NBC’s Saturday Night Live returns on January 30th. To celebrate the new season we have a recap of some of the best moments of the show’s 46th season.
Season 46 of SNL marked the show’s return to New York City with a limited in-studio audience. As it continues on January 30th with host John Kransinksi and musical guest Machine Gun Kelly, we look back at memorable moments from this season.
Megan thee Stallion’s Powerful Rendition of Her Hit Single “Savage”
Megan Thee Stallion made her musical debut on the season premiere. About midway through performing her song “Savage,” gunshot sound effects stopped the performance; Megan and her dancers paused as audio recordings of Malcolm X, and activist Tamika Mallory played. As a response to the ruling in the Breonna Taylor case, Megan told the audience, “We need to protect our Black women. And love our Black women ’cause at the end of the day, we need our Black women.” The song resumed as the message “Protect Black Women” appeared on the screens behind her.
VP Fly Debate Cold Open
Maya Rudolph and cast member Beck Bennet reprised their roles as VP Kamala Harris and former VP Mike Pence to reimagine the historic 2020 vice presidential debate. Both Rudolph and Bennett delivered entertaining performances, but Jim Carrey stole the show as Joe Biden playing the role of the fly on Pence’s head during the debate.
Dave Chappelle’s Hilarious but Meaningful Opening Monologue
Chappelle balances his comedy with witty jokes and sincere social commentary; his 16-minute monologue when hosting was no different. Chappelle touched on various topics like gun violence, racism, the pandemic, and white anger. While edgy, his monologue proved heartfelt.
Rap Roundtable Skit with Timothée Chalamet and Pete Davidson
Timothée Chalamet put his hosting chops to the test for the first time this season. While he took part in various sketches, the most notable was when he and Pete Davidson portrayed Soundcloud rappers. In a skit called “Rap Roundtable,” Chalamet and Davidson starred as a hip-hop duo, Zan Mob, who spoke with The Roots drummer Questlove and Queen Latifah (Punkie Johnson) about the future of rap. Social media users created viral memes of the duo while Chalamet and Davidson’s song trended on TikTok. For weeks the lyrics “You never loved me mom, but I needed you Woah…” replayed online and in mine and so many others’ brains.
Kate Mckinnon Pays Tribute to the Late Ruth Bader Ginsberg
After a Weekend Update segment, the camera panned to the audience where Kate Mckinnon dressed as the late RBG. McKinnon placed her hand on her heart and bowed her head to beautifully honor RBG, who McKinnon had played on SNL since 2015.
Christmas Morning Rap Sketch with Kristen Wiig
This pre-recorded sketch was relatable to moms everywhere. While the husband and kids rapped about all their presents, the mom (Kristen Wiig) only received a robe. Many moms can relate to the funny reality of doing all the work for Christmas while receiving lackluster presents. This sketch aired right before Christmas, which hopefully caused many families to return the robes they got for their mothers.
This season has had its special moments, but we can’t wait for its return! Along with John Krasinski, Dan Levy and Regina King are set to host SNL later in the season with musical guests Phoebe Bridgers and Nate Rateliff.
Catch the return of SNL Saturday, January 30th at 11:30 pm ET/ 8:30 PT
