Maya Rudolph SNL Recap

Joined by Vampire Weekend, Baking It host Maya Rudolph returned to Studio 8H on Saturday to host SNL for the third time. (Stream her first two hosting gigs here and here!) An iconic cast member for nine seasons, Maya is known for playing Oprah, Kamala Harris, and, of course, this woman singing the national anthem. 

While Maya was most recently at SNL as part of the cameo-filled Christmas episode hosted by Kate McKinnon, she anchored this strong, silly, and heartwarming episode on her own. Fitting, for the Mother’s Day episode, for mother to return.  

See below for some highlights from the episode, and if you missed the live show, stream the whole episode on Peacock! 

Mother’s Day Cold Open  

This week, SNL forwent the topical cold open to celebrate Mother’s Day with all of the cast members’ moms. Not only was it sweet to see the moms interact with their children on the 8H stage, but it was also funny too, as they each delivered a zinger. When Michael Longfellow proudly declares that everything he does on the show is for his mom, she retorts, “except the stuff that bombs.” 

Monologue 

Maya may be a real-life mother of four, but in this ballroom-inspired musical monologue, she becomes Mother of the House of Rockefeller. Voguing her way off the stage and around the studio, she references both her classic roles and shouts out other beloved female SNL characters.  

Hot Ones with Beyoncé 2 

A sequel to the last time Maya hosted SNL in 2021, this go-around, Rudolph’s Beyoncé is even more determined to make it through an episode of Hot Ones. 

Hot tip: you can stream 13 seasons of the interview show Hot Ones on Peacock. 

Please Don’t Destroy — Explore Page 

Comedy trio (and movie stars) Please Don’t Destroy is out to dinner with their girlfriends (including Sarah Sherman as Chelsea) when one suggests they look at each other’s Instagram explore pages. What’s so embarrassing that it prompts Ben to eat his phone? A woman named Uneesa Confidence, an online girlfriend for young men with self-esteem issues. 

Teacher PSA

After a grueling first full school year back from Covid, American teachers just want to come together with a special message for their students: y'all won. One teacher played by Ego Nwodim lived by one word, "tsiddahn!"

Can You Pick Me Up? 

In this sweet pre-taped Mother’s Day sketch, Maya plays a mom who keeps having to wake up in the middle of the night after her daughter asks to be picked up from a sleepover. To not embarrass her daughter, Mom comes up with excuses at the door like a JFK memorial, and that her husband has “become gay.”

Coffee Commercial  

Three-time Oscar-presenting actress Dawn Farraway may be difficult, but she’s being paid 8 million dollars to be in this coffee commercial. Unfortunately, it’s her first time trying coffee and it, um, doesn’t sit too well with her. 

Weekend Update 

It’s certainly been an eventful week in the news, but luckily Colin Jost and Michael Che were there to cover it all on "Weekend Update." Also, Sarah Sherman and Heidi Gardner stopped by as a famous worm and A Woman Who Says She’s Not Mad.

Vampire Weekend “Gen-X Cops” 

In their fourth SNL (stream their past musical guest appearance here, here, and here), the rock trio Vampire Weekend performed two tracks off their new album Only God Was Above Us. Ever true to their New York City roots, in their performance of “Gen-X Cops,” an upbeat rock song with an addictive, overdriven guitar hook, they play in front of a video made to look like a 1980s NYC subway tunnel.  

To see every sketch and performance from the new episode of SNL, stream the entire Maya Rudolph episode. 

Stream every episode of Saturday Night Live on Peacock.   

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