Saturday Night Live returned to 30 Rock for its first live, in-studio production in seven months, with Lorne Michaels determined to start Season 46 off with some semblance of normality.
Even if that meant mandatory testing for the cast and crew, as well as an even more exclusive live studio audience. But there’s no getting around the fact that creating an SNL bubble in midtown Manhattan would not be as easy as creating an NBA bubble in central Florida. Truth is, though, at this point in this 2020, most anyone tuning in on Saturday night just wondered one thing: How were they going to make jokes when President Trump was quarantined in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center since Friday afternoon with his own newly revealed COVID-19 diagnosis?
Before we get to that, you should know I already have thoughts on SNL. I don’t subscribe to the idea that Trump is “good” for comedy. I argued in Decider this summer that SNL should’ve hired Sarah Cooper to replace Alec Baldwin and bring a fresh perspective to parodying the president. I’ve previously argued on these web pages that Lorne should’ve handed over the reins to the show five years ago after the #SNL40 three-hour primetime tribute to him. And I’ve previewed the three new cast additions this fall and suggested how they might fit in.
Now it’s time to see what SNL decided to do (regardless of my advice). Onto the Season 46 premiere recap!

What’s The Deal With The SNL Cold Open for October 3, 2020?

SNL‘s cold opens have become more and more political, and 100 percent even more so in an election year such as this, with the season premiere debuting just a few days after the first debate between Trump and Joe Biden, a debate so over-the-top — or under-the-bottom? — that it perhaps defied any plausible attempt to parody it. Especially once Tuesday night’s debate got upstaged by Friday’s superspreading of COVID-19 through the White House.
But much ado had been made about comedy star Jim Carrey joining the SNL fold to impersonate Biden, and no amount of breaking news would stop this real-life trainwreck from getting the SNL treatment.

An updated intro with voiceover from longtime producer Steve Higgins reminds us just how many news cycles ago Tuesday’s debate seems at this point, but even so, it was difficult to maintain any interest in watching Beck Bennett as FOX News’s Chris Wallace go through the motions with Baldwin’s Trumpus interruptus. We were all curious to see how Carrey would play Biden. Some suggested he might just resurrect his old Fire Marshall Bill from In Living Color, but no. In fact, what Carrey’s Biden might have lacked in accuracy or laugh-out-loud moments, he more than made up for with an attempt to actually imbue his impersonation with character instead of caricature. He externalized Biden’s running internal commentary during the debate, emerged at one point with a magic remote control (a la Adam Sandler’s Click) that could pause and silence Trump, and used that time to ask us to imagine (wink wink nudge nudge) if religion or science could give us a sign this week.
How long was this cold open? Long enough to squeeze in bonus cameos from Harry Styles (as Biden’s meditation guide), Cecily Strong as Kimberly Guilfoyle (screaming “The best is yet to come!” as Trump’s meditative preference), and Maya Rudolph as Sen. Kamala Harris, shoehorning in awkward “WAP” joke (time for a “Woman As President”?) before we finally, at just a few seconds short of 11:44 p.m. Eastern, heard them all discordantly say, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

How Did The Guest Host Do?

Former cast member Chris Rock hosted this season’s premiere, fresh off starring in the season four premiere of FX’s stellar Fargo.
Rock wore a mask for the opening and closing moments of the show, imploring the audience during the goodnights to “Wear a mask!” although he quickly put the mask in his hand to deliver the rest of his opening eight-minute monologue.

The jokes were uneven, at best. He reminded us that his pandemic problems were luxury problems (How many of us blew $80,000 on our sister’s postponed wedding to hire Bell Biv DeVoe? Now you know. The answer is one.) He wondered why there are more rules for game show hosts than presidents, although his examples didn’t work because Trump did put his family all over The Apprentice, and the House of Representatives did impeach the president. He fared better when comparing the entitled U.S. Senate to a House of Lords with dukes and duchesses who need to go, via term limits; and when illustrating the ridiculousness of keeping Election Day on a Tuesday in November. All you really need to know is that any great stand-up comedy routine probably doesn’t end with an inspirational quote from James Baldwin. But we’re living in strange times.
Rock appeared in the first live sketch that followed the first ad break, as well as the pre-taped music video that followed, bringing just enough to carry them both across the finish line. His appearances in two later sketches (one as a ghost from the future, the other as emcee for a draft of women into the NBA bubble) suffered more from the lack of substance in the sketches themselves than from anything he brought to them. It’s not going to win him a Guest Acting Emmy next year. But he’ll always be welcomed back to host again.

How Relevant Was The Musical Guest?

Megan Thee Stallion entered the pandemic this spring with the song that delivered a bazillion TikTok views (“Savage”) and ended the summer with the song of the moment (“W.A.P.” with Cardi B), and just dropped the music video for her newest track, “Don’t Stop,” a couple of days ago.

In her first performance, she demonstrated how savage she could be, with the backdrop delivering a blistering critique of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who failed to bring charges against the Louisville police officers who killed Breonna Taylor. In all caps, the backdrop read: “DANIEL CAMERON IS NO DIFFERENT/THAN THE SELLOUT NEGROES/THAT SOLD OUR PEOPLE INTO SLAVERY.” Savage.

She brought out Young Thug on her second performance, “Don’t Stop.” She also dropped verses for a music video with Chris Redd, Kenan Thompson, Pete Davidson and Ego Nwodim, and provided an ending to the NBA Bubble Draft sketch as Redd’s final pick, too.

Which Sketch Will We Be Sharing?

When everything feels so politicized, sometimes you just want to watch something silly and juvenile, and this “Superspreader Event” sketch imagining local TV news coverage of a COVID-19 outbreak at a federal building in Pittsburgh where several people were filing paperwork to change their names. Who would want to change their names, you ask innocently enough?

Folks such as Edith Puthie and Irma Gerd (played by newbie Lauren Holt), or Mike Rodick (Bennett) looking to change it to, um, Mike Litt?! Thompson played the plight of bearing the name Jeffrey B. Epstein. Meanwhile, Rock’s local doctor character tried to keep a straight face while calling out the names of others who’d need to undergo contact tracing, while an inappropriately masked Pete Davidson had no qualms about cracking up. Paging Burton Ernie, Alma Holzhert, Ben Lauden, Dee Perdadi, Duncan Dixon-Coffey, Finn Gerbangh, Moe Lestin Jr., and Tess Tichol.
Yes. Very juvenile. Which is probably why you’ll be a superspreader of this sketch.

Who Stopped By Weekend Update?

Chinese Trade Minister Chen Biao (Bowen Yang) made his fourth appearance behind the Update desk, this time defending the TikTok app from allegations that it’s a national security threat, and throwing shade at TikTok white girls such as “Savannah doing the work on racism” from the family estate on Nantucket. You go, Yang!

Travel expert Carrie Krum (Aidy Bryant) made her third appearance behind the Update desk, offering tips for enjoying a fun staycation during the pandemic.

Her appearance ended with an awkward toss back to Michael Che and Colin Jost to close out Update, and then the camera panned over to the audience, where we saw Kate McKinnon one last time as the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sitting in silent tribute.

What Sketch Filled The “10-to-1” Slot?

Normally, SNL slots the most daring, eccentric or just weirdly funny sketch of the week at the every end of the show, after the second musical performance and before the cast’s goodnights, at about 12:50 a.m. Eastern.
But nothing’s normal in 2020, and the final sketch aired at 12:48 a.m., a pre-taped bit about how the Stunt Performers Association of America are faring without seven months of work. It’s a cute bit but nothing remotely out there about it that would make it seem like a 10-to-1 sketch. There are real associations for stuntmen and stuntwomen, by the way; the phone number, meanwhile, is fake.

Who Was The Episode’s MVP?

Boasting the biggest cast ever with 20 performers, Season 46 is bound to be tough for any one comedian to dominate any particular episode.
But second-year cast member Chloe Fineman made the biggest impact this week, delivering a tour de farce in her pre-taped parody of The Drew Barrymore Show. Fineman portrayed Barrymore as well as celebrity guests Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, all startlingly well enough to demonstrate that while she may still be paid as a featured player, she’s more than ready to carry a bigger load in the season to come.

Next week, Bill Burr hosts with musical guest Morgan Wallen! I hope you have enough time to figure out who those people are if you don’t already! Of course you do. We’re still in the pandemic. We have plenty of time.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch the Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion episode of SNL on YouTube