Hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ (or SNL as it is commonly abbreviated) is a goal for many entertainers and on October 8th 2016, it was Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, alongside special musical guest Twenty One Pilots, who got the opportunity to be the main attractions for the evening of comedic entertainment.
Despite claiming that he wasn’t going to perform any songs from his smash hit musical, Hamilton, he kind of did. During his opening monologue, one of the most iconic and classic parts of the SNL show, he sang a parody of ‘My Shot’ from the show. Not only did he make it relevant to the show, but he also included several political references, including a slight jab towards presidential candidate, Donald Trump and also reminding the public to vote in the election in November.
You can watch his inventive monologue below!
Lin-Manuel Miranda garnered a monstrous amount of praise, with #SNLinManuel trending for hours after the show finished and many people impressed with how he managed to intertwine current affairs within his monologue. Even Grey’s Anatomy and How To Get Away With Murder creator, Shonda Rhimes, was excited for this television event.
Pretty sure a Puerto Rican @Lin_Manuel just delivered the most relevant opening monologue in @nbcsnl history! & US politics. #SNLinManuel pic.twitter.com/UNCmlZju3v
— Gilluis Pérez (@GilluisPerez_) October 9, 2016
.@Lin_Manuel blew the top off the @nbcsnl opener. Instant classic on a classic NYC stage. #SNLinManuel pic.twitter.com/SGDkBNZvSC
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 9, 2016
Already so happy. #SNLinManuel
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) October 9, 2016
Of course, it wouldn’t be Saturday Night Live without their signature short skits, would it? Along with the regular stars of the show and some special cameo appearances from stars such as Leslie Jones, Lin-Manuel participated in a parody of Stranger Things, the Netflix series which took over the world this past summer.
The opening claimed that this special ‘behind the scenes’ of season two will answer burning questions such as ‘where is the Upside Down?’ ‘is Barb coming back?’ and ‘where is that black kid’s family?’ Miranda takes on the part of Dustin and it is possibly the best thing we have seen this year. If they ever need an actor to play an older version or Gaten Matarazzo’s character in Stranger Things then Lin-Manuel should definitely be the first person they call.
Check out the skit below!
What are your thoughts on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s episode of Saturday Night Live? Tweet us your thoughts at @CelebMix!