Will Maya Rudolph’s “funt,” aka Vice President Kamala Harris, be back on “Saturday Night Live”?
Speculation has been running hot since Sunday, when President Joe Biden dropped his election news, but the “SNL” alum is a busy actor these days.
Rudolph earned four Emmy nods last week for her work on three different shows: “Loot” (just renewed for a third season on Apple TV+), “Big Mouth” on Netflix and two nominations for a hosting stint on “SNL.”
She played Harris several times as a guest on “SNL” in 2019, during the 2020 presidential election cycle. Rudolph was a cast member on the NBC show from 2000 to 2007.
The “Bridesmaids” actor won an Emmy for her Harris in December 2019 during a cold open send-up of the PBS Democratic debate soon after Harris dropped out of the presidential race. She debuted the character earlier that year during a town hall bit that had her introducing her Harris as “America’s cool aunt. A fun aunt. I call that a ‘funt.'”
Her Emmy-winning turn as Harris referenced Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” with: “I just want to show you how good you could’ve had it, America. You withheld your donations, and I got tired of waiting, so I walked my fine ass out the door.” Rudolph then sang: “You coulda had a bad bitch.”
Calls for Rudolph to return to the role have flooded social media since Biden stepped aside. He and Democratic leaders have thrown their support to Harris as their presidential nominee ahead of the Aug. 19 start of the party’s convention in Chicago.
The 50th season of “SNL” premieres Sept. 28. An NBC spokesperson said there are no discussions at the moment about a Rudolph return since the show is on hiatus. An email request for comment to Rudolph wasn’t immediately returned Monday.
Rudolph wasn’t the first, or last, person to take on presidents and other names in U.S. politics over at “SNL.”
A month into the show’s very first season in 1975, Chevy Chase introduced his stumbly President Gerald Ford. Fellow original cast member Dan Aykroyd followed up as President Jimmy Carter and his “Ask President Carter” segments. Phil Hartman spoofed President Ronald Reagan, Carter’s successor.
In the 1990s, Dana Carvey morphed into President George H.W. Bush. After President Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, Darrell Hammond and Hartman split Clinton duty, leading to other presidents played by multiple actors.
President Barack Obama was played by Jay Pharoah and Fred Armisen, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appearing as “The Rock Obama” in a few sketches. President Donald Trump is a recurring recipient of “SNL” treatment, even before he was elected. Hammond, Alec Baldwin and now James Austin Johnson have become Trump.
Jason Sudeikis, Jim Carrey and Johnson have all played President Biden. And don’t forget Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton.
ESPN and other channels return to DirecTV with a new Disney deal after a nearly 2-week blackout
DirecTV announced Saturday it had reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out those networks for millions of viewers across the U.S.
The end of the impasse came in time for sports fans to watch ESPN's slate of college football games on DirecTV. It also will ensure that ABC's telecast of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night will be available in more major markets where viewers subscribe to DirecTV's pay service.
ABC had been unavailable since Sept. 1 on DirecTV in several markets where the station is owned by Disney. Those were located in the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
DirecTV's 11 million subscribers abruptly lost access to ESPN, the ABC-owned stations and other Disney-owned channels such as FX and National Geographic during the Labor Day weekend in a dispute over carriage fees and programming flexibility.
Some viewers were watching the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament when ESPN suddenly went dark and others were getting ready to watch a college football showdown between LSU and Southern California.
The impasse also kept the NFL's opening game of Monday Night Football off of DirecTV's service.
Financial details of Disney's new deal with DirecTV weren't disclosed as part of Saturday's announcement. DirecTV's payments to Disney will be based on "market-based" pricing, according to the announcement about the deal.
The agreement also will give DirecTV the ability to offer Disney's video streaming services a la carte as well as in its own bundled packages. DirecTV won the right to include ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer... Read More