10/18/25: Sabrina Carpenter
Birthday Dinner
We get another unnecessary appearance of Domingo. Nice to see Sabrina make a cold open appearance though, which is rare for hosts in this era.
Yeah, this sketch isn’t even TRYING to differentiate itself from the other installments of this recurring sketch, which is further proof on why it should’ve NEVER became recurring.
Yeah, this is a complete wash. Even the audience is almost completely silent during this.
I guess the one thing that makes this different is Domingo entering the sketch SLIGHTLY earlier than usual.
This is going on for WAY too long.
Rating: *½
Monologue
Sabrina’s delivery is pretty solid, but the material here just SCREAMS “Written the day of the show”.
The audience participation seemed like it could’ve gone somewhere interesting, but then it just ENDED. What the hell happened here???
Kenan’s walk-on was merely okay. But it continues Kenan’s streak in this season of ONLY doing walk-ons.
That was it??? This was way too short to fully work for me. Maybe they should’ve just given Sabrina a straightforward Charmologue.
Rating: **½
Snack Homiez
OH MY GOD at Chloe, Sabrina, Jane, and Veronika in costume as teenage boys. It’s honestly a very funny sight.
The banter between the 12 year old boys is honestly really funny, even though I feel like I shouldn’t like this, even though I’m not sure why. Since I’m a teenager myself, something about SNL spoofing kids that are near my age feels VERY surreal.
Chloe’s performance isn’t really working for me though. Something about the voice isn’t fully clicking. Sabrina and Veronika are both pretty good here, but Jane is the one who is REALLY shining here. She is surprisingly very convincing and solid as a 13 year old teenager.
The moments of laughter between the boys kind of remind me of Beavis and Butthead.
I do wanna laugh at the moment of Jane revealing that she’s never had a vegetable, and I DID when this episode first aired. But after finding out this sketch is based off of a real podcast hosted by 12 year old boys, and this section is actually quoting what one of the boys ACTUALLY revealed during the podcast, I can’t help but find it kind of sad.
An absolutely HILARIOUS reveal that the guest on the podcast is JAJ’s Trump impression. Seeing JAJ do his usual Trump schtick in this type of setting is honestly hilarious.
JAJ as Trump: Am I going to Heaven, chat?
I’m not sure if Sabrina’s line about Trump “violating” Kyler was meant to be a subtle reference, but I thought it was HILARIOUS.
Rating: ****
Plans
Pretty funny concept, of a Blumhouse horror movie about a couple forgetting they had plans.
I love Ben and Sabrina’s intense, horror movie style acting here. It’s helping sell the premise.
The quick moment with Dismukes in the immersive play was HILARIOUS.
Mikey: Hey! Wanna see 1,000 pictures of my dog!?!
Great ending, with Sabrina revealing they’re staying for the whole weekend. I wish this went on a little longer though.
Rating: ***
Shop TV
I usually DREAD this recurring sketch, but I remember this installment being a surprising step up, so let’s see if my original opinion holds up.
I loved Sabrina’s first line after Mikey points out Sabrina’s height “My nana always said short folks will be tall in Heaven.”
I actually laughed at the reveal of what Sabrina’s neck pillow looks like.
A very funny moment with Sabrina getting Mikey to touch the pillow.
I’m actually really enjoying the escalation in this, with Sabrina’s details about the neck pillow.
Sabrina’s complete innocence and obliviousness is working for me. The role she’s playing here works better than in previous installments, where the host’s character had a subtle creepiness that didn’t really work.
GREAT reveal that the deluxe neck pillow has a “fur lining”
Dismukes as the caller: Is the deluxe pillow available in redhead?
Great ending with Mikey putting on the deluxe pillow.
Overall, I surprisingly enjoyed this MUCH more than I usually enjoy this recurring sketch.
Rating: ***½
Girlboss Seminar
I’m enjoying Sabrina’s performance so far.
Pretty dumb, but funny moment, with Tommy and Jeremy as backup dancers throwing Sabrina out a window.
I really like the turn this is taking, with the now concussed Sabrina delivering her lines in the same “girlboss” manner but with the advice making ZERO sense.
Sabrina, on Amelia Earhart: She broke the glass ceiling by being the first woman to ever die, and that’s my period!
The absurdity of this is really working for me, and Sabrina is giving a great performance in this.
Pretty funny moment with one of the dummies not going through the window all the way, and Kenan deciding to just pick it up and throw it through. This seemed to have caught Chloe off guard, since she’s seen breaking pretty hard when it cuts back to her and Sarah.
I’m not caring for the unnecessarily sentimental ending, but Jeremy walking back on with a glass shard in his head is pretty funny.
Rating: ***½
Grind Song
This pre-taped appearance ends up being Bowen’s only appearance in this episode. But this was planned ahead of time, since (if I recall correctly) he was not in New York, and accepting an award.
Eh, not caring for the main conceit of this being middle schoolers grinding at a school dance. Something about the concept is kind of offputting to me.
I’m also not really caring for the “funny” dancing from Bowen here.
I did get a good laugh from Jane clearly not enjoying dancing with Jeremy.
I like the subtle detail of Ben wearing bright green crocs.
Nice to see Kenan getting decent airtime so far in this episode, especially considering how disconnected he feels from the show this season so far.
Funny ending with Jeremy saying he loves Jane, and Jane simply saying “Oh, no thank you!”
Rating: **
Weekend Update
As usual with Jost and Che over these past 3 seasons, nothing here is anything new or noteworthy.
The audience doesn’t seem into these jokes either. They’ve been kinda quiet in general.
*groan* The Movie Guy is back. Unlike most people, I actually generally like Marcello as a performer, but I cannot STAND this character. All of his commentaries are the exact same, and they feel so self-indulgent and honestly obnoxious.
Yeah, I’m not gonna say much else about this. The joke of the Movie Guy not seeing any of the movies he’s reviewing wasn’t funny the first time, and it’s not any funnier the THIRD time.
Kind of weird how both Update commentaries are on Colin’s side of the desk.
Oh yeah, I somehow completely forgot Tommy got an Update commentary in this episode.
Tommy is coming off very likable here, but the actual comedy is very generic, and somewhat bland.
Wow, this took a RAPID step up at the end. Tommy’s whole bit about how he couldn’t confess to a pastor about masturbating is great, and his final line in particular about how he would be masturbating right now if he wasn’t confessing “You can do it in here, I’m doing it!” was a FANTASTIC way to end this.
Rating: **
Appliance Store
Kenan continues to get decent airtime tonight.
I like the reveal of Veronika and Sabrina as a washer-dryer duo. This absurd concept has a lot of potential.
A very fun introductory song from Veronika and Sabrina.
Wow, Veronika is a FANTASTIC singer. It’s nice to see her performing the HELL out of her first big sketch.
Veronika and Sabrina are both giving great performances in this, and this has a very fun vibe, but it feels like the concept of this sketch isn’t living up to its full potential. This really could’ve been a season highlight, but it’s coming off more just enjoyable rather than the absurd masterpiece that it could’ve been.
Overall, very fun but slightly disappointing.
Rating: ***
Surprise
Ashley being scared by her surprise and farting is SO stupid, but her prolonged bit of groaning in agony is HILARIOUS.
This is sketch #2 in the list of “Sketches with dud scripts that Ashley Padilla sells perfectly by giving a fantastic performance”.
My copy of this episode is live west coast airing, but the dress rehearsal version of this sketch that would be uploaded to YouTube has a pretty memorable blooper with Ashley butchering one of her lines, which results in Ben breaking pretty hard.
Ashley’s anger over the surprise is HILARIOUS.
Ashley farting again after trying to surprise Chloe is so dumb, but once again, Ashley is selling this in spades.
Ashley: Great birthday everybody, farted and got demoted!
Rating: ****
Social Experiment
Hey, even after PDD collapsed, we got a Martin Herhily appearance!
A pretty funny reveal that everyone in the theater is dressed like Frankenstein.
Good scene with Martin “confronting” Jane after leaving the theater.
I’m not saying much about this, but I think it’s decent enough.
I like how Kam is the only person who didn’t care or notice everyone dressed as Frankenstein.
I didn’t care for the ending with all of the Frankensteins singing a song, it felt too non-sequitur to make sense.
Rating: ***
Thoughts
A better episode than I remember, but this was still a pretty forgettable, and somewhat meh episode. There were a couple of strong sketches, and there was more good than bad, but there was also a weirdly low energy vibe throughout the show that left a bad taste in my mouth. My guess is it being the third show in a row, and the cast being tired. Sabrina Carpenter was a solid host however, who had a professionalism and ease that I really liked.
Segments ranked Best to Worst
Surprise
Snack Homiez
Girlboss Seminar
Shop TV
Appliance Store
Plans
Social Experiment
Monologue
Weekend Update
Grind Song
Birthday Dinner
5.8/10
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