Sabrina Carpenter pulled double duty on Saturday Night Live this week as both the guest host and musical act. To the surprise of absolutely no one, she was terrific in both roles. Also, to the surprise of absolutely no one, her episode had people clutching their pearls before it was even over, thanks to some full frontal neck pillows, some uncensored f-bombs that slipped through and the t-shirt and underwear combination she performed “Manchild” in.
Now, if we’re being honest, Carpenter’s outfit wasn’t exactly the most provocative in the show’s history, but it was perhaps one of the most aptly themed. The actress and breakout pop star worked with the design team to build out a set that looked like a bedroom in the middle of the stage. She paired the homey aesthetic with a hairbrush microphone, a yellow t-shirt that said “Live From New York” and pink underwear that said “It’s Saturday Night!”
Not surprisingly, fans could not get enough. Pictures and gifs quickly flooded social media. One tweet that used the phrase OH MY GOD in all capital letters and included a short video of the underwear already has more than 50,000 likes. Another that includes a picture collage of her outfit has more than 5,000 likes. And that's to say nothing of the ones that are a little too forward about how attractive she looks to include here. You can watch her entire performance in the already iconic outfit below…
Because of Carpenter’s mega-success in the world of pop music, some fans forget what a terrific actress she is. This episode of SNL should serve as a good reminder. She appeared in a wide variety of sketches, playing everything from a teenage boy to an unassuming saleswoman who doesn’t realize what the neck pillows she’s selling look like. She also got in another Domingo sketch because the whole world wanted it.
At this point, I would be shocked not to see Carpenter start returning on a regular basis. She’s got the comedic timing you need to be a great SNL host, and she’s clearly willing to just go with a weird sketch, no matter how goofy or sexual it might be. She’s down to take a chance, and that’s something all the frequent SNL guests have in common.
Plus, it’s obvious from the t-shirt and underwear that she has a sense of appreciation for the show and its history, which fans always love to see. So, despite her jokingly saying SNL will regret bringing her on, I think time will tell that Lorne Michaels and company feel the opposite.
We can start the petition to bring her back next year, but thankfully, SNL has a lot more to look forward to in the coming weeks. The cast and crew will be off next week, but starting in November, they’ll hit us with three consecutive episodes that’ll feature Miles Teller, Nikki Glaser and Glen Powell as the upcoming hosts and Brandi Carlile, sombr and Olivia Dean as the pairing musical guests. They should all be fantastic, though it’s unclear if we’ll see any of the above dancing around in their own SNL-themed underwear.
