SNL: H.E.R., Adele, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

There is a long and proud tradition of musicians serving as both host and musical guest on the same episode of Saturday Night Live. There’s also a tradition that’s not quite as vaunted but that’s just as notable of musicians serving as only host while letting someone else provide the tunes. On October 24, 2020 AD, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (dude, we’re getting Adele!) joined the likes of Sting, Snoop Dogg, and Chance the Rapper by making her hosting debut while allowing Gabriella Wison (aka H.E.R.) to make her MG debut. And now I am going to offer you, my readers, some reactions to how they performed.

When I woke up on Sunday, it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which was sweet relief from a preceding week that had been a bit of an Indian summer with swampy 60-something days. So as I’m writing this review, I’m not sweating any more than I ought to be on a late October day in Brooklyn.

Cold open was of course the last Debate (Grade: What We Expected). I laughed when Jim Carrey Biden revealed that he bought his suit on a train.

During Adele’s Monologue (Grade: A Couple of Big Swinging Earrings), I was reminded just how thick her English accent is. I don’t always realize that because she sings so clearly! Anyway, she goes on about needing a swear jar to keep herself in check, but I don’t think she swore at all the whole night. Nay, she never even came close! I love Adele. We all love Adele!

For our first post-Monologue sketch, we travel way back to 2019 as a quartet of friends visit the psychic Madame Vivelda (Grade: 3 Pee Bags) to learn about what will happen in 2020. I think you get where this is going. The details are quite colorful, particularly washing a bag of Doritos. We’re off to a silly start!

Hello, Chad, so nice to see you again. This time your scene partner is a ghost played by Adele in a pre-filmed sketch entitled “The Haunted Manor” (Grade: 4 Okays). I don’t know that I would’ve guessed that Where’s Waldo (the yellow one) is Chad’s favorite book, but of course, it makes perfect sense.

The Bachelor sketch is just an excuse for Adele to sing, so as comedy, it gets a Grade of “Whatever,” but as music, it gets a Grade of “Adele’s a Great Singer.”

The Trump Addicts of America (Grade: Get Out Yo’ Head!) features testimonials from people whose entire personalities are wrapped up in hating the current occupant of the Oval Office, and dang that’s just a bummer.

Oh man, those glasses that H.E.R. wears during her performance of “Damage” (Grade: 4 Pairs of Sensible Slacks) are a really great fit on her. Besides those frames, she’s dressed in all black, and so are her band members! That makes sense, as this is the sort of song you’d put on when the night is getting nice and heavy.

Now is the portion of the review in which I tell you what I thought about Weekend Update. First off, I must say, I laughed quite heartily when Michael Che made the joke about the rapper Nelly on the can of Budweiser. I had just sat on the floor to stretch, but then I had to temporarily interrupt that to get back up and grab my notebook to write it down. That’s how much I liked it!

Melissa Villaseñor (Grade: 4 Hamburgers) stopped by to share what she was up to during quarantine, which mostly involved doing impressions of squeaky-voiced celebrities and fictional characters, as well as peeing a little.

And for the final segment of Update, we were treated to quite the treat, as the Village People (not the actual disco group, but SNL cast members pretending to be them) told Donald Trump to cease and desist to the tune of their classic hit song “Y.M.C.A.” It was so delightful that I simply have to give it a Grade of “This Gives Me the Same Warm Feelings as That Scene From Wayne’s World 2.”

Back to the sketches proper. Next up is Visiting Grandma (Grade: No Inheritance). It’s far from the most satisfying visit in the history of grandparents.

The Africa Tourism Ad (Grade: 3 Joannes) was giving Adele the giggles. But then she recovered! And then she cracked up again. But it’s okay, she’s going to power through! There’s still some more laughter, though. Somehow she’s able to pull a straight face together at the end of it.

For her first song, H.E.R. was wearing what appeared to be prescription glasses, but for “Hold On” (Grade: 4 Slinky Curls), she opts for red-tinted sunglasses, and it’s a smart call, especially when paired with those yellow pants of hers. The guitar also works as a fashion accessory. The song is a smoky R&B banger.

Wow, SNL has produced a lot of commercial parodies about jeans. 3 Legged Jeans, Bad Idea Jeans, Mom Jeans … so many jeans! For the final segment of this episode, Ass Angels Perfume Jeans (Grade: 3 Industrial Chemicals) make their debut. Adele and Maya Rudolph show ’em off, while Beck Bennet sings. They’re kinda amusing, though not exactly heavenly.

Next week, for the Halloween 2020 episode, we’ll have host John Mulaney and musical guest The Strokes, both for the fourth time. What a time to be fourth! There was a Jeopardy! category a few days ago called “A Number Between 3 & 5.” I wonder if it means anything…