‘SNL’ thinks Maya Rudolph is Mother. But can her Beyoncé survive ‘Hot Ones’?
After a dozen cameo appearances, Rudolph hosted ‘SNL’ for the third time.
My hopes were not high for this episode. I know that Maya Rudolph is a beloved former cast member for many SNL fans, but I’ve found it hard to appreciate her work on the show when she’s never actually left.
Seriously, take a look at her page on the SNL wiki. While this episode was only Rudolph’s third time hosting, she’s made a dozen cameo appearances since leaving the show in 2007. (Part of that was during Lorne Michaels’ obsession with celebrity cameos that saw Rudolph playing Kamala Harris alongside Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump and Jim Carrey’s Joe Biden. Dark times.)
This wasn’t even Rudolph’s first time on SNL this season. She and Kristen Wiigbizarrely took over Kate McKinnon’s episode a few months ago despite not actually being part of McKinnon’s SNL cast cluster. (If anyone should’ve cameoed during that episode, it would’ve been Aidy Bryant.)
After a rocky monologue, though, Rudolph wound up delivering an entertaining and by-the-numbers episode of SNL. There wasn’t a single cameo. No Kristen Wiig. No Fred Armisen. We only got one recurring character from Rudolph’s tenure on SNL. (No, it wasn’t Donatella Versace.)
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