Bad Bunny hosts el primer bilingual ‘Saturday Night Live’

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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Bust out your best chicken dance, ‘Arrested Development’ is returning to Netflix

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Jenna Ortega brings her dark charms to ‘Saturday Night Live’

Saturday Night Live
Jenna Ortega & The 1975

March 11, 2023

By now you know who Jenna Ortega is. Or … maybe you don’t. My own husband came into the bathroom this morning to complain to me that his Twitter feed had been taken over by “someone named Jennie Ortega” and he didn’t understand why. For my husband, and those of you like him, Jenna Ortega is the star of Netflix’s big hit Wednesday; she is starring in Scream 6 which just came out; and before that she had roles in everything from You to Jane the Virgin to Elena of Avalor. As your Twitter feed might demonstrate, Ortega is kinda having a moment with her Aubrey Plaza-esque goth vibes.

But Ortega wants people to know that she does have a sense of humor despite all the darkness, and she demonstrated as much in a middle-of-the-road episode of Saturday Night Live. The episode wasn’t bad, per se, it just wasn’t particularly memorable or outstanding — with the exception of one brilliant sketch that stole the night, and maybe the season.

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Sure, the country is a hellscape, but hey! ‘Succession’ is back in production!

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Natasha Lyonne hosts an exceptional and emotional ‘Saturday Night Live’

Saturday Night Live
Natasha Lyonne & Japanese Breakfast
May 21, 2022

It’s almost unfair: Natasha Lyonne is one of my favorites — a wonderful actress and a New York classic, and if she had hosted any other episode, that would be the story. Fortunately, she hosted one of the best episodes of the season. Unfortunately, it was the final episode for four now-legendary cast members: Kyle Mooney; Aidy Bryant; Pete Davidson; and the great Kate McKinnon, who, along with Kennan Thompson, has been carrying this show on her back for ten years now, and that will be what this episode is remembered for. Not that it’s a bad thing: the goodbyes are sweet and funny and well-deserved. I just hope Natasha Lyonne is invited back soon: she had great chemistry with the cast, had terrific comedic timing, and held her own in a challenging episode.

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These 18 shows are in danger of being canceled. If you could only save one, which would you choose?

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Jason Sudeikis proves you can go home again on ‘Saturday Night Live’

Saturday Night Live
Jason Sudeikis & Brandi Carlile
October 24, 2021

I really liked Jason Sudeikis as a cast member on Saturday Night Live — he is handsome, but Every Man-ish enough to play everything from a gum-smacking asshole to a smirking sports announcer to a manic backup dancer. And recently the world has fallen in love with Jason Sudeikis as the endlessly optimistic and sweet Ted Lasso, a soccer coach possibly out of his depth in the Emmy-winning series (and best comedy on television) Ted Lasso.

So it was a delight to have him return to Studio 8H as host of SNL for the first time — a role that he clearly embraced with a certain degree of reverence. That reverence, for the show and how it changed his life, came through not only in his monologue but also in his performance in every sketch. And in turn, those performances elevated what could have easily been another so-so episode into one of the best episodes of SNL in a long while. Come back more often, Jason, we’ve missed you.

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Y’all better send Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney some biscuits, ‘Ted Lasso’

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Honestly, Former President Insurrectionist would have been better off if he had hired Cat Lawyer — or an actual cat — to represent him at his impeachment trial

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“It affects virtually nobody.”

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