SNL

Mike O’Brien is one of SNL’s greatest secret weapons, a writer and performer whose truly unique voice shines through the show’s usual template. When he’s given total control of a digital short, it’s a genuine cause for celebration. His work feels less like just another sketch or parody, but more like an actual, full-fledged short film escaped into the show’s line-up.

Since The Walking Dead just ended its fifth season and it’s still one of the biggest shows in the history of television, it makes sense that SNL would pause to talk about it. After all, what good is the “Weekend Update” segment if the anchors don’t occasionally stop to talk about what’s big in popular culture? And what good is SNL if it can’t get one of the most popular actors from The Walking Dead to stop by for a minute-long cameo?

Most of the time, the SNL opening monologue is a formality and a tradition, a road bump on the way to the actual good parts of an episode. It feels like something the guest host does because he has to, not because anyone on the writing staff actually had a good idea. And that’s why last night’s monologue was such a joyous surprise: it was not only the best monologue of the season, but the best sketch of the whole night.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might seem like an intimidating guy, but if his recent Saturday Night Live promo is any indication, he happens to be super funny.

It’s an SNL sketch premise so silly that it feels like it belongs in the early ’90s, not 2015. Taking place in the distant future, the scene asks us to believe that chickens have evolved to be more intelligent than humans and that a chicken could command a spaceship of human beings and, most importantly, that a crew member played by guest host Chris Hemsworth would fall in love with the chicken.

Now give this a chance. It might sound boring – Adam Sandler talks about food with Conan O’Brien – but the former Saturday Night Live stars (Sandler was, of course, a cast member, while O’Brien as a long-time writer) have some pretty tall tales to share about their time on the show, specifically as it applies to meals.

Even when it’s at its best, modern SNL is rarely shocking. Funny, strange, silly and clever, sure. But shocking? Nah. The show doesn’t seem to set out to offend every week. So when the show broke out a fake commercial that depicted 50 Shades of Grey star and guest host Dakota Johnson joining the radical terrorist group ISIS, jaws rightfully hit the ground. Who approved this? And could they start approving more sketches?

Dakota Johnson truly impressed in Fifty Shades of Grey, bringing genuine humor and personality to a character who was entirely humorless and lifeless on the page. But can her likability and seemingly effortless talents translate to a solid hosting stint on SNL? Read on for this week's SNL sketches ranked from the greatest to the not-so-great.

With Dakota Johnson guest hosting, last night’s SNL had no shortage of 50 Shades of Grey jokes. For her part, Johnson seemed equally bemused and embarrassed by her controversial new hit, rolling with whatever the show threw at her and always coming out looking far better than her naysayers expected. Her ability to make fun of herself and the film that has turned her into an overnight movie star really came together in the only sketch of the night that required her to play herself.

Modern SNL has one of the strongest female line-ups in the show’s history, so it’s always a pleasure when the writers give this group of extremely funny ladies a chance to shine together. This sketch is a weird one because it feels like such an odd and specific concept that must have been a real pain in the butt to pitch in the writer’s room, but the execution is simply sublime: a group of women start being brutally honest with the people in their lives and immediately celebrate to the impossibly catchy sounds of Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.”

In what was one of the absolute highlights of the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler teamed up for a self-referential digital short about all the times the actors on the show have broken character by cracking up.

For its 40th Anniversary Special, 'Saturday Night Live' took another opportunity to take a swipe at Justin Bieber and this time, the long-running sketch comedy show integrated the pop star into its famous Celebrity Jeopardy gag from the late '90s and early 2000s.