We got a vet this week! Jon Hamm is a skilled character actor and sketch comedian who has hit dependable home runs for SNL over the years (despite his hosting hiatus). Although he brought us a bit of a weak opening monologue — saved by Kieran Culkin‘s reliable silliness — the rest of the show was spot-on.

The sketches that worked

• Definitely liked the stock market Easter bit in this week’s Cold Open. Why is James Austin Johnson so damn good in these?!
• “Check to Check Business News” — yup. Solid.
• Weirdly really liked “Icebreaker” for the set up, even if it went on a little too long. I’ve seen a lot of online comments asking SNL to stop letting Andrew Dismukes run sketches… but he pulled it off this time.
• I was fine with “New Parents“! Totally middle of the road but perfectly acceptable.
• This isn’t the first time SNL has pulled out a medication ad spoof, but it’s always enjoyable. “Medication Ad” worked.
• This may or may not have worked, but I’m one of the apparently 10 people in the United States who haven’t watched White Lotus, so “The White POTUS” wasn’t for me. And that’s fine! It was super fun to see Beck Bennet, Alex Moffat and ScarJo, if nothing else.

The sketches that didn’t

• Please Don’t Destroy’s latest didn’t land for me. “Missing Person“, more like missing jokes (first thought lol).
• Even though Michael Longfellow was basically born to be a fake game show host, this week’s “Guess! The Correct! Answer!” just didn’t hit the mark.

The musical GUEST

It may have been two years, but I haven’t forgotten about Lizzo’s background dancer controversy. I’ve never been a big enough fan to even consider justifying overlooking that, so… no comments on this week’s performances.

Final thoughts

Jon Hamm is seasoned and came ready to rock. It worked.

My rating: 4/5