Michael Keaton Hosts SNL, Brings Back Batman and Beetlejuice and Makes Easter Creepy—Watch Highlights!

The episode also mocked Indiana's controversial Indiana's Religious Freedom law and CNN and featured a cameo from The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus

By Corinne Heller Apr 05, 2015 3:12 PMTags
Michael Keaton, SNLNBC

It's show time!

Michael Keaton, recently seen in Birdman, hosted SNL on Saturday, during which he reprised his two most iconic movie roles—Batman and Beetlejuice.

The episode also mocked Indiana's controversial Indiana's Religious Freedom law and CNN and featured a cameo from The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus. Pop star Carly Rae Jepsen was the musical guest, performing her new songs "I Really Like You" and "All That."

And since the show aired a day before Easter Sunday, there was of course a holiday sketch that was hilariously creepy.

This marked the third time Keaton has hosted Saturday Night Live and the first time since 1992. He made his hosting debut in 1982.

Check out 5 highlights below.

1. Monologue

Keaton lets Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan torture him by sing-begging him to play Batman and Beetlejuice with them and use backup singers and a badly edited video that depicts him as both (and also shows the cast members spoofing popular supporting characters—kudos to Killam on his Jack Nicholson-Joker impression) to try to persuade him. Did it work? Watch the clip!

And for your '80s nostalgia fix...

2. Mocking CNN

Cecily Strong parodies anchor Brooke Baldwin and CNN's excessive use of reenactment videos to tell news stories where on-scene footage isn't available to them.

So you get an animation of two scenes from the March 24 Germanwings plane before it crashed last week, made by the same team that made the iconic music video for Dire Straits' 1985 song "Money for Nothing" (whose lyrics contain an anti-gay slur), puppets resembling those on Crank Yankers to show the moment U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a framework for a nuclear accord, while Keaton takes part in No. 3, playing a restaurant owner who refuses to serve people in accordance with Indiana's Religious Freedom law (legislation many see as anti-gay), which of course looks like a dance party.

3. Weekend Update

As Pete Davidson discusses the conundrum of possibly being stoned during a zombie apocalypse, The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus makes a cameo, with Daryl Dixon's crossbow!

Bonus points to Davidson for the Jawbreakers and The Boondocks Saints shout-outs.

4. Creepy Easter Fan

In this segment, which is reminiscent of Steve Buscemi's 2011 Christmas-themed "Ornaments" sketch, Keaton plays a super creepy dude (and recovering drug addict) who's really into Easter (for all the wrong reasons) and terrible puns and shows what's in his Easter basket. He also somehow manages to turn Easter and the coinciding Jewish holiday of Passover into a competition, with Jesus coming out as the victor. To be fair, he also kinda disses Santa.

The skit also features implied chicken cannibalism and...something disturbing that may make you unable to look at a hollow chocolate Easter Bunny the same way again.

Then there's this sweet reference.

"Yesterday was Good Friday," he says, holding up a DVD of the 1995 cult film Friday, starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. "But this, this was the best Friday."

5. And speaking of religion...

...SNL also mocked another one, in an ensemble music video titled "Neurotology."

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