Media & Culture

SNL season finale: Paul Rudd hosts, Alec Baldwin and Robert de Niro return for cold open

Below are a collection of highlights from the twenty-first and final episode of Saturday Night Live’s forty-fourth season, hosted by Paul Rudd:

The cold open: Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and members of his administration share their summer plans, namely golf and rage-tweeting.

The women of The View (Leslie Jones, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Melissa Villaseñor) welcome Pete Buttigieg (Paul Rudd) to the show.

The monologue: Paul Rudd reflects on his previous three times hosting SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like Trump’s administration overhauling immigration and considering war with Iran.

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro (Cecily Strong) stops by Weekend Update to talk about losing advertisers after the comments she made about Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Leslie Jones stops by Weekend Update to comment on Alabama passing an abortion ban in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade.

And an SNL bonus:

Browse all sketches and performances uploaded from this week’s episode.

Andrew Villeneuve

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

Recent Posts

A failure of imagination about Trump

"American minds are not ready to think about how fast democracy could disintegrate," Tom Nichols…

5 days ago

Abortion rights groups have never faced a state like Florida

"Voters in states across the political spectrum have backed abortion rights since the fall of…

5 days ago

The dangerous rise of GPS attacks

"Thousands of planes and ships are facing GPS jamming and spoofing. Experts warn these attacks…

7 days ago

If Trump gets back into power, he plans to flout the Constitution and become a dictator

Time's Eric Cortellessa was granted multiple audiences with Donald Trump and wrote a chilling report…

1 week ago

Donald Trump hoped to sidestep abortion in this year’s campaign – Arizona’s near-total ban shows why he can’t

"While court proceedings are likely to delay implementation of the ruling, the political impact was…

3 weeks ago

Caitlin Clark stops by Weekend Update, Kate McKinnon returns to SNL for cold open with Ryan Gosling

Watch highlights from the seventeenth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Ryan Gosling, with…

3 weeks ago