By: Grace Krotine
Since 1975, popular sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live has been a staple of television for people around the world. Many feared that the Coronavirus would alter the schedule of the historical show, however, SNL once again defied odds and returned last Saturday for its 46th season.
The season premiere was hosted by SNL alumni Chris Rock, with musical guest Megan Thee Stallion. Rock took time in his stand-up monologue to address the pandemic: talking about the insanity of the current world, joking about all the COVID testing he had gone through, and sharing how the virus had ruined his sister’s wedding. Additionally, he pointed out to the viewers that the front row of the audience was made up of first responders, “The audience up here, they’re first responders. Yeah, they’re so good, we let people die tonight so they could see a good show.” Rock let his guard down to the viewers while still keeping the room light and full of laughter, never losing integrity.
Though the show managed to keep its comedic roots present, there were still many noticeable changes to the overall structure. The cast and featured players wore masks in the opening credits, the live band that has forever accompanied SNL was shown socially distanced and with masks, and the cast goodbye was revamped and had everyone wearing masks and bumping elbows instead of the usual group hugs. Also, many of the sketches were written about the pandemic or had characters wearing masks. Even though Saturday Night Live had to revise many of its pre-existing values, it did not disappoint and certainly helped bring light to this dark period.
People took the premiere differently; the reviews were lower than usual, and critics did not seem to enjoy it as much as previous seasons. The show will need a little time to adapt to the new circumstances and figure out ways to improve while maintaining safety before bouncing back to its normal ratings. But at the end of the day, it’s great to have SNL back. Next Saturday night can’t come soon enough.
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