The ratings were pretty solid as far as averages go — 7.02 million viewers/1.91 demo rating — but this premiere fell far behind last year’s debut episode, which was watched by 8.29 million people and earned a 2.34 rating.
We’ll see how the numbers play out when the stats are released on Sunday.
Perhaps viewers are tiring of the Trump-personation, or maybe there’s something else at play.
Saturday Night Live returned to fans for the start of Season 43 with not only Ryan Gosling hosting for the second time, but also Alec Baldwin returning for another round of Donald Trump jokes.