“Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!!!!!” Every August, fans have the chance to enter one of the hardest shows to get into, the Saturday Night Live lottery. So, for the third year in a row, I emailed about how, as a native New Yorker, I always dreamed about going to a live show and did not expect to hear anything in return. Flash forward to five months later, I checked my email at work and saw I was invited with a pair of tickets to the first new show of 2026, with Finn Wolfhard hosting and A$AP Rocky as the musical guest. That email came on Wednesday but coincidentally I had already been to 30 Rock two days prior and Ben Marshall, one of the new featured actors and member of Please Don’t Destroy walked past me, that was the sign.
After a few days of anticipation, it was finally Saturday. I drove into the city with my mom, who actually went to a SNL taping before in the late 70s with Steve Martin as the host but remembers the show being filmed in Brooklyn for some unknown reason, and lined up at 8:30 pm before being ushered by NBC pages and security to the Peacock Lounge for the next two hours before it was time to bring us upstairs to the studio. It felt like a party before the party. The lounge was filled with a photo booth, a DJ spinning tracks, and beer and soda being passed out while being surrounded by screens showing SNL’s most iconic moments and characters from the last 51 years.
Finally, it was time to go upstairs into the studio, and everyone was buzzing with excitement! Once we stepped into the elevator, using our phones was completely banned. Upon entering the studio, we were greeted with the band warming up and a solo performance by the female guitarist. At fifteen minutes to showtime, Marcello Hernandez came out to warm us up and legally had to tell us where all the emergency exits were, but as much as I love this man, I stopped listening at one point and was starstruck over seeing Rihanna join the audience. I completely forgot that she was married to A$AP Rocky and loved that she made the rare public appearance to support her man. By the time I refocused on Marcello, new cast members Tommy Brennan and Veronika Slowikowska came out and sang us a song. Sixty seconds later, a set was built, and the show was live with James Austin Johnson in the White House.
I would probably always enjoy this episode even if it wasn’t their best, but this was probably one of the best episodes SNL had so far all season in terms of quality and humor. Finn Wolfhard was truly a great host. I could tell that he truly collaborated with the writers and actors that week and wanted to highlight the success of the final season of Stranger Things, but also show that he’s more than just Mike Wheeler. I did love that he brought out Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo in the monologue. My two favorite sketches of the night were the pre-recorded “Heated Wizardry”, which spoofed Harry Potter,and Heated Rivalry and “Space Emperor”. The latter was filmed live, and it was so silly that they were all breaking off camera and laughing. At one point, Chloe Fineman was literally laughing out loud and realized the mic caught her laugh, and she reacted, and you can hear it when watching the sketch back. The return of “Snack Homiez” was also a favorite as it’s a recurring bit with Fineman, Slowikowska, and Jane Wickline with surprise guest Sabrina Carpenter as middle school boys with a podcast talking about their favorite snacks. It’s also so interesting to see how fast the crew works with striking and building sets in the two minutes they have during commercials.
Before I knew it, 1 am came, and the show came to an end. Once again, we were escorted by NBC pages to the elevators and were dismissed through the NBC gift shop. While trying to find the exit out of 30 Rock, I got a glimpse of Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, and the Duffer brothers leaving. I had the impulse to yell out that I was listening to a bunch of Djo songs while getting ready for tonight, but fought against it. And the last surprise of the night came when my mom and I were waiting in the parking garage, and out of nowhere came Kenan Thompson walking to his Bentley!
It was just one of the best nights ever and a literal dream come true. This show has been a staple in my life from growing up at home and watching every Saturday night to watching it in my college dorm and streamed the next day when I lived abroad. It’s such an iconic piece of pop culture, and I loved the fact that I got to experience a sliver of it in person. I’m sure I will enter the lottery again this summer because I don’t have the willpower to wait on the standby line for hours Friday night with no guarantee of going to the live taping or dress rehearsal. Regardless, I can’t wait for the next episode to air with Connor Storrie hosting and Mumford and Sons as the musical guest!
This was written by our contributing writer, Demi Tsatsaronis.
Image Credit: Demi Tsatsaronis
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