Pete Davidson Solid Again in "Saturday Night Live at Home" Season Finale
After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production of “Saturday Night Live” it seemed like the show’s 45th season would come to an abrupt end. However, the cast and crew were able to cobble together three “Saturday Night Live at Home” episodes that were filmed remotely from each cast member’s home. The third of these episodes aired on May 9 and served as the show’s season finale.
It is a commendable effort on the part of the entire cast and crew, but the show became something else entirely different as a result of the changes. It is obviously not live, which is such a big part of the show’s functionality. It is also very tough to transition sketch comedy that relies on an audience reaction into a video format. For a show whose sketches are always hit or miss, the remote transition made for plenty of duds. It essentially became a collection of old comedic YouTube videos, something the cast, given their age, does not have a lot of experience putting together.
However, there were a few bright spots. Pete Davidson, whose movie “The King of Staten Island” is set to release next month, put out the most consistent sketches over the three episodes. While there wasn’t much variety in his sketches, each being a hip-hop video of his quarantine life with his mom and sister, they were all very enjoyable and it was good to see him finish the season strong after all the drama that surrounded him throughout the year.
Another highlight from the episode featured Mikey Day’s son pulling a series of pranks on his dad who is trying to manage work, among other things, from home during quarantine. It’s all shown from the perspective of the son, and the innocence of that viewpoint, not to mention the child-like editing, will make you laugh when you’re not yearning to be that young and naïve in the current state of our world.
At the end of the episode host Kristen Wiig concluded by saying “we’ll see you in September.” Whether that will be from the NBC studios or via video again is anyone’s guess, but any from of consistency we can rely on is very welcome during these unprecedented times. Even if it makes for more awkward and dull sketches than usual.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Report: Michael Rosen
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