Oscar-winner Emma Stone added another career achievement to her resumé on Saturday as she became a member of an illustrious group of people who have hosted SNL five times or more.
With two projects to promote — the film Poor Things and the Showtime series The Curse — Stone brought her A-game to the show, with committed performances and memorable sketches that left many viewers feeling satisfied with the episode as a whole.
The show also bid farewell to former New York Congressman George Santos, introduced the masses to a talented singer/songwriter and more. Here’s a look at some of this week’s SNL highlights.
Bowen bids farewell to George Santos
It was pretty much a given that SNL would address the recent removal of George Santos from Congress during the show, especially given that cast member Bowen Yang’s portrayal of Santos has been quite popular this season with viewers.
And they wasted no time, tackling the subject in the show’s cold open. Before breaking into a musical number, the sketch began with a press conference with Yang as Santos where he was pretty accepting of his situation.
“You want me to say that I lost, that I’m humiliated? Fine. So I’m no longer Congressman Santos, I’m just regular old professor, major, general, reverend, astronaut Santos, protector of the realm, princess of Genovia,” he said.
Emma Stone’s official induction
Hosting for a fifth time is a big deal in the world of SNL, and while some legendary hosts have certainly surpassed that number, there is a handful of stars still sitting at five, like Ben Affleck, Melissa McCarthy, Dwayne Johnson, Candice Bergen, Bill Murray, Justin Timberlake, Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill.
And now that Stone’s name is officially a part of that list as the youngest to get to five, she was welcomed to the club by Bergen — the first-ever woman to host the show — along with Tina Fey who has solo-hosted five times and co-hosted once alongside Amy Poehler.
“You’re part of SNL her-story,” Bergan told Stone before Fey put the Five-Timers jacket on her.
Buzzy sketch of the night
In a sketch called Make Your Kind of Music, Stone plays a record producer in the 1960s named Mitch Lester, who is working with musician Mama Cass as she records her song, “Make Your Kind of Music.”
Lester is convinced that the song will someday find its way into countless movies and trailers playing over slow-mo meltdown montages — which has been the case lately with films like The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Free Guy.
Stone was very committed to the part as her character took it upon himself to act out the potential montages while Cass sang the song. Between Stone’s performance and just hearing the song itself on repeat, it was a sketch that made a lasting impression with viewers reacting on social media, with one viewer on Threads even comparing it to the classic More Cowbell sketch with Christopher Walken.
Still thinking about that SNL Emma Stone Mama Cass sketch last night😅😂🤣👏
— Marisa (@minihondo) December 4, 2023
Other highlights
Some of the other memorable moments of the night included a music video sketch called Fully Naked in New York, which is pretty much how it sounds: Stone and Yang leading a song about being and doing things fully naked in New York City.
Weekend Update once again brought plenty of laughs as well, especially when Michael Longfellow dressed as a character named Old Fashioned Cigarette to comment on vaping.
Another bright spot for the evening was musical guest Noah Kahan. The singer/songwriter picked up some new fans with his performances of “Dial Drunk” and “Stick Season.”
Looking ahead
The rest of the SNL guest hosts and musical guests have been announced for the remainder of the year. Adam Driver will host on Dec. 9 with Olivia Rodrigo supplying the music, while former cast member Kate McKinnon will close out the year on Dec. 16 with Billie Eilish as the musical guest. This will mark McKinnon’s fourth time hosting.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays on NBC.
