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It was also a night packed wall-to-wall with cast members, with many seeing more appearances tonight than they have all season. Seven cast members made five or more appearances, with four more appearing in four different sketches on the night.

And those sketches were all over the place, from a small dog park, to a bounce house, a coffee shop, and a classroom that featured not one, but two different sketches about the proliferation of podcasts. The show touched on AI, medicine, God, Valentine’s Day, and of course, President Trump’s inauguration and first days in office.

James Austin Johnson put an exclamation point on his incredible impression of the president, as he made a surprise appearance alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, recurring in his role as Alexander Hamilton for a Founding Fathers sketch — or at least, that’s how it started.

We’re not sure if it was the Chalamet influence, but this was one of the weirdest shows we’ve seen in a while, but also one of the funniest. And we’re kind of impressed that the show itself was so strong that they had Adam Sandler in the house to introduce one of Timothée’s two Bob Dylan musical performances and didn’t shoehorn him into anything else!

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.

Timothée Chalamet cracked a few jokes about his terrible goatee, stumbled over a pretty funny crack about what Bob Dylan and Willy Wonka have in common — making us a little nervous about his ability to keep it together through the rest of the show, though we needn’t have worried. There was a nervous charm to his delivery, which seemed a little odd for a third-time host, but it could be because he was also slated to sing and he was nervous about that. “They’re either really nice for letting me do this or incredibly mean,” he said of his upcoming musical performances, wondering it it was a prank.

Actually, this is a pretty good idea that could convince stubborn (stupid?) men between the ages of 20-45 to actually go to the doctor and take care of their bodies. This faux commercial reveals a revolutionary new format that makes men feel like they’re the guest on a sick new podcast that occasionally acts as a real doctor’s appointment. Props to Andrew Dismukes for shifting effortlessly between zany podcast host and serious doctor to really help sell this ridiculous premise. But it’s not nearly as ridiculous as the fact that this would probably actually work.

This whole sketch was both dumb and funny, with Timothée Chalamet  the instructor of a bounce exercise class that could not have been less exercise. The class was filled with ladies and one boyfriend, played by Michael Longfellow. He’s the perfect cast member to express disdain at the ridiculousness of the whole premise as everyone flies around the room doing almost nothing at all — and getting the same in results. Throw in a little physical humor and commitment to the bit from everyone and we found ourselves laughing by the end, despite ourselves.

Two podcast sketches in one night? SNL is making its way to the modern era! And both of them involve using podcasts to trick people into doing things they don’t want to do. In this case, it’s about tricking kids into learning. The parallels were kind of odd, but the addition of AI gave us the extra absurdity of Timothée Chalamet and Bowen Yang strange AI non-sequiturs as part of their educational push. The only thing missing was them having the facts completely wrong, as AI often does. Nevertheless, it was silly enough to entertain, if it did feel a bit redundant.

Ashley Padilla was great in narration as Heidi Gardner — who usually takes that role — took on a lead position as the mom in this fake ad for a new product to support your deeply and inappropriately close relationship with your mother. Michael Longfellow was great as the son, while Mikey Day was the perfect foil as his inept father quickly losing control, but we felt they missed a huge opportunity with a one-and-done cameo appearance by Chloe Fineman as Michael’s girlfriend. So much more could have been done to touch on her response to the bizarre reality — and fantasy sequences — that unfolded, siding her with Mikey in this one. What we got was entertaining enough, but it could have been so much more.

Sarah Sherman was perfectly in character as a 92-year-old grandmother enjoying her birthday with her family in a slice-of-life piece that took an absurd turn when her character suffered a heart attack and collapsed just as Timothée Chalamet’s doctor character arrived. He performed a rather unorthodox resuscitation technique that was extremely juvenile humor, but it worked beautifully, both saving her life and creating a template for laughs through the rest of the sketch. While there were little moments that had us giggling, Kenan Thompson’s ultimate reaction as a family friend definitely stole the whole bizarre sketch.

What if God was a bro chode? Honestly, we could have watched way more little vignettes of the creation of all things through this filter as the dialogue was smart and funny, not to mention the animation. We may be haunted by the sight of those baby kangaroos for the rest of our lives! This is a new sketch format for the show, which hasn’t really delved deep into comedy since the TV Funhouse era, but with such a strong, short outing, we really hope they dip into this well again.

As expected, Colin Jost and Michael Che laid into Trump’s first actions in his return to the White House, and there were a lot of them. Che joked that Trump’s comments about January 6 rioters being pardoned because “they loved their country,” was “like how OJ loved Nicole.” He later defended Elon Musk’s not-a-Nazi salute by noting one key difference between him and Nazis … “Nazis made nice cars.” They took on Trump’s executive orders, ICE and DEI changes and even bathroom etiquette in a strong opening segment that sets the stage for the next four years.

Ego Nwodim dropped by as Giselle with a serious warning for Black women in America as Trump continues his tariff threats … you better stock up on wigs! She lamented the possible loss of international wigs impacting her style and look, which was just a way to set up Che and attack him for not wanting to hook up with a Black woman if she wears her natural hair. The segment was short and sweet (and funny), with the interplay between Ego and her “twin” just perfect.

Wait? So Totino’s Pizza Flavor Cinnamon Toast Crunch is not some AI abomination on social media (we assume everything is now)? While there was a seriousness behind some of the jokes in the political segment, all of it went out the window as the boys got ridiculous with their other news coverage. They ripped on Emilia Pérez’ “13 total viewers” i.e. Oscar nominations, Jost got petulant about eating oatmeal and Che revealed that egg prices are heigh because of “new laws in red states that force chickens to carry their eggs to term.”

We loved the direction this piece went when Andrew Dismukes came out to show off his new ventriloquism routine with his puppet dad and it turned out to just be a way for him to fantasize about the kind of nurturing relationship he wishes he had with his father. His puppet dad is kind and supportive and loving, completely with schmaltzy music to set the mood. But it was Andrew’s earnest delivery in both roles that really sold the sillness as his dad praised him as “the 17th most famous current cast members on SNL.”

The ending was way too obvious, but we enjoyed every moment up until it. While Timothée Chalamet was great as a wannabe comedian going way too Chris Rock in the ’90s while trying to come up with coffee buns for a chalkboard sign, we loved the overall escalation of the sketch. But even more, we loved the subtle character work being done by Heidi Gardner as she interacted with two other trainees, played by Devon Walker and Ashley Padilla. The interplay between Heidi and Ashley, in particular, was pure magic as it added additional depth to the piece that made this a combination character piece and over-the-top ridiculousness. The combination was magical.

With this Cold Open, the new era of SNL political opens was off and running and what a great monologue by James Austin Johnson’s Trump impression, overshadowing what looked like it was going to be a Found Fathers sketch with the “Lin-Manuel Miranda Cosgrove … he’s such a Miranda” reprising his Hamlet role. Instead, Lin and the cast froze as Trump interrupted to talk his inauguration (“”Broligarchs before holigarchs”), Elon Musk’s not-a-Nazi salute (“A new greeting, a cross between hi and hello. We’re calling it heil!”) and his overall vision for the country, inspired by the original FF: “”Just like them, we’re doing it very whitely.”

James also poked fun at the cast and Lin, all frozen in position behind him, finally pushing the Broadway icon to the breaking point when he got right up on him. “He’s in sniffing distance of an EGOT and he’s gotta stand there until I’m done,” James quipped. All in all, this was a stellar political open, proving that James is the perfect guy to shepard the show through a second Trump inauguration with one of the best impressions the show has ever seen. It was sharp, funny, a little nonsensical, and felt completely right.

Sometimes observational humor and pure silliness can create magic, and we have zero notes for this brilliant little sketch about little dogs (if they were people). Every interaction and conversation between the cast members as little dogs was recognizable and funny, with most made even funnier by how absurd it was seeing human beings perform these moments. Everyone was fully committed to their role, whether it be the zoomies, dragging their itchy butts or humping. This is one of those sketches that looked as fun to perform as it was to watch, with the great costuming and makeup helping to sell this bizarro vision.

After Dave Chappelle dominated last week’s show, it was amazing how many sketches and how many cast members appeared over and over throughout the night. While Jane Wickline is still finding her place in sketches, Ashley Padilla is quickly emerging as a solid, reliable sketch performer. She was everywhere tonight — even in voiceover — and delivered every single time.

It was also a good night for the veterans, with Chloe, Sarah, Andrew and Mikey each bringing their unique brand of humor to multiple roles with great success. But for us, the night was carried by two of the show’s most senior veterans, Heidi Gardner and Kenan Thompson.

Kenan was fantastic as a cliche standup comic, a very stupid little dog, and his scene-stealing take in the fart doctor sketch. But even Kenan’s dominance couldn’t quite hold to Heidi’s night, proving once again her versatility and key role as a glue that holds so many sketch moments together.

From an amorous mom to a butt-scratching dog, an eager bounce exercise student, a frightened daughter (or granddaughter), and a commercial spokesperson, Heidi proved she can carry any role. But it was her subtle disdain for Ashley’s barista trainee that brought something extra to the coffee sketch that we couldn’t quite shake.

She’s such a smart performer, knowing when less is more and when to go broad. In her eighth season on the show, it’s crazy how essential she’s become to the comedy ensemble. And while she doesn’t have a lot of showy characters — in a cast with few recurring bits — she is nevertheless a major presence that will be missed whenever she decides to take her formidable talent to the next phase of her career.

The SNL 50th season celebration continues with Ladies and Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by the big Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special three-hour event on February 16 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, with new episodes set to resume after that.