For this years SNL Halloween outing, we're going back 12 whole years to an era of the show that doesn't honestly look or feel too terribly different than the modern show of 2026 in a number of ways. It's the beginning of Jost and Che's run at Update, Mikey Day isn't in the cast yet but still contributes to a large chunk of the sketches, Kenan is screaming at people. Is that good? That's up to you to decide! That all aside, there's still some good fun to found here, including one of the shows better latter day runners and a few bits of inspired sketchin'. It's also the first episode in the cast for Leslie Jones! We also get a Jeff Daniels cameo because we're here to promote Dumb and Dumber To and Iggy Azalea...is here too! Spoooooky!

Fresh off his historic 83-84 presidential run, Jesse Jackson drops by the show to host a rather oddball outing that is still not without it's many charms. The biggest problem and through-line for the episode though is that the cast and writing staff is Oops! All White People! so they definitely try to have their fun with that, including more blackface and a piece that may have once been part of a larger call-in segment of the show. Not all of it works! Elsewhere, we get a minor classic in The Question Is Moot, Jesse's amusing fascination with cheesy 60s pop tunes, the first appearance of Willie and Frankie and two different gospel performers! Who gets the car? I get the car!

Folks, we're back! It's time for the tenth season of That Week in SNL to begin and we're kicking off by jumping a year ahead from last season's premiere to dig into the start of S28. It's the first episode without Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer, a pretty major blow to the show, but thankfully we also get the debut of both Will Forte and Fred Armisen, a pretty major boon to the show. Sadly it's still 2002 though, so American culture is absolute trash and it's reflected pretty harshly here in this episode. We've got some dire Justin Timberlake/Britney Spears material, one of the meanest, ugliest TV Funhouses of all time and a general feeling of flailing about, including one of the more baffling season-starting cold opens we've ever seen. It's not without small pockets of charm but boy...this might've been a mistake.