Tag: kenan thompson
Saturday Night Live Delivers ‘The Trial You Wish Had Happened’

Saturday Night Live Delivers ‘The Trial You Wish Had Happened’

Feeling frustrated by the Senate Republicans’ rigged impeachment trial? So are the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live, who vented creatively with a cold open sketch: “The Trial You Wish Had Happened,” which begins with a robed  Kenan Thompson seizing control as television’s Judge Mathis to ensure a proper trial.

“This court needs a real judge who got some big brass ones under his skirt,” intones Thompson as he ejects the supine Chief Justice John Roberts (Mikey Day) out of his seat. “Now where’s that sneaky little Mitch?” In comes Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett), so he can “remind the American people that all men are innocent after proven guilty.”

Alec Baldwin returns as Trump, with Kate McKinnon providing a hysterical star turn as “Lindsey Valerie Beauregard Matlock Graham!” This impeachment even ends the way it should.

Just click.

SNL Cold Open: Trump’s Newest Adviser Is ‘Stable Genius’ Kanye

SNL Cold Open: Trump’s Newest Adviser Is ‘Stable Genius’ Kanye

Even clever SNL writers must have puzzled over how to satirize Kanye West’s bizarre Oval Office visit — with football great Jim Brown in tow — where he ranted breathlessly about his #MAGA cap, the 13th Amendment, and various conspiracy theories. And then they realized that the funniest way to comment on Kanye’s self-parody would be to imagine what went on in the minds of Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Brown (Kenan Thompson) as they watched West (Chris Redd) melt down.

As Kanye declares that the MAGA hat gave him powers like Superman, Brown muses “Superman didn’t wear a hat, you idiot.” And Trump notices instantly that Kanye “doesn’t listen to anyone but himself. Who does he remind me of?” But when Kanye declares himself a “stable genius” who uses “the best words,” the president realizes, “He’s black me!”

Trump’s ruinous presidency is still SNL gold.

#EndorseThis: On SNL, Santa’s Tricky Moment With Savvy Kids

#EndorseThis: On SNL, Santa’s Tricky Moment With Savvy Kids

When the great Kenan Thompson put on his Santa Claus suit to hear Christmas wishes from children, he didn’t expect the unseasonal and uneasy questions they’d pose about the most troubling recent news events.

These kids want to know about Franken, Moore, and Trump — and even Matt Lauer’s “toys.” And they’ve drawn an unwholesome lesson: “If you admit that you did something wrong, you’re in trouble. But if you deny it, you get to keep your job!”

In the end, Santa’s elf Kate McKinnon offers an uplifting message to brighten the SNL cold open. Things will get better — but maybe not for another 3 years, 42 days and 24 minutes.

SNL Cold Open: How Would Trump Handle An Actual Alien Invasion?

SNL Cold Open: How Would Trump Handle An Actual Alien Invasion?

Alec Baldwin returned to the set of Saturday Night Live as Donald Trump, facing an invasion of real aliens in a sketch drawn from the movie Independence Day. Clad in a flight jacket, he gives an impression of wartime presidential leadership — until he opens his mouth.

An aggressive species from the planet Zorblat-9, armed with invisible ships and advanced weapons, has already taken over most of the country — and as Trump addresses a ragtag remnant of SNL cast members, costumed as American soldiers, his shortcomings swiftly become all too obvious. Informed by officer Kenan Thompson that the aliens have vaporized the state of California already, he brightens: “Does that mean I won the popular vote?”

Typically, he has his own farfetched theories about the crisis — citing Alex Jones and Infowars — and doesn’t believe that Zorblat-9 is necessarily hostile.  “We don’t know that they’re actually from Zorblat Nine,” he says of the invaders. “I’ve actually heard Zorblat-9 is very beautiful, very fantastic.”

“Oh my God,” whispers one soldier to another. “Does he have business ties on Zorblat-9?”