Leslie Bibb is “bobbed and ready to serve,” per last night’s chronically online Saturday Night Live sketch titled “Bob Army,” which featured two warring factions of the military — those bobbed and those banged — and a shoutout to The White Lotus actress herself.
“Slay division reporting for duty…” she wrote on her Instagram Story alongside a clip from the skit. “This was the best way to wake up @nbcsnl… bobbed and ready to serve…”
She continued, “P.S. @fayedunaway [Bowen Yang‘s Instagram handle] shouting me out will be the best birthday gift this cadet could ever ask for…”
“Bob Army,” though not the standout sketch of the night (that would be the sketch featuring another prominent haircut), drew a steady stream of laughter, largely thanks to both Yang and guest host Glen Powell‘s commitment to the bit, an appearance by breakout Ashley Padilla as the leader of the rival Bang Battalion and a reliable out-of-the-loop stock character in Andrew Dismukes, playing a hapless soldier recruited by his new sergeants (who mostly serve rather than protect).
“You’ve been assigned to the slay division,” Powell begins, as Sarah Sherman continues, “and in the slay division, everybody gets bobbed.”
The internet word salad slang, largely mined from queer social media communities, could lean toward the cringeworthy at times, but the SNL cast members’ enthusiasm more or less made up for any dated or overwrought references. (Some highlights: “A buzz cut says ‘get the guns,’ but a bob says, ‘get the manager!’” “We gag them with blunt force.”)
When Ben Marshall’s recruit shows up with a slight bang, he inadvertently reignites the latent feud: “Did you bring a bang to a bob fight?” Sherman asks. “A bang gives post-breakup crisis, while a bob gives divorced and thriving,” Yang concludes.
Cue: the dramatic entrance of the Bang Battalion, complete with an adorably clueless Pinscher donning a wig with a bang (a “bob-sniffing dog”).
“Does Pete Hegseth know about this?” Dismukes’ rookie soldier questions. “Oh, we don’t report to her,” Sherman says, with Yang chiming in: “We only answer to Leslie Bibb, because the Air Force is in the air, the Navy is in the water and we’re in your head rent-free.” (The skit is not only an homage to the actress whose chic haircut has generated headlines, but also the internet meme “fuck ass bob,” which Yang referenced in a censored way as “freak ass bob” due to FCC guidelines.)
Ultimately, Dismukes chose the side of the Bobs, just as the division gets deployed to “Zara, Midtown, it’s a war zone in there.”
Watch the sketch below:
