SNL Scorecard: Shane Gillis / 21 Savage

After a two week hiatus, Saturday Night Live returned last weekend, and with it came its most buzzy and controversial episode in some time. If you're not on social media, and don't partake in much Internet #discourse, you may not have known that just from watching the program itself, as Saturday night didn't feel all that different from most episodes of the show. But for those in the know, all eyes would be on host Shane Gillis, who infamously was fired from SNL in 2019 before taking part in a single episode, due to resurfaced podcast clops in which he was using slurs in offensive jokes about women and Asians.

That Gillis was tabbed to host an episode of the show he was dismissed from was certainly a surprising move from Lorne Michaels and co., but perhaps it shouldn't have been. For starters, Michaels has never shied away from booking controversial hosts in the name of ratings-- mid-backlash Dave Chappelle, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump some recent examples. But also, since that inglorious moment four years ago, Gillis has gone on to become a pretty huge name in comedy, successfully carving out a niche by combining the everyman appeal of Nate Bargatze with the more unfiltered bombast of a Chappelle or even a Joe Rogan, though without veering headlong into 'trolling the libs' humor. It's no small feat in this day and age, but it did further the curiosity on how exactly this would translate to SNL's humor and a live New York City audience.

The verdict? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it depends entirely on who you ask. Corners of the internet that were already incensed by him getting the chance to host thought Gillis was awful and offensive at worst, hapless at best, and considered this episode a stinker. Ask his fanbase, though, (much of which, at least by the way they present on the Internet, appears to be Trump=supporting 12 year old boys) and this was the greatest SNL has ever been, and whiny snowflakes need to get over themselves and stop getting their feelings hurt. My read: the truth, as you might expect, is aggressively in the middle. This was a pretty solid, pretty standard episode of the show, one that started really well, then dropped off considerably in the second half. And as for the host himself? Also in the middle! He seemed reluctant to address the controversy in full, and truthfully, pretty nervous and uncomfortable throughout the night, but also proved to be a good sport and able comic actor in most roles.

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 12th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"HR Meeting": 8.5/10

This didn’t feel like a sequel to the Oscar Isaac sketch I loved so much a couple years back, exactly, but certainly a spiritual successor at least. Although the “pupils” were the chaotic ones this time, it worked for a similar reason: the straight persons’ absolute bemusement perfectly counteracting the other oblivious (and franky, horny) characters. It's a recipe that works just about every time.

The Good

“Trump Sneakers": 8/10

I figured they would find a way to sneak Shane’s quality Trump impression in, and this was a clever way to do it. Yes, the Trump shoes are a real thing, unfortunately, the idea of a Like Mike movie for Trump (presented by Newsmax, naturally) was already hilarious, and then to top it off came the hilarious button with James Austin Johnson's Trump. I'm going to have him saying "with regard to movie pastiche" in that unmistakable voice playing in my head for a long time.

“Church On Vacation": 8/10

I’ve griped many times this season about strange choices for first sketch of the night. This was a GREAT choice; it was high-energy right off the bat, and made great use of the host, who has a surprisingly good patois accent. Plus, not like this was planned, even finished with the host breaking a little, which the crowd ate up. This wasn't an instant classic on punchlines alone, but one of the more enjoyable live sketches from this season.

"Rock Bottom Kings": 8/10

A hilarious mock ad that parodies the shamelessness both of gambling and of corporate interests. Shane Gillis’ subtly evil half-smile while the talking heads are explaining how deeply they care about addiction was a real highlight.

"Weekend Update": 6.5/10

The dropoff was always bound to happen at some point, but the point, as it turns out, was this weekend: after a 2024-specific streak of incredible Weekend Updates, the segment this past weekend was, sadly, only decent. Colin Jost’s Trump jabs out of the gate were pretty weak, but Michael Che’s barbs for the other candidates were phenomenal; that trend sort of bore out over the rest of Update, in which the latter co-anchor had a much better night. It was a mixed bag from the Update guests as well: as fun as it was to see Marcello Hernandez doing something wildly new, it didn’t really work, save for one hilarious punchline. Bowen Yang’s Truman Capote, though, took a little while to get going (and I assumed maybe the reference was just too niche), but it picked up continuous steam as the bit progressed, and ended Update on a hilarious note.

“Monologue": 7/10

I, like probably everybody who was making a point to watch this episode, was curious to see when Shane would address the controversy— because he wasn’t NOT going to address it

As it turns out, it was right off the bat, and somewhat like the Ayo Edebiri podcast controversy, it was a little clumsily done and presented in a way that made it seem like the host was genuinely regretful and would much rather not talk about it (though unlike with Ayo, this host SHOULD be regretful, so, you know, here’s hoping). Anyways, from there, the monologue didn’t really get any less awkward! But the audience almost seemed to be relishing the awkwardness, and when they weren’t, the host hilariously rubbed their noses it. The material itself wasn’t particularly funny, but the whole vibe of the monologue was.

“Trump Victory Party Cold Open": 6.5/10

Again, this isn't one that will be remembered as an all-time classic, and sort of stumbled at the finish line, but this was one of the better political cold opens in a long, long time. A great and clever way of critiquing Republican hypocrisy and spinelessness in this era, keeping the focus on Trump while not just relying on impressions of the man to do so.

"Fugliana": 6/10

This was a funny premise, but ultimately peetered out once we knew what the joke was. Also, one problem with the sketch: the cast is simply too hot to be believable as ugly dolls. Every one of the women involved still looked out of the leagues of the respective men they were partnered with. Anyways, this was still fun overall, Sarah Sherman's acting being a particular highlight.

“The Floor": 5.5/10

This one had several funny moments, but unfortunately it felt mostly like half-realized potential.

With a stronger ending, this could have had a higher grade, but like the rest of the sketch, the conclusion was funny yet more than a bit muddled.

“Gump": 5.5/10

For a while this one didn’t really get going, but even if the Forrest Gump comeuppance for Gillis’ character was obvious, it made for a pretty hilarious scene in the end. Still, this was another one that while fine, felt like it could have been much funnier.

"They're Listening": 5/10

It was a night free of complete misses, as evidenced by the fact that this, the lowest rated sketch, still had more than one laugh-out-loud moment. But I don't know, the sketch felt a little too one-note and obvious for a 10-to-1 sketch. And while the host provided some of those hilarious moments, Gillis also fumbled over his lines numerous times, ruining any sort of flow this may have been able to generate.

Musical Performances

21 Savage (feat. Brent Faiyaz and Summer Walker): 6.5/10

Just like the host, 21 Savage made his SNL debut last night. The Atlanta-based (but British-born) rapper burst onto the scene circa 2016, and has been one of the bigger names in hip-hop since that point, perhaps peaking in the last year thanks to his joint album and tour with Drake. Personally speaking, I've always enjoyed 21's voice and the trap beats he employs, but have never found him lyrically or musically interesting enough to be memorable, so I had no real concept of what his live performances would be like.

The first performance, of hit single "redrum," caught my attention from the start; it was a gorgeous introduction, between the strings, vocals, and then the ballet dancers. But man, 21 Savage just has no stage presence; the dropoff in charisma from the intro to his entrance onstage was tangible. Still, "redrum" is a bop, and his flow translated well live at least. The second performance of “should’ve wore a bonnet” and “prove it,” was slightly more forgettable, as the low energy remained, even with serviceable cameos from Brent Faiyaz and Summer Walker, but the eye-catching musicality and choreography did not. All in all, a perfectly fine, but not really memorable set from Savage, which hey, almost exactly squares with my impression of him as an artist!

OVERALL SCORE: 6.75 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.77)