snl

Maybe you didn’t realize how much you missed Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impression on SNL until the actor popped in for a surprise appearance during the cold open, delivering a State of the Union address on our current crop of GOP presidential hopefuls — which is essentially just Ferrell’s Dubbya roasting his fellow Republicans in an attempt to make an unprecedented bid for a third term as POTUS.

While traditional live sketches are still the backbone of any given episode, modern SNL is frequently at its best in the pre-recorded segments. The past few years have seen an interesting evolution as the silly “digital shorts” of a decade ago have matured into full-blown filmmaking, with sketches that feel more like short films than just a comedy bit. Last night’s Ryan Gosling-hosted episode peaked with a pre-recorded sketch titled “Santa Baby,” which let both SNL and Gosling himself turn the weird up to 11.

After taking a bit of a break from acting to make his directorial debut (and to have what I presume is a very adorable baby with Eva Mendes), Ryan Gosling is back. In addition to starring in upcoming films from Adam McKay and Shane Black, the actor is cementing his return with his SNL debut. Gosling can't keep a straight face through most of the episode, which delivers some really weird and delightful sketches with few disappointments. Read on for our ranking of this week's SNL sketches from best to worst.

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens less than a month away from release and anticipation reaching a feverish level unseen in movie fans since 1999, the timing is right for SNL to gently skewer the upcoming sequel. The sketch is really just an excuse for the cast to break out a bunch of impersonations they’ve obviously been keeping in their back pockets while letting them interact with actual Star Wars cast members, but c’mon, that’s all the excuse you need, really.

SNL bounced back nicely from Donald Trump this past weekend with The Hunger Games star Elizabeth Banks, looking even bigger this coming Saturday with Matthew McConaughey and Adele, but December 2015 will really go all out. Our final three hosts of the year include Ryan Gosling, Chris Hemsworth (poor Liam), and best of all, a dual Sisters hosting with SNL alum Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Ever the human punchline, Donald Trump has braved some of his staunchest comedy critics in pursuit of the 2016 presidency. The blowhard billionaire even made headlines with which SNL player would tackle the role in Season 41, but all bets are off when “The Donald” himself hosts an upcoming November outing.

Amy Schumer has had an incredible couple of years with her hit series Inside Amy Schumer, her collaboration with Judd Apatow for Trainwreck, and her upcoming HBO comedy special. When you’re this beloved, there’s one place you need to be: on the SNL stage. Schumer makes her SNL hosting debut tonight and absolutely kills it, delivering a complete 180 from whatever happened with last week's relentlessly humorless season premiere (can we just pretend this was the season premiere? OK). There’s so much to love in this consistently funny episode, where even the weakest sketch of the night is still quite delightful. Read on for this week’s sketches, ranked from best to worst.

SNL is back! Season 41 kicks off with famed tongue-wagging pop star Miley Cyrus pulling double duty as both host and musical guest, and regardless of how you feel about her music career, the last time Cyrus hosted was a total delight. New featured player Jon Rudnitsky makes his debut in the premiere, which leans heavy on the political content and offers a decent — though not nearly great — first outing for the season. Read on for our official ranking of this week's sketches!

More and more each year, TV executives quake in their stylish, yet affordable boots over the exponential increase in peak TV, even as us ravenous viewers eagerly take it all in. Fall 2015 is no exception, cramming your DVR with everything from superheroes new and old, to Scream-ing gore-fests, animated staples and so much more. You’d need some sort of … television … guidance … periodical to navigate it all, but because we love you, we’ve compiled over 30 of Fall 2015's biggest must-see premieres. Remember to sleep, and take in the onslaught of fall 2015's TV madness by our full preview!

The summer of 2015 has afforded far too many absurd and newsworthy sagas for SNL to sit out, and Season 41 is already exploding off the bench. Not only will Miley Cyrus host the October premiere, but SNL will follow up with Amy Schumer, and a momentous return for alumni Tracy Morgan.