On its season premiere, the show navigated its largest cast ever—and a reliance on old formulas.
Saturday Night Live began its 47th season with a brand-new cast member staring down the camera lens, a pointed announcement that the show is looking to stay ahead of the curve. That actor was James Austin Johnson, a comedian who gained a Twitter following for his short, surreal impressions, most famously of Donald Trump, during which he rambled through the streets while delivering strange soliloquies in the former president’s voice. But the role he opened SNL playing was President Joe Biden—one he performed with a little less comic dynamism. Johnson’s appearance speaks to the show’s lack of nimbleness even as it tries to modernize itself near the end of its fifth decade on the air. After years of Alec Baldwin’s tired Trump impression bogging down the show’s political sketches, SNL finally identified a young, talented person online who might do more with the role, and got him on the air… to play Joe Biden. I say all this not to dismiss Johnson’s overall performance. This was his first episode, and the actor did a fine job in each of his sketches. But with its historic 50th season on the horizon, SNL should be feeling pressure to regain its place on the cutting edge of comedy. Johnson is one of three new cast members hired this year, along with the comedians Aristotle Athari and Sarah Sherman. But the lack of overall cast turnover on the show was low. Only two people departed: Beck Bennett, a veteran presence who left in part because he lives in Los Angeles, and Lauren Holt, who did only one year as a repertory player.
