This weekend’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by John Mulaney, the stars of Meet The Parents Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller cameo as Robert Mueller and Trump lawyer Michael Cohen!

The show opens with Jeff Session and Mike Pence (played by Kate McKinnon and Beck Bennett), and quickly introduces Ben Stiller as Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Pence and Sessions quickly dispatch Cohen to his doom, sending him to a room where Robert De Niro, as Robert Mueller (a role previously played by Kate McKinnon, but obviously these are special circumstances) attaches Cohen to a lie-detector (or a “polygraph”, for you smarties out there).

 

SNL stunt casting (a showbiz term that refers to having a high profile actor appear simply for the name recognition and associated ratings boost) isn’t a new thing this season. Between the ever-returning Alec Baldwin as Trump, to John Goodman as Rex Tillerson, to the almighty Bill Murray as Steve Bannon (still a one-off role, unfortunately), a cameo to play the White House Monster-Of-The-Week is just expected. But here we have two huge names basically recreating a scene from a movie they did almost 20 years ago. A classic, mind you – Meet The Parents is so ingrained in pop culture that you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone north of a millennial who hasn’t seen the film. It may have been the most appropriate cameo of the season (well, maybe except for Fred Armisen as Michael Wolff, because that was just too perfect).

John Mulaney turned out to be an exceptional host. His monologue was a solid piece of standup – maybe the best seven minutes he’s ever done. Throughout, his appearances were on-point – but there was a hint of stiffness underneath it all. While his performing was immaculate, it was a bit mechanical. The guy was nervous, but who can blame him? Not only was it live national television, something that most actors and performers never even have a chance to do, but it was his old stomping ground. As a former writer of the show, Mulaney’s return to Saturday Night Live was like him leaving high school and returning a couple years later as the principal while he still has friends taking classes.

 

So Mulaney’s hosting was a success and there’s another round of cameos to add to the White House roster (though the responsibility of Mueller will probably cycle back to McKinnon). There are two episodes remaining in this season – it seems to have passed by so quickly, hasn’t it? Those two episodes air early May, so the SNL crew has a lead up to write some terrific sketches and give this incredible season an incredible sendoff!

Saturday Night Live returns live May 5 with host/musical guest Donald Glover/Childish Gambino – that’s right, he’s pulling the ol’ double duty. Be sure to catch Saturday Night Live airing Saturdays at 11.30 et/8.30 pt on Global, and watch the latest episodes online here on GlobalTV.com/SaturdayNightLive!