The &34;Espresso&34; singer previously appeared in the &34;SNL50&34; primetime special and as musical guest in the season 49 finale. Saturday Night Live recap: Sabrina Carpenter vamps it up as host and musical guest The &34;Espresso&34; singer previously appeared in the &34;SNL50&34; primetime special and as musical guest in the season 49 finale. By Andy Hoglund Andy Hoglund Andy Hoglund is a writer at . He has worked at EW since 2019. EW's editorial guidelines on October 19, 2025 2:16 a.m. ET :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/SabrinaCarpenterSNL101925377ea2fe35c014627b81e77fbc65d3a95.

The "Espresso" singer previously appeared in the "SNL50" primetime special and as musical guest in the season 49 finale.

Saturday Night Live recap: Sabrina Carpenter vamps it up as host and musical guest

The "Espresso" singer previously appeared in the "SNL50" primetime special and as musical guest in the season 49 finale.

By Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund is a writer at **. He has worked at EW since 2019.

EW's editorial guidelines

on October 19, 2025 2:16 a.m. ET

Sabrina Carpenter delivers her monologue on 'Saturday Night Live'. Credit:

Saturday Night Live/YouTube

*Saturday Night Live*'s season 51 episodes featured Sabrina Carpenter pulling double duty as host and musical guest. She's become a friendly face at 8H in the past 18 months. A quick snapshot:

She was the musical guest during the season 49 season finale. Later, she joined Domingo and his brothers at the 50th anniversary special. Her modern-iconic "I'm on SNL and you're not" was all over the marketing for that. And back in May, she popped up in Quinta Brunson's monologue, singing about being short with Marcello Hernández and Dwyane Wade. **

I am joined tonight by the legend Jeff Richards who actually spent a few moments with Carpenter during the SNL50 festivities back in February.

"It was great talking with Sabrina and Jenna Ortega at the SNL50 after-party, both so grounded and kind. Sabrina has this rare, magnetic charm like a modern Marilyn Monroe with a sense of humor." Recalling her duet of "Homebound Bound" during the special's cold open, he noted: "Her performing with Paul Simon was a highlight of the night, she's the real deal."

People seemed happy with Amy Poehler's return last week — nearly half of you selected A in my poll. Scroll below, let's see if Sabrina continues the trend.

Why Bowen Yang isn't on 'SNL' for Sabrina Carpenter episode

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After a 12-minute delay due to college football, we get underway! It's Domingo. Yes, they are mining that again — this time with next generation cast members as the out of tune friends, an interesting development for an otherwise tired sketch. Songs include Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" revealing secrets about a wife (Chloe Fineman) and her fling with Marcello Hernandez's Domingo. **

Sabrina returns as one of the good friends to Fineman's Kelsey. She was previously in the vow renewal. The premise this round: They went to Nashville. "This is strike six!" cries the cuckolded husband played by Andrew Dismukes. One note and not funny — though I love a recurring character superseding obvious political material for the cold open!

(Many expected Trump's pardon of George Santos to be an obvious premise for tonight's cold open; alas, Bowen Yang is not in the studio tonight.)

People got freaked out by the cover of Carpenter's latest album. She discusses SNL50 and being a provocative "horndog" pop star. She loves talking to normal people, going out into the audience. Kenan pops up to confront her for impersonating a police officer at her concerts. This was brief — she is charismatic and fun, I am surprised how rushed/one-note this was. Blame the USC game?**

Jeff Richards recently had TikTok star Faith Elizabeth on his podcast portraying Carpenter (among others). Check it out. It's brilliant.

"Boys Podcast"

Teen boys giggle about Halloween candy and vegetables, using a lot of silly, indecipherable Gen Z slang. I think Carpenter and Fineman are hilarious here. Fire episode!**

Their first guest is Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson). They ask him about his favorite Airhead, and he starts ranting about Ukraine and Santos. ("He's weird, he's a liar.") He rants for a while before answering blue. He turns the conversation back to himself and whether he's getting into heaven.

This is a well-executed satire at podcasts, youth culture, and Trump's odd role in both, especially online. I like it!

"Plans" Movie Trailer

From the studio that brought you *Insidious* — this is about people who get anxiety over making plans. In this horror movie spoof, a couple (Ben Marshall, Carpenter) realize they made plans with her cousin and her husband months ago. A lot of fun tidbits here, watch this!

"Shop TV: Pillow"

Rhett is back! Folks will remember this one from a few times before. Now Mikey Day's Rhett is joined by Ashley Padilla's co-host Bev, a sign that Padilla is again seen as a star this season. **

Carpenter's suggestive travel neck pillow is the hook here — as a reminder, these ShopTV sketches are all about the naughty sight gags and double entendres. Meh.

"Girlboss Seminar"

It's the "Girl Boss Female Confidence Seminar," a corporate event featuring Queen Lisha (Carpenter), who preaches platitudes about jealousy being a disease and FOMO right before being thrown through a wall. Audience member Sarah Sherman is rightfully concerned (or is she just being a hater). Lisha speaks nonsense — or is that because she is concussed? Or just internalized misogyny?**

Nice performance work and energy from Carpenter here, a reminder she is not your standard pop star singer trying out her comedy chops. She started out on the Disney Channel!**

"Grind" Song

Yang appeared in the episode after all. He anchors this pretape about "middle-school lovin'" — that's right, the awkward coming-of-age moments being captured at organized dances and the grinding that occurs. I loved this — sounds great, like a vintage *SNL* song parody à la "Twin Bed." And outside Yang and Carpenter's vocals, the performances from new cast members like Jeremy Culhane are noteworthy. (Culhane is showing a lot of promise at this point in the season.) **

"Manchild" Song

A lot to love about this country-influenced pop performance — from the saxophone solo to Carpenter's playful "Live From New York" outfit. **

"Manchild" is the lead single on Carpenter's latest album *Man's Best Friend.* Carpenter co-wrote and co-produced the. song with Jack Antonoff with Amy Allen providing additional songwriting. **

"Weekend Update"

Topics include: the sudden release of George Santos, the leaked Young Republican group chat, John Bolton's indictment and Che's Tinder matches. Jost makes an Austin Powers joke!

It is scary movie season, which "ushers" back another Hernandez recurring character: the Movie Guy. He has not seen a lot of the scary movies being released and replies "Except me, I did not see" whatever he's describing. He also makes a Mike Myers joke, the second this Update. (And one random comment: lots of vagina jokes this episode! Already four, by my count.)

New York has the most residents moving out. *SNL* newcomer Tommy Brennan is also new to New York — he's from the Midwest, one of eight kids. He jokes about his upbringing and looks — his childhood has helped him adjust to his time in NYC. He jumped his first turnstile today, to mild applause. Brennan is doing his best to work his stand-up material here, getting into his Catholic guilt. I'll call it: Maybe it's the hair, but some Jay Mohr vibes from Tommy.**

"Appliance Store"

Two customers are looking to buy a washer-dryer set – Dismukes wants one with a jingle. The employee (Kenan Thompson) reveals a special unit, Veronika Slowikowska and Sabrina Carpenter portraying singing machines, going over various genres and scenarios people use for washing clothes. "The songs are dynamite, and I'm attracted to the machines!" admitted Dismukes, killer line. **

Slowikowska and Carpenter are great — very nice showcase for Slowikowska, I like the show giving the new cast members their own spotlight this early. **

Honestly? I preferred the passive aggressive couple played by Dismukes and Padilla. **

"Surprise"

Coworkers want to surprise Laura (Padilla) for her birthday. They jump out and shock her – causing her to get scared and fart. She loses full control, and Padilla has a nice moment. She's developing quite the repertoire playing aggrieved, humiliated women this season. This is almost Tim Robinson ITYSL territory.

The Party City tag is a cute payoff too.

Song #2 - "Nobody's Son"

"He sure f---ed me up," Carpenter appears to sing a few times during this. Granted she's multitasking — this performance is set in a karate dojo, and she's breaking wooden boards as she sings! **

"Social experiment"

Another Please Don't Destroy expat Martin Herlihy hosts a social experiment where moviegoers like Jane Wickline are tested, sitting in a theater with a group of Frankensteins. Kam Patterson is funny here as the one unaffected participant, who curiously studied Gothic Literature!**

If Ashley Padilla went for Tim Robinson territory, Herlihy is approaching Nathan Fielder. I believe this short film was previously planned for earlier in the season but got cut. (Actually Martin reminds me of Kyle Mooney in this….) Very good stuff though, I think Tom Schiller would approve. **

Another Shrek reference tonight!**

Final thoughts

- Despite the late start, the new cast members gelled nicely with Carpenter tonight! I am encouraged. Probably my favorite of the season so far – feels like a new direction in a lot of ways. **

- What did you think? Vote! **

- Thank you Jeff Richards! Check out his podcast!**

*Saturday Night Live* returns from a brief hiatus on Nov. 1 with host Miles Teller and musical guest Brandi Carlile.

–Find more of Andy Hoglund's *SNL* in Review coverage on X.

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Recaps"

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Source: Recaps

Published: October 30, 2025 at 04:27PM on Source: COSMOPOLITE

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