The 39th season of “Saturday Night Live” began last Saturday night. Anticipations were high as six new cast members made their debut, replacing longtime “SNL” veterans Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis. NBC and Lorne Michaels were determined to silence the large number of people asking, “Who’s even on SNL anymore?” They didn’t hide the elephant in the room and, in a self-aware manner, mentioned the new unknown cast members throughout the show.
“It’s a rebuilding year,” host Tina Fey said in her monologue. She continued with, “as they keep saying in my plastic surgeon’s office.”
The premiere episode definitely started the year off the right way. Though most of the new cast members didn’t get a lot of screen time, the ones that did were hilarious. And the episode was actually quite funny. This was also thanks in large part to master host Fey and returning cast members Bobby Moynihan, Taran Killam and Cecily Strong.
New guy Mike O’Brien got a chance to stand out in the best skit of the night, “The First Used Car Commercial.” O’Brien perfectly delivered lines like “These cars have everything! Seats!” and “We’ve got all the newest makes and models! Model T!” Fey also provided great backup for the new guy as his crazy wife Daisy, who kept popping in and out of the commercial. If you’re only going to watch one skit from this episode, make it this one.
Fey’s monologue was also a highlight. “I don’t really have any recurring characters. I’m just clever,” Fey said after listing off her fake characters, including Johnny Jean Jacket, Queef Latina and Salvador Dali Parton. She ended the monologue by bringing out the six new cast members and making them dance around her in gold spandex shorts and matching gold sequined jackets. “Let your spirit die,” she taunted them while making them “crotch shake.”
Fey ended the monologue by telling them, “Thank you. You’re done for the night.” This joke turned out to be mostly true, as we didn’t see the majority of the newbies for the rest of the night. They were brought out in the not-very-funny skit, “New Cast Member or Arcade Fire?” which was a stupid game show setup that was as lame as it sounds.
We never got to hear the new players’ names, except for in the opening credits. In case you haven’t heard, they are: O’Brien, Beck Bennett, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, Noel Wells and Brooks Wheelan. Unless you’re a huge stand-up comedy fan, the only one you’d probably recognize is Bennett, who is best known as the guy in the AT&T commercials with the funny kids.
Bennett, Milhiser, Mooney and Wheelan didn’t get to do a whole lot, but the only new female cast member, Noel Wells, was great as Hannah in the “Girls” parody, doing a perfect Lena Dunham impression. Fey also made that skit one of the show’s best moments as the new “girl,” Blerta from Albania.
“Weekend Update” also didn’t disappoint, with Seth Meyers hilarious as usual, and new co-anchor Strong nailing the segment’s traditional deadpan delivery. Again, the show relied on a returning cast member to finish the skit strong, with Moynihan doing his fan favorite character, “Drunk Uncle.” He was hilarious as usual, and Aaron Paul from “Breaking Bad” showed up for the third time in the episode as Jesse Pinkman—or as Drunk Uncle called him, his “meth nephew, Jesse Drinkman.”
Overall, I’d say this episode was a success. The new cast members who actually got a chance to speak were pretty funny and provided some of the show’s best moments. Hopefully we’ll get to hear more than a few lines from them soon. The season continues next week with Miley Cyrus as the host and musical guest. It’ll be interesting to see how new cast members do without a strong host like Fey to back them up. After last night though, I think they have what it takes. Maybe this season won’t be a disaster after all!
