JEAN SMART/JELLY ROLL - 9.28.24
Jean Smart makes her hosting debut, Bowen Yang channels Chappell Roan as a viral baby hippo and SNL enters its milestone 50th season with plenty of alums, new faces and political commentary.
Welcome to the very first edition of Sunday Morning Live! Last night was the premiere of SNL’s milestone 50th season. Jean Smart hosted the episode with musical guest Jelly Roll. Plus! The show introduced a new, flashy opening montage featuring cast members in iconic NYC locations, while welcoming Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline to the cast.
Cold Open
SNL made a splashy comeback for the start of its season during a 2024 presidential election year. Andrew Dismukes, as ABC’s David Muir, took us back and forth between two campaign rallies. The 13-minute-long cold open feels loaded with references, which is fair considering how much has happened with American politics while the show was on its summer break.
Maya Rudolph returned to play Kamala Harris, with new appearances by Jim Gaffigan as VP candidate Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as her husband Doug Emhoff and Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden. James Austin Johnson reprised his role as Donald Trump, with Bowen Yang in tow as his VP candidate JD Vance.
Monologue
Fresh off her Emmys win two weeks ago, Jean Smart took to Studio 8H to host for the very first time. Smart, who began her career in New York, delivered a musical monologue all about her love for the city, with random tangents sprinkled in. From seeing Mayor Eric Adams in the news and saying she didn’t read into it but she’s “sure its for something good” - to shouting out her large lesbian fanbase, Smart gave the segment a classy comedic punch.
She added that this was the first Saturday in the show’s history where she was actually available to host and reminisced on when SNL first premiered fifty years ago. She jokes she thought “SNL stood for Saturday Night Laughs,” before actually watching the show and thinking “Well, that can’t be right.”
Best Sketches
Spirit Halloween
I love it when I have no clue where an SNL sketch is going when it first begins. When this sketch was revealed to be based on the phenomenon of Spirit Halloween stores popping up in abandoned storefronts for one month only, I thought…how had SNL not done this already?
Other highlights for me were the wacky Real Housewives of Santa Fe sketch (are any of them truly even business women?) and the Charli XCX Talk Show sketch, which features Bowen Yang as Charli XCX to tell us what’s brat and what's nat, Ego Nwodim as Jasmine Crockett to give us “bleach blonde bad built butch-body,” Sarah Sherman as a DJ-ing Troye Sivan and so much more.
Worst Sketch
$100,000 Pyramid
Many people complain that game show sketches on SNL have become redundant and one-note, but I often like to give them a chance because every once in a while you get something good. Unfortunately, this one did not work for me, being filled only with pop references that I either missed (I did not watch Chimp Crazy) or am annoyed by (Hawk Tuah is still a thing? Seriously???) Even though it was my least favorite sketch of the night, I won’t tell you not to watch this one because you have to see Jean Smart’s creepy monkey puppet.
Best Update Bit
Bowen Yang as Moo Deng
He’s your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo. Bowen Yang took to the Weekend Update stage as the viral Thailand baby hippo Moo Deng to set some boundaries after blowing up on the internet, Chappell Roan style. The update feature successfully touches on two trending topics, while being tasteful and supportive of Roan, who will appear on the show in a month, for her recent public struggles adjusting to her meteoric rise to fame.
Musical Guest
Jelly Roll took to the stage for two soulful, choir-driven performances of songs from his upcoming studio album Beautifully Broken, out October 11.
“Liar”
“Winning Streak”
Cameos???
In addition to the appearances made by several SNL alums in the cold open, Jean Smart’s Hacks co-star Hannah Einbinder appeared to introduce musical guest Jelly Roll.
Fun Fact: Einbinder’s mother is Laraine Newman, an original cast member of SNL.
Player of the Week
This week’s MVP is Bowen Yang.
Not only did he appear in the majority of the sketches, but his role as Moo Deng on Update paired with his hilarious impression of Charli XCX in the Talk Show sketch made him a highlight of the episode.
That’s your recap for this week’s episode! Let me know — what did you think of the Season 50 premiere?
The next episode of Saturday Night Live, featuring host Nate Bargatze and musical guest Coldplay, airs on October 5. See you Sunday!
