Saturday Night Live
Ariana Grande & Stevie Nicks
October 12, 2024
Ariana Grande is no stranger to Saturday Night Live, despite this only being her second time to host, the first time being some 8 years ago in 2016. She’s been the musical guest twice, and both of those times, she appeared in sketches. But here’s the thing: even though I shouldn’t be, I’m always surprised at how comically gifted she is. In my mind, Grande is first and foremost a pop diva with questionable taste in men. I always somehow manage to forget that she got her start on Nickelodeon comedies just like Saturday Night Live‘s most reliable player, Kenan Thompson. Ariana Grande’s been doing comedy since she was a literal child; of course she has good comic timing.
All of that is to say that Grande hosted a very solid episode this week. While the majority of her sketches put her in her comfort zone by having her sing (sometimes deliberately poorly), Grande was just as good — maybe even better — in sketches where she didn’t belt out a single note. Grande is a talented host who should be invited back more often, especially now that Pete Davidson is no longer in the cast.
The cold open imagines Trump agreeing to compete against Kamala Harris on Family Feud rather than engage in another debate, which honestly does not seem entirely impossible. It’s another chance to bring out Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan, and Dana Carvey, and land a few solid jokes involving America’s love of guns and a missing Melania.
Grade: A-
Ariana Grande opens her monologue by reminding us that the last (first) time she hosted was in 2016, shortly before we were on the verge of electing our first female president. MA’AM. HOW DARE YOU CURSE US. You better hope Kamala wins next month, or I’ll never forgive you for tempting the universe just like Lin-Manuel Miranda did.
~shakes fist at Lin-Manuel Miranda~
Grande then sings a song about how she’s not going to sing or do any impressions which she does. Like Ariana Grande herself, it’s cute.
Grade: B+
A group of bridesmaids sing an off-key toast to the couple to the Sabrina Carpenter song “Espresso,” but all the lyrics are about the bride hooking up with a guy named Domingo on their bachelorette trip. It feels familiar, but maybe it’s just because wedding receptions are a well this show repeatedly dips from.
Grade: B+
A teen girl sings a song about how she loves the way her best friend’s house smells, which is weird on its own. But then, it gets weirder. And darker. Much darker. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will note that a particular prop has made its third appearance in this sketch.
Grade: B+
Here, a young man brings his boyfriend home to meet his parents and play some charades, which unleashes Mom’s hyper-competitive side. As someone who is not allowed to play games because I become … slightly unhinged … I felt this bit especially hard. But I also enjoyed it because it shows off Ariana Grande’s acting skills without using singing as a crutch. She’s quite funny and this might be the best example of it in the episode.
Grade: A
Apparently, Celine Dion was in an NFL recently? I wouldn’t know because I hate every single thing about the NFL except for how completely insane the Philadelphia Eagles fans are. Anyway, she did a promo for the NFL, and here Grande is Dion doing another sports promo, this time for the UFC.
Grade: A-
“Weekend Update” is solid this week, with two particularly dark jokes, one involving Lincoln, the other, a coat hanger.
Grade: A
Ego Nwodim is a hopped-up but happy Amazon employee who is overworked thanks to Prime Day. It all leads up to a joke regarding all of our complicity in her state of being which rings painfully true (the blogger wrote while staring at her pile of Amazon boxes that she hasn’t opened yet).
Grade: B
Sarah Silverman Sherman and James Austin Johnson are the famously feuding Gallagher brothers on the eve of their reunion tour. It involves them saying “legend” a bunch. I’ll let Liam Gallagher review this one:
Are they meant to be comedians
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) October 13, 2024
Grade: C+ (the plus was earned by the bit they wrote for Colin Jost)
Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg return to play the parents of a young boy they castrated so that he could keep his high singing voice. Ariana Grande nailing the dead eyes; and Samberg calling Kenan by his actual name are highlights here.
Grade: B+
Chloe Fineman breaks out her Jennifer Coolidge and pits it against Ariana Grande’s own impersonation of Jennifer Coolidge which is remarkably good (though it shouldn’t be much of a surprise: Grande reminded us that she’s an excellent mimic in the monologue). The sketch reaches a crescendo of ridiculousness when Dana Carvey joins in with a third impersonation of Jennifer Coolidge, which, as unlikely as it seems, is exactly what the sketch needed.
Grade: A
I don’t entirely understand the writers’ obsession with old movies; there’s something very theater-kid about it — I think they are looking for an excuse to do the accent. Anyway, here, James Austin Johnson and Ariana Grande are dueling detectives attempting to bust each other. They nail the accent, but all in all, it’s not great and the ending is unnecessary.
Grade: C+
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.
Show was good. But Stevie Nicks was surprisingly awful.