You know it’s been a busy week at “Saturday Night Live” under new leadership from John Mulaney. Duane Reade in a musical skit at the Port Authority Bus Terminal It is about the fifth most important issue to be discussed.

The biggest news as previously reportedIt was when Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in the cold open to “stop the drama” and literally mirror Maya Rudolph’s portrayal of her. We’ll talk more about this outline in a moment.

Also musical guest and festival sensation Chappell Roan performed the sing-along hit “Pink Pony Club” and also made a debut surprise country song“Transmitter.”

In another surprise, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 vice presidential candidate running alongside Hillary Clinton, called him “What’s This Name?A game show sketch. In the film, Mulaney plays a man who claims to care deeply about Tuesday’s presidential election but can’t remember Kaine’s name.

Maya Rudolph (left) with Vice President Kamala Harris during the cold open.

(NBC/Will Heath/NBC)

Who is Mulaney? Hosted “Everybody’s in LA” for Netflix In May and who will host it Weekly live show for broadcaster in early 2025has done an admirable job of keeping it all together into a solid mix of sketches. There was an extremely stupid video where Mulaney played a ground control officer. help the chimpanzee astronaut return to Earth early in the show. Two sketches late in the episode compressed many jokes into simple premises: one was about Little Richard (Kenan Thompson). Too much appearance on a 1990s sitcom. And the other one was starring Mulaney real-life New York City Council candidate Harvey EpsteinIn a campaign video, he admits that both names are deeply problematic.

Even if it’s not a Broadway extravaganza Duane Reade’s latest edition (more on that below), Mulaney’s hosting would have been at the top of the 50th season so far, or at least neck-and-neck with Ariana Grande a few weeks ago.

A title card honored before closing farewells Teri Garr, who died this week. actor hosted the show three times In the 1980s.

Rudolph finally came face to face with the real-life Harris in this week’s cold open; his mirror-talking arrogance seemed like a recent incident. Illustration by Jennifer Coolidge. But three days before the national election, there was plenty of ground to cover, including former President Trump (James Austin Johnson) donning a large orange vest to “wear on a garbage truck” at a rally and mocking former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney (“I just said I want him to go hunting with his father”).

J.D. Vance (Bowen Yang) made a brief appearance before seeing the return of Jim Gaffigan as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, and Dana Carvey as President Biden.

But of course it was Kamala Harris. I got the biggest reactionJoining Rudolph, “We’re live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

In his sixth outing as host, Mulaney delivered a breakneck, fast-moving monologue that was notable for making absolutely no mention of the upcoming election. Instead, Mulaney started by updating viewers on his family life: recently got married Olivia Munn and She now has a 5 week old daughter. With a 2 year old son. He described the relative heights of all the people in his life who were taller than him; these included her even shorter mother-in-law, Munn, and a nanny who was “negative three feet tall.” Mulaney talked about his parents, who are aging too slowly for his liking (“They still have brown hair and go on bike rides”) and what it’s like to consider hip replacement surgery at 42.

Best skit of the night: Bring Beppo home

There’s something about Mulaney and the monkeys that works on “SNL.” two years after appearing as the monkey judgeIn the series, the host plays a character who tries hard to bring Beppo, America’s first chimpanzee into Earth orbit, back home safely. Beppo can communicate with words through a keyboard of symbols, but when mission control loses control of the spacecraft, it’s up to Mulaney’s character to tell the chimpanzee the bad news in words he can understand: “Beppo, don’t go home. Let Beppo sink into darkness. Beppo equals zero forever.” The video sketch goes through several dark and absurd twists and turns, includes a “Hidden Figures” reference, and ends triumphantly…sort of. Extra points for making doomed chimpanzee Beppo look so realistic and adorable.

Also good: Duane Reade milk is organic, not organic

Whenever John Mulaney hosts “SNL,” there’s always a good chance he’ll bring back the musical tribute sketch It will take place at Duane Reade at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. For this latest version, former actor Pete Davidson returns and returns to buy a jug of milk; this milk turns out to be from a family of possums (Thompson and Ego Nwodim), who turn the piece into a “Lion King” number. Marcello Hernández steals a locked-up bottle of shampoo, while New York City mayor Eric Adams (Thompson) parodies “Aladdin” by referencing his Turkish connections. There was more, so much more, but the standout might be Samberg returning to perform “Baby Bear Carcass” to go along with the “Hamilton” opening number. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s strange Central Park story. As the draft notes, the former presidential candidate is still on the ballot in two swing states. You either love these New York-based musical skits or find them completely random, but you can’t deny that they’re ambitious.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Reba!

Hernandez and newcomer Jane Wickline “one The couple you can’t believe they’re together“, but it was Heidi Gardner as “The Voice” coach and country superstar Reba McEntire who won “Weekend Update” this week. In a follow-up segment Indulge in the magic of the show with McEntire (why not host sometime?) Gardner portrayed the singer as an undecided voter. “Call me Shawn Mendes because I’m still figuring it outhe said. Gardner’s arm-waving impression matched strange stories about McEntire’s hometown of McAlester, Okla.; here “If you think the milk has gone bad, give it another sip.” Even more disturbing: Reba says she’s the daughter of a Republican mother and a father who is Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s “It.” “My mother was working 59 jobs. “My father had only one thing: to eat children.” Was this the most accurate Reba impression? It wasn’t. Was it the weirdest? Definitely. Let’s get the real McEntire on the show to do another one of her mirror sketches.