The United States is in the home stretch of a brief presidential campaign unlike any other. but then confusion Over the past few months, one thing’s for sure: Saturday Night Live will be there to tie it all together.
NBC’s landmark sketch comedy series returns this weekend to lampoon the battle to reshuffle the White House. “Saturday Night Live” actress Maya Rudolph will reprise her role as Emmy-winning Vice President Kamala Harris. “Saturday Night Live” actor James Austin Johnson will once again don a red tie to play former President Donald Trump.
A quick election isn’t the only reason for this season’s high power. “Saturday Night Live” is turning 50, which means the show once synonymous with the energy of the 1970s counterculture is now eligible for an AARP membership. The network plans to mark the milestone with a three-hour prime-time special on Sunday, February 16. (“SNL” and NBC News are owned by NBCUniversal.)
But first up is Saturday’s season premiere, where host Jean Smart, fresh off his third Emmy win for “Hacks,” and musical guest Jelly Roll Performing at the Emmy Awards tribute. Nothing is guaranteed, but what is certain is that the five-week sprint to Election Day will be the central focus of this episode.
“Saturday Night Live” has been mining comedy gold in presidential politics since it premiered in 1975, with Chevy Chase caricaturing President Gerald Ford as a bumbling figure. In the decades since, political parodies have been a staple of the show, played by Dana Carvey President George H.W. Bush (“A Thousand Points of Light”) Tina Fey as Republican Vice Presidential Contender Sarah Palin (“I can see Russia from my house!”) During the 2008 election.
“‘Saturday Night Live’ always helps us deal with the absurdity of the week in politics through sketch comedy. It’s a cathartic process for people, so the show plays an important role,” said entertainment and media professor Jeff Lee P. Jones said.
Rudolf, Talk to Variety A briefing this month acknowledged the high stakes of the election, Harris’ historic campaignsaying in part that the role is “bigger than me, and it’s a very important thing.” She added: “I’m so happy to be a part of it and I’m so happy that I played her and everyone was happy with it. She loved it.”
Meanwhile, when it comes to Johnson’s Trump, “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels said viewers should expect a slightly different take on the Republican candidate, who is played by six actors on the show Trump, including Emmy-winning Alec Baldwin.
“Trump has transformed. I think James is very smart in that he plays Trump as a kind of weakened Trump,” Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter. “The guy in the back of the hardware store controlled the court and did it because it felt relevant. But we’re going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw this debate.”
Michaels and the “Saturday Night Live” team have remained silent about the actors playing vice presidential candidates Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. (Fun fact: “The Sixth Sense” star Haley Joel Osment impersonated Vance on a recent episode of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”)
In the days after Harris selected Walz as her running mate, social media was abuzz with casting ideas. The most popular is Steve Martin, a 16-time SNL host who, like Waltz, is an older man with thinning white hair. . However, Martin turned down the role; told the Los Angeles Times: “You need someone who can really catch this guy.”
“Saturday Night Live” will provide plenty of fodder during the election season: Harris’ meteoric rise after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race; Walz’s public persona as an affable Midwestern father; Vance’s story about childless women Controversial comments; Republican votes for unfounded claims that immigrants eat pets. The list goes on.
“Three people are not that well-known — Harris, Walz, Vance — so I think the caricatures on the show will help define who they are in the public imagination,” said Jones, the media professor. “Will the satire be cruel or petty? We’ll see.”
In many ways, “Saturday Night Live” is at a crossroads. The rise of cable and streaming alternatives has upended the late-night broadcast television landscape. “SNL” may be an institution, but it has to stay relevant in a crowded market of political satire that includes late-night Internet talk shows, podcasts, YouTube and TikTok.
Despite this, Saturday Night Live continues to exert a huge influence on pop culture and the entertainment industry. The show still has the ability to catapult actors into national stars and introduce audiences to new talent before they jump into movies or high-profile TV projects.
The show is so ingrained in the cultural consciousness that even the behind-the-scenes production of the first episode was given the Hollywood biopic treatment. Director Jason Reitman’s (“Juno”) new film “Saturday Night” chronicles the frantic preparations leading up to its October 11, 1975 premiere.
Michaels has run the SNL empire from the beginning (except for a brief period in the 1980s), but in recent years he has been dogged by questions about when he would step down. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he has no intention of resigning immediately.
“Every year, I rely on more and more people for other things, but ultimately, you really need someone to say, ‘This is what we’re doing.’” So, I don’t really have an answer; I just know that this is What I do, I will continue to do as long as I can continue to do it,” said Michaels, who will turn 80 in November. “There are no plans at this time.”
The show’s cast has been shaken up ahead of its 50th season. leave the showSupporting actors Molly Kearney and Chloe Troast also exited. The producers brought in three new “featured actors”: Ashley Padilla, Emile Wakim and Jane Wickland.
All three new cast members will be looking to work on their breakout sketches in the coming weeks. There are five hosts and musical guests on the roster: Nate Bargatze and Coldplay (October 5); Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks (October 12 ); Michael Keaton and Billie Eilish (October 19); and John Mulaney and Chappell Roan (November 2).
