The first appearance for Glen Powell in Studio 8H was a smashing success. The actor appeared energetic, genuine, extremely likable, and most importantly, he was very game for any type of humor.
The monologue featured a cool story from Powell about how he learned he was going to host SNL 2020. When he got that call, a UPS driver was delivering a package and posed in selfie. But due to Covid, Powell was unable to host. The actor revealed that he flew the UPS driver to New York for the show, and brought the man on stage for a selfie.
Memorable comedy moments include: an absurd sketch pitting “The Bobs vs The Bangs” in an army barracks; a sketch where a grandmother is shocked by the results of AI-enhanced videos shown to her by her grandchildren; and three short mini-pretaped episodes of the classic Macgruber, starring guest Will Forte. Impressively, the writing staff somehow found a way to feature all 15 of the main cast in sketches and pretapes.
Singer Olivia Dean took full advantage of being on a huge stage with a large television audience: she was amazing in both of her musical performances. Dean didn’t need an elaborate stage set, or guests during her performances (we’re side-eying you, Role Model). Dean simply stood on the stage and belted her thrilling vocals into the microphone. She was smooth, elegant, confident, unshakable. And she looked like she was enjoying herself. Note to musical artists: have fun. We like positive energy far better than brooding faux swagger.
In a CSPAN cold open, Ashley Padilla appears as the Trump administration’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She does her best to distract the press in light of recent headlines surrounding the felon, Donald Trump. James Austin Johnson pops in as Donald Trump, in an attempt to confuse the assembled press about the Epstein Files controversy.
