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Posted in: Current News, NBC, Review, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl
SNL Does Right by Bowen Yang, Ends 2025 on Strong Note: Review
SNL's cast and writers, host Ariana Grande, and musical guest Cher ended 2025 on a strong note while doing right by the departing Bowen Yang.
Just so no one can accuse me of being caught up in the emotions leading into the show, this weekend's holiday-themed year-end show wasn't perfect. The "Love Is Blind Reunion" sketch didn't really resonate with me, and I wished Colin Jost and Michael Che's "Weekend Update Joke Swap" had involved both of them and wasn't so brief. Having gotten the "Grinch" stuff out of the way, NBC's Saturday Night Live's cast and writers, host Ariana Grande, and musical guest Cher had a lot of heavy lifting responsibility-wise heading into the show. Not only was it a holiday-themed show, but it was also the final show before the midseason break. No one wants to head into the new year on a sour note.
On top of that, we learned late in the week that this would also be the final show for SNL star Bowen Yang. Again, that's a whole lot of weight to carry – and they did a fantastic job of it. The writing was sharp, the cast dialed up the comedic acting to a "Spinal Tap"-loving 11, Grande went above and beyond when it came to showing she can blend comedy and music in ways not many can, and Cher brought a sense of holiday coolness. There was a whole lot to like about this weekend's show – here's a look at four of my personal highlights:
"Elf on the Shelf Support Group": Andrew Dismuskes is an Elf on the Shelf support group counselor helping several Elves (Mikey Day, Jane Wickline, Jeremy Culhane, Kenan Thompson, and Kam Patterson) with their harrowing shelf experiences. A very dark sketch very early on in the show, and it worked. The elf voices went from funny to disturbing once they became the vocal track to some very harrowing experiences, to being funny again in a "I should feel bad for laughing" way (like Thompson describing his Elf's "encounter" with the family dog or the sexual positions that Day's Elf was put in by the frat bros whose house he was at). Bonus points for having nasty thoughts result in an explosion of confetti, with Patterson hitting perfect timing exiting the scene to make it work.
"Random Duet Christmas Spectacular": One of those sketches that allows for some great impressions to return, and some new impressions to get the spotlight. It's tough to go wrong with these, but this sketch had some inspired offerings and pairings. First, that running Benson Boone joke was great on so many levels. Punctuating Sarah Sherman's Kate Bush and Yang's Yoko Ono's duet with Ono's primal screaming got an out-loud laugh. Chloe Fineman's Björk had the line of the sketch: "The tree is crying silver tears," and Thompson had it seem as if Stevie Wonder could actually see – another one of those "extras" that worked because it didn't get lost among the impressions.
"Home Alone": You remember that actual ending to Macaulay Culkin-starring Home Alone, the one that got left on the editing room floor? No worries, because SNL has you covered – but it's not exactly what you would expect. Serious props to Grande for pulling off an excellent Kevin McCallister, with Ashley Padilla getting her flowers once again, offering a twisted yet realistic look at the mind of a worried mother who hasn't slept in 72 hours. Horror. Pure Horror. Also, props to Jost for carving out a place on the sketch side of things because he's become the go-to for "d-bag dudebro" characters.
"Delta Lounge": Though playing a Delta Airlines lounge employee, it was pretty clear early on that this sketch was going to be the proper goodbye that Yang deserved. The goodbyes from the cast, those sweet exchanges between Yang and Grande, and those beautiful words from Cher that brought the tears, this was easily the best sketch of the night.
"I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here," Yang shared. "This is my last shift. It's sad, I'm going to miss everything about this place, the way it smells, the celebrities that come through. Just last week, Josh O'Connor was here," Yang continued, making it clear he was addressing his time on SNL. Sharing that his time was both "great" and "rotten," and that "a lot of it got cut," Yang said, "I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here, and I just wanted to enjoy it a little bit longer. It's definitely the people, I've loved every single person that works here because they've done so much for me, especially my boss."
SNL Season 51: Ariana Grande & Cher
9/10
Just so no one can accuse me of being caught up in the emotions leading into the show, this weekend's holiday-themed year-end show wasn't perfect. The "Love Is Blind Reunion" sketch didn't really resonate with me, and I wished Colin Jost and Michael Che's "Weekend Update Joke Swap" had involved both of them and wasn't so brief. Having gotten the "Grinch" stuff out of the way, NBC's Saturday Night Live's cast and writers, host Ariana Grande, and musical guest Cher had a lot of heavy lifting responsibility-wise heading into the show. Not only was it a holiday-themed show, but it was also the final show before the midseason break. No one wants to head into the new year on a sour note.
On top of that, we learned late in the week that this would also be the final show for SNL star Bowen Yang. Again, that's a whole lot of weight to carry - and they did a fantastic job of it. The writing was sharp, the cast dialed up the comedic acting to a "Spinal Tap"-loving 11, Grande went above and beyond when it came to showing she can blend comedy and music in ways not many can, and Cher brought a sense of holiday coolness.
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