'SNL' premiere recap: Jean Smart ushers in landmark Season 50

In the 50th season premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” not much was made about it being 50 historic years, save for a few mentions in the monologue and at the top of “Weekend Update.” But that’s all right, the show will get a proper celebration in February with a three-hour special. For this first new episode with guest host Jean Smart (quite a legend herself), it felt as if the series had a lot to get to, and barely enough time with only 90 minutes to cover everything that happened over the summer, or even the last two weeks.

Moo Deng, Eric Adams, the Harris-Trump debate, the summer of Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson: the show had it all. And it had a game host in Smart, a recent Emmy-winner for “Hacks”, who is always great, but who wasn’t especially served with the kind of home-run sketches you’d expect someone of her stature to get for a big season opener.

Something about the pace of some of the sketches didn’t align with Smart’s crackerjack skill at one-liners (razor sharp in “Hacks”), like a scene about a romance writer who spiced up a math textbook for kids. Don’t put Smart on your show and then saddle her with reading long stretches of text from a book in front of her face. She wasn’t given a lot to do in the debut of a Charli XCX show called “The Talk Talk Show,” hosted by Bowen Yang (as XCX), where she employed a thick German accent to play a fashion icon. And in an end-of-episode closer about the “Real Housewives of Santa Fe,” the sketch was more about steaming fajitas than the featured housewives.

Much better was a spoof of a CNN documentary on “I Love Lucy,” in which Smart played a dramatic actress who took on the title role before Lucille Ball was cast (with Marcello Hernandez as Desi Arnaz), and a “$100,000 Pyramid” parody featuring Smart as Tonia Haddix (with a monkey puppet) from “Chimp Crazy.”

It was the kind of week where the regular sketches took a backseat to a very strong cold open and a “Weekend Update” with a whole summer’s worth of weird news to feast on. It was also a week with a new opening credits sequence and the introduction of three new cast members (but you didn’t see much of them in this episode), after the departures of Chloe Troast, Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney.

Musical guest Jelly Roll, introduced by Smart and “Hacks” co-star Hannah Einbinder (the daughter of original “SNL” cast member Laraine Newman), performed “Liar.” He returned later in the show with “Winning Streak.” Before the final hugs, a title card honored Tom McCarthy, a former head of security at NBC who died in July. At one time, he was involved in a Secret Service investigation about material comedian John Mulaney performed on the show.

You could argue that 13 minutes is far too long for an “SNL” cold open, but this one was packed with so many jokes and so many walk-on guests doing spot-on impersonations — after a summer of speculation of who would play which politician — that it never overstayed its welcome.

After a brief introduction by self-consciously handsome David Muir (Andrew Dismukes), Maya Rudolph returned as presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, now with a whole bag of new tricks, including the signature laugh, the obligatory “fell out of a coconut tree” reference, some dance moves and great lines, such as comparing her campaign with Sabrina Carpenter’s hit “Espresso”: “The lyrics are vague but the vibe slaps,” she said.

Then came the guest stars. As some expected, Jim Gaffigan made a perfect Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and Harris’ running mate, nailing the voice and the midwesternisms (“I haven’t been this excited since I got a 10 percent discount on a leaf blower at Menards!”). Andy Samberg was goofy and playful as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who joked that as first gentleman, he’ll decorate the White House for Christmas with the theme “Hanukkah.”

James Austin Johnson remained in the role of former President Trump, this time behind bulletproof glass and riffing on Sean “Diddy” Combs (“They’re taking your pets and doing freak-offs … they’re doing a Diddy.”), joined by Bowen Yang as running mate JD Vance.

But the real surprise was Dana Carvey returning to “SNL” to once again carve out an indelible impression of a politician during election season. He played President Biden, an impression he’s been perfecting on his podcast with David Spade, and nailed it so well you wonder why this in-the-bag performance wasn’t on the show four years ago. “And guess what, and by the way, the fact of the matter is, no joke, I’m being serious, right now,” said Carvey as Biden, and it was perfect.

Smart’s monologue was light on jokes (but they were good ones) and big on vibes. She performed a take on Judy Garland’s “I Happen to Like New York,” interspersed with commentary about how she started her career in the city around the same time “SNL” began in 1975. She said she mistook the letters for “Saturday Night Laughs.” “Then I watched the show and I thought, ‘That can’t be right.’” Smart joked that she’s been wanting to do the show since then but, “This is the first Saturday that worked with my schedule.” It’s not hard to imagine an alternate timeline with Smart in that original cast and her career launching that way, but let’s just say things have worked out quite well for her regardless.

Best sketch of the night: Spirit Halloween will bounce on Nov. 1

What happens to all the abandoned K-Marts, condemned AutoZones and empty malls across America? For six glorious weeks, they become Spirit Halloween stores that pop up in minutes. In this pre-taped sketch, employees Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner and Michael Longfellow discuss how the stores help communities (and otherwise unemployable local perverts) and offer wigs that give you rashes, single-use fog machines and shady lawsuit-avoiding costumes with names like “Candy Slave” (Oompa Loompa) and “Fat Yellow Worker” (Minion). “This isn’t Taylor Swift,” a young girl says of a knock-off costume. “And neither are you,” Fineman tells her. After Halloween, all the stores will disappear instantly. Sorry, no refunds.

Also good: Let the monkey win ‘$100,000 Pyramid’

A well-cast piece featuring Devon Walker as host Michael Strahan, Hernandez as Bad Bunny, Kenan Thompson as Robinson and Fineman as Hawk Tuah Girl (real name Haliey Welch). The jokes flew fast over some very naughty activities Robinson has allegedly engaged in and Haddix (Smart) answering every question in relation to monkeys. It was quick-paced and very funny.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Eric Adams has still got (too much) swagger

Just for the costume and water sprays alone, it’s tempting to give the award this week to Yang’s hilarious portrayal of the famed baby hippo Moo Deng, but Walker as embattled New York City mayor Eric Adams had a lot more meat on the bones than, say, a zookeeper’s ankle. Adams kept trying to implicate Michael Che even as he declared his innocence and proclaimed his love for the city’s workers: “The dancers, the bottle girls, Fat Joe.” Walker-as-Adams said he loves traveling to Turkey, especially given his love of Turkish Delight (a briefcase from Turkey with $100,000 in it).

‘Weekend Update’ loser: Che’s tiresome, offensive jokes

By now it’s old hat that Che is going to throw in some jokes that are only funny because they’re so lazily offensive that it’s shocking someone would tell them on TV in 2024. That’s supposed to be the joke: Che getting away with such retrograde takes. Among his targets this week: Harris (for being a woman who talks and talks), Chinese drivers and Haitians, whom Che joked were chasing the house cat who traveled 800 miles to return home from Yellowstone Park.