Adam Driver tried to get some deets on Pete Davidson & Ariana Grande’s engagement during the opening monologue on ‘SNL’! Watch it right here! In the driver’s seat once again at Studio 8H, Adam Driver began his episode of SNL with an opening monologue that tackled the hardest part of coming back from a summer hiatus: hearing what all the cast members did during their break. While Driver’s internal monologue shows he dreads this small talk, he actually is concerned with Pete Davidson‘s summer for one various obvious reason: Ariana Grande. Driver says that Pete’s summer is “the only summer” he really wants to hear about. And Pete’s response? A wink, of course. Honestly, it was a much better received moment than when Pete joked that he switched Ariana’s birth control with Tic Tacs. We knew it was going to be hilarious based on the promo that Kate McKinnon “ruined.” After repeatedly calling back over and over again to his Aladdin sketch, the teaser took a break from having Driver sing “I can show you the world” and had Kate “crash” the promo revealing she secretly wanted to be in that sketch. Of course, another promo had Kanye West wearing a MAGA hat alongside Adam and Kenan Thompson. While Kenan said Kanye “had that look,” and Driver asked him, “What are you up to, Kanye,” Ye remained completely quiet. Well, he certainly was up to something. One of his musical performances from the premiere had Kanye dressed as a sparkling water bottle. We’ll keep you posted with all of the latest SNL sketches. In the meantime, check out all of the pics from this season in our gallery above.<doc-sep>Adam "Designated" Driver hosted Saturday Night Live's season 44 premiere on Sept. 29, which means he had the privilege of hearing about the cast's Summer break. In his opening monologue, the 34-year-old actor seemed to avoid this "terrible" Summer small talk, but there was one cast member Adam did want to have a word with. His conversational skills were (jokingly) put to the test, as he was approached by Aidy Bryant, Kenan Thompson, and Beck Bennett to talk about their travels and work schedules. But when Pete Davidson took the stage, Adam suddenly had time for small talk. "You don't want to hear about my Summer," Pete said, to which Adam replied "Actually, you're the one person whose Summer I really want to hear about." Seems like the cast around SNL either wants to be Pete or know every detail of his past few months, and I totally get it. Luckily, Pete opened up about his whirlwind Summer and his engagement to Ariana Grande later in the show, because in what world would he not?<doc-sep>NBC Kanye West takes over with for three performances, while Matt Damon brings all the rage and tears as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Adam Driver may have been the host of this premiere, but it kind of felt like musical guest Kanye West got way more attention. Not only did he get his usual two musical spots during the show, he even took over the stage for a third performance at the end. Meanwhile, Driver really only got a few chances to shine throughout the night. He was in a lot of the sketches, but he was subdued in most of them. His "Career Day" appearance was easily his most over-the-top and it showed how much he's willing to throw himself into these characters. It was both ridiculous and hilarious. Kanye was joined by Lil Pump for "I Love It," but they skipped the boxy suits for bottled water costumes instead. If you thought this song barely worked as a music video, Kanye was basically saying, 'Here hold my water' with this performance. It worked much better when he premiered new song "We Got Love" with Teyana Taylor jumping all around the stage. They sounded stronger and the song held together much better. For a season premiere, many of the sketches felt half-baked, as if they hadn't quite come together fully, which is crazy. Last season, weeks that allowed this group more than one week to come up with the show were some of their strongest outings, but that just wasn't the case here. We did enjoy Pete Davidson talking about what he did over the summer. And we got some sneak peeks into the camaraderie of the cast behind the scenes, which is always fun. They also introduced new featured player Ego Nwodim, but she did virtually nothing this week. We'll keep an eye on her to see how she grows throughout the season and hopefully finds her voice. As usual, we're ranking all the sketches from worst to first, including the Cold Open and the regular "Weekend Update" segments. We'll skip the musical guests, because they're not usually funny - unless Ashlee Simpson shows up. We wrap up with a look at the cast-member who had the strongest week. MONOLOGUE - Adam Driver "One huge spoiler about 'Star Wars'--" Adam Driver said, before getting interrupted by Beck Bennett, who wanted to talk about his summer. That was essentially the thrust of his monologue, the entire cast wanting to gab about their summer and Adam really hating small talk.He suffered through Kenan Thompson and Aidy Bryant, but when Pete Davidson came out, Pete wasn't interested in sharing. "No, you're the one person who's summer I really want to hear about," Adam said. But that was the end. It wasn't hugely hilarious, but it was kind of fun watching Adam sear burning hatred into Kenan, who did his classic "Kenan face" in response. Vermont Beck Bennett proposes white people leave and form their own nation, but Adam Driver says there already is a place like that: Vermont. And then the whole sketch just described "white paradise" and how much it looked like Vermont. It never got to be too much or too funny or too silly or even a little over-the-top. It was just white supremacists thinking Vermont sounds really nice. We can't imagine Vermont loving the sketch, but otherwise it was disappointingly bland. Fortnite We suppose it was inevitable considering how insanely popular it is, but "SNL" went all in on this "Fortnite" sketch. They had Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson and Adam Driver as players, but we didn't expect them to bring the characters to life, too, with Mikey Day as Driver's character, and Chris Redd and Heidi Gardner rounding out the digital cast. Adam played a middle-aged father who'd never played the game before, so that was it. Mikey mimicked the ridiculous things Adam was making him do, while the other guys got irritated until they all died. But at that point, it was a mercy killing. The sketch could have been funny or had a fun twist, but it had that one visual joke and nothing else. Rad Times at Frat U So that was a weird one. A pre-taped sketch of an 80s frat party with constant freezes to drop notes on the screen about what happened to the people after; none of it good. From the innocent, like a guy who was excited to see girls now being married to a man, to the more serious -- though never going so far as assault beyond a forced kiss. We thought the sketch was going somewhere with all of this, but it never really did. Clearly a reference to Kavanaugh's partying days, but it didn't skate the edge to drive home any sort of point. Pete Davidson's Shadow If it wasn't intentional that announcer Darrell Hammond didn't even say Kyle Mooney's name during the opening credits, it fed perfectly into this early-show sketch about his insecurities. After Pete Davidson got engaged to Ariana Grande, Kyle Mooney realized he might never get the recognition he so desperately craves on the show in one of his pre-taped introspective videos. These are always weird and funny and awkward, but it's where we got the sordid saga of his long romance with Leslie Jones, too, so we're here for it. This time, he decided to solve his invisibility problem by becoming Pete, complete with blonde hair and slacker attitude. But rather than get a pop star to date, he brought out the real Wendy Williams as his girlfriend, complete with a pig. We also got an inside look at how "SNL" handles internal problems, and it is medieval and not pretty. Weekend Update "If you're drinking a bunch and you keep a calendar, it's probably to help piece together what's happening in your life," Colin Jost said, as he and Michael Che went in on Kavanaugh's blustery and angry hearing responses, though we don't think Michael's "might be" argument quite holds water. They saved a few moments to get into some of the other terrifying news of the summer, like that new and absolutely horrifying mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers. Who approved this monstrosity? Kate McKinnon then dropped by as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to comment and fire off some Gins-burns at everyone from Kavanaugh to Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who pushed for an FBI investigation to, as she sees it, protect his ass before he votes yes anyway. Out of nowhere, Leslie Jones interrupted as Serena Williams, despite the bit being cut. This kind of banter always helps to bring us deeper into the world of "SNL," helping us connect to the cast-members behind the characters, and we are here for them. Plus, she did look great. Finally, and we all knew it was coming, Pete Davidson dropped by to finally answer the question Adam Driver wanted in the "Cold Open." How did he spend his summer vacation? Well, we all know the details, but he said he hates all the attention. "It's Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Pete Davidson. All people who've gotten death threats," he said. When asked about the prenup situation, Pete said he wanted one. "God forbid we break up and she takes half my sneakers." He then joked he swapped her birth control for Tic-Tacs. "I believe in us and all," he said. "I just want to make sure she cant go anywhere." COLD OPEN - Kavanaugh Hearing With no sign of Alec Baldwin's Trump, we instead got a fresh and energetic exploration of the Kavanaugh hearing, with Matt Damon absolutely killing it as the Supreme Court nominee. ""I'm gonna start at an 11 and I'm gonna take it to a 15 real quick!" he shouted, setting the stage for alternating anger and tears as he cited Kathy Griffin and Ronan "Sinatra" as part of the left-wing conspiracy against him. The Senators were played by a who's who of the cast (including Rachel Dratch), with Kate McKinnon coming unhinged as Sen. Lindsey Graham, though we're not sure she has a completely successful take on him yet.<doc-sep>
Highlights: Adam Driver and 'SNL' Get Political In a Pete Davidson Heavy Season Premiere By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 30, 2018 | Cold Open — Saturday Night Live kicked off the season by continuing in their tradition of using A-list cameos in their political cold opens, appropriately bringing in Matt Damon to play an irate, beer-guzzling, and occasionally weepy Brett Kavanaugh. The resemblance is uncanny. The cold open took aim at the Kavanaugh hearing, where Damon’s Kavanaugh shotgunned beers, threw tantrums, and cried while recalling his calendar. “Let me tell you this. I’m going to start at an 11, and I’m going to take it to a 15 real quick,” Damon screamed. “Now I’m usually an optimist. I’m usually a keg is half full kind of guy … Guess what? I’m not backing down, you sons of bitches. I don’t know the meaning of the word ‘stop.’” (Watch Here) (Score: 9 out of 10) Adam Driver Monologue — Not a great monologue to open the season, TBH, as Adam Driver tries to restrain his anger as the rest of the cast tells him about their summer. “I worked a little. Traveled a little. The Pete Davidson kicker is OK, but not worth the effort of the rest of the sketch. (Watch Here) (Score: 3.5 out of 10) Fortnite Sketch — Three guys live chat while playing Fortnite, with Driver playing a lame Dad just learning to play the game because he wants to bond with his 11-year-old son (hey! I’ve had this same experience!) The humor — to the extent that it exists — is entirely in Mikey Day playing the clueless Fortnite character that Driver’s Dad is badly controlling. It’s smart of SNL to lampoon something as insanely popular as Fortnite right now, but it would also help if it were a funnier sketch. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10) Kyle Mooney Goes Full Pete Davidson — Jealous of all the attention Pete Davidson is getting now that he’s dating Ariana Grande, Kyle Mooney decides to copy Pete’s look and get himself a celebrity girlfriend (Wendy Williams). The episode is leaning hard into the Pete and Ariana thing, and despite the fact that this is obviously a Kyle Mooney sketch, it still mostly works. (Score: 7 out of 10) Burger King Coffee — A couple (Adam Driver and Cecily Strong) go ballistic after they discover that the fancy coffee they think they are drinking is actually from Burger King. Not a great sketch, but Adam Driver and Cecily Strong transcend the material. (Watch here) (Score: 5 out of 10) Rad Times at Frat U — Clearly inspired by Brett Kavanaugh, we see the consequences of an 80’s frat party to the attendees 30 years later. A dark, but great sketch. (Score: 7.5 out of 10) Weekend Update — Chost spends much of “Update” ripping Kavanaugh to shreds, and to their credit, they do it very well, and they make some very good points along the way (not all of which have already been made). There’s no false equivalency here, either: They go after Kavanaugh hard, and then McKinnon shows up as Ruth Bader and takes aim at both Kavanaugh and the GOP while doing a sexy dance to Cole Sprouse, like you do if you’re RBG. Pete Davidson also shows up to talk about his summer with Ariana Grande, and as running jokes go, this one is pretty great. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this was a terrific “Update.” (Score: 8.5 out of 10) Career Day — Pete Davidson plays a high school student who brings his father in for career day, and his father (Adam Driver) is a ruthless oil baron seemingly in the model of Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Driver kills it, and Pete Davidson does a terrible job of not cracking up. This sketch is much better than it has any right to be. (Score: 7 out of 10) Neo Confederate’s Meeting — A bunch of Nazis envision a utopian white society, and one of its members (Driver) insists that their white Utopia sounds just like … Vermont (thanks SNL for using Vermont instead of Maine!) (Watch Here) (Score: 6 out of 10) ← On 'SNL,' Matt Damon Puts on a Show as the Irate, Weeping Brett Kavanaugh | Streaming Guide: What's New On Netflix October 2018 → Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba.