Pokemon gets multiple name-drops in SNL’s cold open

Saturday Night Live has a long-running tradition of both name-dropping and paying tribute to Nintendo. We’ve seen skits that had Pedro Pascal appearing in a gritty take on Mario Kart, Kenan Thompson dressed up like Funky Kong, Elon Musk portraying Wario and so much more. Last night, the Nintendo nods continued with yet another reference.

The “cold ope”n for the most recent Saturday Night Live was a satirical take on the recent White House meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Politics and SNL have gone together for a long time now, and in recent years the show’s cold open has very much focused on lampooning recent political events. This time around, some Nintendo love is sprinkled in for a string of jokes.

Rather than spoil the joke, you can hear it for yourself in the clip above. Just fast-forward to the 3-minute mark to get the setup for the joke, and then the eventual Nintendo nods. Once you hear the setup, you’ll probably be able to figure out which direction the joke will go!