Nate Bargatze reprises George Washington sketch for fan-favorite comedian’s second time hosting Saturday Night Live – as Coldplay rocks out

Nate Bargatze made a triumphant return to host Saturday Night Live for the second time this weekend.

The comedian, whose molasses-slow delivery has made him one of the most popular stand ups in the country, gave SNL fans what they had been craving by reprising his Washington’s Dream sketch.

He also got some help rocking out during the musical segments from Coldplay and frontman Chris Martin, who were promoting their new album Moon Music, which was released on Friday, and Andy Samberg’s sketch trio The Lonely Island, which returned with their first music video of the season.

The original version of Washington’s Dream, which became an instant classic, featured Bargatze, 45, playing George Washington as he tried to inspire a group of soldiers fighting in the American Revolution.

But instead of outlining his hopes for their military strategy or dreaming of a grander country they were hoping to found, the general-turned-first president of the United States aspired to institute the United States customary system of measurements and to adopt the Fahrenheit scale instead of temperature readings, as opposed to Celsius.

He also got some help rocking out during the musical segments from Coldplay and frontman Chris Martin, who were promoting their new album Moon Music, which was released on Friday

Nate was joined by SNL stars Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, Kenan Thompson and James Austin Johnson when he appeared in his first sketch of the night as George Washington.

The general paced around a boat rowing along the Delaware River at night as he tried to pep up his demoralized soldiers.

But his vision for the glories of a future US were decidedly small scale.

‘We will live through the battle ahead because we fight to control our own destiny. To create our own nation,’ he said dramatically, before adding, ‘And to do our own thing with the English language.’

That included a great nation with a ‘word for 12’ — a dozen — but no other numbers with names ‘because we are free men.’

He also dreamed of being able to spell words two different ways, like ‘doughnut,’ or the name ‘Jeff.’ 

‘And this is why we fight, men, to extend these liberties to all Americans,’ he added.

‘Including men of color, like myself?’ Kenan pepped up.

Washington let out a pain sigh that got a huge laugh out of the audience as he went on with his litany of American idiosyncrasies.

He also dreamed of animals with two names, ‘one when they are alive and one when they become food.’

When James questioned him about what a hot dog would be made out of, Washington told him to jump over the side of the boat, which he complied with.

He got another big laugh when he described what would come to be on the back side of a dollar bill.

‘Everything. All of it. Crazy stuff, squiggles, Latin words. A pyramid with a floating eye on top,’ he said in a perfect deadpan.

After Kenan asked again when people of color might be free, Washington replied, ‘After a war,’ but he walked away as the soldier tried to clarify: ‘Which war?!’

Nate was joined by SNL stars Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, Kenan Thompson and James Austen Johnson when he appeared in his first sketch of the night as George Washington

The general paced around a boat rowing along the Delaware River at night as he tried to pep up his demoralized soldiers. But his vision for the glories of a future US were decidedly small scale

He dreamed of having a world for the number 12; words with two spellings, like ‘doughnut’ and ‘Jeff’; having names for animals when they were alive and when they were food, and creating ‘crazy squiggles’ on the back of a dollar bill’

After Kenan asked again when people of color might be free, Washington replied, ‘After a war,’ but he walked away as the soldier tried to clarify: ‘Which war?!’

After the opening political sketch, Nate strolled out in front of the cheering crowd for his monologue.

He mined his stadium-filling stand-up routines to reuse material for the monologue, which gave viewers a taste of what his die-hard fans see at his shows.

He joked about his past at community college (for people who are expected to be staying in their community) and his easy ‘speech’ classes that didn’t seem up to snuff compared to his friends’ classes.

Then he told a story about a DoorDash experience gone awry.

After he gave in to the food delivery app’s suggestion that he ‘DoubleDash,’ or order from a second place, he was shocked when two different drives fulfilled his order instead of a single one.

The two ended up arriving at his home at the same time, almost crashing into each other. 

Nate was back for the next sketch, a pre-taped one in which he played a particularly unlucky golfer at a tournament.

Things got off to a bad start when his drive hit a bird, causing it to explode in mid-air.

After getting a mulligan, his next drive went into a tree, where it hid a bird’s nest, causing it to crash to the ground.

But things went from bad to worse when it turned out to be a Bald Eagle’s nest, so Nate’s character got a visit from law enforcement. 

Heidi Gardner and Mikey Day played the television announcers, and they were shocked when Nate’s next shot went into a water trap, where it killed a beloved turtle.

He seemed to right things at the end with an amazing shot to sink it into the hole, only for a chipmunk to get impaled when it scurried into the hole unbeknownst to Nate just before he dropped the flag back into it. 

After the opening political sketch, Nate strolled out in front of the cheering crowd for his monologue. He mined his stadium-filling stand-up routines to reuse material for the monologue, which gave viewers a taste of what his die-hard fans see at his shows

He joked about going to community college (for people who are staying in their community) and about a DoorDash order gone awry

Nate was back for the next sketch, a pre-taped one in which he played a particularly unlucky golfer at a tournament. Things got off to a bad start when his drive hit a bird, causing it to explode in mid-air

But things went from bad to worse when it turned out to be a Bald Eagle’s nest, so Nate’s character got a visit from law enforcement

Heidi Gardner and Mikey Day played the television announcers, and they were shocked when Nate’s next shot went into a water trap

It killed a beloved turtle, though he made an amazing shot just afterward.

Marcello Hernandez starred alongside Nate in the next sketch.

Nate played a confused audience member of the Miami-based Spanish-language variety show Sabado Gigante, while Marcello played the motor-mouthed host.

But after his name was called, Nate admitted that he felt as if he was having a panic attack as the show got increasingly surreal and bizarre.

It didn’t help that his rudimentary Spanish meant that he couldn’t understand anything Marcello was saying.

Like many of the most popular guest hosts, Nate was in nearly every sketch of the evening.

He returned for the next one, in which he and Michael Longfellow played EMTs responding to a tragedy at a water park.

They arrived at the top of a towering waterslide to find that an elderly man had died — just as he was about to slide down.

‘We should carry him down the stairs,’ Nate said shakily, before Devon Walker, who played a life guard, informed him that there were exactly 255 stairs to go down.

On top of that, they would have to carry the body past a long line of children waiting for their turn.

Instead, they start to consider letting him go down the slide, though they played it coy at first.  

‘He did wait in this long line. Seems like he really did want to go down it,’ Nate said nonchalantly. ‘It actually seems respectful.’

Marcello Hernandez starred alongside Nate in the next sketch

Nate played a confused audience member of the Miami-based Spanish-language variety show Sabado Gigante, while Marcello played the motor-mouthed host

But after his name was called, Nate admitted that he felt as if he was having a panic attack as the show got increasingly surreal and bizarre

It didn’t help that his rudimentary Spanish meant that he couldn’t understand anything Marcello was saying

Nate and Michael Longfellow played EMTs responding to a tragedy at a water park afterward. They arrived at the top of a towering waterslide to find that an elderly man had died — just as he was about to slide down

After learning there were 255 steps with kids lined up, Nate suggested they let the body slide down. ‘He did wait in this long line. Seems like he really did want to go down it,’ he said

Things took a somber turn when Nate joined Heidi, Bowen, Mikey and Sarah Sherman as members of a family whose patriarch was suffering from dementia.

While Bowen shared the sad details of his decline, Heidi was interrupted by the restaurant manager (Andrew Dismukes) who announced that she was participating in the mile-high burger challenge, in which she would have to each a mammoth, multi-patty burger and a chocolate milkshake in a tall mug.

If she could consume everything, she and her husband (played by Nate) would win a trip to Hawaii.

She thought she was just ordering a regular burger, but once she learned of the prize, she started chowing down with wild abandon while the other family members tried to have a serious conversation.

The sketch took a bizarre turn when Nate revealed that Heidi had once eaten a whole lasagna just to make him feel better.

Eventually, Heidi was covered in sauce and meat particles and bread crumbs, to the disgust of everyone else. 

‘I’m still so full from the lasagna this morning,’ she let slip at one point.

‘The lasagna was this morning?!’ screamed a shocked Mikey.

After five minutes, Heidi wasn’t allowed to use her hands anymore, so Nate began dipping the bun in water ‘Joey Chestnut–style’ and cramming it into her mouth. 

Things took a somber turn when Nate joined Heidi, Bowen, Mikey and Sarah Sherman as members of a family whose patriarch was suffering from dementia

They discussed it at dinner, which was interrupted when Heidi’s burger turned out to be part of a challenge. If she could eat it and drink a huge chocolate shake in 10 minutes, she and Nate would win a trip to Hawaii

The sketch took a bizarre turn when Nate revealed that Heidi had once eaten a whole lasagna just to make him feel better. Eventually, Heidi was covered in sauce and meat particles and bread crumbs, to the disgust of everyone else

After five minutes, Heidi wasn’t allowed to use her hands anymore, so Nate began dipping the bun in water ‘Joey Chestnut–style’ and cramming it into her mouth

‘I’m still so full from the lasagna this morning,’ she let slip at one point. ‘The lasagna was this morning?!’ screamed a shocked Mikey

Following Coldplay’s second song, Andy Samberg appeared with Akiva Schaffer as The Lonely Island.

Maya Rudolph, who appeared at the start of the show as Kamala Harris, returned to lead a trio of Shark Tank–style investors.

Andy began the comedic song by pitching a ‘sushi glory hole.’ 

Andy and Akiva repeated ‘Hear us out’ over and over again before describing a bathroom with a hole in the wall.

But instead of being used for sexual favors, it was used to pop little pieces of sushi into customers’ mouths. 

They joked that there was ‘no d***’ and ‘no sex,’ but the regular glory hole was just two stalls down, so customers would have to come in sober and be careful to choose the correct stall. 

The final sketch of the night featured Nate once again.

Andrew Dismukes played the head coach of a high school football team, while Nate played an assistant coach. 

In the short sketch, Andrew started off with an impassioned speech to spur the team on to victory in the second half of the game.

Following Coldplay’s second song, Andy Samberg appeared with Akiva Schaffer as The Lonely Island. Maya Rudolph, who appeared at the start of the show as Kamala Harris, returned to lead a trio of Shark Tank–style investors

Andy began the comedic song by pitching a ‘sushi glory hole.’ Andy and Akiva repeated ‘Hear us out’ over and over again before describing a bathroom with a hole in the wall

Andy and Akiva repeated ‘Hear us out’ over and over again before describing a bathroom with a hole in the wall. But instead of being used for sexual favors, it was used to pop little pieces of sushi into customers’ mouths

The final sketch of the night featured Nate once again. Andrew Dismukes played the head coach of a high school football team, while Nate played an assistant coach

In the short sketch, Andrew started off with an impassioned speech to spur the team on to victory in the second half of the game

But when it was Nate’s turn to talk, he was just concerned about how so many of the players still owed him $20 for their jerseys

But when it was Nate’s turn to talk, he was just concerned about how so many of the players still owed him $20 for their jerseys.

The perplexed head coach then took over, but when he let the assistant coach speak again, Nate just went over the details of filling out a check, including how to properly spell his last name.

The speeches worked. At the conclusion, the players stood up, but instead of sharing how motivated they were to play their hearts out, they all whipped out checks made out to Nate’s character.

After Marcello’s character didn’t have any luck using Venmo, he urged the rest of the team to go out of the locker room to get checks from their parents to pay him.