Posted in: NBC, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Aidy Bryant, Alex Moffat, Beck Bennett, Bowen Yang, Cecily Strong, Chloe Fineman, Chris Redd, colin jost, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, john krasinski, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, Kyle Mooney, Machine Gun Kelly, Melissa Villaseñor, michael che, Mikey Day, nbc, Pete Davidson, saturday night live, snl, stranger things, studio 8h, the office, The Queen's Gambit

SNL: Here's Why Stranger Things, The Office & More Don't Have Lyrics

With NBC's Saturday Night Live returning this weekend for the first show of the new year, first-time host John Krasinski (The Office, Jack Ryan) and first-time musical guest Machine Gun Kelly were the ones shouldering the responsibility of kicking things off on a strong note. How did it go? Not too shabby- a solid passing grade. The SNL opener was a bit of a downer that seemed to be criticizing that not enough things have been fixed in 24 days since a new administration moved into The White House, and there were a few sketches that went a little heavy-handed with their message. On the plus side, "Weekend Update" can do no wrong, the "Twins" sketch was our favorite for taking a turn we didn't see coming (both below), "The Loser" went as absurd as I needed it to go, and MGK f***ing killed it.

Another sketch that made our "Nice" list was "Opening Credits Songs," with Krasinski, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, and Chloe Fineman taking on some familiar characters as they sing the words to theme songs you didn't realize had lyrics. And after listening to "Hopper" perform the Stranger Things theme, you'll understand why (though points to Krasinski for taking a Billy Joel/"We Didn't Start the Fire" approach with The Office). And there's also a little something in what follows for The Queen's Gambit, The Mandalorian, Bridgerton, and other show fans:

Saturday Night Live's 46th season includes Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang. Che and Jost serve as head writers, with Bryan Tucker serving as senior writer. Lauren Holt (The Filth), Punkie Johnson (Space Force), and Andrew Dismukes (Comedy Central's Colossal ClusterFest, New York Comedy Festival) are joining the cast as feature players. Alec Baldwin returned as Donald Trump, with Maya Rudolph joining them as Kamala Harris, and Jim Carrey as Joe Biden for part of the season before cast member Moffat took over the role just before the holiday break (with Bennett continuing Mike Pence).

Not including specials and digital series, Saturday Night Live has won over 70 Emmy Awards, the most for any show in television history. SNL also holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with over 275 nominations (once again, not including specials and digital series). The long-running sketch comedy and musical series is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, produced by Steve Higgins and Erik Kenward, and directed by Don Roy King. Ken Aymong serves as a supervising producer, with Lindsay Shookus, Erin Doyle, and Tom Broecker producing. The series is produced by SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!