November 23, 2019 Season 45 episode
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| Episode | 878 |
| Season Episode | 7 |
| Host | Will Ferrell |
| Musical Guest(s) | King Princess |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"1950" "Hit the Back" |
| Previous Episode November 16, 2019 |
Next Episode December 7, 2019 |
The 878th episode and 7th episode of Saturday Night Live's 45th season premiered on November 23, 2019, hosted by longtime former cast member Will Ferrell, star of the hit films A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, The Suburbans, Elf, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, The Campaign, Downhill, The Ladies Man, Stranger Than Fiction, Old School, Kicking and Screaming, Anchorman, the sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Zoolander, the sequel Zoolander 2, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Get Hard, Everything Must Go, Bewitched, Melinda and Melinda, Stranger than Fiction, Semi-Pro, Land of the Lost, Casa de mi Padre, Blades of Glory, Daddy's Home and the sequel Daddy's Home 2, Holmes & Watson, Winter Passing, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Downhill, The House, Spirited, Strays, Quiz Lady, and You're Cordially Invited and the Netflix's documentary film Will & Harper and the hit animated films Curious George, Megamind, The Lego Movie film franchise and Despicable Me 4, with singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist King Princess as the musical guest, who performs "1950" and "Hit the Back". Longtime former cast member Will Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live to hosted for the 5th time and he also become the fourth former cast member to enter the Five-Timers Club, after Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Tina Fey. This is Will Ferrell's 5th hosting stint, thus making Ferrell a five-time host and the fourth former cast member to enter The Five-Timers Club. This is also the musical guest debut for King Princess on SNL.
Ferrell previously hosted SNL 4 times on the following dates: On May 14, 2005, the nineteenth (and penultimate) episode of SNL's 30th season, with musical guests Queens of the Stone Age, on May 16, 2009, which is the Season 34 finale, with musical guests Green Day, an legendary punk/rock band, on May 12, 2012, the twenty-first (and penultimate episode), as well as the Mother's Day show of SNL's 37th season, with musical guest Usher, and on January 27, 2018, the twelfth episode of SNL's 43rd season, with musical guest Chris Stapleton.
The goodnight speech for Will Ferrell is "Thanks to Uh, King Princess, (Cheers and applause), Alec Baldwin, Ryan Reynolds, Tracy Morgan, Maya Rudolph, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, Woody Harrelson, Fred Armisen, Thanks So Much, Everyone. Good Night". (Cheers and applause again)
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Beck Bennett
- Aidy Bryant
- Michael Che
- Pete Davidson+ (Credited only in the opening montage)
- 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 they did not appear in this episode/Appeared only in goodbyes.
- Cameos by Alec Baldwin, Ryan Reynolds, Tracy Morgan, Maya Rudolph, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, Woody Harrelson, and Fred Armisen.
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Videotaped Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Trump Impeachment Press Conference Cold Opening | 
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) holds an impromptu press conference outside the White House near a loud helicopter. Also Features Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Kyle Mooney and Cecily Strong as the reporters. With longtime former cast member Will Ferrell as Gordon Sondland. |
| Opening Montage | The musical guests/hosts introductions clips of the opening montage were changed to white and black, only for this episode for musical guest King Princess and for longtime former cast member and host (Will Ferrell wears his Five-Timers jacket in his intro hosting clip). | |
| Will Ferrell's Ryan Reynolds Monologue | 
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Returning to SNL to host for the fifth time, longtime former cast-member Will Ferrell gets distracted by actor Ryan Reynolds who is in the audience. Ferrell explained that he starts talking like Morgan whenever he gets nervous, which is when another longtime former cast member Tracy Morgan came out, with a message for him. |
| Heinz | 
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A commercial advertises Heinz Relax: The ketchup you know and love in a newly designed bottle. With Will Ferrell, Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Heidi Gardner, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd and Melissa Villaseñor. Cecily Strong plays the voice of the announcer. |
| 2020 Democratic Debate | 
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Presidential candidates Andrew Yang (Bowen Yang), Pete Buttigieg (Colin Jost), Cory Booker (Chris Redd), Elizabeth Warren (Kate McKinnon), Amy Klobuchar (Rachel Dratch), Tom Steyer (Will Ferrell), Michael Bloomberg (Fred Armisen), Tulsi Gabbard (Cecily Strong) Bernie Sanders (Larry David), Joe Biden (Woody Harrelson) and Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) speak at MSNBC’s 2020 Democratic Debate. With Melissa Villaseñor as Rachel Maddow. |
| Next Episode Commercial Bumper | Jennifer Lopez will host "SNL" for the third time on Dec. 7. Lopez stars in and produces the critically acclaimed box office hit film "Hustlers" and DaBaby will make his first appearance as "SNL" musical guest. His new album, "Kirk," debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, and today he received two Grammy Award nominations for hit single "Suge." | |
| First Thanksgiving | 
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Pocahontas’ (Melissa Villaseñor) boyfriend, John Smith (Beck Bennett) comes over for Thanksgiving dinner with her family (Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, and Fred Armisen). |
| Cecily Strong and Mikey Day performed "Party Song" | 
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Two teens (Cecily Strong and Mikey Day) rap about their teacher (Will Ferrell) attending their house party. With Aidy Bryant as the mother, Heidi Gardner as their teacher's wife, Chloe Fineman, Alex Moffat, and Chris Redd as their friends. |
| Pizza Ad | 
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A commercial for a pizza restaurant doesn’t go as planned for the family (Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney and Heidi Gardner). With Mikey Day as the director. |
| King Princess performs "1950" | 
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For her first song, King Princess delivered a haunting and intimate rendition of her breakout single. She played a guitar, with viewers noting her stunning vocals and a "piercing guitar solo". |
| 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 Trump considering testifying in impeachment hearings and London’s new Vagina Museum. With guests, A Guy Who Just Bought A Boat (Alex Moffat) and his brother Guy Who Knows The Owner (Ryan Reynolds) drops by the Weekend Update desk to share some Thanksgiving dating tips. |
| Cinema Classics: The Wizard of Oz | 
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On this episode of PBS's Cinema Classics, host Reese De'What (Kenan Thompson) presents the never-before-seen alternate ending of The Wizard of Oz. With Will Ferrell as Dr. Pickens, Kate McKinnon as Dorothy, Beck Bennett as Hickory, Aidy Bryant as Aunt Em, Mikey Day as Zeke, Alex Moffat as Hunk, Chloe Fineman, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd and Bowen Yang as the munchkins. |
| King Princess performs "Hit the Back" | 
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Her second performance featured a grittier, more energetic pop-rock style. She was more playful and interactive with the stage, delivering a dynamic performance with "killer dance moves" and "roaring vocals". |
| Ventriloquist | 
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Wally Culpepper (Will Ferrell) and his little puppet pal Chippy perform at a club. With Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong as the audience members and Alex Moffat as emcee. |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | 
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King Princess, Alec Baldwin, Ryan Reynolds, Tracy Morgan, Maya Rudolph, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, Woody Harrelson, Fred Armisen and everyone of SNL are all thanked by Will Ferrell for bringing him back home for Thanksgiving. Only appearance of Ego Nwodim. |
Cut For Time[]
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Videotaped Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Cast List | A group of drama students (Beck Bennett, Heidi Gardner, Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day, Alex Moffat, Cecily Strong, Kyle Mooney, and Bowen Yang) eagerly await their drama teacher’s (Will Ferrell) cast list for a show. | |
| Jeans Commercial | A commercial advertises a fun and flirty new style of jeans for men. | |
| Date in Mexico | A man (Will Ferrell) becomes an emotional wreck when his girlfriend dumps him. With Chris Redd and Cecily Strong as the couple and Melissa Villaseñor as the waitress. |
Trivia[]
- Pete Davidson is credited in the opening montage, but he did not appear in this episode.
- For the first time in several years, Ferrell's Five-Timers' milestone was neither acknowledged on-screen or marked in any special way (through when they showed his picture as the host of the episode in the opening credits, he was in a leather chair, smoking pipe with a robe that says "5" on it, meaning that his introduction into The Five-Timers' Club was at least acknowledged, even if there was no sketch about it).
- Also in this episode, Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che became the longest-running iteration of Update with 112 shows and counting surpassing Weekend Update with Dennis Miller, which had 111 installments between 1985 to 1991.
- King Princess becomes one of the youngest solo musical guests in SNL history.
Trivia/Notes[]
- Will Ferrell did not reprising his characters and his impressions in this episode.
- Weekend Update also featured the longest streak with only 1 Update guest piece in 5 episodes of Season 45.
| Preceded by: November 16, 2019 |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: December 7, 2019 |