SNL returned for Season 42 in a time where you could argue its needed most, with the 2016 Presidential election in full swing. Saturday Night Live has long provided excellent sketches and pieces during election season, but it could be tougher this time around; both with how wild the campaign has been, along with SNL's controversial decision to invite Trump to host last year. So how did SNL do in its premiere? Onto the review.
Debate Cold Open: Starting right off the bat with the first debate, we saw Kate McKinnon's emmy winning Clinton, along with another new Trump, Alec Baldwin. Coming off last year where we saw a brief attempt with Taran Killam, followed by Darrell Hammond take on Trump, it seems they've finally found their guy (more on that in the end). They were pretty much able to just use Trump's lines verbatim, though with a nice added whiff on the microphone. And Kate's Clinton remains to be the best impersonation of her SNL has done yet. Sometimes these debate sketches can feel bogged down, but even with the added expectations, SNL was able to make this land. (8.7)
Monologue: These were a big problem throughout last season, with either abbreviated, or half-thought out ideas. But they opened up with a fairly clever one, as Margot Robbie fact-checked her own monologue. It did drag on though, as various cast members got the spotlight and did the same thing, that was a bit much. (7.0)
Live Report: Felt a bit odd having the first post-monologue sketch being non-political, but this sort of timeless ('non promo', heh) sketch is one that could work in any year. Its a simple premise, as we see an average looking guy with Margot Robbie's character during a news report on a sink hole. Its the kind of sketch that hits one note, but is able to build on it. (8.0)
Celebrity Family Feud - Political Edition: I think these are the kind of sketches that could breakthrough for SNL's coverage of the 2016 race. Yes, it went a bit long and was packed, but there was a lot of good bits here. From Kate's portrayal of Kellyanne Conway, to Margot as Ivanka and new castmembers Mikey Day and Alex Moffat as Trump's sons playing the "children of the corn". Beck Bennett did a really good Putin, and we even got Larry David back as a more free-wheeling Bernie Sanders. (8.5)
The Librarian (short): So this was a thing. At first, you weren't really sure where this was going, as a group of eyes admire Margot as a librarian. But then things get weird. She almost takes on a Harley Quinn persona (with added acid spit.....). One of those things where it seems they just threw a lot of things out there to see if it would stick, granted it was so out there that it sort of worked. (7.2)
(The Weeknd): (7.5)
Weekend Update: Update got its first take on the election, post convention. They seemed to take a more even-handed "both sides" take, bringing up old stories (with how fast the cycle goes) like Clinton's post pneumonia rally and the James Brown song used. There was surprisingly little about Trump and Alicia Machado, or his last night tweets, which was a fresh story for the week.However, Jost and Che did show a nice amount of chemistry for the premiere, riffing on each other.
The first guest saw Cecily Strong playing an undecided voter "Cathy Ann". She sort of played a bubbling idiot of a character. It was tough to understand what she was saying. While I don't hold high opinions on the so-called "undecided voter", even this stereotype was a bit much.
Kenan Thompson then came on and played David Ortiz. This is becoming a good recurring role for Kenan (hopefully they keep him on, even when Big Papi retires after this season wraps up). (7.0)
The first guest saw Cecily Strong playing an undecided voter "Cathy Ann". She sort of played a bubbling idiot of a character. It was tough to understand what she was saying. While I don't hold high opinions on the so-called "undecided voter", even this stereotype was a bit much.
Kenan Thompson then came on and played David Ortiz. This is becoming a good recurring role for Kenan (hopefully they keep him on, even when Big Papi retires after this season wraps up). (7.0)
Hunch Bunch: This was a Scooby Doo parody, where Margot plays someone whose slow to piece the clues together. Kyle Mooney played a good Shaggy, and while there were some funny bits (like the conclusion where Margot can't 'go back to jail'), this was merely just okay. (6.4)
Melania Moments (short): This was sort of like "deep thoughts". It was tough to judge, given his brevity, but hopefully this becomes a recurring bit throughout this election. (7.0)
Actress Round Table: Taking place at the NY Film Festival, this was used as a vehicle for another Kate McKinnon role, an old actress whose had to make her way through the industry. Unlike previous oddball characters by Kate, this just didn't really hit for me. (6.0)
(The Weeknd): (7.7)
Mr Robot (short): Here, Leslie Jones recruits Elliot (Pete Davidson) to find out who hacked her. I thought this was a fairly clever way to deal with this issue that really took off this summer (along with all the online harassment she's faced). It'll be interesting to see if she'll address it during Weekend Update, but I thought Leslie and Pete really worked well in this short. (8.0)
We got a first look at how SNL will cover this '16 race. While they'll have to parody debates, pieces like Family Feud and Melania thoughts could be more effective. This is an election season where to really make a point, they'll have to go out of the box besides just the debates.
First impressions on Alec Baldwin as Trump, I think he was perfect for this role. His portrayal was more biting and accurate to the present day than Hammond's was. Hammond's impression was still stuck in the 90s/Apprentice era. It'll be interesting to see how Alec evolves through October. (7.38)
Margot Robbie: 7.38
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