Saturday Night Live: The five best hosts of season 45…so far
By Matt Moore
5. Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson hosted the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. In the process, he set the bar pretty high for all the hosts that would follow. He also earned himself an invitation back for a few more episodes thanks to his impression of former Vice President Joe Biden.
Anticipation was high for Saturday Night Live‘s return back in September. The likelihood of President Donald Trump being impeached was ramping up. Fans were eager to see how SNL covered the story given how much the show was inside President Trump’s head the year before.
The premiere episode did go heavy on impeachment with a few sketches based on the story. But the standout sketch was the Democratic town hall that featured cameos from Larry David and Maya Rudolph. Still, the most memorable part was Harrelson as former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden had appeared to lost some of the good will he built up during the Obama years and Harrelson played this up perfectly in the sketch. Rather than call in SNL alum Jason Sudeikis to reprise his role as Joe Biden, the honor was given to Harrelson. It proved to be a wise decision, confirmed by the fact Harrelson has appeared as Biden two more times since hosting. The return of Sudeikis as Biden in the Dec. 21 episode suggests SNL may have entered the Biden-verse where multiple versions exist simultaneously.