“Saturday Night Live” celebrated the start of its 50th season Sept. 28. Since the 1970s, the late night comedy broadcast has been a cornerstone of American culture. Though the show is aging, the writers have been eagerly targeting the content toward younger audiences effectively.

Unsurprisingly, the show capitalized on the tumultuous political landscape that arrived with the 2024 presidential election. The season kicked off with a cold open poking fun at Kamala Harris and Donald Trump rallies. Maya Rudolph reprised her role as Harris and was joined by Jim Gaffigan as her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Former “Saturday Night Live,” or “SNL,” cast member Andy Samberg also made his first appearance of the season portraying Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. For the Republican camp, James Austin Johnson returned to his role as Trump, and Bowen Yang was introduced as JD Vance.

The premiere continued to utilize current pop culture moments and trends, such as Moo Deng — a beloved Thai Pygmy hippo that went viral on TikTok over the summer — and Charli XCX’s album “Brat.” These sketches, both led by Yang, were highlights of the premiere.

In the Charli XCX sketch, Yang transformed into the British pop star for a talk show segment focused on the summer’s most “Brat” moments and spoofing political controversies. The comedian then upped the ante for a full-on transformation into Moo Deng on Weekend Update. Yang personified the internet’s favorite hippo to talk about the perils of fame. It was unsurprising that season 50’s premiere was the most-watched episode on Peacock in the first weekend, according to NBCUniversal.

This content, and Yang’s appearance in the sketches, demonstrate the show’s interest in engaging a younger audience. “Brat” was wildly popular among Generation Z social media users who turned the album into a lifestyle with “brat girl summer.” Additionally, Yang is consistently one of the most popular cast members as he blends satire with relevant pop culture references.

“SNL” fans and Ariana Grande fans were collectively excited for the season’s third episode which, once again, leaned into the interests of Gen Z viewers. As part of her “Wicked” movie promotion, Grande hosted the episode with musical guest Stevie Nicks.

Grande opened the show with a singing monologue in which she promised viewers she was “keeping it lowkey.” The night proved to be anything but as Grande acted in several skits that have since gone viral.

When any celebrity that is popular with Gen Z hosts “SNL,” there is almost always a viral sketch — think Timothée Chalamet’s “Rap Roundtable” sketch with Pete Davidson or Taylor Swift’s verse in Please Don’t Destroy’s “Three Sad Virgins” — and Grande’s episode proved to be no different.

During her sketches, the Grammy winner impersonated actress Jennifer Coolidge, pretended to be a Renaissance singer and portrayed an overly competitive suburban mom. Her most viral moment came during “Bridesmaid Speech.” This sketch poked fun at millennial weddings, particularly the speeches given by bridesmaids. Grande entered the scene as the maid of honor for Kelsey (Chloe Fineman) and called the three other members of the “Kel’s Squad” (Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman) on stage to give a speech. But because they are “fun,” the quartet decided to sing a song about their bachelorette trip to Charleston, South Carolina. to the tune of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.”

When the song starts, the women sing laughably off-key and poke fun at the groom. The interesting part comes in during the first chorus where they introduce Domingo, a man Kelsey hit it off with at the bar. As the song goes on, the camera pans to Kelsey and her husband (Andrew Dismukes) as he becomes increasingly concerned at what transpired. The sketch ends right after Domingo (Marcello Hernandez) enters to tell the story “direct from Domingo.”

This moment went viral nearly immediately after airing. The YouTube video has 14 million views, and the TikTok posted to the official “SNL” account has amassed over 103 million views. Small businesses have even started to glom the trend by selling products referencing the sketch.

The song’s popularity seemed to overshadow some of the night’s other highlights, such as Samberg’s second cameo of the season outside of his cold open residency. During “Castrati,” Samberg joined as Grande’s father and had her sing for the prince, played by Dismukes. Samberg’s appearances are not generating as much online attention as he was originally on the show in the late 2000s and early 2010s, or before the current audience was old enough to remember his time on “SNL”.

Though Grande’s week generated a lot of social media attention and praise, Michael Keaton’s episode with musical guest Billie Eilish the following week received mixed reviews on X. Some users posted tweets saying the actor was “on fire,” while others said he “was reading the snl cue cards so obviously it started to border on camp.” This criticism was contrasted with praise for Eilish’s performance — a Gen Z idol.

To engage younger viewers, the “SNL” cast members partook in a sketch called “TikTok” mocking content creators such as Nara Smith, Harry Daniels and Alex Cooper. This sketch compilation performed best on the show’s social media platforms.

Other hosts and musical guests of this season included Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Paul Mescal. Roan and Charli XCX had impeccable summers with their respective music careers, while Mescal has generated buzz for his new film “Gladiator II” and for dating Gen Z’s resident sad girl, Gracie Abrams.

Season 50 has already garnered significant online attention for these guest choices; however, there have been some misses. After the viral success of “Domingo,” the writers chose to create a sequel sketch, this time to the tune of Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” In this sequel, Kel’s Squad performs at Kelsey’s baby shower, and of course, Domingo makes an appearance. Despite the love for the original sketch, this addition was not received quite as well. The top comment on an “SNL” TikTok post reads, “the sequel is never as good as the original.”

The show, however, set itself up for success this season with very minor cast switch-ups compared to past years. Instead of major cast changes, the show saw the departure of three cast members — Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney and Chloe Troast — in exchange for newcomers Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline. Despite these new castings, the show has been relying more on established members — such as Yang, Fineman, Gardner and Nwodim — who have proven to be successful among younger audiences. Cast turnovers between seasons are standard and often have bigger shakeups, so this year’s minor change has had little to no impact on content and ratings.

If the rest of season 50 is anything like the first half, viewers can expect more jokes and sketches tailored to Gen Z’s humor.