Saturday Night Live
Quinta Brunson and Benson Boone
May 3, 2025
Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson was a gem when she hosted Saturday Night Live two years ago, helming what was easily one of the best episodes of the season. Brunson is herself an accomplished sketch comedy writer and actor, so hosting SNL looks and feels very natural on her. She doesn’t just acquit herself well, she’s essentially indistinguishable from the cast. And so it is hardly a surprise that on her sophomore outing, Brunson was not only seamless with the cast, she also seemed to bring her own comedy voice to the show. I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that she’s not one of the more hands-on hosts when it comes to pitching ideas and writing sketches.
I do want to be clear, it’s not a perfect episode: some of the writing, particularly at the end of the night, felt lazy and phoned in. And it depended on bringing back a successful sketch from the last time Brunson hosted, which diminished its surprise factor a little. That said, Brunson is such an easy, versatile host that I could see her making the Five-Timers Club one day.
The cold open has President Yam Tits celebrating his first 100 days by signing a number of new Executive Orders, including banning interracial couples in TV commercials, pardoning J.K. Rowling, and making it socially acceptable for men in their 70s to date 24-year-old women. It’s fine, but I’m not sure that Mikey Day is the right choice to play that weird vampire Stephen Miller. I honestly might have gone with Chloe Fineman, if it were me.
Grade: B
As a petite woman myself, I appreciated Brunson’s monologue tribute to being short, so much so that I can overlook that it’s a song and dance number — and one that doesn’t appear to have been particularly well-rehearsed with surprise guests Sabrina Carpenter (who is also short) and Dwayne Wade (who is short — for the NBA).
Grade: A-
So, it’s Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, except we’re calling it “Will and Todd’s Radical Experience,” and the joke here is that Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass are just flat out refusing to return to their historical time because WHY WOULD THEY?
One of the joys of having Brunson on is that she’s able to spotlight the Black cast members; this is the first of many such moments in this episode.
Grade: A
In the first commercial spoof, an elderly couple tells their children about their new insurance plan, OnlySeniors, which is exactly what it sounds like: OnlyFans but for old folks. It gets graphic, and best to not even mention the remote control Kenan wields.
Grade: A
A group of employees is instructed by human resources on strategies to give negative feedback and motivate their co-workers, but they end up using the techniques to make some outrageous revelations to one another. It’s amusing enough, though it gets bogged down with some of the “wackier” characters, and I don’t even know why Bowen Yang’s weird doctor from last season’s Ryan Gosling episode is here.
Grade: B-
We revisit a breakout sketch from the first time Brunson hosted (and which they recreated on the Martin Short episode with the outrageously funny Melissa McCarthy), in which Mikey Day and Brunson angrily pantomime insults to one another in their respective cars — this time on a ferry which allows Jost to make a pretty good joke at his own expense (and only fuels the speculation that this will be one of his final episodes).
Grade: A
I wanted to love the “Forever 31” commercial sketch SO HARD, you guys. It resonates. HARD. Neutral colors? Oversized baggy clothes? I feel personally attacked … but also seen.
However, I can’t help but remember this cartoon that I recently saw by cartoonist Gemma Correll. It’s not an exact copy: SNL focuses more on the idea of women in their 30s dressing practically and boringly. And “Forever 31” joke at the expense of “Forever 21” is a pretty obvious conceit, one I doubt they stole from the cartoon. Thus, I won’t deduct points.
Still, I feel like Correll deserves acknowledgment:
Grade: A
Apparently, one of the Big Important Conversations we’re having on the internet right now is whether or not 100 men could defeat one gorilla. Here, Brunson and Ego Nwodim are two women who go into an enclosure at the zoo and pick a fight with a gorilla, all seen from the gorilla’s perspective. It’s far from my favorite sketch of the night, but I have to admit, “You need to evolute” made me chuckle.
Grade: B-
After manning the “Weekend Update” desk for a record-breaking 10 seasons, there’s been a lot of talk that Colin Jost and Michael Che are leaving SNL at the end of this season, which is two episodes from now. (The fact that Scarlett Johansson is hosting the season finale isn’t doing anything to dampen the rumors, either.) As such, it certainly feels like Jost and Che are just doing whatever at this point, happily pissing off the audience with some questionable jokes. Don’t get me wrong, this week is funny: Jost going OFF about only receiving two dolls at Christmas is great, and frankly, I liked all of the jokes that elicited groans from the audience. But they definitely are operating with a fuck-it attitude here.
Grade: A+
But who will replace Jost and Che? Safe money is on Michael Longfellow, who comes to the “Weekend Update” desk to loudly pronounce he will not be getting a Real ID. It’s good, and he has a snarky Norm Macdonald/Dennis Miller vibe to him that I think would work well as anchor. I mean, aside from playing a game show host in every episode, what else does he have to do?
Grade: A
Sarah Sherman and Bowen Yang are a couple of barflies who frequent Applebee’s who join the “Weekend Update” desk to lament the dying of chain restaurants and make fun of white trash in general.
Grade: B
Here, Kenan takes charge of the sketch as an out-of-towner who joins an Addicts Anonymous meeting, clearly for the purpose of finding out where to score drugs. It’s a one-note joke — more of an idea than a sketch.
Grade: C+
Finally, Brunson dons drag to play Jerry “Jackrabbit” Tulane, a trash-talking boxer who, unfortunately, is considerably smaller than his opponents, leading to him being beaten literally senseless. Eh.
Grade: C+
Final Grade: A-.
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.