‘SNL’: Maya Rudolph and Jack Harlow Get Silly in Promo for Tonight’s Episode

Saturday Night Live is back with its first new episode in a month this weekend. Former cast member Maya Rudolph is hosting, while “Whats Poppin” rapper Jack Harlow is the musical performer. The two guests were joined by cast member Chris Redd for a series of funny promos before the new episode airs Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

The clips were filmed on Thursday, which just happened to be Redd’s 36th birthday. In the first bit, Rudolph, 48, shrugged off the importance of his birthday. “I know it’s your birthday, but I’m the host,” Rudolph told Redd. “So it’s your birthday?” the confused comedian wondered. “Yeah, it is. Happy birthday to me!” She then turned to Harlow, 23, to tell him it was her birthday. “Love it,” the rapper said. (Rudolph’s real birthday is July 27.)

In the second bit, Redd asked Rudolph if she was ready for spring. She thought that question was ridiculous, and she went into a long soliloquy about what spring represents. “Ask me again, Chris. Am I ready for spring?” Chris did so. Rudolph then looked directly at the camera, pulled down her mask, and said, “Yes. Yes, I am.”

This is the first new episode of SNL since Feb. 27, when Nick Jonas was the host and performed. It is also Rudolph’s first time hosting since February 2012. However, she has been a regular presence on the show since she left in 2007, most recently because executive producer Lorne Michaels cast her as Vice President Kamala Harris in Season 45. Although she lives in Los Angeles, she agreed to continue playing the part and has traveled across the country back and forth during the coronavirus pandemic to play Harris.

“I think knowing that there was a candidate that I resembled so much was so cool in and of itself,” Rudolph explained to Entertainment Weekly recently. “And then icing on the cake is just simply getting to do it on the show, a place that I feel so at home in, and that I love. But also it’s just the charge of this time and being able to have any sort of voice in the story. I also just felt really lucky that we figured out a way to have fun with her early on and make her a joyful character.”

Rudolph’s episode is the first of three consecutive new shows. The April 3 episode will be hosted by Judas and the Black Messiah star Daniel Kaluuya, with indie rocker St. Vincent performing. On April 10, Promising Young Woman star Carey Mulligan will host with rapper Kid Cudi performing.