SNL Scorecard: Jean Smart / Jelly Roll

Believe it or not-- and I can scarcely believe it -- SNL50 is here. The unprecedented 50th season of the historic show is set to be an event for all 8 months it runs, and the celebration began even before the season did, with a spotlighting at the Emmys and the release of original motion picture Saturday Night, about the inception and first episode of the show. But, after a shorter summer break than usual-- the last two seasons have begun a couple weeks later than this one has begun --the show is back, and picking up right where it left off.

I say that last part unironically, and it is somewhat significant. Many, myself included, whether there would be a new look to this landmark season. Whether they would trot out the greatest hits of famous hosts from years past? Answer: no, they were going to start off with Jean Smart-- a legendary comedic actress, to be clear, but a first-time SNL host. Were there going to be wholesale cast or staff changes, to signal a 'changing of the guard'? Answer: not really; just the standard "couple in, couple out." 3 new featured players were added, and Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney said sad but somewhat expected goodbyes, and Chloe Troast said both a very sad and very unexpected goodbye. But the vast majority of this big cast, including all its biggest names are back for Year 50. Was Year 3 since the last big cast upheaval going to bring about a consistently good show that's "found its groove"? Answer: far too early to say for sure, but wellllll...early returns are not really.

It's not that the last several years of Saturday Night Live have been bad. "Bad," to me suggests downright dumb and non-clever sketches consistently, and/or a cast that doesn't bring much to the table, and neither have been the case. Rather, it's just been mediocre; the vast majority of episodes perfectly enjoyable, with only a couple real stinkers (at most), but on the flip side, with almost no sketches that you're going to be excitedly showing your friends and family the next day. Such was the case with this premiere episode, which brought the usual timing and set design errors a first episode does, and an engaging and talented host who was often let down by the sketch writing, a weirdly low-energy studio audience, or both.

One note in case you forgot- I know my rankings can seem a little arbitrary, and truthfully there have been times where even I will look back at scorecards and think "Now, why did I rate (x) an 8.5, if (x) from this other episode was only a 7...?". So, both to hopefully clear up my scoring system for any curious readers, but also really to help keep myself consistent, here is the rubric to reference:

10/10: Perfect, no notes

8-9.5/10: Very funny-to-hilarious, definite rewatch

6-7.5/10: Pretty funny-to-funny, but won't necessarily be a rewatch

4-5.5/10: Not BAD, but not particularly funny or memorable

1-3.5/10: Terrible/poor taste, to simply bad/unfunny

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 1st episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"Textbook Writer": 8/10

This could have had a much stronger ending, and had some timing errors, otherwise this could have thrown a gauntlet down for “sketch of the season” right out the gates. That’s how funny this premise was. So many lines in this one that I can already see myself referencing countless times again.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 9/10

Weekend Update was often the best part of a mediocre last season, and it came out of the gates strong in this one. Colin Jost and Michael Che had a terrific batting average with punchlines in this segment, and Devon Walker’s Eric Adams appearance was hilarious. I had mixed feelings about Bowen Yang’s Moo Deng appearance, which felt to be as much a mockery of Chappell Roan as a tribute to her. But admittedly, this was hilarious; Bowen’s facial acting was so good, and the breaks for the hose killed me every time.

“I Love Lucy": 7/10

It suffered a little bit from a sloppy finish, but this was terrific fun. Also, I wanted this one to go on so much longer! Jean Smart was acting the hell out of those scenes; I was riveted!

"$100,000 Pyramid": 7/10

Another one that deserved a stronger ending! This was a solid panel of celebrity impressions, and a clever way to tie in some assorted big storylines from the various lanes of culture. I hope that’s not the last we see of Kenan’s Mark Robinson… I mean, obviously I hope it is, but, you know what I mean.

"Monologue": 6.5/10

Jean Smart is just class, top to bottom. Was this the funniest monologue in the world? Certainly not, but the host, as you might expect from her stature but not from her lack of SNL experience, strode out confidently and commanded the stage in the first monologue of the 50th season. Her original song felt like a throwback to the days of the ‘jingle,’ and interspersing her love letter to New York with sharp-witted quick-hitters was a perfect way to win over the audience from the start.

“Harris and Trump Rallies Cold Open": 6.5/10

Opening with a presidential election sketch was inevitable; I’m sure there were plenty of people involved with SNL that were kicking themselves over the fact that the show was off the air during an incredibly tumultuous political summer. But, especially in comparison to some election classics from years past, this was mostly just okay. There were plenty of highlights: the return of Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris was delightful, James Austin Johnson’s Trump ramblings were hilarious as always, Andy Samberg and Jim Gaffigan as Doug Emhoff and Tim Walz were two brilliant casting decisions, and Bowen Yang and Dana Carvey as JD Vance and Joe Biden were fun. But overall, this one felt pretty toothless; as long as it went, the true jokes were few and far between, and it felt like there was so much more that could have been done with the source material from this race.

“Charli xcx Talk Show": 6/10

It wasn’t altogether surprising that we got a Charli XCX sketch fresh off of “brat summer.” This was fun! Not nearly as memorable as it could have been— and I’ll admit, my hardest laugh was when Bowen obviously butchered the song at the end in the live sketch —but an enjoyable bit, with a star turn from the underused Ego Nwodim.

The... Less-Good

"Real Housewives of Santa Fe Dinner": 5/10

This was a nice little 10-to-1 sketch with some great dramatic acting from the various housewives and physical comedy from Andrew Dismukes, but for whatever reason the audience just did not go along with this one at all, and it hampered the quality of the sketch. I feel like if there was buy-in on the fajita joke from the start, this one would have picked momentum up quickly, but as it was, it felt like everyone was just waiting for it to end.

“Spirit Halloween": 4/10

This is just a Twitter joke stretched out to sketch length, without adding anything new to the Twitter jokes. It has a few funny moments, but I’m mostly just annoyed at the lack of originality here.

Musical Performances

Jelly Roll: 6.5/10

You could have given me 50 guesses, one for each of the show's seasons, on which musical guest would kick off Saturday Night Live's historic season. and I promise you I would not have arrived at the correct answer, Jelly Roll. But hey, good for Jelly Roll! The Tennessee-born Country Rock artist, real name Jason DeFord has had a long and winding career-- and a turbulent personal life --before ultimately breaking through to mainstream country in the last couple years.

I'll confess, Jelly Roll's style doesn't do a whole lot for me, but it is far less offensive than a lot of the bro-country I'm accustomed to hearing. Besides, I do my darnedest to keep the musical guest rating as objective as possible, based more on the actual performance than whether I like the style or genre itself. In that regard, Jelly Roll's performances were pretty much in line with the quality of the episode around him: decent, enjoyable, but not great. In his first song, "Liar," his nerves were evident, as his voice was at times a little shaky and often pitchy. Still, the song has good energy, in that early 2010s stomp-clappy, big-vocal kind of way, and he looked legitimately geeked to be there, which was fun. He started a little shaky in his second performance, too, of "Winning Streak," but ultimately grew into it. Solid performance of an emotional song.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.55 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.56)