Josh O'Connor and Lily Allen SNL Recap
Music, mayhem, and a Dakota Johnson surprise.
Saturday Night Live closed out the weekend with an unpredictable episode hosted by Josh O’Connor, who was joined by musical guest Lily Allen. In O’Connor’s first turn as host, the Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery star proved to be a nimble fit for Studio 8H, throwing himself into everything from sensitive-stripper absurdity to surreal holiday sketches and earnest emotional spirals. The night delivered political satire, musical comedy, and a heavy dose of Christmas chaos — capped by Allen’s performances, including a surprise onstage reveal during “Madeline.”
From awkward family moments to Wizard of Oz revelations no one asked for, here’s a full breakdown of all the highlights from O’Connor’s episode of SNL.
Trump Air Force One Press Conference Cold Open
The episode opened aboard Air Force One with James Austin Johnson reprising his impersonation of Trump, holding court with the press in a rambling, combative briefing. Ashley Padilladebuted as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, while Chloe Fineman appeared as CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Andrew Dismukes and Mikey Day rounded out the press corps. Trump fielded questions about oil tankers, leaked Epstein photos, and his own visible hand bruises — which he blamed on everything but reality — while repeatedly objectifying Leavitt and calling Collins a “witch.” He also went into tangents about Ambien-Adderall cocktails, the “affordability hoax,” and concluded by blowing up Santa and the reindeer.
Watch Trump Air Force One Press Conference Cold Open here.
Josh O’Conner Monologue
O’Connor opened with self-aware charm, joking about his résumé of playing “kings, princes, and other competitive homoerotic dramas.” The tight three-minute monologue took a sharp turn when he addressed the internet-fueled campaign to cast him as Alfredo Linguini in a live-action Ratatouille — and Disney’s swift rejection of the idea. “Do you know how it feels to be publicly rejected from a job I didn’t even want?” he deadpanned, before eventually conceding, “For the record… I would kill as Linguini.”
Watch Josh O’Conner Monologue here.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost and Michael Che delivered a serviceable round of political jokes, though the desk truly came alive during the guest segments. Marcello Hernández shared a charming bit about holidays with his family, including a sharp take on Home Alone. The highlight came from Jane Wickline, whose musical Update feature reframed the greatest threat to humanity — not AI, but the kids from Stranger Things.
Watch Weekend Update here.
Wizard of Oz Deleted Footage
A parody of “lost scenes” from The Wizard of Oz featured Sarah Sherman as Dorothy, Bowen Yang as the Wizard, Andrew Dismukes as the Scarecrow, Kenan Thompson as the Cowardly Lion, and O’Connor as the Tin Man. The Lion revealed he didn’t ask for courage, but for a “big ole thing,” prompting the Tin Man and Scarecrow to immediately rethink their own wishes. Predictably, things unraveled from there.
Watch Wizard of Oz Deleted Footage here.
Characters on Characters
A holiday-themed parody of Variety’s Actors on Actors interview series paired iconic seasonal characters for earnest, over-serious conversations. Highlights included:
- Rudolph (O’Connor) and a Partridge (Yang)
- The Grinch (Day) and Scrooge (Johnson)
- Little Drummer Boy (Thompson) and Tiny Tim (Hernández)
- Mrs. Claus (Fineman) and the Grandma from “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (Padilla)
Watch Characters on Characters here.
Lily Allen Brunch
Set to Allen’s “West End Girl,” the brunch sketch featured cast members singing their passive-aggressive grievances to the song’s melody. Allen appeared as herself, inexplicably working as their waitress.
Watch Lily Allen Brunch here.
College Class
Yang played a 12-year-old attending college, whose overbearing mom kept interrupting class to bring forgotten items. O’Connor appeared as a fellow student dealing with his own nightmare scenario — a mother who also happens to be his professor.
Watch College Class here.
Brad and His Dad: Christmas
A quietly hilarious holiday sketch followed Brad (Day) and his divorced dad (Streeter Seidell) on a painfully awkward Christmas tree hunt. Running into a girl from school only deepened the secondhand embarrassment, capturing a very specific kind of seasonal discomfort.
Watch Brad and His Dad: Christmas here.
Lily Allen Musical Performances
Allen performed “Sleepwalking” and later returned to the stage to sing “Madeline.” During the latter, Dakota Johnson emerged from behind a sheer curtain to deliver the spoken-word portion of the track, revealing herself at the song’s close for a warm onstage surprise.
Watch Allen ’s performances of “Sleepwalking” here and “Madeline” here.
Let’s Find Love
In this dating show parody, O’Connor played the handsome contestant everyone expects to be chosen — except the night goes sideways. Padilla stole the sketch as an 84-year-old contestant questioning modern weddings, the existence of Toy Story 5, and the general state of the world. In a twist, she bypassed O’Connor entirely and chose the host, played by Thompson.
Watch Let’s Find Love here.
Teaching Hospital
A surreal medical sketch featured Dismukes as a deeply confused patient, Yang as Dr. Please, and O’Connor as intern Shirley Please. The escalating absurdity came from the doctors’ names being far more concerning than the diagnosis, pushing hospital incompetence into full-blown farce.
Watch Teaching Hospital here.
Uber Eats Wrapped
“It’s the end of the year — and you know what that means.” The sketch skewered Spotify Wrapped culture by introducing Uber Eats Wrapped, exposing users’ most shameful ordering habits. From “restaurants that keep your plumber employed” to your Uber Eats “age” and total money spent, the segment weaponized data culture with brutal accuracy.
Watch Uber Eats Wrapped here.
Bachelorette Party Strippers
Set during a Catskills bachelorette weekend, Padilla played the bride-to-be whose desires veer unexpectedly literary. The group hires strippers from a Sally Rooney book club — Ben Marshall and O’Connor as Augie and Remington, respectively, “the most sensitive strippers in all of the Catskills.” Wearing cardigans, beanies, and emotional availability, the duo performed a lo-fi version of “Pony,” whispered affirmations like “You are enough,” and discussed A Little Life. The real tension, however, simmered between Augie and Remington themselves.
Watch Bachelorette Party Strippers here.
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