Saturday Night Live cold open: Harvard, school president hearing

While last week’s Saturday Night Live episode delivered a predictable but satisfying cold open, tonight was a little more unpredictable. Would we get another take on a GOP Debate, or some other headlines from the past few weeks? We know that there were a lot of different possibilities floating around out there.

So what did the show decide on? Well, they actually tackled more of a hot-button issue in antisemitism on college campuses. There was a Congressional hearing involving university presidents that took place over the past several days, and we saw the show actually try to take it on … as challenging as that was to do.

Was there some comedy here? Sure, but the bigger issue here is that we’re talking about a subject that not everyone knows how to laugh at right now. The writers did not necessarily have a clear point of view and with that, a lot of the jokes fell flat. It really wasn’t until Kenan Thompson turned up as the University of Phoenix president that the audience started to get into it a little bit.

One thing that didn’t work as much was Chloe Troast’s impersonation of Elise Stefanik. It really wasn’t the impression so much as the fact that a lot of viewers out there probably have no idea what she actually sounds like. (Troast is still a rising star within the show, and has done some really great pieces the past few weeks. Also? She got to contribute to the “Live from New York,” which is incredibly rare for a featured player so early into their first season on the show.)

Will this cold open go viral like Bowen Yang as George Santos? Hardly, but we do think it was a daring choice for a show that easily could have gone in another direction.

What did you think about this weekend’s Saturday Night Live cold open?

Do you think it worked, or fell completely flat? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to also come back to get some other updates.