Bill Burr hosts a post-election ‘SNL’ that he couldn’t quite lift

The last time “Saturday Night Live” aired an episode following a Donald Trump presidential election win was on Nov. 12, 2016, when Dave Chappelle hosted. The cold open was a somber Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton singing “Hallelujah,” and the monologue and sketch that followed felt like perfectly pitched, smart responses to a shocking outcome.

For the first post-election episode of 2024, stand-up comic Bill Burr hosted, and the episode … was not that at all. The show tried a few different tacks, just a week after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the show, including a cold open that mocked Trump by having the entire cast pretend to support him and a Burr monologue that, depending on how you viewed it, was either wildly insensitive to dejected Harris supporters, particularly women, or provocatively ironic.

By the time “Weekend Update” came along, with two non-election related character bits that missed the mark, the sketches began to feel exhausted and rote, with bad premises and weak writing. It never recovered after that. If the show was aligning itself to the guest host’s sensibilities, you have to wonder with hindsight if scheduling Burr to host days after such a divisive election was the right choice. There were a few minor bright spots, including a “Good Will Hunting” parody and a promo for a “Sex Rock” CD, plus a few we’ll talk about below, but the rest were forgettable, unfunny or both.

Meanwhile, musical guest Mk.gee (a man and not a website) performed “Rockman” and “Alesis.” There was no Please Don’t Destroy video, as has been the case for every episode but one this season.

The show honored producer Quincy Jones, who died this week, with a title card before the closing goodbyes. He hosted the show in 1990.

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You might think that “SNL” would come out guns blazing to denounce the Trump win, but instead this week’s cold open joked about the president-elect in a different way: with mock flattery.

Cast members faced the audience and recounted the results of the election before Kenan Thompson said, “This is why we at ‘SNL’ would like to say to Donald Trump… we have been with you all along!” Cast members including Ego Nwodim and Marcello Hernández joked that everyone in the cast voted for Trump. “Because we see ourselves in you. We look at you and think… ‘That’s me,’ ” Nwodim said.

Colin Jost even appeared to throw his “Weekend Update” co-star under the bus, saying, “I hate how the lamestream media — Michael Che — tries to spin it to make you look foolish.” He also spelled out Che’s last name to make it easier for Trump to remember.

A muscular, red bandanna-wearing “hot, jacked” version of Trump was introduced by impressionist James Austin Johnson, who said as Trump, “They finally got the body right.” The sketch ended with Dana Carvey returning as fist-pumping, jumping Elon Musk, who said he’s running the country now, which will be like one of his rockets. “But there’s a slight chance it could blow up and everybody dies,” Musk said.

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Is Bill Burr’s comedy meant to be taken at face value or is he doing a high-wire self-parody of the type of edgelord comedy that drew ire after a Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally? It was hard to tell from Burr’s monologue, which started with a story about getting the flu with a thrown-in ethnic slur: “You’re trying to figure out who gave it to you. You’re going through this Rolodex of people that coughed on you, sniffed near you, walked by an Asian or something.” Burr eventually got to election material, beginning by lecturing women: “OK, ladies, you’re 0-2 against this guy.” He suggested female candidates ditch the pantsuits, stop trying to have respect for themselves and “whore it up a little.” He suggested that “ugly women… I mean feminists” won’t want to hear this, but that candidates need to win over swing states by “making a farmer feel like he’s got a shot. Burr moved on to Trump, mocking his herky-jerky moves, which he said might have thwarted an assassination attempt, and chiding him for his appearance at a McDonald’s. “That’s the only time I’ve ever seen that guy truly happy,” Burr said.

Best sketch of the night: Mike Wazowski like you’ve never seen him

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A group of firefighters at a Boston station are gathered for a meeting with a mental-health specialist (Heidi Gardner) who is showing the group a series of Rorschach test images. While some of the men see things in the black-and-white images, Ralphie (Burr) keeps seeing full-color images of Disney characters in compromising positions. One of them is Mike Wazowski from “Monsters Inc.” in wedding lingerie and high heels. Another features a topless Elsa from “Frozen” and Olaf running away with her bra. Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Master Chief from “Halo,” the dead wife from “Up” and Bandit, the dad dog from “Bluey,” end up in the mix. This is a very dumb premise, but the commitment to the bit works, especially the incredibly specific details that Ralphie knows about so many animated characters.

Also good: Dads who will talk about anything but themselves

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Two pickleball players (Devon Walker and Andrew Dismukes) decide to call their dads and see how they’re doing. The fathers (Thompson and Burr) deflect, with one of them only wanting to discuss the Philadelphia Eagles and the other diverting the conversation to his son’s car. It turns out both dads are going through some stuff and are willing to talk about it through metaphors about their sports team or cars. “Last week, the Eagles fell in the shower,” Thompson says, “I thought, ‘This might be where the Eagles die.’ ” It’s a funny and surprisingly touching piece.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Oh no, there’s a Pennsylvania ballot in that purse

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Thompson appeared on “Weekend Update” as Willie, the most optimistic guy Michael Che knows, but it was Nwodim who made the bigger impression as “A Woman Who Can’t Find Something in Her Purse.” The giant purse contains a dead goldfish in a bag, a gun, a smaller night purse and an uncounted Pennsylvania ballot. What was she trying to find? Nothing, really, she says: “It helps you get your point across when you need to storm off when you’re mad.”