When Saturday Night Live lands on a winning idea, the chances are high that the writers and performers will milk that idea for all it’s worth in the weeks, months, and years to come. Which is why many fans expected Ryan Gosling’s return as guest host to include a reprisal of the hyper-viral Beavis and Butt-Head sketch from 2024, arguably the biggest sketch of that year. We even know that a follow-up sketch was written and rehearsed, so what happened?
SNL's current "IT Girl" Ashley Padilla, who has amassed MVP status as a featured player, opened up about the missed opportunity when speaking with Deadline, and it sounds like Ryan Gosling himself may have had a bigger-than-expected influence on the follow-up sketch getting scrapped before the live taping. As she put it:
I think it didn’t trump the other things in the show, because I think Ryan is someone who lives off of that fresh moment, and that’s what makes him break and be who he is.
To her point, Ryan Gosling is not an actor who's ever been synonymous with making samey and rote acting choices, and one would have to put some real thought into identifying any sequels that he's been a part of. (All I could think of is Blade Runner 2049, and he wasn't in the original, so it barely counts.) He likely could have turned his Barbie character Ken into its own franchise, but it's just not his style. He and Mikey Day did get back in costume for Fall Guy’s red carpet, but even that technically stood apart from the SNL sketch.
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Padilla continued, speaking to the idea that Gosling embraced the new and unfamiliar sketches that were pitched, resulting in more viral sketches like "Passing Notes," and more on-screen breaks from the actors.
And I think because he already lived that one, maybe that’s why it was not as exciting. I have no idea, I’m just making that up, but I think that’s why he wanted things that felt fresh, like Cyclops, when they kept coming towards me, I didn’t know that was gonna happen. So I think he wanted those moments, and he did a great job.
To be fair, it's possible that Ryan Gosling had zero issues with reprising his Beavis lookalike role, and the decision to scrap the new sketch was made by Lorne Michaels or someone else on staff. It's truly a tragedy that fans didn't get to see it, largely due to Sarah Sherman dressing up as Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers. To that end, Padilla shared:
She looked amazing.
I know it's too much to ask to hope for that or another B&B sketch to resurface during the rest of Season 51, as there are only a few episodes left, and none of the upcoming guest hosts seem very fitting for it. Unless Olivia Rodrigo is made up to look like Daria...
Saturday Night Live airs Saturday nights on NBC at 11:35 p.m. ET, and episodes are available to stream via Peacock subscription.
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