Colin Jost looks back at 51 seasons of Saturday Night Live to pick his favorite cold open of all time.
Key Points
On the inaugural episode of SNL's new short-form series The Rundown, the "Weekend Update" anchor chose 2008's sketch pitting Tina Fey's Sarah Palin against Amy Poehler's Katie Couric.
"It's nostalgic for me, because it was early on for me as a writer," Jost explained. "It was just a great combination of [Seth Meyers] and Tina and Amy together — you got to see them playing off each other. I think they're two of the best to ever do it."
How do you boil 51 years ofSaturday Night Livehistory down to a single sketch?Colin Jostmanaged, but it wasn't easy.
Jost has been withSNLa whopping 12 years, moving from writer to writing supervisor to co-head writer, before teaming up with Michael Che to anchor the comedic news program "Weekend Update."
He marshaled that experience as the inaugural guest onSNL's new short-form seriesThe Rundown, which prompted him to sift through 51 years of cold opens — a good many of which he helped write — to make his pick for the very best. He ultimately landed on an "iconic" sketch featuring two of his predecessors at "Weekend Update."
"If I'm making a rundown and I'm picking a cold open, the Katie Couric–Sarah Palin interview, I think, I would put in here," Jost declared.
He's talking about the now-classic spoof of the infamous interview between Couric, a veteran broadcast journalist and Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential hopeful in the 2008 presidential election.Amy Poehlerstepped in for Couric, while her "Weekend Update" buddyTina Feystruck generational comedy cold with her lacerating portrayal of Palin.
The no-frills sketch featuring a single, dexterously-crafted conversation between Couric and Palin opened the season 34's third episode in 2008, which was hosted by Anna Faris.
"It's nostalgic for me, because it was early on for me as a writer," Jost explained. "[Seth Meyers] wrote it. I'm sure Tina and Amy also helped on it. It was just a great combination of Seth and Tina and Amy together — you got to see them playing off each other. I think they're two of the best to ever do it. There were so many iconic things that came out of it. So to me, that's my pick, based on both nostalgia, and I think it holds up in the whole history of the show as one of the best."
Advertisement
Fey's run as Palin in various sketches throughout the long 2008 presidential campaign cemented her status as one ofSNL's all-time greatest. The season 34-opener "Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Address the Nation," which cast Poehler as the former Secretary of State,rankedon two differentEntertainment Weeklylists ofbest-everSNLsketches.
But Jost also looked beyond his perspective as a member of teamSNLto pick runner-ups.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.
"As a viewer, I remember also loving 'Not Going to Phone It in Tonight,' that Steve Martin song," Jost shared, pointing to the cold open from the season 17, episode 9 in 1991.
Then there's "Wolverines," the very first cold open from 1975's series premiere which features Michael O'Donoghue giving John Belushi an absurd English lesson.
"I always wished we could go back to that more," Jost explained. "I always wished we could have some cold opens that were just short and one idea and a funny performance."
SNLis in the midst of its 51st season, but is taking time off this weekend to focus on this Saturday's premiere of the series' new U.K. spinoff. Fey will hostthe first episode.
Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
Post a Comment