“And live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Kenan Thompson enthusiastically stated, as he opened the world-renowned Saturday Night Live, breaking his character playing a Columbia University student’s parent, as part of the May 4th, 2024 Cold Open.
Amidst the pro-Palestinian protests taking storm on college campuses, discussions about the upcoming commencement ceremonies for the class of 2024 have brought about mixed reactions from parents and students alike. Not surprisingly, one of the most heavily covered schools in these protests is New York’s own Columbia University, making it the prime focus of its virtually neighboring NBC Studios’ late-night comedy show.
As the vast discourse regarding these protests has been pervasive throughout the country, the screenwriters attempted to ease the tensions by shedding light on the opinions of the parents, in contrast to the typical media accounts of the student protesters. In the comedy sketch “Community Affairs,” Thompson plays Alphonse Roberts, father of Alexis Vanessa Roberts, who continuously dismisses claims of his daughter attending these protests, saying “Brother man, I am supportive of y’all’s kids protesting. Not my kids. My kids know better. Alexis Vanessa ain’t crazy.” So long as his children are uninvolved, Roberts is in support of the students exercising their First Amendment rights.
Rather, the main concern of Roberts shifts to the uncertainty of the quickly arriving graduations and whether they will occur or not. He insists that Alexis Vanessa “will be graduated” especially because of the nearly seventy grand annual tuition, poking fun at the fact that with all that money invested into his daughter’s education, there better be a commencement ceremony. This is an understandable viewpoint, keeping in mind that the graduating class of 2024 also missed out on their high school graduations back in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning this could possibly mark two graduations in a row without the conventional walk onto the stage, the classic way of signing off one’s college years.
In the Weekend Update of May 4th’s episode, anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che interviewed cast member Marcello Hernández, who played South Dakota governor Kristi Noem’s “other” dog, Cricket VII. This skit came after Noem’s newly released memoir made aware to the public that she had actually shot her puppy Cricket, describing her as “dangerous.” Hernández only had words of endearment on the topic of his owner, Noem, which were at odds with the occasional true character “slipups” which revealed his deep fear of ending up like the previous dogs. Noem is a contender for the vice president of Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican candidate. The skit tried to subtly hint at Americans that the future of America may be in the hands of a pet killer.
Jost took it a step further and said, “But I don’t know, something tells me Trump would fully support killing disobedient pets,” referencing Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence. Although it seemed like he was criticizing the Republican seat, he leveled the playing field as he suggested dogs that seemed to be untrainable should be sent under President Joe Biden’s (of the Democratic Party) care, tracking well with the record of his dog, Commander, having multiple biting incidents while at the White House.
With the live airing of the May 11th, 2024 episode, came a nice reminder that Mother’s Day was just a few hours away. And who better to get tips from for Mother’s Day gifts than a mom herself? Please welcome… ‘A Woman Who Insists She’s Not Mad,’ played by cast member Heidi Gardner. Gardner took on the role of a mother who typically says everything is fine when everything is indeed not fine. While in the middle of revealing the perfect gift for Mother’s Day, Gardner expressed her frustration as Jost suggested sunglasses, to which she said, “Jesus Christ, Colin, no. Brunch. Brunch. The sunglasses were just to be funny.”
So, for the next Mother’s Day, remember any mother, grandmother, or aunt would like something a little more memorable like a dining experience, rather than some last-minute store-bought item.
Season 49 Episode 20, which signed off with host Jake Gyllenhaal and musical guest Sabrina Carpenter on May 18th, 2024, had a special twist for the finale’s segment of Weekend Update: Jost and Che wrote controversial, embarrassing jokes for each other to read. Although the joke swap is the annual practice to wrap up the season, the jokes were arguably the hottest takes of the year by far. Some were less galvanized than others, like the awkward one that Jost was forced to read aloud about his wife, actress Scarlett Johansson. Jost, while struggling to keep a straight face, uttered, “CHATGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in Her. Which I’ve never bothered to watch because without that body, what’s the point of listening?” With just one glance at the script, seeing a photo of Johannson, Jost already knew what was coming was going to put him in the hot seat. After reading, Jost was appalled by what he had just said, covering his face as an act of mortification. Fortunately, the two hosts have been such close friends that personal jokes like these don’t faze either one of them.
However, there were also less lighthearted jests, which understandably, might not have been crowd-pleasers. One thing is for certain, Rabbi Jill Hausman, a guest brought on to make the two co-hosts uncomfortable while reading their offensive jokes, did not match the audience’s lively attitude. Throughout most of the segment, Rabbi Hausman sat next to Jost, wearing a disapproving face after many of the punchlines. Especially, as Jost used a puppet of a Hasidic man to mouth the words, “And if they (MSNBC) don’t [curb their criticisms of Israel, we’ll (NBC) hit them with our space lasers.” “Oh, no. Rabbi. Rabbi?” Jost, much to his chagrin, sheepishly looked over to Hausman for any commentary. All she could manage was to wear a dubious smile as she was without words.
Another jab in the entertainment realm circles around the retired NFL quarterback, Tom Brady, and his Netflix show, “The Roast of Tom Brady.” Hosted by Kevin Hart, the newly released comedy special gained a lot of attention especially since Brady had to endure three hours’ worth of jokes about his divorce from his former wife, Gisele Bündchen, and his multiple defeats to fellow NFL quarterback, Eli Manning. In response to the show, for the most part, he kept his cool, but has made it aware that he was not particularly satisfied with how it has impacted his children. Brady said, “It’s the hardest part … like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all the sudden you realize I wouldn’t do that again because of the way that it actually affected the people that I care about the most in the world.” Although Brady did not specify which jokes had troubled him, those centered around Gisele can be assumed to be the ones. To that end, Brady has added that he would not do this again.
Quick to the hype, Jost jokes, “Tom Brady has revealed that he has regrets about last week’s Netflix Roast, saying he didn’t like the way it affected his kids. But that isn’t stopping him from performing in tomorrow night’s Netflix Roast of Tom Brady’s Children.” Of course, there was no such comedy special planned, but it was just another prime example of the Weekend Update’s good-humoredly ridicule.
You don’t have to like the quips Jost and Che make weekly, but it’s their extensive coverage of the world’s latest news, focusing on both or all sides, that truly captures the minds and hearts of many globally. The next time you turn on the Weekend Update on YouTube or NBC, you can count on them to immerse you in a world that takes all the seriousness and grimness of current events – because what’s life without a little fun?
Please welcome… ‘A Woman Who Insists She’s Not Mad,’ played by cast member Heidi Gardner. Gardner took on the role of a mother who typically says everything is fine when everything is indeed not fine.