SNL Kicks Off Season 42 With Alec Baldwin As Donald Trump

The 42nd season for Saturday Night Live (SNL) had a rip-roaring start with Alec Baldwin's deadly accurate take-off of U.S. Presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The nearly 10-minute sketch which parodied the first presidential debate held last week had Baldwin as Trump, Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton and Michael Che as Lester Holt.

A USAToday report said Balwin's impression "nailed it," while LA Times applauded his spot-on mimicking of Trumps pursed lip and trademark hand gestures.

"He certainly looked the part, with his pouty face, fluffy hair and tan skin. And he had some winning lines, " said Carly Mallenbaum of USAToday.

McKinnon as Clinton made a dramatic entry, coughing but then somersaulted onto the stage saying, "I'm better than ever, let's do this!"

The sketch covered the entire range of references from Clinton's health woes to Trump's tax troubles. Che as Holt asked many of questions that were originally asked in the debate. One of them was on how they would create jobs in the country, which resulted in the following response.

"I've got a very presidential answer for this," Baldwin's Trump said. "Our jobs are fleeing this country. They're going to Mexico. They're going to Jina[China]. I would stop that. If Hillary knew how, she would have done it already. Period. End of story. I won the debate, I stayed calm, just like I promised, and it is over. Goodnight Hofstra."

The episode was said to have the highest ever opening rating in eight years.

With the SNL having a full month on air before Election Day, viewers can expect to see more of Baldwin. Recommended by Tina Fey for playing Trump, Baldwin was signed up earlier this week for the role. He has of course guest -hosted SNL several times, a record-setting 16 times in fact, ever he debuted on SNL in 1990.

The season premiere for SNL was hosted by Australian star Maggi Robbie and starred The Weeknd as the musical guest. The band performed the title track "Starboy" of their upcoming eponymous album and followed up with another track "False Alarm.

The next episode will have Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda as the host.

Take a look here at Baldwin as Trump