As is his wont, Dave Chappelle did an extra-long and mostly strong monologue before ghosting for most of the rest of the show, while GloRilla's staging and dance choreography couldn't hide the fact that her songs won't stand the test of time the way, say, Ashy Larry has. Here's everything that happened on Saturday Night Live this week.
The Cold Open
The full MSNBC squad covered the inauguration weekend, with a group of cast members playing the legitimately silly anchors in a silly manner. Their coverage was interrupted by several breaking news alerts pertaining to preposterous Donald Trump statements and actions, including throwing to James Austin Johnson playing Trump as a scattered idiot giving a press conference. Trump ceded his podium to Bowen Yang's George Santos, and the disgraced politician told some lies. Somewhat shaky, this wound up being more of a satire of MSNBC and news networks than Trump.
The Monologue
Smoking a cigarette, controversial comedian Dave Chappelle returned for his customary post-presidential election hosting turn, which he admitted he didn't really want to do. Instead of focusing on election content, he did a provocative run on the Los Angeles fires and classism. He wound his way to Luigi Mangione and Donald Trump's comments about Springfield, OH's Haitian communities and "the whites." He discussed how it's no fun being famous anymore, citing Diddy and his legal issues including being "in a RICO case by himself," and that he was "too ugly" to be invited to a freak-off party (or perhaps it's his "snitch energy"). After some ribald bits about Puffy, Chappelle spoke about the late President Jimmy Carter visiting Palestine, and how proud that made him and how the presidency is no place to be petty, which was an affecting conclusion to an uproarious monologue.
Immigrant Dad Talk Show
Marcello Hernández and Chappelle, each smoking cigarettes, played the elderly hosts of a talk show that revelled in stereotypes, angry puns and anti-liberal sentiments. Mikey Day appeared as an awkward white guy whose sensitivity towards others was mocked by the hosts. Hernández had a blast during this, losing it when Day and his son, played by Andrew Dismukes, kissed on the mouth.
California Wildfires
A family in California were preparing to flee the wildfires when unsavoury revelations about the patriarch came to light. Chappelle played the dad who was clearly into criminality with hidden money, guns and a secret family. After he slaughtered a dog for some reason, it turned out the evacuation was called off, which meant the crazed scene happened for no real reason but it was darkly funny.
GloRilla
Initially appearing in a jail cell, hip-hop artist GloRilla was soon emancipated and joined a live drummer, a keyboard player, and four dancers for a charged-up "Yeah Glo!" that included a strange camera mishap at the end.
For a medley of "WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME" and "LET HER COOK," GloRilla was only accompanied by her dancers, which made this spectacle more about choreography than almost anything else and, despite her strength as a rapper, this was forgettable.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost began Update discussing Donald Trump's inaugural portrait, which Michael Che followed up with an insurrection bit. Jost ridiculed Mark Zuckerberg for sucking up to Trump, and Che made a MLK Day joke and laughed hard at his own material. Jost mocked Biden for his role in the Gaza ceasefire and then ruined RFK Jr.
Che introduced us to Michael Longfellow, who stopped by to defend TikTok. Longfellow argued, fervently, that Jesus Christ was also Chinese, and revealed that his brain was addled by his TikTok usage. This was amusing.
Jost reported that spikes were installed in the NYC subway system for maybe the wrong reasons, and Progreso's new Soup Drops candy also seemed ill-advised. Jost earned groans for his new Hear Me Out column, while Che made a joke about dementia and male bra sizes.
Sarah Sherman appeared as the Original Nosferatu, and told us that Jost's small penis was exposed. As usual when Sherman hits the desk, much of the segment involved her mocking Jost mercilessly more than anything else.
Missing Girlfriend
Devon Walker played a man answering questions by police officers after reporting that his girlfriend was missing. When they asked him what she weighed, a custodian, played by Kenan Thompson, urged him not to answer that question and a few others too. This was silly and kind of dumb.
Pop the Balloon or Find Love
In this remote, an actual YouTube dating show was mocked, with eight women, including GloRilla, assessing prospective bachelors. Chappelle reprised his old pimp character, Silky Johnson, along with Donnell Rawlings, who also played Ashy Larry, which kinda made this so-so bit at least a little sentimental.