'SNL' Parodies NATO Conference Gossip in Cold Open With Paul Rudd, James Corden and Jimmy Fallon

Saturday Night Live returned after a Thanksgiving break this weekend with another cold open that [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Saturday Night Live returned after a Thanksgiving break this weekend with another cold open that parodied events in the political world. The opening parodied the gossip at the NATO conference, with Jimmy Fallon playing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Paul Rudd as French President Emmanuel Macron. James Corden played U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Alec Baldwin played President Donald Trump.

The skit featured Macron, Trudeau and Johnson as the "cool kids" who push the Romanian president to another table. Trump tried to join them, but they refused and kept talking about him behind his back.

"That guy is a mess," Trudeau said.

"Did you hear him talk about climate change the other day? He said we need stronger toilets!" Macron said.

"He's dumber than Boris," Trudeau said, while Johnson laughed hysterically.

Trump ended up sitting next to the president of Latvia, and insisted the trio were still his best friends.

"Oh my God, I'm at the loser table," Trump complained. "I can't believe they made me sit with the foreign kid."

Trudeau later asked Johnson if they could host a party at Buckingham Palace. They said Trump couldn't go because "you'd have to walk up stairs" and the food is all small portions.

Trump pointed out that they had a seat left at the table, but they invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Kate McKinnon) instead.

The three also played a prank on Trump, with Johnson putting a sign reading "impeach me."

At the very end, First Lady Melania Trump (Cecily Strong) popped in to remind everyone that "bullying is a serious problem, especially against President Trump." She also shoehorned in a joke a Peloton.

The Nov. 23 episode started off with a rather weak cold open that parodied Trump's frequent yelling matches with the press outside the White House. The very short sketch showed Baldwin's Trump clutching notes, just as the real Trump did earlier that week. Guest host Will Ferrell also popped in to play Gordon Sonland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who testified before the House Intelligence Committee during the impeachment hearings.

The real political highlight of the Nov. 23 episode was a skit with Larry David, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Fred Armisen and Woody Harrelson making surprise cameos in a Democratic debate. Ferrell played Tom Steyer, while Rudolph starred as Sen. Kamala Harris, Dratch as Sen. Amy Clobuchar, David as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Harrelson as Joe Biden and Armisen as Michael Bloomberg.

This week's episode of SNL was hosted by Jennifer Lopez, with rapper DaBaby as musical guest. It was the first of three December episodes. Next week will feature Scarlett Johansson hosting and Niall Horan performing. Eddie Murphy will host the final episode of the season on Dec. 21, with Lizzo performing.

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

Photo credit: NBC

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