Bad things tend to happen when Saturday Night Live pivots away from the comedian/actor/musician/sports star host template and lets someone else take the reins—politicians, entrepreneurs, bored billionaires, etc.—in the hopes of luring in a new audience or generating some headlines. We saw just how awful things got last season when Elon Musk hosted, and prior to this weekend, I was wincing at the prospect of Kim Kardashian West, a reality TV star who has never shown much in the way of comedic chops, hosting.
So I'm happy to report that it really wasn't that bad! Compared to Musk's episode last season, this was a roaring success and a reminder to never underestimate Kardashian West. But look, it wasn't perfect: Kardashian West wasn't great at reading the cue cards in certain live sketches, there were one too many sketches that seemed to just be product placement for the Kardashian brand, and like last week's season premiere, there was no spectacular sketch that stood out among the crowd.
But it was a solid episode with some genuinely funny moments, perhaps none better than Kardashian West's Monologue, which was as pleasantly self-aware as one could hope. There were actual punchlines and no audience gimmicks, which was another plus. And there were so many OJ Simpson jokes, it was almost like Norm Macdonald was in the writer's room for this one.
In terms of the sketches, my favorite of the night was the silliest, most surreal one: Kardashian West and Cecily Strong were both fantastic in Lotto Drawing, which relied on the deadpan blankness of both women to really make the sketch work.
The Switch, in which Kardashian West and Aidy Bryant found themselves in a Freaky Friday situation, had cameos from both Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian, but it's worth watching just to see Bryant having a ball. Was I disappointed that Conner O'Malley didn't make a cameo as Bryant's husband? Yes, but the joke at the very end still worked like gangbusters.
Bryant as Ted Cruz was also the clear highlight of Facebook Hearings Cold Open, an otherwise pretty forgettable cold open which relied on a lot of jokes about how politicians don't understand how the Internet works or how the word "meme" is pronounced.
I did enjoy Ladies Night Song, a musical ode to grown up women (and moms) hitting the club only to deal with stomach issues, obsess over the traffic getting home, and pass out.
Another pleasant surprise of the night was seeing the debut of sketch comedy group Please Don't Destroy, the new SNL writing trio of Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, and Ben Marshall who have gained some Internet fame in recent months. The digital short Hard Seltzer, which doesn't feature any cast members, essentially positions them as the show's new Lonely Island, or at least the new Good Neighbor. It was a very good introduction to the group's comedic sensibilities while not necessarily being their best work—but that makes it all the more exciting to see what the group comes up with next.
Check out the other four sketches of the night, all of which were varying levels of just okay or unsuccessful: the best of the bunch was Skims Commercial, because dogs in silly outfits is always a worthy premise; The People's Kourt was too much Kardashian propaganda for me, but to her credit, Kardashian West did a good job playing her sister Kourtney (there were also cameos from Halsey, Kris and Khloe Kardashian); The Dream Guy was a pretty solid Bachelorette parody filled with eclectic cameos (John Cena, Tyler Cameron, Chace Crawford, Blake Griffin, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, and Jesse Williams—and yet Kyle Mooney was the best part!) but this was one of the sketches where Kardashian West's cue card woes really sank the sketch for me; and Jasmine and Aladdin was the one stinker that didn't work on any level (although it was nice to get a Bowen Yang sighting).
Weekend Update had a bunch of mediocre Facebook jokes and two enjoyable guests: Alex Moffat killed it in Terry Fink’s Fall 2021 Movie Review, which was basically what would happen if one of those Taxi TV movie reviewers was on LSD. And Weekend Update All-Star Heidi Gardner was amazing as usual in Life Coach Kelly Party on Positive Thinking, playing a new character with a great attitude, an even better wig, and an unyielding love for Icona Pop's "I Love It."
Costco Meeting was the only cut-for-time sketch: it gave some good screentime to new featured player Sarah Sherman, who played a Costco intern who brings in Glitter Revolution (Kim Kardashian West, Aidy Bryant, Bowen Yang) to perform some certified bops about Costco's food offerings.
Halsey performed "I Am Not A Woman, I Am A God," then brought out guitar god Lindsey Buckingham to perform "Darling."
Rami Malek will make his hosting debut next weekend with musical guest Young Thug.
