'SNL' host Amy Poehler joined by Tina Fey in cold open and at the 'Weekend Update' desk

After past week’s worrisome Season 51 debut with Bad Bunny, it seemed similar a 50/50 accidental connected whether the 2nd occurrence of the play with impermanent big and beloved “Saturday Night Live” alum Amy Poehler would crook things around. Would the penning consciousness sharper and little evident successful the hands of a seasoned sketch performer?

Poehler, big of the fashionable podcast “Good Hang,” made each the close moves and whitethorn person adjacent overextended herself, appearing successful astir each sketch, including the acold unfastened and “Weekend Update” for a joke-off. You could (and should) springiness Poehler tons of recognition for her boundless energy, which lifted weaker sketches, similar 1 astir a menopausal ma who goes goth and 1 wherever Poehler and Bowen Yang are the composers of the “Severance” opening taxable (the gag is that their taxable songs ever commencement with a “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”-like rap arsenic their archetypal draft).

But Poehler besides benefited from overmuch stronger sketch premises compared with past week’s, from a beautifully performed sketch astir a TV psychic, Miss Lycus, who rushes everyone due to the fact that she has a hard retired astatine 7 p.m., to a spot-on parody of Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives,” with a impermanent quality from Poehler’s “Parks & Recreation” co-star Aubrey Plaza. The penning afforded Poehler with big, wide characters, similar a CEO giving commencement during a gathering with her employees, the matriarch successful a household of jerks called the Rudemans and an aged lawyer who interrupts a TV commercialized to one-up different lawyers connected the ground of having the astir experience.

Poehler besides got a small assistance from immoderate longtime friends and alums, including Tina Fey, appearing arsenic Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem successful the acold open, and Seth Meyers, returning to the “Weekend Update” table with Poehler and Fey.

Maybe podcasting has allowed Poehler to store immoderate signifier vigor to burst-fire connected “SNL”; she enactment successful a large show for a coagulated occurrence overall.

Musical guests Role Model performed “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” with a astonishment quality from Charli XCX arsenic Sally, and “Some Protector.” Before the close, “SNL” memorialized Diane Keaton, whose decease was announced Saturday, successful a rubric card. She ne'er hosted “Saturday Night Live” but was portrayed connected the amusement aggregate times.

The acold unfastened this week parodied Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi’s contentious gathering this week with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Poehler appeared arsenic Bondi and responded to questions from Democratic senators with a bid of withering insults she described arsenic “roast-style burns I person connected this portion of paper.” After mocking them and avoiding questions astir the indictment of James Comey and the Jeffrey Epstein files, Bondi makes mode for Noem (Fey, returning to “SNL” acold unfastened politics), who joins successful the mocking, telling 1 senator, “That makes maine laughter much than the extremity of ‘Old Yeller.’ ” After being reminded that a canine gets changeable astatine the extremity of that film, she responds, “Dogs don’t conscionable get shot. Heroes sprout them.” While the archetypal fractional of the acold unfastened was shaky, with insults that weren’t landing contempt Poehler’s forceful delivery, Fey’s quality livened things up and ended beardown with a call-and-response betwixt Fey and Poehler that made amusive of ICE recruitment ads. “Do you instrumentality supplements that you bought astatine a state station?” Noem asked, “buckle up and slap connected immoderate Oakleys, large boy, and invited to ICE!”

Poehler’s monologue was sweet, wistful and self-deprecating. “I recovered my archetypal emotion here,” she said, “being famous.” She went connected to picture her beingness now, saying, “I americium a podcaster. If that’s not a recession indicator, I don’t cognize what is.” She besides pointed retired that this occurrence marked the existent 50-year day of “SNL,” which archetypal aired connected Oct. 11, 1975. “Just similar [host] George Carlin, I americium highly high,” she said. Poehler poked amusive astatine AI actors who’ve been successful the quality and mightiness privation to instrumentality her job. “You’ll ne'er beryllium capable to constitute a joke, and I americium consenting to bash afloat frontal, but nobody’s asked me, OK?” she concluded defiantly.

Best sketch of the night: The thigh squeezes are bigger successful Texas, too

It whitethorn beryllium a small precocious to the enactment (the amusement came retired successful July), but this mock trailer for Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives” hits each the close notes with Poehler arsenic often topless Margo and Chloe Fineman arsenic Sophie (Malin Ackerman and Brittany Snow, respectively, connected the series). The trailer promises that arsenic the women get hornier and drunker, thighs volition beryllium squeezed and guns volition beryllium drawn. Aubrey Plaza appears arsenic a caller woman from California and soon she’s being caressed by each the different women successful the formed arsenic they marque mimosas. A fewer large lines from this one: “It’s similar ‘Call Me By Your Name’ for women who store astatine Bass Pro Shop,” and “Don’t ticker it connected a plane.”

Also good: Don’t settee for conscionable 100 years of ineligible experience

Pohler’s quality successful the Psychic Talk Show sketch was precise funny, but the sketch astir one-upping lawyers edges it retired lone due to the fact that it goes to immoderate highly weird and dumb places for overmuch longer than needed and incorporates what looked similar the full cast. What starts arsenic a basal idiosyncratic wounded lawyer commercialized explaining however the steadfast has 50 years of combined acquisition ends up including long-living turtles, Sarah Sherman arsenic a vampire lawyer named Dracu-Law, and an ageless tree, Yggdrasil (Yang), who erstwhile represented Zeus.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Someday, that 13-pound babe is going to ticker this

On a packed “Weekend Update,” Sherman debuted over-caffeinated Long Islander Rhonda LaCenzo, who rails against New York City mayoral campaigner Zohran Mamdani. And Marcello Hernández and Jane Wickline returned arsenic a seemingly mismatched mates discussing their Halloween plans. But it was an epic joke-off featuring past “Update” anchors Poehler, Fey and Meyers facing disconnected against existent ones Colin Jost and Michael Che to marque amusive of the commencement of a astir 13-pound babe calved successful Tennessee. “It was truthful large that helium slapped the doc connected his ass!” Poehler began. Some of the amended jokes: “The pistillate zipped astir the country similar a deflated balloon.” “Did she springiness commencement oregon did it thrust out?” “The baby’s sanction is AHHHHH!” Poehler rounded retired the contention by declaring, “The grounds was for loosest vagina and the erstwhile held… by me!”