'SNL' drags George Santos in its first show of 2023

George Santos continues to live up to my prediction that he'll be a great inspiration for comedy as long as he stays in the news. Watch a NFL on Fox Cold Open as "Saturday Night Live" returns for the new year.

Fox Sports hosts (Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, James Austin Johnson, Devon Walker, Molly Kearney) interview Rep. George Santos (Bowen Yang).

As I wrote the last time I featured comedians mocking Santos, "It's hard for satire to be more ridiculous than reality these days, but this segment managed to do so" — but just barely.

SNL's dragging of Santos continued in Weekend Update: Biden's Classified Document Scandal, George Santos' Lies.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Biden and Trump's classified document scandals.

Weekend Update returned to Santos later, but in the meantime, it gave the Biden documents story about as much time as it deserved — not much. Ron DeSantis's comments about Florida being a refuge of sanity during the pandemic by refusing to go along with vaccine and mask mandates also got as much respect as they deserve by referencing Florida's reputation for craziness.

Well, this is Florida, which is known for the crazy news it produces. As an expatriate Californian, I'm perversely glad that it ha[s] the insane reputation that it does; it makes California, especially southern California, look good.

The last story reminds me of a meme I haven't used since Maddow asks if the filibuster can be waived for the debt ceiling, why can't it be waived for voting rights?


I'm sure I'll be returning to the topic, especially if it results in another Satan Sandwich.

Follow over the jump for the rest of Weekend Update.

Weekend Update continued with China's Population Decline, Andy Murray Denied Bathroom Break.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a 118-year-old nun dying.

While I mentioned India's population passing China's in U.N. estimates that the human population passed 8 billion, I don't recall any prediction that China's population was already declining. A decrease of more than 800,000? I'll have to blog about that!

Bowen Yang returned as Santos in Colin Jost Interviews Rep. George Santos.

Rep. George Santos stops by Weekend Update to address allegations that he's lied about key details of his life.

Well, that's a unique way to comment on last year's nuclear fusion breakthrough, a fictional George Santos taking credit. Also, "if the real George Santos, as much as any of his public persona is real, won't answer questions, we may as well talk to a fake George Santos. We might actually get answers, some of which might accidentally turn out to be true!"

Weekend Update concluded with April Ludgate and Leslie Knope on Working for the Government, featuring the episode's host, Aubrey Plaza.

Local government employees April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) stop by Weekend Update to talk about working for the government.

When I wrote about comedic depictions of politics and government on television, I was usually writing about "Veep." Maybe I should have been writing about "Parks and Recreation" as well, except that my wife and I found the first season not funny enough to finish. Maybe we should start with the second season.

That wasn't the first time Amy Poehler dropped in on one of Plaza's sketches. Look for her in Aubrey Plaza Monologue.

First-time host Aubrey Plaza talks about growing up in Delaware and working at 30 Rock as a former NBC Page before giving a tour of the SNL's studio 8H.

Plaza is more famous than Joe Biden? Congratulations, Aubrey Plaza, you've arrived!