Bad Bunny addresses Super Bowl halftime gig on ‘SNL,’ and Huntr/x makes an appearance

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As a lifelong movie fan, I’ve always thought there’s a lesson in that-trying to play it safe with the same predictable formula over and over just doesn’t work in the long run. You might get away with it for a while, but eventually, something’s bound to go wrong and your streak will likely end. It’s like betting on a guaranteed hit – it feels good at first, but eventually your luck will probably run out.

“Saturday Night Live” has repeatedly featured Bad Bunny, a remarkably engaging performer. He played a prominent role in the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations earlier this year and previously excelled as both host and musical guest in late 2023.

The 51st season of “SNL” began with an episode featuring Bad Bunny that unfortunately didn’t live up to expectations. After consistently using his strengths in previous appearances, this episode felt surprisingly flat, relying on old jokes and writing that didn’t suit him. Even guest stars like Jon Hamm, Benicio del Toro from “One Battle After Another,” and the group Huntr/x – known from the popular “KPop Demon Hunters” – couldn’t save the show. It struggled to gain traction until “Weekend Update”, but quickly lost steam again afterward.

As a huge fan, I was really excited to hear this musician was coming off a long string of shows in Puerto Rico and is now set to headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show! Hosting the premiere *should* have been a total triumph – a real victory lap with a bunch of great sketches to start the season. But honestly, the timing feels a little off with all the changes in the cast and writing team – that definitely couldn’t have helped. I remember when Bad Bunny hosted, the show really worked because they either let him be himself or let him perform in Spanish – “The Age of Discovery” was a perfect example of that. Hopefully, they can recapture some of that magic this time around! I’m especially curious to see if they’ll lean into his musical background, maybe with a special musical guest.

Television

The musician from Puerto Rico will perform at the Super Bowl next year, at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.

This time, he was tasked with playing several challenging roles in English: an adult fanatical about “Kpop Demon Hunters,” a “Jeopardy!” contestant unable to phrase answers as questions, a man wanting to donate sperm to people at a restaurant, and a member of a group of Spaniards in 900 A.D. – including del Toro – who were trying to establish the rules of their language (though the discussion happened in English, oddly enough).

The host did a bit better in the final two sketches. One featured a principal (Ashley Padilla) playfully scolding a student (Marcello Hernández), and the other was a tribute to “El Chavo del Ocho.” While the tribute wasn’t particularly humorous, it was a fairly spot-on imitation of the classic Mexican sitcom.

We’ve enjoyed watching Bad Bunny succeed on “SNL” when the show highlights his personality and talents. However, this time the writers forced him into several poorly written sketches – the “Jeopardy” sketch especially felt unfinished – that weren’t tailored to him at all. He really should have had better material.

Musical guest Doja Cat performed “AAHH MEN!” and “Gorgeous.” She didn’t appear in any sketches.

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The season began with a cold open on “SNL” that followed a familiar pattern: a sketch started – this time with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) scolding U.S. military generals – and was then cut short by a monologue delivered by President Trump (James Austin Johnson). Surprisingly, Jost handled the initial part, playing Hegseth and complaining that “our military is gay as Hell!” Hegseth continued, insisting the military should consist of “no fug-ups, no fatties, no facial hair, no body hair. Just hot shredded hairless men who are definitely not gay!” When Trump took the stage, he remarked, “‘SNL’ 51 – off to a rough start. Seventeen new cast members and they got the ‘Update’ guy doing the cold open.” His commentary included a mention of the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival (Jost said he wasn’t invited), and a poorly received joke about Saudi Arabia: “We like the Saudis because they like to saw-deez journalists in half.” Mikey Day briefly appeared as FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, and before Trump finished, he asked the “SNL” crew – whom he claimed were his voters – to “keep an eye on Marcello for me.”

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During his speech, Bad Bunny explained that he wasn’t performing as the musical guest this time because he needed some rest. He shared clips from one of his concerts, including a moment of Jon Hamm dancing in the crowd. Hamm was visible in the audience wearing a bright, tropical shirt. Regarding the recent Super Bowl discussion, Bad Bunny cleverly addressed it by playing a compilation of clips from Fox News, where the hosts jokingly said, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.” He then switched to Spanish to express his gratitude to his Latino fans for their unwavering support, emphasizing that their contributions to the United States are undeniable. He finished with a playful challenge: “If you didn’t understand what I said, you have four months to learn.”

Best sketch of the night: ChatGPTío might take unexpected pictures of you

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ChatGPT might be too nice and sycophantic; what if it were more like a Latino uncle who’s honest to a fault with you? In this mock commercial for OpenAI hosted by Chloe Fineman, Hernández and Bad Bunny play AI characters within ChatGPT who give loud advice and sometimes call in the middle of the night to ask about Smash Mouth. How do you make vegan banana bread? “You don’t!” Was Jesus really God? “Yes.” It doesn’t quite work as a concept if you think too much about it, but Hernández makes a meal yet again out of playing a Latino elder with strong opinions.

Also good: Huntr/x keep it ‘Golden’ for a superfan

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Although Bad Bunny didn’t quite shine, as he had some trouble remembering his lines, this sketch about a fan of “Kpop Demon Hunters” included a fun appearance by the singers of the animated movie’s song “Golden.” They performed a portion of the hit and shared some surprisingly humorous lines-including the reveals that one of the people at brunch was on the Epstein list (due to flying JetBlue to his island) and another wrote the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle Jeans commercial. Bowen Yang also appeared as Jinu, the villain from “Demon Hunters,” and sang “Soda Pop,” which was another enjoyable moment.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Expect someone to make They K. Rowling shirts after this

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New cast member Kam Patterson made his first appearance by playfully asking “SNL” for permission to use the N-word (“I’m a stand-up comedian from Florida, that’s part of my act!”). However, it was Yang, disguised as Dobby the House Elf from “Harry Potter” with the help of prosthetics, who stole the show, even with a funny wardrobe issue – his costume kept slipping off his shoulder. Dobby starts by initially supporting J.K. Rowling’s opinions on transgender issues, but ultimately begins to doubt her views and achieves freedom by revealing a They K. Rowling T-shirt. Thankfully, Yang didn’t leave “SNL” as some reports suggested, because this episode really needed his comedic talent.

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2025-10-05 10:31