Not a lot of teenagers are watching Saturday Night Live anymore. Maybe you’ve seen it flickering on the old T.V. at your relatives house, or you’ve watched clips over videos of Subway Surfers on TikTok, but I’m sure everyone has heard of it. These are my personal opinions, from someone who is an avid SNL enjoyer, on some of the newest episodes of Season 50.
Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks- 9/10
Glows:
This was the best episode of season 50. Ariana Grande was unexpectedly the most talented host I’ve ever seen. Everything about her episode flowed together into one big laugh. You could see her doing the job as a host but also taking the time to enjoy the moment. Her impression of Celine Dion over the clips of boxing had me cackling. I feel like everyone has heard the Domingo song, whether you wanted to or not. This episode brought SNL back into the limelight of popularity that it had not experienced in years.
Grows:
There were definitely some technical issues with the cue cards for lines and props but it only contributed to jokes. The larger bits were meant to be the center of attention, but the smallest ones hit the hardest. Like in the Domingo sketch, the bridesmaids who were singing had the most lines in the whole thing, but Domingo, played by Marcello Hernandez, was able to become the center of attention in about 10 lines. The writers need to remember that you can’t rely on one joke or person to carry a sketch no matter how popular a joke becomes. The whole episode has to be funny or it doesn’t move forward smoothly and it loses the audience’s attention. We live in the era of easy dopamine from phones, so if the writers want to be funny they must have laughter that carries throughout the episode.
Micheal Keaton and Billie Eilish- 4/10
Glows:
Billie Eilish’s performance captured the essence of SNL. It was clean and well rehearsed while also having a little bit of weirdness to go along with it. The start of her performance being a camera angle where it looked like she was standing on top of the audience along with that light, airy feeling from her music made a really creative presentation. Her performance made me respect her as an artist even more because it felt like she was having a good time instead of being nervous about being on live T.V.
Grows:
Micheal Keaton felt like a weird uncle at a family gathering, not someone who should host, and he didn’t add anything new to the show. Everything was dry, the jokes were nonexistent, it was all so plain. The whole episode they were trying to make something popular and appealing, instead they ended up just bombing it. No one wants to see Micheal Keaton complaining about his imaginary wife before he goes skydiving.
John Mulaney and Chappell Roan- 8/10
Glows:
Kamala Harris was on SNL. From someone who watched the episode where Trump hosted from 2015, her five minutes were much better. This episode was perfect to have before the election because it brought awareness to the seriousness of the situation while showing that even Kamala Harris could smile and make jokes about her name. This was such a high stress time and the fact that Harris was there with Maya Rudolph was a large stress reliever. John Mulaney sticking to what he knew through the game show sketch and the stand-up monologue created a very smooth and funny episode.
Grows:
The filler sketches needed some work. They were still good compared to others, but when you put it against the rest of the episode it didn’t equal what had already been done. Every sketch can’t be perfect, but it was the way they delivered that changed the tone. When the sketches were less funny you could see the cast losing their spirit. It was almost as if they gave up trying. Not everything is funny but giving up on the bit also doesn’t make it better.