Last night’s Saturday Night Live kicked things off with a nod to the Presidential Inauguration as expected. Barack Obama was played by Jay Pharoah once more who has been improving his impersonation as the season’s progressed, but there was a pretty major twist on the occasion that kept things interesting: Martin Luther King showed up to dialogue with the Commander and Chief. Kenan Thompson had the honor of playing the Civil Rights icon as he gushed over Beyonce among other things.
Interestingly enough, there was another jab at the event at the very end of last night’s program via a pre-taped bit with Jason Sudeikis as the Vice President promoting his ”Biden Bash” in Dover, Delaware. Hit the jump for the footage. Continue Reading
Last night’s Saturday Night Live came off as an average outing despite Golden Globe-winner Jennifer Lawrence taking the reins of the long-running sketch program. The monologue came off as a bit awkward, and half the bits felt like they were written in 15 minutes. Having said that, this was still the first episode back in a while and those tend to bring the goods in one way or another. Some of the more memorable moments came in the form of a pre-taped Hobbit bit mocking the film’s three-part nature as well as a Hunger Games press conference in which Peeta gets no love. Hit the jump to check those out. 
Short and sweet, the writers at Saturday Night Live took on the Fiscal Cliff via a joint press conference with Jay Pharoah’s Barack Obama and Bill Hader’s John Boehner, the latter of which being relatively fresh to viewers. The takeaway on this one was one of congresses immaturity when dealing with such serious matter, and it came at the expense of Boehner to has been picked on by his colleagues as if he were being bullied in the school yard. This is hardly a new attitude to parody in this regard as The Daily Show has been preaching that all week, but then again Jon Stewart certainly is not SNL. Jump to check this one out. 
Not many people are really aware of Louis C.K.’s critically-acclaimed FX series Louie, but that did not stop Saturday Night Live from using the show as the focal point of one of their bits. They had the stand-up comic reprise his role as the central character, but this time around it was in the form of Abraham Lincoln with everything else pretty much unchanged. This was definitely a win that is kind of riding the coattails of a surge in the deceased president’s popularity thanks to 
Saturday Night Live may have had their best debate sketch of the year last night. The Mitt Romney, Barack Obama head-to-head gave viewers another opportunity to see the impressions from Jason Sudeikis and Jay Pharoah, but that was not what made this one so great. The town hall format gave a lot to make fun of, creating a second dimension to a bit otherwise focused on the two arguing with one another. 
This week’s Christina Applegate-hosted Saturday Night Live had another all-star movie parody to showcase. The premise this time around was the action-packed Give Us All Our Daughters Back which takes specific aim at the recent success of Taken 2. Appearing in the bit were Taran Killam as Liam Neeson; Jay Pharoah as Denzel Washington; Fred Armisen as Harrison Ford; Christina Applegate as Uma Thurman; Jason Sudeikis as Mel Gibson; Bobby Moynihan as Steven Seagal; and Bill Hader as Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
Last night’s Saturday Night Live was the first episode of the year to follow a presidential debate which of course meant that the series would pay homage to the event. It is a long-running tradition at the show and part of that happens to be Chris Parnell’s impression of debate moderator Jim Lehrer. Jay Pharoah and Jason Sudeikis reprised their roles as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney respectfully for the weekend’s cold open. 
A few years back when Saturday Night Live cast featured player Jay Pharoah, he was loved by audiences fairly immediately for his slew of celebrity impersonations that included Will Smith, Jay Z, and Denzel Washington to name a few. Of course, this was just loose change as his best one was left at the door: President Barack Obama. While audiences have seen the impression through the years on Youtube and a few talk show appearances, the big question was when would Lorne Michaels make the big Fred Armisen-Pharoah switch? Given that this is an election year and Pharoah has established veteran status on the long-running sketch series, Michaels finally opted to make the move to the better likeness. 
Josh Brolin hosted Saturday Night Live last night where he opened the show with a monologue referencing his new film Men in Black III in which the actor plays a young Tommy Lee Jones. In order to replicate the movie, he enlisted the help of cast member Jay Pharoah and his spot on Will Smith impersonation to supplement his own Tommy Lee Jones impression.
Saturday Night Live featured a bit about Jay Z and Beyonce’s baby last night in another impersonation fest of a sketch. This one had Maya Rudolph as Beyonce, Jay Pharoah as Jay Z, Fred Armisen as Prince, Kenan Thompson as L.L. Cool J, Nasim Pedrad as Nicki Minaj, Taran Killam as Brad Pitt, Abby Elliott as Angelina Jolie, Kristen Wiig as Taylor Swift, and Justin Timberlake as Bon Iver.
Last night’s Maya Rudolph-hosted Saturday Night Live featured a sketch in which the actress portrayed poet and author Maya Angelou in a ‘prank show.’ The bit also starred Kenan Thompson as Dr. Cornel West, Jay Pharoah as Morgan Freeman, and Bill Hader as Stephen King.
For once this season, Saturday Night Live did not open the show with a political sketch. What knocked off the GOP candidates and President Obama? Linsanity–the craze that has hit the sports world following the meteoric rise of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. Needless to say, there were a lot of ‘Lin’ puns and sarcastic racist humor. Cast members involved in the sketch were Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, Jay Pharoah, and Taran Killam.
Last night’s Saturday Night Live featured the first-ever edition of The Jay Pharoah Show which is a talk show sketch hosted by cast member Jay Pharoah. His first guest was Daniel Radcliffe, and the catch was Pharoah sucked at hosting as every time he was in a tough spot the comedian would do one of his trademark impressions to get out of it. The bit featured impersonations of Will Smith, Tracy Morgan, and Denzel Washington. 
Apparently Investigation Discovery is big enough for source material on Saturday Night Live as the show drew up a bit called White People Problems with Charles Barkley in the role of the show’s host. The premise is exactly how it sounds. Jay Pharoah, Kenan Thompson, Kristen Wiig, and Tirran Killam among others had parts in this sketch. 
While not a totally original idea, Saturday Night Live has decided to poke fun at New Year’s Eve and its large ensemble cast by showcasing their various impressions on last night’s show. Highlights include Bill Hader’s Alan Alda, Jay Pharoah’s Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Taran Killam’s Ashton Kutcher.