The NBC variety show opened Saturday’s episode mocking the CBS Super Bowl pre-game show, with Kenan Thompson in the role of CBS Sports anchor James Brown.
“Hello! Welcome to the Super Bowl – four hours of television for 11 minutes of action,” said Thompson’s Brown. “I’m James ‘No, not that’ Brown.”
Thompson mentioned that this season was anything but normal thanks to the pandemic, as well as racial and political divisions.
“But today we come together in a spirit of unity to watch football,” he said. “And kill billions of chickens for their delicious wings.”
Thompson’s Brown said the league worked hard to keep Covid in check throughout the season and, fortunately, they only had “700 cases”.
The fake CBS pre-game team also mentioned that Sunday’s game announcements – when the Kansas City Chiefs face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa – almost brought them to tears.
“SNL” then showed a fake Cheez-Its ad that showed images of historical figures fighting injustice. The ad ended with the slogan: “Cheez-Its, historically delicious”.
This was followed by a false announcement “to balance progressive announcements” by Pope John’s. He showed Papa John’s pizza alongside conspiracy theories and ended with the announcer saying “stop your Q-pon today.”
“Wait, is this a pizza ad?” Thompson’s Brown said.
After talking to the two Super Bowl coaches, Andy Reid and Bruce Arians, both played by Aidy Bryant, the pre-game ended with the announcers making final predictions for Sunday’s big game.
Former coach Bill Cowher, played by Alex Moffat, predicted that “at the end of the game, Covid will address the fans in Florida and thank them for an incredible opportunity”.
The team then said the show’s signature, “Live … From New York! It’s Saturday night.”