Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | January 19, 2026
I want my kids to live their own lives and have their own hopes and dreams. But I’ve been a performer for most of my life, and when I see one of my sons do a dance, sing a song, or crack a joke just to get a reaction out of someone, I can’t help but smile. They’ve certainly got that spark in them, and, if they choose to let it turn into something bigger, I’ll support them the best I can. If they decide to go another direction, I’m happy to be their goofy, loud dad who wears costumes to their science fairs.
What I can’t imagine is having a very serious talk where I have to explain to them that they will play Zip, Zap, Zop before dinner, or they don’t eat. Never will I be lambasting them for not spending their Thursday nights memorizing monologues from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While I certainly will want to, I won’t give them a hard time if they aren’t hitting up open mics several times a week when they’re twenty (as is tradition). I will show restraint, unlike James Austin Johnson on the new episode of SNL.
The episode was hosted by Finn Wolfhard and featured a lot of… stuff. Saturday Night Live is a well-oiled machine, so whenever there’s a clunker, it always bums me out. It’s not like you can easily put up guardrails against this kind of thing, but I usually hope for at least a 50/50 spread when it comes to things being funny. That’s not a high bar! But, apparently, that’s too much pressure. Regardless, I had a lot of fun with Boy Band.
Boy Band finds Finn Wolfhard telling his mom, played by the always excellent Ashley Padilla, that he wants to skip college and tour with his indie band. His dad, played by James Austin Johnson, clad in ridiculous late-90s pop fashion, isn’t having it, and the three have it out until JAJ’s band is introduced later and then end up stealing the rest of the scene. Until their introduction, the scene is played pretty straight, which is a big reason why it works.
James Austin Johnson is the lynchpin for the scene’s tone. Ashley Padilla is incredible and brings a similarly grounded energy as she often does, but she isn’t given a ton to do. That said, her delivery steals every moment, but that’s her MO. Johnson, who is a bit of a chameleon, can disappear into the part and play a dad who seems genuinely upset. Even when he’s playing up his pop-star mannerisms, he isn’t playing the joke. It’s genuine and hits even harder. Then, his band arrives.
Andrew Dismukes, Marcello Hernández, and Jeremy Culhane play the band. They are just as ridiculously dressed in specific attire, are also taking the whole endeavor very seriously, and enter like a brightly colored hurricane, having apparently been hiding in different parts of the house the whole time. It was a stupid visual gag that got a big laugh out of me. They also have a runner where each one flirts with Padilla, and she responds playfully. It’s an exquisite use of Padilla, and brought to a natural endpoint when the same joke is made at the end by Jane Wickline, who also crushes it, even though they’re only in the scene for a moment.
It brings me no pleasure to rag on Finn Wolfhard, so I won’t do that, but he was certainly the weak link here. It’s not like there’s much to his role, but, if anything, it shows that being the straight man in a scene isn’t always easy. Wolfhard looks like he’s trying to play into the joke, and doesn’t seem very genuine in any moment, so it all kinda falls flat. Even when he finally comes around to his dad’s wants, he just kind of does it because that’s what he’s supposed to do at the time. He doesn’t seem particularly motivated by anything that has happened.
I had a great time with this one. It isn’t close to my favorite sketch I’ve seen so far this year, but it certainly contained a lot of things I’ve enjoyed about this season, like the meteoric rise of Ashley Padilla, even if I only got a little taste. If anything, that just speaks to the unfortunate weakness of the episode. But hey, look, who among us returns from the end-of-year break at their best? You go from pleasant wintery vibes and shirked responsibilities to people expecting your best? No thanks.
