Bad Bunny made his SNL debut tonight and it’s every Latin American’s Spanglish dream come true. From his shout-out to Sabado Gigante—the Spanglish-language game show that aired for 53 years on Univision—to his hilarious collaborations with Marcello Hernandez and special appearances by fellow Latinos Fred Armisen and Pedro Pascal, as well as fellow superstars, Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga.
Networks and streamers take note. This is one of many great examples of what our community wants to see more of in TV and film. While many of us did grow up watching Spanish-language television, we live in a very bilingual world. Witnessing Bad Bunny on an American TV institution such as SNL was not only refreshing but absolutely hilarious. Bravo.
In a spoof of a telenovela El Pasión de las Padillas, Bunny played a hilarious mustached villain who slapped around his nemesis (played by Hernandez). But it was Punkie Johnson’s maid character named Latina that ate up that sketch.
Not to be out-mustached, rocker Jagger shows up as the ultimate bad guy who slaps around both Bunny and Hernandez but is unable to complete the most difficult task, figuring out what on earth Latina was trying to say.
Jagger returned as Sister Kevin, a male pretending to be a nun in order to seduce the women, in a spoof of Sister Act 3: Kevin Gone Wild—sorry, Whoopi Goldberg. In a very Casanova-type way, Kevin admitted he was the one who “corrupted these poor women with my lips and my hips.”
Lady Gaga surprised viewers when she popped in to introduce Bad Bunny, who was pulling double duty hosting and as the musical guest, ahead of his first performance. She was on for a mere two seconds but it blew up on social media anyway.
Gaga also joined Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones at their album release party on Friday night, singing “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” Who knows, maybe this can lead to new collabs between the trio.
SNL vet Fred Armisen appeared in the sketch titled “The Age of Discovery,” a medieval tale about a King and his son who are displeased with many of the gifts presented to them by their loyal servants. But everything changed when they were given a funny-looking cigar (marijuana) that they were convinced was “dookie.”
In what was the funniest sketch of the night, Bad Bunny and Pedro Pascal play sisters who are introduced to the non-Latina girlfriend of their nephew and son, respectively. There are so many nods to growing up Latino like emptying out a good tin of cookies in order to keep your sewing surprise and the power of a Latina mom holding a chancleta. Duck!
It’s not easy being green for Bunny, who played Shrek in the sketch “Please don’t destroy.”
Latino Twitter has already declared tonight’s Bad Bunny episode as Emmy-worthy. Hopefully, the Academy was watching.
Bonus sketches can be found below.