Saturday Night Live: Teyana Taylor's Episode Largely Falls Flat with One Bright Spot
In a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, host Teyana Taylor, an Oscar-nominated actor and Harlem native, took the stage for the first time. While her performance was comfortable and engaging, the overall show struggled with weak sketches, saved only by a brilliantly funny parody commercial.
Political Satire and Trump Parody
The episode opened with a sketch titled the 1st Annual Trumps, awards honouring achievements during Donald Trump's second term. James Austin Johnson portrayed Trump, hosting the ceremony to distract from ICE activities, with Jeremy Culhane as JD Vance and Andrew Dismukes as Stephen Miller. The segment skewered Trump's insatiable need for recognition, including a re-gifted Nobel Prize, and featured Mike Myers as a glitching Elon Musk accepting a Lifetime Achievement in Comedy award. Despite solid performances, the sketch felt underheated, missing opportunities to critique the administration's actions more sharply, especially in light of recent ICE incidents in Minneapolis.
Teyana Taylor's Hosting Debut
Teyana Taylor celebrated her Oscar nomination week in her monologue, sharing anecdotes like being fitted for a bald cap next to cast member Mikey Day. She reminisced about her career highlights and her phone-obsessed children, who made a cute cameo. While Taylor appeared at ease on the live stage, the material lacked memorable humour, setting a tone for an episode that often failed to deliver laughs.
Sketch Highlights and Low Points
An airport delay sketch with Taylor and Kenan Thompson used R&B songs to announce delays, but it devolved into unfunny banter between workers and frustrated travelers. However, the episode was redeemed by a standout toy commercial parody for One Battle After Another, a film by Paul Thomas Anderson. Taylor reprised her role as Perfidia Beverly Hills, with the sketch showing white kids acting out intense scenes to horrified parents, offering a hilarious update on a classic 1994 Philadelphia commercial.
Other sketches, like an NFL pregame segment sidetracked by promos for a lesbian cooking drama and a night school confidence class that broke down, fell flat due to lack of focus. Weekend Update briefly addressed ICE issues, with Michael Che questioning agents' actions, and featured Marcello Hernández explaining Gen Z slang origins. A wedding reception sketch showcased Taylor's dance moves, while a PBS news roundtable rehashed themes from past episodes without much impact.
Overall Assessment
Overall, this Saturday Night Live episode was weak, with most sketches failing to land. Teyana Taylor as host was an improvement from the previous week but didn't shine brightly. The saving grace was the One Battle After Another toy commercial, a genius sketch that stands out as one of the season's best and nearly single-handedly rescued the show from mediocrity.
