Best, Worst of 'SNL' Season 50 Premiere

by Julian Spivey

The 50th season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” began on Saturday, Sept. 28, hosted by “Hacks” stars and multiple-time Emmy Award winner Jean Smart.

Here are the best & worst moments of the season premiere: 
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Photo: NBC

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Best
‘SNL’ always seems a little more fun during election years – although 2020 was a huge disappointment with the stunt casting of Jim Carrey as Joe Biden to go along with the stale Donald Trump performance of Alec Baldwin.

There was still hope that this year’s election would provide some fun, even with Trump still involved (James Austin Johnson’s accurate portrayal brought new life into the performance). The season premiere didn’t disappoint, opening with an almost 15-minute sketch focusing on political rallies of both Kamala Harris and Trump.

Maya Rudolph has reprised her role as Kamala Harris, which she debuted during the 2020 election season. It’s a solid performance that mixes accuracy with a “fun aunt” personality.

I had figured ‘SNL’ might be done with the stunt casting of prominent political figures letting cast members have the spotlight instead, but they immediately put that to bed with the debut of comedian Jim Gaffigan as Harris’ running mate Tim Walz. Gaffigan is the perfect casting for the role and did a supreme job as the Minnesota Governor, so I couldn’t be upset about it. The casting of former ‘SNL’ cast member Andy Samberg as possible First Gentleman Doug Emhoff was a bit more confusing. Samberg has never been known for impressions and doesn’t have the right feel for Emhoff, though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh.

The best new impression of the sketch came from perhaps the finest impressionist in ‘SNL’ history. Dana Carvey returned to Studio 8H to debut his terrific impression of President Joe Biden. Amazingly, he’s the 10th different person to portray Biden on the show.

The most head-scratching impression, even more so than Samberg as Emhoff, was Bowen Yang as J.D. Vance, a move that sees ‘SNL’ go from an accurate portrayal to one of intentionally mocking the real-life person. I’m for it because I know how much it’ll probably get under Vance’s skin. 

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Worst
So, there was nothing during the season premiere that I felt was offensively bad, but there was one sketch in the second half of the episode I knew undoubtedly wasn’t for me, and that was The Talk Talk Show with Charli XCX featuring Yang as the pop star. I’m sure members of Gen Z may have enjoyed it, but rarely has an ‘SNL’ sketch ever made me feel old, and at 37 years old, I knew this one was for folks younger than me. 

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Best
Yang has made quite a name for himself for the wild and wacky Weekend Update spots he’s done over the years, like the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. One of his best yet came during the premiere when he portrayed the internet’s cutest new sensation, Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo, as a celebrity struggling with newfound celebrity in a clear take on pop star Chappell Roan. The sketch included Moo Deng hilariously demanding “hose” and then being sprayed in the face with water while trying to drink the water. It was a perfect showcase for Yang’s brand of humor, though it has gotten him into a bit of hot water from some fans mistakenly feeling he was being mean to Chappell Roan, who he’s a fan of. Chappell Roan will be a guest on ‘SNL’ on Nov. 2. Maybe the two can do a bit together? 

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Worst
Spirit Halloween’s response to the show’s satirical Spirit Halloween ad. ‘SNL’ did a humorous commercial on the premiere about how Spirit Halloween swoops into all of your city’s abandoned buildings for one month a year to sell you Halloween costumes. It wasn’t an original idea but a comical one with some good lines. Then, the next day, the actual Spirit Halloween, thinking it could out comedy, the professional comedians acted butt-hurt on social media, mocking the show with a new costume of a ‘SNL’ cast member with the packaging reading: “dated references,” “unknown cast members” and “shrinking ratings.” It’s not the first time a company has taken an ‘SNL’ sketch far too seriously, and every time, the business comes off looking ridiculous for doing so.