The best “SNL” episodes tend to bend to the sensibilities of the host, and sometimes the musical guest, drawing from their talents as fuel for the big sketch-comedy machine. It can be even more seamless when the host is also the music act, as Lady Gaga demonstrated in her first guest hosting appearance since 2013.
What kept her away for so long? Gaga is a natural on the show, and in this outing, she was able to use her tremendous singing voice and dance moves in multiple sketches, be funny enough to blend in with the rest of cast, and vow not to appear in another “Joker” movie.
She performed two high-energy musical numbers from her new album “Mayhem,” “Abracadabra” and “Killah.” For “Abracadabra,” she wore a bright red bodysuit with a flappy skull attachment and ended up atop a stack of prone bodies. I will not be convinced it wasn’t a low-key homage to the movie “Conclave.”
Gaga sang with Bowen Yang in two sketches, one featuring a couple in a restaurant singing an updated version of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and another about why slang like “slay” and “bop” should no longer be appropriated. She also sang an ode to a weight-lifting mouse named Pip. In one sketch, she tried to sell the concept of a Roarin’ ‘20s funeral with Heidi Gardner, and in a pair of commercial parodies, little red glasses for women of a certain age and L’Oreal Easy Run mascara that made crying clearly visible. She also was part of a Satanic ritual at a Friendly’s restaurant triggered by a customer lying about their birthday.
Sometimes “SNL” doesn’t utilize all the talent it can from a very talented host, but this time, with Gaga, the results were impressive throughout.
This week’s cold open focused on the reported yelling match between Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and DOGE leader Elon Musk (Mike Myers, returning) during a White House meeting. President Trump (James Austin Johnson) tries to smooth things over between Rubio, whom he calls “my good little Marco” before Anglicizing his name to “Mark Ruby.” Each of the characters retreats into internal monologues, with Rubio hearing the episode-ending music from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Trump realizing he doesn’t have to say everything out loud and Musk making a Dr. Evil pinky gesture while wondering if taking a government job was a bad idea. “America’s doing ‘bad guy’ now,” Trump implored. Surprisingly, the sketch didn’t feature an actual shouting match between Rubio and Musk, and the Myers impression of Elon already feels like it’s overstaying its welcome in only its second appearance.
Lady Gaga’s monologue began with some jokes about the age of female pop stars (she’s 38, but joked that artists like Chappell Roan and Charli XCX are much older). Gaga touted her acting skills, and owned winning a Razzie award for worst onscreen duo (“Joke’s on them… I love winning things!” she said); she also mentioned that the man she’s engaged to was set up by her mother. She concluded, “I promise to act. And to sing. And to not do ‘Joker 3!’“
Best sketch of the night: Why isn’t rideable luggage in more rom-coms?
There are a lot of reasons why this sketch could have gone off the rails for technical or live TV reasons: for one, it features a real puppy. It has a lot of green-screen effects of people riding luggage on a highway. It even features a sequence with Lady Gaga and Hernández, who play young lovers, riding luggage backstage and through the audience. But somehow the weird sketch about a woman moving to France for culinary school and getting to the airport on rideable luggage manages to be absurd — it includes a biker gang, the Sons of Samsonite — and sweet at the same time. It’s an unexpected delight.
Also good: Never underestimate Pip the vengeful mous
A lot of pre-filmed sketches billed as “A Dan Bulla Short” end in sequences of shocking, cartoonish violence, and this one is no exception. But before it gets there, it tells the story of a bullied tiny mouse named Pip who goes to high school and is laughed at for wanting to compete in a weightlifting competition. Lady Gaga, as a sympathetic classmate, sings a very good song as Pip trains by using a hot dog wiener as a heavy bag and bench presses blocks of cheese. “Give a mouse a cookie and he’ll get lazy,” she sings, “give a mouse a challenge, he’ll work like crazy.” It turns out Pip can’t lift a lot of weight, but he can get revenge on someone who bullied him.
‘Weekend Update’ winner: Oh Lord, it’s Lady Gaga’s (fake) husband
Kenan Thompson portrayed outspoken former NBA star and current ESPN commentator Kendrick Perkins, but it was Mikey Day as “Lord Gaga,” the fictional husband of the host, who ruled “Update” this week. Making puns based on Lady Gaga songs and tropes (“She married a Lord. I was simply born this way”), Lord Gaga minimized his wife’s achievements and income before making implications about Colin Jost’s very famous wife Scarlett Johansson. “Can you imagine a man whose wife makes more money than he?” Lord Gaga cried, “What a living nightmare!”
