‘SNL’ Lampoons ‘Game of Thrones’ Author, Anna Kendrick Hosts
The night before the premiere of Game of Thrones‘ fourth season, Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin (Bobby Moynihan) stopped by Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update desk to talk about his trouble completing the last two books of the series. Claiming that he can’t write the books until he’s come up with a title, he offered anchor Cecily Strong two options: “A Whisper of Yells” or “A Bunch of Clocks.” He also admitted that, while he spends about 35 hours a week writing, it’s mostly Game of Thrones fan fiction. (“It’s slightly less pornographic and I’m the main character in it.”)
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Given host Anna Kendrick‘s musical theater background, it was inevitable that the episode would include song-and-dance numbers a-plenty. She brought out her inner nasty girl on the ladies’ paean to sex tourism, “Dongs All Over the World,” a catchy dance track featuring Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Sasheer Zamata, with Swedish duo Icona Pop making a surprise appearance as co-pilots on the Dong Express.
The episode played on Kendrick’s sweeter side as well, with a running theme of Disney jokes and references to Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (in a sketch that featured the hosts’s vocal impressions of Kesha, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea) and Frozen. Kendrick brought all her ingénue charm to bear in a new installment of the absurdist French dance video “Les Jeunes de Paris,” with a callback to her Pitch Perfect hit “Cups.”
She also appeared as an “Obamacare survivor” on a “Fox & Friends” sketch that included Kenan Thompson as Cosmos host Neil DeGrasse Tyson trying to help the gang find some clarity on climate change. Needless to say, he doesn’t make much headway. (The long scrolling list of corrections at the end includes a reference to the night’s musical guest: “Pharrell is not a stylish hand sanitizer.”)
Kate McKinnon’s brilliant Angela Merkel made her return to Weekend Update as the German Chancellor addressed Russia’s latest maneuvers in Ukraine. “Working with Putin is like being cornered at a party by a guy who just started cross-fit.”
Saturday Night Live returns next week with host Seth Rogen and musical guest Ed Sheeran.