Premiering the night before Easter, the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” opened with a serene image of the sketch show cast members sitting at a long table, perfectly costumed and positioned to parallel Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” But the tranquility was short-lived with the arrival of cast member James Austin Johnson, who took over the cold open by telling the story of Easter as a monologue delivered by Donald Trump.
Last week’s episode also opened with a Trump spoof after the former president was indicted by a grand jury. On April 4, Trump pled not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. His arrest and arraignment made him the first president in U.S. history to ever be charged with a crime after leaving office. And this milestone was also addressed with this week’s cold open.
“A famous, wonderful man arrested for no reason at all. If you haven’t put it together folks, I’m comparing myself to Jesus again. And what better time than on his birthday, Easter,” Johnson as Trump said. “As we speak, I am being persecuted on a level, the likes of which the world has never seen. Even worse than the late, great Jesus.”
Embodying Trump, Johnson went on to offer comparisons between himself and Jesus: “we’re both very tall, very popular, and both, frankly, white Americans.” He also jokes that, like Jesus, he held massive rallies and his followers got in severe trouble. Johnson’s Trump also referred to Jesus’ Eastertime resurrection over a three-day period: “I would have done it faster. Possibly two days. I could have done it a lot faster,” Johnson sneered.
The biblical allusions continued with Johnson paralleling Florida governor Ron DeSantis to Judas, the infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus and suffered a macabre death.
“I’ve even got my very own Judas: Ron DeSantis,” Johnson said as Trump. “Ron DeSantis came to me, tears in his eyes, and said, ‘Help me, Mr. Trump, I’m going to lose my election.’ So I very generously pretended to like him. And then he did a Judas, and now he can’t even get the gays out of Disney World.”
The jab comes the same week as DeSantis’ latest attempt to gain control over Disney World and other Orlando theme parks with threats of increasing taxes in the area.
The April 8 episode features former “SNL” cast member Molly Shannon as host.
Shannon made her first appearance with her monologue, which she turned into a rousing showtune number that include a cameo appearance from “SNL” exec producer Lorne Michaels and Martin Short.
Wearing a sequined mini dress, Shannon sang the crowd pleaser “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” from the musical “Gypsy,” with exaggerated over-the-top Broadway performance touches. As she belted “Curtain up! Light the lights,” Shannon was joined by new cast member Molly Kearney. Kearney told her namesake “I’m not really in the show much so I’m interrupting your song to get more camera time.”
Shannon kept stopping her show-stopper to check in with other cast members. Kenan Thompson told her he “can’t stop buying fake Rolexes”; Bowen Yang told her “I’m attracted to my therapist.” Michaels and Short were briefly pictured holding Champagne flutes. Short yelled “I ran out of Ozempic” and began ravenously eating a sandwich.
Short joined Shannon and other cast members on stage for the high-kicking finale.
Jonas Brothers performed for the third time on the “SNL” stage as the episode’s musical guest. The band of siblings are set to debut their sixth studio album, “The Album,” on May 12. This week, the brothers released another single, titled “Waffle House,” in anticipation of the album release.
“Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes as well as Michael Che and Colin Jost, co-anchors of Weekend Update. James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker are featured players.
Produced by Broadway Video and SNL Studios, the series is currently on its 48th season. Lorne Michaels remains attached to the sketch show as series creator with Liz Patrick in the director’s chair.
Watch “Saturday Night Live” at 8:30 p.m. PT/11:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
