He even reinvigorated the tired trope of the opening monologue musical number.
Cold Open
Alec Baldwin’s appearances as Donald TrumpdefinedSNLlast season.
But Day and Moffat more than carried the sketch on their own.
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
(Notably, of the six faces displayed when Jost delivered the joke, two Louis C.K.
Jokes about other issues were similarly strong.
“That’s how expensive healthcare is,” Jost said.
Sessions also referred to a “childhood trauma”: the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
And, yet again, Pete Davidson continues to impress on Update as himself.
“Staten Island isn’t all heroin and racist cops,” he observed.
“It also has meth and racist firefighters.”
Best Sketch
Incisive critiques of racism have provided some ofSNL’sbest momentsin recent years.
Add “Wayne Thanksgiving” to the list.
“Can you tell him to cool it down in our neighborhoods?”
“Just seems like he’s in our neighborhood all the time!”
“We lit over 200 candles for you!”
And in a spoken interlude, Thompson runs through roles Obama could fill going forward.
Yes, a third term would violate the Constitution.
“Maybe you’re able to come back and make a speech how much would that cost?”
Thompson questions, alluding to theexorbitant speaking feesObama has claimed in recent months.
“Oh, for real?
Oh, no, we definitely can’t afford that.”
Do theyreallyneed another half-baked game show sketch?
This installment pitted Harvey’s own family against their longtime friends, the Didricksons.
(She was EW’s episode MVP for four of the first five episodes.)
She’s a gifted comedian, but even the greatest talents can’t carrySNLalone.
It was a pleasant surprise, then, that Saturday’s episode felt more democratized.
Featured player and season rookie Chris Redd came through in supporting clutch roles throughout the episode.
He was Harvey’s wild-eyed brother and suit designer Mike on “Family Feud.”
In the role of hip-hop elder statesman, Redd perhaps outshone even Chance himself.
Up Next
After a week off,Lady Birdstar Saoirse Ronan will host the Dec. 2 episode.
U2, who are set to release their new albumSongs of Experiencethe day prior, will handle musical duties.
