Media & Culture

SNL returns to 30 Rock — at last! — with Jim Carrey as Joe Biden

NBC’s Saturday Night Live returned last night from a long hiatus spanning a summer of crises to brilliantly spoof the first presidential “debate” between Donald Trump and Joe Biden … and to capture the national zeitgeist during one of the most bizarre chapters in American history. Watch highlights from the forty-sixth season premiere below, and remember: laughter is good for you!

The cold open: Chris Wallace (Beck Bennett) moderates the first presidential debate between Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Joe Biden (Jim Carrey).

The monologue: Host Chris Rock does stand-up about Donald Trump contracting COVID-19, the pandemic and the U.S. government.

Spot-on impression of the week: A commercial advertises Drew Barrymore’s (Chloe Fineman) new daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show.

Weekend Update, Part One: Anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like a poll showing overwhelming support for Joe Biden from the LGBTQ community.

Weekend Update, Part Two: Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like the fight over the vacancy left by Justice Ginsburg’s death.

Weekend Update, Part Three: Chinese trade representative Chen Biao (Bowen Yang) stops by Weekend Update to talk about the US’ ban on TikTok.

Watch all performances and sketches uploaded from the season premiere.

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.

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