure in a podcast interview with Marc Maron. He said that he was planning to leave SNL for In Living Color so he was fired from the show.
- Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase is quite a well-known actor now. Some of his popular works include National Lampoon’s Vacation and Community. He had been a cast member of SNL ever since the show premiered in 1975 and left the show abruptly soon after.
However, according to Screen Rant, Chase didn’t seem to enjoy his time on the show. After leaving the show, he expressed his candid thoughts about the show. He said he hated the show and its humor.
- Chris Farley
Chris Farley was on SNL from 1990 to 1995. Even though he died shortly after that, he still had a successful film career. He was fired from SNL with Sandler due to the show’s ratings. However, his performances on the show are still remembered by the audience.
According to NY Post, the SNL sketches of Farley’s impressions of Andrew Giuliani were trending on Twitter a few months ago when Guiliani announced he would be running for Governor of New York.
- David Spade
David Spade was a cast member and a writer at SNL during the 1990s along with Farley, Sandler and Rock. He left the show in 1996. Spade had gotten pretty close with the other 3 cast members during his time on the show.
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Sandler and Spade even reminisced about their time and sketches on SNL when Sandler made an appearance on Spade’s talk show.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
At 21-years-old, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the youngest woman to be a cast member of SNL in 1982. She was a part of some popular sketches on the show before her departure in 1985.
According to Newsweek, Louis-Dreyfus didn’t enjoy her time on the show. As a matter of fact, she hated it. She despised the environment and recalled it to be quite sexist.
However, even with that hindrance in her career, she became a part of famous works such as Seinfeld and Veep later.
- Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler joined the cast of SNL in 2001 and left in 2008. During her time there she played various roles with Fey and Maya Rudolph.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Poehler and Fey were anchors on “Weekend Update”, a segment on the show. They hosted the segment for two seasons and were the first all-female pair to host it.
- Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph became a cast member in 2000 and left the show in 2007. She was quite well-known for her impressions of other celebrities.
According to this article on Esquire, Rudolph returned to host one episode on SNL. She performed sketches where she did some of her impressions, one of them being Beyonce and reminisced about her time as a cast member on the show.
- Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig has created a successful film career for herself however, she was once a cast member of SNL where she played many iconic characters.
Wiig was on the show from 2005 to 2012. According to People, When Wiig returned to host SNL in the finale of season 45, she played many of her most popular characters from the show.
- Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg is certainly one of the most popular actors in the genre of comedy, some of his works include Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Palm Springs.
He was hired as a writer on SNL along with his bandmates Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. Samberg created some of the funniest characters and skits on the shows.
However, his biggest contribution was the SNL digital shorts. The digital shorts were sketches but in the form of short musical videos.
According to Men’s Journal, the first SNL digital short became viral on YouTube and digital shorts gained popularity after that.
Samberg says, “We were not aware of YouTube until ‘Lazy Sunday’. We’d had our own website with streaming capabilities. After ‘Lazy Sunday,’ we were like, ‘Why are we paying for bandwidth and sh-t?’”
- Ben Stiller
Some people may not even know this but Ben Stiller had been a cast member of SNL in 1989. His presence on the show was very brief as he left after a few weeks.
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Stiller explained that he had wanted to be a director rather than an actor and didn’t fit in well with the environment at SNL.
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer and an Editorial Intern at YourTango who writes on entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.
‘SNL’s Weekend Update Pokes Fun At Jon Voight, New ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series & Colin Jost And Pete Davidson’s Purchase Of A Ferry Boat
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On tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live, took shots at a wide range of targets, from Jon Voight, Dwayne Johnson and the new Lord of the Rings series to Update‘s own Colin Jost and SNL cast member Pete Davidson.
Anchor Michael Che noted that Voight recently released a video claiming that Abraham Lincoln’s spirit was guiding Donald Trump. “Hopefully,” he said, “not to a theater.”
Jost then aimed at Johnson, who said the skull of a T-rex seen behind him in a recent interview was a replica, rather than the real thing. “Johnson also said it’s just a coincidence that his diet calls for 1000 pounds of dinosaur meat a day,” he said.
Jost would later address the fact that Amazon has unveiled a title for its new Lord of the Rings series—that of course being Rings of Power. “I’m personally more excited,” he said, “for the spinoff, Gollum in Paris.”
Before long, the anchor would become the butt of the joke himself, when conversation turned toward his and Davidson’s recent purchase of a Staten Island ferry boat, which they’re looking to turn into an entertainment venue. The bit in which Davidson also featured came about after Jost invited Alex Moffat’s popular character “Guy Who Just Bought a Boat” to sit down for conversation on the NFL playoffs.
After making his way through his usual string of innuendos, Moffat’s character introduced Davidson to the desk as “Guy Who Just Bought A Ferry.”
“We’re boat people now, Colin,” said Davidson. “I mean, you always were. You look like you own the yacht they rent out for rap videos.”
“It’s very exciting,” deadpanned Jost. “We thought the whole thing through.”
Also stopping by the Update desk was cast member Sarah Sherman, who said she would be discussing staying cozy in winter weather before hurling anti-Jost headlines at the anchor, including “Wealth-Hoarding Hollywood Husband Colin Jost-Hansson Has Not A Dime To Spare…For St. Jude Hospital” and “Local Sex Bigot Rejects Queer Love.”
The third and final guest panelist of the night was Chinese Trade Minister Chen Biao (Bowen Yang), who appeared to discuss NBC’s decision not to send correspondents to the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
“NBC is announcing the games from their studios in Connecticut,” said Biao. “You know what else films in Connecticut? Maury. Good luck commentating over cries of, ‘You are not the father!’”
Update‘s “Guys Who Bought a Boat” bit can be found above. The remaining clips from tonight’s edition can be found below.
Why Please Don’t Destroy’s Warp-Speed Absurdity Is the Future of Saturday Night Live
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Not long before the sketch comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy were added to the cast of Saturday Night Live, SNL’s Heidi Gardner told a reporter profiling the group that she “almost felt embarrassed how much of a fan I quickly became.” After seeing them live (pre-pandemic) and immersing herself in their Twitter posts and TikToks, Gardner said she could even see them going on SNL one day—not knowing that day was only a few months away.
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Please Don’t Destroy made their SNL debut in October with a sketch called “Hard Seltzer.” dropped at the end of Kim Kardashian’s episode in the show’s famed “10 to 1” slot, the period near the end of each episode usually reserved for weird, experimental sketches. On first watch it’s pretty jarring for viewers who don’t know the group beforehand; set apart from the rest of the episode by a title reading “A Please Don’t Destroy Video,” the sketch features no established cast members and gives the viewer about four seconds of introduction before it dives into its main joke. Martin says he’s going to have a hard seltzer, John asks what kind, and Martin responds with a straight face, “Just a J.C. Penney.”
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What follows is a structure common in sketch comedy: a bewildered John keeps asking questions and the other two give increasingly absurd explanations, delivered as if there’s nothing out of the ordinary. The basic character dynamics should be familiar to anyone who’s watched SNL before, but it’s done with an efficiency that puts the rest of the show to shame. “Hard Seltzer” is less than two minutes long, and not a moment is wasted. The pace starts off steady in the beginning, then the cuts get faster and faster to create a speed and energy not even seen in SNL’s other pre-taped sketches. Even the little moments between the main jokes, like Ben walking into the room and saying “Ben in the house!” in a parody of the kind of dumb banter close friends have with each other, feel unique and fully calculated.
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In the Live From New York subreddit, fans of SNL have a weekly Sunday thread where they rank the sketches from the previous night’s episode. Despite its time slot, “Hard Seltzer” rose right to the top. This trend has continued throughout the season, with even cut-for-time PDD sketches like “Rami Wants a Treat” making it into the top three. The trio also work as writers for the show as a whole, responsible for such live sketches as “Mattress Store” and “Men’s Room,” which both immediately became fan favorites. Every sketch they’re involved in has a similar sense of the escalating surrealism that helped make I Think You Should Leave such a standout hit, combined with the swiftness and energy The Lonely Island added to the show back in the mid-2000s.
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“Hard Seltzer” felt particularly fresh in its placement at the end of the Kim Kardashian episode, which otherwise featured sketches that relied heavily on cameo appearances and premises that dragged on for way too long. This was the same episode as “Dream Guy,” a seven-and-a-half minute mess where a string of celebrities were each greeted with polite applause, got to say a few lines, and then walked off stage. This sort of thing grew especially common throughout the Trump years, where the cold opens of each episode would grind to a halt as celebrity after celebrity came in to play a political figure. Actors like Robert De Niro or Ben Stiller would show up halfway through the sketch and spend 10 or 15 seconds waiting for the clapping to subside before they could get on with their lines.
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The renewed focus on the cast is part of why the new season of SNL has felt so fresh overall. The Kardashian episode aside, the 47th season has shied away from celebrity cameos, allowing more actual cast members to take up the major roles in cold opens. Some of this may just be COVID-related, as it’s easier for the show’s high-strung production schedule to run smoothly when almost everyone involved’s been following the same safety measures all season, but that’s not the only area where the show’s changed recently. None of the monologues have relied on musical bits or gimmicky Q&As from the audience, two crutches the monologue writers seemed to rely on throughout the 2010s. (Last week’s Ariana DeBose-hosted episode did feature a musical monologue, but in fairness to the show she was there to promote an actual musical.) Whereas the political content previously seemed more concerned with getting a rise out of people within the Trump administration than with being funny, the show as a whole this season has started leaning more into the weird, absurdist sensibilities seen in a PDD sketch.
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That’s not to say there aren’t still problems with the rest of the live show. There’s still no shortage of sketches that are essentially one joke repeated with slight variations for five minutes straight, and it’s common for sketches to end without a proper conclusion. And perhaps because pandemic protocols limit rehearsal time, it’s never seemed more obvious that most of the performers area reading their lines off of cue cards. Most fans accept these as inevitable limitations of the show, but it’s grown less tolerable after seeing PDD avoid all of these issues every time they make it on air.
It’s possible, however, that the style of Please Don’t Destroy can’t be fully replicated. After all, most of the techniques that allow them to infuse so much energy into their sketches aren’t available to live performances. The trio reportedly shoots dozens of takes for every few seconds of footage in an attempt to get the perfect reaction shot, the perfect line delivery. This is at odds with the format of most of the show’s sketches, where timing and delivery varies from dress rehearsal to the live show.
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Please Don’t Destroy’s digital format is only one part of its appeal, however, and SNL hasnever been afraid to change things up. In response to the rise of internet content, the show started producing digital sketches. In response to its expanding cast, the show started having more sketches like “Karaoke All-Stars” or “Jurassic Park Auditions,” designed to give each cast member a quick, guaranteed moment in the spotlight. The show’s pacing has gradually sped up throughout its run, too; in 1998 the beloved “Schweddy Balls” sketch took over two minutes to get to its main joke, something that would be a rarity on the show today. SNL is barely recognizable from what it looked like when it premiered 47 years ago, and it’s the show’s ability to evolve that’s kept it going strong. Although the live format of most of its sketches is here to stay, it’s not hard to imagine the show embracing the non-technical aspects of PDD’s appeal. Look no further than the PDD-cowritten “Men’s Room” sketch; even as the actors have to work with the live audience laughter, the sketch still has the tight writing and constantly-escalating premise that makes sketches like “Hard Seltzer” work so well.
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Please Don’t Destroy’s rise to prominence comes at a time when Lorne Michaels is considering his retirement as the long-running lead producer of the show, spurring speculation over who will take his place as lead producer and how that would affect the show going forward. As Gen Z makes up a growing percentage of potential viewers, the show’s survival will come down to understanding what made PDD so successful. It’s not about constant cameos from older celebrities, nor is it about cramming in references to whatever the kids on TikTok are talking about this week. It’s about embracing the absurdist, fast-paced, occasionally nonsensical humor Gen Z is known for loving and creating. SNL can’t be all made up of PDD sketches, but a showrunner who embraces the trio’s style as much as possible seems like a smart bet for the show going forward. At the very least, stop cutting them for time.
Five Sketches to Know Please Don’t Destroy
Saturday Night Live Recap: Will Forte Returns With Some Old SNL
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Saturday Night Live Will Forte Season 47 Episode 11 Editor’s Rating 3 stars * * * « Previous Next Photo: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC
At times news about Saturday Night Live can be as funny as the show, and this week Pete Davidson and Colin Jost bought a Staten Island ferry with a man named Paul Italia. I’m starting to think Pete is a genius. He’s barely on the show, but he is front-page news from Sunday to Friday by just living his best life. That’s comedy gold.
This week Will Forte hosts for the first time with musical guest Måneskin. Will comes from SNL’s last very successful era, so this will be a welcome return. It’s hard to believe we once had a season where the main cast was just Will Forte, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, and Keenan Thompson.
Now the show has 21 cast members, many of whom get about a line of dialogue a month. While Will is best known for his impossibly dumb sketch-turned movie-turned TV show “MacGruber,” he has so many gut-bustlingly hilarious characters. One of my personal favorites is his “distant cousin” character. (“I am loathe to say his name, so I shall say it backward: Amabo. Barack Hussein Amabo.”) Nobody plays a creep better than Will, so I hope we get a lot of that.
Best New Wordle
Kate opens the show as Laura Ingraham, letting us know that “Gas is now $19 a gallon, and the green M&M was canceled for being a whore.” She brings on Aidy as Ted Cruz, whose beard is like January 6th. (“Shocking at first, but sadly it’s been normalized.”) Pete stops by as Novak Djokovic to talk about his recent deportation from Australia. Laura lets him know she loves his sport “because in tennis, love is bad.” Ego stops by as Candace Owens, who quotes MLK’s tombstone. (“Great job gang, racism over.”) Finally, James stops by as Trump. Instead of his usual PTI rundown, Trump puts up a Wordle. (“Folks, the only Hillary we like is Duff from How I Met Your Father.”)
It’s an okay start. They’ve basically done this style of cold open a couple of times this season, except with Cecily as Jeanine Pirro. However, this time it feels like the characters are in and out a little too fast and don’t hit any strong jokes.
Best Kristen Wiig Cameo
Will Forte steps out for his monologue looking a little like Mitt Romney. He bitterly comments he is one of the last major cast members from his era to host the show. (“It was really fun to see Kristen host, then Bill, then Andy, then Fred, then Kristen again, then Bill again…”) He’s interrupted by Kristen Wiig, who, after getting a raucous applause, is asked by Will to leave. (“I flew in for this.” “Oh great, so you know where the airport is.”) His monologue is interrupted again by Lorne Michaels, who lets him know that tonight’s host is actually supposed to be Willem Dafoe. (“Do you think I’d book someone named Will, then someone named Willem?”) A fine monologue, and it’s great that SNL is having more fun at the top of the show.
Best Theme Song
MacGruber returns in a three-part series about coronavirus conspiracy theories, alongside Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe. MacGruber reveals he is against masks and that he got the “Fizer” vaccine at a Sizzler. (“I think there’s a P in front of Pfizer.” “If there was a P in front of Pfizer, it would be pronounced Puh-fizer.”)
MacGruber returns later in the episode to take Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for his “covi-phyllis”. The series ends with MacGruber dressed as the Q Shaman. While it’s a treat to see Will in one of his most popular sketches, I think we only needed one of these. And at this point, what comedian hasn’t dressed up as the Q Shaman?
Best Episode of Double Dare
Will Forte is host Mark Zazz for a Double Dare-type show called Kid Klash. He brings on Aidy as teen Tatum, who desperately looks for a flag in a giant pie. (“The whipped cream is adversity, and the flag is your unfulfilled potential.”) I could watch Aidy struggle inside a giant spinning pie for hours, and Will’s cruel weirdness as he watches pushes this sketch over the top. She eventually finds the flag, which is impossibly small and white like the cream.
Best Threesome Accessory
A butcher knife on a silver chain. Will is an experienced third for Heidi’s birthday threesome with her husband, Mikey. Will checks the bed by slamming it for almost a minute, takes three Cialis pills, and then runs a mock threesome to show Mikey when to jump in. (“Remember it’s a threeway, not a me-way.”) This sketch has all the ingredients of a banger, but they get way too caught up in the negotiation of what’s going to happen. We want Mikey’s character to keep stopping the threesome, not to be mildly annoyed at what’s going to happen.
Best Returning Character
In an episode where Will Forte reprises MacGruber and Clancy T, the best return goes to Bowen as the hilarious Chen Biao on Weekend Update. Going at China is gutsy, especially with NBC broadcasting the Winter Olympics. Yet SNL doesn’t hold back here even when making fun of NBC. (“Are you guys okay? NBC is announcing the games from their studios in Connecticut. You know what else films in Connecticut? Maury.”) This is my highlight of the entire episode.
Best Song Lyric
“And now they’ll meet the wrath of God and burn in toddler hell. Unless they call their friends, the aliens to spend a spaceship down. But God will find them there; he’s everywhere, he’s well-connected.”
Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad return to sing their demented country songs. Kristen is one of the best cast members of all time, and the commitment and weirdness she and Will bring to their characters feel very out of place in this era of SNL. I can’t imagine any current cast member being allowed to do characters like these now.
Keeping Score
This episode felt light. Usually, it’s a good thing when SNL flies by, but this time it felt like many of the sketches never really moved past their first joke. The MVP goes to Will Forte, and it’s really just for being there. As a beloved former cast member, he is a welcome presence. Even though the sketches weren’t fully fleshed out, Will was able to earn laughs with his signature bizarreness.
Something is frankly weird about cast members having a hilarious episode, as Chris Redd did last week, and then being completely gone the next. It would help if SNL allowed the audience to build a rapport with the cast to eventually do weirder and more memorable stuff. How can we find the next Kristen and Will if the only people allowed to do really fun stuff this episode are … Kristen and Will?
There’s also a weird energy around Kate. I personally think she still elevates SNL, but it’s almost like when she’s in a sketch, everybody else has to clear out of the way. And that “Gaslight” sketch was rough. Seeing Will and Jason this season has been a reminder of what worked in the past: a tight cast that grows together. I hope we get to see that again.