First-time host Chris Pine presided over Saturday Night Live‘s second-ever fully live episode — but was he the right Chris for the job?
Following a Morning Joe parody featuring only the voice of Alec Baldwin’s President Donald Trump, the Wonder Woman star kicked off his hosting duties by letting everyone know that he was not Chris Pratt… or Chris Hemsworth… or Chris Evans… or any other Hollywood hunk named Chris. And how did he do this exactly? Through song, of course, singing along to the melody of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.”
If that doesn’t sound good to you, that’s because it wasn’t. Anyone who has watched SNL long enough knows that when the show has the host sing in their opening monologue, it’s typically because there were no better ideas. SNL‘s third-to-last episode of the season would continue to flounder, with few laughs had among the night’s many parodies, including Star Trek, Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Keep scrolling down for all the highlights…
STAR TREK
Pine returned to the role of Kirk, only this time in a “lost episode” of the original series introduced by Kenan Thompson’s Neil deGrasse Tyson. Bobby Moynihan got most, if not all of the laughs here as Spocko, Spock’s never-before-mentioned half-brother from Queens who tries to break out with the catchphrase “Now that’s a Star Trek!“
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
Pine, Mikey Day and Alex Moffat played a trio of douche bros in this spoof on the acclaimed Hulu drama, which featured Cecily Strong as Elisabeth Moss’ Offred, Vanessa Bayer as Ofglen and Zamata as Moira. It was almost entirely void of actual jokes, relying on the audience to find the guys’ one-dimensional characters funny enough to carry the entire sketch.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS KELLYANNE CONWAY?
This reimagining of the 1990s children’s show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? subbed in Trump’s (former?) key adviser for the elusive criminal. It was visually perfect, but that’s about it. And just when it felt like it was getting started, it was suddenly over. (Kudos to Sasheer Zamata for her flawless impression of The Chief.)
AUTO SHOP
Pine and most of the male cast really “brought the fish,” portraying a group of greasy mechanics almost too embarrassed to discuss their current TV obsession, RuPaul’s Drag Race. After eventually admitting to themselves that they all watch the reality competition, Pine and Moynihan launched into the kind of lip sync battle you’d expect to see on the Logo-turned-VH1 series, with Thompson determining which of them would have to “sashay away.”
What were your favorite sketches of the night? And what missed the mark? Grade the episode via our poll, then hit the comments and make your picks.
