Saturday Night Live
Nikki Glaser & sombr
November 8, 2025
Nikki Glaser is first and foremost a stand-up comedian who specializes in brash comedy — she talks a lot about her sex life — that makes some people (men) uncomfortable. Personally, I never loved her stand-up; it feels a little try-hard and is sometimes just mean (often to herself). But then she became host of F-Boy Island on HBO Max, and her sense of humor, her shrewd eye, and ability to roast these dumb men to their faces, it made me a fan — of at least her hosting reality shows. Honestly, I wish ABC would replace Jesse Palmer with Glaser to host The Bachelorette, but ABC would NEVER.
So how’d she do as host of a sketch comedy show? She was fine. She was goofy and funny, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun. The sketches were inoffensive in the sense that they didn’t punch down (because let’s be clear, there was some “offensive” material, i.e., toilet humor and sex doll jokes, in here). But there also seemed to be a lack of willingness to do anything daring or anything that would make Nikki Glaser look unattractive.
This week, there was a piece on Pajiba complaining that SNL has a “hot person problem,” arguing that when an attractive host comes on the show, SNL often writes sketches about how good-looking they are. But what the piece ignored is that the host has a lot of say about which sketches make it on air. For instance, Leslie Jones talks about how she admired Margot Robbie for daring to look ugly in her episode, and this is a long piece about all the sketches that were cut when President Megalomaniac hosted because he didn’t want to look like a “loser.” So, in a sense, the Pajiba article is right: SNL does have a hot person problem, in that they allow hot people to only choose sketches that make them look hot.
This is a long way to go to say that I think Glaser’s whole brand is being a funny hot girl, and it seems clear she was unwilling to do anything that might contradict that image. As a result, we had an episode that was perfectly fine, but not nearly as edgy as you might expect from the likes of Glaser.
(So many words to say the episode was just OK!)
This week’s cold open relied on a scene from the White House last week that was almost so ridiculous that it defies parody: the Oval Office press conference that President Nussy slept through until one of the participants passed out behind him, at which point he stood imperiously motionless. Here, James Austin Johnson’s President MRI chatters his way through the scene, comparing this particular visual to his destruction of the White House, insulting Usha Vance, and being dismissive of hungry Americans. It’s about what you’d expect, and that’s kind of the problem: the real scene was so absurd in and of itself that mockery is almost impossible. I’m not mad about it; how could they resist making the cold open about this scene? It was literally a comedy gift that fell into their laps. But the result was just a little too on the nose and obvious.
Grade: B
As for Nikki Glaser’s monologue, I don’t think anyone could call it “obvious.” Glaser, as a stand-up comedian, was given an extra-long monologue, which she filled with sex jokes — but the most inappropriate sex jokes, touching on Jeffrey Epstein, sex trafficking, and pedophilia. She aimed for all the taboos, and unsurprisingly, people were offended by it. Personally, that stuff rolled off my back. I was more upset about all the jokes she made at her short boyfriend’s expense than the suggestion that she might molest her nephew in the shower. We short people have to have each other’s tiny backs.
Grade: B-
A family goes to karaoke night with the son’s new girlfriend, and things take a turn when Boyfriend and his sister duet inappropriately sexy songs together. Things then become even more cringey when Nikki Glaser as the daughter, sings a gross, sexy song with her father. It’s very similar to a series of sketches featuring the Vogelcheck family, who are extremely affectionate to the point they begin making out with one another. It also has a sprinkle of “Afternoon Delight” from Arrested Development, but at least there, the family realized how inappropriate the songs were. It just feels a little derivative.
Grade: B-
Here, Nikki Glaser plays herself, a white woman celebrity, having a bout of anxiety at the idea of having to go through the “Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel” when she has no coordination. It’s a funny concept, up until the point where they reveal the solution, which mostly involves Glaser rolling around the bathroom with her pants around her ankles.
Grade: B
The thing is, all you need to hear is the name of this sketch, “Beauty and Mr. Beast,” to know exactly where this is going. The concept writes itself. And this is why I can’t take very seriously the accusations that this is ripping off a sketch done by a group called Studio C. I hear you, but it’s a pretty obvious joke that your average 8th grader could come up with.
Grade: B-
American Doll makes dolls for their customers who have grown up: American Girl Doll XL, life-size, mature dolls. I think you can guess what happens when a male customer base also gets hold of them.
Grade: B+
The most surreal sketch of the night features “Two Drunk Bitches on a Mechanical Bull” traveling across the country, into the ocean, where hellfire missiles target them, and eventually time-travel to the time of Galileo, all the while Jason Austin Johnson accompanies them with a country song about their adventures. For a change, I’m unable to use the word “obvious,” so points for that.
Grade: B
“Weekend Update” covers Zohran Mamdani’s win, the guy passing out in the Oval Office, how much Andrew Cuomo sucks (he sucks), the revocation of SNAP benefits, and more. It was fine? It was fine.
Grade: B+
Pete Davidson returns to the “Weekend Update” desk — the place where he became a star — to talk about his and Jost’s questionable Staten Island Ferry investment, and manages to roast himself, Jost, and Che in the best bit of the night. Davidson doesn’t need to come back to the show, but it was fun to see him here in this context. USE HIM SPARINGLY, SNL.
Grade: A
At a sorority meeting, it’s revealed that one of their members might be a guy in a “hyper-realistic girl mask.” It’s then painfully obvious who it is, though the other girls accuse each other of being bullies when it’s pointed out. I didn’t hate it!
Grade: B+
An awkward preteen is forced to participate in activities with his divorced dad in this little animated bit. It’s not terrible, but it’s also … unnecessary?
Grade: B-
A plane is delayed because ~gestures at everything~ and the pilot uses the opportunity to solicit advice from the cabin about his love life. Gotta say, as someone who practically lives on airplanes these days, didn’t hate it! My only real note is that no one can actually hear a pilot in the cabin, its mostly garbled mumbling over a subpar PA system, but sure.
Grade: B+
Finally, my favorite sketch of the night might be this one in which an adult woman visits her childhood fantasy land one last time to say goodbye to the woodland creatures there (think Winnie the Pooh). She gives each of them gifts, and a pair of creatures, played by Mikey Day and Jeremy Culhane, absolutely lose their shit over some pinwheels.
It’s a charming bit, but one that Mikey Day might have repurposed from his past, which is maybe even funnier:
Grade: A
Final Grade: Solid B.
Oh, and one last thing to make you feel old like me.
You’ll excuse me as I turn into a pile of dust.
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.