Chris Rock hosts for fourth time

Hey there Conehead nation, it’s SNL in Review: the 50th anniversary season recap extravaganza. (Patent pending on name.) This season’s next installment conjures another ghost from Saturday Night Live past — and, in fitting with Dana Carvey and David Spade’s recent cameos — it is someone from the so-called Bad Boy era. Yes, Chris Rock has returned to host, in his fourth stint. Savvy readers of this column will note he hosted the season 46 in-studio premiere. Of course, since then, Rock has had a bit of tumult in his career and personal life. Will that provide fodder for our dear monologue?

Former cast member Siobhan Fallon Hogan first met Rock during her season on the show, and notes he “is an all around great guy — hilarious and was extremely supportive of me and other cast members.”

Gracie Abrams is tonight’s musical guest. Scroll down for more!

Cold Open

Sarah Sherman is Nancy Grace, who is just right for YouTube. I love Sherman’s goofy take on Grace, a different spin from what Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Abby Elliott and Noël Wells previously did with their takes on the conservative host.

Great punchline about Grace’s fixation on Jon Benet — and I laughed hard at the random interruption from Marcello Hernandez. This is a hilarious spoof of Grace, and her “fall from grace” from a respectable TV network. It’s also a commentary on internet culture and the reaction to Luigi Mangione’s arrest. Emil Wakim is great as a Luigi lookalike — it’s been a mixed week for him.

This was a great cold open — please watch! Probably top three for the season, for me. Very funny!

Monologue

Rock compliments Lorne Michaels on 25 great seasons of SNL! Then he disparages Jonah Hill’s looks! He also gets into Luigi Mangione with the biting line: “Sometimes, drug dealers get shot.” Wow.

Diddy, Kamala Harris, Mike Tyson — Rock says it has been a bad year for Black Americans. “Who is he going to fight next, Morgan Freeman?” he asks regarding the YouTuber/boxer Jake Paul, who beat Tyson. Next: he gets into Trump with digs at former presidents like Bill Clinton. His line about Elon Musk and deporting people gets a huge groan. I believe this line about the rocket ship recently caused an issue at a recent gig. Fallon Hogan comments that Rock’s “standup is genius because he is fearless.” Agreed, this was a good set.