Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL

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Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL
Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL
'Wasn't That Special' Season 46 Bonus Materials

'Wasn't That Special' Season 46 Bonus Materials

Jun 24, 2025
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Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL
Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL
'Wasn't That Special' Season 46 Bonus Materials
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As the Wasn’t That Special co-hosts watch each season of Saturday Night Live, they compare notes on each episode, chatting back and forth about popular and long-forgotten sketches. Some of the topics they discuss make it to the final podcast; others are left on the cutting room floor.

But for those of you who join at the Executive Producer level have access to Christian and Scot’s behind-the-scenes notes, as well as bonus materials the co-hosts used to prepare for the episode.

Please enjoy this edition of the Season Forty-Six bonus notes section, with the clips coming soon.

Help keep the podcast advertisement-free and upgrade to the Executive Producer level, which will keep these emails coming in the future!

E1: Chris Rock / Megan Thee Stallion

Christian: This episode might be worse than Covid.

Scot: Liked this just as much as last season's opener

Presidential Debate - Bennett as Wallace - Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Joe Biden (Jim Carrey) at debate; Rudolph as Harris

Scot: Carey as Biden is such an enormous mistake - 20% SNL cast, 80% guests - 13 minutes! All of them wasted.

Rock does stand-up about the intersection of coronavirus & government

Christian: Pretty weak.

Scot: Rock loves term limits - Less a stand-up set than a pep talk.

Superspreader Event - TV reporter (Day) covers contract tracing at name-change office

Christian: Finally, a Bertram in a sketch.

Scot: No relation.

Future Ghost - Given a glimpse of 2020, Y2k teen (Mooney) focuses on video game graphics

Christian: My God.

Scot: Original concept sucks so they try to jam in a few more at the end.

Drew Barrymore Show - Drew Barrymore’s (Fineman) show is characterized by cheery fare

Christian: It's a middling Barrymore by SNL standards.

Scot: Add another name to the Barrymore list - Is it fine? It is fine.

Weekend Update - Trump gets COVID - Biden LGBTQ supporters - TikTok defender Chen Biao (Yang) - McConnell SCOTUS stuff - pogo stick joke - Carrie Krum (Bryant)

Christian: What happens when you write jokes at the last minute.

Scot: Che explaining why Trump's COVID is funny is good - Liked Jost's BET joke.

E2: Bill Burr / Jack White

VP Debate - McKinnon as Susan Page - Pence/Bennett, Harris/Rudolph - Bidenfly (Carrey) - Kenan as Herman Cain

Christian: "We have to use Carrey, he's under contract" - even if it tanks this sketch.

Scot: Rudolph explains the jokes - 12 minutes! - The writing. There's no attempt to find satire or be creative. Just the dumbest ways to include the most number of events from the week.

Burr does stand-up about coronavirus, woke white women, gay pride month

Christian: It's legit bad.

Noon Normal - Emerging from isolation, (Burr & McKinnon) are called out for malaprops

Scot: Single idea, nothing written around it.

The Blitz - Burr, Kenan, Nwodim - Shooting of black man invades sports trashtalk show

Scot: Burr is the key, of course, and straddles the line very well - especially with sending back the steak.

Enough Is Enough - Bennett's political viral video try is poorly received; Jason Momoa cameo

Christian: It's the Pepsi commercial again.

Scot: Son of “Pepsi Commercial Shoot” from S42.

Weekend Update - Trump survives COVID - Dr. Wayne Wenowdis (McKinnon) - McKinnon explains Wenowdis is a coping mechanism - potential Biden economy - sexy hand sanitizer for Halloween - Davidson unhappy with J.K. Rowling

Christian: Might be one or two worthwhile jokes in the whole bunch.

Scot: Couple of good jokes in the middle - LOL at Jost's Sizzler punchline - Also LOL at the police horse joke.

Don Pauly - Mob boss (Burr) catches up to modern language/ideas after 20 years behind bars - Johnson, Moffat, Bennett, Mooney

Scot: This works. Nice way of weaving through various land mines.

E3: Issa Rae / Justin Bieber

Christian: Cecily Strong is missing! Also, every show needs a backup Aidy Bryant, which I assume is why Lauren Holt is there.

Scot: No Strong, no Bryant, McKinnon won't play "normal" roles and Villsenor is invisible. Could be a problem.

Dueling Town Halls - Biden (Carrey) & Trump (Baldwin) & Day/George S. & McKinnon/Guthrie & Rudolph/Harris for some reason

Christian: Oh look it's Maya Rudolph for no reason. 13 minutes of terrible choices.

Scot: Stop explaining what we're about to see - So many things have no relevance even by the time this episode aired - 13 minutes! - Slapdash construction, nothing fits together.

Rae likens the four years of Insecure to being in high school

Scot: Do not know this person.

Bonjour Hi! - Montreal morning news show (Yang, McKinnon)

Christian: An accent is not a sketch.

Scot: Excuse for Yang and McKinnon to go big and over the top.

First Date Exes - Rae’s Times Square exes interrupt her date with Redd

Christian: SNL trivia: Every instance of the phrase "titty meat" took place in this one sketch.

Scot: "Titty meat" just sort of clangs off the ear - Never gets out of first gear, despite chances - Redd is .... not comfortable looking in a lot of stuff.

Justin Bieber - “Holy”

Christian: Wasn't he like 16 years old two months ago?

Weekend Update - Trump at rallies, thinking about a potential loss - NBC has a type - Trump and QAnon - Trump Bros (Day, Moffat) Tiffany (Fineman) - Top Halloween costume searches - Bryant hasn’t found undecided voters - Fisher Price online museum - ’80s cocaine wife Carla (Gardner)

Scot: The canyon/QAnon joke is good - Why does Fineman sound like Miley Cyrus + Cher? - Carla seems like a role Gardner was born to play.

Your Voice Chicago - Kenan hosts - Rae says she'll only vote for black candidates - Nwodim - Johnson and Rudolph do Diamond & Silk parody

Christian: I did laugh at Crystal and Caviar.

Scot: Crowd is verrrrrrry cool to this - Something about the timing/pacing is off and the punchlines never hit hard.

Hoping to impress musical guest, Mooney & Rae demonstrate dance moves - Chance the Rapper (cameo) - Dismukes briefly

Christian: Sadly, setting myself on fire did not solve having to watch this. I burn too slowly.

Scot: Written by Kyle Mooney and Will Stephen - Mooney definitely has a mold into which everything must be squeezed or else.

Justin Bieber - “Lonely”

Christian: I cannot imagine anything less compelling than Bieber's redemption narrative.

Jack Flatts - Restaurant fans (Bennett), (Mooney), (Dismukes), (Kenan) threaten governor kidnapping

Scot: Prescient: Gov. Whitmer kidnapping plot in Michigan - Heaven help us. - Arrests in the Whitmer case were on 10/8/20. I thought it was much later.

Ebay - Selling stuff you bought during pandemic but never used; Strong voiceover

Christian: It's just fine, but this is relatable. I started a dozen new hobbies during Covid and stuck with none of them.

E4: Adele / H.E.R.

Christian: Feels like the old days when Lorne would have a backup host in the wings in case the real host bombed.

Scot: Stay with me. This reminds me of an early Season 1 show, where we barely know the actual cast exists. It's Rudolph, Adele, music act x2, Baldwin, and three pre-tapes.

Presidential Debate - Trump (Baldwin) & Biden (Carrey) have final debate moderated by Welker (Rudolph); McKinnon as Giuliani

Christian: Just limping along lifelessly.

Scot: So Rudolph is just a cast member at this point, replacing Strong/Bryant. Weird, weird. - Biden Bingo is putting a hat on a hat -

Adele tries to avoid swearing & thanks Sarah Palin for viewership of first SNL gig

Scot: Pretty lame and crowd is barely reacting.

Fortune Teller - 2019 psychic’s (McKinnon) 2020 visions confuse (Yang, Gardner, Nwodim, Adele)

Christian: A perfect encapsulation of what everyone was thinking.

The Bachelor - Adele reacts to situations by singing her hits

Christian: Really good way to utilize Adele's talents in a fun sketch.

Scot: If you wanted to hear Adele sing her songs, here you are.

Trump Addicts of America - People wonder how they’ll spend their time if he loses

Christian: Prescient: Predicts Trump would run again in 2024.

Scot: A Villasenor sighting! - A little prescient, it is.

Weekend Update - Final POTUS Debate - Guiliani/Borat tape - Villasenor does impressions - McConnell beat up - Village People (Kenan, Bennett, Yang, Day, Redd)

Christian: The Phil Collins joke was outstanding at got nothing from the audience.

Scot: Jost feeding Biden lines is ultra-lame - Villasenor bombs - Che's Stu-stu-studio apartment joke is so bad but I laughed.

Visiting Grandma - Rudolph’s lack of comprehension cuts through her grandkids’ circumlocution

Christian: Interesting way of depicting grandparents cutting through BS.

Africa Tourism - Black men are why white divorcees (Adele, McKinnon, Gardner) tout Africa visits

Christian: I wish I enjoyed this one quarter as much as Adele did.

Scot: Absolutely meant to be a McKinnon/Bryant duo piece, but Aidy is not here - Adele breaking hard.

Ass Angel Perfume Jeans - Jeans worn by (Rudolph & Adele) are toxic and smell I guess

Scot: Waste of space.

E5: John Mulaney / The Strokes

Christian: Bryant and Strong missing weakens the female cast - McKinnon has to pull the whole wagon.

Scot: Mulaney officially losing legendary status before our eyes.

Biden Halloween - Biden (Carrey) reads The Raven; McKinnon as HRC, Day/Silver, Kenan/Ice Cube, Redd/Lil Wayne, Rudolph/Harris, Bennett/McConnell

Christian: "We need to come together like two buttcheeks to stop the crap" is an actual line in an SNL sketch. What are we even doing here. "I'm sure it will be peaceful no matter who won" is not prescient.

Scot: All soft edges, nothing cutting, biting or remotely sharp - Impression-palooza - "This Daylight Saving Time, let's gain an hour and lose a President" - Mercifully, just 7 minutes.

Mulaney does stand-up about quarantine & Andrew Cuomo’s press conferences

Christian: Little more than a month later, Mulaney would check into rehab.

Scot: I'm sure he got crap for the "elderly man contest" thing, not choosing a side - This monologue appears to have been co-written by "bag of cocaine."

Cinema Classics - Tippi Hedren (McKinnon) panics in The Birds phone booth scene

Scot: The first scene was golden, second one with turtles didn't do much for me.

Strollin' - Black voters (Kenan, Redd, Johnson, Nwodim) sing and can't find polling place

Scot: Written by Chris Redd and Bryan Tucker.

Headless Horseman - Ichabod Crane (Mulaney) asks Headless Horseman (Bennett) about self-fellation

Christian: One joke over and over. The "Lorne wrote this sketch" is an admission it's a dog.

Scot: Guessing Dismukes/Bennett wrote, but that's just a guess.

New York PSA - During pandemic, quirky woman (McKinnon) does kinda weird stuff

Scot: A great big pile of nothing.

Weekend Update - Trump says doctors are taking money - Trump rallies kill people - Che on black rapper negotiation - Baby Yoda (Mooney) - Twitter pre-bunk

Christian: Didn't need the lecture on Trump and Baby Yoda sucks.

Scot: Jost is especially angry tonight - Hey, an explicit endorsement from the WU desk - Mooney, blah - I liked the whisper Trump 2020 joke from Che.

New York Musical - NYC souvenir store underwear prompts Times Square denizens’ show tunes

Christian: First of these I didn't like. They just feel obligatory now.

Scot: How does any of this have anything to do with underwear? - Not entertained by any of it.

Another Uncle Meme - Ron expresses his displeasure at having again been memed by his nephew

Christian: This was worth bringing back?

Scot: Mulaney was the only thing working last time and he's worse, so ...

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