Kamala Harris, Donald Trump face off on 'Family Feud' in 'SNL' cold open
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are facing off one more time before the election − on "Saturday Night Live," at least.
The NBC sketch comedy show's latest cold open depicted Trump (played by James Austin Johnson) declining another presidential debate with Harris (Maya Rudolph), but agreeing to compete with her on the game show "Family Feud." Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff (Andy Samberg), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and President Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) joined Harris on the Democratic team, while the Republican team included Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) and Sen. JD Vance (Bowen Yang).
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"It's wonderful to be here, Steve," Rudolph's Harris told host Steve Harvey, played by Kenan Thompson. "I love to see a man getting paid millions of dollars at his Black job." After Harris declared her campaign has raised $1 billion, Harvey asked how she isn't winning by a landslide, leading the vice president to nervously laugh. "That's a question I scream into my pillow every morning," she said. The sketch also joked about Harris' recent media blitz, with Samberg's Emhoff saying he was "not asked" to do any interviews.
On the Republican side, Yang's Vance announced it was refreshing to be on a show "that celebrates families, unlike the Democrats, who turned our hero, the Joker, into a gay guy who's obsessed with Lady Gaga!"
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During the game, the contestants were asked to name something they keep in their glove compartment. After ringing in, Rudolph's Harris gave a long-winded response about her family history before finally answering, "A glock, Steve. A big old glock." Samberg's Emhoff, so impressed by Harris' answer, gave the exact same response − which turned out to be on the board again (another gun).
Biden, meanwhile, was depicted by Carvey as being confused about where he was, mistakenly calling Harvey "Regis" (aka Philbin, who died in 2020) and asking to buy a vowel. "I'm not the old one now, Trump is," he said. "The only difference, I know when to walk away: about six months too late!" The sketch wrapped with Johnson's Trump giving a rambling answer, after which Harvey yelled, "Show me dementia!"
'SNL' returns:Jim Gaffigan plays Tim Walz, Dana Carvey is President Joe Biden
Ariana Grande impersonates Britney Spears, Jennifer Coolidge and more on 'SNL'
Ariana Grande hosted the episode and showed off her spot-on celebrity impressions throughout the show. In her opening monologue, the "Wicked" star performed a song about how she won't be singing during the episode, all while doing brief impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani.
Grande also quipped during her monologue, "The last time I hosted was in 2016, and we were right on the verge of electing our first female president, so I guess second time's the charm."
Later, Grande got the giggles while showing off a Jennifer Coolidge impression in a sketch where the "White Lotus" star talks to her reflection during a commercial for Maybelline, and another sketch saw her play Celine Dion in a spoof of the singer's recent Sunday Night Football promo.
'SNL' skewers VP debate:The cold open mocks JD Vance and Tim Walz
Stevie Nicks performs 'The Lighthouse,' 'Edge of Seventeen' on 'SNL'
This week's musical guest was Stevie Nicks, who dazzled with a performance of her new feminist anthem "The Lighthouse." She previously said she started writing the song after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Nicks also performed her classic song "Edge of Seventeen."
"SNL" will return next week with host Michael Keaton and musical guest Billie Eilish.
Contributing: Jennifer McClellan
