It’s almost time to put Season 51 of SNL to rest. But before we do so, there’s one final major development from this season to discuss: The rise of Ashley Padilla.
Having a breakout sketch or even a run of successful episodes isn’t unheard of for an SNL cast member. But keeping that momentum going for an entire season is something we haven’t seen in the modern era of SNL. With a large cast fighting for screentime, Padilla’s ability to repeatedly turn episodes into her own personal highlight reels is impressive. Even more impressive? Padilla had her breakout season as a featured cast member.
In only her sophomore season, Padilla led the entire cast in appearances (92 versus 82 for Sarah Sherman) and total time (151 minutes, 17 seconds versus Colin Jost for 147 minutes, 23 seconds).
So, yes, Kathy, we’re about to be talkin’ TV.
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18. Shop TV: Pillow
With SNLdown Heidi Gardner this season, Padilla quickly stepped into roles the show had previously filled with Gardner. In addition to becoming one of the members of the Kel Squad when Domingo appeared in the cold open of Sabrina Carpenter’s episode, Padilla became the new cohost of SNL’s long-running “Shop TV” sketches alongside Mikey Day.
17. Bob Army
I’m sure the line “Boots the house down! Bang the house up! Bang the Bobs out!” would’ve been funny from almost any SNL cast member, but as leader of the Bang Battalion, Padilla punched through that line so hard, she almost made herself break.
16. Parent Teacher Conference
A teacher who immediately drops all — very real! — concerns about a student’s violent drawings of her to try to win the affection of the student’s father, played by Bad Bunny, is the perfect Padilla character.
15. Epstein White House Briefing Cold Open
After becoming the first SNL cast member to play White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Padilla would also add Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi to her plate as the season went along, picking them up from Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It’s a shame SNL didn’t rely on Padilla’s version of Leavitt more for this season cold opens.
14. Mom Movie Trailer
This won’t be the last time you see Padilla playing a mom on this list of her top sketches from Season 51. No one else on SNL has more fully embraced the call to motherhood. (“You want me to be a mom in your sketch?” Padilla mentioned in her Vulture piece. “I will beg you to let me.”) “Mom Movie Trailer” was Padilla’s mom energy in its purest form.
13. Home Alone
SNL nailed every element of “Home Alone.” From Ariana Grande as Kevin to Padilla as his mom to Jost as Buzz, this was one of the season’s best pretaped sketches.
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In a season of playing socially awkward characters, it feels like Padilla’s “Confidence Class” instructor doesn’t get the fair praise she deserves. “Passing Notes,” the rule-breaking sketch from Ryan Gosling’s episode, owes a ton to this one.
10. Weekend Update: Two People Who Just Hooked Up Talk Super Bowl LX
It feels like I’m cheating putting both installments of Padilla and Andrew Dismukes’s “Two People Who Just Hooked Up” segments from Weekend Update in this ranking, but they represent the only recurring character that Padilla has played. While freshman cast member Jeremy Culhane has carved out an Update niche with Mr. On Blast and Tucker Carlson and fellow sophomore Jane Wickline has multiple recurring Update bits, this is it for Padilla. She built her breakout season on one-off weirdos.
9. My Ex
Food is funny. SNL has always understood that. (Gardner wolfing down a Mile High Burger during Nate Bargatze’s 2024 episode would be one of the first sketches on her Best Of VHS, if SNL still produced those.) Padilla understands that too.
8. Dad’s Birthday
If you only caught the sketches that SNL aired during, well, actual episodes, you would’ve missed “Dad’s Birthday.” I have no idea why this one was cut. With Will Ferrell hosting the season finale, there was the opportunity to pit one of the show’s legends against its breakout star. “Dad’s Birthday” gave us that moment.
7. Cyclops
“Passing Notes” was the sketch from Gosling’s episode that had everyone talking, but I love “Cyclops.” There’s a moment when I’m pretty sure that Gosling broke from the script and kept trying to approach Padilla and Veronika Slowikowska. “Stop. Please, my Lord,” Padilla’s character pleads. “Please, God! Stop! I’m begging you. Please.”
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“We talkin’ tech?” It turns out you can drive your coworkers to madness with three simple words. Everything about “Kathy” works. Padilla’s insistent delivery, Jack Black’s simmering attempt at patience, and especially the visual composition of the sketch itself.
5. Haircut
Despite only being on the show for two seasons, Padilla made multiple attempts to get a version of “Haircut” on air. The show even released a behind-the-scenes look at the sketch’s journey from Padilla’s audition, its previous life as a WeekendUpdate sketch and finally its success as a live sketch. “I like it!”
4. Mom Confession
When it comes to politics, SNL has struggled over the past few seasons. I blame a mixture of the Alec Baldwin era turning political sketches into celebrity cameos in addition to an overwhelming fatigue with seeing Donald Trump. (Sorry, James Austin Johnson. You’re the best to ever do it on SNL, but we need a break.) This is why “Mom Confession” broke through. It wasn’t a political cold open. The audience had no idea what was coming until Padilla slowly seethed: “I may have changed my mind ... about Trump.”
3. Weekend Update: Two People Who Just Hooked Up Discuss the Government Shutdown
Padilla and Dismukes should be the show! I don’t know why this is so hard. Earlier on in Season 51, I thought SNL understood that, but with the exception of the second Weekend Update segment featuring “Two People Who Just Hooked Up,” the show really failed to capitalize on the chemistry here.
2. Surprise
In a season of breakout moments, “Surprise” might have been the first time general audiences realized that Padilla was on the verge of something special. The New York Times would eventually break down Padilla’s timing in this sketch, praising her “finely honed timing, specifically a virtuosic deployment of the pregnant pause.”
1. Passing Notes
Yes, “Passing Notes” snagged the No. 1 spot on the list of Padilla’s top sketches from Season 51. In addition to being an unprecedented SNL sketch in how it told the audience that Padilla and Gosling had not read these notes ahead of time, “Passing Notes” pulls together everything that Padilla had perfected over the season. I also love Padilla’s reaction at seeing a bag of spaghetti waiting for her in the desk drawer.
The Cold Open is a publication of The Omnicosm.
Issue No. 76
The Cold Open is written and produced by Bill Kuchman. Copyediting by Tim Kuchman.
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The Omnicosm founder. Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
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