Cecily Strong bids SNL goodbye in holiday episode - The Washington Post

Saturday’s cold-open sketch erstwhile again featured James Austin Johnson’s instrumentality connected Donald Trump, this clip touting his integer trading cards. Photoshopped successful the aforesaid creation benignant arsenic the real trading cards that Trump announced past week, the parody NFTs (“nifties,” arsenic Johnson’s Trump dubbed them) diagnostic scenes with the erstwhile president melting President Biden’s crystal pick with his laser eyes and with Trump connected the screen of a romance novel.

“Trump cards are each $99. Seems similar a lot. Seems similar a scam, and successful galore ways, it is,” helium rambles.

The grift doesn’t halt there. He past welcomes his “third least-embarrassing child,” Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), and his tonally challenged fiancee, Kimberly Guilfoyle (Strong), to shill their Christmas CD, “Now That’s What No One Calls Music.” Guilfoyle belts (squawks?) that those who perceive volition “sleep successful heavenly peace,” earlier being shooed offstage by Trump.

Saturday’s “Weekend Update” conception besides made airy of Trump’s NFT launch: “Semiretired maniac Donald Trump has launched a postulation of integer NFT trading cards depicting him successful assorted costumes including cowboy, superhero and, astir unbelievable of all, feline who didn’t dodge the draft,” said “Update” co-host Colin Jost.

With the NFT marketplace plummeting, Jost besides questioned the timing of this release. “It’s specified a comic determination to get into NFTs aft the full marketplace conscionable crashed. It’s similar getting into Kanye now.”

Strong, who concisely co-hosted “Weekend Update” during the 2013-2014 season, returned arsenic the criminally kooky commentator, Cathy Anne. Wearing a Santa chapeau due to the fact that of an accidental escalator scalping incident, Cathy Anne announced her departure: “Truth is, I’m present to accidental goodbye.”

Her transgression admissions connected “Update” person landed her successful prison. Cathy Anne said she wasn’t acrophobic to service time, due to the fact that she has “friends connected the inside, they look to beryllium doing okay,” arsenic a photograph of erstwhile formed members Bryant and McKinnon wearing situation jumpsuits appeared connected screen.

Strong leaves down respective memorable “Update” archetypes, including “girl you privation you hadn’t started a speech with astatine a party” and “one-dimensional pistillate quality from a male-driven comedy.”

Musical numbers were a taxable passim Saturday’s episode, with big Austin Butler precocious starring successful the Golden Globe-nominated movie “Elvis.” In a sketch astir Jewish Elvis, Butler got the accidental to beryllium a geriatric instrumentality girl, on with Strong and Ego Nwodim. The unit swooned and applauded arsenic Sarah Sherman’s gyrating Elvis offered commentary to Elvis’s deed songs, asking, “Who are these omniscient men? Why are they truthful wise?” during a rendition of “Can’t Help Falling successful Love.”

As a last farewell to a tearful Strong, the cast, led by Butler, sang a personalized mentation of “Blue Christmas.” As fake snowfall descended, they sang: “You’ll beryllium doing each right, each Saturday night, but we’ll each person a blue, blue, blue, bluish Christmas.”