In an underwhelming Thanksgiving episode of Saturday Night Live, Jason Momoa takes the hosting reins but is provided with limited material, resulting in a lackluster show. The opening skit satirizes Joe Biden’s press conference post-meeting with Xi Jinping, injecting humor into topics like pandas and political dynamics.
Momoa’s monologue mainly revolves around his affection for Hawaii and his environmental advocacy. However, it lacks substance, offering only two or three mildly humorous lines. The subsequent sketches, such as “Masters of the Pen,” fail to deliver anything interesting, clever, or memorable.
One of the sketches involves Momoa playing a bouncer at a Miami nightclub, struggling to turn people away without resorting to calling them ugly. Despite Momoa’s amiable portrayal of the character and a somewhat entertaining bad Cuban accent, the sketch suffers from a prolonged setup with minimal payoff.
The Hudson News Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade, live from Newark Airport, introduces a lineup of frazzled travelers, including a couple on their final Thanksgiving trip together, a TSA agent with repetitive shouts, and Momoa’s sleazy drunk pilot. The standout character is a woman claiming one of the passengers isn’t real, set to go viral.
A short from “Please Don’t Destroy” follows Martin and Ben trying to console a freshly dumped John, with their minds fixated on ordering ramen for dinner. While it contains some laughs, this season’s PDD videos have noticeably lacked the zaniness and surrealism of past ones.
The Weekend Update features Representative George Santos, hot off a House report accusing him of spending campaign finances on clothes, Onlyfans accounts, and cosmetic surgery. Santos’s bitchy and deceitful persona pretends to field calls from celebrities, takes credit for inventing gayness and the cups game, and uses a baby as a cellphone. Given Santos’s likely impending exit from the spotlight, SNL misses an opportunity for a grander sendoff.
Later, Michael Che welcomes Golden State Warrior Draymond Green, recently suspended for choking an opponent during a game. Green remains unapologetic, expressing eagerness to repeat the act, claiming he showed restraint.
The third and final guest is the night’s backup musical act, Remember Lizards (Johnson and Andrew Dismukes), often confused for the more popular Imagine Dragons. The duo parodies Imagine Dragons’ style, but the satire lacks the biting edge needed to make a more significant impact.
Overall, the episode struggles to deliver compelling, humorous, or memorable content, leaving much to be desired in terms of entertainment and comedic impact.
