General Overview:
“It’s really special to be back in the studio, I mean this place is historic, ok? Just look around… Think about all the brilliance that’s happened here. All your favorite sketches, Wild Crazy Guys, Gilly, Cowbell, Wayne’s World, all happened in here where you are.”
–Jason Sudeikis, 10/23/21

This episode shows one of the inherent strengths of SNL: having a new host each week makes it an incredibly variable show; each episode can be completely different from the one before it. That not only makes it fun to review, it also allows a very wide range of viewers to all have at least one episode that they really like.

Today’s target audience was the people who’ve watched SNL for many years, with long-time actor and writer Jason Sudeikis repeating many of his old sketches and roles, including Joe Biden and The Devil (no relation). Unfortunately for me, I was nine years old when he left the show, so I’m not exactly the prime demographic to take a trip down memory lane.

Highlights:
Jason Sudeikis is actually a comedy actor, which meant that he knew exactly what he was doing on stage. For the sketches that weren’t from past seasons, it was refreshing to see the writers able to write sketches without constructing them around the host.

“Weekend Update” continues to be savage, with some zingers that I’m not even brave enough to put into writing. Pretty much any joke from the segment could have taken the “best joke” title of this week’s review.

Lowlights:
The universal problem with fanservice is that when you aren’t a fan, you simply will not be able to enjoy it as much as a person who is one. This usually isn’t too big of an issue, since fans are more likely to be the ones watching anyway, but when a show is designed to attract such a wide audience like SNL is, it’s going to feel a bit forced to some people. This episode, I was one of them.

Best Sketch:
“Science Room.” This sketch was another “layered” one, where the comedy came more from running gags and pacing than the jokes themselves. There are so many things happening in such a short time span that your brain gets overwhelmed and can’t do anything but laugh. When executed well, these are almost always my favorites of the night.

Best Joke:
“President Biden admitted that he has not had time to visit the southern border, though his approval rating has.” -Colin Jost

Overall Score: 6/10
None of the sketches really made me laugh my head off, and the fanservice wasn’t for me both literally and figuratively. That being said, this episode wasn’t made for me and therefore this is just a score of my own viewing experience.