“Saturday Night Live” returned this weekend and immediately took aim at Fox News over private text messages revealed in the Dominion Voter Systems lawsuit.
The 14th episode of Season 48 was hosted by Super Bowl winner and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The musical guest was Kelsea Ballerini.
Cold Open
“SNL” started things off with cast members Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner and Bowen Yang as hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade, respectively, on Fox News’ long-running morning show “Fox & Friends.” Fox News has yet to publicly address the scathing revelations so “SNL” mocked how they might handle it.
Day seemed to grasp the context of the lawsuit, while Gardner and Yang were in the dark about the allegations against Fox News.
“Well, you may have heard that Fox News is currently facing a $1.6 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems,” Day begins.
Yang jumps in by saying he’s surprised by the lawsuit because he’s “such a fan of ‘Dominions’ — the little yellow guys with the overalls,” and then proceeds to mimic the sounds of the computer-animated Minion characters.
“We’re talking about the Dominion voting machines lawsuit. And our boss, Rupert Murdoch, gave some pretty shocking testimony in the case,” Day responds.
This prompted Gardner to defend the media mogul, who she confused with another person in the news with a similar name.
“This whole trial has been so unfair. They are raking him over the coals. Rupert Murdoch would never murder anyone … They sent him away for life. Look how sad he looks. Now, where’s that picture I found?” says Gardner.
A picture shows Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina attorney who was convicted of murdering his wife and son.
“That’s not Rupert Murdoch, that’s Alex Murdaugh,” Doocy explains.
“Well, we just blew the case wide open — they got the wrong guy,” Gardner responds.
Monologue
Kelce touched on how he won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles. In the audience was his brother, who plays for the Eagles.
Sketches
Kelce plays a eulogist for Ms. Glenda, who he introduces as a “mother, grandmother and lover.” The funeral quickly turns absurd to the dismay of those in attendance.
In another sketch, cast members Ego Nwodim and James Austin Johnson play parents who meet with their children and perform songs about important news.
Weekend Update
Co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che joked about current events including the drag performance ban in Tennessee, the racist “Dilbert” controversy and George Santos’ ethics investigation.
“Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a new law banning public drag performances with a six-year prison sentence for repeat offenders — as first predicted in the now-documentary ‘Madea Goes to Jail,'” said Jost.
Jost continued: “A Tennessee state senator said the bill will prevent kids from being quote ‘blindsided by a sexualized performance in public.’ What are you talking about? Drag shows don’t just pop up like flash mobs and sprinkle gay dust on your kids. I never accidentally happened upon a drag show and I grew up in New York City. Now, I have been blindsided by a sexualized performance a few times, but that’s just what you get when you take the bus.”
Che took a jab at Santos for using numerous aliases. “The House Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into George Santos. ‘Well, thank God I’m not George Santos,’ said George Santos,” said Che.
Later, the cartoon character “Dilbert” sat at the news desk and took questions from Che amid the fallout over racist comments by creator Scott Adams.
“Saturday Night Live” will have a new episode next weekend with actress Jenna Ortega serving as host and with musical guest The 1975.
