February 29, 2020 Season 45 episode
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| Episode | 885 |
| Season Episode | 14 |
| Host | John Mulaney |
| Musical Guest(s) | David Byrne |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"Once in a Lifetime" "Toe Jam" |
| Previous Episode February 8, 2020 |
Next Episode March 7, 2020 |
The 885th episode and 14th episode of Saturday Night Live's 45th season premiered on February 29, 2020, hosted by former SNL writer, writing supervisor and producer, stand-up comedian and actor John Mulaney, with musical guest David Byrne, a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker and lead singer, and guitarist of the legendary new wave band Talking Heads. This episode marked the first time SNL has ever premiered on Leap Day. This is John Mulaney's 3rd time hosting SNL, making him the most frequent former SNL writer who was never hired as a cast member to host more than two, beating out Larry David. This is also David Byrne's 3rd musical guest stint, his 2nd solo musical guest appearance and his first appearance for the first time in 40 years and three decades on SNL.
John Mulaney previously hosted SNL on the following dates: On April 14, 2018, the eighteenth episode of SNL's 43rd season, with musical guest Jack White, and on March 2, 2019, the fourteenth episode of SNL's 44th season, with musical guest Thomas Rhett.
David Byrne previously made his 2nd musical guest stints on SNL on the following dates: On February 10, 1979, the eleventh episode of SNL's 4th season, hosted by the actress Cicely Tyson; when he was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the legendary new wave band Talking Heads.
He also previously made his solo musical guest debut back on November 18, 1989, the sixth episode of SNL's 15th season, hosted by actor Woody Harrelson, star of the NBC's classic hit sitcom Cheers.
The goodnight speech for John Mulaney is "Thank You David Byrne, Fred Armisen, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, and Jake Gyllenhaal, Thank You to Everyone Here, This is the Best Gig in the World, Happy Leap Year and Good Night Everybody". (Cheers and applause)
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Beck Bennett
- Aidy Bryant
- Michael Che
- Pete Davidson
- Mikey Day
- Heidi Gardner
- Colin Jost
- Kate McKinnon
- Alex Moffat
- Kyle Mooney
- Chris Redd
- Cecily Strong
- Kenan Thompson
- Melissa Villaseñor+
Featured Players[]
+ Credited in the opening montage, but she does not appear/Appeared only in goodbyes.
- Cameos by Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch, Larry David, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Pre-filmed cameo by Justin Theroux.
Onscreen appearances by executive producer Lorne Michaels and writer Steven Castillo.
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Videotaped Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Coronavirus Cold Opening | 
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Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) holds a White House press conference to update the American public about the coronavirus and fields questions from Democratic presidential candidates Michael Bloomberg (Fred Armisen), Bernie Sanders (Larry David), Elizabeth Warren (Kate McKinnon), Joe Biden (John Mulaney), Pete Buttigieg (Colin Jost) and Amy Klobuchar (Rachel Dratch). With Kenan Thompson as Ben Carson. |
| Opening Montage | ||
| John Mulaney's Stand-Up Monologue | 
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Returning to host SNL for the third time, former SNL writer John Mulaney does his stand-up about hosting the first Saturday Night Live on Leap Year Day, having a baby boomer dad with no friends and his Make-A-Wish experience. |
| The Sound of Music: Rolf and Liesl | 
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Liesl (Cecily Strong) and Rolf (John Mulaney) sing about the difference in their ages in a Turner Movie Classic Presentation of The Sound of Music. With Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon. |
| Next Episode Commercial Bumper | Daniel Craig will host "SNL" for the second time on March 7. Craig stars as James Bond in "No Time To Die," in theaters April 10. Global star The Weeknd will make his third appearance as "SNL" musical guest. | |
| Uncle Meme | 
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Ron Brenner (John Mulaney) confronts his nephew Tyler (Pete Davidson) about turning him into a viral meme. With Beck Bennett and Aidy Bryant as Tyler's parents, Chloe Fineman as Emily, Heidi Gardner as Ron's wife and Emily's mother and Chris Redd as the guest and Tyler's friend. |
| Kyle's Transformation | 
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Hoping to get into a sketch about male strippers, Kyle Mooney transforms his body. Also starring Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Chloe Fineman and Chris Redd and guest host John Mulaney. Cameo by Justin Theroux. |
| Say, Those Two Don't Seem To Like Each Other: The Admiral | 
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Two sisters (Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant) compete with their brother (John Mulaney) for the attention of the Admiral (Beck Bennett). |
| David Byrne performs "Once in a Lifetime" with the cast of the Broadway show American Utopia | 
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| Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che | 
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Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like President Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak and President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. receiving a permit to hunt grizzly bears. With guest, Chris Redd stops by Weekend Update to discuss some of the terrible things that insulted black people during Black History Month. |
| Airport Sushi | 
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A customer (Pete Davidson) surprises everyone (John Mulaney, Beck Bennett, Mikey Day, Kate McKinnon, Chloe Fineman, Alex Moffat, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong and Chris Redd) by buying sushi at LaGuardia Airport. With Musical Guest David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia. Cameo by Jake Gyllenhaal as Guy Who Travels in Pajamas. |
| David Byrne performs "Toe Jam", once again with the cast of the Broadway show American Utopia | 
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| Forgotten Figures Of Black History: Jackie Robinson | 
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An episode of Forgotten Figures of Black History takes a look at the first black man to boo Jackie Robinson. |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | 
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John Mulaney thanked David Byrne, the cast of American Utopia, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, Fred Armisen, Jake Gyllenhaal, the cast and crew and everyone for watching and wishes a very "Happy Leap Year". Only appearance of Melissa Villaseñor. |
Cut for Time[]
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Videotaped Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Love Is Blind | Contestants (John Mulaney, Chloe Fineman, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Beck Bennett and Heidi Gardner) on a Netflix reality dating show choose to marry someone they have never met while under quarantine for the coronavirus. | |
| You Go Show | You Go! host Danny Rash (John Mulaney) makes his guests (Mikey Day, Cecily Strong) feel a little insecure as they tell their personal triumphs and self-actualization. |
Trivia[]
- John Mulaney becomes a third-time SNL host.
- Mulaney's monologue generated controversy after he joked bringing back the stabbing of Julius Caesar by senators in reference to Donald Trump, causing him to be investigated by the Secret Service two days after the episode premiered. The investigation, however, was dropped in December 2020 after they found out that Mulaney hadn't made any direct threats towards Trump.
- For the first time since 1989, David Byrne finally returns as the musical guest on SNL tonight.
| Preceded by: February 8, 2020 |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: March 7, 2020 |