Nikki Glaser Unleashed, Pete Davidson, WH Collapse & More

The show itself was nowhere near as edgy has her shocking monologue, with headlines immediately talking about a “blacklash” to her sex trafficking and pedophilia jokes.

While those were shocking, it was far from the only shocking place her standup monologue landed (ahem, pedophilia?!). Let’s just say, our jaws dropped a few times that this was airing on broadcast television, even if it was late-night.

This, of course, is the comedian SNL hired, and we’re fairly confident this monologue was approved and seen before the final broadcast (if only because we’d have heard about it by now if she pulled a fast one and infuriated Lorne Michaels and the staff). Nikki always skates the edge of taste and people are shocked. This is why she blew up, if you’ll recall, after doing the same thing at the Tom Brady roast.

Aside from the Nikki of it all, and she was strong across much of the night, Pete Davidson made a fun return to the Weekend Update desk to respond to recent reports that the Staten Island Ferry he purchased with Colin Jost is a “fiasco,” as The New York Times dubbed it.

From life-sixed American Girl dolls to the Jennifer Hudson “spirit tunnel,” a runaway mechanical bull ride, and even a land of make believe, this week’s episode was definitely leaning into the silly and absurd. But the also poked fun at real life with their take on the Oval Office collapse, fatherhood, and the challenges of online dating — and maybe oversharing while you’re at it.

As usual, we’re ranking all the sketches from worst to first, including the Monologue, Cold Open, “Weekend Update” and any sketches that were cut for time but made their way online. We’ll skip the musical guests, because they’re not usually funny — unless Ashlee Simpson shows up. We wrap up with a look at the cast-member who had the strongest week.

Ben Marshall did a great job of stepping into the weird world of MrBeast as a presenter and the completely off the wall things he comes up with for people to do for money in this bizarre Disney parody. Literally, someone must have just said this title as a joke because, you know, MrBeast hahaha … and then this came out. It made about as much sense as pretty much everything to do with the social media billionaire. We got a mild chuckle out of Kenan Thompson’s realization early on as Cogsworth, but overall, this sketch didn’t quite bring the big laughs. It was just relentlessly weird.

There was clearly some sight gags that didn’t work at all in this one, like vape smoke coming out of “Alyssa’s” eye holes (this dress rehearsal version above has the bit work properly, but it failed live), but the visual of Mikey Day in a “realistic” female face mask almost makes up for it. His shocked reactions to Ashley Padilla accusing him of being a frat guy in a mask were very funny, as was his attempts to eat a donut through it and then under it. Again on the night, Jane Wickline had just one line, and she delivered it with a very hoarse and scratchy voice (is she sick?). Overall, the sketch didn’t quite work because without the visual gag the built up working, it felt kind of dragged out. As for the twist ending, yeah, we could have done without.

They could probably have done a bit more with the White House Oval Office collapse than use it as a backdrop for another rambling Trump monologue, but James Austin Johnson remains entertaining in the role. He talked blocking SNAP and told people not to worry about not being able to afford Thanksgiving because their families won’t be able to come anyway as “all the planes are gone.” He explained, “We call that problem solving problem.” He also took time to praise his own “very normal” reaction to the man who fainted in the image that went viral: “Just stand there and stare like a sociopath.”

An unexpected and charming animated short about a divorced dad trying to connect with his 11-year-old son. Honestly, all of it rings perfectly true. Yeah, dad’s not necessarily great at finding things to do — especially when it comes to pull his kid away from video games — but we applauded that he continued to make efforts. And Dad was no saint, taking credit for grandma’s gift and his farewell message to his son, but there was still a sweetness about him trying to find ways he understood to bond with his kid before succumbing to the inevitable.

Tommy Brennan took the lead role in this sketch as Sarah Sherman’s boyfriend who invited her to a family night of karaoke with his big sister Nikki Glaser. And let’s just say, Tommy and Nikki grinding to “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls and “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men should tell you everything you need to know about the direction this went. Sarah was fantastic as the shocked boyfriend — Kenan Thompson’s DJ not so much — while Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla were all in as the proud parents. This was one of those so wrong it’s right sketches, with the family never quite crossing the line — but boy were they dancing all over it. Jeremy’s song for Sarah, too, was both inevitable and perfect.

Nikki was a little self-conscious about her short dress coming down the stairs, tugging it down twice before settling into her comfort, a standup set on the edge of decency. She started by calling New York, “Epstein’s original island” and went on to call spray tanning cultural appropriation. She then somehow transitioned from getting her nails done as a beauty statement to slavery and human trafficking in a pivot so fast we’re still not sure how we got here. “In my 20s, I just feared good old-fashioned rape,” she said at one point before talking about domestic abuse and her boyfriend wanting to shoot her and child molestation — and let’s just say, this audience (and the band behind them) weren’t quite sure how to feel about a lot of this, but this is where Nikki is in her element.

The boys went all in on a very long segment of jokes, with some great reactions to the Oval Office collapse and RFK Jr.’s weird response to it, Mamdani’s election and Cuomo’s bad reaction to it, free childcare in New Mexico, Starbucks’ new Bearista glass, and even how much of Gen Z thinks cash is “cringe.” Huge props to Michael Che for his hilariously inane take on the new Michael Jackson biopic while Colin Jost got some laughs with his new slogan for Ireland.

In a fun Update update, Pete Davidson swung by to offer fans the current status of the Staten Island Ferry he and Colin Jost bought and he was on fire. It was “Classic Pete,” but in all the bet ways. He looked more relaxed and confident than we’ve ever seen him on this desk. And while his delivery and material was definitely what we’ve come to know and love, the improved confidence helped him sell some fantastic self-deprecation, and even sick burns against both Jost and Che. Pete happily involved and with a child on the way is the Pete we’re happy he’s finally found.

Jennifer Hudson’s spirit tunnel entrances went from viral to mainstream enough for SNL to take notice. This pharmaceutical parody was the perfect way to approach the anxiety an “uncoordinated white woman” might have when faced with that intimidating entrance to J-Hud’s talk show. They even had footage of some of the strangest celebrity entrances, like Simon Cowell’s … we wanna say, clapping? How the drug works, well that’s a whole ‘nother thing we’d really rather not think about, but this was a perfectly executed parody.

“Uh-oh, things are getting weird,” says the mechanical bull at the center of this– Yes, you did read that right. It felt like the right place to start because this was one absolutely random and bonkers sketch that started off plainly enough with a girls group at a country bar and wound up with James Austin Johnson singing a Johnny Cash-influenced country song about “two drunk bitches” on a runaway mechanical bull. Where it went from there was absolute insanity, though there was a charm about Nikki Glaser and Sarah Sherman as said “bitches” having the time of their life as they traveled the world and even beyond. The absurdist comedy is ultimately beyond explanation and just has to be experienced, if just so we can be sure this wasn’t a fever dream in the middle of the night. On a side, note, we felt badly that Jane Wickline got another role where she delivers an awkward line (terribly in this case) and then exits stage immediately.

As inevitable as it was funny, we loved this premise of life-size dolls for the little girls who grew up on American Girl and then just grew up. The production team did a great job with the dolls themselves (or whoever found them), as they really did look like adult versions of the female cast members who were so proud of them. And then Andrew Dismukes showed up and it got weird, because men make everything to do with women sexual. That’s right, one by one, the ad was taken over by men, until James Austin Johnson even replaced Nikki Glaser as spokesperson, though she stayed around in the background irritated as the guys got creepier and grosser with their dolls. The female response to men ruining this for them was also perfect. Honestly, everything about this rates A+.

James Austin Johnson was an absolute rockstar as the captain of a stalled flight sharing TMI about a woman he met on “the apps” and is looking forward to connecting with at their destination. His delivery over the speakers was flawless, as was his ability to stay in character and absolutely never break, even with Kam Patterson whispering gross suggestions for what he should text. Sarah Sherman, on the other hand, could not keep it together alongside Andrew Dismukes as a delayed couple on the plane, but her reaction were nevertheless charming (as was his when he saw that she could not keep it straight). We even appreciated that none of the disparate elements of the sketch fully connected, making it a true slice-of-life glimpse, beautifully written and in and out before it overstayed its welcome.

Continuing its string of saving the best for last, as well as a night for absurdist humor, this take on a young girl’s last visit to her make-believe world as a woman was absolutely fantastic. Mikey Day and Jeremy Culhane definitely stole the show with their enthusiasm over her gift of pinwheels, but we also have to give it up for Bowen Yang and his reaction to said enthusiasm. It was all so simple and silly and yet masterfully presented from start to finish, and even with a great ending that exemplifies a key difference between childhood and adulthood.

A very strong week for a lot of the cast, with Andrew Dismukes continuing his long streak of being the anchor upon which so many sketches hang. Bowen Yang had some very strong moments (we’re still laughing at his final meltdown) while Sarah Sherman was charming and strong in her sketch work, even when she was losing it on the plane.

Both Tommy Brennan and Jeremy Culhane had big moments tonight, too, with Tommy’s earnestly grounded absurdity in the karaoke sketch, and Jeremy’s beautifully unhinged absurdity to the Make Believe Meadow. Both of them really carried themselves like they’d been here for years, with the confidence it takes to become their roles.

But as fun as they were, these were one-off moments and we could not overlook the incredible performance this week of James Austin Johnson — and we’re talking beyond his work as President Trump. While that’s always fantastic, James has been slowly establishing himself as a great sketch performer outside of his signature role.

When he took over the mic in the American Girl XL commercial, he proved he makes a fantastic host and narrator, which we’ve already seen. He then really impressed as the singing narrator for the runaway bull sketch, but it was his turn as the airplane pilot, keeping that cadence and tone consistent while lamenting his fears that really cemented this for us. He knows the assignment and his professionalism keeps the laughs right where they belong.

Saturday Night Live returns next week with host Glen Powell and musical guest Olivia Dean.