Adam Driver hosts SNL, but Matt Damon steals show as Kavanaugh
Star Wars talk was kept to a minimum as politics, including Kanye West's pro-Trump remarks, were the talk of the show.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
There wasn't as much Star Wars humor as fans might have expected when Adam Driver, who plays Kylo Ren, hosted the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on Saturday.
Driver's role was briefly touched on three times, though, in his opening monologue. Once, he started to deliver "one HUGE spoiler about Star Wars," only to be cut off by cast member Beck Bennett wanting to chit-chat about his summer. Another time, he announced that "Ewoks are real, and I'll tell you where to find them, you take a plane to Traverse City, Michigan..." before he was once again interrupted.
And at another point, cast member Kenan Thompson sensed Driver's anger bubbling up and thought aloud, "It really looks like he's about to go all Kylo Ren on my ass."
Later in the show, Driver played a nerdy middle-aged single dad trying to learn how to play Fortnite so he could better bond with his son. Spoiler: He's terrible at it.
Instead of Star Wars or anything else Driver did, the most talked-about moments of the night involved politics. The show's cold open featured a re-enactment of the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, with surprise guest Matt Damon playing an unhinged Kavanaugh, and former cast member Rachel Dratch returning as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
"I'm gonna start at an 11 and I'm gonna take it to a 15 real quick!" Damon's Kavanaugh shouted.
The closing of the show brought politics back to the forefront, and this time, it was unscripted. Musical guest Kanye West wore a Make America Great Again red hat and defended President Donald Trump as the show ended. Not all of West's remarks were seen, but comedian Chris Rock recorded some of it and posted it on Instagram Stories.
"There's so many times I talk to, like, a white person about this and they say, 'How could you like Trump? He's racist,'" West said,"Well, if I was concerned about racism I would've moved out of America a long time ago."
It looks like West will be back on the show soon. On Sunday, West tweeted that he and SNL boss Lorne Michaels had agreed West would host the show before the end of the year.
"Had so much fun at SN," West tweeted. "Lorne agreed that I would host before the year is out. Need to set a date. Gonna be sooooooooo lit."
had so much fun at SNL. Lorne agreed that I would host before the year is out. Need to set a date. Gonna be sooooooooo lit. In the words of Lil Pump ...Esskeetit !
— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018
