Ariana Grande SNL Sketches Ranked: Impressions, Political Family Feud Highlight Season's Best Night Yet

With a brief nod to Wicked and a whole lot of singing, Ariana Grande is flawless in as close to a perfect episode of Saturday Night Live as we're likely to see this season, without a bad sketch on the night -- but which one tops the list?

We had to wait three episodes, but we got as close to a perfect Saturday Night Live as we're likely to see this season. Ariana Grande was back as host for the first time since 2016, and once again she was flawless in a night that did not have a single bomb.

We're not saying every sketch had us rolling, but every sketch would rank higher than a 5 out of 10. The weakest sketch of the night was still a delightful charm, while the first sketch managed to elevate the cold political open into a different level with a surprising game show twist that worked on every level.

This week saw some of our mid-tier players really stepping into their own. It seems like the fourth season is around when the main players start to find their comedic range and reach their potential. This week, both James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman really stretched themselves -- at one point side by side as Oasis' Gallagher brothers -- and proved their worth.

Ariana showed off multiple impressions throughout the night, including Britney Spears, Céline Dion, and Jennifer Coolidge. And yes, she sang in almost every appearance she made, but all of it served the show and served the comedy so well. She's one of those hosts that is so effortlessly good at this, she could have been a cast member in another world!

As usual, we're ranking all the sketches from worst to first, including the Monologue, Cold Open, "Weekend Update" and any sketches that were cut for time but made their way online. 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.

Castrati

The introduction of the barbaric technique that created high-pitched singing voices in young boys that would never go away, Ariana Grande's dead stare into the distance was so funny, we wish she would have maintained it longer into the sketch. We get her breaking it when Andy Samberg (as her father) suggested the process reversible, but it would have been funnier to go back to it. Andy got a laugh from Kenan Thompson by referring to him by his actual name in the piece, but Kenan quickly got it together enough to carry on. While not quite as funny as most of the night, the image of Maya Rudolph and Andy explaining their "twist" technique will haunt many a male for years to come.

Céline Dion UFC Promo

From Monday Night Football to the octagon of the UFC, Ariana Grande delivered a hilariously spot-on Céline Dion both speaking and singing of her love for the violence of the sport that also … unites us? The over-the-top sincerity of the piece, as well as the gruesome descriptions of violence paired with footage of said moments, really captures the craziness of the sport, and the impossibility of romanticizing it. Once again, Ariana delivers on all fronts, this time doing so by herself with gusto and passion. She was born for comedy!

Monologue: Ariana Grande

Good news for fans of Ariana Grande the actress, she's gonna keep it lowkey tonight, which means it won't be a night filled with her grabbing a mic and singing. She sang all about it in this very fun opener that featured glimpses of some of her iconic impressions like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. She even promised not to do a corny Wicked musical number, which must have come as a huge shock to Bowen Yang, who dropped in as Glinda the Good Witch. This piece set the perfect tone by offering us a confident and funny leading lady not taking herself too seriously and ready to let loose and have a good time. We're right there with you, Ari!

Jennifer Coolidge for Maybelline

We were already enjoying the silliness of both Chloe Bennett and Ariana Grande showing off their stellar Jennifer Coolidge impressions for this Maybelline sketch, but the addition of Dana Carvey later as a third Jennifer really sealed the deal. It was one of those sketches that suffered from multiple technical difficulties, due to the complexity of the mirrored roles, but the players stayed committed to the premise and made sure that we were having as much fun as they were. The only thing that could have made it strong would have been an actual Jennifer Coolidge appearance at the very end (some cameos do work).

The Hotel Detective

With time at a premium, it looks like we may have gotten a dress version of this piece as there were some line flubs, Ariana Grande held her badge upside down at first, and the cast struggled here and there with the lines. In their defense, the lines were intentionally obtuse and convoluted, but that was so much of what the piece was about. All in all, it was a very successful word salad piece that was held together by the bordering insanity of the production and everything else. Sometimes, the chaos works.

Weekend Update

"Good luck trying to talk over all those rape whistles," Michael Che quipped while talking about Donald Trump's upcoming all-female Fox News town hall. The boys definitely went in harder on the former president than Harris, while also poking fun at J.D. Vance continuing to refuse to say that Trump lost the 2020 election in a new interview. Colin Jost got a very strong response to his take on Trump's "softened stance on abortion" -- which was, yikes!

Ego Nwodim's final question back at Michael Che was the perfect punctuation on a great Upate desk appearance as a brutally overworked Amazon employee. Her wide-eyed worker couldn't stop wrapping a package, or keep her thoughts straight as she detailed what her life is like working for the only shopping empire as customers go crazy for those Prime Day deals. She painted a pretty dire picture, but did so in a very funny way. This is the kind of satire that works best, sending a clear message through a brilliantly funny messenger.

In the second news segment, Che took it back to the '90s with the "remix to conviction" and his joke about a fruit fly's brain, while Jost got a strong reaction for his "surprise" joke about nuclear survivors getting the Nobel Peace prize. While not as sharp as their earlier political material, the boys were getting some great audience responses, indicating a warm and engaged crowd.

We didn't expect James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman as Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, but we did love that their explanation of the decades-long feud that's kept the band from performing together was like young brothers arguing over ridiculous nonsense. Both of them really hackneyed up those British accents, but the whole thing was so funny from start to finish -- with all the bickering and silliness -- we really loved seeing this growth as versatile performers from both James and Sarah. They're really showing their value beyond the individual schticks that helped them land this gig, becoming really great repertorie players.

Cold Open: Political Family Feud

Kenan Thompson is always having a good time as Steve Harvey, and his presence in the political cold open really shook up the energy of the opening piece, which was refreshing. The format also explained why we would still be having all this season's political players in one scene together. Right away, we got the sense that the show -- while left-leaning -- wasn't going to go super easy on Kamala Harris, mocking her penchant for talking about her middle class upbringing at any opportunity. Kenan's reactions as Steve were perfect as she rambled on and didn't give an answer on what you might find in a glovebox. Highlights, once again, included Dana Carvey's Joe Biden (which is as good as any of his classic political portrayals) and James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump, teaching us all how to ramble incoherently before eventually sticking the landing … well, a landing.

Family Game Night

"You got a tiny pecker or something?" Ariana Grande's Diane declared abruptly after Bowen Yang's light-hearted trash-talking during this impromptu game of charades where he was meeting boyfriend Michael Longfellow's family for the first time We kind of loved the juxtaposition of her playing an over-the-top, hyper-competitive mom in a sketch following her equally committed turn as an earnest teen. Ariana is so well-suited for the sketch format, she really nails the trash-talking and aggression, opposite rising tension with Bowen. The two of them sparred perfectly throughout this piece, all the way to the surprise ending.

Bridesmaids Song

Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" never sounded so bad, and so funny. We loved Chloe Bennett as a bride who let her bridesmaids sing about their bachelorette party, and huge props to Ariana Grande for being able to sing so flat and horrible (considering what a great singer she is) The same goes for the ladies of the cast who joined her, with all of them getting the kind of bad karaoke you might see if this were to happen. But it was the lyrical message of the song's verses that really told a surprising story, detailing everything that went down with a gut-punch of an ending. It would have been funny no matter how they sang it, but the bad vocals definitely added authenticity to it.

My Best Friend's House

There it is, the best piece of the young season so far! What a perfect song and narrative, delivered flawlessly by Ariana Grande. Here, she let her vocals shine and brought all of her acting talent to bear as we worked through her feelings about her best friend's house, all the memories tied to smell -- and all the things you maybe don't notice when you're a kid just hanging out with your bestie. We knew it was going to go somewhere, but we didn't expect the direction it did go, or the perfect little twist right at the end that was just perfection. This is how you do it!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Considering our opening comments, it may not come as much of a surprise that both James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman were in the conversation for best of the week. We were also impressed with Bowen's conviction opposite Ariana Grande's hyper-competitive mom in the game night sketch, while Ego had us cracking up as an overworked Amazon employee.

Sarah really nailed two performance pieces, as one of the singing bridesmaids and as one half of the Gallagher brothers, opposite James. But James definitely stole tonight's show, starting off with his spot-on Trump, followed by such a variety of players, including Noel Gallagher and his hotel detective at the end.

Throw in a supporting role in the Italian Renaissance, and as an earnest best man in that bridesmaids sketch, and he's proving both a funny leading man and solid support player in the way you could count on a Phil Hartman to help hold a sketch together. As exciting as it is to watch new players find their way, it's sometimes more fun watching the more seasoned veterans perfecting their craft.

Saturday Night Live's 50th season celebration continues next week with host Michael Keaton and musical guest Billie EIlish.