Saturday Night Live has returned with its first episode of 2020 and a cold open that poked fun at U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing Senate impeachment trial.
The scene opened on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, played by SNL cast member Cecily Strong, and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, played by cast member Beck Bennett, complaining about the proceedings.
“We all know this impeachment proceeding is a sham and hoax,” Bennett as McConnell says. “Republicans are simply requesting a fair trial — no witnesses, no evidence!”
They’re quickly joined by actor and comedian Jon Lovitz playing impeachment defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
“It’s wonderful to be here, because I’m not welcome anywhere else,” Lovitz quips.
Suffering what appears to be a cardiac episode, Lovtiz’s character drops into a version of hell where Kate McKinnon plays Satan.
“Oh my god, sorry oh my gosh, look at that, Alan Dershowitz!” she exclaims, star-struck. “I’m going to send you back upstairs in a minute, honestly I just really wanted to meet you.”
Hell on SNL apparently houses Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire sex offender who died last year in a New York prison. He’s played by actor Adam Driver, who shows up and jokes that he’s “just hanging.”
Other residents of the underworld included SNL cast member Bowen Yang as the writer who wrote the song Baby Shark and Mr. Peanut, the monocle-wearing Planters mascot who was killed off recently in a viral ad posted on Twitter.