'Saturday Night Live' recap: Double Dua Lipa — and a Jerry Seinfeld surprise
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The home stretch! Welcome back, my dearest Coneheads, to the SNL in Review. It's me - your noble guide, the Count Gore de Vol of the Saturday Night Live recap scene — to usher you through the final three episodes of season 49. First up: Dua Lipa, who appeared as the show's musical guest in seasons 43 and 46. Now the Grammy winner is joining the ranks of musical artists being given the illustrious shot of hosting! Will she be a Justin Timberlake… or a Bad Bunny?
Here's one thing in her favor: she got some acting credits under her belt recently with Argylle and Barbie. Speaking of a massive cultural phenomenon, I am joined by former cast member Jeff Richards. He wasn't in Barbie, but he was in the cast when another pop starlet pulled double duty, Britney Spears. He recalls: "I remember Britney played Barbie with Amy Poehler. It was like I was watching real live Barbie dolls. Very cool!" The show is riding high — the consensus was they knocked it out of the park a few weeks back when Ryan Gosling hosted, and the live action Beavis & Butt-Head sketch killed. I was a little more measured than some of you. And that's fine! I'm enjoying most of these episodes for what they are. It feels like an end of an era. This season has been a well-executed display of what the show can be, given decades of scar tissue and muscle memory. But: is it sustainable like this? NBC We are watching Spectrum NY1. It's the public affairs show "Community Affairs with Ryan Abernathy" - college students are protesting what is happening in Gaza across the country. Affluent white parents Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner are concerned, while sensible working class Columbia dad Kenan Thompson is more supportive, but is certain his daughter Alexis Vanessa Roberts is not joining the protests. "I'm not worried about 5-0," he says - his worry is only on paying his kid's tuition. He's doing Uber Eats, bounty hunting whatever it takes. Fun showcase for Thompson here - though some awkward moments, including his "Live from New York." Not sure Michael Longfellow quite anchored the sketch the right way either - he is still young. Dua Lipa let's everyone know that yes, that is her real name (while also giving a nod to Wendy Williams calling her "Dula Peep." She made her American TV debut at the Tonight Show eight years ago. Tonight, her parents are in the attendance and her third album, Radical Optimism, came out this week. Pretty short monologue, an easy lift for her. We do some audience work, tried and true. The audience members share their problems, and she spins it optimistically. Well, except Gardner's Kristi Noem! Yikes!) Oh my God, Ronnie - it's this again. "Get 'em Spicy!" "Spicy on the track." "Spicy in the closet, fo sho." We saw this album recording session premise back when Ana de Armas hosted. Devon Walker is Spicy, a hot record producer. He wants a tag for his tracks that's menacing and cool. However, the studio voiceover artists (Lipa, Ego Nwodim) are silly and obsessed with his sexuality. A theater fan (Lipa) wants to meet the show's playwright, only known as the Anomalous Man. Meeting the Elephant Man-inspired Peter (Sarah Sherman), she is very compassionate and kind - even as things get stranger and more grotesque. Peter - a poetic soul - is so loyal and devoted. Well, not quite. He has a secret phone! I like this. Good morning, Greenville! Morning talk show host Mason Monroe (Day) is silly today. His cohost is a giggly Gardner. The sunny hosts want to talk about only the most important issue of the day: the rap beef of Drake versus Kendrick Lamar. They are goofy and mispronounce rappers' names. The station's culture critic Wanda (Lipa) has been listening nonstop, stitching all the clues together. Their weather man (Walker) is embarrassed. "Nah," he says, as the hosts pull out masks of the superstar artists and apologize to one another. This is pretty cringe - even though it's about the cringey conversations being spurred by the beef. No thanks. Sonny Angel is a little angel boy who likes wearing all sorts of headgear. He is always by your side to make you smile! Marcello Hernandez visits his girlfriend's house, and realizes she's collecting all the naked cherub figurines. Bowen Yang plays one - they banter a la the new movie Challengers — complete with a churro scene.
At different stages of life - births, death, marriage - it's there for us. Loved by none, but acceptable to all. Bland enough for children! It's that big fat tray of penne alla vodka. The host's close friend and collaborator Troye Sivan introduces her first musical performance, in which she sings "Illusion," the third single from her latest album. It's the first show of spring, Colin Jost notes. (Jeff Richards reflects that NYC this time of year is nice - he remembers running in the park and having tapioca on the waterfront.) Michael Che jokes Drake dropped another diss record after his joke bombs. Jost tells Che that "time's up" after Donald Trump announces he will go after anti-white racism. So the joke swap gimmick is really just their dynamic now, I guess. I like Che's Sylvester Stallone impression. Kristi Noem's other dog (Hernandez) comes on to defend his governor and master. "She's a great owner!" he claims. He's actually scared, however. He can't read but sends Jost secret messages about what he really thinks - she wrote her memoir and listed the anecdote about killing her dog Cricket to impress Trump. Former child star Jojo Siwa (Chloe Fineman) comes out to discuss her new persona. "I'm a bad girl now!" Jost notes she looks like if Mad Max was on Broadway. (Jost has a funny joke about not being allowed to smoke at 8H — unless you're Dave Chappelle.) She thinks she invented a "new genre" of music: gay pop. Jost says that's… just pop. Fun surprise time! Jerry Seinfeld shows up as a man who did too much press. Seinfeld hosted twice in the 1990s, but last cameoed back in season 38. He has been promoting his film Unfrosted, which is on Netflix, aggressively. This is a funny extension of that - and also, an implicit apology for recent comments he made about the extreme left killing modern comedy. (Not that Seinfeld is the type to apologize per se - but it does offer an explanation that maybe he's just burned out after all this PR!)
A couple visits a new OBGYN, whose name is Fat Daddy. Previously, he was the pit master at a BBQ place off the highway. This leads to some funny BBQ puns and visuals, lathering up a visibly pregnant Nwodim. Punkie Johnson comes out giggling - everyone wants their Beavis & Butt-Head moment.
Seinfeld introduce's Lipa's second musical performance. The last musical guest that Seinfeld introduced during an episode? David Bowie! This song, "Happy for You," was just released on Friday. Fun visuals during this - very bright. It's teeny tiny statement pins - for those VIPs who don't want to stay silent, but also don't want to say too much about their politics while on the red carpet. This is the perfect way to split the difference - you can fit 10,000 words on there. You can also embrace some vague imagery too. It's pretty funny to see Marcello with glasses inspecting and staring at a lapel then only saying "Thank you." Cute.
A flooring company has a quarterly earnings problem. Their competition has a funky jingle for their phone number. Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson's characters return to groove. We last saw them during the Jenna Ortega episode. The crowd applauds when they see them! Good vibes. —What did you think? Vote here or below!
—A bit muted?
—Seinfeld was a lone wolf on the goodnights stage.
—Thank you to Jeff Richards! Check out the latest episode of his podcast. The guest is former NFL kicker Martin Gramatica. Richards' favorite moment from the interview? "When he talked about tearing his groan from kicking all those years - the price to pay for his greatness."
—The SNL50 projects are revving up, aren't they folks? Jason Reitman has his movie about the first-ever episode. And now Paul Walter Hauser will play Chris Farley in a biopic. Jeff Richards says "I think Paul will do amazing. He is the perfect choice. He's a great actor." (Jeff has had Kevin Farley on his podcast FWIW.) Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content:
Cold Open
Monologue
"Young Spicy"
"The Anomalous Man"
"Good Morning Greenville"
"Sonny Angel"
"It's There for Us"
Dua Lipa — "Illusion"
"Weekend Update"
"OBGYN"
Dua Lipa — "Happy for You"
"Teeny Tiny Statement Pin"
"Jingle Pitch 2"
Final Thoughts