It’s been 20 years since the last time Jack Black hosted Saturday Night Live, and what better excuse to drop by than to promote the recently released A Minecraft Movie. It was the fourth time the comedic leading man had headlined the long-running sketch series, and his sixth appearance overall, since he’s also performed as the musical guest as part of the rock duo Tenacious D. Here are the best moments from Black’s most recent hosting gig, from the opening monologue to the best sketches.

COLD OPEN

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You just knew Saturday Night Live would open this week by riffing on Donald Trump’s recently announced tariffs, with the President (James Austin Johnson) addressing the nation from the Rose Garden. “My favorite word: tariff,” he said, “which is of course short for terrific idea.” Trump outlined his plan Make American Wealthy Again (MAWA), but first they needed to Make America Great Depression Again (MAGDA). “This depression will be so great, we’ll be the ones eating the cats and the dogs.” Elon Musk (Mike Meyers) also dropped by to talk about his failed attempts to buy a Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, which he acknowledged was a bad idea. “I should’ve just bought the state,” he said. He also introduced a new line of self-vandalizing Teslas, to better prevent people from doing it themselves.

OPENING MONOLOGUE

As soon as Black walked onstage at Studio 8H for the first time in 20 years, he tried to get out of the hosting gig. Sure, it’s highly unorthodox for a host to quit, but Black didn’t feel he could go through with it. That was before someone handed him a mic and the band started playing, and before you knew it, Black was performing “I’m Back,” an original song about his long-awaited return to SNL.

FLAMIN’ HOT PREPARATION H COMMERCIAL

Among the best pre-taped SNL sketches are the commercial spoofs, and this week’s was spicy, to say the least. When Chester Stuart (Black) and the Cheetos Cheetah crash a dull house party, they bring some extra hot snacks that cause some digestion problems. Although the Cheetah has come prepared with Preparation H, Chester thinks you need to fight fire with fire, and has therefore brought the new Flamin’ Hot Preparation H. The rest is — shall we say — not suitable for work.

GREEK THEATER SKETCH

One can only imagine what the Greeks thought the first time they saw a staged play unfold in front of them. Such was the subject of one of tonight’s Saturday Night Live sketches, in which a group of ancient Greeks gathered at the coliseum to watch the very first play. Only problem is, the audience isn’t familiar with the concept of theater — let alone acting, storytelling, stagecraft, and make-believe. So many of the spectators (including Black, Mikey Day, and Chloe Fineman) are perplexed to see their friends and neighbors pretending to be other people, and are absolutely horrified when the “King” (Johnson) stabs a “soldier” (Bowen Yang). They’re so incensed to find out that it’s all fake that they almost leave, until they’re assured that the next play has nudity in it.

WEEKEND UPDATE

This week’s Weekend Update started with the news of Donald Trump’s tariffs, which has caused the stock market to drop to the lowest it’s been since the summer of 2020. As anchor Colin Jost pointed out, “Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at goodnight,” a jab at the country music star’s abrupt exit from Studio 8H last week. They also addressed the recent news that the White House Correspondents Dinner wouldn’t be featuring a comedian host, so Ego Nwodim decided to audition for the role be premiering her stand-up alter-ego, “Ego.” Nwodim did a little crowd work, opining on how tired she was of dating lousy men. “These men ain’t what?,” she asked the audience, and they gave a response that might run afoul of FCC guidelines.

TOO MUCH BASS SKETCH

Throughout the evening, Black showed off his talents for blending comedy and music (musical comedy, you might say?), never more hilariously than in a sketch where he’s leading a jam band performance of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” at a lakeside cookout. He invites attendees to join him onstage with their own instruments, but everyone just wants to play bass, leading to a lack of musical harmony. It seems that everyone at the picnic plays bass, including the dog, who’s — you guessed it — a Basset Hound.

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