In his fourth time hosting Saturday Night Live, Michael Keaton is egged on toward memory lane.
During his opening monologue for SNL 50, the Beetlejuice actor is forced to share the stage with Mikey Day and Andy Samberg, both of whom crash the stage in full Betelgeuse attire: untamed green hair, pinstripe suit and ghastly makeup to boot.
“With Halloween coming up, I know I’m gonna see a lot of those little kids out there dressed just like Beetlejuice, which is adorable,” the Oscar nominee said in promoting the Beetlejuice followup, which released Sept. 6. “And I’m also gonna see a lot of grown men dressed up like Beetlejuice too, usually guys in their 40s, which is less adorable.”
His joke prompted Day’s entrance, who immediately started ululating and donning the demon’s signature raspy voice. As he urged Keaton to “do the voice” and say his catchphrase, “It’s showtime,” Keaton demurred.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember how I said it,” the host said.
At this point, Samberg popped up. When Keaton questioned what he was doing there — What about his regular gig impersonating Second Gentleman of the U.S. Doug Emhoff? — he quipped in his best Beetlejuice impression: “Yeah, the writers couldn’t jam it in this week, so here we find ourselves.”
To round out the chaotic scene on stage in Studio 8H, the camera panned to Sarah Sherman in the audience, clad in a black-and-white striped outfit. Just when Keaton was at his Beetlejuice-mania limit, the star said, “Oh no, this is just how I dress,” before imitating him too, for good measure.
When Keaton remarked that it seemed like everyone was quoting the 1988 original, pondering if the actors had seen the sequel, everyone chimed in with excuses of “not yet” and “it’s on the list.”
But the veteran actor didn’t let it get him down, finally giving in and introing the night’s show with the voice of Beetlejuice.
