Saturday Night Live fans are reacting to the show’s first-ever remote episode . Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the SNL cast performed remotely from their homes via a video conferencing platform to give fans the first new sketches since March 7, when the New York-based NBC late-night show shut down production due to the heath pandemic.
The cold open for the remote episode, titled “SNL From Home,” featured the quarantined SNL cast, including Beck Bennett, Heidi Gardner, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Bowen Yang, and more, chatting on a Zoom screen with longtime player Kate McKinnon eventually segueing to host Tom Hanks with, “And live from Zoom, it’s somewhere between March and August,” according to USA Today.
Hanks, who recovered from coronavirus while in Australia, hosted the show from what appeared to be his kitchen. The actor said it’s “strange” trying to be funny right now, but he gave viewers a pep talk about how we’re all in this crisis together and that we’ll be okay. He also offered up a quirky audience Q&A in which he played the audience members.
As for the sketches, McKinnon got into character as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with an exercise segment titled “RBG’s Workout Corner.” McKinnon’s cat even made a cameo as her “trainer.”
In other sketches, Larry David Zoomed in as Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Alec Baldwin turned up via phone as President Donald Trump during the “Weekend Update: Home Edition” segment, which was shot via split-screen from host Colin Jost and Michael Che’s homes. Later in the show, musical guest Chris Martin performed a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Shelter From the Storm.”
In comments to clips from the remote SNL episode posted to Instagram, viewers reacted to the unique broadcast.
While many commenters thanked the SNL cast for providing joy during this unprecedented time, some thought the laugh track during the “Weekend Update” segment was distracting. Others didn’t like the fact that Jost and Che were wearing casual clothes while presenting their news segment.
“It’s so disorienting without them in suits,” one viewer wrote.
“Missed an opportunity to get Scarlett Johansson on the show. Come on Colin,” another wrote in reference to Jost’s famous fiancee.
Many fans thought McKinnon was the standout on “SNL From Home.”
“Kate McKinnon wins SNL at home,” another fan said.
Other followers offered condolences to Che, who lost his grandmother to coronavirus last week.
Saturday Night Live was originally supposed to return from a short hiatus on March 28 with host John Krasinski and singer Dua Lipa.
