On shows that take place the night before Mother’s Day, the cast members of “Saturday Night Live” have a longstanding tradition of changing focus, at least for a beat, to shout out their own mothers through some soft, self-deprecating jokes, typically told with flowers in-hand. Last night was no different — up to a point.
“With so many upsetting stories in the world right now, we thought we’d take a break from a regular cold open and hear some heartwarming stories from our moms instead,” Kenan Thompson said after introducing his mom to the Studio 8H audience.
“Really? I was excited to see who was going to play Stormy Daniels,” Mrs. Thompson, in turn, deadpanned to the audience, referencing a cold open about the ongoing trial of former president Donald Trump.
After the rest of the cast similarly introduced their moms, host Maya Rudolph took to the stage. While Rudolph is a mother of four children (“That I know of!” she joked), cast members Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman informed her that she means something more to certain members of the audience. “You’re not just a mom,” Yang said. “You’re mother!”
“You’re a 30 Rock legend,” Sherman added. “You’ve had your foot on our necks since Y2K.”
This kicked off a “house of Rockefeller”-themed song and dance number, which saw Rudolph rapping about her career on “SNL,” as well as her appearance in the 2011 movie “Bridesmaids.”
“Remember in that movie when I pooped my pants,” she sang. “When you were a baby you pooped your pants and I changed your diaper. I’m your mother.”
