Musical guest Lily Allen ends up stealing subpar episode that fails to make the most of rising star’s first time as host
Saturday Night Live opens with Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) talking to reporters aboard Air Force One. From behind “curtain”, the Ambien and Adderall-riddled commander-in-chief “openly simp[s]” over his press secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla), brags about targeting suspected drug boats and drug planes over the Caribbean (footage from a strike reveals that the military blew up Santa’s sled), bashes the proposed sale of Warner Brothers to Netflix (“I don’t know why anyone would want Warner Brothers, they have one of the worst studio tours in LA”), and admits that “we should all be very worried about my health, I’m very ill”, before having Leavitt sign off with “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” (Padilla, who is quickly becoming one of SNL’s most featured cast members, gets the honors.)
To call this cold open slight is giving it too much credit – Johnson’s Trump remains a winner, but there is just no meat on this bone.
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