‘SNL’ recap: Lady Gaga brings double dose of mayhem as host and musical guest

Welcome back to the SNL in Review, as we continue to recap Saturday Night Live‘s 50th season. Tonight’s column marks the glorious return of Lady Gaga, who is pulling double duty as host and musical guest. She previously hosted and performed back in season 39! 

I am joined tonight by former cast member John Milhiser, who acted alongside Gaga in the classic “Fourth Grade Talent Show” sketch during her first time as host. Before A Star Is Born ballads or Joker sequels, this sketch was one of the first glimpses of Gaga — a true “theater girl” in Milhiser’s words — playing a normal person, and being funny! He says: “During rehearsals she was just in a flannel and black spandex pants, her hair in a ponytail. I was like, Wow! There she is! There’s the woman behind the mask, the big sunglasses, the wild costumes. She’s a real person, without the pageantry.” Since then, she has blossomed into a great actor, following in the footsteps of Cher. 

Milhiser recently attended the SNL50 anniversary concert at Radio City Music Hall, where seeing Gaga perform live was a highlight. He notes: “I love the Lonely island — they were the grandfather of YouTube basically, sketch comedy that you could do online and reach out to the masses. So, them collaborating together [with Gaga] was pretty epic.” (He also says he “was so lucky to be blessed to see Cher in person.”)

Back in season 39, he notes Gaga was collaborative and down to Earth, and intuitively understood comedy. “She’s funny! I mean, she’s from New York. She’s a performer through and through. She is chill. She gets it. When she came into the office, she sat in her chair with her leg up, and was very casual right away, like ‘Let’s throw some stuff out.’ She was able to riff.” He also adds: “She was very open to ideas people were throwing at her. She wanted to be goofy, she wanted to play characters, she wanted to do every element. And she did it.” It makes sense – ‘Lady Gaga’ is, in a way, a series of bits, an evolving character.

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It will be fun seeing Gaga back to basics, not just in terms of music but allowing herself to be silly. If there’s anything as close to the physical comedy highs of Fourth Grade Talent Show, I will be thrilled. Her latest album, Mayhem, came out yesterday.

Cold Open

This week, there was an explosive meeting at the White House that ended in a yelling match between Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. At the SNL Oval Office, James Austin Johsnon’s Donald Trump tries to broker a truce. (Johnson’s stream-of-consciousness approach to Trump is “incredible,” says Milhiser.)  

Marcello Hernández plays the long suffering Rubio, complete with music from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Both men experience internal monologues. Mike Myers returns as very cringe Musk. “Polo!” he shouts whenever Trump utters the name “Marco,” with his little dance. Myers also calls out his own Dr. Evil during his internal monologue. Trump takes turns insulting the men. Not bad! (Though: Where does it end with Myers’ cameo? I assume he’s signed for X amount of episode appearances this season, similar to his Garth, Dana Carvey, but presumably Musk will stay in the news for a while.)

Monologue

Gaga is here to remind us how great an actress she is, not promote her album! At 38 now, she makes a few jokes about how old that is for a pop star. And asks us to not Google her R. Kelly duet from 2013. She notes Bowen Yang is a super fan, and he will be introducing her. We cut to a very nervous Yang. Gaga concludes by promising to not do Joker 3, referencing the terrible reception to Joker: Folie à Deux, including a recent Razzie Award. Other subjects: being from New York, smoking, and her fiancé, Michael Polansky.

During her first hosting appearance, Milhiser had the opportunity to observe Gaga up close as she rehearsed, including when she performed “Cheap Applause” during the monologue. “She was very in charge – a great leader to her fellow dancers. They were her peers, and she was very strict on herself, nailing it, finding the right timing. It was neat to see behind the curtain of how much she cares, nailing the comedy… she was a perfectionist.” (He remembers watching R. Kelly rehearse with Gaga during her 2013 show FYI, but did not interact with the now-imprisoned singer.)

“A Long Goodbye”

Alicia (Gaga) is about to leave Jeremy (Hernández) and their pug Bailey to get on an airplane and start a new life as a chef. “I hope you have a delicious life,” he says, as she rides off on luggage to do culinary school in Paris. Jeremy regrets letting her go. Riding on the highway, a gang of fellow luggage riders, dressed like bikers, remind her about the importance of love. Jeremy is on her trail (through the audience), before catching her at the airport. I like that this is multi-scene, and has an arc. A true sketch! 

“Pip”

Johnson is a teacher telling his class about the school’s weight lifting competition. Anyone has a chance to win – besides Pip, a small mouse a la Stuart Little. A fellow classmate played by Gaga serenades him through song. She encourages him to train and get ready for the competition. 

One Week Later! Various students lift in front of the school – Brad (Hernández) lifts 500 pounds! The CGI mouse starts with one ounce, then two ounces. That’s when things take a scary turn! I won’t spoil Dan Bulla’s ending. 

(One more season 39 flashback to when Milhiser appeared in the Blockbusters short film with Gaga. He says: “She actually came in for that shot later. That was a shoot through the middle of the night. So, she wasn’t there for 90% of it.”)

“Wonderful Tonight”

Yang gets a duet with Gaga — they are on a date at a restaurant where they break out into a version of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” I like the whimsy, absurd tone here. It’s similarly romantic and strange, like the previous one with the luggage. There’s been a lot of Marcello so far tonight, so seeing Bowen opposite Gaga is refreshing. (“Bowen’s killing it – fantastic,” Milhiser told me earlier.)

“Funeral Home”

Lady Gaga and Heidi Gardner are consoling a grieving Ego Nwodim at a funeral home. Her dad has passed away (it’s an unsolved murder actually). They ask about themes for the show, and decide on the Roaring 20s, treating it like party planners. Gaga and Gardner double down on the deranged and inappropriate 1920s idea, reappearing as flappers in bobs. And Nwodim’s boyfriend played by Andrew Dismukes gets into it as well, asking if he can dress like Gatsby. 

“Ego is always killing it. Anytime I see Heidi or Ego in a sketch, I’m excited,” says Milhiser. He also wants to “shout out Heidi Gardner’s secretary who falls over her desk. Great physical comedy.” 

Nwodim did UCB L.A. as did he. As a teacher, Milhiser observed about Ego: “When you start trying to perform characters in front of an audience. You fail a lot… but then you keep going back up there and tweaking it, and then your comedy muscle gets better and better. So, by the time you’re six or seven years in, you’re developing more successful characters, faster and faster. And I feel like Ego’s ball is going fast, and she’s like, ‘Here’s another character. Here’s another character.’ She’s knows what to do right away to make a successful character.’ It’s also the simplicity of it. Her biggest thing: Her characters aren’t wearing too many hats. She’s like, I’m a woman who’s cutting her steak and the table is shaking – that’s all it is, and it heightens by the table shakes more and more and more, and stuff on the table shakes. So it’s just like that’s it, that’s all.” Great observation. He also loves her Dionne Warwick.

“Mascara Commercial”

Sometimes you want the world to know you have been crying – you know, for attention. This is a commercial parody for really really low run mascara – combined with printer ink. “Be a total mess,” offers Gaga. 

Lady Gaga performs “Abracadabra”

Yang expertly introduces this pulsing performance of “Abracadabra.” The music video for this electro dance anthem premiered during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony last month. I like it! The music seems like it is looking to recapture what made Gaga such a pop sensation back in the aughts. Arguably, to me anyway, she’s simply transcended those times – she’s a superstar who can win Oscars! 

Milhiser is a fan of Gaga’s Art Pop era. “Not a lot of people agree with me. But I love Art Pop! It spoke to me. Monster Ball was pretty fun, Fame Monster, but every Gaga era is good in its own way.”

“Weekend Update”

Colin Jost jokes we will ideally set the clocks ahead four years. He goes after filthy Canadians stealing American SNL jobs – like Mike Myers! (He also refers to Elon Musk as the “white Kanye.”) There are huge boos when Jost mentions Donald Trump Jr. is considering a 2028 presidential run, while Michael Che gets a huge laugh on Honey Smacks.

Kendrick Perkins (Kenan Thompson) comes out to discuss the Mavericks-Lakers trade, among other NBA topics. He just says things. Thompson previously played the former basketball star a few times including in this cut-for-time.

In a rare public appearance: Lady Gaga’s husband, Lord Gaga (Mikey Day). “How do you think she was made a Lady? She married a Lord!” he says. Meanwhile, he winks, he was born this way. More puns: their relationship is not a bad romance. They have kids – seven “little monsters.” He continues to downplay his wife’s accomplishments, despite her being one of the highest grossing singers of all time. I like when the show goes meta about how big their hosts are. This turns into a diss against Jost, whose wife’s income dwarfs his own, without actually namedropping Scarlett Johansson.

(Milhiser recalls how Colin Jost contributed the moment in “Fourth Grade Talent Show” where the puppet legs are held up with him and Gaga, a perfect TV moment. “Great pitch Colin!”)

“Friendly’s”

A group of friends are pleasantly surprised to eat at Friendly’s – Yang told them Jenny (Gardner) has a birthday. He wants the song and ice cream. “You swear it?” questions Sarah Sherman. Her colleagues, including Lady Gaga and Kenan Thompson, want her assurance this is actually her birthday. “Liar!” they scream, before tribal drumming begins and the room goes red. Chanting about sin commences. The mother of beasts Lamashtu is summoned – they demand Jenny drink the monster’s blood.

This is a nightmarish and Lovecraftian hallucination straight out of Curse of the Crimson Altar, complete with employees in skulls. This has the wild energy of something from a John Mulaney episode! Love how everything tonight felt like the 10-to-1.

Lady Gaga performs “Killah”

Nwodim, Thompson, and Sherman introduce this ’70s-inspired funk jam with contributions from Gesaffelstein, which starts in the backstage Studio 8H hallway. This lets them use security camera footage during the chorus! Gaga goes full bore here, playing the drums and screaming on the stage floor.

Previously, Milhiser saw Gaga during the Chromatica Ball tour in L.A. sharing: “She’s an incredible performer. Great concert, amazing songs. She doesn’t get tired – she’s never out of breath.” That’s definitely true in the case of this performance. 

“Little Red Glasses”

Are you a woman who is into books? Runs a bookstore? Sherman, Gaga, and Nwodim introduce Little Red Glasses – they help you read! They are not fashionable, but intended for specific kinds of women, like uptight Buddhists and the mom from Bob’s Burgers. This is fun! “All my dress-up clothes are a little bit Asian,” confirms Sherman, who wants tapas. “I was ahead of the curve on gay marriage and that’s where it stopped!” Is your profession ‘very bad therapist’? This is the look for you! This is a sister sketch to “Big Dumb Hat.”

“Slay Song”

SNL takes on the overuse of “slay”! Yang and Gaga sing a musical plea to stop just repeating the same slang words over and over. This is so true and clever. Enough is enough. “No more bop!” No more flex! Or sus! This is incisive and great, getting at uninteresting people misappropriating culture and being lame ironists. Brunch friends protest – but if it was truly cool to say slay it would not be on an Olipop. Amazing. Bravo. Hopefully this song does some good in the world. Let’s retire Michael Scott gifs while we are at it, people.

Final thoughts

—A huge thank you to John Milhiser for his amazing insights on Lady Gaga and more. Want more Milhiser? Follow him on Instagram! You won’t regret it. Also, check out season 2 of Mike Castle’s Misrepresented on YouTube. Taran Killam and Lauren Lapkus are also in it. Great stuff.

—Here is some more SNL50 content: I was a guest on the “Wasn’t That Special” podcast to talk about the joys of recapping live episodes here as well as the show’s legacy – also check out this survey featuring commentary from 65 cast members and writers, including many of the guests on this column. 

—Very fun episode! What did you think? Vote here! 

—Wow the Shane Gillis episode last week was divisive, check out the poll results.