Josh Brolin Hosts 'SNL' but Ariana Grande and Scarlett Johansson Steal the Show

Cold Open — After a brief look at an overcaffeinated Joe Biden whooping through his State of the Union speech (who you calling old now?), most of the cold open centers on the newest star of the Republican world: Katie Britt. They pull out Scarlett Johansson for the impression, and she is perfect. I think everyone knew that Britt would be the subject of this week’s cold open, but it’s also unexpectedly good! (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

John Brolin Monologue — Brolin is a weirdo, but an amusing one. Here, he makes fun of his poetry (and writes one about Kenan), and then he does a cold plunge on stage for some reason. (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Bank Robbery — Heidi and Brolin play customers at a bank who, during a robbery, really try to compel the robbers to do dirty, naughty things to them, and bonus: They just opened up their marriage. Um, OK! At least you can’t say that Brolin is not enthusiastic. (Score: 5 out 10)

People Pleaser Support Group — A Group for people who only say what people want to hear. It’s an amusing idea for a sketch, but despite bringing in musical guest Ariana Grande to help out, it goes nowhere. (Score: 3 out of 10) (Watch Here)

Wine and Cheese Night — During a get-together among friends, a cat crawls into the lap of Brolin’s character, which makes him very happy. But when the cat leaves his lap for another person’s lap, things quickly spiral out of control. Again, props to Brolin for really getting into character. The cat is also creepy as hell. (Score: 5.5 out of 10)

Airplane Song — A song about a guy on a plane watching Ad Astra over the shoulder of another man on a plane shouldn’t be as amusing as this, and yet, here we are. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Shrimp Tower — It’s Vienna in 1893, and the first person to ever create a shrimp tower takes it very, very seriously, and anyone who threatens to knock over his shrimp tower is a deadly threat to him. There’s a lot of weird Kyle Mooney energy in this week’s episode, but I was in a movie theater with Kyle Mooney while SNL was airing (I’m at SXSW), so that can’t be it. Did someone let Sarah Sherman’s sense of humor off its leash? (Score: 5 out of 10)

Weekend Update — There are no segments this week. Just seven minutes of jokes. They’re good, but probably the best part is how often Che’s jokes bomb. (Score: 7 out of 10)

Shonda Talk Show — During a Maury-Povich-like talk show, a woman wonders if her husband is cheating on her because he’s always tired and they never have sex anymore. I won’t spoil the punchline, but I laughed. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Moulin Rouge — In the original Moulin Rouge, Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande weren’t sure what songs they could clear the rights to, so they sang a lot of additional songs to make sure. This is one hell of a crowd-pleaser. Props for pulling it off live, and great job Bowen Yang for almost but not quite cracking every time they add in the “Happy Birthday” song. Bravo! There’s nothing suitable for tonight’s Mat sketch of the week, but this is one of the best of the year. (Score: 9.5 out of 10)

Lisa from Temecula — Bowen could not keep it together during another visit from Lisa from Temecula and her shaky ass table. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Sandwich King — The folks at the workplace don’t want subs anymore and the sub guy is sad and can’t stop singing the Barbie song. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)