10/11/25: Amy Poehler | Role Model

 

Bondi Hearing

• Dismukes’ John Kennedy impression isn’t working for me, which is a shame since the senator himself is RIPE for parody.

• Nice to see Amy in the cold open, and she’s really funny in this so far with her bossy attitude.

• Amy as Bondi: Before I don’t answer, I would like to insult you personally.

• Good moment with Jeremy trying to get the senators to clap along to his Jeffrey Epstein chant.

• I like how a good majority of the featured players are playing senators in this, it’s a good contrast to how almost all of them got basically NOTHING in the preceding episode.

• We get our obligatory Tina Fey cameo.

• I’m hearing a LOT of Sarah Palin speech patterns in this Kristi Noem impression, but Tina is giving a solid performance in this, so I’m not gonna complain.

• Tina as Kristi: Dogs don’t just get shot, heroes shoot them.

• I love the ad that Tina and Amy perform, and there are some great lines “Do you use zip ties because your family doesn’t trust you with keys?” “Do you take supplements you bought from a gas station?”

Rating: ***½

Monologue

• Amy: I found my first love here. Being famous!

• I loved the mention of her podcast “Good Hang”.

• As usual with the past few seasons, this is just a charmologue. These always work for me, but it usually depends on how well the host does with it. Amy is (obviously) doing well here, so I’m really enjoying this so far.

• I really love the mention of how this episode aired exactly 50 years after the first ever episode of SNL aired.

• Ha, exactly like Amy’s first hosting stint, we get a comedically quick newbie acknowledgement.

Rating: ***

The Rudemans

• I love the throwback style theme song that this sketch has.

• The main conceit to this, with Ashley’s family being rude, is very one-note on paper, but it has an energy that’s really funny to me. The throwback style with “A family all has one trait” is helping my enjoyment.

• Bowen is noticeably laughing at some moments during this. It’s something I’ve noticed with a lot of cast members throughout the past few seasons (particularly Ego last season). It’s sort of a nitpick I have with the show now, where it seems like the majority of the cast members have a weirdly hard time staying in character for certain sketches.

• Amy’s phone call was really funny.

• Dismukes: Why do they all talk like they're a cashier at Buffalo Exchange?

• I didn’t care for the random pratfall through a table Sarah just did. It felt WAY too non-sequitur for it to make sense.

• I’m honestly not caring for the final minute of this sketch in general. It feels like the writers of this sketch couldn’t think of where else this could go, and just started writing random things to happen.

Rating: **½

Non-Non-Alcoholic Beer

• I love the concept of this pre-taped commercial.

• Dismukes: It’s got the same taste as Non-Alcoholic Beer, but with more alcohol than any beverage currently on the market!

• I LOVE the exchange between Ashley and Dismukes just now 

“Eric, you’re sober”  “And you’ve gained a few. Looks like we’re two things!”.

• Great ending with Dismukes zooming past the officer after he asked to give him a breathalyzer.

Rating: ***½

Miss Lycus The Fast Psychic

• Amy calling Sarah’s shirt a table cloth is really funny, and Amy saying Sarah’s dad is dead before Sarah could finish her question was great.

• I’m really enjoying the fast pace this has, and Amy is carrying this really well.

• Amy telling everyone their relatives are dead is pretty one-note, but Amy is making it work.

• Amy saying that Ashley and Ben look like siblings is really funny.

• Funny moment with the long list of corrections of people who aren’t actually dead. It reminds me of the solid Fox & Friends sketches that were done in the Kristen Wiig era.

• Funny ending with Marcello getting cut off after being the only one to ask a question about JAJ’s book.

Rating: ***

The Hunting Wives Season 2

• I like the fun vibe this has, and everyone in this is giving solid performances, but they aren’t doing anything with the main joke here. They just revealed it at the beginning, and let it play out, without it going anywhere interesting.

• I loved the critic review “It’s like Call Me By Your Name, if it were made for women who shop at Bass Pro Shops”

• We get a VERY welcome cameo from Aubrey Plaza (who hosted an underrated Season 48 episode).

Rating: **½

Work Birth

• I like the way this is set up, with Amy’s character being VERY pregnant at work. I’m not sure if it’s a tongue in cheek reference or not, but it reminds me of Amy’s pregnancy during her final season.

• Tommy’s delivery is noticeably shaky, but he’s a newbie so I can forgive it.

• HILARIOUS cutaway to Amy in her “birthing pool”.

• OH MY GOD at Ben’s costume as this random character. I’m really enjoying the absurdity in this so far.

• Funny moment with Amy yelling that something’s wrong, and it turning out to be a typo in the document Ashley was showing her. Amy is executing this really well.

• I love the escalation this is taking, with Mikey walking on as Amy’s husband, and getting in the pool with her.

• Ben “simulating the motion of the tides” with the pool is really funny, he’s been giving a very solid performance in this.

• Great ending with Bowen as the newborn baby giving a heartfelt speech to the camera. This is the type of absurdity that I miss in Bowen’s work on the show.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• The “seen here” joke about RFK from Colin was pretty funny, but nothing else has been noteworthy so far.

• Interesting seeing Sarah do an Update commentary on Che’s side of the desk. This hasn’t happened since Season 48.

• Yeah, turns out being on Che’s side doesn’t change my biggest issues with her as a performer (Overacting/mugging, coming off obnoxious). The first issue is PARTICULARLY noticeably here, with her eyes being bug-eyed, and the unnecessary twitching.

• I have no idea why this suddenly turned into Sarah reading a Mamdani fanfic, but this isn’t ANYTHING interesting or funny to me.

• I did get a good laugh from Colin proudly answering “Staten Island” after Sarah asked where all the violent cops live.

• An absolutely HILARIOUS clip of Colin being inserted into a video of Trump and Epstein together. Colin’s reaction made it even funnier.

• We get the return of Grant and Alyssa. I’m kinda iffy on them appearing at the desk again. I feel like they could do many different things with these characters.

• Grant, on Fall: I just call it the time when all the trees lose their hair!

• These commentaries are always the same thing, but the characters are so likable, that I can’t help but enjoy them.

• Funny moment with the drastically different carved pumpkins.

• This was surprisingly short, but knowing what comes after this, it makes sense.

• We get Amy’s obligatory return to the Update desk. I loved her pointing out how the audience didn’t need to applaud her entrance “I’ve been out here all night.”

• Yay, we get a Weekend Update Joke-Off! With Tina and SETH!!!

• Amy, on Seth and Tina: My first wife and my second wife, everybody!

• As usual, some very fun punchlines to the joke, and I love how each anchor is making a different buzzer sound when they say their punchline.

• Ha, Seth still has that dead-eyed stare after his joke.

Rating: ***

Billson & Lieberman

• I always enjoy whenever the show does live commercials, especially since it’s really rare nowadays in comparison to past eras. The only other

• Amy crashing in as a hardcore style attorney is HILARIOUS. “I’m jacked and OLD AS HELL!!!”. For some reason, the name Lachlan Mulchburger makes it even funnier for me.

• I absolutely LOVE the concept of this sketch, with attorneys crashing each other's commercials to promote themselves, and it’s being executed FANTASTICLY so far.

• Ashley’s delivery is FANTASTIC during her spiel as an old “Drabble Sister”.

• GREAT reveal with Billson and Lieberman having clones.

• I LOVE Sarah’s appearance as Dracula, and her company’s name being “Dracu-law” is honestly genius.

• Great cutaway to Bowen as an evertree. Another example in this episode of Bowen being utilized in the right way.

• Kenan as Zeus being a satisfied client explaining his situation casually is HILARIOUS, this part felt tailormade for Kenan, and he sold it perfectly.

Rating: ****½

Emo Mom

• Amy is probably one of VERY few people who could make this sketch concept work, and she is unsurprisingly solid in this so far.

• I love the alternate universe style this has, with Jeremy as Amy’s son asking where she’s been in a parent style manner, and Amy as a rebellious teenager ignoring him. They both are executing this really well.

• Amy’s delivery of “It’s Bubblegum Mint BITCH.” had me HOWLING.

• I love Jane, Kam, and Ben as Amy’s friends.

• GREAT voice switch from Amy when someone at her job calls her.

• Amy and her friends' mosh-ing is hilarious.

Rating: ***½

Julliard Master Class

• JAJ is getting much better airtime than he did in the last episode.

• I’m not sure if I like the rejected theme songs Amy and Bowen are singing. It’s between “so dumb, it’s funny” and “just dumb”.

• I am really enjoying JAJ’s performance as the host, despite him not having anything comedic. There’s something strangely warm and comforting about his performance here that I really love. 

• Yeah, the more this goes on, I’m realizing this just isn’t for me. It feels more lame than funny, despite solid performances from everyone involved.

• I did get a good laugh from their first draft of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song being ambient and slow.

• Kenan’s walk-on isn’t working for me, despite his usual commitment.

Rating: **

Thoughts

A decent, and very fun episode. This episode lacked all of the main issues the season premiere had, and Amy brought the house down and showed the cast how it’s done. Let’s hope this is a step in the right direction for this (otherwise) unpromising season so far.

Segments ranked Best to Worst

Billson & Lieberman

Work Birth

Emo Mom

Non-Non-Alcoholic Beer

Bondi Hearing

Miss Lycus The Fast Psychic

Monologue

Weekend Update

The Hunting Wives Season 2

The Rudemans

Julliard Master Class

6.3/10