SNL Says 'Goodbye' To Attorney General Jeff Sessions

With the news that Donald Trump fired his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, one day after the midterm elections, how could SNL not say goodbye to their "Jeff Sessions" played by Kate McKinnon?

It's time to pack up and get out, "Jeff," but before you do some folks want to come say good-bye including Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant), Mike Pence (Beck Bennett), Eric Trump (Alex Moffat), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) and Robert Mueller (Robert De Niro).

As Sessions wonders what else he could have done to please his boss (“I don’t understand what I did wrong? I put kids in cages. I said no to gays? What more did you want?”), Bennet’s Pence finds his mind wandering: “I’m sorry, I heard the words ‘gays in cages’ and I went somewhere crazy.”

And the Trump boys, Junior and Eric, check in with Sessions to see if they are going to get "some penis" (or subpoenas, but, whatever).

And then Mueller is the final goodbye, but at least he brings a going away present.

Watch below.

SNL Cold Open: Trump & Company Sing "Hallelujah"

Seated at a piano, a lone Alec Baldwin as "Donald Trump" begins singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

He's quickly joined by the SNL cast members who have brought the Trump administration to life over the past several months: Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon), Mike Pence (Beck Bennett), Eric Trump (Alex Moffat), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant), Melania Trump (Cecily Strong) and Ivanka Trump (Scarlett Johansson).

Watch Baldwin's "Trump" on the line, "I didn't come to fool ya."

The effect is quite different from last November when Kate McKinnon used the same song to staggering effect as "Hillary Clinton" after the election.

SNL: "The Name On Everybody's Lips Is Gonna Be... Conway"

Saturday Night Live dove deep into the psyche of President Trump adviser "Kellyanne Conway" (Kate McKinnon) last night, imagining the former pollster reveling in her rise in the political world.

Clip description:

The bit started off by showing Conway in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, where she consistently found ways to pivot away from answering questions. Eventually, the interview took a sharp turn when it became a musical number about how Conway is now almost as much of a celebrity figure as Trump.

SNL: "Hillary Clinton" Appeals To Electoral College In "Love Actually" Parody

Last night's SNL featured a parody of the iconic scene from holiday film classic Love Actually in which Andrew Lincoln silently admits his love for Keira Knightley via a set of written poster cards.

In SNL's version, Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon) appears on the doorstep of a member of the Electoral College (Cecily Strong) with her own set of poster cards. Some very funny poster cards.

This was "actually" laugh out loud funny to me. You've got to watch.

Equally funny was the cold open, featuring Alec Baldwin's "Donald Trump" and Kate McKinnon as "Kellyanne Conway," which hit on some of the Trumpster's sore spots.

From the New York Times:

In its final episode of 2016, “S.N.L.,” the sketch series and enduring thorn in Mr. Trump’s side, began with a cold open on Saturday that went hard at some sensitive spots for the president-elect: his relationship to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, his courtship of Melania Trump, and some of his recent gaffes and cabinet nominations. The show all but dared Mr. Trump to respond on his Twitter account, but he did not immediately do so.

A bare-chested Mr. Putin (played by the “S.N.L.” cast member Beck Bennett) soon came down the chimney with a Santa sack. He profusely flattered Mr. Trump as “the best candidate” and “the smartest candidate” — and “the Manchurian candidate,” implying Mr. Trump was an unwitting Russian puppet. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds tremendous,” Mr. Trump said.

SNL: "Crazy Lesbian Cat Ladies" With Kristen Wiig & Kate McKinnon

Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon take to the air for their annual Thanksgiving Catacopia Giveaway, which serves to find their favorite pussy cats homes for the holidays.

Along the way, the ladies share some personal info with the viewing audience:

Wiig: “This is Butternut. Butternut is a master of psychological manipulation, who specializes in gaslighting.”

McKinnon: “Does he ever. He convinced me I was the cat. It started with an innocent suggestion. Cut to two months later and I’m eating tuna and licking my own butthole.”

Wiig: “AKA the greatest week of my life.”

We also are treated to an appearance by a certain "magical" Broadway kitty. Or, not.

SNL's Brilliant Cold Open: "Hillary" Sings "Hallelujah"

Stone-cold brilliant.

One secret to great theatre is to take your audience on a ride, and then make a left turn that changes tone but keeps you on the same ride.

In a sober (not somber) tribute to the end of the election and the passing of legendary songwriter Leonard Cohen, Saturday Night Live's cold opening featured Kate McKinnon in her "Hillary Clinton" wig and pantsuit seated at a piano singing Cohen's iconic "Hallelujah."

The pairing of the song with what many in the nation are feeling (including Hillary) about the election is quietly stunning.

Catch that last set of lyrics, unaltered:

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Donald Trump Slaps At SNL - Calls Satirical Skit "Hit Job"

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took to Twitter to call Saturday Night Live's satirical reenactment of the 2nd presidential debate a "hit job," and part of an elaborate attempt by the media to "rig" the election.

Trump told his followers that the late night sketch show was "unfunny" and that it's time to retire the series. He gave Alec Baldwin's portrayal of him a big thumbs down saying Baldwin "stinks."

This is probably where I should point out that Trump happily appeared on the show last November.

The skit gave nods to all the memorable moments of the past week's race for the White House including Trump's recently discovered video tape from 2005 which caught him telling host Billy Bush he liked to kiss women when he felt like it and "grab 'em by the pussy," and his lurking behind Hillary Clinton during the debate in a shark-like manner.

Clinton wasn't left unscathed though. From the get go, the folks at SNL made fun of her seemingly over-rehearsed comments and responses.

The Trumpster told the Twitterverse he was not amused:

Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

Kate McKinnon won an Emmy Award skewering Hillary Clinton. And when McKinnon won, Hillary publicly congratulated her. Trump needs to learn a few lessons about not being so thin-skinned.

I have to say, every president and presidential candidate since the 1980s has been lampooned by SNL. If you can't handle satire, how are you going to handle being leader of the free world?

SNL Opens New Season With Alec Baldwin's Perfect "Donald Trump"

The 42nd season premiere of Saturday Night Live did not disappoint as newly-annointed Emmy Award winner Kate McKinnon came on strong with her incarnation of "Hillary Clinton," and Alec Baldwin delivered a drop-dead "Donald Trump," in SNL satirical version of this week's first presidential debate.

Mic has the recap:

"We should be talking about the important issues like Rosie O'Donnell and how she's a fat loser," Baldwin-as-Trump says after Clinton cedes her response time to him in the hopes of such a remark.

Jabbing at Trump's complaint that he experienced microphone problems during Monday's debate, Baldwin's character immediately turns the blame on Clinton.

"She broke it with Obama; she and Obama stole my microphone and took it to Kenya and they broke it," he says.

The sketch also features a sparring match almost identical to the one that played out on the debate stage on Monday, with McKinnon mimicking Clinton's speculation about why Trump has refused to release his tax returns while Trump interrupts her sporadically.

"He hasn't released his tax returns which means he's either not that rich," ("wrong") "not that charitable" ("wrong") "or he's never paid taxes in his life" ("warmer").

When Michael Che as Lester Holt asks "Clinton" why she is crying towards the end of the sketch, McKinnon's perfectly timed answer pretty much sums it up:

"This is going so well," she says, referring to Trump's unprompted reference to Rosie O'Donnell. "It's going exactly how I'd always dreamed."

SNL: A Hillary Christmas

Well, it was preordained that with both Amy Poehler and Tina Fey co-hosting SNL last night, there had to be a Hillary Clinton sketch.

Poehler reprised her "Hillary" of 2008 visiting Kate McKinnon's "Hillary" of 2015, with a bonus visit by Fey's "Sarah Palin."

Ah, the good old days...