It goes without saying that Jason Sudeikis is one of the most greatest Saturday Night Live cast members to ever grace the stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. So many were saddened when he ultimately departed the series after 10 years as a writer, featured player and main cast member. Since then, he’s gone on to give audiences more humorous performances, with his turn as the titular character on Ted Lasso being his most recent. But this weekend, he returned to SNL roots to make his hosting debut to deliver some quality sketches. And one just happened to be a hilarious twist on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that featured Pete Davidson as Jake Paul.
Amid the plethora of characters that the actor reprised during his return, Jason Sudeikis introduced audiences to Mellen, a male counterpart to the well-known comedian and daytime talk show host. But this show is a bit different, as it’s geared towards men and fueled by an insane amount of testosterone. So of course, it includes over-the-top antics and “spirited” guests like Jake Paul and Conor McGregor, played by Alex Moffat. Check out the full sketch for yourself down below:
Now, I’m in no way saying that the world actually needs a show like this, yet I’d be incredibly intrigued to see how such a series would actually play out. But the sketch is a funny idea on the part of the SNL writers. Jason Sudeikis perfectly plays the fictional talk show host nailing the “bro-centric” nature of the scenario. And Pete Davidson, who appears only briefly, makes the most of his turn as the polarizing Jake Paul.
Although the sketch is definitely funny, it’s more than clear that the folks at Saturday Night Live were making a deeper statement with it. The skit plays on the idea of toxic masculinity and how it can manifest itself. So while the antics that occur in the segment play out humorously, there was some thought put into this parody. In addition, this all serves as a stark contrast to the energy that’s present on Ted Lasso, which was probably the intention.
Jason Sudeikis is, of course, not the first actor to take on Ellen DeGeneres on the long-running sketch comedy series. The most famous series star to impersonate the host would have to be Kate McKinnon. The Emmy-winner isn’t currently on the show at the moment due to commitments to other projects, which unfortunately meant she couldn’t pop up in the sketch. Personally, I’d hope that Sudeikis and McKinnon’s fictional hosts get to meet up at some point.
It was great to see Jason Sudeikis return to his home at 30 Rock and, with any luck, it won’t be the last time audiences see him appear as host. He is pretty busy these days, but he’d likely make the time for his SNL family.
Saturday Night Live returns to NBC on Saturday, November 6 at 11:30 p.m. ET with host Kieran Culkin and musical guest Ed Sheeran.
