Saturday Night Live: Bad Bunny is game but the season opener is mostly toothless

<p>The show returns to face a difficult period for late-night comedy but aside from the cold open, it’s disappointingly light on political jabs</p><p>Season 51 of Saturday Night Live comes during a pivotal moment for late-night television, with the Trump administration expressly going after comedians who criticize and mock the president. There was never any doubt SNL would jump headfirst into the fray upon its return, the only question is which of the many current ongoing disasters – the government shutdown, military incursions into major cities, an impeding attack on Venezuela, the Epstein files – it would tackle first.</p><p>The answer is: all of them. We jump back to earlier this week at Quantico, where secretary of war Pete Hegseth’s hatches the “brilliant idea to gather all of our nation’s top generals in one place at a one time”. New cast member Jeremy Culhane introduces the Fox News host turned leader of the world’s largest military (Colin Jost, making a rare sketch appearance), who launches into an angry tirade over how “our army has never been gayer and yet it also has never been fatter!” He demands all soldiers adhere to the highest physical standard, as set by Trump: “Six-foot-six, buck 75, A-cups – perky – with a dump truck you wouldn’t believe!”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/oct/05/saturday-night-live-bad-bunny-hosts">Continue reading...</a>