The popular sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, returned to a post-writers’ strike world on Oct. 14, 2023. The first host of Season 49 was SNL-alum Pete Davidson, with musical guest Ice Spice. In a highly notable occurrence, there was no cold open sketch for Davidson’s episode. It was instead replaced by a monologue about the attacks on Israel and Gaza. Admittedly, I think it was a good call to ditch the political sketch that week; it would’ve been in poor taste. While the monologue had tension-breaking jokes, I found it to be a genuinely very touching way to address such a difficult issue on a comedy show.
Overall, the sketches in the season premiere were hits! There were most definitely a few standouts of the night, the first being “Fox NFL Sunday,” which followed the opening stand-up monologue. The sketch was about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, and how Swifties have gotten invested in the NFL. The sketch flips the joke and portrays the football commentators as hardcore Taylor Swift fans. And how could anyone complain about seeing Pete Davidson in a pink rhinestone cowboy hat? Maybe my personal (Swiftie) bias is clouding my judgment here, but this sketch was the perfect offering to Gen-Z.
Another absolute gem of a sketch was the “Please Don’t Destroy” digital short, “The Original Princes of Comedy,” in which they recount their childhood careers as Def-Jam comics. The sketch throws in another Taylor Swift reference, and the line “watch as they go off on bedtimes, recess, and coochie.” Honestly, what more could you ask for? It should also be noted that “Please Don’t Destroy” was featured in the opening credits for the first time since their digital sketches debuted on the show.
The third standout was Bowen Yang’s impression of Christopher Columbus on Weekend Update. A Columbus segment had the potential to go horribly wrong, but the modern satirical jokes and Yang’s laugh-out-loud impression skills made the segment. Not to mention the boygenius reference; the SNL writers are girl’s girls for sure. Of course, we can’t forget the cameos from both Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift herself! A strong season premiere for sure.
The second episode of the season featured Bad Bunny as both the host and musical guest. He was a musical guest in season 46, when Regé-Jean Page hosted, but this is his first time doing double duty. The second episode was another success, with major celebrity cameos from Pedro Pascal, Lady Gaga, and Mick Jagger. Right off the bat, Pedro Pascal was brought back to the show for both the monologue and the sequel to the protective mom sketch. Pedro Pascal playing cast member Marcello Hernandez’s mom last season was a huge hit, so it was no surprise that they chose to bring it back. In this rendition, Bad Bunny plays Hernandez’s Tia Rosa. There is so much to unpack with this sketch because it is just so good. First of all, this is the most we have seen of this season’s only new cast member, Chloe Troast, who plays the white girlfriend. In my opinion, the best moment of this sketch was when Troast hands the mother a tin of butter cookies, who empties it in the trash and shoves all of her sewing supplies in. That part was a belly-laugh moment for anyone who has ever opened a cookie tin and found buttons. In a recent interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Marcello Hernandez mentioned that he was the only one on the show who could write in Spanish when Pascal hosted last season, so that sketch was of his own hand. I don’t know if that is still the case, but regardless, a round of applause is in order for “yo no tengo problema con que tenga cara de bisexual barista.”
“Please Don’t Destroy” came through with another hilarious digital sketch that I don’t think anyone expected. Bad Bunny shows up in the PDD office dressed as Shrek, and demands they participate in his live-action film adaptation. The whole sketch was so off the rails and truly entertaining, that there’s nothing to compare it to. Of course, Bad Bunny’s musical performances were incredible. The production value of “Monaco” was insane, with chandeliers, champagne, and a whole crew of dancers.
The two returning episodes of Saturday Night Live are a true testament to writers and the amazing content that comes from fair pay and workers’ rights. I look forward to seeing what SNL has in store for the rest of Season 49.