Sometimes I wonder if the talent coordinator at “Saturday Night Live” can read my mind when choosing a weekly host. If you know me, you know that “Hacks” on Max is my favorite show at the moment. I have been beyond obsessed with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder’s chemistry since the first season premiered in 2021. So, when it was announced that Jean Smart would host on Sept. 28 for the premiere of SNL’s 50th season on, I knew I was in good hands.
Not to mention, Smart’s career started in New York City 50 years ago. It’s very fitting that she is now hosting the premiere of this monumental season.
A lot has happened since season 49 wrapped in May. Whenever a major cultural event happened during the break, I wondered how SNL would cover it. And a LOT has gone down this summer.
The episode started as a parodied David Muir, an ABC journalist played by Andrew Dismukes, checks on presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Maya Rudolph does a perfect job as Harris, playing the fun aunt with pop culture references a few months too late. Tim Walz, played by Jim Gaffigan, shouts out Menards’s deals on lawn mowers and points out that his suit is actually Costco’s “Kirkland” brand, in an energetic display of BDE (Big Dad Energy, of course). James Austin Johnson returned as Donald Trump, bringing us back to the outrageous “They’re eating the cats” moment from the Sept. 10 presidential debate. SNL alum Dana Carvey returned as Joe Biden, or as Rudolph’s Kamala calls him, “J’Biden.” His Biden roams around the stage confused, adding “A lot of people forget I’m president. Even me!”
Jean Smart gave a long-awaited monologue — it's a shame we haven’t gotten to see her genius in the prior seasons. She pokes fun at New York, saying “I always think of New York as home, even though I have a much nicer home in LA.” She sings a song titled “I Happen to Like New York,” romanticizing autumn in the city and the garbage on the street that finally starts to change colors. While I love Smart, not every sketch hit its mark for me this episode. The $100,000 Pyramid sketch was packed with tired references from the “Hawk Tuah” girl to Chimp Crazy’s Tonia Haddix. By the Sept. 28 air date, you would think the two references would be in pop culture jail.
I also truly wanted to love Bowen Yang’s Charli XCX “talk talk” show, but it felt tied down by old material. Although, I love the idea of a “brat” or “nat” section — Amy Adams in “Nightbitch” is definitely brat, while Eric Adams’ indictment is for sure nat.
My favorite sketches of the night were “Textbook Writer” and “I Love Lucy.”
“Textbook Writer” centers around Smart as she plays romance writer Barbara Berkman, who has come out of retirement to write a math textbook. The publishing executives call her in for a meeting, unhappy about feedback from schools. Berkman exclaims that she loves writing the word problems. One piece of text reads, “William has five apples and the body of a god” just to start. It is the outrageous quotes and full sincerity in which Smart delivers her lines that made this sketch.
Old Hollywood sketches always bring the best out of a host and the players. A parodied version of CNN’s “History of the Sitcom” shows “I Love Lucy” with Jean Smart’s more dramatic take on Lucille Ball’s iconic character, now a drunk and accusatory wife. The sketch is “I Love Lucy” if it were written by Tennessee Williams. This parody was instantly iconic, but Smart’s delivery of the line “Are you gay?” to Marcello Hernandez’s Desi was sheer comic gold.
Weekend Update reigned supreme with the summer catch-up, showing that it should be the only place for a “here’s what you missed” segment. Colin Jost even pointed out the fact that everyone asks about the missed material over the summer, but quickly proved that news is forever fast paced with his coverage of a questionable quote regarding Kamala Harris’s mental capacity made at Trump’s Sept. 28 rally in Pennsylvania. Trump then followed up with “I could’ve been sunbathing on the beach. You’ve never seen a body so beautiful, much better than Sleepy Joe.” The jokes write themselves. Weekend Update is always my favorite part of the show and that is in part due to Jost and Micheal Che’s dynamic energy.
The bit that everyone and their mother is talking about is Bowen Yang as the internet’s favorite baby hippo, Moo Deng. If Moo Deng has not taken over your Instagram and Tiktok, I don’t believe you. In this skit, the hippo is a tired, rising star very reminiscent of popstar Chappell Roan as he calls out a lack of boundaries from fans. Just this week, Roan cancelled her performance at “All Things Go,” a music festival in Columbia, Maryland. stating that “things had gotten overwhelming.” It is a poignant sketch as it hits on the commodification of a superstar, and the ability for them to be almost seen as zoo animals. Fans always believe that they deserve their attention. It is a great commentary, and if you want to see Bowen Yang drink from a hose, here you have it.
The first episode is always rough given the four-month break. SNL’s habit of repeating pop culture soundbites is very prevalent here, but when it is done well, it is great. And although I was not as impressed with this episode, it has left me excited for what is to come.
