Chappell Roan, Kamala Harris and John Mulaney join for ‘SNL’

This week, John Mulaney returned to host Saturday Night Live with Chappell Roan. Mulaney has been a favorite host at Studio 8H. He worked on the show as a writer, writing supervisor and producer from 2008 to 2012 and has hosted six times since.

This episode had a lot of hype online, not only for fan favorite Mulaney, but also for Roan’s SNL debut as the musical guest. It was also the last episode before the election, and presidential nominee Kamala Harris also made a cameo appearance, which was leaked online several hours before the taping.

The show felt surprisingly light, with only four live sketches (including the cold open). Two of those sketches were also callbacks to early Mulaney sketches, which may be great for super fans but made the episode feel slightly “inside baseball” at moments. Both Mulaney and Roan are known for their somewhat parasocial internet bases, so perhaps an episode for fans isn’t a terrible plan; however, Mulaney can do better. The issue with hosting six times in six years is that the fans know what he’s capable of, and this episode felt less than the high bar of iconic that he had already set for himself.

Cold Open

The Cold Open this week featured a cameo by Kamala Harris, which is the biggest takeaway. Were there some fun jokes in the beginning? Yes. Were the political impressions good as always? Also yes. But again, that isn’t what people will be talking about with this sketch. The actual lines delivered by Harris are a little dorky, but again, that doesn’t feel like the point: she was invited to appear alongside Maya Rudolph, but Donald Trump was not.

Trump is often parodied on the show, most recently through a spot-on impression by James Austin Johnson; however, he has also hosted twice in 2004 and 2015. In 2015, he was a presidential candidate, and the episode received scrutiny as some asked, “Did it help him get elected?” Whether it did or not, nine years later, they are obviously backing another candidate, and that is what this sketch will be remembered as.

Monologue

The monologue had a slow start. Mulaney’s jokes about his Asian family being short felt somehow below the veteran stand-up. However, he quickly showed the audience why he is one of the best stand-ups working today with solid jokes about Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, hip replacement and his grandfather. One of Mulaney’s strengths is his stage presence. While he is a phenomenal writer, he is also great at being on stage and really flexed that skill in the monologue. It may not have been his best monologue for the show, but it was the type of solid that is expected from him.

What’s That Name: Election Edition

This sketch felt the most like a “Mulaney sketch.” His best sketches usually feel a little conceptual and risky, which is hard to do with a sketch premise that has been done several times (including with Mulaney in 2019.) In the sketch, Mulaney appears on a game show where he has to remember a name; this time, it’s the name of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate (who also appears in the sketch.) In the past, this sketch was hosted by Mulaney’s good friend Bill Hader, and Michael Longfellow stepped into the hosting gig and did a great job.

Beppo

This pre-taped sketch about a monkey that gets lost in space on an early space mission is fun. While the twist at the end may turn off some viewers, the 1960s styling and pastiche of patriotism work well.

Port Authority Duane Reade

It is time to retire this sketch premise. While hosting in 2018, Mulaney did an iconic sketch with Pete Davidson about ordering lobster in a diner set to the music of Les Miserables.

The sketch is iconic and has been followed up with similar sketches about Bodega bathrooms (2019), Airport Sushi (2020), Souvenir shop underwear (2020) and Subway Churros (2022). This one is arguably the worst and doesn’t feel inventive anymore. However, it also doesn’t really feel nostalgic. It was nice to see Davidson back (who cameos in the sketch), but it has lost the specificity of early iterations. This time, the sketch used songs from many different musicals, which doesn’t work as well either. The sketch also centers on buying milk from a Duane Reade, which doesn’t feel as ‘dangerous’ as previously questionable foods.

Chappell Roan

Roan performed two songs on the episode. The first was her mega-hit “Pink Pony Club.” While it’s an excellent performance, the second song eclipsed it. Her second performance was of a new queer, pop-country song, “The Giver.” The song is one of the completed but unreleased songs on her highly anticipated second album. The performance stole the show. Debuting a new song on the program just feels right and iconic for the Midwest Princess.

Roan also came out for bows to hold Bowen Yang’s hand. Yang also played a baby hippo version of Roan during the season 50 premiere on Weekend Update.

Weekend Update

This week’s Weekend Update is wholly stolen by Heidi Gardner’s Reba McEntire impression. While she is supposed to be endorsing a presidential candidate, she instead rambles in a folksy manner and makes some gross-out jokes, which somehow all really works. Marcello Hernandez and Jane Wickline also stop by as a couple that is still confusingly together, which also has some funny moments.

Little Richard

This sketch includes a great Little Richard impression by Keenan Thompson. That is kind of it, though. It isn’t a bad sketch by any stretch of the imagination, but during a week with so few sketches, fans may be searching for that iconic Mulaney humor, and it’s not really here. The sketch boils down to “Hey, remember when Little Richard guest starred on Full House? That was weird, right,” which, to be fair, does sound like the beginning of a Mulaney stand-up joke.

New York City Council Campaign

Viewers outside of New York (and even some in the five boroughs) may not be familiar with local political candidate Harvey Epstein. However, this sketch is silly enough to attract viewers who know nothing about NYC city council elections. The sketch makes fun of his unfortunate name and the sex criminals who share it.

Bonus: The Promo

Overall, the episode had some high points but didn’t meet the usual Mulaney-hosted show standards. Strangely, the funniest bit from the week didn’t even happen on the show. It was one of two promos released earlier in the week.

In the promo, James Austin Johnson plays Bob Dylan. It is a masterclass in impressions and is just so funny. He has a great rapport with Mulaney, but unfortunately, he wasn’t showcased in the actual episode. It feels strange to recommend a promo, but this one is well worth a watch.

The following two episodes have been announced. Next week will be hosted by Bill Burr with musical guest Mk.gee, on November 9 and November 16 will see Charlie XCX as both host and musical guest.