It’s arguable that Saturday Night Live is never better than during election year. The jokes seem to write themselves when politicians put themselves on the spot in the race to be the next President. If that’s the case, then the writers of the long-running sketch show must think that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are a gift from God, and when it comes to God, there’s no better character to resurrect than Dana Carvey’s Church Lady.
Last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live was hosted by Brie Larson (Room, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) but the show’s cold open featured a surprise appearance from Dana Carvey and his Church Lady character back from when his tenure on the show. The Church Lady opened the night by taking aim at the “heathens” of Hollywood. Church Lady didn’t hesitate to comment on the gowns Beyoncé and Madonna (if you can call that a gown) wore to the Met Gala. Madonna got an expected shellacking for being a mother in what was essentially assless chaps while Beyonce wore a dress that looked like those full body condom suits from The Naked Gun. Even Jay-Z took a hit in a nonsensical advertisement for lemonade.
Church Lady then went to the main event and Taran Killam’s squirrelly Ted Cruz took the stage. It turns out even Church Lady finds Ted Cruz to be too preachy. A highlight of this bit was Cruz just giving in and going full dark side, complete with a crazy evil laugh. Then he left to literally go to hell.
Afterward, it was the “tangerine tornado” turn to come out with Darrell Hammond’s spot-on impression of Donald Trump. Always in his element, Trump said he was very devout and even went to church when it wasn’t “church day.” Trump then took the time to list all of his favorite books from the bible, which included “Two Genesis, Two Furious.” Then his family came out, with Cecily Strong as his wife, Vanessa Bayer as his somewhat happy daughter, and Kate McKinnon as a model who’s just good to have around.
The highlight of the sketch was definitely when Ted Cruz came back from hell, only this time he was possessed by the devil, complete with horns and a little goat boy playing a pan flute. Even when possessed by the devil, Ted Cruz can’t catch a break from Donald Trump, who hilariously said he was the only person who got better looking after a possession.
Saturday Night Live will be all new on May 14 with Drake pulling double duty as the host and musical guest.
