Saturday Night Live returned to the air for the fifth episode of its 50th season on Nov. 3 with John Mulaney as host, Chappell Roan as musical guest and a surprise appearance from Vice President Kamala Harris in the political cold open. Harris came face to face with the woman who has portrayed her on “Saturday Night Live” for the past couple of seasons, Maya Rudolph. She takes a funny shot at Trump’s inability to open doors, makes a self-deprecating joke about her weird laugh and gets in on Rudolph’s wordplay (“Keep calmala and carry on-a-la”).
Following Harris’ appearance, NBC filed a notice with the Federal Communications Commission and will provide former President Donald Trump with “equal time”, USA Today reports. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it was a “clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule.” Carr, a senior Republican on the commission who was appointed by Trump, went on in the post to suggest NBC should offer equal time to “other qualifying campaigns.”
In the notice filed Sunday, NBC said Harris appeared “without charge” on “SNL” for 1 minute and 30 seconds. The broadcaster provided Trump airtime Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported, giving the former president an opportunity to directly address viewers during the NASCAR 2024 Cup playoff race.
The episode gave space for some of the guest stars that have frequently appeared in the political cold opens in 2024 to say farewell. Throughout Season 50, Rudolph, Andy Samberg (as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff), Dana Carvey (playing Joe Biden) and Jim Gaffigan (playing Tim Walz) have made regular appearances alongside cast members James Austin Johnson (as Donald Trump) and Bowen Yang (as JD Vance).
Mulaney uses his monologue to roll out a new stand up set, focused on the various generations of his family: his new baby girl and a young son, his aging parents and his grandfather (“a dairy farmer from east Wisconsin who was too old to fight in world war two … he’s was too old for the oldest thing that ever happened”).
The show kicks off with the game show What’s That Name, where contestants are shown a person who they must name. Mulaney’s character trips up when asked to name Hilary Clinton’s running mate from 2016, Tim Kaine, who makes an appearance in the sketch.
With Mulaney serving as host for a sixth time, the Nov. 2 episode of “SNL” was stuffed with callbacks to some of the former “SNL” writer’s favorite sketches from years past. There was a sequel to “What’s That Name,” a NASA sketch featuring a monkey in space, and another New York City musical, with Pete Davidson trying to buy a gallon of milk at the Port Authority Duane Reade inspiring songs in the style of “The Lion King,” “Les Miserables,” “Hamilton,” and more.
Weekend Update’s first guest, Reba McEntire played by Heidi Gardner, refuses to endorse a president. Instead of backing anyone she rambles about her upbringing. Later, he brings on Grant and Alyssa, “a couple you can’t believe are together,” to discuss unlikely celebrity couples. Grant, played by Marcello Hernández is a loud, boorish, jock who teaches Soul Cycle classes at the tarmac of LaGuardia, while Alyssa, played by Jane Wickline, is a shy, nerdy wallflower currently getting her masters at Barnard in 18th century graveyards.
Musical guest Chappell Roan performs Pink Pony Club and later returns to the stage for her second performance, the country-tinged “She Gets the Job Done”. Her performance is followed by a campaign ad for Harvey Epstein (Mulaney), a candidate running for New York City state assembly. He is, unsurprisingly, having a very difficult time overcoming his unfortunate name and has to remind voters that “I’m a different guy.” The sketch has only one joke throughout, but Mulaney’s affable delivery makes it work.
Harvey Epstein — a very real Democratic assembly member of New York State’s 74th district who is in fact running for city council — has since responded to the sketch, which has come as a shock to the viewers who did not realize that a real Harvey Epstein exists. Not only does he exist, he is also being a good sport about it. Entertainment Tonight reports that Epstein said he found the sketch funny overall and that it is “really critical that I take the joy out of the joke and also be serious about issues of domestic violence,” he added, calling Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein “two horrible human beings.”
We get a nice and well-deserved card tribute to the late, great Teri Garr, an American actress known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s. Garr passed away due to complications from her long struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS). She was diagnosed in 1999 and later spoke openly about her condition to raise awareness. Throughout her life, Garr was a strong advocate for MS awareness, demonstrating resilience and positivity despite her challenges.
