We’ll finally start this weekend’s recap of “Saturday Night Live” and the season finale, which ends with a particularly good-night wave of crying from the cast. While many are just saying goodbye to the summer, a few longtime performing artists made it clear during the broadcast that this is their last episode.
on Friday, reported Kate McKinnon, who joined the cast of “SNL” in the spring of 2012; Aidy Bryant (autumn 2012); Kyle Mooney (2013) and Pete Davidson (2014) would leave the series at the end of this season. Davidson confirmed Saturday afternoon In a post on her Instagram account where friend and comedian Dave Sirus wrote:
I shared a lot with this audience and literally grew up before your eyes. We were together in good and bad, happiest and darkest times. I owe my life to Lorne Michaels and everyone at SNL. I am so grateful and I wouldn’t be here without them.
Indeed, there was an air of farewell throughout this episode, hosted by Natasha Lyonne and featuring the musical guest Japanese Breakfast. Goddamn, There was even a sketch It’s about finding out what happens to a classroom after high school prom. As Andrew Dismukes said in a voice-over, “Time has taken us all in so many different directions. For a brief moment we were all there, dancing the night away with our whole lives ahead of us.” (We later learned that his character was killed by a classmate.)
Historically, “SNL” has been a bit stingy about allowing departed players to get victory laps on their last show. For every Kristen Wiig, Farewell serenade by Mick Jaggerthere are countless other artists who are quietly leaving in the off-season, and a few even who seemed to be going but it came back the next fall.
Tonight, however, the authorities (by which we mean Lorne Michaels) have been more generous in allowing graduating members of the class to receive their curtain calls. Here’s how some said goodbye:
Kate McKinnon
Breaking with recent tradition, perhaps reflecting how much sense McKinnon has made for the show over the years, “SNL” didn’t start this weekend with an updated cold open skit. Instead, it started with an introduction long-running “Close Encounter” seriesMcKinnon as Miss Rafferty, who seems a little too pleased to be abducted into space, a knack for double-acters, who is allegedly abducted by aliens.
At the end of this week’s draft, McKinnon volunteered to leave with the extraterrestrials. “I’ve always felt like an alien on this planet,” he said. As she stepped onto their spaceship, she called out to the audience and said, “Well, Earth, I love you. Thanks for letting me stay for a while.”
Benevolent Bryant
For an appearance at the Weekend Update table, Bryant and Bowen Yang returned to their recurring roles as Trend Forecasters, a pair of bawdy-clad experts who vehemently proclaim that various fads and crazes are inside or out.
After assessing the fruits of summer, verbal greetings, and time itself, the duo announced a category called future trends. “In 10 good years,” Bryant said, his voice cracking slightly. “Inside: I couldn’t have done this if I didn’t have a friend,” Yang replied. In addition to the list, they said they banned cute little bouquets, expensive tiaras and Michael Che. The camera then cut into Che, who was holding a bouquet and wearing a tiara.
“But I heard there was something new,” Bryant said. “Inside: my best men kiss me.” “Then we should,” Bowen replied, and Che and he each placed a kiss on Bryant’s cheeks.
Pete Davidson
Returning to the Weekend Update table for the last bits of comedy there, Davidson said hello to Che, Colin Jost, and “the millions of people watching to see if I just brought up Kanye.”
“I never thought this would be my life,” said Davidson when he looked at his “SNL” debut. Although at the time no one seemed to know what race he was, he said, “everybody now knows I’m white because I’ve had so much success just barely getting to work.”
When Jost asked him if he was leaving, Davidson replied, “Yeah, man. Lorne accidentally gave me a sock, so I’m free.”
Still, Davidson said he hopes his time on the show will “really inspire hope that everyone can be on ‘Saturday Night Live.”
He continued, “Seriously, have you seen a man smoking in front of 7-Eleven at 2 am? This isn’t a meth head. This is Pete Davidson next.”
Weekend Update Jokes of the Week
In their section at the Weekend Update table, hosts Jost and Che speculated on next summer and Tucker Carlson.
Jost started:
Well, in last year’s finale, Covid seemed to be extinct. And I said we’re about to have the horniest summer ever. And now the hottest STD of summer is monkeypox. That’s how bad and weird things happened. The stock market is crashing, there is a war in Europe, everyone is about to croak in “This Is Us”. The future looks pretty bleak. It would take a madman to bring a child into the world right now. So, I just did. But don’t worry, I’m hoarding baby food.
Che continued:
A recent report shows that Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, seen here bragging about how great he is, has repeatedly put forward the theory that Democrats want to replace whites with minorities. But that doesn’t even make sense because there are whites. It’s not like they’ll suddenly become minorities. Unless it’s Halloween. Tucker Carlson has a lot of guts to put forward these crazy conspiracy theories. Because if he thinks the government has a secret plan to help minorities, he must be smoking those cracks that the CIA has smuggled into Black neighborhoods.