‘SNL’ Cold Open: Maya Rudolph Returns as Kamala While Jim Gaffigan, Andy Samberg Debut as Tim Walz and Doug Emhoff

September 28, 2024 @ 8:46 PM

“SNL” kicked off its 50th season on Saturday night, bringing a bunch of famous faces to celebrate. That included Maya Rudolph, once again playing Vice President Kamala Harris, but also Andy Samberg, Dana Carvey and Jim Gaffigan.

Of course, we’ve known for awhile that Rudolph would return, as it was revealed in July that she’ll be playing the presidential hopeful through the election. But we definitely did not know that Andy Samberg would play her husband Doug Emhoff, or that Jim Gaffigan would play running mate Tim Walz, and certainly not that Dana Carvey would take on Joe Biden.

But yes, that did in fact happen. All of it.

The cold open kicked off with Andrew Dismukes playing ABC anchor David Muir, but he quickly sent things over to a Harris/Walz rally, post-debate. Naturally, Rudolph’s Harris took the stage first, telling viewers that “your fun aunt has returned.”

“The fun has been rebooted,” she declared. “Too fun, too furious.”

From there, she compared her campaign to Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Espresso,” in that “the lyrics are vague, but the vibe slaps.” She also celebrated having a running mate who agrees that “we are not going back” and welcomed him to the stage.

And so entered Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz.

“Folks, I haven’t been this excited since I got a 10% rebate on a leaf blower from Menard’s,” he said excitedly. “What can I say? I got that BDE — big dad energy!”

Gaffigan’s Walz went on to call Donald Trump and JD Vance weird, and shame them for wanting to control women’s reproductive rights, before reiterating his own slogan of “mind your damn business.”

“We also have another saying in Minnesota: ‘my nuts froze to the park bench,’” he joked. “I gotta be honest here, folks, when Kamala Harris called me and asked me to be her Vice President, I said, ‘Uhh, YEAH!’ This is personal for me. I love this country, and as a former teacher, I need the money. This suit is from Costco!”

At that, Rudolph cut him off, only to bring out her husband Doug Emhoff, played by none other than Andy Samberg — “also known as Charlie Brown, if he was a grown-up.”

Emhoff brushed off insults from Republicans for supporting his wife, saying he’s proud to support her.

“I am proud to join the esteemed list of presidential spouses throughout history, women and men, but all women, that have stood by the President’s side,” he declared. “And I, for one, can’t wait to decorate the White House for Christmas. The theme will be Hanukkah.”

But he wasn’t the last surprise guest. Rudolph’s Harris also thanked Joe Biden for stepping down from the race, bringing him out on the stage to celebrate. And that brings us to Dana Carvey, taking over the role from Mikey Day.

Of course, he joked that he “didn’t want to” step down, and was actually forced to, but he was thrilled for Harris nonetheless.

You can watch the cold open in the videos above.

“Saturday Night Live” airs on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.