The best cold open of Saturday Night Live’s Season 51—so far—did not have the hallmark makings of an instant classic. For starters, it was a political cold open. In previous seasons, the current-event-oriented sketches had a tendency to feel stale, more like an exercise to be worked through than a bit of comedy to be enjoyed. Plus, it was the season premiere, an episode that otherwise did not stand out.
Whoever made the decision to take Colin Jost out from behind the Weekend Update desk for the Season 51 opener deserves a round of applause. Jost portrayed an awkward and douchey Pete Hegseth addressing the nation’s generals. The Secretary of Defense (dubbed the Secretary of War by the Trump administration) had a busy summer full of weird and terrifying decisions. Just before the new season of SNL premiered on October 4, Hegseth called a meeting of all U.S. generals. The rare gathering was filled with bizarre antics, including a tirade against the “woke culture” of the U.S. military.
Casting Jost as Hegseth was one of the smartest—and most obvious—decisions to make for this sketch. The Update anchor put his oft-teased Staten Island frat vibe to work, imbuing that energy into a squeaky, aggressive impression of Hegseth.
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“Now listen up, everyone. Okay?” Jost’s Hegseth began. “I summon all of you here today to address a serious problem. Okay? Our military is gay as hell.”
“And I’m not just talking about the Navy,” he continued. “Thanks to failed liberal policies, our army has never been gayer. And yet, it’s also never been fatter. Make that make sense. Am I right?”
The delivery was excellent—and Jost’s ability to play it straight let the dialogue hit even harder: “And hey, if you’re out there, you don’t want to lose the weight. You don’t want to follow the rules,” Jost’s Hegseth continued. “Hey, no problem. You know who’s going to want your sick, twisted, fat ass? ICE. Got a sign-up sheet for ICE in the hallway.”
It was masterful to start out with a political figure that wasn’t President Donald Trump. As great as James Austin Johnson’s Trump impression is, it wasn’t new or fresh enough to helm the beginning of a new season. Using other characters in the Trump orbit to warm up the audience for a Trump impression is also a model SNL continued to utilize throughout the season; in Episode 6, Ashley Padilla gave a star-turn as Karoline Leavitt. Like Jost’s performance, it emphasized the most unpalatable parts of the political figure while still offering up clever and biting punchlines.
If SNL continues to double down on the ripped-from-the-headlines political cold open, replicating these choices will be a way to ensure we don’t write this blog again.
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