‘Hail Trump’: ‘SNL’ kicks off Bill Burr’s episode on a somber note

In the aftermath of the last week’s presidential election, SNL fans were curious to see how the show would respond. Would we see something in the vein of Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton singing “Hallelujah” in 2016? Would the show immediately banish its celebrity guest stars like Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey disappeared in 2020?

And how would Bill Burr handle the pressure of hosting an episode of SNL just days after a monumental election?

If I’m being generous, I’d rank Burr’s second effort as a mixed bag. There were some good sketches, but the comedian really only plays one type of guy. And after this past Tuesday, I can’t imagine SNL fans tuned in hoping to hear monologue jokes about Asians carrying illnesses and female candidates needing to “whore it up a bit.”

There was definitely something off about this episode. While she was present during good-byes, Chloe Fineman didn’t appear in a single sketch. Not even in the cold open that pulled in pretty much every other cast member — and even got a rare non-Weekend Update appearance from Colin Jost.

Speaking of good-byes, the mood seemed awkward during the show’s final moments. While a host usually mixes it up with SNL’s cast at the end of the night, we saw the cast hang toward the back of the stage while Burr spent most of good-byes with Mk.gee and his band. People didn’t really seem interested in talking with Dana Carvey either. (Sigh. Yes, Dana Carvey was still there this week.)

Also missing from this episode was Please Don’t Destroy. I think it’s time we stop pretending that the trio is still an active force on SNL. We’re now through six episodes of Season 50 and Please Don’t Destroy has only appeared once.

COLD OPEN

I wasn’t sure how this episode of SNL would begin. We’re two full election cycles past the 2016 race, and McKinnon as Clinton playing “Hallelujah” is still a cringeworthy bit that gets made fun of.

The cold open began as a somber reflection of Donald Trump’s victory this past week — before turning into a moment for the SNL cast to swear their fealty to the “incredible president and eventually king” in hopes that he doesn’t come after them.

• “They finally got the body right”: Welp, I guess Lorne Michaels finally got his new version of Trump with hot, jacked James Austin Johnson.
• You gotta go home, man: This week’s cold open was absent Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg and Jim Gaffigan, but we still got Dana Carvey — to paraphrase Tim Walz — skipping around like a dipshit as Elon Musk. If you’re going to do Musk’s USA chant, get it right. (Or wrong.)

THE MONOLOGUE

While Lorne Michaels spared us the pain of having to watch Dave Chappelle after another major election this weekend, we still got a comedian known for his edgy material.

There was no way Bill Burr wasn’t going to talk about the election. I just didn’t think we’d hear an SNL host say that a female presidential candidate should “whore it up a bit.”

That’s going to be a talker the next few days. But, hey, at least it’s not Chappelle punching down at trans people.