Kate McKinnon’s Zoom Graduation Ceremony Is a Virtual Hell in SNL Cold Open

Saturday Night Live’s unconventional 45th season finale got off to a strong start, with Kate McKinnon as a high-school principal just trying to get through a quarantine graduation ceremony. “I know this isn’t how you expected you high-school career to come to an end,� she says. “But we’re all making sacrifices. I’ve had to share my child’s Adderall with him.� She goes on to explain that her ill-advised choice to let the school’s students vote on their keynote speaker has backfired in a big way — among their choices were Barack Obama, murder hornets, and Elon Musk and Grimes’s newborn baby. It turns out only their eighth choice, Donald Trump, said yes to this speaking engagement: “Congratulations to the class of COVID-19,� Alec Baldwin as Trump proclaims. “My valet got the virus so I had to do my own makeup. I had to resort to a Liza Minelli TikTok makeup tutorial.� After an off-color Adele joke, Baldwin breaks character a moment early to say, “Taped from my home, one last time, it’s Saturday night.�