Miles Teller was a vibrant and well-utilized host on a mostly well-written season premiere, and Kendrick Lamar conjured two musical performances for the ages. Here's everything that happened on Saturday Night Live this week.
The Cold Open
Andrew Dismukes and Miles Teller played Eli and Peyton Manning, and performed a Manningcast, where they live reviewed the cold open. The sketch in question featured mostly veterans and every new cast member (Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker) in small roles, going through a Trump sketch, which the Manning brothers had some good fun with. Jon Hamm stopped by to add his own analysis of the proceedings, which eventually included a stilted cameo by Shaun White. All in all, this was done well.
The Monologue
Teller returned to the stage to do his first ever SNL monologue, and he poked some fun at his celebrity lookalike and his role in the Top Gun sequel, Maverick. Teller also showed off some home video footage of him as a child, performing the old Spartan cheerleader sketch with his sister, which, like this monologue, had its charms.
Send Something Normal
Teller played the host of a game show in which male celebrities are tasked with sending women a "normal DM." Mikey Day played Adam Levine, James Austin Johnson played Armie Hammer, Kenan Thompson played Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bowen Yang played himself. As expected, Levine and Hammer's attempts at responding to women's DMs were gross, Tyson's was nerdy and salacious, and even returning champ, Yang, was no match for a DM by Dua Lipa. Too real to be really funny, this got a warm reaction from the in-studio audience at least.
BeReal Bank Robbery
In this remote, a bank robbery led by thieves played by Teller and Mikey Day went awry when BeReal app users got a notification to post. This led to a commercial for BeReal essentially, and the quasi-joke here was about the robbery being thwarted by people using social media. If only the app was called BeFunny.
Charmin Bears
A deep dive into the family of Charmin Bears, who aren't all completely invested in the toilet paper arts. Teller played the black sheep of the bear family, who revealed that he has no interest in pursuing post-secondary doo-doo college because of his desire to be a dancer, which he demonstrated with help from a friend, played by Bowen Yang. A Charmin Bears spoof has more comedic potential than this sketch executed.
Cloud Bar Dudes
Two cocky day traders, played by Teller and Mikey Day, were at a bar and eager to meet women, when friends, played by Ego Nwodim and Chloe Fineman, appeared. Their bro facades quickly dissolved; they turned into the two least game-having, awkward men to ever attempt to flirt with the incredulous women. All of this was played perfectly and was a highlight of the episode.
AMC
In a remote spoof of Nicole Kidman's AMC Theatre spots, which encourage people to return to movie theatres, things spiralled out of control when Kidman's relatively benign cajoling was transformed into a demonic demand to overpay for popcorn, soda and tickets. A nice performance by Chloe Fineman as Kidman and wild special effects made this short bit work.
Kendrick Lamar
In a very cool bit of staging, Kendrick Lamar appeared in a large white box with nothing else on stage but a oscillating fan, remaining stationary during "Rich Spirit" while his apparent shadow began moving without him. In a flash, things got more frenetic for "N95," which Lamar just destroyed. All told, this was one of the most stunning musical feats in the history of this show.
Man, Lamar again came through with imaginative staging, performing the poignant "Father Time" with Sampha in a set designed to be a child's bedroom, with the walls closing in. Just another memorable, unprecedented visual and sonic feat on SNL.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost began with a double dig at Vladimir Putin and the USA, while Michael Che took a good shot at Florida governor Ron DeSantis's handling of hurricane Ian. Che also ridiculed Marjorie Taylor Green's divorce, while Jost took a couple of shots at President Joe Biden's out-of-it-ness.
James Austin Johnson and Kenan Thompson appeared as Mitch McConnell and Herschel Walker, respectively, failing to convince people that the latter, who is currently a senatorial candidate, is a total moron.
Che turned the Lizzo flute controversy into a funny joke, and Jost got an applause break for a good nutrition bit. New cast member Michael Longfellow appeared at the desk to do some stand-up, citing his Arizona background as giving him some experience with conservatives, which was quite good.
Man, Che made a dark joke about the CIA launching a new podcast and also the video game Trombone Champ. Bowen Yang appeared as a saucy spotted lanternfly, as their species was in the news for being invasive and destroying crops. Yang played the bug as a WWE heel, provoking boos from the audience and eventually mixing it up with a cob of corn played by Andrew Dismukes. A good bit of anarchy to end a good Update.
Grimace Lost Weight
All of the McDonald's mascots convened for a commercial shoot, but at least one of them had changed a lot over the summer break. Teller played Grimace, who showed off a new physique after losing three hundred pounds, and also announced he was bisexual. This led to Kenan Thompson's Mayor McCheese making a similar pronouncement and then this strange, somewhat pitiful bit, wound its way down.
Caribbean Queens
Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner played the hosts of a kind of travel show, which was centred around their love of Billy Ocean and hooking up at a resort. They were soon joined by Teller and Kenan Thompson, who had spent a blurry night with them, and this aimless five-to-one bit of filler did its job to wrap the show up with a resigned limp.