Highlights of Kristen Wiig’s Return to SNL Includes Major Special Guests

saturday night live whiskers are we

Saturday Night Live will take a break next week, but they pulled out all the stops for this week’s pre-Thanksgiving episode starring guest host Kristen Wiig. This week’s episode was strong, smart and full of surprises like a few major special guest drop ins, starting with Alec Baldwin reprising his role as President Elect Donald Trump in a great cold-open about Trump’s reaction to his win. Other special guests included Jason Sudeikis as Mitt Romney, plus Will Forte and Steve Martin who made an appearance in Wiig’s opening monologue which also doubled as a Thanksgiving pageant. Wiig’s return to  SNL had a very nostalgic feel, with Wiig playing a lot of the types of roles she played while she was a part of the cast.

The Donald Trump Cold Open takes a peek at what might be happening behind closed doors with post-election transition team Trump. Baldwin isn’t planning to keep up this gig on a full-time basis, but had to come back for at least one transition team sketch. It’s time to figure out how to implement some of his campaign promises like putting an end to ISIS and bringing back  every single job to small towns, and building a two thousand mile wall.  “Every single job?” Trump asks? “Two thousand miles?” and to Siri “How do I kill ISIS?”. There’s a great special guest appearance from Jason Sudeikis as Mitt Romney, and Kate McKinnon is great as a regretful Kellyanne Conway, but the highlight of the cold open is Trump’s meeting with his VP Mike Pence who brings up some of the problems with some of Trump’s plans. The solution? #ScrapIt. “I love you Mike, you’re the reason I’m never going to get impeached.”

Other political-themed sketches included a digital short called “The Bubble”, which welcomed progressives to come to Brooklyn, an idyllic city in a post-election bubble where things won’t change during the Trump administration. The sketch calls out liberal America for not paying attention to the world outside their neighborhood, and again hints that black America isn’t as impressed with white progressives, as they are with themselves. The implication is that maybe all those Hillary Clinton voters aren’t walking their own walk when it comes to minorities. Other political themed sketches included an edition of Anderson Cooper’s 360 taking on the media’s repetitive reactions to Trump news that ended with an apropos Westworld moment. Panelists react to security clearance for Trump’s kids, a KKK parade, Bannon and more.

Politics aside, the funniest sketch of the night paired Kristen Wiig with Kate McKinnon as a cat-loving couple with their own cheeky chat show, full of puns and word play– ‘Whiskers are We”– where they show off cats available for adoption. Barbara DeDrew, and Fur-onica are funny and flirty. They’ve got a box full of adorable cats with backstories, and Furonica is a bit peckish and she can’t keep her hands to herself. Both Wiig and McKinnon were and are the breakout stars of their SNL casts and they’re perfect here together. Hair and makeup deserves an award for Wiig’s creative and hilarious get up that adds so much to the bit. “We’re mad at Carl right now because he’s been very naughty. He crawled up my sofa and then he voted for Jill Stein. He’s a little asswipe, he deserves a pinch,” Furonica says before pinching McKinnon’s nipple instead of Carl. Both Wiig and McKinnon come close to breaking more than once. Bobby Moynihan appears as Mr. Majestical, and even if it didn’t really make sense, we’re always happy to see Bobby’s bizarre costume. “He’s not part of it”

Saturday Night Live knows how to do game show sketches right, and they had another hit last night with “Secret Word” hosted by Kenan Thompson as “Grant Choad,” America’s first ever black game show host, taking over for previous host Lyle Round (Bill Hader). Kristen Wiig is perfect as throwback Broadway diva, Mindy Elise Grayson, who plays against Italian bombshell Isabella Lolacopolla (Cecily Strong). It feels like Wiig never left or at least like she never should have left. Bobby Moynihan and Melissa Villaseñor appear as the non-celebrity contestants.

Social media didn’t love the sketch about two friends auditioning for a guest host spot on QVC, but we thought it was brilliant. Joyce Childers (Cecily Strong) and Christie Berkie (Kristen Wiig) have created characters that are bizarre, but for those who live in the suburbs, oddly real. We could watch this sketch every week. Or the real QVC audition wars. Either one.

Saturday Night Live will be off next week for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but they’ll be back December 3rd with Emma Stone hosting.

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