SNL

The show has seemed stuck in a rut lately; this week's host brought some much-needed eccentricity.

But as much as Plaza’s turn on the show nodded to the past (her time as a page, beloved old characters), it also hinted at new possibilities. With youth often comes experimentation, and it’s led to big payoffs in the past, namely the viral power of [Digital Shorts](https://youtu.be/sRhTeaa_B98). [has had to navigate](https://www.vulture.com/article/sarah-sherman-snl-profile.html) since joining the cast last year. It was a delight, of course, but also a reminder of the past rather than a signal of the future. [once purportedly called](https://youtu.be/BTn3BIPhMRs) Plaza “the weirdest girl I ever met,” and Plaza’s delightfully offbeat vibe came to define the episode. Poehler took the opportunity to sit in her former anchor chair and deliver a joke. [sketch about a game night](https://youtu.be/wScgKiXcVj0), Sasha (Plaza) and her partner, Ian (Mikey Day), ended up horrifying their new neighbors by accidentally revealing their dark history while playing Taboo. Known for body-horror comedy under the name Sarah Squirm, Sherman has found ways to [tone down](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/03/snl-changes-subject-war-meatballs/626572/) the more extreme side of her humor without forgoing the reasons SNL hired her in the first place. “I was stalking, lurking in the shadows,” she [told](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyTr4HNz6NU&ab_channel=TheTonightShowStarringJimmyFallon) Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. She was eventually joined by her boss, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), for a moment that sweetly connected the two shows. Unsurprisingly, Plaza lasted only a few months before being asked to leave, but in her short stint at the network, she got the chance to trail SNL’s design department. “Bow to your queen!” she demanded.

In her first time hosting 'Saturday Night Live,' Aubrey Plaza went above and beyond, even getting an actual presidential cameo with the return of Leslie ...

He commented from the field in both congressman’s navy blazer and a red sequin dress with a full face. Plaza, as April, took a seat at the news desk, grimacing at Colin Jost from under the hood of her signature grey sweatshirt. The Weekend Update segment alone would’ve rendered the episode the best of the season even if the rest of the show had stuck to pat Joe Biden impressions.

The first SNL in over a month catches us up on all the pop culture and political chaos that's happened since. A recap and review of season 48, ...

[Nelson Franklin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np6xlLW2JqU&t=468s), [ Harvey Guillén](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJr7SwQ03pg&t=118s), and [Jon Lovitz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpKLHWg2Ffg) have all played George Santos, the Talented Mr. However, it’s still campy enough that the gay community immediately [claimed it](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/movies/m3gan-gay-sensibility.html), and for good reason. (She also once played an NBC Page on [ an episode of 30 Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5HIUO1klbw).) She spends the bulk of her charming monologue giving viewers a tour of the studio, complete with the same kind of made-up factoids [ she has mentioned in interviews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAVcOHAPkNk) she used to lay on audiences when she was giving those tours for real. [ Jennifer Coolidge impression](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFxlJ1inle0) in the previous episode, this sketch seemed like another showcase for her in its opening moments. [Emily the Criminal](https://www.vulture.com/2022/08/emily-the-criminal-movie-review.html) — the inaugural release from her [ production company](https://linktr.ee/EvilHagProductions) — and eating up a meaty role in [The White Lotus](https://www.vulture.com/tv/the-white-lotus/), the closest thing to a monoculture hit we now have, 2022 was Aubrey Plaza’s year. [M3GAN](https://www.vulture.com/article/m3gan-review-good-enough-for-january.html) has just enough actual horror to transcend being more meme than movie. [ her moment of truth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcMfZyXCl9s&t=60s). Instead, it turns out to be a corrective of The White Lotus’s staggering (and deliberate) lack of Blackness; all the decadence, all the intrigue, none of the foolishness. [ an adorable and touching story](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKwralwfbiw) about why getting to do so was a dream come true. Plaza has so successfully shed the skin of her first defining character that it’s almost as jarring as it is nostalgic to see her [ revive Ludgate](https://youtu.be/a7rfGuTKIXA) for a reunion with her Parks co-star Amy Poehler in the middle of hosting SNL. (It didn’t help matters that she once played Daria in a viral [ College Humor video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBQXugKu8L4), or voiced the titular character in 2014’s [ Grumpy Cat movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmeF5zENpMo), a project I wouldn’t know how to explain to a young person without being even more embarrassed of my generation than usual.) In the years since, however, Plaza has been doing the difficult work of torching her former typecasting without the telegraphed intentionality of a Disney star now working blue. She slowly built up a stable of varied performances in dark, hip indies she produced herself, such as [ Ingrid Goes West](https://www.vulture.com/2017/08/ingrid-goes-west-is-a-barbed-satire-of-dumb-instagram-girls.html) and [ Black Bear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_gCDYMGnng), along with the occasional [ fratty comedy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33MtR-g4Jcg) and the lesser of two recent Child’s Play reboots (the movie, not the show.) Plaza has worked so steadily and accrued so much goodwill that her hosting SNL for the first time in 2023 feels bizarrely belated.

The episode was hosted by Aubrey Plaza, a former NBC page, who strolled down memory lane with the help of President Biden and Amy Poehler.

[The screen beside him showed a joke birth certificate for Barack Hussein Obama from the Republic of Kenya.] It was hidden in a copy of Black Tail magazine. There’s also a cameo from the “M3gan” star Allison Williams as herself, who is hailed as a gay ally for reasons we can’t exactly describe in detail here. As Nwodim says: “Is the ocean the hotel? But she said another drag queen in Congress is absolutely slaying as the character Marjorie Taylor Greene. George Santos — seen here with two people he listed as professional references — was described by a fashion expert as being able to get away with his lies for so long because he was well dressed. (“We always believed in you, Avery,” the production designer And I’m proud to be the first African American quarterback to ever dunk a football.” (He also said he had attended and played sports at “the University of College.”) Reminded of his claims that he was the first player to lead the league in rushing and passing, Yang answered: “That’s correct. “We’re just grateful you made it out of ‘White Lotus’ alive.” In that segment, Yang said that he was not Jewish but “Jew-ish, which was honestly icon-ic.” Nonetheless, he continued to assert that his grandparents were in the Holocaust. “My ancestors were the ones that told her, ‘You should be writing this down.’” She had been a page at NBC years before, and she took the audience on a halfhearted tour around the studio, including the set design department where Plaza once worked.

Saturday Night Live” targeted Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in its opening sketch this weekend, roasting the embattled lawmaker over his embellished résumé ...

He has admitted to embellishing his résumé but has refused to step down from his position in Congress. The hosts joked that they had to hire Santos when they saw his résumé mentioned winning a Heisman Trophy and having more championships than pro football legend Tom Brady. Santos has faced calls to resign after a wave of stories surfaced about the lawmaker’s claims regarding his past. Sue me for having a life,” Santos [drag queen](https://thehill.com/tag/drag-queen/) [George Santos](https://thehill.com/tag/george-santos/) [George Santos](https://thehill.com/people/george-santos/) [santos drag queen](https://thehill.com/tag/santos-drag-queen/) [Saturday Night Live](https://thehill.com/tag/saturday-night-live/) [SNL](https://thehill.com/tag/snl/) [Tom Brady](https://thehill.com/people/tom-brady/) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [See All](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [See all Hill.TV](https://thehill.com/hilltv) [See all Video](https://thehill.com/video) [Equilibrium & Sustainability](https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/) [Campaign](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/) [Administration](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/) [Senate](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/) [See All](https://thehill.com)

Aubrey Plaza made sure to pay homage to her Pawnee roots while hosting "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, and she had a little help from her former ...

Poehler, who acted as Weekend Update anchor along with Tina Fey during her “SNL” tenure in the early 2000’s, momentarily ousted current anchor Colin Jost to crack a news-related joke. The “White Lotus” star was joined by her “Parks and Recreation” costar Amy Poehler during the live broadcast, who appeared during Plaza’s opening monologue and again for a spot during the Aubrey Plaza made sure to pay homage to her Pawnee roots while hosting “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, and she had a little help from her former onscreen boss.

President Joe Biden made a surprise video appearance on "Saturday Night Live" during host Aubrey Plaza's monologue.

We're just grateful you made it out of 'White Lotus' alive." The "White Lotus" star, who, like Biden, is from Delaware, joked that she was voted the most famous person from the state, beating out the president. - The "White Lotus" star, who, like Biden, is from Delaware, joked that she was voted the most famous person from the state, beating out the president.

Saturday Night Live pulled off a hilarious satirical broadcast of Fox NFL Sunday during this week's episode of the show.

1 overall pick, and “the first African American quarterback to ever dunk a football.” “And sometimes the only way to make the game safer is to hit even harder.” [New York Giants](https://awfulannouncing.com/tag/new-york-giants) and the [Philadelphia Eagles](https://awfulannouncing.com/tag/philadelphia-eagles) with members of the SNL cast each portraying a different member of the [Fox NFL Sunday](https://awfulannouncing.com/tag/fox-nfl-sunday) team.

The single is off of the singer's fourth studio album, 'Gloria,' which is set to be released Jan. 27.

[Sam Smith](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/sam-smith/)’s third stint as [Saturday Night Live](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/saturday-night-live/)’s musical guest saw the singer perform “Unholy” off of Gloria, their upcoming fourth studio album which is [set to be released Jan. [Loyal Lobos Is In the Driver's Seat on Dreamy Track ‘Sleeper’](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/loyal-lobos-song-sleeper-1234665424/) 27](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sam-smith-announces-album-gloria-1234612540/). [Kim Petras](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/kim-petras/), garnered a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the upcoming [Grammy Awards](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/grammy-awards/). [27-date North American tour](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sam-smith-gloria-north-american-tour-1234656243/) this summer, when they will return to New York with shows Aug. [music video for which](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/smith-smith-kim-petras-unholy-1234597969/) came out last September, followed the release of “Love Me More” from the same album and preceded the title track, which [Smith unveiled Friday](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sam-smith-new-song-gloria-1234664233/) and also performed on [SNL](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/snl/).

Sam Smith helped usher "Saturday Night Live" into 2023 with a pair of dramatic performances from their upcoming album, "Gloria."

Donning an extravagant fluffy pink dress, Smith belted out the opening lines of the song before sneaking in [Kim Petras](https://www.billboard.com/artist/kim-petras/), who is featured on the track, to assist with her verse. Petras wasn’t the only unexpected guest during Smith’s SNL appearance. For their third appearance as musical guest on the iconic NBC sketch comedy show, the U.K. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100](https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/sam-smith-kim-petras-unholy-number-one-hot-100-1235160237/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CUnholy%E2%80%9D%20debuted%20at%20No.,becomes%20the%201%2C143rd%20No.) in October 2022. singer-songwriter unleashed unforgettable live performances of chart-topper “Unholy” and the title track from their soon-to-be-released fourth album, Gloria, which is scheduled to arrive on Jan. [Sam Smith](https://www.billboard.com/artist/sam-smith/) helped usher [Saturday Night Live](https://www.billboard.com/t/saturday-night-live/) into 2023 with a pair of dramatic performances from their upcoming album.