Saturday Night Live: Chris Rock joins cast to look back on pandemic year
“I wanted Kanye West to be the musical guest, and he couldn’t do it because he was running for president,” recalled Rock.
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Chris Rock joined the Saturday Night Live cast tonight (22 May) to share memories of making the show this year under pandemic restrictions.
The segment, entitled ‘What I remember about this year’, provided the cold open for the finale of the long-running sketch show’s 46th season.
Joining the cast midway through to massive applause, Rock noted: “I hosted the first episode this season, and that feels like six years ago.”
He continued: “Here’s how messed up the world was when I hosted: I wanted Kanye West to be the musical guest, and he couldn’t do it because he was running for president. Remember that?”
“Also, the week I was here the sitting president who said Covid would disappear… got Covid. That was this season.”
Rock joked that the show missed a perfect opportunity to bring their season to a close after President Trump’s election defeat: “But no, these idiots did 12 more shows. Even Jim Carrey knew it was time to go home.”
Towards the end of the skit, cast member Aidy Bryant paid tribute to long-running SNL music producer Hal Willner, who died in April 2020 due to Covid-19 complications.
Kate McKinnon choked up as she said: “This was the year that we… realised we’re more than just a cast, we’re a family.”
Bryant added: “And, like a true family, we’re kind of sick of each other and we need a little break.”
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No official air date has yet been confirmed for the 47th season of Saturday Night Live, but Kenan Thompson did announce that: “We’ll see everybody, fingers crossed, at Thanksgiving.”
Anya Taylor-Joy was this week’s host, while Lil Nas X performed as the musical guest.
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