Pete Martell

Bowen looks back on playing George Santos.

The Beavis and Butthead sketch was originally cut for time several seasons back (SNN mentioned the last Jonah Hill episode and the Oscar Isaac episode).

April 20th will be RuPaul/Justin Bieber (season 45) April 27th will be Kim Kardashian/Halsey (season 47) The Youtube channel actually uploaded two genuinely vintage sketches. Not sure if that tells us anything about a possible Tom Hanks appearance before the season finishes.

Some interesting behind the scenes info in this - the idea was originally pitched with Ana de Armas and Dakota Johnson.

She seemed to be the only woman to get real focus for most of her last 4 or so years on the show (after Maya and Amy left), and a lot of the pieces she did were not in her best range (in my opinion). One of the reasons I thought she did well in this episode was because the pieces were closer to that more low-key feel she had in her first few seasons. I do think she's had her share of work done, although it wasn't as noticeable to me as some of her previous stints.

The dress rehearsal reports mentioned one that was cut. Apparently it was not good. I feel like they've hit a wall this season as the one last week I thought was genuinely poor.

A more detailed dress report: I forgot the pre-tape soon after it aired, but Kaia Gerber has a number of SNL ties - her mother (Cindy Crawford) did a cameo in 1994, she dated Pete Davidson, and she is playing Jacqueline Carlin in the upcoming SNL 1975 movie. Carlin was with Chevy Chase at the time (they later married - for a few years), and she starred in the show's very first pre-tape (the replacement dad commercial with Dan Aykroyd being replaced by Chevy Chase).

I wasn't sure what to expect with another Wiig episode, because while she's always professional, on a number of her appearances she's brought back the same characters (Secret Word, Surprise Sue), and sometimes struggles with how to fit into the casts of the time. Hearing that the episode was going to be full of cameos made me even more unsure, as I wondered if it would be like Will Forte's episode, where he felt much more comfortable with people of his era (like Kristen and Kenan) than anyone else. Fortunately, the cameos were mostly left to the overcrowded monologue (I'm glad they still got the Paula Pell appearance - I always enjoyed when she would pop up for audience questions) and a few other sketches. None of them got in the way of the sketches for me (although I would have cut Matt Damon out - he was funny in his previous appearances but tonight he just seemed like he was walking by the building, and they pulled him in). There were several sketches like Jumanji and the go-karts sketch that reminded me of the more down-to-earth, character-based material she had in her first few seasons as a cast member. The go-kart sketch could have been punched up a little, but I thought Andrew/Chloe Troast/JAJ/Kristen all had a good rapport and I liked the building confusion and pain, and that we never heard them tell the kids the news. I loved the intense shouting between Andrew and Kristen in the Jumanji sketch and how well most of the sketch built. The Will Forte cameo mostly worked, even if the end didn't. We still got the "wacky" material, like in that Heidi sketch, but as it was not as present as I was expecting. And I ended up enjoying one of the wacky sketches I thought I'd hate (the French variety show), as it had a good energy and used the cast well and had one of those "wacky" Kristen character types that I enjoy (a dip into Triangle Sally). JAJ and Dismukes, Chloe Troast, were very good for me, the frantic dancing with Chloe Fineman and Bowen. And Mikey as the mime was some of his best work in a year or two. This originally was cut from the Timothee Chalamet episode earlier this season and apparently focused more heavily on Chloe Fineman. If true, I'm glad she was willing to change this to being more of an updated version of the old Deep House Dish/Soul Train sketches, because it was a sense of fun we don't get that often now. The retirement party sketch was also an updated version of an old sketch, one that wasn't quite the same without Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Moynihan, but it still worked well enough for me. More than anything I was curious to see if Will could still play nasty old Hamilton Whiteman, and he could. I didn't realize just how well I knew those Hamilton sketches until I saw the very first second of this one and said to myself, "It's going to have Hamilton." Overall, I thought this was the best episode Kristen has hosted, and one of the best two or three episodes so far this season. I hope they use it as a possible path forward for the show in its current state rather than some of the other recent attempts at knowing where to go. I do feel bad for Michael Longfellow - I don't know what happened there or has happened all season. There will probably be more detailed dress reports up later today, but for now, here's what I took down from the Saturday Night Network podcast last night: Good Morning Buffalo - Sarah and Kristen are news anchors reporting on their bender. JAJ makes fun of them for breaking into Derek Jeter's house. Longfellow interviews a cop (Molly) about them. Kenan is an "emo Jimmy Butler" weatherman Sarah and Kristen had a threeway with. Apparently this was good? PDD - Grinke (?) whispers to Kristen what sketches she should do and dances. One by one PDD, besides John, get into the dancing. It dances on the Update desk beside Colin at the end. There were some reports that this was bad enough to where the audience was just silent. Funeral - Kristen mourns her husband and plays his favorite music. The mourners head bob and dance. She reminds the mourners it's a funeral. Longfellow is the son. Mikey, Heidi, Bowen, Ego, Marcello are mourners. Kenan is the body coming to life due to the music. JAJ part of the staff. Molly and Punkie have funerals next door. Train Ride - Kristen does a call on the speaker with her doctor, much to Kenan's dismay. Devon tells Kenan he can't leave his seat, even appearing outside the train. Sketch ends when Kenan leaves it and breaks the fourth wall. Book club - (also cut from Molly Shannon's episode) - Bowen is a nuisance to a book club, featuring Kristen, Ego, Molly, Heidi. They also reran the Red Flag fake ad from back in the day. It seems like the only time we get non-political cold opens are if they involve sports. I don't know anything about them other than all the people arguing about Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese. It didn't seem like the show had any real point beyond "we love women's college basketball," maybe because they just wanted to address the people who believe the show has a negative view of women in basketball. I would have rather seen a different topic, but at least it's not politics I guess. The performances were fine, but I think the only part I enjoyed was when Heidi wandered out too early so she could join in on the LFNY. Given that Fred and Kristen were there, I'm half-surprised they didn't revive Dooneese, but maybe they thought that wasn't right for 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroworld_Festival_crowd_crush In other news, the hitman pre-tape was uploaded.

Sorry, I was talking about the usual election material in the first few months (debates and the rest), rather than what happens after November. I think SNL is probably in its last few years anyway, no matter who wins, but I agree with you NBC would likely can the show at his request if he wins again.

I wouldn't say this was a bad episode, but it was a very forgettable episode for me, one of the most forgettable in years, aside from a few moments I thought were somewhat inspired (like the Ozempic pre-tape) and a few that represented the laziest aspects of the show (PDD's Pete Davidson homage, which was itself a Lonely Island homage; Sarah brushing off her Jost crutch to ever-diminishing returns). I wanted to like the dad talk show and cop sketches and gave them good will as much as I could, which isn't quite the same as truly enjoying them. I suppose I will just have to keep accepting how half-done the show is these days, as I don't see it changing until next season, if at all. The show likes to bring on comics who bring something different to SNL (Jerrod Carmichael, Ayo Edebiri, Ramy) yet do nothing to actually showcase their talents or convince their fans to stay around. I guess they at least let Ramy have his monologue, which he did a good job with - he had a very smooth, tricky style that was out of the norm in a satisfying way. The basketball sketch was cut from Jacob Elordi's episode. Saturday Night News report on what was cut from this episode: BARKFINITY SCIENTIST. Ramy in a lab shows off what seems to be clones of Charles Barkley doing various ads. Draft Kings, Subway, Inside the NBA, college hoops, King Charles with Gayle King (Punkie), International commercials with bloopers, one similar to the blooper from the Inside the Beltway sketch in the season 45 premiere (Aidy and the coat). Ego, Mikey Heidi are also scientists. If you need a reminder of that blooper: SPACE JOURNEY: Molly asks Ramy out on day 1 of a 752 day space journey. He rejects Molly. He dates and marries Troast. Turbulence leading to a threeway kiss. Molly changes their hair to look more like Troast. Molly finally dates JAJ, who is an alien. DR. WILLIAMS (the Punkie therapist character from the Jake G episode with a new last name). Family of Heidi, Ramy, Troast, Marcello. Ego keeps calling Punkie and dares her to jump off a building. She does. Everyone sings at the end. HITMAN: Pre-tape. Ramy keeps getting calls from Uber Eats delivery (Marcello) as he tries to kill JAJ in the next building over. Troast is JAJ's date. UPDATE: Devon and Michael are the new Jost and Che, but based off vibes than jokes, and based on tiktok.

There's a very strong chance Trump will win reelection, and I think you can see that in how SNL tends to talk about him (or Biden). Given how consistently bad the show has been at politics for decades now, I don't think they would know how to say anything about him anyway. We'd probably get more of the days of Baldwin saying "Gina" instead of "China." I am at the point where I have to tune out any of the political material. I dread to think of how it's going to be next season, as the show is woefully unprepared or unqualified. Even James Austin Johnson seems like he's over the whole thing.

Bobby Moynihan returns to SNN:

Saturday Night Network interviews the one and only Christine Ebersole (81-82), who has one of the more interesting journeys as an SNL cast member (and certainly afterward).

Sydney talks a bit about her episode and reveals that the pitcher was not as full in the Hooters sketch before the live version. https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottking/2024/03/07/sydney-sweeney-talks-bai-water-collaboration-snl-and-immaculate/ I don't know if any dress rehearsal reports are around, but I took this down from the comments made on the Saturday Night Network hot take episode last Saturday night. Cut sketches: NANNY: Sydney is interviewing for a nanny job and her troubled past is revealed. SPACESHIP: Sydney is trying to seduce Michael Longfellow, an alien who can't speak without killing humans. His interpreters ruin the moment. TIKTOK: Punkie is a woman on tiktok hosting a show called Who Da Hell Is My Husband. Sydney and the gang react. This is a takeoff on a viral tiktok with Risa Tisa put out a 50 part series about her marriage that's gone viral. A few of the people who went to the dress rehearsal said none of these were very good. I think the spaceship sketch may have been done in another dress rehearsal before this one but I am not sure.