Saturday Night Live turned its latest Weekend Update into a broadside against the entertainment business, taking aim at Paramount+, Taylor Sheridan’s television lineup and a summer movie slate stretching from Paw Patrol to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Weekend Update anchor Michael Che began the industry-focused run by targeting David Ellison’s Paramount+ through a joke about a White House livestream.
“The White House responded to major news networks canceling coverage of President Trump by launching a live stream called Trump TV,” Che said. “But if that’s Trump TV, what the hell is Paramount+?”
The shows displayed on screen during the punchline were Sheridan’s Yellowstone, its prequel 1883, the spinoff Dutton Ranch and the Sylvester Stallone-led Tulsa King.
Jeremy Culhane’s Tucker Carlson reviews the summer movies
The segment then shifted from television to the big screen as Jeremy Culhane returned with his portrayal of Tucker Carlson. This time, Culhane’s Carlson was ready to assess the summer’s blockbusters through a series of culture-war riffs.
“It’s movie time, let’s find our seats, silence our cell phones and abandon Christian values,” he began before singling out Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie.
“Let me get this right: Jesus didn’t live at the same time as the dinosaurs but Paw Patrol did?” he continued. “What are we doing? What’s going on?”
Two more children’s movies, Toy Story 5 and Minions and Monsters, quickly entered the line of fire.
Culhane used Minions and Monsters to pivot into a political jab, saying, “It was also a big summer for Minions and Monsters and no I’m not talking about the children’s film, I’m talking about the Trump cabinet. That’s right, I’ve turned on Trump, I’m so brave.”
For Disney’s fifth Tom Hanks-narrated installment, Toy Story 5, Culhane’s Carlson focused on the franchise’s Woody character and its familiar friendship theme.
“Let me understand this, you’ve got a friend in me and his name is Woody?” he said.
‘The Odyssey,’ ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Obsession’ also get roasted
The mock movie review did not stop with family fare. Culhane also addressed Nolan’s The Odyssey, Tom Holland’s superhero movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession.
While discussing filmmaking formats and The Odyssey, he said, “The Hollywood cabal shoots its filth with millimeters, or what I like to call it, the gay edge. I like The Odyssey, it’s so nice to see Greek people do something other than make women feel uncomfortable.”
Holland’s latest Spider-Man title became the basis for another culture-war gag. “Everybody Loves Spider-Man: Brand New Gender,” Culhane said. “Spider-they, Spider-them, uses whatever bathroom it feels like.”
Finally, he turned to Barker’s Obsession and its horror premise.
“Obsession, the left’s idea of a horror movie is that a woman is forced to love a man,” he said. “Oh no, help, I’m being chased by a heterosexual relationship.”
Together, Che’s Paramount+ punchline and Culhane’s blockbuster rundown gave Weekend Update a distinctly Hollywood-heavy stretch, with streaming brands, television franchises, children’s films, superhero fare, horror and Nolan’s epic all swept into the segment’s satire.