The night before the Super Bowl, “Saturday Night Live” set aside its political satire and celebrity personifications to pay satirical homage to the healing power of sports.
This weekend’s broadcast, hosted by Dan Levy and featuring musical guest Phoebe Bridgers, began with a parody of a CBS Super Bowl pre-game show featuring Kenan Thompson in the role of sports announcer James Brown.
He told the audience: “As everyone at home knows, this year was anything but normal: the pandemic. Racial and political divisions. Armie Hammer. But today, we come together in a spirit of unity to watch football and kill billions of chickens for their delicious wings ”.
Thompson also saluted the NFL for the Covid protocols it employed over a challenging year. “But with a lot of work and vigilance,” he added, “we were able to get through the season with just 700 cases.”
He and his fellow hosts, including Beck Bennett as Boomer Esiason, Chris Redd as Nate Burleson and Alex Moffat as Bill Cowher, continued to run a series of Super Bowl ads that they said reflect the passionate enthusiasm of the moment. The first showed images of Jesse Owens, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, former President Barack Obama and John Lewis while an off-duty voice declared: “We must always strive for equality. And we must always seek – Cheez-Its. “
They also showed a commercial for Papa John’s Pizza that made reference to QAnon and two buddy ads for Budweiser that were pro and anti-vaccines.
The MVP of the sketch was Aidy Bryant, who with just a few wardrobe changes and some fake facial hair, appeared as Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid (“Let’s go and we’ll run and when they get the ball, to stop him, “she said) and as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians (” Let’s run first, then pass, “she explained.” And then, when they have the ball, we’ll try to return the ball. ” )
Asked by Redd if Coach Reid could respond to what Coach Arians had just said, Bryant swallowed and said, “OK, well, then, ask very slowly.”
Opening monologue of the week
Dan Levy, who hosted “SNL” for the first time, talked about his excitement about the opportunity (“My 13-year-old self passed out in a melodramatic and needy way,” he said) and about how his life had changed since his series “Schitt’s Creek” won several Emmys last year. He also led the cameras on a safe tour behind Covid’s backstage and paused to recognize a framed photo of his “Schitt’s Creek” co-star, Catherine O’Hara.
Of course, it was all just preparation for a special appearance by the host’s co-star and father, Eugene Levy, who was contained in a transparent chamber.
“I flew to wish you luck tonight,” explained Eugene Levy, “but because I traveled, I am now in an isolation box.” As his son ran to face the audience, Levy looked at the stage assistants in anti-danger suits on either side of him and asked, “Could one of you take me to the stage so I could see the show?”
Illicit site of the week
If you’ve seen yourself watching basic cable TV programs in the early hours of the morning, you’re probably familiar with a breathtaking and soft-focused ad style, offering phone chat services to lonely men. This commercial parody followed that same format with a seductive tone that asked: “Are you bored? Looking for something to spice up your life?
“You used to want sex, but now you’re almost 30,” continued the ad. And what you need instead, apparently, is the real estate website Zillow.com, where you are free to drool over listings of houses you never intend to buy. (And when you need to get out of fantasy, an aggressive real estate agent, played by Cecily Strong, will call you tirelessly and try to sell you these houses.)
Jokes of the week from the weekend update
At the Weekend Update table, anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che commented on the pandemic relief deal and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a proponent of false conspiracy theories whose committee assignments have been removed by the House.
Jost started by saying:
President Biden said on Friday that he would move forward with his $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan, with or without Republican support. Because this economy needs a massage and Joe Biden is not waiting for permission. An interview with Biden will air before tomorrow’s Super Bowl between the Bucs and the Chiefs. In fact, “Buc” and “Boss” are also what Biden calls his friends when he forgets their names.
Speaking before an image of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Jost continued:
Mitch McConnell, seen here ignoring a child who fell on the ice, criticized Republican Party representative and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying her “crazy lies and conspiracy theories” are “cancer” for the Republican Party . But keep in mind that Greene believes that cancer is a biological weapon created in a secret Jewish laboratory.
Che then started his own riff on Greene:
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who looks like a photo of a former child star, supported conspiracy theories about 9/11, school shootings, the Profound State and the Jewish people. Ugh, I get it, lady, you’re my type. I’m kidding – anyone who believes in these crazy conspiracies has to be as blind as Stevie Wonder is pretending to be. Greene apologized for his earlier comments, saying that 9/11 “happened for sure” and, to honor that day, Greene plans to kidnap and overthrow the Republican Party.
Don’t try this at home this week
Imagining a scene that could play out in homes across the country, this sketch found a group of friends gathering for a Super Bowl party and cautiously agreeing that they are safe to take off their masks.
“We’re doing everything right,” they said repeatedly when a guest, played by Redd, explained that he was leaving his home just to go to the supermarket, the laundry and the local wrestling club. Another guest, played by Bennett, said he restricted his social circle to his wife, brother, wife, neighbor, brother, grandparents and nursing home. (He also shared homemade chili that he and his other guests started eating with their hands.)
Don’t worry: it was all a public service announcement by Dr. Anthony Fauci (Kate McKinnon), who offered a reminder to conduct his own Super Bowl responsibly: “At home, with a mask, lights out, no friends.”