NBC’s Saturday Night Live has been known for its political and celebrity impressions over the years. Still, in recent seasons the show has ramped things up considerably, and during this week’s episode Steve Martin made a brand new appearance on the show playing Trump ally Roger Stone.
Saturday Night Live has generated the most headlines over the past few years by using Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump, but the show has often felt the most like itself when it has been able to incorporate many of the supporting players in Washington outside of the President.
This week's sketch featured Alex Moffat as Tucker Carlson, Cecily Strong as Jeannine Pirro and Kate McKinnon as Wilbur Ross, in addition to Martin’s return to the show as Roger Stone. It’s a lot to do in a single sketch, but with a seven-minute runtime, the impressions are given enough time to work.
Over the years, Saturday Night Live has been open to bringing in more famous personalities to take on particular impressions on a recurring basis. John Goodman famously played Linda Tripp during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Tina Fey generated more than her fair share of headlines as Sarah Palin, and of course we’ve gotten a steady dose of Alec Baldwin as Trump.
More recently, however, the show has done it on a way more consistent basis. Melissa McCarthy took on former Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Matt Damon played Supreme Court judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Larry David took on Bernie Sanders, and Ben Stiller played President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen. The sheer number of these appearances signals a departure for a show that once seemed content to let its Not Ready For Primetime Players take on famous figures, even if they were only able to do a B+ job.
In other news, shoutout to Steve Martin who looks like he’s having the most fun possible here. At seventy-three-years-old, he is still full of energy, full of life and able to make people laugh just like he did when he first emerged on the scene.
In fact, Steve Martin long ago joined the famed "Five-Timers Club," and has hosted 15 episodes of Saturday Night Live to date, which doesn't even include this guest appearance. When the history of Saturday Night Live is written, his name will be mentioned a ton, which is amazing for someone who was never actually in the cast. Here’s to hoping we get a few more hosting stints and a bunch more surprise appearances from him in the future.
You can see who is coming to Saturday Night Live next with our updated guide to hosts and musical guests.
