Saturday Night Live
Ryan Gosling & Gorillaz
March 7, 2026
BIG NEWS, GUYS: Lorne Michaels reads my blog! Because how else can you explain that the last time Gosling hosted in 2024, I wrote this:
I’m pretty sure the entire world agrees that Ryan Gosling is not just a pretty face, he’s genuinely hilarious, and clearly delights in being funny. But maybe he delights a little too much in being funny, especially if you’re one of those people who hates when the host and/or cast begins breaking mid-scene. Because Ryan Gosling Can. Not. Keep. It. Together.
Hating it when the cast breaks is a legitimate complaint that many people have — I’m old enough to remember Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz making each other crack up which felt like a cheap way to make the audience laugh with them when the sketch wasn’t otherwise working. That said, Gosling’s giggles seem genuine, and they are, like it or not, highly contagious.
Bring him back sooner THAN SEVEN YEARS FROM NOW, Lorne.
And then not only did Lorne not wait another seven years to bring Gosling back, they also made THE ENTIRE EPISODE about Gosling breaking! Which, OK, now that I know Lorne Michaels is reading this — and he definitely is — a couple of notes:
- Great job on bringing Ryan Gosling back quickly.
- Making the cast break is like cumin: a little goes a looooooong way.
Turns out, when everyone in every Goddamn sketch is struggling to keep it together, it’s distracting, and sometimes even irritating. It’s not that it’s not fun, at least at first– it is very contagious — but when every sketch is an exercise in breakage, when you explicitly tell us you are trying to make the cast break, the gimmick becomes obvious: it becomes cheap, and the magic dies a little.
Some gentle suggestions, Lorne Michaels:
- Let’s get Ryan Gosling in that Five-Timers smoking robe sooner rather than later.
- But less breaking. At the very least, pretend it’s organic.
Great talk, Lorne! Let me know if you want my thoughts on who should replace you!
They chose to lead with Colin Jost’s Hegseth yelling at us about the war in Iran. Jost’s Hegseth is aggressive, stupid, and SPOT-ON. But had I guessed, I would have thought they would have led with Kristi Noem being the first Cabinet member to be fired (this time around). She does eventually make an appearance towards the end, and honestly, it takes the air out of the bit, because Ashley Padilla’s Noem is not as laser sharp as Jost’s Hegseth. Bonus points: No President Golf Cap this week.
Grade: A-
Ryan Gosling is charming, handsome, and cool — he’s a movie star for a reason. And so the entire joke here (which, frankly, goes on entirely too long) is that he’s distracted by the presence of next week’s host, Harry Styles, in the audience because Styles is so cool. Another bonus point: A “Get me to God’s country” reference.
Grade: B+
Gosling is a weirdo wedding guest with a remarkable rat tail who, upon learning that, per tradition, wedding guests can command the bridal couple to kiss by tapping their glasses, becomes mad with power. I’m not sure the sketch is actually that funny, or if it’s just Gosling’s inability to hold it together that causes an involuntary chuckle in the viewer. In any event, it’s amusing enough.
Grade: B+
Otezla might be the cure for your plaque psoriasis, or it could be the sentient enemy of humanity. Who can say?
Grade: A-
A trio of cyclops (cyclopi?) has to solve very simple riddles posed by the beautiful Maidens of the Temple to access the treasure inside. However, they are too stupid to solve the riddles and basically just try to bully their way inside. Mikey Day, Gosling, and Kenan Thompson are funny enough as the dumb as bricks cyclops, but it’s Padilla’s trying not to break while Gosling is clearly testing her and going off-book that makes this sketch funnier than it might actually be. Hmm.
Grade: A-
In this taped bit, Monty McTreats, a Willy Wonka-esque character, invites a group of children to his magical bakery, only to have his version of Oompa-Loompas behave in a … very traumatic way. DARK. (But funny)
Grade: A
“Weekend Update” is shorter this week, I suppose to give Gosling more runway. They touch upon Kristi Noem’s firing, the war in Iran, Jeffrey Epstein, President Shingles’ neck rash, and land a pretty funny Heated Rivalry joke.
Grade: A-
Kenan Thompson’s “Pastor Update” swings by the desk to pray about different things at SNL, including snacks in the green room and Michael Che’s love life.
Grade: B-
So, you obviously remember Bill Hader’s brilliant “Weekend Update” character, Stefon, who would give New York City tourist recommendations. Hader would often end up breaking in the middle of the sketch, giggling at the ridiculous things coming out of his mouth, because the writer of the sketches, John Mulaney, would routinely change the scripts just before airtime, surprising Hader, causing him to crack up.
This next sketch is that, and they wanted us to know:
Here, a teacher and a principal intercept notes from their students and read them out loud, all in an attempt to make Padilla and Gosling break. It is successful.
And it’s the moment when the show makes it explicit that the breaking is not organic, it’s deliberate. And honestly, I didn’t like this as much as the show clearly wanted me to. The notes (with the exception of one, I’ll let you guess which one) didn’t strike me as outrageously funny as they could have been. And if you’re going to set the sketch up by saying, “WATCH THIS! WE’RE GONNA MAKE THEM BREAK!” they better break over something really funny. Unfortunately, the whole thing reeks of trying too hard.
Grade: B
A couple checks out of a hotel, where the husband contests charges for two visits from the “Goo Goo Man.” It’s never quite clear what the “Goo Goo Man” is, which I guess is the point?
Grade: C+
Martin Herlihy is back with another digital sketch, this time in which he disguises himself as Colin Jost and lives his life for a while. Just go with it. And more of Herlihy, please. (Lorne, if you are reading, I’m serious.)
Grade: A
Final Grade: A-.
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.