Hi all, and welcome back to another exciting chapter in our ongoing saga: SNL in Review – the 50th anniversary season. For Coneheads out there who enjoy Saturday Night Live history, tonight is a cool combination of host and musical guests.
First, the host: When Jack Black originally hosted SNL in the early aughts, he was one of the brightest stars in the comedy galaxy. Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, School of Rock — a man can dine out on his output during this era. He was one of the biggest comic forces in Hollywood, period. (Personally, I was always struck by his stellar one-off character roles in the ’90s.) Today, he returns as the star of the Minecraft movie and the new Anaconda reboot. Still cool, but ya know.
Now, Black returns for a fourth hosting stint, his first time back in nearly two decades. (Notably, his second time as host in 2003 was also Kenan Thompson’s first episode on the SNL cast.)
Just wait, the musical guests are equally fascinating! Rocketman himself, Sir Elton John, is back at Studio 8H. He previously did double duty as host and musical guest back in 2011. And he is joined by Brandi Carlile, who previously appeared in 2021 when Jason Sudeikis returned to host, then also in season 48 when Martin Short and Steve Martin co-hosted together.
I am joined tonight by the legendary former cast member, and host of the Gary + Kenny Show on Youtube, Gary Kroeger. He shares: “Jack Black had to grow on me, but grow on me he did. Early in his career I think I resisted his over-the-top intensity as a comedian – and musician. It just wasn’t where I looked for grounded comedy. But, my sons loved him and I kept seeing him in movies. By the time he did the Jumanji films, I was on board. Sort of before that with Tropic Thunder. He has proven that he can be subtle and has incredible timing and his career integrity is to be admired.” Well said!
Scroll down for tonight’s recap and check back for live updates throughout the show!
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced his historic tariff plan against the country’s international trade partners in a “historically awesome speech.” We join James Austin Johnson’s Trump at the Rose Garden in which he describes his “MAGDA” vision — Make America Great Depression Again — and the stock market’s recent plummet.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (Andrew Dismukes) brings out a sign explaining the reciprocal tariffs – Trump loves the word “reciprocal”. Oops, it is actually the Cheesecake Factory menu. He also riffs on their so-called formula determining the tariffs.
“Get me to God’s country,” he says looking at a picture of cartoon McDonald’s, in a reference to last week’s musical guest Morgan Wallen posting a photo of a private jet with that caption on his Instagram Stories after he stormed off stage during the goodnights. Fun attitude there from JAJ, love the show demonstrating some meta swagger.
Next up: oh boy, Mike Myers returns as a cheese hat-wearing Elon Musk. He’s really smart, but says this tariff plan is really dumb. Trump swiftly says it is time for him to leave, and return to helping Tesla. Is that a sign we won’t see Myers doing this again?
Black is “back”! And with that, he quits. “I can’t do it, it’s too stressful.” A riff begins to give him the power to host again. Starting to sing in that classic rock, AC/DC-flavored cadence, he runs through some of his biggest movies in the past 20 years, running through the audience. We get a quick shot of former SNL hosts Bill Burr and Kieran Culkin — currently starring on Broadway’s Glengarry Glen Ross — in the audience as Black jogs through the bleachers. He also shouts out that Kenan Thompson is still in the cast. The audience is animated, they are clapping, the energy is great. I love this. I might be wrong, but I think Black sings in every one of his monologues. At 55, his voice sounds great.
Todd Bruff (Dismukes) presents Jamie from Syracuse (Chloe Fineman) with three potential bachelors. The first is Allan from Tempe (Johnson), Dan from Ridgefield (Marcello Hernández) and Gene from Seattle (Black), who can’t think of any puns for his name. He is dressed like Indiana Jones, which Todd points out. Jamie can’t see the contestants, so he is giving her a heads up! Gene protests as he does not know what that is. They quarrel. Jamie asks his biggest fear: snakes! Todd is angry, so Dismukes gets to be disgruntled which is always a fun mode.
This in-your-face Cheetos flavor can create bathroom issues. That is why the iconic mascot, Chester Cheetah, is pimping Preparation H products now. He is joined by Jack Black, who wants that cream also in extreme flavors. (Shout out the old Phil Hartman commercials. Also this.)
It has been several years since a group of college friends have gotten together. The attendees worry that the stranglers will just one-up each other. Jack Black soon shows up, and friends ask where he has been lately as they never hear from him. He is off grid now, having quit social media. An eagle pronounces his humblebrag accomplishment. He only reads books now – another eagle sound cue.
Bowen Yang shows up too, he was just at a protest, and he also gets a bird signal for it. The rest of the group joins the action, pivoting goofily into the camera whenever they not so subtly virtue signal. Even the waitress (Heidi Gardner) gets a sound after announcing she adopted her son from China. Amazing stuff, fun camera angles too. The only issue? It dies on the vine. A true sketch needs that third act, or payoff. They have a brilliant premise, but unlike, say, “Debbie Downer,” it abruptly ends with zero escalation or character work. Too bad, but I recommend this.
This is silly. Actors in ancient Greece are distracted by the first ever theatrical audience, who are too literal to understand what they are seeing on stage. The concept of acting out a story is difficult. Yang’s character is pretend stabbed and they overreact. Meh.
Jamaica locals (Ego Nwodim, Thompson) sing about the silly big black jeans and combat boots worn by angsty American tourists like super sweaty goth kid Michael Longfellow. Black plays an approximation of Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance, which is cute.
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