5 big moments from this week's SNL (March 29, 2025)
The March 29, 2025, episode of SNL marked the hosting debut of Mikey Madison, fresh off her Best Actress Oscar win for Anora. With musical guest Morgan Wallen returning for his second appearance, the night brought together high-profile performances and topical comedy.
Madison opened the show by appearing in the cold open, which is an uncommon move for hosts. She later delivered a monologue blending clips from her past roles with personal anecdotes, including a reference to her twin brother and a story from her "horse girl" years.
According to an NBC report dated March 30, 2025, Madison joked about portraying two different characters who were set on fire, using it to illustrate her acting range.
Throughout the episode, Madison participated in a variety of sketches, though several critics noted that her screen time was limited. The show appeared to avoid sketches centered on Anora, instead distributing her appearances across new characters. Still, SNL delivered a mix of returning segments, surprise cameos, and pointed satire that defined the week's standout moments.
5 key moments from this week's SNL (March 29, 2025) explored
1) Acting Teacher 2 returns with new chaos
Marcello Hernández brought back his over-the-top commercial acting coach character in a follow-up to his sketch from earlier this season. In Acting Teacher 2, Mikey Madison plays his favorite student, much to the frustration of her classmates.
The sketch leaned into the coach's bizarre professional history, listing credits like:
"Wipeout ('Busted my face on a big red ball'), What Would You Do? ('Did not help and was racist'), and nearly The White Lotus ('Auditioned for the incest scene with my biological brother, and I didn’t hate it')."
Andrew Dismukes also stood out as a student who abruptly "goes to sleep" in protest, while Madison showed solid comedic timing as the coach's earnest favorite. The sketch balanced physical gags with surreal commentary on the acting industry, cementing it as a high point of the episode.
2) Weekend Update offers standout character work and dynamic energy
This week's Weekend Update featured performances from cast members Ashley Padilla and Devon Walker. Padilla appeared as "Joann from Joann Fabrics," portraying a woman unraveling under the stress of her store's closures, flanked by props, fabric scraps, and increasingly erratic behavior. Her portrayal drew praise for the intensity and commitment she brought to the role.
According to a Vulture report dated March 30, 2025, Padilla's character was described as:
“flask-swigging, marker-huffing, capri-wearing woman experiencing both silly and devastatingly high stakes.”
Meanwhile, Devon Walker delivered a segment poking fun at SNL co-anchor Michael Che's absences and included pre-recorded parodies of Ashton Hall's morning routines. The segment ended with Che asking Colin Jost, "Are you okay?" after a harsh Paddington takedown, prompting Jost to scream, "NO!”.
3) Pop's Big Regret delivers character comedy and mob satire
In Pop's Big Regret, Andrew Dismukes plays a wounded mob boss reflecting on his life while being tended to by his two sons, played by Marcello Hernández and James Austin Johnson. Rather than confessing any criminal remorse, the character expresses sadness about never pursuing a career in stand-up comedy.
The sketch plays out with Pop testing out weak punchlines on his sons while his wife, portrayed by Mikey Madison, joins in and reinforces the bit with the recurring line:
“Make that make sense.”
The sketch's commitment to the bit, coupled with its window-frame framing device, made it a solid mix of visual humor and character-driven storytelling.
4) Barry the Midwife 2 brings back a fan-favorite dynamic
Bowen Yang reprised his role as Barry the Midwife in a follow-up to a previous sketch, this time set in a delivery room opposite Mikey Madison's OBGYN character.
The sketch begins with Barry accusing Madison's character of forgetting their prior encounter outside a Hilary Duff taping in the early 2000s when he was wearing "prescription New Year's Eve glasses."
The sketch is packed with rapid time jumps and escalating tension, leading to punchy line deliveries like Madison saying "saaair-ious" for "serious" and Yang exaggerating "furious" as "four-ious." As Vulture noted, the sketch closes with both characters doing a synchronized Hilary Duff dance routine, making it one of the night's more theatrically absurd moments.
5) Animated short Planning New York uses historical absurdity for laughs
Rounding out the episode's highlights was Planning New York, an animated short voiced by Bowen Yang and Michael Longfellow. The sketch, set in 1620, depicts two fictional city planners attempting to map out New York City, landing on choices like the "piss smell" area and nonsensical subway routing.
The animation, written by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, continues SNL's recent trend of embracing visual storytelling in pre-taped content. As per the SNL Fandom Wiki entry for the episode, the short was another entry in the show's growing roster of animated sketches, reminiscent of earlier TV Funhouse-style entries.
Some critiques pointed out that Mikey Madison's involvement in the SNL episode was limited compared to other hosts. However, she contributed across multiple sketches, including the cold open, Please Don't Destroy, and the game show parody So Like… What Are We?.
