The 45th season of Saturday Night Live will go down as a historic one thanks to how the show adapted to the coronavirus pandemic, airing three remotely filmed episodes – each one improving on the last – towards the end of its run. Hopefully, by the time the show returns for its 46th season it will be back in Studio 8H in front of a live audience, but if not, at least we know the show can and will go on.
In the meantime, let’s look back at 10 of the best sketches from this unpredictable, slightly truncated season.
Salad
In this poppy musical number, Aidy Bryant plays a 50s housewife who stays up late making her patented “overnight salad”, a towering monstrosity composed of lettuce, cheese, lemon, a gallon of mayo, so many raisins, 54 hot dogs, a pizza top and quarters. Her concoction ends up destroying her marriage, poisoning the family dog and ultimately killing her. Daniel Craig, playing her horrified husband, steals the show with his unhinged rant.
Peter, Paula and Murray
This send-up of 60s folk music was a standout from David Harbour’s strong turn hosting. In it, a folk trio (Harbour, Bryant and Kate McKinnon) perform a ballad in which they reminisce over time spent with family and friends, while also lamenting time wasted on such trifles as “curling hair that was already curly” as well as dark moments such as “standing on a bridge saying, ‘Do it, you coward!’” SNL’s musical numbers are often very catchy, but this one is also surprisingly beautifully composed.
Let Kids Drink
Yet another great musical number, this PSA from the cast (featuring Josh Gad and a choir of children) makes a very strong case for giving kids booze during quarantine so as to take some of the pressure off stressed-out parents. Particularly funny are Chris Redd and Gad’s growing discomfort throughout the number, as well as Beck Bennett’s gloriously pathetic solo about letting guys drink alone.
Beer Money
If there was one cast member who really shone during the At Home episodes, it was Kyle Mooney. His penchant for surrealism and skills as a film-maker resulted in several ambitious and hilarious sketches, the best of them being this free-associative slacker odyssey, in which he plays four different characters. Peter Sellers would approve.
Eleanor’s House
Sticking with Mooney’s turn in the season finale, this mostly CGI animated sketch was the clear standout of all the remote run. In it, Bryant, arguably the show’s most prominently used cast member, plays the bubbly host of a children’s television show. Her imaginary birthday party is crashed by a rowdy group of dirtbags played by Mooney, Pete Davidson, Redd and Heidi Gardner, all rendered as uncanny humanoids. Mooney’s shrunken, balding party animal is particularly unsettling, especially when he’s given a closeup while being tased by police.
Airport Sushi
A sequel to John Mulaney’s showstopping Bodega Bathroom from the previous season, this Broadway-inspired number, about the hellscape that is New York’s La Guardia international airport, actually manages to eclipse the original, thanks to even bigger production values and special appearances from Jake Gyllenhaal and David Byrne. Here’s hoping these sketches become an annual tradition.
Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood
The most highly anticipated episode of Saturday Night Live in years saw Eddie Murphy’s first time hosting in over three decades. He kicked things off with a new installment of Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood, in which we find the titular children’s show host still up to his old ways, even as the world around him has changed.
Undercover Boss: Where Are They Now?
While Disney’s Star Wars saga may have come to a bitterly disappointing end this past year thanks to the widely panned The Rise of Skywalker, at least we got this great sequel to the popular Star Wars Undercover Boss sketch from Driver’s first time hosting in 2016. Once again reprising his role as the tortured Kylo Ren, Driver is even more hilariously awkward (“OK boomer”) and violently unhinged than last time.
Del Taco Shoot
While nothing from Driver’s latest hosting gig ended up matching the amazing Career Day from last season, this Del Taco commercial sketch came the closest. Built entirely around the deceptively simple refrain of “Aw man, I’m all outta cash!”, the show went all out with a bit of ratcheting insanity, leaving the audience as out of breath as Mooney’s poor, pathetic struggling actor.
Gumby
The funniest segment from the season’s funniest episode came with the glorious return of Murphy’s cigar-chomping green curmudgeon, Gumby (dammit!), who crashes a Weekend Update segment in order to berate the hosts (he dismisses Colin Jost as “headshot” and Michael Che as “you black bastard”) and demand respect. It’s four minutes of profane hilarity and a rousing reminder that when working at the top of his game, Murphy is still America’s greatest comic star.
