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Lin-Manuel Miranda Hosts Saturday Night Live With Gusto, As Tina Fey And Jimmy Fallon Stop By
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Gothamist Staff
Published Oct 9, 2016
Modified Oct 9, 2016
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By
Gothamist Staff
Published Oct 9, 2016
Modified Oct 9, 2016
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Hamilton creator and overall culture omnivore Lin-Manuel Miranda acquitted himself well as host of Saturday Night Live. During his monologue, he mentioned his fame, thanks to his Tony- and Grammy-winning musical, "[It's] is one of the biggest hits ever on Broadway so that means most of you watching at home have no idea who I am."
Miranda did a version of one of the Hamilton numbers, "My Shot," during the monologue, "Yes, I'm right in my element / Who knew 'Hamilton' would be so topically relevant? / The way these grandstanding candidates be talkin' / they're just a Tweet away from facing off in Weehawken." Bonus points for almost calling Donald Trump a "piece of shit" in front of his photograph in a hallway, and then breaking into the chorus from "The Reynolds Pamphlet"—"Never gon’ be President now."
The cold open was the Trump Tape debacle, and Kate McKinnon's gleeful Hillary Clinton was excellent while Mikey Day's Tim Kaine was pretty good.
The Trump commentary continued during "Weekend Update." Michael Che expressed shock that Trump was able to top his insanity, "You started your campaign accusing Mexicans of being rapists. Now you're on tape explaining how you sexually assault women. The only way that could be more hypocritical if you said it in Spanish." Then Colin Jost questioned why Trump tried to excuse his remarks as locker room banter, "Which locker room—Penn State?... It's not how humans talk."
Then, perhaps in an effort to address the (valid) criticism after he welcomed Trump to The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon appeared on "Update" with Tina Fey. The pair played two Philadelphia women, and Fey said of Fallon's character, "Everyone thinks you love Trump. You're always like 'Oh, his hair is real, you know.'"
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was spoofed by Kate McKinnon in a taped segment that imagined her day off...until Trump Tweets. And, in a brief sketch, Cecily Strong's Melania Trump was trotted out again, imagining the fourth Mrs. Trump being born in Latvia.
Other great sketches included "Crucible Cast Party" which was a little too real for anyone who has ever been to a high school drama production cast party, because who wouldn’t be seduced by hearing that the spring production is Rent? And the "Behind-The-Scenes of ‘Stranger Things’" sketch meant we finally met Lucas’ parents, played by spot-on Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson.
By Jen Chung and Alice Fishbein
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saturday night live
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Gothamist Staff
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