Olivia Dean is the musical guest.

Saturday Night Live recap: Glen Powell flies his UPS driver out for his hosting debut

Olivia Dean is the musical guest.

By Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund is a writer at **. He has worked at EW since 2019.

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on November 16, 2025 12:50 a.m. ET

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Glen Powell on 'Saturday Night Live'. Credit:

Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

Hi — welcome one and all to *SNL* in Review. Do not adjust your dials, do not click away.

Tonight’s episode is hosted by Glen Powell, who is starring in the latest adaptation of *The Running Man* as well as the Hulu show *Chad Powers*. Powell previously appeared on the show last year when Sydney Sweeney hosted. (At the time, I said he should be hosting!)

Former *SNL *cast member — and star of *The French Italian* — Aristotle Athari is a fan of Powell’s work. He says: “When I saw *Hit Man*, I was blown away by Powell’s comedic timing. I love that movie, and honestly, anything [he does].” *Top Gun: Maverick* with Powell was the first movie after COVID that made Athari “feel like the theater experience was back.” Cast him in *Maverick 2*, people!

Last week, reactions to Nikki Glaser showed a bit of division in our ranks — more than 20 percent of you loved it, while a quarter of you straight up hated it. Stats! Let’s see if there’s more consensus tonight. Olivia Dean is the musical guest.

Ashley Padilla is White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and it’s been a quiet news week! But reporters at this press conference mostly want to talk about Epstein!

Eventually James Austin Johnson’s Trump again takes over. I think this was better with Padilla as the focal point. Allowing Trump to monologue and entertain about this topic specifically feels misplaced, as much as Johnson nails it. I kind of preferred Padilla working out the tics around Leavitt, who unctuously claims to “believe women.” I also enjoyed Chloe Fineman and Kam Patterson’s roles here. See what you think.

John Milhiser recently shared Padilla is “very funny. Insane how much she's in now. Go Ashley! She brings a real grounded performance to her sketch characters. I loved how she reacted after she farted in that fart sketch. ‘Ohhhhhh no. Noooo. Ohhhh dear.’ It was an unexpected reaction to farting. She was so disappointed that it happened. Almost like it broke her heart. She's brilliant. I also loved her Two People Who Just Hooked Up with Andrew Dismukes. Loved that these characters had an arc in their scene. They had a beginning, middle and end. They took their time. It paid off. It was refreshing to see. Jealous of those characters. Keep 'em coming.”

It’s been a wild year for Glen Powell. He knows we are tired of seeing his face. He’s been working for a long time — even directing a student film where he lip-synched to Fall Out Boy!

His big break was in one of the *Spy Kids* movies. That’s the framing for the bulk of the monologue. Being at 8H means a lot to him and his family. After working for years, he was supposed to host four years ago for T*op Gun: Maverick *before COVID delayed it. He tells a funny story about his UPS driver he met when he first learned he was getting a chance to host the Christmas show — now, years later, Powell has flown him here, he’s in the audience. This is great! And has a great message about waiting for your dreams. Watch this!**

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“AI Photos"

A grandma’s family has uploaded her old photos into an app where the AI analyzes the image and projects how the people moved. We see the recreations, and how the computer distorts the image, getting confused. The pet dog has no head, for instance. Powell plays the grandmother’s now-deceased father, come to life decades later.

Lots of silly surrealism — a nuclear blast, a floating body, naked Mikey Day.

This is a real thing! Deevid, AliveMoment. Meh.

"Ex’s Dad"

A couple of our feature players (Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan) sing a sad country song… about missing their ex's dad. Glen Powell plays the ideal male. Kenan is Gary, the dad they never had. Catchy.

Ben Marshall is back making short films and music videos for the show. Nice!

"Bachelor Party"

Glen Powell is getting married and he has invited a friend to the bachelor party. It’s the stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (Marcello Hernandez). I guess this is an excuse for Marcello to do this impression? Very physical, nostalgia heavy.

The kicker here, inexplicably, is the return of Chloe Fineman’s Jennifer Coolidge impression. OK.

"Scene of a Marriage"

Oh boy, I do not like jokes like Swedish Chef or Jamie Lee Curtis in *Trading Places*, where it’s the silly accent of Swedish or Norwegian people. So this irks me on a basic level. I enjoy the enthusiasm of the actors and how that contrasts with the intense Bergman style material.

Just to be on the record I’m not totally humorless here: James Austin Johnson is really good as Stellan Skarsgård!

"MacGruber"

Wow! This is an excellent treat. The return of MacGruber! Will Forte!!

Fineman replaces Kristen Wiig — and Powell is entertaining as the one man prepared to release the Epstein files. You can imagine where this leads with MacGruber…

First appearing on the show back in January 2007, a cult classic film was released in 2010. Then Peacock aired a revival back in 2021. We actually last saw the character on the show in 2022, so it hasn’t been that long. But a welcome return, even if Ryan Phillippe or Wiig didn't appear.

Really funny, and way superior to the cold open, which was a rather on-the-nose take.

"Slay Division”

An army soldier, Sublette (in-joke alert!), is transferred to a division that mostly “serves” — with their haircuts and attitudes. If you see a man with a bob, diva you better run! They report to Leslie Bibb, which is very funny. I love the hair-off and the overall goofiness here. Paris is Burning and its depiction of ball culture feels like a good frame of reference.

Their rivals are the bang battalion. Both groups are very sassy. I liked this.**

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