Posted in: Current News, NBC, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL Cold Open: Trump Talks "Arctic Immigrants," Epstein Files & More

The SNL 51 Cold Open saw Trump (James Austin Johnson) tackling the Epstein Files, Venezuela, the economy, "The Hunger Games," and more.

We've got a festive yet bittersweet edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live tonight. On the one hand, we have host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher for a year-end, holiday-themed show, which is always something special. On the other hand, we're staring down a break until the end of January or the beginning of February. But more than that, we're looking at tonight being the final show for SNL star Bowen Yang, who confirmed his departure in a heartfelt post earlier today (more on that below). How did SNL choose to kick off the final show ahead of the midseason break?

Tonight's Cold Open offers a holiday message from Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), warning Americans of "Arctic immigrants" sneaking in through chimneys and stealing milk and cookies. From there, Trump notes that he has his own "nativity" going on, where leaders from the Mideast bring him gifts. Why is Trump putting his name on everything, like the Kennedy Center? Trump argues that it's to make up for his name being removed from the Epstein Files. From there, Trump argued that the economy and fighting Venezuela were going great, before pushing his own version of "The Hunger Games"… The Patriot Games. However, the topic shifted back to the Epstein Files, with Trump showing us a wonderfully redacted page from the files that exonerates him (heavily redacted, of course). And yes, Trump did say that Melissa Etheridge and Elton John were in the Indigo Girls.

First joining SNL as a writer in 2018, Yang would become a featured player during Season 45 and a full cast member with Season 47. Though not exactly the norm, Yang joins SNL alums Cecily Strong, Molly Shannon, Dana Carvey, Eddie Murphy, and others when it comes to exiting the long-running sketch comedy and music series early. Here's a look at Yang's post from earlier today, confirming his exit. Following that, we have th complete text of his message, where he rolls out a number of people to thank, and a look back at his on-stage promos with Grande and Cher:

i loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people. i was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.

i'm grateful for every minute of my time there. i learned about myself (bad with wigs). i learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). i learned that human error can be nothing but correct. i learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn't, which is the besssst.

thank you to every single person who showed up there: friends and coworkers and audiences and hosts. thank you celeste, sudi, will, alison, julio, fran, drez, bulla, marty, john, ben, jimmy, ceara, deetch, jake, asha, jack, auguste, tucker, kent, streeter, james, alex, jasmine, gary, and billy for writing with me. thank you to every cast member for making me laugh and cry. to liz and don. tom, jodi, louie, eamon. gena, chris, eddie. the crews, the pages. and to audrey, jameson, cassandra and chris for the fastest, funnest quick-changes in all of showbiz. thank you to ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way i could imagine.

thank you to lorne for the job. for the standard. and for bringing everyone at work together. they all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. i can't believe i was ever included in that.

the show doesn't go on because it's ready, but shiiiiit, i hope i am. ❤️🌃⌛️🎥

The Season 51 cast includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang, along with current featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. Joining them are newcomers Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.

New writers for this season include actor-writer Jack Bensinger (Rap World), stand-up comedian Jo Sunday (Just for Laughs), comic Maddie Wiener (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), actor and writer Rachel Pegram (Harley Quinn), writer-comedian Claire McFadden (Second City), Maxwell Gay (The Harvard Lampoon), and Tucker Flodman (The Harvard Lampoon). NBC's Saturday Night Live premiered on Oct. 11, 1975, and broadcasts live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.

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