Season 49 Saturday Night Live’s Best Episode
“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
The 49th season of Saturday Night Live has been a patchy yet somewhat-successful season. With its controversial political cold open to its attempts at gaining a Gen Z presence, it’s obvious the 2023–2024 season has had its ups and downs when faced with different generations and audiences. Yet, the upcoming success of the 50th season is the true testament whether SNL has more to offer as a live show. Should SNL worry about the rising milestone’s future?
As people start to reflect on the 49th season and SNL’s modern success, I truly believe it has nothing to worry about. With a variety of episodes with a diverse stack of hosts, one episode from season 49 stands out as an indication that SNL has reached a connection with all audiences.
April 13, 2024. The Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton episode.
But, why? There’s been multiple SNL episodes with Ryan Gosling as the host. There’s been multiple episodes with sketches where the cast and host are breaking. The widely known Beavis and Butthead Sketch was just a recurring sketch from another episode. So, what makes this episode standout?
Choosing the host is the most impactful decision SNL has to make. The host often makes or breaks a sketch and the overall tone of the episode. Having Ryan Gosling and his charm makes audiences excited and willing to watch an SNL episode. Many generations have witnessed Gosling’s success whether it be Barbie (2023), The Notebook (2004), La La Land (2016), etc. The other two episodes Gosling hosted not only showcases his charm but emphasizes his inability to stay in character. This Season 49 episode contains unconstrained laughter and giggles from Gosling in each sketch. Breaking character seems to provide mixed reactions in any audience; some embracing the silliness while others feeling like it ruined the overall sketch. Fortunately, Gosling’s giggles seemed to charm the cast members and the audience.
As one sits down to watch this episode, it’s clear SNL had one thing in mind in the first 15 minutes. Fan service. Bringing SNL alumni, Kate McKinnon, to perform alongside Gosling to a beloved, recurring sketch, Close Encounter, was an ultimate fan service to anyone watching SNL during the dubbed Kate McKinnon Era. Just the notion of bringing Kate McKinnon back for the Cold Open will make viewers stay to watch the entire episode. This further contains a double entendre because not only was McKinnon a beloved cast member on SNL, but she worked with Gosling in Barbie, perpetuating the Barbie publicity.
References of Barbie don’t stop there though. The monologue starts off with Ken, singing a rendition of Taylor Swift’s All Too Well. Ryan Gosling, Barbie, and Taylor Swift are three of the most popular names in the entertainment industry. To have this amalgamation of media and culture on live TV encourages all three fanbases to continue to watch SNL. This is the foundation we used to see on SNL before COVID-19, where anyone from the media zeitgeist can show up. This was captured in the previous episode in which, in the monologue, the host, Kristen Wiig, is talking to the crowd before suddenly being surrounded by famous figures that have hosted SNL. These unanticipated moments create a sudden urge to continue to watch the SNL live broadcasts, not knowing what will happen next.
After these appearances with popular stars, it’s tough to expect what we get to see with the cast members of SNL. This has been a major factor on why people aren’t willing to invest their time with the show. There are no more Kate McKinnons, or Kristen Wiigs, or even Eddie Murphys. These cast members transcended the show with their popularity to the mainstream audience. However, this era of SNL lost that spirit and, therefore, lost the ability to recognize the cast members and their immense talent. Although Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson are household names to a general audience, it is still unfortunate that many cast members don’t get to be in the limelight. Yet, this episode displays the talents of the different cast members and what they bring to the show.
For instance, the first sketch after the monologue starts with an Andrew-Dismukes-anchored sketch. Although Dismukes didn’t write “The Engagement” sketch, the way he spoke felt almost his own personal “style” of speaking where he is concerned in a logical manner because of an absurd situation he and the host are in. This is reflected in a lot of the sketches he writes such as the “Jumanji” sketch or the “Beep Beep” sketch. His style of dialogue and “normal” setting in his sketches draws in laughter from the audience after the high-ride of the monologue. The characters and situations that are portrayed put Dismukes in a prominent and recognizable role to the mainstream audience as the hosts go back-in-forth with Dismukes.
Another example is the rookie of the season, Chloe Troast. After her “Little Orphan Cassidy” sketch in the Timothée-Chalamet-hosted episode, it left viewers excited to see what she can showcase with her voice next. Her pre-tape, “Get that Boy Back”, cements a new era of music videos she can perform for this new era. After former SNL cast members Cecily Strong, Pete Davidson, and Chris Redd left, the music videos they were known for left with them. Having Chloe Troast be the go-to singer embraces music-heavy sketches that SNL lost from its previous era.
As SNL tries to garner a Gen Z audience, even just taking a glance at SNL’s Instagram and TikTok comment section, it is clear that Marcello Hernández is a fan-favorite within the younger fanbase. Not only does he draw a younger audience to SNL, he also represents a Latin American audience with the way he portrays himself and the type of sketches he writes. The “Can’t Tonight” sketch is one of many sketches that showcase Hispanic culture with Gosling and Kenan Thompson. As his popularity grows, the sketches he writes and stars in will also grow, providing a new fanbase that enjoys his performances and writing.
Reflecting back on this episode, even though there were many well-written sketches and performances, one moment that stands out from the show is the, dare I say, iconic “Beavis and Butthead” sketch. Although this was a recurring sketch, the standout moment that differentiated the piece from its counterpart is the lead-up and infectious character breaking from Heidi Gardner. This sketch was ultimately universally funny; not only because of the hilarious yet accurate make-up and how Gosling’s and Day’s characters weren’t aware of their Beavis and Butthead appearance, but the dramatic irony in which the audience is waiting for Gardner to react to their appearances led to uncontrollable laughter made it all so worth it. Due to this very moment, it feels somewhat obvious that this was propelled the night into a “gigglefest” for Gosling, the cast members, and most importantly, the audience. From Debbie Downer to Stefon, these iconic characters lay the legacy for the audience’s enjoyment when one breaks character. Whether you saw this live on TV or you saw the sketch on social media, it felt like a true “once in a blue moon” moment that we all got to witness. Audiences of all kinds will continue to treasure this sketch and hope for more of the pure reactions in the future.
In true Ryan Gosling behavior, he was Midas; everything he touched was pure gold. And the cast and crew seemed to follow through. It’s difficult to garner the audiences’ respect and fondness, especially in an environment like SNL where everything is sudden and immediate. No one knows what sketches will get onto the live show or how the audience will react. However, this episode is a sign of hope that Saturday Night Live still is a thriving machine, pushing out new fans of the show, new talent, and iconic pop-culture moments.
