A Review of the 50th Season Premiere of ‘SNL’ by a Barnard Audience Member
“Saturday Night Live” recently premiered its 50th season, with host Jean Smart and musical guest Jelly Roll.
Photography by Emma-Caroline Avery/The Barnard Bulletin
October 9, 2024
On Saturday, September 28th, 2024, the late-night comedy show “Saturday Night Live,” premiered its 50th season. To kick off the season, Jean Smart, a six-time Emmy winner and the star of “Hacks,” hosted with musical guest Jelly Roll. I was lucky enough to attend with my friend, Rebecca Schiff (BC '27), having scored two lottery tickets the Tuesday before. On the short subway ride to NBC Studios, I thought about how Barnard’s ideal location in the city allows students to experience its artistic and cultural events, such as “SNL.”
“Everyone came from all over to watch ‘SNL,’” said Schiff. “It is a cool way to bring people together. It was interesting to see the wide range of ages and types of people there.”
The studio is smaller than it appears on the screen, consisting of two stages: one for the band and opening monologue and the other for musical performances. At the two ends of the studio, there were sets prepared for the various skits. Before the show began, Michael Che, co-host of Weekend Update with Colin Jost, greeted the audience on stage. As someone who had only seen him in his SNL sketches before, seeing him out of character and engaging directly with them was an exciting new perspective.
After Che’s introduction, the crew set up for the cold open, a personal highlight of the night. A Harris-Walz campaign stage was set up and to the left of it, a Trump-Vance stage. Following the showrunners’ countdown to go live, Maya Rudolph suddenly appeared on the stage as Kamala Harris. No one could have played her better, bringing a dynamic and light-hearted energy to a political sketch.
“Maya Rudolph had the same mannerisms as Kamala. When you see it live it feels even crazier that an actress can do it on the spot so well,” Schiff commented.
Soon, Andy Sandberg came onto the stage, playing Joe Biden, which caused audience members, like myself, to shriek in excitement. His Biden impression accomplished the goal of making both Rudolph and the audience cringe with his incomplete sentences and up-close and personal touching.
Although all the sketches had time to shine, the Weekend Update segment where Bowen Yang played the viral baby hippo, Moo Deng, stood out. Watching how Jost and Che reacted to each other’s jokes was a highlight of the update. During Yang’s bit, he satirized the recent Chappell Roan controversy around her backing out of the All Things Go music festival earlier that day, dramatizing how hard it is to be in the spotlight, even as a hippo! The audience laughed along with every joke. At one point, Jost broke character and started laughing during his interview with Moo Deng. This served as a reminder that even though the cast members are on stage and live TV, their goal is for the live audience to enjoy and laugh with—and often at—them.
However, amongst the all-star cast and special guests, Jean Smart was a mediocre host. She seemed reserved in both her opening monologue and sketches, leaving her performances unmemorable. However, one sketch that did stand out was when she played a romance novelist who was assigned to write a math textbook by Scholastic. Her racy math problems filled with sexual innuendos were genius and had the audience in a perpetual state of laughter. Perhaps, even if just to appreciate her stage presence, I will have to watch her latest show, “Hacks.”
Jean Smart may not have been my ideal choice for SNL, but it didn’t take away from the wonder of seeing the show live. Regardless, I was happy to be in the audience. It is truly amazing to see how quickly the sets change and how much fun the cast members have on stage.
“As a film major with a dad in the entertainment industry, I’m familiar with how sets work. However, I had never seen something as fast-paced and well-thought-out as SNL,” said Schiff when discussing the show afterward.
Since its premiere, “SNL” has aired another episode with host Nate Bargatze and musical guest Coldplay. The sketches did not disappoint, featuring the new SNL cast member and comedy TikTok star Jane Wickline.
For future seasons, whether you are a huge fan of SNL or watch it on occasion, I encourage everyone to enter the ticket lottery next August. All you have to do is send an email to SNLTICKETS@nbcuni.com expressing why you love SNL. Or you can request standby tickets the Thursday before a show. Although receiving tickets is not guaranteed, it is definitely worth seeing the show live, especially since Barnard is only a few subway stops away from NBC Studios.