Saturday Night Live’s at-home episode had everything: sketches about Zoom company calls going terribly awry, a peek atRuth Bader Ginsberg’s workout routine, a Masterclass parody featuringChloe Fineman’s incredibleTimothée Chalametimpression,Aidy Bryantattempting (key word here) some calming visualizations,Mikey Dayas a Twitch streamer who can’t keep up, and much more. Yes, Saturday night’s special, first-ever at-home episode was an interesting experiment for the long-running sketch comedy series. As is often the case withSNL, not every sketch was a total success but it did have some good moments.
It was inevitable that, along with some requisiteTiger Kingjokes,SNLwas going to have to tackle the other huge thing occupying our new work-from-home lifestyle: Zoom calls. The Zoom video conferencing app has become the center of many a company’s daily workflow as we all shelter in place. But, it’s rare for a Zoom call to go smoothly, as many of us have discovered, andSNLwas right there to zero in on the many hiccups of a Zoom call in one of the strongest sketches of the night.
The basic setup is that Day, as the company boss, was here to help get his team comfortable with Zoom. Cast membersChris Redd,Heidi Gardner, andAlex Moffatall chimed in as employees who totally understood how to use Zoom while Bryant and McKinnon played Henriette and Nan, two elderly receptionists who just couldn’t figure out the ins and outs of Zoom. Things quickly go awry, with Henriette changing her Zoom background to the poster of her favorite show,The Good Doctor, while Nan ended up full-on crying because she was so overwhelmed. Bryant and McKinnon know how to squeeze the laughs out of any situation, so naturally this sketch was in good hands with this duo as the comedic relief.
The wacky,Good Doctor-filled Zoom call sketch wasn’t the only highlight of the bunch. McKinnon was the focus of a solo sketch wherein she reprised her take on Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg for a little at-home workout video. Sure, the sketch was lacking a little since McKinnon didn’t have access toSNL’s costume department, but the lacy doily-as-neckwear really helps bring the character together. While the sketch was basically just a “let’s wind McKinnon up and see where her whirling dervish self goes,” there were some great lines in there about how the fictional RBG was staying in shape from home, including her consumption of half a chicken a day. Wait, no, a chickpea.
Keep watching below to see even more of the best (in this writer’s opinion) sketches from the latest episode ofSNL, including a Masterclass commercial featuring Fineman’s impressions of Chalamet, YouTuberJojo Siwa, andTiger KingsubjectCarol Baskin, Day’s Twitch stream fail sketch, and Bryant’s existential crisis visualization video. For moreSNLgoodness, you can watch surprise guest Tom Hanks' opening monologuehere.
