‘Saturday Night Live’ Turns “Boring” Impeachment Hearings Into Soap Opera Starring Jon Hamm

Anita Bennett

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For anyone who thought this week’s House impeachment hearings were “boring” — as some Republicans and Trump allies complained — Saturday Night Live offered a solution. Up the “pizzazz” by turning the hearings into a soap opera.

The NBC sketch comedy series returned from a brief break this weekend and enlisted Mad Men alum Jon Hamm as former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor.

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Borrowing from daytime drama Days of Our Lives — which just released its entire cast from their contracts — SNL recast all the key players and renamed the hearings “Days of Our Impeachment.”

Asked what he was doing there, Hamm’s Taylor responded, “Unlike other people in the Trump administration, I show up.”

He then made a startling announcement.

“I have a bombshell revelation. There was a second phone call!” Hamm said as dramatic music rose to a crescendo.

“A second phone call?” asked SNL’s Heidi Gardner, before fainting from the shock of the announcement.

“That’s right,” Hamm said. “You knew about the first call, but no one expected phone call number two.”

That was Kate McKinnon’s cue to reprise her portrayal of President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

“Did someone say unexpected number two?” McKinnon’s Giuliani asked. A stunned Hamm responded, “Rudy Giuliani!”

“That’s right. Mercury’s in retrograde, so my powers are at an all-time high,” McKinnon quipped. “And I’ve got an insurance policy in case the president turns against me. I’m going to die in a mysterious boat explosion.”

Alex Moffat played House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and Mikey Day served as “cross-examiner” Republican Rep. Jim Jordan.

“Let the record show the president is intimidating the witness,” said Moffat’s Schiff in response to Trump tweeting during the hearings.

Cecily Strong played former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and Pete Davidson portrayed embattled attorney Michael Avenatti, who promised another bombshell. “The president had an affair!” Davidson said. “That storyline was from like last season,” Hamm replied.

Kenan Thompson stopped by as newly suspended Cleveland Browns player Myles Garrett and Melissa Villaseñor played “telenovela sensation,” Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“This hearing is lacking one thing — a star,” a disappointed Villaseñor said. She then let her hair down and passionately kissed Hamm.

Harry Styles served as host and musical guest. The former One Direction member is no stranger to SNL. He previously appeared on the show as a musical guest in 2017, and as a member of One Direction in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

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