Watch all of the ‘Saturday Night Live’ season 46 cold open sketches
Catch up on the "SNL" political cold opens lampooning Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and the 2020 election.
“Saturday Night Live” has given itself a marathon schedule in its 46th season, producing six consecutive new episodes of the long-running variety show every Saturday night from Oct. 3 through Nov. 7, the longest run without repeats in “SNL” history.
Even with coronavirus protocols in place, “SNL” has consistently put out a high-caliber show on a weekly basis, with hosts like Chris Rock, Bill Burr, Issa Rae, and Adele bringing their A game.
Arguably the biggest headline-maker heading into the season was creator Lorne Michaels’ decision to bring in a trio of non-cast members on a weekly basis for the show’s cold open, with Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, and Maya Rudolph playing Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Kamala Harris, respectively.
In case you missed an episode along the way, here are all of the political cold opens from season 46.
Oct. 3: Trump tests positive
In a parody of the week’s presidential debate (and President Trump’s subsequent coronavirus diagnosis), Carrey and Baldwin traded barbs over the coronavirus and Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Carrey’s Biden even snuck a Boston joke in the mix.
“No, don’t let your inner Whitey Bulger come out,” Carrey said to himself after Baldwin interrupted and insulted him. “Just flash them all that smile they taught you in anger management.”
Oct. 10: The debate fly
“SNL” got very weird during the Oct. 10 cold open, with Carrey (as Biden) transforming into the fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head during the week’s vice presidential debate.
If that wasn’t strange enough, Carrey then began doing a Jeff Goldblum impression on Mike Pence’s head, before being joined by a second fly — Kenan Thompson, who was playing Herman Cain, the former presidential candidate who died after contracting coronavirus earlier this year after attending a Trump rally.
“They invited me to a rally, said ‘Everything is fine, Herman.’ I catch corona, Trump tells me, ‘Everything is fine, Herman.’ The White House doctors check me out, tell me, ‘Everything is fine, Herman.’ Three days later I’m gone,” Thompson said. “If you’re watching this at home, don’t trust this white devil about that ‘rona.”
Oct. 17: Dueling town halls
The show jumped between parodying the two dueling town halls, with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos (Mikey Day) tried to reign in a meandering Biden (Carrey) while NBC’s Savannah Guthrie (Kate McKinnon) was a self-described “surprise badass” by asking Trump (Baldwin) tough questions.
Channeling his inner Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers, Carrey’s geriatric delivery eventually led Day to lose focus.
“Oh I’m sorry, I’m watching the Trump one,” Day said, looking away from his laptop after Carrey asked him a question. “They’re really going at it.”
Oct. 24: The final debate
Carrey’s Biden impression really snapped into focus in this episode, with the comedian adding more squinting, deep breaths, and reflexive “come on, man!” responses. His shouts of “malarkey” came so often that moderator Kristen Welker (Rudolph) turned them into a drinking game.
Also joining the proceedings was Rudy Giuliani (Kate McKinnon), who was shown digging around in his pants like the former New York City mayor did in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”
“It’s not what it looks like, my microphone was stuck on my balls,” McKinnon said. “Is this another Borat? You have to tell me if it’s a Borat.”
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