Historic season 50 of Saturday Night Live started Saturday with less of a bang and more of a gentle reminder of its presence. Of course, it being a presidential election year makes this season of SNL even more highly anticipated, which made its rather dull debut all the more surprising. Let's get into it...
Naturally the opening sketch was election focused, featuring Maya Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris. Listen, Rudolph can do no wrong. Her impression of Harris is spot on, but wow did they send her out there with meh material. The sketch featured appearances by SNL alums Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden and Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff. Also, comedian Jim Gaffigan made an appearance as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. They all were fine, but honestly, I was underwhelmed. It felt more like an introduction to who will be playing who in the upcoming political sketches and less of an exciting sketch. The other half of the sketch featured James Austin Johnson as former President Donald Trump and Bowen Yang as Senator J.D. Vance. I felt like this part was stronger, but still forgettable. Again, it wasn't horrible. It was just fine, but it's season 50, and I was expecting more than just fine.
Hacks' Jean Smart hosted, and she was lovely. Even though I felt she was underutilized as host, she did what needed to be done with charm and grace. Her standout sketch was her playing a former romance novelist tasked with writing a school's math textbook. Naturally she made every scenario steamy, and well, Smart is a natural flirt and does this so well.
For me, the highlight of the night was the many appearances of Bowen Yang. He did everything from Vance to Charli XCX to that adorable wet hippo Moo Deng (Google it... trust me). It's clear he's going to be a standout cast member this year.
I just hope there's more of a celebration of it being season 50 in the coming episodes. I want more returning cast members, reunions, something! So many of us watch SNL out of tradition, rarely do we turn to it for the host. (Unless it's a train wreck host like Elon Musk.) Here's hoping for appearances from Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, among so many others! Of course, I'll be covering it all here and bringing you the best memes from every episode on Instagram, so make sure you're following.
Keep scrolling for more entertainment news. I'll see you Wednesday.
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By Jack Royston
Queen Elizabeth II had bone cancer and knew "all summer that she was going" before her death, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed in his memoir.
Elizabeth was 96 years old and the U.K.'s longest reigning monarch when she died on September 8, 2022, at Balmoral, her Scottish estate.
Her official cause of death was recorded as "natural causes" but Johnson said she had bone cancer and was aware her time was nearly up.
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