Posted in: NBC, Opinion, Peacock, Review, TV, TV | Tagged: Kacey Musgraves, nbc, Review, saturday night live, snl, Sydney Sweeney

Saturday Night Live Gets Back to Having Fun with Sydney Sweeney's Help

NBC's Saturday Night Live got back to having fun this weekend - thanks in large part to host Sydney Sweeney and musical guest Kacey Musgraves.

After what's been a really weird 2024 so far for NBC's Saturday Night Live, it was nice to see host Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You) and musical guest Kacey Musgraves bring some fun back to Studio 8H. Between a random Dave Chappelle on-stage appearance, podcast drama between Ayo Edebiri & Jennifer Lopez, pushback from fired SNL cast member Shane Gillis being invited back to host & other side issues, we were being forced to focus way too much of our attention on the behind-the-scenes drama and not nearly enough on what was hitting our screens. That changed this weekend – and it was long overdue. Sweeney's first hosting effort was a promising one that bodes well for her SNL future, in large part because of her willingness to trust the SNL writers & cast to do right by her – and they did. And then there was Musgraves, whose voice grabbed our hearts by the second note and didn't let go – truly amazing. With all of that in mind, here's a look at what didn't work (just one thing), what did work (a whole lot of things), and some personal highlights from the night.

What Didn't Work: Just one this week – "Inside Politics." It's not that the talent wasn't there. We had Heidi Gardner as CNN's Dana Bash interviewing Governor Gavin Newsom (Michael Longfellow), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (Ego Nwodim), Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (Marcello Hernández), and even Draymond Green (Devon Walker) about President Joseph Biden's (Mikey Day) age. Setting aside the fact that Donald Trump is pretty much Biden's age and offers up a steady stream of what could be viewed as age-related fuck-ups on a daily basis, keeping the focus solely on Biden and not on Trump is an "interesting" choice that SNL's making – one that vibes like an effort on EP Lorne Michaels' part to comedically hit "all sides" – a definite change from SNL's early days. But politics aside, the cold open didn't work simply because it beat one joke into the ground for over five minutes – by around the three-minute mark, it felt like the cast was stretching for time.

What Did Work: Once we got past the cold open, there was a whole lot to like. Sweeney was understandably nervous during her monologue, but she had a vibe that left us feeling like a "Five-Timers" jacket would be in her future. Also, bonus points for the great Madame Web joke and how she handled the rumors surrounding her and her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell. "Detectives" left us feeling like Sweeney & Chloe Fineman could have some recurring characters for Sweeney's next go-around. "Air Bud" shouldn't have worked, but Sweeney never broke characters, and that commitment made the silliness work. Also, serious props to Sweeney for stepping up to the challenge of working with a dog in a live sketch during her first show. "Makeup Artists" saw Sweeney and Sarah Sherman forcing us to suffer (in all the right ways) through the awkwardness of personal heartbreak being interrupted by the need for a Venmo payment and a Yelp review.

With Nwodim's Judge Carlotta leading the charge, "Big Bench" took our fascination with judge shows to a logically absurd extreme – though we would definitely watch a show where a dog was the judge. "Hooters Waitress" was a funny & effective use of Sweeney's looks, portraying a Hooters waitress who just can't seem to understand why she gets better tips than her co-workers (Sherman, Fineman & Bowen Yang). An appearance from the Hooters' mascot and a great callback to a "Weekend Update" story from earlier in the show were nice touches at the end. Though "Loud Table" ended on a bit of a weak note – feeling more like an excuse to have Powell make another appearance – the way Sweeney and Andrew Dismukes handled their respective loud tables was a nice jab at the issues men and women face when they group-up in social settings.

Don't think we forgot "Weekend Update," not when Colin Jost & Michael Che made it their job to hit us with as many Mitch McConnell jokes as possible – and it never got old. And the duo was definitely in "uncomfortable joke mode," taking the occasional squirming from the audience as a sign that they needed to dial up the knife-twisting even further. But Gardner's "Women Who Is Aging Gracefully" and Nwodim's Charlotte the Stingray were the real highlights. With Gardner, it was a great showing punctuated with a binder clip punchline that we missed the first time Garnder spun around in her chair. Nwodim's Charlotte the Stingray made the case that Yang isn't the only one on "Weekend Update" who can bring that twisted costumed comedy that's been working so well.

Personal Highlights: Along with Musgraves offering beautiful haunting performances of  "Deeper Well" and "Too Good to Be True," here's a look at three sketches that really stuck to the sides of our brains even after the 1 am hour hit:

"Please Don't Destroy – Gone Too Soon": We had no idea where Ben Marshall, John Higgins & Martin Herlihy were going with this sketch – and we were ready to write it off as a "beautiful disaster." But the trip leaned in hard on the absurdity of it all, and Sweeney perfectly bought into all of it – and the next thing we know, Chef Boyardee shows up, and we're laughing our asses off. Why? I'm still not sure – but there was just something about that ending that just worked.

"Bowen's Straight": Easily a contender for best sketch of the night, did you know that Yang is actually straight – playing up being gay as a career move as he sleeps with women all over the world? That's the premise behind the sketch, with Sweeney unable to resist Yang's charms – ending up as just another notch on Yang's bedpost. You can see already why this would be great on so many levels, right? But that doesn't do justice to what Sweeney & Yang had to offer us – leaving us thinking that we would definitely watch a buddy action comedy with those two as the leads.

"Airbnb Design Commercial": If you've ever lived "That Airbnb Live" (though it works with hotel & motel stays, too), then we're pretty sure you were laughing right alongside us. Chanel (Chloe Troast) & Chanel (Sweeney) – spelled the same but pronounced differently – walk us through their new service where they help Airbnb hosts spruce up their spaces with every cliche imaginable. From that creepy, random framed image of the host family and large "poetic words" on the walls to an avalanche of K-Cups and way-too-detailed instruction manuals on how to handle garbage, they covered all the cliche bases.

Saturday Night Live Season 49: Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgraves

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Review by Ray Flook

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7.5/10

After what's been a really weird 2024 so far for NBC's Saturday Night Live, it was nice to see host Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You) and musical guest Kacey Musgraves bring some fun back to Studio 8H. Between a random Dave Chappelle on-stage appearance, podcast drama between Ayo Edebiri & Jennifer Lopez, pushback from fired SNL cast member Shane Gillis being invited back to host & other side issues, we were being forced to focus way too much of our attention on the behind-the-scenes drama and not nearly enough on what was hitting our screens. That changed this weekend - and it was long overdue. Sweeney's first hosting effort was a promising one that bodes well for her SNL future, in large part because of her willingness to trust the SNL writers & cast to do right by her - and they did. And then there was Musgraves, whose voice grabbed our hearts by the second note and didn't let go - truly amazing. With all of that in mind, here's a look at what didn't work (just one thing), what did work (a whole lot of things), and some personal highlights from the night.

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