The 2019 season of Saturday Night Live has been off to a pretty great start so far. While there have certainly been a few duds here and there (there always are), most of the skits have been pretty enjoyable.
Today, we are going to be taking a look at the season, and talk about ten of the best skits of the season so far. There's a lot to get through, and a lot of presidential candidates to make fun of, so let's get into it.
DNC Town Hall
The DNC Town Hall skit really was a great start to the season. While the show was rightfully criticized for not including Julián Castro in the skit at all (casting issues perhaps?), the actual content of the skit was just hilarious. The skit mainly focused on Biden, Harris, Sanders and Warren, with most of the other candidates getting a quick intro, with a fantastic impression of Booker being a highlight. The four frontrunners were played by actors Woody Harrelson, Maya Rudolph, Larry David and of course, Kate McKinnon, all of whom played off the candidates personalities beautifully, with each of them getting a great chance to shine.
The War In Words: William And Lydia
The War In Words: William and Lydia, sees a couple sending letters to one another throughout a war, with Lydia's getting increasingly worrying as time goes on. It all reaches a boiling point when Lydia decides that the best course of action is to send a very disturbing package overseas to her husband. This one is certainly better watched than described.
Mid-Day News
Mid-Day News sees four news anchors reading stories of different crimes committed, all while keeping score of whether it was a black or white perpetrator. The skit plays heavily in stereotypes in a playful manner.
The skit is offensive in just the right way (those are words you hear put together often, huh?), and is well-acted from all four of the anchors (and a wonderful weatherman that also gets in on the action), making this one of the better skits of the season.
Spooky Song
Chance the Rapper was an absolutely fantastic host and musical guest for this season of Saturday Night Live. The musician had a few standout skits, and one of them was Spooky Song. This skit featured a group of spirits who rose from the grave to sing a spooky song about how they met their end. After unsuccessfully attempting to get the other ghosts to skip him, Chance's spirit finally admits how he died, and it... well, words can't really do it justice. This is one you should really just watch.
Mike Pence Impeachment Strategy
The Mike Pence Impeachment Strategy skit was just another one of the fantastic political cold opens that this season has delivered so far. The skit sees Beck Bennett reprising his fantastic Mike Pence, as he and AG Barr (Aidy Bryant) and Rudy Giuliani (Kate McKinnon) discuss the impeachment with a number of other guests. Bennett's Pence is a great part of the sketch, while Kate McKinnon's Giuliani is just as terrible and accurate as it always is. There are some great one-liners in this sketch that help it manage to nab an entry on this list.
Grouch
The Grouch is a skit that was released shortly after the Joker movie, and sees a gritty origin story of Grouch from Sesame Street. The trailer is peppered with different reviews asking, "Do we really need this?" as we see the character's slow descent into grouchiness. We also get a look at some of the other Muppets in their gritty, origin story form. This skit was an absolute gem, and garnered quite a bit of mainstream coverage. This is another one that should probably just be watched (then again, they kind of all are).
Equality Town Hall
While not as funny as the Impeachment Town Hall, the Equality Town Hall reassembled the democratic candidates (including Julián Castro this time, portrayed by Lin Manuel Miranda), all played by the same actors. Woody Harrelson again delivered as Biden, and was one of the highlights of the sketch.
Kate McKinnon continued to do no wrong, and her Elizabeth Warren was just as fantastic as it was in the other town hall sketch. It's basically an A- compared to the A+ that the impeachment town hall was, still fantastic in its own right.
Love At First Sight
Love at first sight sees Cecily Strong and Chance The Rapper, shockingly, falling in love at first sight. When this occurs, the characters start flying because the feeling is so magical. However, they only actually manage to get about three feet off of the floor, and start knocking everything over as they fly around carelessly. This skit was actually so chaotic that they uploaded the dress rehearsal version to YouTube, which still features a solid amount of breaking from the actors and nonsense.
Peter, Paula, And Murray
Peter, Paula, and Murray is a throwback skit that sees a folk trio singing a song about the passage of time. It starts out somewhat tame, but as they start recounting different ways that they've been spending the time (and how they feel about one another), things start to spiral. Okay, it really doesn't start that tame, but it only gets wilder as the skit goes on. The song is also like, weirdly good? Let's get this one on Spotify, SNL!
Chen Biao Weekend Update Segment
Chen Biao's Weekend Update segment is Bowen Yang's breakout moment on his debut season. The comedian is already being used heavily (while Melissa Villaseñor is still paid dust a few years in), and this segment truly just solidified why. The skit centers on Chinese trade representative Chen Biao giving his thoughts on how the trade war is escalating between the US and China. The segment is just a showcase of Yang's comedic abilities, as every line and action is delivered flawlessly. There's no shortage of hilarity from this segment, and it just might be the best of the season so far.