The lights flicker on each Sunday morning following Saturday night in Saturday Night Live’s, SNL, studio ready to get to work. The exclusive list of a little under a thousand people, according to The Wrap, who have been graced with the pleasure and anxiety of knowing what it means to host for SNL one week.
The days leading up to Saturday Night are filled with skit selections, rehearsals, preparations, promotion and so much more behind the scenes. The audience cannot even begin to fathom the effort it takes to make the show happen at 11:30 p.m. Eastern standard time every Saturday night.
One thing that the host generally does not have to worry about, however, is the musical guest. With every accompanying host, there comes a musical guest who sings a minimum of two songs during the set. This gives audiences, both live and home, a change of pace from the show allowing them to enjoy a mini performance from a popular singer or songwriter at that time.
That poses the question – What if the host and musical guest were the same person?
According to Entertainment Weekly, this narrows down the already exclusive list of a little under a thousand to just 49 as of January 2025. Starting with American singer and songwriter, Paul Simon, on Oct. 18 1975 and, before this most recent show, actor and singer, Timothée Chalamet, on Jan. 25 2025.
As of October 18, this list added actress, singer and performer, Sabrina Carpenter, to its rank. Carpenter participated in six skits and two song performances, not including her monologue and goodbye speech.
These skits, speeches and more were filled to the brim with meanings and references, so let’s dive in and see what each one entailed.
Opening Monologue
Carpenter began her monologue by strutting out in a black and blue sequined mini dress while waving hello to the crowd.
“The dress immediately caught my attention,” Sophia Ventura (11) said. “It fit her style so perfectly and I loved the black and green fringe at the bottom.”
Following her entrance, Carpenter addressed some of the controversy surrounding her album cover. Due to its provocative nature and insinuations, many found it uncalled for and a misuse of her platform.
Carpenter jokingly replied to these comments by creating a zoomed-out image of the unseen figure holding her hair in the cover and making his identity Bowen Yang, a reoccurring comedian on SNL. To add to the joke, Carpenter also made Martin Short the perpetrator of her being on the ground after allegedly shoving her onto the floor.
“I think it was a great way to address the comments,” Charlotte Morris (11) said. “The way someone talks about their controversies can make or break a career and doing it in a way that acknowledged the issue but also made fun of it was the best way to handle the situation.”
Carpenter followed by making similar jokes concerning the vulgarity of her songs and even incorporating the audience into her skit.
In the final moments of her monologue, Carpenter referenced the gag she would do at her shows on the Short n’ Sweet tour where she would being hot. Keenan Thompson, seasoned SNL comedian, came out and asked her for a cameo for his niece. When Carpenter replied yes but for the steep price of $200,000, Thompson promptly scooted off of stage and the monologue came to a close.
All in all, I believe this monologue had a good mix of pop culture, jokes and introduction to set the stage for a positive performance the rest of the night.
Domingo Cold Open
To start the night off, Carpenter opened with yet another Domingo sketch.
For those who are not aware of the running joke, the original skit became popularized about a year ago in mid-October. Ariana Grande, the host that night, and the other bridesmaids made a parody of Carpenter’s hit song, Espresso. The skit became an international sensation, which SNL quickly turned into a reoccurring joke with sequels and even a Carpenter debut in the 50 season finale.
To see the Domingo sketch once again, and have Marcello Hernandez, acclaimed comedian on SNL, reprise his role once more was a familiar feeling for all reoccurring SNL viewers.
Overall, the mashup of The Fate of Ophelia, Abracadabra and Ordinary was a very full circle and refreshing moment to begin the show on. This relevant and comedic skit was the perfect way to open the night for someone of Carpenter’s reputation.
Snack Homies
In this skit, Carpenter, accompanied by three other SNL cast members, impersonated four boys, named Braylor, Jason, Kyler and Tayson, making a podcast about snacks with your friends.
This parody referenced most podcasts hosted by a stereotypical man who introduce one-dimensional topics and are more for simple entertainment as opposed to thought provoking conversation.
Chelsea Peper (11) said, “This skit was just really simple fun that was an easy laugh that you really didn’t have to think about much.”
Peper, and many others agreed that this kind of slap-happy comedy allowed for an ease into the set for the night and started off the show with a light mood.
Shop TV
In the following skit, SNL made the choice to poke fun at infomercial and their over-the-top dynamics.
The two hosts of this fake commercial, Rhett and Bev, have over-the-top southern accents which add emphasis to everything.
“They introduced a Halloween candy bucket like it was going to save the world,” Kira Bushuev (11) said. “And then Sabrina’s neck pillow joke was hilarious.”
Carpenter spent almost four minutes reviewing a suggestive neck pillow which highlighted the absurdity of infomercials in their entirety. This easy laugh was a good act to follow the previous “Snack Homies” skit and continued the theme seen throughout the night thus far.
Grind Song
What succeeded this portion of the show was a prerecorded song. Carpenter and cast members created a song skit poking fun at the immaturity of middle and high school dances.
It is pre-teens and teenagers talking about topics they were not mature enough to understand which made for a funny reflection in the end.
Ultimately, this was a good placement for a prerecorded skit, giving the audience a break from the pace they had become accustomed to so far.
Girlboss Seminar
Queen Lisha, the “Girlboss” portrayed by Carpenter, opened this skit with a bang. In a pink pantsuit, brown wig and with two back up dancers, Carpenter parodied most feminist motivational speakers with over-the-top theatrics.
Elle Davidson (9) said, “I thought it was really funny when Sabrina was trying to explain FOMO and made the saying FOMO-OMO-NONONO. It just really sounded like how me and my friends joke around.”
Again, this skit continued the lighthearted and joking theme seen throughout the rest of the night. Even though this skit did not necessarily stand out to me, it was an overall good addiction to this show’s discography.
Birthday Sketch
Continuing the cavalier theme, the subsequent sketch created a scenario where Carpenter, accompanied by her “work colleagues,” surprised a coworker for their birthday.
The coworker lost control of themselves and passed a comedic amount of gas.
This sketch particularly stood out for not only its young age humor, but also the mistake made.
“My favorite part of this sketch was probably when the coworker messed up and said her line backwards,” Resse Pittman (11) said. “It reminds you that these are actual people and not just characters on a tv show which almost makes it funnier.”
The sarcasm found in this sketch is simpler humor which is found in the flatulence, salary and snack jokes which were just an easy laugh.
Appliance Store
The final skit of the night opened with a bang. Thompson introduced a bickering couple who had quippy remarks for each other to his appliance store which specialized in washing machines.
Thompon’s character removed a drape off a “washer drier duo” which revealed Carpenter and another comedian popping their heads out of the machines to give a cute jingle over and over again.
Depending on the intended setting, they would sing different jingles, ending off with a perfect show girl routine when the machines stood up to accompany their songs with dances.
All in all, this sketch did not particularly stand out in comparison to the rest but also did not overshadow the rest of the show in doing so. As a result, I believe it was the perfect way to end the skit portion of this week’s SNL.
Musical Performances
Succeeding her comedic adventures, Carpenter moved onto the “double duty” portion of the show. She chose to perform two of her hit songs from her new album, Man’s Best Friend: Manchild and Nobody’s Son.
Beginning with the Manchild performance, Carpenter displayed a set similar to that of a teenage girl’s bedroom. She danced around the room with pink and yellow tones singing her song as if she was living it, even going as far to jump around on her bed.
“I loved watching this,” Kai Lea Maseman (11) said. “I’m not the biggest Sarbina Carpenter fan but I can appreciate when you can tell the artist really loves their song and knows how to preform it well and she did.”
Next, her rendition of Nobody’s Son was slightly different. The song consists of some standout beats, which Carpenter chose to interpret as karate chops. Naturally, she then dressed up as a karate student who would sing her song and break wood at every one of the beat chops.
This production truly showed Carpenter’s acting, comedic and singing chops by displaying her coveted talent of being able to balance all three. Being able to perform your song in such a way that gives respect to your work while also being self-aware and being able to make fun of it is part of the reason why Carpenter has come so far along in her career thus far.
Conclusions
All things considered, Carpenter put on an SNL show to remember. The lighthearted attitude made for simple yet hilarious sketches that were appealing to a wide range of audiences and were just a good laugh.
The young singer continues to surprise the world with her relevancy in pop culture, and if she continues to participate in things such as there, her acting and singing will continue to soar for the rest of her career.
While just looking at the comedic side of things, it was not one of the most infamous performances to ever occur; nevertheless, it was a good addition to this season’s episodes.
Title by caporcelli