features
SNL Review: Cold Open, Weekend Update Outshine a Flat Night
A sharp, slow-journalism review of SNL's Nov. 1 episode: an inventive cold open and witty Weekend Update carry a lackluster night.
Jack Beckett·Nov 3, 2025
Topic
TV
Reviews and coverage of television, including the paper's Saturday Night Live episode reviews.
features
SNL Episode 3: Sabrina Carpenter's Pop-First Play Pays Off
SNL's Oct. 18 episode put pop over politics: a "Domingo" cold open, tight staging, a brief mic glitch, and "Nobody's Son" with an uncensored lyric on many feeds.
Jack Beckett·Oct 20, 2025
features
SNL at 50: Amy Poehler Lifts an Uneven Anniversary Show
SNL's 50th-birthday show was fine. Amy Poehler was better. One killer fake-ad and a buzzy Update reunion kept a wobbly night upright.
Jack Beckett·Oct 13, 2025
features
SNL Season 51 Premiere Review: Dialogue Over Spectacle
SNL's Season 51 premiere cut the noise and let the lines breathe, with clean endings, character heat, and two sharp Doja Cat performances that punctuated rather than paused.
Jack Beckett·Sep 12, 2025