By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 26, 2025 |
Cold Open — They brought Lin-Manuel Miranda out for about 20 seconds of rap — as Alexander Hamilton — before he has to stand frozen while James Austin Johnson — as Trump — recounts the destruction he’s wrought to democracy and equality this week. That part is not funny, but watching Lin-Manuel Miranda stand frozen while he’s being heckled is pretty great. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)
Timothée Chalamet — Chalamet has grown on me a lot over the years, thanks in part to his hosting stints on SNL. Also, A Complete Unknown is one hell of a Dad movie. I loved it. And here, Chalamet has a great sense of humor about himself, poking fun first at his shitty chin hairs and then at how increasingly glum he looks every time he loses during an awards show, which is every time. (Score: 7 out of 10)
Bungee — Chalamet plays an instructor in a bungee fitness class where everyone is attached to a bungee cord, which makes exercising very easy — and also very funny. Michael Longfellow deftly plays the, “What the hell is going on?” character. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)
Medcast — How do you get men 20-45 — the least likely to go to a doctor’s appointment — to show up for their regular check-ups? Turn it into a podcast! Mostly funny in concept, but amusing in execution, too. (Score: 5.5 out of 10)
Barista Training — During barista training, the new employees are asked to come up with coffee-based puns for the chalkboard they place outside. Chalamet’s character turns his puns into whole-ass performances. It’s hard not to appreciate how hard Chalamet goes for SNL. (Score: 7 out of 10)
Oedipal Arrangment — For Valentine’s a fruit arrangement for your mom, if you want to sleep with her. Ew. Even as a joke, this one feels squick, although I do appreciate all the screentime Longfellow is getting this week! (Watch here) (Score: 5 out of 10)
A.I. Software — During school lessons, they use A.I. to turn school lessons into podcasts, and the results are … well, creepy and not particularly helpful. But funny. This would be perfect for your classroom, Mat, which makes this the Mat skit of the week (although, Mat would probably find barista training funnier). (Score: 6.5 out of 10)
I’m not going to embed Chalamet’s musical performance — he does a couple of lesser-known Dylan songs, “Outlaw Blues” and “Three Angels” in one segment, “Tomorrow Is a Long Time” in another, which is fantastic. Also, Adam Sandler introduces him for some reason, which is fun.
Weekend Update — The jokes this week? I’ll just say that a lot of them sound like Norm MacDonald jokes and that Norm MacDonald would have delivered them much better. Especially that O.J. joke, Che. As for the segments, Ego plays a “concerned businesswoman” who complains about how the tariffs mean she can’t afford wigs from other countries, and Andrew Dismukes goes way too long with a segment in which his father is played by a puppet. Seriously, five minutes is way too long for that one mid joke. The entire joke portion of “Update” was only 6 minutes. (Score: 4 out of 10)
Dog Run — Here is what a bunch of dumb little dogs would look like if they talked and acted like people. Dog lovers gonna love this one. (Score: 7 out of 10)
Grandma’s Birthday — There was a time on SNL when they saved the weirdest skit for the 10 to 1 slot, and more than often, it would bomb. This, however, may be the best 10 to 1 skit of the season. This is how you do it. (Score: 7.5 out of 10)
God: An Animated Short — The three to 1 skit is also weird. But it doesn’t do much for me. Fees like castoff Nate Bargatze. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)
Average Score: 5.95 out of 10 — The episode is actually much better than the score suggests (it was brought down by an unusually terrible “Update”) and Chalamet proves once again how deft he is as a host (and musical guest), willing to go weird places and have a lot of fun with it. He’s not just here to promote a project — I feel like Chalamet is invested in making memorable SNL episodes.