SNL is celebrating its 50th anniversary! How Lorne Michaels made comedy cool again
In the decades since its founding, SNL has become a cultural institution of American comedy.
“Saturday Night Live” returns to confront the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuelan ships.
The sketch show’s latest cold open on Dec. 6 starred Colin Jost as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who holds a combative press conference about the latest attack by the United States on an alleged drug smuggling ship.
In the sketch, Jost’s Hegseth angrily declares, “We’re at war with Venezuela right now,” after chugging an energy drink, and, before taking questions, tells reporters, “Pretend I’m a passing fishing boat and shoot.”
Jost, who played Hegseth, defended what he called “the extermination campaign,” and when asked for the official death toll from the airstrike, he said, “I’ll tell you, if I were to have a drink for every Venezuelan we killed, I’d really like to have that many drinks.” When one of the reporters featured in the sketch suggested that the government’s “so-called war with smugglers is a smokescreen for regime change,” Jost’s Hegseth admitted, “Of course that’s what we’re doing!”
Jost’s Hegseth went on to claim that President Donald Trump supports him and is an “energetic alpha,” but the sketch only cuts to Trump falling asleep throughout the press conference, played by James Austin Johnson.
“I didn’t sleep,” Johnson said after Trump woke up. “I’m wide awake. Now, someone please tell me right away, where am I, who am I, and what year is it?”
He added: “I’m on Pete’s side. I can’t change my mind. Unless of course it could hurt me in some way, in which case I’m going to throw him under Mamdani’s free bus.”
The sketch ended with Trump falling asleep again, but this time standing up, with Hegseth saying, “Before he wakes up, we’re going to have to give him another MRI scan.”
The cold open featured Sarah Sherman reviving her Matt Gaetz impersonation, now as a reporter, and included a nod to Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. C-SPAN’s fake opening bumper featured a message from the network. “Hey, Netflix: We’re for sale, too.”
Melissa McCarthy hosted the first episode of SNL in mid-November, after the show took a three-week hiatus around Thanksgiving. This will be McCarthy’s sixth time hosting SNL, but his first time since 2017. She previously won an Emmy Award for her work on the show.
The last episode of “SNL” aired in November with a sketch that spoofed President Trump’s reaction to the release of emails written by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In the skit, Ashley Padilla plays White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt, who argues in a briefing that “if anything,[Trump’s]sin was being too loving and perhaps being too young.”
Mr. Johnson took to the stage in place of Mr. Trump and declared that he “barely knew” Mr. Epstein. “As evidenced by the thousands of photos of us together, dancing and gnashing our teeth at various parties, always staring and pointing at things off camera, this is probably a book we’ll all be looking forward to reading.”
“SNL” is the seventh episode of its 51st season, which began in early October after a cast exodus during the summer hiatus. Before McCarthy, Bad Bunny, Amy Poehler, Sabrina Carpenter, Miles Teller and Nikki Glazer have hosted this season.
Who will host next week’s “SNL”?
“SNL” is expected to return for two consecutive weeks by the end of 2025.
On December 13th, Josh O’Connor, star of the third Knives Out mystery, “Wake Up Dead Man,” will take to the stage and host the show along with musical guest Lily Allen.
A week after O’Connor’s episode, “Wicked: For Good” star Ariana Grande will return as host, and Cher will be the first musical guest on “SNL” since 1987.
Contributor: Thao Nguyen and zach anderson
