‘SNL’: Alec Baldwin Breaks Character in Cold Open With Will Ferrell

This weekend’s Saturday Night Live came after another chaotic week in Washington, D.C., with more hearings in the House of Representatives’ ongoing impeachment inquiry centered on President Donald Trump’s communications with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. SNL once again capitalized on everything going on in politics, this time with Alec Baldwin playing Trump. The skit parodied Trump’s frequent press conferences by the side of a loud helicopter.

In the very short skit, Trump clutched a big piece of paper with notes, parodying Trump’s real-life Sharpie notes. Guest host Will Ferrell also came in to play U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sonland. Baldwin appeared to break character as Ferrell came in, forgetting who he was supposed to be playing.

“I just want to go on the record and lay off my boy!” Sondland told the media. “Everybody loves his ass… Ukraine, Russia… They’ll do anything for this man. I know, I asked.”

As Trump tried to shut him up, he said “No quid pro quo” once again. That led to Baldwin and Ferrell introducing the show.

In last week’s cold open, SNL came out swinging, particularly in response to complaints that the first round of hearings lacked “pizzaz.” So SNL turned the hearings into an episode of Days of Our Lives, complete with former Mad Men star Jon Hamm playing U.S. Acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. Other side-splitting highlights included Kate McKinnon popping in as Rudy Giuliani, Pete Davidson playing Michael “Avacado” and Melissa Villasenor as “telenovela star” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

This past week saw testimony from former White House official Fiona Hill; Pentagon official Laura Cooper; diplomat David Hale; Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. Special Representative to NATO; Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence; Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the National Security Council and political advisor Tim Morrison.

The House launched its impeachment inquiry in September, after a whistleblower reported concerns with a phone call Trump made to Zelensky after the Ukrainian election during the summer. Trump allegedly pressured Zelensky to investigate former vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in exchange for military aide that had already been earmarked for Ukraine. Trump and Republicans have fought back against the allegations, with Trump repeatedly calling the phone call “perfect.”

This week’s episode marked Ferrell’s fifth time hosting, after previously hosting in 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2018. He was a member of the cast from 1995 to 2002.

New SNL episodes air Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: NBC