It's always great when Saturday Night Live helps a young host increase their following. After tonight's episode, I imagine a lot more people will consider themselves fans of Ariana Debose. As a Broadway actress, hosting SNL comes natural to her. Plus, the writers of this episode came prepared with great skits for her. There were a lot of great skits in this episode, such as the Sacramento Kings replacement players and Pete Davidson selling prom dresses. Most notably, the Weekend Update of this episode was one of the season's best. However, following Weekend Update, the quality of the skits dipped and the remaining ones were only mediocre. A strong episode with an okay finish. 7/10.
9 Reviews
What Is Going On Right Now?
quinnwalton-4317618 January 2022
Okay, so, I am so confused with what is going on this season on "Saturday Night Live". There have been a couple bad episodes and a couple of good episodes, but for the most part, Lorne Michaels and the gang keep pumping out the most mediocre stuff you can think of. They're pumping out so much mediocrity that it seems like that's become their new goal. This episode was far from great. You could tell Ariana DeBose was having a good time, but this episode wasn't very well executed. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I hated both performances by Bleachers. To me, they both sounded like you gave your kid your phone, they go on Garage Band, and then they just go to town. Overall, this was a very mediocre episode. Do better please!
I Wish Pete Davidson's Appearance on Weekend Update Didn't Get Cut
lleiou17 January 2022
My friend got picked and took me to the dress rehearsal this week, we watched like 2+hrs of sketches, pre-tapes and musical performances, some of them got cut and I could see why (audience not too impressed). Among all the things that got cut I liked Pete Davidson's commentary on WU the best, actually I think it was better than some of the contents that actually got aired.
In that bit, Pete was himself (which he has done several times before and I love them all), making commentaries on why many people are quitting their jobs looking for new ways of making money like doing NFTs etc and he specially mentioned a woman selling "fart box", a small transparent box containing her fart. He also commented on the weird time we are living in rn: every time when you see some hope, things just get worse and provided several examples: 1.we thought pandemic would be over last year but it became worse after the new variant comes 2.we freed Britney but we also freed Bill Cosby 3.we sent a billionaire to the space, but dude returned to the earth afterwards 4.(there might be some other examples, but I cannot remember) then Collin Jost tried to lead this topic to weird celebrity gossips, which we all know is trying to make him talk about his own gossip, and Pete said yeah, for example Bennifer is coming back, but Taliban is also coming back.
Near the end, he mentioned the "fart box" lady again, praising her dedication because she worked so hard that she has to go to the hospital.
In that bit, Pete was himself (which he has done several times before and I love them all), making commentaries on why many people are quitting their jobs looking for new ways of making money like doing NFTs etc and he specially mentioned a woman selling "fart box", a small transparent box containing her fart. He also commented on the weird time we are living in rn: every time when you see some hope, things just get worse and provided several examples: 1.we thought pandemic would be over last year but it became worse after the new variant comes 2.we freed Britney but we also freed Bill Cosby 3.we sent a billionaire to the space, but dude returned to the earth afterwards 4.(there might be some other examples, but I cannot remember) then Collin Jost tried to lead this topic to weird celebrity gossips, which we all know is trying to make him talk about his own gossip, and Pete said yeah, for example Bennifer is coming back, but Taliban is also coming back.
Near the end, he mentioned the "fart box" lady again, praising her dedication because she worked so hard that she has to go to the hospital.
Urkel
safenoe19 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The Urkel parody was worth the price of admission alone in this 2022 opener of SNL. Ariana DeBose was gracefully beautiful and hopefully she'll be back to host another SNL before too long.
Ariana's City Hall spokesperson was hilarious.
More Bowen Yang please.
Ariana's City Hall spokesperson was hilarious.
More Bowen Yang please.
Bad except the music
rmmil17 January 2022
I'm giving this episode 3 stars and that's for Bleachers. They weren't even supposed to perform, but it was great seeing real musicians playing real instruments. Nice job!
To the episode itself, there was just nothing funny about it. I've wondered as of late, "Is it really the acting / cast, or is it just bad writing?"
I think it's just bad writing. The host is a talented actress, they just gave her nothing compelling or funny to say.
The opening monologue portended the whole night: Kate McKinnon wanders onto the stage to ham it up with her weird Ellen contortions and bad Broadway singing, to completely take over the bit from the star. Unnecessary and not funny, like the whole night.
To the episode itself, there was just nothing funny about it. I've wondered as of late, "Is it really the acting / cast, or is it just bad writing?"
I think it's just bad writing. The host is a talented actress, they just gave her nothing compelling or funny to say.
The opening monologue portended the whole night: Kate McKinnon wanders onto the stage to ham it up with her weird Ellen contortions and bad Broadway singing, to completely take over the bit from the star. Unnecessary and not funny, like the whole night.
Trying too hard to be funny
stormchaserQ16 January 2022
The style of humor on SNL has evolved with the times, but I have trouble finding much to laugh at with new episodes.
They finally cast a great and funny Joe Biden with James Johnson, who really nails his mannerisms. Unlike the over-the-top physical comedy with Jim Carrey, Johnson does an amazing Biden. Unfortunately, the cold open in this episode revolves around a Spiderman joke that is beat like a dead horse. Over and over. After the first couple of minutes, the punchline is gone and I cringed watching anymore. I actually had to turn it off and fast forward. It was that bad. It's a shame when you have an actor with SO MUCH talent and it's wasted with 7 minutes of the same joke over and over again.
Weekend Update had a few good jokes. Jost and Che have awesome chemistry together.
Beyond that, nothing was very memorable with this episode. I keep tuning into SNL, hoping for something new and fresh, but the new humor style is very off-putting. They also seem to struggle to get bigger names to guest. It's nice to give an up and comer some air time, but still.
They finally cast a great and funny Joe Biden with James Johnson, who really nails his mannerisms. Unlike the over-the-top physical comedy with Jim Carrey, Johnson does an amazing Biden. Unfortunately, the cold open in this episode revolves around a Spiderman joke that is beat like a dead horse. Over and over. After the first couple of minutes, the punchline is gone and I cringed watching anymore. I actually had to turn it off and fast forward. It was that bad. It's a shame when you have an actor with SO MUCH talent and it's wasted with 7 minutes of the same joke over and over again.
Weekend Update had a few good jokes. Jost and Che have awesome chemistry together.
Beyond that, nothing was very memorable with this episode. I keep tuning into SNL, hoping for something new and fresh, but the new humor style is very off-putting. They also seem to struggle to get bigger names to guest. It's nice to give an up and comer some air time, but still.
What show are you guys watching
weeskle16 January 2022
Every sketch was hysterical. This entire season has been fantastic, excluding Kim. What do you want from this show? Ariana Debose did a great job, Bleachers wasn't that bad, and weekend update hit as always. What do you want???
Another Disaster
jrippinger-8591816 January 2022
Terrible episode
tvxnybnw10 February 2022
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