SNL: Taran Killam's Donald Trump is HUGE on Premiere Episode!

All summer, I've thought that Lorne Michaels and Darrell Hammond would be just itching to get back on the air, so that they could skewer Donald Trump. I was half right. Hammond--who returned to replace the late Don Pardo as announcer last year--didn't get to play Trump, one of his signature impressions. But current SNL male lead, Taran Killam--bizarrely named, but very talented--had clearly been spending his summer perfecting his Trump impersonation, because it is spot on. Cecily Strong also continued to prove that being moved out of Weekend Update and back into prominence in sketches was the right move. She's terrific too, as Trump's most recent immigrant wife.

SNL Scores with Hillary Clinton Appearance

This weekend marked the 41st season premiere of Saturday Night Live, and there I was, just as I had been for season one, watching live. It's the first time in a long time for me, since I've been in the Pacific time zone for the past twenty years. But I have watched most season openers, even if they were on tape delay. And usually--oddly--the first episode is shaky, like a bad first day of school. This one wasn't, in my opinion. It was fairly strong. Particularly the political stuff.

One of the best bits was something SNL does fairly often, but not often well: the appearance of a real-life presidential candidate in a sketch. In this one, Kate McKinnon, whose Hillary impression is getting better but not on the mark yet, meets with the real Clinton for some fairly good--and politically effective--banter. Good job!