Kevin Hart hosts SNL: Impersonations of James Brown and Martin Luther King anchor 2015’s first episode.

Kevin Hart Is James Brown and Kenan Thompson Is MLK in SNL’s First Episode of 2015

Kevin Hart Is James Brown and Kenan Thompson Is MLK in SNL’s First Episode of 2015

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Slate's Culture Blog
Jan. 18 2015 6:09 PM

Kevin Hart Is James Brown and Kenan Thompson Is MLK in SNL’s First Episode of 2015

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Host Kevin Hart.

Still from YouTube

SNL returned this weekend after a short holiday hiatus, with host Kevin Hart’s manic, untethered energy elevating the year’s first episode. Perhaps the best example of that energy was one of the night’s funniest sketches—“Get On Up,” in which Hart delivers a hoarse, rousing James Brown impersonation that, dare I say it, rivals even Eddie Murphy’s interpretation. Almost the entire cast joins in as Hart’s Brown attempts to up the funk.

The episode’s cold open, which featured the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr. (Kenan Thompson) helping Pete Davidson with his history essay, was equally enjoyable. The bit gets in a few good digs at both Selma’s Oscar snubs and Twitter activism, and it’s worth watching just to see Davidson enlighten MLK on the phenomenon that is Macklemore:

Sharan Shetty is on the editorial staff of the New Yorker. You can follow him on Twitter