‘Saturday Night Live’ re-watch: Looking back at Taran Killam’s Donald Trump, Miley Cyrus show

There is no new episode of “Saturday Night Live” on NBC tonight, and with that we’re happy to be unveiling the first edition of our re-watch series, which we will be doing throughout the season to reflect on notable moments. Sometimes, these will be funny sketches. However, at other moments our focus will be more instead on ones that remain culturally significant.

For this particular article, we’re talking more about the latter since there is something very intriguing about watching the Donald Trump cold open through the lens that he is hosting the show on November 7. We wonder if he even watched this.

What makes this particular sketch so great, especially in comparison to some other political cold opens, is that there is more of a re-watch potential. While there are a few specific references dropped to current events, it is as much a spoof of the Trump character fronted by Taran Killam as any specific comment he made. This is probably why Trump is not so angry that he will not appear on the show. There’s nothing in here that is appalling or shocking; it’s mostly just silly comedy. Including his wife Melania (Cecily Strong) was probably a smart move, since it further adds to the character of the sketch and brings in a perspective that is equally interesting (and not always discussed in the media).

The rest of the show hosted by Miley Cyrus, for those re-watching tonight or watching for the first time, holds up pretty well. Miley’s character is a little hard at times to pin down, but the great thing about her is that she is game for almost everything and is very unpredictable. That’s a nice change from some other hosts who are a little one-note. The musical performances are also a little surprising for those who expected Miley to do upbeat party songs.

If you do want to get some other news related to “SNL” this season, head over to this link to see who is hosting the November 16 episode! Also, you can sign up here to get some further TV updates and exclusive teasers on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)