Saturday Night Live has always enjoyed looking back at its history, revisiting classic moments and famous sketches. Now, as the show celebrates its 50th anniversary (technically starting last year), they’re continuing this tradition with a new short-form series called The Rundown. The series, available on Peacock, YouTube, and social media, features former and current SNL cast members sharing their dream lineups of the perfect show.
First, we hear from Colin Jost, the current head writer and co-host of Weekend Update, as he discusses the all-important Cold Open segment.
Colin Jost explains that the opening segment of Saturday Night Live is intentionally designed to be a bit jarring. Even though there’s a comedian who warms up the audience before the show starts, there’s still about ten minutes of just music before the actual show begins. Because of this, the key to a good cold open is making the audience laugh right away. Jost estimates he’s written around 100 of these opening segments over the years, which is quite an accomplishment.
If I had to pick one Saturday Night Live cold open as the absolute best, I’d go with the season 34 premiere from September 2008. The presidential election was really heating up between Obama and McCain, and Sarah Palin was just made for satire. This sketch perfectly captured the moment, parodying her interview with Katie Couric, but with Tina Fey as Palin and Amy Poehler playing Couric. It was written by Seth Meyers, and honestly, it’s a sketch I keep coming back to – it feels both nostalgic and surprisingly relevant even today. It’s just a really strong piece of comedy.
A new series called The Rundown will release episodes every Wednesday. Since Saturday Night Live isn’t currently producing new shows, The Rundown will continue through mid-June. Upcoming episodes will feature stars like Dana Carvey, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang, and Questlove sharing their top picks.
Kyle Anderson is a Senior Editor at TopMob and the host of the weekly podcast, Laser Focus, where he dives deep into pop culture. He also writes film and TV reviews, and you can find him on Letterboxd.
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2026-03-19 02:36