‘SNL’ recap: Ariana Grande does impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and more

Conehead Nation, rise up! SNL in Review: The Anniversary Recap is back, and we are three episodes in. Many of you agreed with me that last week’s episode was a pleasant rebound from a clunky, awkward season premiere. Numbers don’t lie. Tonight, we have a special match-up: Bowen Yang‘s Wicked costar Ariana Grande is being teamed with a deep cut SNL musical guest, a genuine legend: Stevie Nicks. Here is how big Stevie Nicks is: Not only was her first time playing at 8H way back in 1983, but there’s a classic sketch spoofing Nicks that itself is over 25 years old! Longevity and lore, folks. SNL50.

Grande last appeared on SNL a few months back — but as the musical guest. She has hosted before though, back in season 41. (The Tidal breakdown sketch remains a late period classic.) Taran Killam, who is now appearing in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center (which opened this weekend), shares: “What I’m most excited for is Stevie Nicks. Her with Ariana hosting is appointment television for me.”

Stay tuned for more below! We have former cast member Gary Kroeger also bringing some quotables on this momentous night and season.

Cold Open

The football game broadcast on NBC caused a “delay of game” of tonight’s Cold Open. Kaitlan Collins (Chloe Fineman) is over at CNN. She describes Donald Trump’s fear of facing off against Kamala Harris — except for Family Feud! So here we go… 

Kenan Thompson gets to bust out his awesome Steve Harvey. Maya Rudolph is back as VP Harris — she’s been active in the media this week. With her, as always, is Andy Samberg as “Doug the Shrug” alongside Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) and Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan). Steve Harvey asks Harris what she keeps in her glove compartment. After spewing her boilerplate stump speech, Harvey cajoles her to say “glock.” And when it’s Doug’s turn, he says “second gun” — the rest of the Democratic team isn’t quite as successful.

James Austin Johnson’s Trump is NOT joined by wife Melania. Mikey Day returns as Don Jr. but no Alex Moffat as Eric? That is a shame.

Doug Emeroff has expressed approval of Andy Samberg‘s impression — so has Kamala Harris regarding Rudolph’s portrayal of her. I asked Gary Kroeger if Samberg’s take is too soft. He notes: “It is the actor’s job to do the impression and it’s the sketches job to do the satire. An impression isn’t necessarily spot-on mimicry, but should have a character twist that comes from the actor in order to reveal a new way to look at them… The fact that Emeroff liked Samberg’s impression is nice, I think. I did a few back in the day and my intention always held out the hope that the subject being impersonated would find my take amusing.”

Kroeger adds: “I don’t care for the fact that celebrities are brought in to do the political impressions. I’m not arguing with the success of it or the fact that viewership may go up, but I’ve always thought the cast should do everything on SNL with very few exceptions. That’s the magic of the show to me, that there’s a cast that can do anything put in front of it.”

Monologue

Grande notes she has had a great year — she’s a theater kid, so it’s a dream to star in Wicked. One point: She is just here to host, stay low key and NOT sing. With that, she immediately breaks out into song. And yes, she impersonates Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Gwen Stefani during her number. As noted earlier, she did this in 2016 in an actual sketch. With modern SNL, though, it’s just a box they check. 

Grande and Bowen Yang have a nice moment commenting on Wicked. (Gary Kroeger hasn’t seen the show, but recalls that his former cast member Tim Kazurinsky was once in it and heard he was great!)

She summons a chorus line of dancers at the end of her song for the grand finale. But… she claims she’s keeping it low key!  

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

“Bridesmaid Speech”

Johnson is wrapping up a standard and boring best man speech at a wedding reception. The bridesmaids, however, are quirky and a little bit different — they’ve written a special song about the bride’s bachelorette party in Charleston. And thus, a spoof of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” commences. The girls — Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, and Grande — recount a story about the bride and a man named Domingo getting together on the girls’ weekend. “Not for nothing, but the rhyme scheme has gone completely out of the weekend,” whines the groom (Andrew Dismukes). He grows increasingly concerned. I like that the singing is a little off-key — it’s not supposed to be good.

But wait, Marcello Hernandez makes a surprise appearance as Domingo, too!

“My Best Friend’s House”

This is a Dan Bulla short, folks. Grande shows up at her best friend’s house, which marks her third time singing tonight already! She reflects nostalgically on the smell of this home: the brother’s deodorant, the dad smelling sauce. It’s cute, until things take a dark turn. Seems she missed a few cues. 

Sarah Squirm as a severed human head is sly casting.

FYI — Bulla has produced several Adam Sandler films such as The Ridiculous 6, Murder Mystery, and Hubie Halloween. He has written for the show since 2019 but was just named as the writing supervisor.

“Charades With Mom”

Bowen Yang is meeting his boyfriend’s parents and they begin to play charades. The mom (Grande) grows very competitive and mean. She keeps disparaging Yang. Clearly, the show sees Yang as its star these days. There’s a fake body moment, then a polyamorous kiss. 

Jane Wickline remains a bit awkward, no?

“Celine Dion Sports Promo” 

Ah yes, now we retread Grande’s Dion impression. In a hilarious new Sunday Night Football promo, Dion joked that her hit song “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” perfectly captures NFL rivalries. So now, SNL‘s satirical take is what if she did it for UFC? Sure.

Stevie Nicks performs “The Lighthouse”

“The Lighthouse” was released last month as a rally cry for women, intended to reinvigorate the fight for reproductive healthcare. “I have my scars, you have yours/ Don’t let them, take your power,” she sings. “They’ll take your soul, they’ll take your power, unless you save it.” What a ballad.

As noted, Nicks first played 8H way back in the early ’80s. Gary Kroeger recalls that season 8 performance: “I was in my 20s when she did SNL during my time there! When she came on the scene 10 years earlier, I was in my teens! Was I a fan of Stevie Nicks? Of course I was! She was one of, if not the Goddess of Rock and Roll. I was too nervous to say hello. My recollection was that she didn’t hang out much and I don’t recall her at the after-party, but that doesn’t mean my memory is correct. Only that I was too shy to say anything. She was terrific on the show.”

Sheryl Crow plays guitar and bass, and sings on this track, which she co-produced. (And yes, she has played at 8H three times.)

Weekend Update

Coachella, like Trump, brings out the worst in white people, cracks Colin Jost. Michael Che jokes Trump will have bangs soon. More Trump jokes — Jost makes a brutal abortion joke, then dings NYC Mayor Adams. “It’s the ’90s, Colin,” calls back Che (twice). A few Diddy jokes tonight!

Strangely happy Amazon employee Monica (Ego Nwodim) wishes us good morning — it’s Prime Day, Amazon’s biggest sale event. She works so much, she invented her own day, and hooks up with drones. Pretty funny commentary on the modern tech workforce/economy. 

Joel and Liam Gallagher come on to discuss their Oasis reunion. Tonight they are played by Sarah Sherman and James Austin Johnson. They discuss what they agree on: cartoons. Jost needs their upcoming tour to work out, so he can mosh out and win the White Boy of the Year award. Hey SNL history nerds, Jim Breuer played Liam Gallagher back in Jon Lovitz’s November 1997 episode during the “Set Our Nanny Free” sketch. Oasis also played 8H back in October 1997 with host Matthew Perry.

“Castrati”

The Italian Renaissance was a period of profound cultural, artistic, and intellectual resurgence in Italy from the 14th to the 17th centuries.

Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg appear in this sketch. I have said it before, but these glorified celebrity appearances are not mere guest cameos. It is SNL50, a special season — let’s recognize these contributions as the Avengers Unite moment of live network comedy. Call them what they are: real cast members! Dana Carvey, too. It is not just semantics. What are we doing here exactly? 

Anyway, the pale and sickly Antonio (Grande) is the son of Rudolph and Samberg, blessed with a heavenly singing voice. They castrated him to perfect his voice for the local royalty (Dismukes). Antonio appears dead inside, despite the protestations of his parents. 

Grande sings “Twist and Shout” here — another sketch where the show leans on her voice. Fun.

Stevie Nicks performs “Edge of Seventeen”

After this episode’s second “delay of game,” we return from commercial — and it’s worth it! “Edge of Seventeen” is on the menu, and I know somewhere Joan Cusack is pleased. A timeless classic. I am a fan of this! 

Another sign of Nicks’ longevity: 45 years ago today, Fleetwood Mac released their album Tusk.

“Maybelline”

Chloe Fineman and Grande perform dueling Coolidge performances via the mirror. “Wow!” Fineman previously played Coolidge during the Austin Butler and Aubrey Plaza episodes. 

Here’s a goofy surprise: Fineman removes the mirror and Dana Carvey appears. (Reminder: Just call these celeb appearances what they are — being part of the cast!) 

This one goes on a bit long, for the premise. 

“The Hotel Detective”

SNL goes black and white. Grande and Johnson spit ’40s dialogue, as they and Dismukes accuse one another of being frauds with badges. Goofy rat-a-tat deliveries, oh my. 

Michael Longfellow “selling” the ending as Rod Serling — and commenting on SNL in the process — is a curious touch. Feels rushed.

Final Thoughts

 —Welp, how did you feel about this one? Vote here!

—Thanks as always to Gary Kroeger! Check out the The Gary and Kenny Show on YouTube! Here’s their latest episode with Paul Shaffer.