Saturday Night Live reimagined the impeachment inquiry into President Trump as a literal soap opera, not just a political one. Jon Hamm made a cameo in the dense cold-open sketch, playing William B. Taylor Jr., acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
The segment opened with a voiceover that outlined the premise: Given that some news outlets criticized the impeachment hearings as “lacking in pizzazz,” why not add some theatricality to the headlines? (Nonetheless, the narrator noted, it’s still “the first soap where you can’t imagine any of the people in it having sex.”)
“Days of Our Impeachment” rounded up many of the major players from the inquiry thus far, including a wide-eyed Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (a wide-eyed Alex Moffat); an argumentative Jim Jordan (Mikey Day) and former American ambassador to Ukraine Marie L. Yovanovitch (Cecily Strong).
Kate McKinnon also reprised her role as Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, spouting nonsensical asides and bizarre one-liners. “I’ve got an insurance policy in case the president turns against me,” the lawyer noted. “I’m going to die in a mysterious boat explosion.” Asked if he’s planning to fake his own death, Giuliani fired back, “Oh, I can fake it? Great, I’ll do that.”
The cast also included Pete Davidson as attorney Michael Avenatti, arriving with a “bombshell” many months too late. “The president had an affair!” he exclaims. “Yeah, we know,” Yovanovitch replies, with Taylor noting, “That storyline is from last season.” The sketch also veers into an amnesia subplot, a random appearance from Kenan Thompson as suspended NFL defensive end Myles Garrett and a climactic kiss between Hamm’s character and Melissa Villaseñor’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Though he didn’t appear in the cold-open, Harry Styles hosted the episode and appeared as musical guest, playing his new songs “Watermelon Sugar” and “Lights Up.”
