Lizzo joined an elite club of recording artists tapped to both host and perform on “Saturday Night Live” in an episode that started with outrageous Easter messages from politicians and celebrities.
“A Message From the Easter Bunny” (Bowen Yang) featured impersonations of Britney Spears, Jared Leto disguised as Jesus Christ, Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Cecily Strong’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene greeted viewers with a chocolate rifle loaded with real bullets.
“I’ve been saying aggressively to all my Jewish and Muslim colleagues, Happy Easter!,” she said before declaring the holiday had gotten “a little too LGBTQRT.”
“And there is nothing gay about Easter. A day when a bunch of male priests worship a shirtless guy with great abs and talk about wanting to eat his body. That’s straight stuff,” Strong-as-Green quipped.
Chris Redd reprised his imitation of Mayor Eric Adams as a cocky Casanova who was excited for spring, and glad the Brooklyn subway shooter was no longer his problem.
“Don’t adjust your television set, I am this handsome, ya understand?” he boasted.
“We got him. We got the shooter. Sure it took 30 hours, and the suspect turned himself in, but we got him. Case closed,” the mayor continued to brag.
“In conclusion: shooter caught, sexy back, violent crime waaay up. Bitch, I’m from New York. I’m Eric Adams. I run this town!”
Kate McKinnon’s deflated Dr. Anthony Fauci was tiring of yet another COVID-19 surge as he warned people about holiday gatherings.
“I’m not here to give to give you any more COVID guidance; I’m not stupid enough to think you’ll follow it,” the fake Fauci said.
Singer and rapper Lizzo, 33, drew big applause in her monologue by reflecting on the arc of her rags-to-riches career.
“At every show I tell my audience the same thing and I’ll tell you too: I love you, you are beautiful and you can do anything. I am proof of that. I used to live in my car and now I’m hosting Saturday Night Live,” she said to rousing applause.
Kenan Thompson hosted a trivia game show called “Guess That” where Lizzo played an uncooperative contestant who antagonized Thompson until rival competitors Redd and Ego Nwodim also turned on him.
“So you’re forcing me to play even though I can’t win. This man is a classic gaslighting narcissist y’all,” she said, egging them on until the host walked off the set.
A skit set in an Interscope Records circa 2008 gave viewers a look into the Black Eyed Peas’ creative process as they wrote nonsensical lyrics to “Boom Boom Pow,” “Let’s Get It Started” and “I Gotta Feeling” under the guidance of A&R reps Lizzo and Aidy Bryant.
Fergie, portrayed by Strong; will.i.am, spoofed by Thompson; apl.de.ap, by Redd; and Taboo, by Yang dismissed smart wordplay suggested by Lizzo, instead using a stream of consciousness technique to pen the songs.
“We want the song to be about tonight so let’s start brainstorming answers to the question ‘how is tonight going to be?,’” Bryant asked the group, who responded with “woo hoo,” “mazel tov” and “let’s do it.”
In the next skit Lizzo brought a first date (Mikey Day) home to the house she shared with her grandpa, Six Flags mascot Mr. Six (Chloe Fineman).
It was eventually revealed that the house was full of elderly people in suits and bowties that liked to dance to Vengaboys’ “We Like to Party.”
In the next skit Lizzo was in the writer’s room confiding to the Please Don’t Destroy comedy troupe that she wasn’t worried about hosting the show, but did have other concerns.
“It’s the whole musical guest thing. I mean two new songs? I don’t have those,” she confessed before imploring Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy to write her a “black woman anthem” 10 minutes before the dress rehearsal.
“We’re almost ready for you and if those new songs aren’t good, I’m going to kill you,” Andrew Dismukes popped in to say.
Just when it seemed the writers had hit a wall, Lizzo mined a hit song out of their sketch idea for a “horny zookeeper.”
“Weekend Update” took a shot at President Joe Biden’s handshake with an invisible person following his North Carolina speech last week.
“Her name is Kamala,” fake news anchor Colin Jost cracked, referencing Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $43 million so he can loosen its free speech rules,” co-anchor Michael Che said.
“That’s how badly white guys wanna use the n-word,” he joked.
“Twitter’s not even profitable anymore. It just seems like a bad business decision,” Jost said as the riff continued.
“And I say that as someone who bought a Staten Island Ferry with Pete [Davidson, absent again from the show.]”
The segment joked about the non-fatal subway attack, talking about how Frank James turned himself in at an East Village McDonalds.
“Where judging from this photo he was auditioning for the role of Grimace,” Che said of the portly suspect, who was pictured wearing a dark blue shirt in a two-shot next to the rotund purple fast food mascot mascot.
McKinnon stole the next sketch — about a planning meeting for an ancient Egyptian orgy that featured most of the cast — by making out with a live goat.
A prestigious orchestra without a flutist took a chance on Lizzo, but the conductor was taken aback by the woodwind player’s lack of decorum, as she disrupted the stuffy environment by “twerking on the bassoonist.”
“We make music together and if that means I have to pop this booty for Beethoven then so be it,” Bryant’s violinist said, as the ensemble members launched into a rump-shaking version of “Ode to Joy.”
Lizzo and Dismukes played a elitist couple that told fellow dinner party guests how they planned to travel the world on the value of their Beanie Baby collection.
“Needless to say we won’t be worrying about money for quite some time,” Lizzo scoffed, before becoming panicked when she realized the investment was not as lucrative as the couple thought.
Lizzo introduced herself by saying “Ladies and gentleman … me” before launching into “Good As Hell,” featuring a “Rapper’s Delight” inspired flute solo.
The performer’s mother introduced her second number, “Special.”
The NBC show was slated to take a three-week hiatus and return to the airwaves on May 7 featuring guest host Benedict Cumberbatch and musical guest Arcade Fire.
