After a major cast shake-up, 'SNL' confronts its weaknesses — but can't overcome them
. The preemptive strike was also a smart move given the diminished profile of “SNL” as a relevant or reliable comedy source. But even with the funny, self-depreciating opener, the first episode of the new season wasn’t a stunning success or a total flop. It was middling, which is perhaps the worst place to be for a series whose writing, particularly its political satire, hasn’t popped in some time.
Executive producer Lorne Michaels referred to this season as a “transition year,” after stars Davidson, McKinnon and Bryant left along with Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari, Alex Moffat and Chris Redd. Change is something that “SNL” really needs, but Saturday showed that scrambling the cast won’t make a difference if there is not enough consistently strong material to work with.
The cold open focused on Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago. Peyton complained that there were no “fun” impressions, like Rudy Giuliani or Lindsey Graham. But those were all done by McKinnon, said Eli, noting “SNL’s” major talent loss right at the outset. They called out the “new guy” Michael Longfellow for freezing on camera and noted a surprise fumble from “veteran Bowen Yang” when the comedian, playing China’s President Xi Jinping, purposefully flubbed the pronunciation of “corgi.
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