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SNL Cast/Writers, Miles Teller, Brandi Carlile Set the Season 51 Bar

SNL returned with host Miles Teller and musical guest Brandi Carlile, setting Season 51 back on track and setting the bar for the season.

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Article Summary

  • SNL rebounds with Miles Teller hosting and Brandi Carlile performing, igniting Season 51 excitement.
  • The NYC Mayoral Debate Cold Open features biting satire and standout sketch comedy performances.
  • Weekend Update and Bowen Yang's George Santos bring sharp political humor and big laughs.
  • Hilarious sketches like Hungover Halloween Game Show and White House Makeover set a high bar for the remainder of the season.

With NBC's Saturday Night Live heading into a one-week break on a less-than-strong note, we will readily admit that we were a wee bit worried about what the SNL team, host Miles Teller, and musical guest Brandi Carlile would have to offer us when they hit our screens on Saturday night. By the time the Cold Open had wrapped and before Teller kicked off his monologue, we had already laughed more than we did during the entire Sabrina Carpenter-hosted effort from last month. Best of all, things would only get better from there, with SNL's writers reminding us that the late-night sketch comedy and music series still knows how to serve up hard-hitting satirical commentary and comedic absurdity, even after a half-century on the air.

For me, this was the show that set the bar for the season. From the Cold Open through Colin Jost and Michael Che's killer "Weekend Update" to our new obsession with Gar-Girl ("Half Gargoyle, Half Girl, All Justice), it was all bangers, no misses. And all the flowers to Carlile for intense and passionate performances of "Human" and "Church & State" that served as a perfect soundtrack for the show. With that in mind, here's a look at four highlights the demonstrate how excellent SNL can be when the writing and comedic acting are vibing perfectly:

SNL
Image: SNL Screencaps

"NYC Mayoral Debate Cold Open": Zohran Mamdani (Ramy Youssef), Andrew Cuomo (Teller), and Curtis Sliwa (Shane Gillis) face off during SNL's take on Tuesday's NYC Mayoral race, one that's gotten a ton of national attention. We won't rehash our coverage from last night, but we will add that it was one of the best cold opens in some time. Most of all, no one can say that the sketch didn't take shots at all three candidates – with some extra "love" for Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Mayor Eric Adams (Kam Patterson). Also, serious bonus points to Gillis for offering his best SNL sketch performance to do – more of this, please!

"White House Makeover": The Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott (Teller), get the call to help Donald Trump and Melania Trump (Johnson, Chloe Fineman) renovate the White House after the demolition of the East Wing. Spotlighting the absurdity and obsenity of what Trump's done to the White House and ICE, the sketch hit hard on a number of levels, from ICE agents being used as Trump's personal military to the rumblings that Trump's having a huge ballroom being built because he doesn't plan on leaving the White House. Johnson's Trump is now creepy good, while Fineman's Melania continues to improve by leaps and bounds. But serious bonus points to Teller for his take on the Scotts and how one of the brothers wasn't finding the cheap shots from his other brother very funny.

"Weekend Update: George Santos on the New York City Marathon": George Santos, the man whose ability to bullshit was so admired by Trump that it won him a "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE" card, is back on the scene – and so is Bowen Yang's killer take on the pop culture court jester. From claiming he was hosting SNL and that he won the World Series to bragging about being prison buds with Luigi Mangione, Santos was all about making up for lost time when it came to claiming credit for pretty anything and everything making headlines. Also, serious bonus points to whoever came up with having Yang's Santos use a prison visitation room divider window and phone every time he had to take a call.

"Hungover Halloween Game Show": Kenan Thompson hosts a game show where hungover contestants (Teller, Ben Marshall, Veronika Slowikowska) compete to figure out what they did the night before and win valuable prizes (like a chair to sit in or Pedialyte). Teller and Marshall were spot-on, but Slowikowska did an especially nice job of having anyone who's ever been near-blackout-drunk feel seen. Also, serious bonus points to Thompson, whose game show host represented every friend in the group who gets sadistic glee in reminding the others of all of the things they did – and making them suffer for it along the way.

Saturday Night Live Season 51: Miles Teller & Brandi Carlile
SNL
Review by Ray Flook
9/10
With NBC's Saturday Night Live heading into a one-week break on a less-than-strong note, we will readily admit that we were a wee bit worried about what the SNL team, host Miles Teller, and musical guest Brandi Carlile would have to offer us when they hit our screens on Saturday night. By the time the Cold Open had wrapped and before Teller kicked off his monologue, we had already laughed more than we did during the entire Sabrina Carpenter-hosted effort from last month. Best of all, things would only get better from there, with SNL's writers reminding us that the late-night sketch comedy and music series still knows how to serve up hard-hitting satirical commentary and comedic absurdity, even after a half-century on the air.

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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