Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | October 12, 2025
Cold Open — In a Senate hearing, Pam Bondi answers a bunch of questions by insulting the Senators using digs from her “burn book,” and Tina Fey’s Kristi Noem previews her ICE recruitment ad. It’s fun to see Poehler and Fey play Bondi and Noem, but it’s one of those many instances under this Administration where the real thing is actually more of a parody than the parody itself. (Score: 4.5 out of 10)
Amy Poehler Monologue — Poehler gives a very Amy Poehler monologue, tells a few jokes, gets a big cheer for her podcast, and mentions that last night was the actual 50th Anniversary of the show. It’s fine. (Score: 6 out of 10)
The Rudemans — Like, what? That just happened. A woman brings her boyfriend home to meet her family, who are spectacularly rude, but less funny rude and more annoying rude. So … (Score: 4.5 out of 10)
Non-Non-Alcoholic Beer Ad — It’s a double negative, see? Which means that his non non-alcoholic beer is super alcoholic! It has all the advantages of a non-alcoholic beer, only with a ton of alcohol! Funny idea. Mid execution. (Score: 6 out of 10)
Psychic Talk Show — Poehler plays a “Fast Psychic,” which means she quickly tells audience members that their missing family members are dead or drowned before they even finish the question because the psychic has a hard out at 7:00 and her colonoscopy prep is running through her. We’re not really hitting the high notes here, yet. (Score: 5 out of 10) (Watch Here)
Hunting Wives Season 2 Ad — Lots of leg touching and Poehler goes topless, and Aubrey Plaza makes a cameo appearance with the best joke of the night. And here’s the Mat sketch of the week. (Score: 7 out of 10)
Work Birth — Did you know that SNL hired seven new writers over the break? It shows. Here, a CEO type gives birth at the office because she is not the type to miss any work. Rough. I can’t even give this one the Poehler bonus. (Score: 3.5 out of 10) (Watch Here)
Weekend Update — Still got some rust here, although two things made it better than last week’s “Update”: Grant and Alyssa, the mismatched couple, return, and I love them, and also the joke-off between former “Update” anchors Poehler, Fey, and Seth Meyers vs. Jost and Che. I didn’t think much, however, of the Islamophobic Rhonda LaCenzo on Zohran Mamdani, whom she hates but also has sex dreams about (here). (Score: 7 out of 10)
Experienced Lawyers — It’s a bunch of lawyers trying to out-compete each other on the years of experience they have, up to and including Dracula and God himself. No. (Score: 3 out of 10) (Watch Here)
Emo Mom — Amy Poehler plays an Emo Mom going through perimenopause, so basically a teenage girl, except as an older woman. It’s a lot, and yet, not nearly enough. (Score: 4 out of 10) (Watch Here)
Theme Songs Masterclass — Poehler and Bowen Yang play the duo who came up with the theme songs for Severance, The Gilded Age, and The Pitt, but you should have heard their first drafts! This one is appropriately silly, and though not great, it’s probably the best live sketch of the night. (Score: 6 out of 10)
Verdict — They had the right host for the official 50th Anniversary episode (and the right cameos from Seth Meyers and Tina Fey), but this season has not yet gelled. The writing is overly basic and uninspired. Hopefully, they step it up next week for Sabrina Carpenter. (Episode Score: 5 out of 10)
In the meantime, I’d never heard of the musical guest, Role Model, but I dug him. I’m embedding his first performance mostly because Charli XCX makes a fun cameo.
