Bowen Yang also returns as George Santos in the cold open.
Someone save the hosts of the Oscars Red Carpet. The cold open for Saturday Night Live this week didn’t tackle politics or whatever else was happening in the news the last week. Instead, it looked to the future and poked fun at what we would inevitably get with the Oscars. Mario Lopez (played by Marcello Hernandez) is hosting the carpet coverage alongside Maria Menounos or maybe Kit Hoover (Heidi Gardner) and it was one of those rare moments where the cold open really just set the tone for the entire show because it was genuinely funny prior to us even getting started.
The episode had host Jenna Ortega starring alongside musical guest The 1975 and the cold open really kicked us off to a great start. The red carpet was filled with panning down to women’s feet and Mike Tyson (Kenan Thompson) being the new head of security so that the ceremony doesn’t have another Slap happening during the ceremony. But Tyson doesn’t like applause, gold statues, or shows that last longer than 2 hours so it’s not going to go well.
Some of the celebrities they interview are Jamie Lee Curtis (Chloe Fineman), Colin Farrell (Mikey Day), and Brendan Gleeson (Molly Kearney) along with Michelle Williams‘ Jewish acting coach for The Fabelmans (Sarah Sherman). It was a star-filled event even if George Santos pretending to be Tom Cruise (Bowen Yang) showed up and crashed the carpet.
It was pretty funny watching “Maria Menounos or Kit Hoover” and Mario Lopez talk to their new partners, Draft Kings, about the odds for the Oscars. Which did include Jared from Subway appearing as well as Armie Hammer and a moment where Harvey Weinstein introduced Kanye West. And while it was funny on its own, having Gardner as Menounos or Hoover saying “Wow, a girl can dream” as soon as it cuts back to her really was a laugh out loud moment right out the gate.
The show does come at a time when editors for Saturday Night Live are preparing to strike against NBC for their lack of willingness to negotiate their contracts in a fair way. You can support them by sharing their tweets and resources about the strike that is set to take place on April 1st.
Ortega was a great host, the show was a brilliant example of how a comfortable host really shines, and it all started with a hilarious cold open!
