Conehead Nation, stand up! SNL in Review: The Anniversary Review is back, and we’re already three episodes in. Many of you agreed with me that last week’s episode was a nice recovery from a clumsy, awkward season premiere. Numbers don’t lie. Tonight we have a special match: Bowen Yang’s Bad costar Ariana Grande is paired with a deep cut SNL musical guest, a true legend: Stevie Nicks. Here’s how big Stevie Nicks is: not only did she first appear on 8H in 1983, but there’s also a classic sketch that Nicks spoofs that is itself over 25 years old! Longevity and lore, folks. SNL50.

Grande last appeared on SNL a few months ago — but as a musical guest. However, she has hosted before, in season 41. (The Tidal Breakdown sketch remains a late-period classic.) Taran Killam, who now stars in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center (which opened this weekend), shares, “The thing I’m most excited about is Stevie Nicks. Her with Ariana as host is appointment television for me.”

Stay tuned for more below! Former cast member Gary Kroeger also brings some quotes to this memorable evening and season.

Opened cold

The football game broadcast on NBC caused a “game delay” of tonight’s Cold Open. Kaitlan Collins (Chloe Fineman) is at CNN. She describes Donald Trump’s fear of taking on Kamala Harris – except Family feud! So here we go…

Kenan Thompson gets to bring out his great Steve Harvey. Maya Rudolph returns as Vice President Harris; she was active in the media this week. With her, as always, is Andy Samberg as “Doug the Shrug” alongside Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) and Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan). Steve Harvey asks Harris what she keeps in her glove compartment. After she delivers her standard stump speech, Harvey convinces her to say “glock.” And when it’s Doug’s turn, he says “second gun” – the rest of the Democratic team isn’t as successful.

James Austin Johnson’s Trump is NOT accompanied by his wife Melania. Mikey Day returns as Don Jr. but no Alex Moffat as Eric? That’s a shame.

Doug Emeroff has expressed his approval of Andy Samberg’s impression, as has Kamala Harris of Rudolph’s portrayal of her. I asked Gary Kroeger if Samberg’s vision was too soft. He notes, “It is the actor’s job to make the impression and it is the sketch’s job to make the satire. An impression is not necessarily a perfect impersonation, but should have a character twist that the actor comes to reveal a character new way to look at it… The fact that Emeroff liked Samberg’s impression is nice, I think I think the subject being imitated would be amusing.

Kroeger adds, “I don’t care about celebrities being brought in to do the political impressions. I don’t dispute its success or the fact that it can increase viewership, but I’ve always thought the cast should give it their all.” doing SNL with very few exceptions. To me, that’s the magic of the show, that there’s a cast that can do anything that’s put in front of it.”

Monologue

Grande notes that she has had a great year; she’s a theater kid, so it’s a dream to be in Bad. One point: she is only here to host, stay calm and NOT sing. With that she immediately bursts into song. And yes, she imitates Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani during her song. As previously noted, she did this in an actual sketch in 2016. With modern SNLHowever, it’s just a box they tick.

Grande and Bowen Yang have a nice moment on commentary Bad. (Gary Kroeger hasn’t seen the show, but remembers his former cast member Tim Kazurinsky once being on it and hearing it was great!)

At the end of her song, she calls together a choir of dancers for the grand finale. But…she claims she’s keeping it low key!

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“Wedding”

Johnson is finishing up a standard and boring best man speech at a wedding reception. The bridesmaids, however, are quirky and a little different: they wrote a special song about the bride’s bachelorette party in Charleston. And so begins a parody of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” The girls – Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman and Grande – tell a story about the bride and a man named Domingo who get together during girls’ weekend. “Not for nothing, but the rhyme scheme completely disappeared over the weekend,” laments the groom (Andrew Dismukes). He is becoming increasingly concerned. I like that the vocals are a bit out of tune; it’s not supposed to be good.

But wait, Marcello Hernandez also makes a surprise appearance as Domingo!

“Saturday Night Live Midnight Matinee – My Best Friend’s House”

These are Dan Bulla shorts, folks. Grande shows up at her best friend’s house, marking her third time singing tonight! She thinks nostalgically about the smell of this house: the brother’s deodorant, the sauce that smells like father. It’s cute, until things take a dark turn. Looks like she missed a few clues.

Sarah Squirm as a severed human head is cunning casting.

FYI: Bulla has produced several Adam Sandler films, such as The Ridiculous 6, Murder Mystery, And Hubie Halloween. He has been writing for the show since 2019, but was just named as a writing supervisor.

“Charades with Mom”

Bowen Yang meets his friend’s parents and they start playing charades. The mother (Grande) becomes very competitive and mean. She continues to belittle Yang. It’s clear that the show sees Yang as its star these days. There’s a fake body moment and then a polyamorous kiss.

Jane Wickline remains a little awkward, doesn’t she?

“Celine Dion’s UFC Promotion”

Ah yes, now we’re rereading Grande’s Dion impression. In a hilarious new promo for Sunday Night Football, Dion joked that her hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” perfectly captures the NFL rivalry. So now, SNL‘s satirical take is: what if she did it for UFC? Certainly.

Stevie Nicks sings ‘The Lighthouse’

“The Lighthouse” was released last month as a rallying cry for women, intended to reinvigorate the fight for reproductive health care. “I have my scars, you have yours. Don’t let them, take your power,” she sings. “They will take your soul, they will take your power, unless you save it.” What a ballad.

As mentioned, Nicks first played 8H in the early ’80s. Gary Kroeger remembers that appearance in Season 8: “I was in my 20s when she did that SNL during my time there! When she came on the scene ten years earlier, I was a teenager! Was I a fan of Stevie Nicks? Of course I was! She was one of them, if not the Goddess of rock ‘n’ roll. I was too nervous to say hello. My memory was that she didn’t hang out much and I don’t remember her at the after party, but that doesn’t mean my memory is correct. Just that I was too shy to say anything. She was great on the show.”

Sheryl Crow plays guitar and bass and sings on this song, which she co-produced. (And yes, she’s played 8H three times.)

Weekend update

Coachella, like Trump, brings out the worst in white people, says Colin Jost. Michael Che jokes that Trump will soon have bangs. More Trump jokes – Jost makes a cheeky abortion joke and then calls out Mayor Adams of New York. “It’s the ’90s, Colin,” Che shouts back (twice). A few Diddy jokes tonight!

Strangely happy Amazon employee Monica (Ego Nwodim) wishes us good morning: It’s Prime Day, Amazon’s biggest sales event. She works so much, she has invented her own day and works with drones. Pretty funny commentary on the modern tech workforce/economy.

Joel and Liam Gallagher drop by to discuss their Oasis reunion. Tonight they are played by Sarah Sherman and James Austin Johnson. They discuss what they agree on: cartoons. Jost needs their upcoming tour to train so he can compete and win the White Boy of the Year award. Hi SNL History nerds, Jim Breuer played Liam Gallagher in Jon Lovitz’s November 1997 episode during the “Set Our Nanny Free” sketch. Oasis also played 8H in October 1997 with presenter Matthew Perry.

“Italy, late Renaissance”

The Italian Renaissance was a period of profound cultural, artistic and intellectual revival in Italy from the 14th to the 17th centuries.

Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg appear in this sketch. I’ve said it before, but these glorified celebrity appearances aren’t merely guest cameos. It is SNL50, a special season – let’s think of these entries as the Avengers Unite moment of live network comedy. Call them what they are: real cast members! Dana Carvey too. It’s not just semantics. What exactly are we doing here?

Anyway, the pale and sickly Antonio (Grande) is the son of Rudolph and Samberg, blessed with a heavenly singing voice. They castrated him to perfect his voice for the local royalty (Dismukes). Antonio appears dead inside, despite his parents’ protests.

Grande sings “Twist and Shout” here – another sketch where the show leans on her voice. Pleasure.

Stevie Nicks performs ‘Edge of Seventeen’

After the second ‘game delay’ of this episode, we return from commercial – and it’s worth it! “Edge of Seventeen” is on the menu, and somewhere I know Joan Cusack is pleased. A timeless classic. She moves on to “Nightbird,” which she performed during her last appearance on the show. I’m a fan of this!

Another sign of Nicks’ longevity: 45 years ago today, Fleetwood Mac released their album Tusk.

“Jennifer Coolidge for Maybelline”

Chloe Fineman and Grande perform dueling Coolidge performances through the mirror. “Wow!” Fineman previously played Coolidge on the Austin Butler and Aubrey Plaza episodes.

Here’s a crazy surprise: Fineman removes the mirror and Dana Carvey appears. (Reminder: Just call these celebrities what they are: part of the cast!)

This one goes on a bit long, because of the premise.

“The Hotel Detective”

SNL becomes black and white. Grande and Johnson spout some 1940s dialogue as she and Dismukes accuse each other of being badge fraudsters. Goofy rat-a-tat deliveries, oh my.

Michael Longfellow ‘sells’ the ending as Rod Serling – and comments on it SNL in the process – is a curious touch. Feels rushed.

Final thoughts

-Welp, what did you think of this? Vote here!

—Thanks as always to Gary Kroeger! View the The Gary and Kenny Show on YouTube! Here’s their latest episode with Paul Shaffer.