Josh O'Connor makes 'Saturday Night Live' debut with Lily Allen as musical guest

Saturday Night Live returned this weekend with first-time host Josh O’Connor and musical guest Lily Allen, delivering a densely packed December episode that leaned on character work, political satire and musical interludes.

The Cold Open featured James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, praising Karoline Leavitt, played by Ashley Padilla, while drifting through a medication-fuelled stream of consciousness touching on the Warner Bros.-Netflix merger and Gilmore Girls. Padilla earned the Live From New York announcement, while Chloe Fineman appeared as Kaitlan Collins.

In his Monologue, O’Connor joked about his resemblance to Pixar characters, including Ratatouille’s Linguini, while reflecting on British humour and its influence on American comedy. Sketches followed quickly, including Let’s Find Love, with Padilla as an eccentric elderly contestant, and Your Year Wrapped, which extended Spotify Wrapped-style statistics to awkward Uber revelations.

Teaching Hospital brought back Bowen Yang’s Dr. Please, with O’Connor playing Shirley in a deliberately plain delivery that landed strongly with the audience. Lily Allen then performed “Sleepwalking,” her first of two musical numbers.

Bachelorette Party Strippers proved a standout, featuring sensitive male dancers played by O’Connor and Ben Marshall, while Weekend Update saw Colin Jost and Michael Che cover politics, pop culture and the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. Marcello Hernández appeared as a festive commentator on holiday boyfriends, followed by Jane Wickline’s musical take on societal collapse.

Later sketches included a Wizard of Oz parody tied to Wicked: For Good, the animated SNL Presents: Brad and His Dad, Study Group with Padilla as an intrusive mother, and Allen’s second performance, “Madeline,” which included a cameo from Dakota Johnson.

The episode closed with Characters on Characters and Inner Monologue, the latter incorporating Allen into a sketch riffing on her songwriting style, rounding out a varied and energetic night.