Nikki Haley Overshadows Ayo Edebiri's First 'SNL' Hosting Stint

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 4, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 4, 2024 |

Cold Open — It’s a South Carolina town hall with Donald Trump, where Trump says a bunch of incoherent things, and by now, you probably know that Nikki Haley also made an appearance, which was neither funny nor insightful, nor likely in any way to improve Haley’s chances at winning the nomination. It’s not all bad, however. It probably did piss off Trump, who she basically called a mentally unfit nutjob in front of the biggest audience she’ll ever be in front of this year. Ayo Edebiri also gave her a do-over on the Civil War question. Boo. (Score: 2 out of 10)

Ayo Edebiri Monologue — It’s honestly hard not to like her monologue, where she provides a bit of her bio and talks about a few of the sketch ideas she sent into the show when she was younger. There’s nothing memorable about it, but she’s just got good energy. This is the theme of the episode. Great energy. Likable personality. So-so sketches. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Why’d You Say It? The game is easy: We show you a comment you made on Instagram and ask you, ‘Why’d you say it?’ Good premise, nice execution. Edebiri even alluded to comments she made on a podcast a few years ago suggesting that J.Lo’s career was a sham (which I thought were in jest, but still). (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Dune Popcorn Bucket — Have you seen this thing? It’s ridiculous. So is this song, which loses some steam after the reveal, but it still works. It is also the Mat sketch of the week, and not because he likes Dune. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Drugs on Campus — Mikey Day and Ayo Edebiri play a couple of straight-edged college students who go off on their friends for trying shrooms. The overreaction is momentarily funny, but there is nowhere left to go after that. This one also had some Kyle Mooney energy. (Watch Here) (Score: 4.5 out of 10)

New York Morning News — Local news goes out to NYC to ask couples about their meet-cutes to see if they’re as romantic as in the movies. Spoiler: They are not! They’re all terrible (but amusing). Edebiri continues to be better than the material they’re giving her. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Weekend Update — There’s a considerable amount of “Update” jokes, most of which are good (if not groanworthy), and then Sarah Squirm plays a character who may be Colin Jost’s bastard son. As usual with Sherman, it’s just her dunking on Jost the entire time. She can barely contain her glee. Same here. (Score: 7.5 out of 10)

Trivia Quest — Ego Nwodim hosts a game show with two white contestants and a contestant played by Edebiri, and Ego keeps helping Ayo because she’s … her favorite. Ahem. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Elevator Town — A group of people get stuck in an elevator and decide to start their own utopian society. I don’t like it, but I wish did! (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Mr. Hypnotist — A hypnotist visits a classroom, which a student uses as an excuse to reveal that he’s bisexual. It’s a modestly funny sketch, but an impressive performance from Ayo here. (Watch here) (Score: 5.5 out of 10)

The People’s Court — One woman (Ayo) is suing her hairdresser (Ego) because she cut a piece of her skull off so you can see her brain in the back of her head. It is both funny and revolting, a favorite combination of mine. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

I can’t believe J.Lo was the musical guest and that Ben Affleck didn’t appear in a parody Dunkin commercial, or that no one thought to make a parody Dunkin’ commercial featuring J.Lo. I don’t know if I’m more disappointed by that or by the fact that they put Nikki Haley on.