Kieran Culkin triumphantly returned to the stage he first visited as a child in 1991 and, like Jason Sudeikis with Ted Lasso, was not made to directly parody his role on Succession. Ed Sheeran continues his run as the closest thing we currently have to the chart-dominating Phil Collins of the 1980s. Unfortunately, Kate McKinnon continued her work on another series and still has not shown up to her day job this season. Here's everything that happened on Saturday Night Live this week.
The cold open
Cecily Strong portrayed Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro and welcomed guests to her show, Justice w/ Judge Jeanine. Pete Davidson's Aaron Rodgers appeared and meekly defended his questionable claims about being vaccinated before he came down with COVID-19.
The cold open
Cecily Strong portrayed Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro and welcomed guests to her show, Justice w/ Judge Jeanine. Pete Davidson's Aaron Rodgers appeared and meekly defended his questionable claims about being vaccinated before he came down with COVID-19.
Alex Moffat played new Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and was soon joined by James Austin Johnson in his first turn as Donald Trump — an impression he was renowned for before joining the cast this season, and he is seemingly now replacing the recently embattled Alec Baldwin. It was a rather astonishing conjuring and was written long, to suit Johnson's blowhard muse.
The monologue
Succession star Kieran Culkin appeared genuinely excited to be hosting SNL. He revealed that he actually appeared on the show as a young child in 1991, when his brother Macaulay hosted, and he had some fun with clips of that episode's "good night," when he hammed it up with Kevin Nealon. A breezy, funny monologue.
Spectrum Cable
Culkin played someone moving out of his apartment and trying to cancel his Spectrum cable. Cast members like Mikey Day, Aidy Bryant, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Kenan Thompson, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villaseñor and Sarah Sherman played inept Spectrum employees, Bowen Yang played the all-powerful Spectrum himself, and Andrew Dismukes played a Dominos employee called by accident in this funny sketch about the frustrations felt by anyone who pays for utilities and wants to talk to a representative about them.
The Heist
In this remote, a high-tech robbery where the prize is a Lamborghini goes awry when the lead thief, played by Chris Redd, can't drive stick. A simple idea, executed very well and hilariously.
The Dionne Warwick Show
Ego Nwodim reprised her relatively recent impression of Dionne Warwick, who remains a Twitter favourite for her bluntness and obliviousness, which leads to charming pop culture inquiries. In Nwodim's hands, Warwick has a strange talk show and welcomes guests like Miley Cyrus, played by Chole Fineman, who are entertained rather briefly. Culkin showed up as Jason Mraz for like 30 seconds before the real Ed Sheeran appeared, also for a few awkward questions. Pete Davidson's Post Malone was dispatched just as he showed up, based Warwick's assessment of his whole vibe. One guest who was granted more respect and time, was the genuine Dionne Warwick who showed up for an interview with herself, which was lovely and charming.
The Men's Room
At an office men's room, urinators engage in weird small talk but then get meta about their odd behaviour, speaking their truths to the camera. Bowen Yang, Chris Redd and Culkin initially lead us through this bizarre bit of self-consciousness before being joined by Andrew Dismukes's awkward "summer" guy, Alex Moffat's sociopath murderer, and, in a surprise turn, the real Tracy Morgan, emerging from a stall. Some kind of classic Tracy miscue made this amusing thing end awkwardly, but it was otherwise good.
The Jockey
What began as a remote period piece about the Kentucky Derby set, maybe in the mid-20th century, soon turned into a bizarre ska-punk music video about a time-travelling skater, played by Culkin, who wound up riding horses like they're skateboards and singing us a song about it. This was all rather ill-advised in terms of comedy.
Ed Sheeran
Love-song pop star Ed Sheeran led a seven-person ensemble through "Shivers," which was safe, radio-friendly fluff. He seemed fine and in good physical form, just two weeks after revealing he had COVID-19.
When he returned for the equally upbeat "Overpass Graffiti," Sheeran confirmed that he may well be this century's Phil Collins — both dismissible by music fans and critics but undeniable as a bankable musical and media presence.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost began with a riff on the infrastructure bill and got a big reaction for a bit about the Virginia gubernatorial race. There were a few more local and national politics jokes and then a big reaction for Jost's Trump/Atlanta Braves joke.
Kenan Thompson reprised his solid Ice Cube portrayal, here to defend the entertainer's decision to leave a film production after refusing to get vaccinated. Thompson is just funny generally, so that put this over more than anyone else probably could've.
A lot of groaning for some sexual and gender jokes by both anchors ensued, which led us to Cecily Strong's new invention, Goober the Clown Who Had an Abortion When She was 23. Disguised as a bit, this was Strong making an angry and outspoken plea for women's rights and it was raw and emotive.
Wake Up Rhode Island
Culkin played weatherperson Riley Cole, who was dressed as Turkey Tom for his jovial forecast, which included a Kendall Roy-flavoured rap he'd written. Trouble was, a severe weather storm announcement was made in the midst of his routine, which made it tonally wrong, much to the chagrin of the anchors on the show, which was fairly amusing.
Angie
The Please Don't Destroy boys appeared with another masterstroke of a digital short, this one involving an absurd phone call between two exes that takes a few different and strange turns that must be seen to be appreciated.
