“SNL” has been off the air for a month, and that means the show’s writers missed the chance to parody a ton of big news items that broke during the break. Luckily, Republican congressman/serial liar/grifter/con artist George Santos continues to be relevant, and so it is that the show’s first cold open of 2023 did a riff on his, you know, whole thing.
You can watch some of that below now:
Alas it was in service to a middling parody of “Fox NFL Sunday,” featuring jokes and references that, well, were kind of whatever. But Bowen Yang once again delivered whatever it is he has that makes even bad sketches fun, by playing George Santos as a surprise sports reporter who, yep, lied and lied and lied, in this case about his nonexistent football career.
Yang’s Santos was clearly inspired by the real Santos’ interview with Tulsi Gabbard last December, when Santos delivered a stream of BS about the details of his life and career that he lied about. In that interview, Santos, called out for lying about having worked in the financial industry, spewed a stream of what certainly looked like hastily-googled terms he didn’t understand, and then he said voters were too stupid to understand what he was talking about.
Yang’s Santos didn’t go quite that far, but he did brag about a football career filled with inaccuracies, including listing baseball statistics among his accomplishments. It was followed by some more middling jokes related to football. Then for the end of the sketch, Yang’s Santos returned to hijack the broadcast again, this time as “Kitara Revache,” the drag persona Santos used to have, though of course he denies it.
The stand out moment at this point was Yang’s Santos then breaking into a dance, set to a house music remix of the NFL theme music. You can see that particular moment above. We’ll have the full video once they’ve put it online.