Tina Fey

Almost a year ago to the day, Jack Black hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the first time in 20 years, fresh off the success of “A Minecraft Movie.” Now, the star of another freshly minted videogame-to-movie hit, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” has returned after crushing it last time with a high-energy performance.

Having reached the Five-Timers Club, as addressed in an obligatory monologue sketch featuring Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Candice Bergen and others, Black was a returning hero. He’s frequently cited as one of the favorite hosts among the cast. And while this time may not have reached the frenetic highs of last year’s manic and musical outing, it had some memorable moments.

Most notable was a video for a country-style song about gaining wisdom and then completely forgetting what that wisdom was. Black sang in that sketch along with musical guest Jack White. Black also appeared as a frustrated office worker trying to get a coworker (Ashley Padilla) to stop talking to him and others annoyed by the woman.

Black paired up with Marcello Hernández to play martial arts instructors who teach unorthodox self-defense methods. It played to Black’s physical comedy chops, but something felt off about the execution, especially because of the hard-to-understand dialogue. Black played the last Spartan to be considered for inclusion in the group of 300 Greek fighters against Persia (spoiler: he doesn’t make it in). He played an intrusive Airbnb host with Melissa McCarthy, who was also on board for the Five-Timers sketch.

And, finally, he played one of a set of awkward husbands who come to life singing “Carry On Wayward Son” together.

While the monologue was a blast of fresh chaos (or at least the sense of chaos) with Black jamming out with White, the rest of the show didn’t have the same kind of verve, falling back on familiar sketch formulas. That said, Black committed throughout and sang well when he had the opportunity.

Musical guest Jack White appeared in a few sketches and performed “Derecho Demonico” and “G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs.”

Breaking a streak of cold opens featuring President Trump and/or members of his cabinet, this week’s opening sketch featured instead a March Madness NCAA post-game roundup featuring Ernie Johnson (James Austin Johnson), Kenny Smith (Kam Patterson), Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) and coach Bruce Pearl (Jeremy Culhane). The joke here was that Barkley, already known for being outspoken, has been getting kudos for speaking out in favor of immigrants on a CBS broadcast. On the show, he jokes that it’s “the first time I went viral without a prescription for Valtrex.” Emboldened, this version of Barkley keeps saying he’s going to be careful with his words, before weighing in on the Iran war, the Artemis II space mission (“A waste of money. They just flying around the moon.”) and the firing of former U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi. Bondi (Padilla) appeared to refute the comments, referring to “The final four… years of this country.” Barkley said he was going to choose his words carefully one more time before delivering, “Live from New York… It’s Saturday Night!”

For his induction to the Five-Timers Club, Black was joined by a jacket-clad Hill who revealed that there’s something wrong with the lounge where the Five Timers hang out. The room, indeed, appeared spooky and abandoned with cobwebs and Fey wearing a robe made out of Paddington, which she said she got after hosting “SNL UK” last month. Fey revealed the lounge has fallen apart after literally being run into the ground by too many Five-Timers Club sketches. The suave Hernández character Domingo appeared briefly but was conked on the noggin by White, who also achieved Five-Timers status, but as a musical guest. He left early to move his hearse: apparently musical Five Timers only get their parking validated for 15 minutes. Black chose to rock out to revive the lounge, launching into a version of White’s “Seven Nation Army” with the guitarist accompanying him. After a brief musical rockening, Black told the audience, “Stick around, we’ll be White Black!”

Best sketch of the night: If only we could remember why this song was so good

Beyond his spot-on Trump impression, Johnson has proven to be adept at musical impressions, and here he does a nice job launching into a country song, “Words to Live By,” about a man who hears his father’s dying words … and then forgets what the wisdom was that was imparted. Black takes over as a man who climbed a mountain in Tibet and spent 20 hours with a guru, only to forget what he learned while walking down the mountain and getting a text from his wife. That would have been plenty, but a third section features Andrew Dismukes as an annoyed father refusing to listen to his 6-year-old son’s words. “You don’t even know how to wipe your own butt,” he sings, “you maybe only know the names of like 30 weird Pokemon guys.” The three singers at least remember the name of the “Men in Black” device that erases your memory: The Neuralyzer.

Also good: There’ll be peace when you are done (watching this sketch)

What looked at first to be a repeat of a recent sketch about wine-drinking wives chatting in the kitchen and playing truth or dare instead pivoted to a scene about husbands stuck together in a den with nothing to talk about. That might have been premise enough for a piece about men having trouble making friends, but instead, a mumbled lyric for the Kansas song “Carry On Wayward Son” turned into a full-blown sing-along that peaks when the men jam out with ribbon sticks and strip their outerwear to reveal colorful jumpsuits. When you have a guest who can sing as well as Black, you’ve got to lean into that talent.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: A scandal that keeps ballooning

Patterson had some funny moments as the new Black version of Professor Snape slated to appear in the new “Harry Potter” series, but Sarah Sherman was tough to ignore as Kristi Noem’s husband Bryon, currently embroiled in a scandal over online chats. Sherman as Bryon Noem wore two giant balloons under a shirt, challenging “Update” co-host Michael Che and others to make fun of his kink. “I dare you to find one thing that’s funny about this whole situation,” Bryon said. The segment got more and more absurd as Bryon challenged the cue-card master Wally Ferensten, Lorne Michaels (shown having already left, leaving a spinning desk chair), Kristi Noem (Padilla) and even the dog she shot, shown in heaven with a halo. It was as distasteful a segment as you’d expect from “Update,” yet also somehow straddled the line between wallowing in the scandal and mining some genuine laughs out of it.

After 50 years of being practically synonymous with New York City, “Saturday Night Live” has opened the door to London with “Saturday Night Live UK,” following in the steps of “Law & Order UK” and possibly nothing else. Of all the cities in the world that might conceivably replicate the spirit of the NBC original, the British capital, with its urban dynamism, media concentration and 20,000 comedians, feels like the obvious, and perhaps only, choice. (“Saturday Night Live Italia” might prove me wrong, if that day ever comes.) And, of course, we’ve been in a reciprocal comedy arrangement with Britain — or at least we have been nicking their ideas for shows — for years.

The show premiered in the U.K. this past Saturday on Sky One and NOW, and began streaming stateside Sunday on Peacock, with our own Tina Fey as the first guest host. (“It’s an absolute honor and kind of historic,” she said to studio audience. “Guys, I am the youngest person to ever host ‘SNL UK!’”)

As a “Saturday Night Live” star, writer and head writer; and the co-creator of “30 Rock” — her show about a sketch show set in the very same building as “SNL” — they couldn’t have appointed a better ambassador. Lorne Michaels doubtless has her on speed dial.

Here’s the short review: In the course of a single episode, “SNL UK” managed to feel very much like its parent show — which is to say, some of it worked well and some of it worked less well, but very little of it didn’t work at all. There were sketches that ran too long, or ended weakly, but were generally redeemed by a young(ish), confident 11-member cast that made the most of them. Some will already be recognizable to British viewers. Many have had notable, or anyway noticed, careers in stand-up; in the sort of stand-up that amounts to theater; in straight theater (including Shakespeare, naturally) and/or in television and film. Fey promised to “stay out of their way as much as possible,” but she came to play, and appeared in most every sketch.

The evening followed established protocol. Cold open. (Prime Minister Keir Starmer, played by George Fouracres, is afraid to tell President Trump, whom he regards as a sort of bad boyfriend, that he’ll send no more ships to the Strait of Hormuz: “I know how badly you want to start World War III, and that’s great. You absolutely do that but we can’t be part of it.”) Hammed Animashaun and Jack Shep accompanied Fouracres in the sketch and shared the glory of shouting, “Live from London, it’s ‘Saturday Night!’” They would continue to dominate the episode.

Jack Shep, George Fouracres and Hammed Animashaun in the “SNL UK” cold open, set at 10 Downing Street, in the prime minister’s office.

(NBCUniversal)

Next: Opening credits featuring the cast members out and about in the city. Monologue, with guest appearances from Nicola Coughlan, Michael Cera and Graham Norton. (The set is very much in the style of various American iterations over the years, clock included, with the band onstage.) Film bits and sketches. Musical guest. (Wet Leg, surly.) “Weekend Update.” More skits. Musical guest returns. More comedy. Whole cast onstage at the end, ready to party.

Among other things: A Shakespeare skit found the Bard (Fouracres again) returning to Stratford from London between plays, each time more affected, beginning with an earring and finishing with an electric scooter, sunglasses and a bag of ketamine. A Paddington Bear immersive experience, with an actual bear, turns bloody, recalling Dan Aykroyd’s 1978 classic Julia Child sketch. As a bra salesperson giving an ego boost to Fey‘s customer, Emma Sidi was funnier than the sketch she was in. (It did include a cameo by Regé-Jean Page, from “Bridgerton.”) In another, David Attenborough (Fouracres again, again), using “Jurassic Park” technology, hosts a “last supper” featuring great dead Britons including Winston Churchill, Isaac Newton, Agatha Christie (Fey), “Freddie Mercury, from Queen, Elizabeth the First, from being the Queen,” and Shep’s Princess Diana, pulling focus at Attenborough’s right shoulder; all they manage to discuss is how many starters to get for the table. It had the added bonus of getting the entire cast, and guest host, onstage.

The film bits were first-rate. (Not being live has its advantages.) One advertised an anti-aging cream — Undérage, with a soft “g” — “that works so well everyone will think your man is a nonce.” (That is, a pedophile.) “My skin looks so fresh,” says a happy customer, “my husband can’t go anywhere without being hunted by right-wing pedophile-catching militias.” “My husband lost his record deal and, some, but not all of his fans.” Another concerned a sort of command center where workers labored “to make the internet as bad as we can possibly get it.”

There are, to be sure, tonal differences to British and American comedy; just compare the respective versions of “The Office,” or “Ghosts,” or “Doc Martin” with its domestic remake, “Best Medicine”; the former tends to be darker, more cutting, more absurd. (A “Weekend Update” joke about the former Prince Andrew’s new home, Marsh Fair, “of course named after the nearby marsh where his body will be found.”) Despite that, and the old saw that Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language, the show translated well transatlantically. Apart from some local topical and cultural references, and an occasional unfamiliar word whose meaning was in any case obvious from context, and some swearing, most of it could have been played with few adjustments by the American cast.

“While we may not agree with everything America does,” Fouracres’ prime minister says at the end of the cold open, “we can still be civil and embrace their wonderful, unproblematic culture.” Back at you, buddy!

The season has been extended to eight episodes from the originally ordered six. (Riz Ahmed and Jamie Dornan are scheduled to host.) Why not 10?

Saturday Night Live has launched in the UK tonight after plenty of buzz.

Saturday Night Live has arrived in the UK after months of anticipation, with Tina Fey stepping in to host.

As SNL UK launched on Sky, viewers were all saying the same thing as they tuned in to watch the very first sketch, which poked fun at Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Comedy legend and SNL veteran Tina is the first host to introduce the show to audiences, while Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed have also been announced as future hosts.

The 75-minute episode features Wet Leg as the first musical guest, with Wolf Alice and Kasabian to follow in future episodes.

“I am so excited for you to meet your cast, they are wonderful,” Tina told the audience, before promising to “stay out of their way tonight as much as possible”.

Viewers were divided as opening skit played out, with many complaining about the amount of laughter coming from the crowd. Some even wondered if it was canned, but this is not the case, as the show is filmed in front of a live studio audience.

“Are they seriously doing canned laughter on SNLUK?” one person asked on X (Twitter), as another quizzed: “Surely that laughter isn’t real on Saturday Night Love UK?”

A third asked: “Hang on? Is this laughter canned? It surely can’t be. But the audience is being weirdly compliant.”

“The audience need to calm down a bit,” another person advised, while one more suggested it was a technical issue, adding: “The laugh track is leveled/mixed wrong and it’s annoying me… “

However, other fans shared their appreciation for the show, with one writing: “Was so critical about the idea of SNLUK. 2 minutes in and I’m cryin.”

“Unpopular opinion: Saturday Night Live UK will be considered a great success this time next year,” a second penned.

“Got to admit, I did get a bit giddy at ‘Live from London, it’s Saturday Night Live!'” another commented, as one more person enthused: “I’m loving the opening sequence.”

Saturday Night Live UK debuted tonight on Sky and streaming service Now at 10pm. It was originally scheduled for just six episodes but received an extension before launch, meaning it will now run every Saturday for the next eight weeks.

The entertainment show includes a blend of sketch comedy, stand-up and live music, much like its US counterpart.

The show also mirrors its American predecessor with an opening monologue and signature segments like the Weekend Update, presented by Colin Jost and Michael Che in the US.

Saturday Night Live, created by Lorne Michaels, is a TV institution in the United States and first started in 1975.

Tina Fey appeared on the sketch programme from 1997 to 2006, and based her hit comedy series 30 Rock on her experiences working on the show.

The UK line-up of comedians features several major names from the comedy circuit as well as some up-and-coming talent.

The ensemble cast includes Hammed Animashaun, Ania Magliano, Emma Sidi, Celeste Dring, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, George Fouracres, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, and Paddy Young.

Writers for the show include 8 Out of 10 Cats writer Charlie Skelton, Stath Lets Flats actor and comedian Al Roberts and Have I Got News For You’s Bella Hull.

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Lead producer James Longman said of the launch: “The UK is absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast represents the freshest voices we have, they’re bold, exciting and of course, incredibly funny.

“The chemistry between them is something special and we can’t wait to share this funny group of people with the world.”

Phil Edgar Jones, executive director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, said: “We all need a laugh like never before, so we’re beyond excited to bring Saturday Night Live to the UK, only 50 short years after it first launched in the US.

“The show’s long-standing legacy of discovering and nurturing outstanding comedy talent speaks for itself, and this UK version will build on that legacy with the support of Lorne Michaels, a brilliant local production team, and an exciting new generation of voices. Saturday nights are looking bright!”

Saturday Night Live UK is available to watch on Sky and Now TV on Saturdays at 10pm.