“SNL” returns with Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris and a top cast of election impressions

James Austin Johnson returned as Donald TrumpAs expected, he shouted that Haitians were eating cats and dogs and forcing them to visit Diddy's Freak offs. But it was SNL's decision to type Bowen Yang As Trump's vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, this will likely drive her campaign crazy. Being played by a gay Asian guy who probably knows his way around eyeliner should eat up these weirdos. And it sets a good foundation for a future cold offensive between Gaffigan's dog-lover and Yang's cat-hater after next week's VP debate.

Yang, the night's MVP alongside Rudolph, would play another baby hippo later in the evening. During Weekend Update, Yang slipped into a shimmering rubber suit and waved his tiny hooves to lament Moo Deng's travails. Yang played the world's most famous 10-week-old zoo animal and delivered a near-verbatim version of it Chappell Roanis a monologue about depression and frustration. It was sharp without being nasty. My 16-year-old Chappell Roan fan and I rewound the scene where Yang's hippo demands “Pants!” and bite into the stream of water more than a few times. Stay tuned, young stars. You deserve better than all sorts of shellfish and bananas being thrown at you in this wild moment of stratospheric attention.

No matter who hosted the premiere, it was bound to be overshadowed by the summer's deluge of insane headlines. And that's how it was with the moderator Jean Smartwho cut an elegant and dashing figure throughout the episode, if not particularly memorable. Her monologue began with a few ba dum tss a la her Hacks character, Deborah Vance – jokes that tend to be classy lines meant for laughs over expensive martinis – before quickly segueing into a tender rendition of Judy Garland's “I Happen to Like New York.” Speaking of delicate, how could we not cheer at the sight of her Hacks Co-star (and daughter of the original). SNL star Laraine Newman) Hannah Einbinder is lovingly at her side as a Smart Introducing Musical guest Jelly rollis the first appearance?

No, this was a premiere that had to hit the most absurd and inescapable beats of the last few months: Sabrina Carpenter's “Espresso”, the Turkish shooter at the Olympic Games, the chimpanzee Chimpanzee crazythe downfall of Diddy, the indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adamsthe disgrace of the lieutenant governor of North Carolina Mark Robinson, Hoda Kotb Resignation from the Today Show, Trump on Mars, Charli XCX as a cultural thought leader.

With all the talk surrounding recent events, SNL I decided to end with a sketch of frothy goodness. Smart played one of them the real housewives of santa fe as the women took their feuds to the Rancho Mexicano Cantina. They took turns challenging the legitimacy of each other's ego-entrepreneurial efforts. “So now Candles by Brie is no longer a business?!” “Are you telling me Hats by Yvonne is not a business?!” “So now for-profit prisons are no longer a business?!” It’s good to laugh.