Keke Palmer SNL Sketches Ranked: Kenan & Kel Revival, Drake Takedown, Peppa Pig LGBTQIA+ Outrage

The big news, of course, is the fact that she announced her pregnancy with a dramatic reveal during the monologue of this episode -- and it featured in two additional sketches -- but don’t let that overshadow the fact this was a near-perfect episode of “SNL.”

Everyone seemed to up their energy to match Keke’s and in doing so brought a lot of life to even the night’s weakest sketch. Even more remarkable, there was only one sketch where it felt like the writing failed the performers, but it’s a testament to them they were still able to salvage it.

Beyond that, there were some incredibly clever pieces, including a deep dive into Hello Kitty lore, a pitch-perfect parody of ‘80s soap operas, an ode to “Big Boys,” a brilliant response to Drake name-dropping women in his songs, and a completely unhinged look at a possible “Kenen & Kel” reboot, complete with the return of Kel Mitchell.

Add to that one of the best “Weekend Update” segments of the season -- with completely unhinged outrage at LGBTQIA+ inclusion in “Peppa Pig” -- and a randomly delightful cameo from Natasha Lyonne, and the episode was filled with nonstop surprises and laughs. Seriously, we haven’t laughed this much in a long time, and we’re still chuckling thinking about some of it.

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.

A one-note sketch that was really just about Keke Palmer getting to show off her pipes, which are impressive enough. Molly Kearney was able to redeem an earlier sketch where they completely botched their line deliveries (more on that later), but it wasn’t enough to redeem the sketch. We did enjoy Molly’s bizarre characterization of a young Catholic schoolgirl. In fact, the character work was solid, it was the thin premise and poor writing that left this one feeling undercooked.

Kenan Thompson’s Herschel Walker is definitely ready for this week’s Georgia runoff because his ex-wife said all he does is run off. Overall, this sketch was a little slow, though Kenan played idiotic with a delightful charm. We’d have preferred a focus on his sordid past leading into the fun ending than all the nonsense before that. As always, Cecily Strong’s Marsha Blackburn and James Austin Johnson’s Mitch McConnell are fantastic in their impressions and it was nice to see the latter get a solo LFNY (as there have been so many group ones, it’s losing its charm).

This was a cute piece between Ego Nwodim and Keke Palmer as flight attendants celebrating one million miles on a plane that’s been flying so long it has a “Whites Only” sign on the forward bathroom. There were some fun moments along the way, like when Keke had to jump start the plane, and some fun reactions from horrified passengers, but it was a pretty one-note premise carried mostly by the chemistry and energy of Ego and Keke.

Did you know there was a lot of confusion about Hello Kitty? Apparently, the company that owns her has insisted that she is not and has never been a cat, but is rather a little girl. This has been a thing since 2014 and “SNL” is finally jumping on board with a sketch addressing the shock and horror of fans trying to wrap their minds around this anthropomorphic cat that is not a cat but is totally a cat. They even upped the insanity by saying that Dear Daniel is a cat -- what is this madness?! Honestly, in this world, we’re with Keke Palmer and Bowen Yang.

This was a brilliantly conceived sketch performed perfectly by most of the players. Unfortunately, in one of their biggest roles yet in the season, newcomer Molly Kearney just kept butchering their lines. This was their first big meaty role, even though they were playing straight opposite Bowen and Keke’s outrage, so we can imagine nerves played a huge part in this, but it was just a mess. At least they didn’t break. Props for the ridiculous New York ending, but no props for that early freeze frame!

Well, it was obvious from the moment she came out with a long suit jacket that wasn’t quite loose enough, but she made us wait for it. Keke delivered the perfect monologue for who she is, just conversational and charming. We got a cute story about her big debut movie opposite Laurence Fishburne, “Akeelah and the Bee,” and some other banter before she finally addressed those rumors of her being pregnant. It was after she confirmed them with a dramatic reveal that she had some of her funniest lines. She perfectly set the tone for a night of comedy.

They had us fooled that this was a real Arby’s commercial at first, asking us what we have to say about five roast beef sandwiches for $10 (how many people are going to roll up to the drive-thru and ask for this deal having been fooled, too?). This was a real promo last year, which is why it was funny seeing the patrons trying to make sense of it -- and then the redirect to Taco Bell’s $5 boxes and Wendy’s 4 for $4 deals. In this era of inflation, we never did get the answer to where they get the meats … and what kind of meats they are.

The earnestness. What a brilliant idea for a sketch, with all of the women Drake has put in his songs and some of the stories of their seemingly innocuous encounters with them. We loved that the ladies were referencing real Drake lyrics but putting completely innocent context behind them. Their testimonials, the invitation to join their union and their “Seasons of Love” parody to hilariously suggest just how many of them there are, everything about this piece worked, and it knew just when to exit.

From a baby monitor in their last crazy appearance to the womb itself, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman took full advantage of Keke Palmer’s real pregnancy to reprise these ridiculous characters. They are clearly having so much fun in this absurd piece that was actually made even crazier when we saw things like them smoking (and the exhaust) and them ordering McDonalds. It was so bizarre, but funny at the same time. Sarah continues to revel in the weird, and brilliantly so.

Another banger for the ladies of “SNL” with Keke Palmer showing off her own great rap skills. We even got a huge kick out of her calling out Punkie Johnson for participating in this song because she’s gay -- and then Punkie explaining why she still wants a big boy in the wintertime with a whole new verse. SZA was a fun addition for the chorus on a well-produced song that would go over like a lump of coal were the genders reversed. Taylor Swift removed a scale visual in her latest music video, but Cecily was fawning over the rising numbers in this piece. It was definitely a fun piece with a great hook.

Colin Jost compared Kanye’s latest controversial rants to long-haul Covid, before he and Michael Che responded to efforts to protect marriage by asking who was going to protect him from his mother if he marries a white woman. The best bit, though, came with Colin Jost suggesting that rather than South Carolina or Iowa leading the Democratic primary season, why not embrace the madness and choose Florida! From Putin to Biden to Apple workers, the boys were on fire in their first segment with some of their smartest jokes of the season.

Michael Longfellow has a great laid-back delivery talking about being the child of divorce and all of the unexpected perks of it, as well as the drawbacks (like seeing his mom’s latest boyfriend naked 43 times). We even found his “Don’t call me Shirley” joke charming because of how sincerely he botched the reference. His father being a divorce attorney only added more layers of comedy.

“Would a racist own a team of the strongest Black men he could buy to work on his field?” This was the question Che posed about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and that’s the high level the boys were working at this week. He then managed to make a perfectly innocently worded statement about Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” turning 40 into the most awful thing. It’s all in the delivery! Throw in Colin wondering about the N in N95 after talks of changing Monkeypox to MPox and Che’s take on “gaslighting” being word of the year and they were on fire this week!

Sarah Sherman was way over-the-top with her “upset” performance, but we loved how her outrage about two gay polar bears on “Peppa Pig” reduced them to sex because that’s what so many people who freak out about homosexuality do. No one reduces straight couples to their sex lives. Did she take it too far? With her own drawings, she definitely did, but it was perfect satire about a real segment of society.

A parody of 1980s soap operas, we couldn’t help but lose ourselves at the obvious stunt doubles for Cecily Strong and Keke Palmer. Pair that with the over-the-top acting from both women as they got into a classic cat fight and this was beautifully terrible. From delayed cut-shots to awful fake punches to the safety gear being worn by their stunt doubles, it was so perfectly mad that we were chuckling as much as Cecily at one point when she almost missed her cue. Big hair, but attitudes and big fight scenes, no wonder soaps were so popular then!

It was great seeing Kenan Thompson return to his “Kenan & Kel” roots and even better in this bizarre reboot of the series with Keke Palmer replacing Kel Mitchell as “Kelly.” We were dying at her dramatic interludes, and even more with Kenan’s behind-the-scenes interviews talking about this disastrous project and how she was gunning for Emmys with all of that. As for Kenan, he slipped back into this classic role flawlessly, which made her dramatic outbursts even more out of place and funny.

It got even better when the real Kel showed up, also completely recapturing the tone of the original. What it really did was make us hope for an actual reunion project for these two because they are so much fun together. We’d even take this weird hybrid of drama and their slapstick kiddie humor. The juxtaposition is always good for a jarring laugh, and everyone was so perfect in their roles throughout this entire piece.

This was a great night for the cast with some of the strongest writing of the season and a lot of ensemble piece that allowed them to shine. Aside from Cecily Strong, it was also a big night for the newer half of the cast, with Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim all enjoying plenty of air time.

This was also the biggest week yet for Molly Kearney, who had a very split night with one great showcase of her quirky comedic style and one attempt at a straight delivery that fell apart with almost every line. Michael Longfellow seems to be getting the most facetime among the newbies, but everyone had at least a few bit parts tonight.

Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman both had big nights and provided huge laughs together as unborn fetuses. Sarah is getting better at toning down her effervescent peculiarities when in supporting roles, while hamming it up almost to the point of insanity on “Weekend Update,” but it works for her.

At the top of the heap, though, Cecily Strong seemed to be making up for lost time, appearing all over this episode. She was spot-on as Marsha Blackburn on one end and as an awkward teenager in the choir sketch.

She played it straight for an ultrasound and Hello Kitty and even showed off her rap skills, but it was her unhinged performances for Arby’s and especially the soap opera parody that put her over the top for us. She may be in her tenth season, but Cecily is still giving her everything each time she’s out there, almost single-handedly holding this whole night together with her commitment.

“Saturday Night Live” returns next week with hosts Steve Martin and Martin Short, alongside musical guest Brandi Carlile.