Category: saturday night live: season 49

Dakota Johnson and Justin Timberlake stop by ‘Saturday Night Live’ for the first time in years

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Dakota Johnson & Justin Timberlake
January 27, 2024

Dakota Johnson (and not Fanning as I attempted to call her throughout this recap) has returned to host Saturday Night Live for the first time since 2015 — which I did recap, but it was so long ago, it was before this website existed. Thus the recap has long ago vanished, along with any trace of Tubular.

R.I.P. Tubular.

But somehow, more remarkably, it’s been even longer than eight years since musical guest and former SNL regular, Justin Timberlake has been on the show. Timberlake, who has hosted five times (separate from the other two times he was only the musical guest and the EIGHT times he made a cameo), hasn’t set foot in Studio 8H (at least not on air) since 2013. SINCE 2013.

That’s right: neither the host nor the musical guest have been on Saturday Night Live since OBAMA WAS PRESIDENT. If that doesn’t make you feel old, I don’t know what will. In any event, despite having to brush off a few cobwebs, both Johnson and Timberlake were up to the task and performed well last night. If anything, Johnson seemed worlds more confident and mature than the last time she hosted, and she was the best thing about the episode.

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(Updated) ‘Saturday Night Live’ gets all hot and bothered by Jacob Elordi

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Jacob Elordi & Renee Rapp
January 20, 2024

I have seen a number of people online today saying that they had never heard of Jacob Elordi until last night, and if you’re in that same camp, I’m here to tell you it’s OK. You’re just old. Elordi’s breakout role was in Netflix’s 2018 teen movie, Kissing Booth, before joining HBO’s teenage fever dream, Euphoria. He’s having a moment right now after starring as Elvis in Priscilla, and as the object of unfettered lust, Felix Catton, in the devious and demented Saltburn. He’s very tall, he’s very handsome, and Saturday Night Live wants you to know they see it, too.

Like when Jennifer Lopez hosted in 2019, the majority of the sketches’ premises were “HE’S SO HOT! ISN’T HE HOT? MY GOD, HAVE YOU SEEN HOW HOT THIS MAN IS?”; A premise that wears pretty thin by the third or fourth time. That said, despite Elordi’s lack of comedy chops, and despite the repetitive nature of the sketches, in the end, I wasn’t mad at this episode. There was enough padding from the rest of the cast to keep it afloat, and when Elordi quit clenching his jaw for a second and relaxed into trying to be funny instead of just handsome, he had a moment or two. Or maybe it was terrible and I was just blinded by his hotness, who’s to say.

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Kate McKinnon comes home for Christmas on ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Kate McKinnon & Billie Eilish
December 16, 2023

In my mind, the pre-Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live has traditionally been hosted by a former cast member — the perfect episode for some nostalgia and a homecoming. However, I did the math, and it turns out that over 49 seasons of SNL, only 10 of the Christmas episodes have been hosted by previous cast members, so go figure!

In any event, it’s the wonderful Kate McKinnon’s first trip back to SNL after having left the show in 2022 after 10 seasons. McKinnon is one of the best SNL performers of the past 20 years, a solid comedian who prefers to go full weird, and who has been the savior of many a sketch. And so I had high hopes for this episode, hopes that I’m afraid were unmet. It wasn’t a bad episode — McKinnon is always fun, she was joined by two other SNL greats, and the annual Christmas Joke Off is one for the ages — but overall, it feels like it could have been so much more.

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Adam Driver returns to host the season’s best ‘Saturday Night Live’ so far

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Adam Driver & Olivia Rodrigo
December 9, 2023

This is Adam Driver’s fourth time to host Saturday Night Live, and honestly, I don’t know that I can think of a recent host who deserves the Five-Timer’s smoking jacket more. With his intensity and bone-dry delivery, Driver was the highlight of every sketch he was in and single-handedly carried the episode.

It wasn’t a perfect episode by any stretch — in fact, the cold open was one of the worst-received cold opens I have seen in many years. But it is worth noting that aside from ‘Weekend Update’ (which was also just so-so despite the surprise cameo) the cold open was the only sketch that Driver didn’t appear in. Maybe had they given him a role, he could have kept it from completely bombing. (But to be completely honest with you, I’m not sure that even Driver is that good.)

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Emma Stone’s induction into ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Five-Timers Club deserved more fanfare

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Emma Stone & Noah Kahan
December 2, 2023

As I have said twice before on this very site, Emma Stone is a natural for Saturday Night Live: she is charming, she is delightful, she is gorgeous, and she is game for anything. Stone clearly loves doing the show — she does not sleepwalk through the sketches; she is clearly enjoying herself as much as anyone.

And that’s why it’s always something of a disappointment when she hosts: she has so much to give … and SNL has so little to offer her. Even her monologue this week feels half-assed despite the fact that she joined the Five-Timers Club with this episode. Granted, this week’s episode received a much higher grade than the last two times she hosted — they gave her two pretty great sketches this week, and she made the most of them. That said, Emma Stone isn’t a B+ host; SNL needs to start giving her A+ material.

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Jason Momoa’s enthusiasm almost saves another ‘Saturday Night Live’ from itself. Almost.

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Jason Momoa & Tate McRae
November 19, 2023

Jason Momoa first hosted SNL back in 2018, when he was still best known for being Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones. I gave the episode a B despite the lackluster writing, in large part for Momoa’s unbridled goofy enthusiasm. It’s been a long five years, what with Aquaman and Dune and Fast X and a global pandemic, but I’m here to tell you that not much has changed for Jason Momoa. He’s still that goofy, energetic guy whose enthusiasm is often the single thing that saves some pretty middling sketches from themselves. And you’ll never guess what grade this episode received.

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Timothée Chalamet returns for another Timo-meh ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Timothée Chalamet & Boygenius
November 11, 2023

The last time Timothée Chalamet hosted, it was December 2020, in the height of the pandemic, and I’d never seen any of his movies. It is now 3 years later, COVID is still with us, but (hopefully) on the retreat, and I have seen one (1) Timothée Chalamet movie: Dune. It was good! He was good!

Back in 2020, I noted that Chalamet wasn’t exactly a comedic actor but seemed to be having a good time, even with mediocre material. Three years later, I’m happy to report that Chalamet is still having a good time and much more comfortable doing comedy, even with mediocre material. Last night’s Saturday Night Live was not one that I’m going to remember, but I’m not mad at it, either, and Chalamet neither made that better nor worse. He was a servicable host for a servicable episode. Which, I’m afraid, is something of a compliment these days.

I will note that social media did have two very specific issues with tonight’s episode, which some people were REALLY MAD ABOUT. I challenge you to guess what they were as we go through the bits. I’ll reveal the answers when we get to the end.*

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Nate Bargatze proves on ‘Saturday Night Live’ why he should be a household name

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Nate Bargatze & Foo Fighters
October 29, 2023

Look. If you didn’t know who Nate Bargatze was before last Saturday night (and still might have some questions even after having seen the episode) don’t worry — he’s not exactly a household name. What you need to know: Bargatze is a stand-up comedian who has been around for a minute, well-regarded amongst fellow comedians and comedy nerds for a decade or so. He’s known as a “nice guy” in the comedy world because his material is pretty PG and also, he’s just a nice guy. He has some stand-up specials on Netflix. And he is just as confused as anyone as to what he’s doing hosting SNL.

And now you know as much as there is to know about Nate Bargatze.

Well, that, and that he hosted easily the best SNL of the season so far, and should absolutely be invited back.

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Bad Bunny hosts el primer bilingual ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Bad Bunny
October 21, 2023

Puerto Rican rapper and singer, Bad Bunny (also known as Benito Ocasio), presented the writers of Saturday Night Live an unusual test last night: English is not the host and musical guest’s first language, and, based on last night’s performance, he’s not particularly a strong English-speaker. Lest you think I’m being insulting to Mr. Bunny, let me say right now that I have consistently pointed out that hosting a live comedy show as a non-comedian would be terrifying for anyone. So I have nothing but respect for this Spanish-speaking singer as he chose to go out on the Studio 8H stage and host in another language.

But as I started to say: the language thing was a challenge. The writers needed to come up with ways to write Bad Bunny into sketches that would not embarrass him or be too dialogue-heavy that he wouldn’t be able to relax and have fun with it. And for the most part, they came up with some very clever workarounds: one sketch is entirely in Spanish — and it works; they set another sketch entirely in the world of telenovelas; and they brought out Pedro Pascal a couple of times to assist.

Not all of the bits worked: the more Bad Bunny was required to speak in English, the more uncomfortable he appeared and the more it went off the rails. That said, ultimately it was a more successful episode than last week’s premiere, in large part because the writers were facing a unique challenge, one that forced them to not be lazy lest they make the host look bad.

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Pete Davidson finally gets his chance to host ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Pete Davidson, Ice Spice
October 14, 2023

Pete Davidson was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live last season on May 6 — he had a new Peacock series coming out, Bupkis, later that month and it would be the former SNL cast member’s first time hosting. It would also be the most screen time he’d ever have on a single episode.

But then the writers’ strike began four days before the episode would air, and everyone would have to wait five months — and one failed Peacock series — for SNL to return and for Pete Davidson to prove he could sustain an entire episode based on his stoner dude persona.

Yeah, he couldn’t quite sustain an entire episode on his stoner dude persona.

Last night’s season 49 premiere episode demonstrated a great deal of dustiness on the writers’ part after so many months away; an uncertainness on how to handle political humor in the midst of an international crisis; and a lack of confidence on the part of the host despite having been a cast member for eight seasons.

THAT SAID, there were a number of bright spots, including how the show handled addressing the Israeli crisis, and Pete Davidson’s unshakable ability to laugh at his own persona. It’s literally his superpower (well, along with his B.D.E.) (come on, we’re all thinking it).

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