America is in the home stretch of an abbreviated presidential race unlike any other. But after the chaos of the last few months, one thing is certain: “Saturday Night Live” will be on hand to skewer it all.
NBC’s landmark sketch comedy series returns this weekend just in time to satirize the reshuffled fight for the White House. “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph will reprise her Emmy-winning role as Vice President Kamala Harris. “SNL” cast member James Austin Johnson will once again don a red tie to play former President Donald Trump.
The quick-turn election isn’t the only reason this season is high wattage. “SNL” is turning 50, meaning a show that was once synonymous with the energy of the 1970s counterculture is now eligible for an AARP card. It’s a milestone the network plans to commemorate with a three-hour prime-time special on Feb. 16 — a Sunday. (“SNL” and NBC News are both owned by NBCUniversal.)
But first comes Saturday’s season premiere with host Jean Smart, fresh off her third Emmy win for her role on “Hacks,” and musical guest Jelly Roll, who performed during the Emmys’ in memoriam tribute. Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s safe to assume the five-week sprint to Election Day will be a central focus of the episode.
“SNL” has mined comedy gold in presidential politics since it debuted in 1975 and Chevy Chase caricatured President Gerald Ford as a pratfalling klutz. In the decades since, political parodies have been staples of the show, from Dana Carvey as President George H.W. Bush (“Thousand points of light”) to Tina Fey as GOP vice presidential contender Sarah Palin (“I can see Russia from my house!”) during the 2008 election.
“‘SNL’ has always helped us process the absurdities of the week in politics through sketch comedy. It can be a cathartic process for people, so the show plays an important role,” said Jeffrey P. Jones, a professor of entertainment and media studies at the University of Georgia who has written scholarly essays about “SNL” and politics.
Rudolph, speaking to Variety this month for a profile, nodded to the election’s high stakes and Harris’ historic candidacy, saying in part that the role was “bigger than me, and this is about something very important.” She added: “I’m thrilled to be associated with it, and I’m also glad that I’ve played her and everyone’s cool with it. She likes it.”
When it comes to Johnson’s incarnation of Trump, meanwhile, “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels has said viewers should expect a slightly different take on the Republican nominee, who has been embodied on the show by six performers — including Alec Baldwin, who won an Emmy for the role in 2017.
“Trump has morphed. James, who I think is brilliant, played Trump as the sort of diminished Trump,” Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter. “The guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant. But we are going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw the debate.”
Michaels and the “SNL” team have stayed mum on the performers lined up to portray the vice presidential contenders, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. JD 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 picked Walz as her running mate, social media lit up with casting ideas. The most popular: Steve Martin, a 16-time “SNL” host and, like Walz, a man of a certain age with wispy white hair. Martin turned down the part, however, telling The Los Angeles Times: “You need someone who can really nail the guy.”
